Re: best tips for creating a free site?
Yes, the exact same template.
The problem I see with most templates is that they lack the attention to detail and crispness that I think is important.
I’ll give you a couple of examples. When I look at warning pages with 35 recip thumbs in all different sizes, flashing and static, and I just think, “God, that looks like a dog’s breakfast.” If I think that, what does the surfer think. It immediately reflects on what the surfer can expect inside. So, I make recip text tables that look neater and they’re easily to read. And marcjacob says he gets nice traffic from my recips, so I guess they work alright.
I looked at a template the other day. The webmaster had put a few rows of thumbs on a page and then off on the right he slapped up a couple of odd sized banners for the sponsor. There was no rhyme or reason, no thought put into how it looked or if it matched the rest of the page. They were just there looking odd.
As I said before, I think that the problem most people have with their templates is that they’re not designed very well. And I really wonder if the bad results people are getting are because surfers don’t like templates, or they don’t feel like surfing ugly ones. FHGs and blogs all follow a template, so do paysites for that matter. So to say that surfers don’t like templates is a bit erroneous. I think surfers don’t like bad design. I’d love to see the templates that some of these naysayers are using. I’m not going to take anyone’s word on anything until I see what they’re using. I see a lot of crap submitted every day to Gay Porn Pig and I’m not surprised if surfers aren’t buying off those templates.
I don’t design templates for other webmasters, or I haven’t anyway. I think my templates require a bit more work than most webmasters are willing to put into a freesite. I create on average 8 custom graphics for each freesite, then prep the photos and create the thumbs, then write some text, and customize the links. Most don’t seem to do that much.
Now, I don’t get 25 sales in three weeks for every freesite I create. There are plenty that just don’t do that well. But I think it has more to do with the content than the template. The super seller has excellent content, nice big pictures, hot guys, and lots of big dicks. And the surfers seem to like this particular site. I used the same template for Blake Mason and got a couple of sales. In Blake Mason’s case I think it’s the screen grab content that is the problem. I’ve used Pride Bucks content with mediocre to good results, but I think that’s because they pay PPS and are heavily promoted so they’re everywhere. I can sell Men Over 30 and Extra Big Dicks using that template, but I couldn’t sell Circle Jerk Boys to save my life. I do alright with UK Naked Men, too. Not amazing, but enough that it’s worth the effort. I tried a bareback sponsor and initial results were sluggish, but the final result was great. I tried Hot House, which has great content and got nothing. I wouldn’t dream of putting freesites for Men at Play or any Gunz Blazing program … beautiful sites and content, but I get hundreds of galleries and freesites for these guys every month. One webmaster submits about 10 MAP sites a day.
I’ve tried two tests with my super seller and both times I got the same results. About 6 - 8 freesites netted me about 25 sales in a three week period. I’m just about to try another round, but I’m confident I’ll get the same results.
The problem with this discussion is that there are so many variables in selling on a freesite.
If you have a good or bad template, but write a lousy description …
Is your template attractive?
Is the sponsor over exposed or heavily promoted?
Is your come-on text good enough?
Do you craftily word your enter link on your warning page so one whips the surfer off to the site and the other gets him into the content? Deception doesn’t always work like you think it will.
What’s the quality of the content?
What happens when he surfer gets to the site?
When I first started doing freesites I went crazy. I designed a template and promoted Muscle Hunks because they had great content. I didn’t get a single sale for six weeks. I was driving Lloyd crazy … ask him. When I changed sponsors I started seeing sales. I think I tried UK Naked Men next and did well. They really kept me in the freesite game because my Muscle Hunk experience was sending me to the door to find something else to do.
The other thing to remember is that the marketplace is constantly shifting and changing. Remember AVS when you could put ONE picture on a page and say, “Buy this.” There are still webmasters out there who are only willing to do that much work to make an AVS sale and then when they don’t they say, “AVS is dead.” Same thing with freesites. Maybe templates didn’t work four years, maybe they work better now, but they won’t work tomorrow. Too many webmaster get caught in what didn’t work once when they tried it, or what used to work and doesn’t anymore, and then they spout off about it every time the subject comes up. (I’m just speaking generally here, not to basschick specifically.) Then people start believing what they’re saying.
I have been one of those people. I can’t sell a TGP membership to save my life. I’ve tried, I’ve given it a six month go. Nothing I did worked. I don’t know why. TGPs just do not sell in my experience. But plenty of people are making money on them. But if you listened to me you might miss out on some good money.
All you can do is experiment.
Michael