A few weeks ago I wrote an article about how AdultRevenueService.com, the affiliate program in charge of smut cams (Cams.Smut.com) changed their payout options for affiliates by removing the per free cam signup option and only offering a payout of $75 to each webmaster who referred a new active account.
This was scary considering I’ve been promoting “free” cams on my sites for the better part of a decade. Now, I had no free cam options. I had to go along with this new payout and see what happened. I was scared this change would lead to me getting a “real” job.
Cam sales have been pretty low for me overall this year, the worst in the past 7 years. It’s rather depressing to see my old stats from years like 2003 and 2005 where I had frequent sales days of $300+ and when one of my free cam sponsors had a bonus day, I would make over $1,000 easily. Some days out of the year I would make $2,000+ because I could convert my free traffic so easily, I would reach ridiculous payout threshoulds set by the sponsor and make $100, $150, even $200/free cam signup. Those days are gone.
I’ve been waiting for the traffic this moneth to even out so I could compare the conversion ratios of the free signups ($40) and the active signups ($75) to see just how bad it was. To my surprise, the new $75/active smut cams member is converting 25% better! Yes, there is hope. Here’s a screenshot of those stats. This is in September, 2009. click to enlarge it.
With tube sites, stealing content and the traffic that wants to view it, I’ve watched my sites’ traffic simply plummit. My conversion ratios are way off, and now I’m actually seeking out new ideas to make money. Before, all I had to do was make a new cam site or a new niche site, write a bunch of good articles or setup a thumbnail gallery with original, hand-written descriptions, and watch the cash roll in. Not Anymore.
So, with Smut Cams paying out $75/paying member, I am, thankfully, still making money. I’ve always felt AdultRevenueService has never shaved sales so even if they’re struggling, I don’t think I have to worry about not being paid for sales.
I think I’ve figured out, through changing my splash pages, that the potential cam customer, who you NEED to spend at least once, needs to completely understand what he’s signing up for. Otherwise, you’re going to see hits and no sales. If you want to make money with Smut Cams, you need to tell your surfer that he/she will be signing up with their credit card to verify their age and setup their account and that they are receiving $20 of credits to be used just as credits that have been paid for can be used. From there, you’ll need to let the team behind Smut Cams take over and get them to come back to the site (via relentless promo emals) and spend. That’s when you’ll get paid.
I’ve tried out a lot of cam sites and I must admit, Smut Cams is the nicest. It’s actually the only cam site that will convert traffic for me right now. I’m going to continue promoting them while trying to figure out how to generate more traffic and to improve on my conversion ratios. There’s really no reason why an adult webmaster shouldn’t promote Smut Cams.
