It seems like only yesterday that all it took to make a gay porn consumer happy was the site of a hot guy jacking off. But today I can count on one or two sticky hands the sites that ONLY offer j/o scenes and are still successful.
It seems like any site that has solo scenes has also added duo scenes to stay competitive, or variations on the solo scene, where the model gets a handjob or blowjob from someone (which I suppose is considered a “solo” because only the naked model cums).
So are solo j/o sites officially dead or on life support? What makes a good solo site?
If you were starting a solo site today what could you do different to make it unique? A couple of tweaks to the niche that come to mind are self-sucking, shaving and maybe self-facials. I mean, what else could you do with the solo niche?
You Love Jack does alright for me. And I think it’s a combo of things. Karl, the site owner, has been doing this for a long time, so he knows his stuff.
But two of the things that turn me on about You Love Jack is that a lot of the guys shove their fingers up their butts. And the guys generally cum all over a dark t-shirt, so we really get a good look at their loads.
The guys also look right into the camera and aren’t off watching a porno off screen. Surfers get bored of the guys jacking off who don’t really seem to be into it.
That’s a pretty good insight, Michael. Not all solos are equal. I get my models really involved and in the moment when I shipyards a solo. Having porn on makes for a deadly boring shoot. The best models are the guys who get turned on by knowing the camera is on them.
My pal at Spunkworthy has done a nice job at doing non-solos. His involvement with the models bring a lot of interaction and excitement to his scenes. It’s fun to watch. I’ll often introduce my models and undress them before they get started, closely inspecting their foreskin.
I think solo sites where the guys have something interesting about them (like foreskin) are way better than cute-guy-of-the-week jacks off. Alternadudes has
guys with a totally different look in solos and pairing. They’re guys you don’t see on other sites.
I guess the trick with solos is to offer something the customer isn’t going to get elsewhere.
I think there is still a market for it, but its definitely smaller than it used to be.
I think I know why too…
With all the tube sites there are now, jerk off videos are now the most common and widely available porn out there. Any guy can make a video of himself jerking it, and they don’t cut away before the cum shot. You don’t need to ask a partner for their involvement, you just need a camera and your cock.
The only ways a solo site can be successful in competition with all that free footage of guys whacking it, is if they offer really hot guys that you don’t generally find on the tubes, straight guys jerking together (there’s a bigger market for that than solo IMO), maintain higher quality, and have some relationship going on between the audience and the guys.
Those are my thoughts on it. I’m certain that the increase in tubes and all the guys jerking on them are the main thing. I doubt that the desire to watch guys jerking off has diminished at all. In fact I’ve actually seen one tube reflecting this need, adding a “guys jacking off” category separately to their gay or straight categories.
I actually did some research a few years ago in connection to B8M8 and there are a lot of guys gay/straight/bi who all get off on other guys jerking - especially guys jerking together. The whole duo/solo thing is still an underdeveloped niche IMO.
Our site FirstAuditions still sells really well. We have occassional updates where things are taken to the next level in a second audition which features guy on guy action. But the majority of videos are physical exam and jerk off videos. Most of the men are also straight which I think is a niche people can’t get from watching tube sites - seeing genuine hetero guys taught how to show their asses off and wank under the pressure of an audition process.
At Auth3ntic F00tballers we’ve sticked to straight guys jerking off and we are doing pretty well. I think that what makes the difference is the constance on offering strictly straight guys.
For surfers who look for truly straight guys, seeing them fingering his hole or fucking another guy simply destroys the “straight” fantasy. And, yes, our members do ask us for sex between two performers or fingering or all the etceteras. BUT … we know that the day we include one of those scenes we are dead.
Isn’t there a site that has jerking off in public places like subways (the transportation system, not the restaurant). I think it’s Dirty Boy Videos? I saw one of these and it was pretty hot, watching the guy trying to bust his nut before someone caught him on the train platform. But this was before all the homeland security changes that added surveillance video cameras everywhere. I don’t see how this could be done today.
This is what our site provides as well. While it it easy to find gay guys jerking off (cam4 comes to mind) it is not so easy to find actual str8 guys jerking off solo. Our site takes that niche and fine tunes it even further concentrating on str8 young Latinos so we are very much a micro niche in the larger solo niche.
We do sometimes show a str8 model being serviced by another guy and a rare full sex scene but we pretty much stick to our niche of solo jerk off scenes. We are doing great but once again…we do have a micro niche and I think that is KEY to making sales with the solo site.
On our side, our solo j/o site Squirtz has been around for a decade and it’s always been popular. Also it’s a good way for us to determine the popularity of a model so we can invest more in them on our duo site, Videoboys. But we’ve been tempted 4-5 years ago to combine all our content under one roof. But I’m happy today that we stuck with a separated solo j/o site.
EVERYONE told me when I launched SW that I’ve gotta have something more than just solos. Tried the handjob thing and it worked… then…umm… “more” interactive/servicing stuff. But the few interactive (oral) scenes between the models that I’ve put up have actually generated complaints. Ruined the fantasy that the guys are straight, from what I gathered.
Whenever I heard that, though, about doing more than solos, I looked at sites like FratMen. Granted, the guys are beyond phenomenal, but (with the exception of FMSucks) it’s all j/o stuff. It might be a relatively smaller market, but I don’t think it’s dead. I get emails from members saying they actually prefer the solos. One just emailed saying he was glad there aren’t hardcore/anal scenes on SW… too much for him. I think there’s still room for solos, IMO.
[QUOTE=SpunkWorthy;111774]EVERYONE told me when I launched SW that I’ve gotta have something more than just solos. Tried the handjob thing and it worked… then…umm… “more” interactive/servicing stuff. But the few interactive (oral) scenes between the models that I’ve put up have actually generated complaints. Ruined the fantasy that the guys are straight, from what I gathered.
Whenever I heard that, though, about doing more than solos, I looked at sites like FratMen. Granted, the guys are beyond phenomenal, but (with the exception of FMSucks) it’s all j/o stuff. It might be a relatively smaller market, but I don’t think it’s dead. I get emails from members saying they actually prefer the solos. One just emailed saying he was glad there aren’t hardcore/anal scenes on SW… too much for him. I think there’s still room for solos, IMO.[/QUOTE]
I got to say that SpunkWorthy converts exceptionally well for me. I’m glad you stuck with doing solo’s and not gotten tempted into mixing in other things.
There are a few forums, communities and groups that are totally dedicated to j/o. And a lot of the men who are members of those groups don’t identify as gay, or even bi. They’re not into anal, and many are not even into oral either. There are a lot of guys who are just into jerking off and seeing other guys enjoying it and sharing it.
I actually completed a lot of research on this subject before working on B8M8Network, reading up on the work and research of Kinsey and Shere Hite. One of the things I am certain of is that male masturbation is a significant fetish for men regardless of their identified sexuality. It’s the first sexual act men engage in, and there have been statistics in the past that indicate up to 80% of men have engaged in mutual masturbation with other men. It seems logical that the act of jerking off would become a fetish for many because of it being such a common act.
If we think back to when we were younger, before we even knew about our own sexuality, how many of us jerked off over pussy mags with a friend?
Now that porn is so readily available - especially j/o videos on tube sites - the lines between sexuality are blurring more and more. I think it’s more accurate to say that the majority of all men are bisexual to a degree, with varying limits. I think it’s always been the case that bisexuality is probably the more prevalent sexual label, but now that guys can see that they are not unusual in their love of seeing other guys jerking it, they are more accepting of it without feeling they have to make a statement about their sexuality.
It would be interesting to know how guys who are members of sites like SpunkWorthy identify themselves. I think we would be surprised to see how many of them actually identify as straight/curious.
[QUOTE=conran;111786]
It would be interesting to know how guys who are members of sites like SpunkWorthy identify themselves. I think we would be surprised to see how many of them actually identify as straight/curious.[/QUOTE]
I was actually going to mention something along those lines. Obviously, there’s no way I can know for sure, but I do get the feeling that there’s a significant number of guys who do consider themselves straight or just curious who join the site. Voyeuristic straight guys, I believe. And gay guys, of course… but the ones who don’t want things to get “too gay” (whatever that means.) I worked with a straight guy once who was just really into cumshots and found himself watching gay solo porn sometimes… safe within his sexual boundaries, but provided the right button to get him off in the end.
Yes, it’s hard to figure this stuff out sometimes. When I worked in a brick and mortar video store, we had a lot of lesbians renting gay porn because they liked the hot sex without all the make-up, finger nails, and “take my cock, bitch” stuff.
I’m thinking of recompiling all the research data I have from previous surveys. Would anyone here be interested in that? I originally produced it for the B8M8Network guys in an e-book format, so it’s really quite blunt and written in a way to suit the community. But I really think there is some fascinating data that could be relevant to marketing.
For instance, there were questions put to respondents about the kinds of porn they watch, with a lot of guys who identify as straight choosing to watch a guy jacking off rather than a girl solo…
A little snap shot -
First question was about self-identified sexuality - 69.67% identified as heterosexual.
Asked about whether straight guys can have sexual fetishes for cock etc - 91.41% said yes
Can a guy give another guy pleasure without either being considered gay - 81.44% said yes
31.26% of all respondents think they are more open-minded and experimental than other men, while a lower 19.20% think most men are like them.
It’s interesting to see that while a lot of guys actually think the same way when it comes to male/male activities, most also think they are in a minority.
It would take a little working, but if anyone is interested in getting a copy of the data I’ll see what I can do. I might get together all the things I think are important to marketing and make it available as a separate e-book.
It should be pointed out that these were raw surveys, not professionally managed or carefully controlled to suit a genuine cross-section of society. Most guys responding to it would have come from porn blogs, forums and groups - predisposed to adult content, but still self-identifying.
Anyway, let me know if anyone is interested in it by PM, and if I get enough requests for more info I’ll compile it.
Seriously! I was friends with a lesbian couple who LOVED watching Bel Ami gay porn. Why? “Cos it’s so sweet and sensual.” Go figure that one out.
Of course, at the same time my boyfriend and I were watching straight porn together. Twisted little world, this sexuality thing.
And, yea… Conran… stats would be sooo entertaining if you have them. The nerdy scientist in me wants to know.
Solo scenes or even 2 guys on a couch but not sucking each other, just seeing the guys looking over at the other while jacking off is IMO more stimulating to the mind and overall fantasizing.
The “supposedly” straight guy (whether he is or not) is still more in the realm of “can’t touch this” in the mind… it heightens the sense of desire. And when watching a solo scene, it leaves the viewer to explore and indulge in his own personal fantasy.
