If you ask any person who has any clue about the porn industry and asks them, “Is there money in porn to be made?” you would almost certainly get a definitive “Yes”.
Now, if this is so, why isn’t everybody making money off porn? Everyone can do it. Everyone has a penis and a vagina. All you have to do is to be willing to…
And then we get into the reality of things. Yes, you can make porn in the industry as a whole, but can YOU make money off this adult industry juggernaut? The answer is almost always a definitive “No.”
Why is that?
In most cases, it is because people are not educated enough about this industry as a whole. They only know the “dirty” part of it all, the one they secretly enjoy at home when no one is around.
To clear some of the misconceptions that people have about porn, we’ve gathered info regarding all the ways and avenues one can start making money off porn without getting “dirty.”
Keep in mind, making money in porn is almost by definition making dirty money. You will always get that “Oh really?” look any time you tell people what it is that you are doing and how it is that you are making money.
So that is lesson No.0. If you care what people think about you making earnings in the porn industry, stop now with the reading and go to another page. This is not for you.
Back in the day, it used to be all so simple. A user would come to the site, browse around to see what he likes and doesn’t like, and, once he decided that yes, this is something of value to him, he took out his credit card and, most of the time, bought the video, a bundle of videos, picture gallery bundle or something.
Things evolved, and things started getting more and more available to the public. Hence, the porn sites had to come up with a business model that was going to work for them. Today, where porn is saturated with tube sites, a unique value proposition is a must if a porn site is going to survive. Enter the subscription business model.
Today, every premium site has a daily, monthly, and yearly subscription. PornHub costs $14.99 for a month and $143.88 for a year. They even gave out lifetime subscriptions costing $299 during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale.
Now, when you take into consideration that they have about 22 million registered users, they rack in a pretty penny, even if half of those people become a part of the membership. So, start building a tube site and get them KWs in order. Once the traffic comes in, if your UVP is tight and you have a good subscription model, your neighbors will start calling you the porn king in no time.
Think laterally. You don’t have to become a porn movie producer and start making movies. You just need a site that will host them. When you create that brand recognizability, you can start moving merchandise via your site that you set up as a platform where people gather, to jerk off for granted, but still, have a common cause.
You can contact a supplier for complementary goods such as t-shirts, sex toys, lubes, potency pills, and so on, or you can just set up affiliate links and promote other people’s merch via your site. You don’t even need to have the products. All you have to do is just get a commission every time a user comes to your site and sees the ad there. Consider it kind of like porn dropshipping.
The principle is straightforward in this one – gather the knowledge on how to make money and then tell it to others. Just make sure that you get a certain fee for it. Otherwise, you are not going to make a dime. Unless you want to do it out of your own altruistic needs, of course. In that case, we applaud your noble intentions.
If, however, you are as greedy and money hungry as we all are, you could let your users in on how you started making money online. The ways you can do this are vast. You could start a newsletter. Courses are always available on Udemy for $10, and you can easily find customers there. Joining a forum and offering consultancy is also a good way to promote and earn at the same time.
Here’s the catch – this is porn. It is taboo, so make sure that your media channels are not strictly mainstream otherwise, you will start learning the hard way why making it in porn is not for everyone.
You might hate it when pop-up ads start annoying you when you just want to sit back and relax to a porn video. However, they are an awesome way to make money by just sitting back, and relaxing to a porn video. Banner ads are always present here or there on any porn site. That’s how sites make revenue, especially tube sites.
When you make a porn site, the traffic is your lifeline. But if you have traffic but you are not selling anything to these people, then how the hell did you expect to make any money? Join some of the Ad Networks and start promoting the hell out of others. Those clicks can add up to a good retirement fund, passive. Think about it.
You help me scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. That’s a win/win for all parties involved. Now, all you have to do is have a platform where you can help out people get what they want so you can get what you want. One of the ways this is possible in the porn site scheme of things is with forum support.
There are many forums out there that understand that they are generating value for others just by providing relevant information to them. In porn, opening up a thread can be met with a fee that you could charge for promotional use. They are advertising their material on your platform, they are using your bullhorn to tell it to everyone, and you are going to charge the use of your services.
Once the promotion has set in for the particular user and is starting to generate some traction, they are going to get views, and you are going to be getting residual fees thanks to you “believing” in them so much that you allowed them to use your tools, services, and the platform to reach their goals. Capitalistic altruism to its core.
This has been a way of making money since forever. Still, the same principle can be applied and is applied to porn sites. There are tons of people, models, actors, and performers who have a following and have started branding themselves. They always need more exposure for that brand to expand and grow.
Strike a deal with them and start selling their merch on your site. Make up a deal that will benefit both of you, and voila! You are already making more than you would be before you gave a chance to a new up-and-comer to make their name on your site. Just make sure that the deal has a signature to it.
This one can be a bit controversial but just bear with us. This is just an idea, one that has been put into practice millions of times before. It’s not admirable, but it’s what people do. There are always donations being given out here and there. If your site ever needs a helping hand, something like Kickstarter, you can always go to your audience and ask for a donation. Keep in mind that the reasons don’t always have to be noble. There are always “Donate, so the creampie category doesn’t close” ways to raise money. Be wary of this one.
“Spin the wheel, this contest is going to make you money!” People love contests. This is always a sure way to raise money. The catch is that you still need to have a prize that people are willing to part way from their $1, $5, or $10. You are probably not going to be able to sign up a porn star to go on a date with the winner, but you could give away a yearly subscription you the site or send them merch that holds value. Whatever it is, the prize still needs to be worthwhile for the fans to play the game.
This one is what everyone is after. Selling other people’s services/products on their sites. How this works is that you place ads and banners, even embedded videos, on your site. When a user clicks on it, there is a tracking code that comes back to you in the form of a fee being paid out to you if the user makes a purchase. That simple. You are the bait, and their product is the hook.
There are plenty of good Affiliate Networks that give good commissions. It is all about good advertising, having the traffic, and having qualified leads. Still, you have to make sure that you have compatible services/products/sites that you are promoting because you still have to match the needs and desires of your targeted audience.
That’s the first thing that one would think of, but no. DVDs are still being sold, and they are being sold the most in the porn industry, and there is a simple explanation as to why this is so. It is because of one fact – shame! Some people are ashamed to become members of a porn site and regularly dish out payment after payment to a dirty site where they succumb to their dirtiest desires.
If they only knew that we are not here to judge. As a matter of fact, the more they buy, the more we approve of their needs. This is why DVDs are still standing strong and are still being made. They are being sold like rice cakes, and they are probably not going to die out soon. This is just another money streaming option that you might think of applying to your site.
When all is done, then the money starts pouring in! As if! That would be great if that’s how things worked, but that just isn’t the case. Once you develop your site, then it really becomes a piece of cake to monetize and make money, sure. Then, it is a matter of maintaining and just tweaking the nuances. But before you get to that stage, you need to put on your hard hat on, take a hammer in your hand and start hammering your will into existence. Blood, sweat, and tears as they say, and there will be plenty of tears shed.
Making a porn site is slightly harder than making a mainstream one for the simple fact of taboo. Even Ad Words doesn’t give you all the relevant KWs you need for your site to rank. You are left shooting in the dark, hoping that you hit your target. But once you hear that ping in the middle of the night, that spark will start to shine through, and that’s when the expression “When it rains, it pours” gets a whole other meaning. Good luck with your endeavors.