I'm BACK! With three questions.

[terrytowel]

First thanks to EVERYONE here who has responded on this board, and PM me personally to lend a helping hand. I truly appreciate all of the help.

I'm looking into creating a free site, which would/could complement my current BHB site.

Three questions though

#1 – What to do with the domain gaybathhouseporn.com

Obviously it is not working. I can either
a) Sell it (I’ve already been offered $500.00, and could use the money)
b) Re-work the entire concept and use the domain to host my new upcoming free site
c) Sit on it, and not do anything rash until after I get my free site up and running.

#2 – Creating a free site

I'm just looking through what other people are doing for their free site (as I’m still a bit confused by the concept of what exactly a free site is), but a couple of questions.

Should this site

a) Be on its own domain
b) Or a domain extension (i.e. bathhouseblues.com/gallery.html)

I will have problems putting it on its own domain (lack of money). But on the other hand, using a domain extension will make it tougher to register this free site on link lists. Many of them are adamant that all free sites must be on its own domain name.

Finally

#3 –Theme matter of the free site.

So I need a theme? On the one hand if I use the gaybathhouseporn.com domain, I could have water sports, showering, group sex, dungeon, sling rooms, orgies, etc. But people have said that focus/theme is too narrow. So do I just throw on as many free pics as I can onto this free site, and see what sticks.

I thank EVERYONE on this board for their patience, and advice. After I get everyone’s feedback, I’ll buckle down and start working on this new free site.

Thanks again. – Tony

[basschick]

re 1 - if there's a chance you might shoot your own content later - bathhouse content, and they will expect you to pay if you shoot at the bathhouse - then i'd hold onto it. otherwise if you actually need the money, seems to me that $500 would come in handy.

2 - get a domain for the niche of content you'll be marketing or use its own domain. but consider that you don't make one freesite - you START with one freesite. you'll be making many more ;)

3 - pick a niche to start with. if you're going with BM, perhaps uncut or uk guys would be a niche to start with. once you have the hang of it, you may create sites to market more than one niche, but start out with one till you get the hang of it.

good luck to you :)

[gaydemon]

#1 - no idea. Depends, if you think you can make more money than you can sell it for then keep it. But a domain name is only as much as you do with it.

#2 - You definitly do not need to have a seperate domain for your free sites.

For example, the few I have done are

http://www.demongallery.com/bestofplaygirl1.html

http://www.demongallery.com/free-bear-pics.html

The big difference is that these would probably not get accepted on a link list since its only hosted galleries but i created them for something else.

#3 - themes, each free site create could be dedicated to a single theme and sponsor, or single theme and different sponsors. That would probably work best, its normally not a good idea to mix themes since the person surfing for twinks are unlikly to like bears.

--

Free sites are quite simple.

They consist of:

1. Landing & warning page, self explaining really. Its also the page where you have links to all the link lists / directories you want to get listed on. Preferably very clean, ie no more than 1 banner or so.

2. Main page, this is the page where you have the links to the galleries on together with a couple of banners or advertising text. Its never a good idea to over do the ads. What you need to do instead is to carefully match the content with adverts and banners.

3. Gallery pages, this is the pages the pictures or videos are on. Linked to from the mainpage. This page also got adverts / banners much like the mainpage.

---

Please remember, it takes a long time and a lot of sites before you will see any steady stream of income. The guys who earns HUGE amounts on this has done it for years and built up 1000s of sites in this way. But it does make sales, it just depends on how well you do it and how much time you put in to list it on link lists etc and how many such free sites you can create.

[pocoloco]

You have a domain with steady traffic. Why not change the BHB site into a blog with pictures or even videos. You can list your stories in a sub-category. The stories will still give you a lot of SE traffic. Probably more surfers will bookmark your site, because of the photos / videos (especially when frequently updated) + I believe good sales text in combination with some photos will convert way better than just putting up some banners.

There are a lot of succesful high traffic blogs around to give you some ideas.

[basschick]

Pocoloco, the problem is that there are no actual bathhouse sponsors, so his traffic seems to be irrelevant. it's a great domain if there's anything bathhouse related to send it to, but there really doesn't seem to be... he has a blog with a nice PR3 also, but nowhere to send the traffic.

[dzinerbear]

If someone is offering you $500 for that domain, take it. You've already got one bath house domain. And it's not making you a lot money, so get rid of the other, especially for $500!

Michael

[abostonboy]

Pocoloco, the problem is that there are no actual bathhouse sponsors, so his traffic seems to be irrelevant. it's a great domain if there's anything bathhouse related to send it to, but there really doesn't seem to be... he has a blog with a nice PR3 also, but nowhere to send the traffic.

Bath house blues should be adsense. Dump the porn banners. and any links to porn. Writing about bathhouse is ok w/ google.

[fetishlad]

Tony - why don't you email as many gay bathouses /saunas in the world as you can and ask them if they want to advertise on your site. Tell them they can advertise for free on your other site too.

[gaydemon]

Thats a clever idea. You could work that even further, maybe do listings of "bath houses" and similiar places.. It would be very relevant to the name and cruising is a very popular theme - just checkout www.squirt.org (http://www.squirt.org), they have become HUGE from starting with only some cruising guides.


Tony - why don't you email as many gay bathouses /saunas in the world as you can and ask them if they want to advertise on your site. Tell them they can advertise for free on your other site too.