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Pictures from Exxotica Miami

May 25, 2011 By 2 Comments

Exxxotica Miami was a lot of fun. I schmoozed with a bunch of gorgeous porn stars and saw some things that might make you blush if I mention them. The Tweet Dirty to Me panel I did with Pete Housely from Pornstar Tweet and Michael Fattorosi was great.

Here are some of the pictures I took…I hope you enjoy!

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18 Tips to Rock Any Conference

May 16, 2011 By 1 Comment

Exxotica Expo Miami18 Tips to Rock Any Conference

  1. Drink in Moderation. At adult conferences drinking is as much a part of the social business as the social business. Most people start drinking by early afternoon and don’t stop until late night. If you are trying to do some business make sure to drink a lot of water between the alcohol. You are there for business and need to make sure you keep your head about you.
  2. Go to Bed. There are tons of parties.  I mean tons. Everyone has them and you will be invited. But you are there to do business. Though some business will happen at the parties, most will happen during the day.  So go to the parties, socialize with everyone and then make sure to get to bed at a reasonable time. You don’t have to stay at the party all night to make your social presence known.
  3. Collect Business Cards. Ask for them.  Get as many as you can. Do not try to remember who they are, and who they are with, and think that you’ll just look it up later. If someone does not offer their card, be sure to request one.  If they don’t have one, give them one of yours, or ask them to write their information on a scrap of paper or the back of another card.
  4. Give your card to everyone. Give it to every person you meet. You never know who might be a great connection for you.  Bring more cards than think you will need, and hand them out like candy!
  5. Call me! If someone wants you to send them information, or wishes to talk to you more in depth about something, ask them to email you later. Request that they mention what you are discussing in the subject line. It might feel awkward to do this, but they won’t mind.  Plus it gives them an easy intro to connect with you via email.
  6. Take Notes. When someone gives you their card, make notes of the conversation as soon as you’ve finished it. If the conversation is generic, then make a note of what the person looks like. This will refresh your memory when you follow-up with them later.
  7. Know your purpose. Are you there to meet people to help your business? Meet people who can help your career? Grow your network of connections? Get people familiar with you? Work on personal branding? Or generally be at the right place at the right time?Make sure you know why you are there, because that will affect how you meet people.  You always want to have your agenda first, otherwise you will not get the value out of the venue.
  8. Work your angle. Now that you have established why you are there, make sure that you are putting your agenda first in all conversations.  If you want to grow your social networking, get people’s twitters and tweet them from your phone. If you are pushing a product, start a conversation and make a segue to talk about the product.  Make sure that despite all the glitz and glam you always have your agenda at the forefront.
  9. Know your pitch. A lot of times when you are networking with people they will ask you why you are there and what you do.  Make sure you have a succinct response that answers their question and opens up the topic for conversation. End your pitch with a question that ropes them into further conversation.
  10. Have a plan. Know in advance whom you want to meet (directly or the type of people), which speakers you want to hear, and what tradeshow booths you want to visit.
  11. Set appointments in advance. If you know that there will be people that you would like to see, call or email a weeks in advance to schedule a time to meet up. Do not just plan to “run into them” because it might not happen. And then if it does, you might not actually be able to talk.
  12. Do not focus on meeting the celebrity speakers. While meeting famous authors, speakers, and other gurus is fun, you are one of hundreds who will come up to them and shove a card in their hands. Better to meet the other people going to their talks. You can make some great connections that way.
  13. Talk to the people sitting next to you. When you walk into a seminar, take the time before the presentation begins to say hello to the people seated around you. You are there to network and meet people, so just start off with a simple hello.
  14. Ask questions of people you meet. Never lead with your “elevator pitch”. People are more interested in themselves than they are in you, so ask them questions to help them get to talking.
  15. Put your technology away. Do not run to your phone, BlackBerry, or laptop at every break. When you are working on electronics you send the message that you are unapproachable because you are busy. Utilize the time on breaks to converse with others. If you need to get on your tech, plan some time away from everyone to do what you need to do.
  16. Do not automatically send a LinkedIn or Facebook request. So often people immediately send social networking link requests to people they just met. However, different people have different policies about whom they link with. If they believe in only connecting with those whom they have established relationships, you make it awkward if you send them a link too early (which they then ignore). Instead, when you send them a follow up email, offer your LinkedIn or Facebook and give them the option to follow you. Immediately following them on Twitter is okay, as Twitter does not require a mutual connection acceptance.
  17. Read their stuff. Many people are active bloggers, twitterers, authors, etc. If people are posting online, take a second to read their work, look at their tweets or check out their website. It is a great ice breaker when you send your follow up email.
  18. Introduce others. When you meet great people, make sure to introduce them to other great people. Be generous with your connections. Don’t worry about what you will get out of it, because your generosity might end up in some business.

 

Filed Under: 7 Veils, Adult Industry Tagged With: , , , ,

@ATTC – The Business Cards of Porn

May 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

ATCC LogoI first met the Adult Trading Card Company on Twitter. Like many of the people I meet, we become friends because we tweet back and forth. I liked their tweets and appreciated how engaged they were with their tweeps. At the Adult Expo I finally got a chance to meet the man behind the tweets.  It was like a long lost reunion. I saw their booth and said “ATC” they said, “Yes”. I said, “I’m 7 Veils” and then we slow motion ran towards one another and embraced. Ok, that last part didn’t really happen like that, but we were both really excited to finally meet each other.

Since then we have continued to tweet.  As a girl who use to collect baseball cards and get the players autographs, I love trading cards. These are great cards. They are an excellent way to promote your image and make it as easy as a business card to pass around.  I am going to be using the ATCC trading cards for many of my Feature Friday Photos!

 

Mariah Chase ATCC card

Friday Feature Photo: The voluptuous Mariah Chase featured on her ATCC trading card.

JP Berkman started the ATCC in 2010, after seeing talent hit the convention circuit selling 8x10s that were a waste of money for the fans and performers—they cost the performers too much money and once the fan got them home, they would realize (whether married or single) that the 8×10′s would end up in a box in the garage or the trash. Out of this, ATCC™ was born—it all started with female performers like Lizz Tayler, Tara Lynn Foxx, Sophie Dee, Aurora Snow, Debi Diamond, Mary Carey and many more who were ordering cards from him and selling them at conventions and signings and on their websites. The trading cards are collectable and are small enough to carry around in your back pocket or wallet. What makes these cards truly unique are the girls’ stats and fun facts on the back—you really get to learn about the girls. In 2011, ATCC™ is branching out into a new market with their retail cards featuring a wide variety of the top names and brightest newcomers that will soon be hitting Adult stores, magazines stands and comic book stores—pretty much everywhere! These are the trading cards your mother warned you about and you will want to be on our team. Soon, Adult Trading Card Company™ cards will be the industry standard and replace 8x10s…forever.

 

ATCC has changed the trading card and Adult business in less than a year. JP Berkman started the company in 2010 and sold the cards directly to the talent. The girls sold the cards at conventions, on their sites and at signings. In 2011, he is rolling out a retail line of cards. Thirty girls will be part of the pack, but over 100 girls have been photographed. The names of the 30 girls won’t be revealed until the cards street—but, there will be something for everyone and more than one girl to love. The pack will feature five random cards and a sample of Wet Lube (one of the sponsors). Some of the packs will have a card personally signed by one of the 30 girls—and we’re pretty sure guys (and girls) will be buying multiple packs. The retail packs are set to make their premiere in July and the anticipation is growing. Look for ATCC at a local convention in the future—JP  will have some of the girls in the packs signing. With a thriving wholesale and soon to be a retail company, JP Berkman is on top of his game and has a product that is quickly becoming the industry standard. You heard it here first.

For more information, visit the ATCC website,  www.adulttradingcardcompany.com and follow JP’s adventures on Twitter at @ATCCompany.

Filed Under: Adult Industry Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How Sticky are You?

May 6, 2011 By 1 Comment
Naked Woman covered in chocolate holding a strawberry

Is your website just sticky or does it have audience loyalty? Social media builds trust.

Have you seen the recent study was showing that SEO was better at building sticky traffic than social media?. I believe this. When you go to Google and search for a site, you intend to spend time on that site. You are looking for it, and the search engine helps you find it. Boom…sticky.

Social media is not a tool for click-throughs, though you will get them.  It is not a tool for sales, though you will make them. It is not a tool to drive traffic, though you will do that.  Social media is a tool to build relationships with your audience.

This is more than click-throughs and short-term sales. This is more than singular traffic.

When you build a relationship with your audience you are creating:

  • Brand recognition
  • Loyalty
  • Positive customer service
  • Authority
  • Lifetime traffic
  • Trust

“The best part of relationships is they are protectable assets. When someone likes you, trusts you or finds you credible, it’s very hard to take that away.” -Why Social Media Matters

Relationships take time, and this is where studies that look at traffic sources and declare that SEO is more effective fail. They are looking at the one time click.  They are not looking at the lifetime business relationship.

Relationships are based on multiple experiences. They are built from a history of experiences and exposure. The formula is simple; the more you interact the deeper the relationship. And because the company view is built off this relationship, one bad review or blog post is not going to be able to sully that reputation.  Because your reputation is built from interpersonal relationships, it will not be tarnished by anonymous slander.

Yes, SEO is a wonderful tool that everyone should use. However, you are not comparing apples to apples when you compare SEO to social media.  SEO looks at searches. Social media looks at relationships. And let’s face it, when you really like a brand because you tweet and Facebook with them, you don’t need to search for their website because you already know their domain (and studies can’t identify how much direct traffic came from social media followers…yet).

 

Filed Under: 7 Veils, Adult Industry, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

SEO vs. Social Media: The Traffic Throw Down

May 4, 2011 By 1 Comment

Click-throughs and stickiness are two paramount issues for web businesses. Click-throughs are the number of people who click on a link, and stickiness is the amount of time someone stays on your site.  There is always contradictory information about the issues of sticky click-throughs and social media.  Some people say that social media is not as good as traditional SEO.  Some people say that it is better.  I am here to tell you that they are both right.

Xbiz just posted a story reporting that social media generates less traffic than search. When you dig deeper, the breakdown is not as simple as that. There was a huge variance according to industry.  For instance, the study showed that 42% of new visitors to news sites came from social media, but for sports sites it was only 5%. Overall search traffic still dominated the majority of unique visitor traffic, however social media unique visitor traffic, while only 11%, was on the rise.

What Xbiz did not highlight was that the study was not specifically related to Adult, and it does not have any figures that highlight the trends in Adult Industry. It was a look at all web traffic to all kinds of sites.

The study was conducted by Outbrain, a company which provides widgets to publishers, designed to keep readers on their sites longer. What the study also published was the chart of the top traffic sources for websites:

Top 20 Traffic Sources from Outbrain

Notice that Facebook is in the top 5 and Twitter is in the top 10.

What they also did not tell you is there is no mention at all of the Adult Industry. In fact, when you look at the findings it actually looks unlikely that they considered Adult entertainment at all.

Does this make the study irrelevant to Adult? No. It is still relevant to some extent – what it does tell you is that SEO is still an important aspect for creating a strong web presence.  In fact, SEO is relevant for social media as well.  Social media is about relationships; SEO is about clicks.

Filed Under: 7 Veils, Adult Industry, Facebook & Twitter, Social Media, Technology Tagged With: , ,

The Reluctant Pornstar

April 29, 2011 By 3 Comments
Elli Nude

Friday Feature Photo: The Sexy Canadian Red-Head, Elli from Ellinude.com

I recently came across an interesting blog, The Reluctant Pornstar. As you can imagine, I was immediately intrigued.  I wondered if it was a blog by a pornstar chronicling her journey through porn, or maybe someone who did erotic photography and was being stigmatized. Perhaps it was a feminist blog about the objectification of women?  What I immediately loved was that I did not know what to expect. What the blog does demonstrate is the power of a good title.

Branding is everything. You can make or break your business and career through it. What this brand made me do was dive into her site so I could learn more.

I discovered that Elli, the Reluctant Pornstar herself, is an adult star. Though, as she will be the first to tell you, she does not identify as one. She has a website that features photos, videos, and webcam of her engaging in sexual acts. Though they mirror a lot of the traditional amateur porn sites, Elli has set herself apart by her non-porn activity.  Besides blogging, she also posts photo essays about everyday life, gardening tips and cooking videos (well, there are also erotic stories).

I have spoken about the importance of being yourself in your branding. Your personality is your biggest asset, and Elli has created a great franchise based around hers.  She is sexy and flirty, a little geeky, witty and generally playful.

Elli NudeSome examples of her reluctant pornstar side, and some of my favorite parts of her website, are her playful videos, like “Flip and Squish Eggs” or “Morning Bum”. I think I like that one because it is so distinctly Canadian.

Elli’s blogs range from everyday life in Vancouver to sexy videos and some of her more salacious exploits. Regardless of the content, they are all distinctly her.

She became the Friday Feature because I wanted to give you an example of how being yourself can be integral to the creation of your personal branding. Elli is able to attract a wide audience because her branding is so unique. The blog allows her to capture both an Adult, and non-adult audience.  Why would you want to capture an audience not looking for Adult content?  Well, if someone likes your blog, and they know that you produce adult content, there is a chance that they will be curious about it. You are more likely to get a longer term subscriber if you capture them with more than just a sexy vid or provocative picture.  If they like YOU then you become the substance behind your product.

Make sure you check out Ellinude.com and follow Eli on Twitter @ElliGirl

Filed Under: 7 Veils, Adult Industry, Feature Photo Friday, Social Media Tagged With: , ,

From Hoarders to Whoreders

April 27, 2011 By 1 Comment
Jaime Pressly

Jaime Pressly both funny and sexy

When it comes to movies, almost everyone loves a good parody, whether it be porn or mainstream.  The reason parodies are so great is because they trade on the cultural capital that already exists and then add a whole new level of humor. Sex parodies are even better, because now you are not only adding humor, you are adding sex.

The newest parody, Whoreders, has been released. It is a spoof of the show Hoarders on A&E. But where Hoarders is a depressing show about a serious mental illness, Whoreders is a funny movie about, well…hoarding whores.

As you can imagine, the Twitterverse is filling up with very funny tweets involving this play on words.  But what this really brings to our attention is this:

People love humor.

People love sex.

Ergo, people love funny sex!

This is a truism that can be taken to the bank!… as Whoreders is probably doing.

Lessons for social media

  • Stop trying to be so serious. Lighten up. People get tired of serious.
  • Be funny. Funny is sexy. More often than not people fail at sexy and succeed at being boring or drab.  Instead of trying to be sexy all the time, shake it up a bit and relax. Throw a joke or two into the mix.  Sometimes being  funny is sexier than just being sexy…look at Jaime Pressly
  • Capitalizing on the popularity of something else is a great way to grow your network and engagement. If something is popular, talk about it.  Talking about different topics also helps you seem more diverse.  Plenty of people only talk about sex or their next web show and it just gets dull. Don’t box yourself in. Be multidimensional. Your followers will pay more attention and in turn you will get more clicks.
Filed Under: 7 Veils, Adult Industry, Social Media Tagged With: , ,

Expose Yourself on Video!

April 25, 2011 By 1 Comment

Sexy Adult YoutubeVideo is one of the best ways to use social media. Of course, this is not news for the Adult Industry, however some of the popular content might surprise you.

Though we all love a great porn clip, the reality is we can’t really share that with a lot of people. It is unlikely that I will post it on Facebook, in part because I could get my account deleted. I am not very likely to retweet it, unless I am in the Adult Industry. I am probably not going to email it to everyone I know.  The lesson is simple – content can be limiting.

No one knows what will go viral and what won’t.  Many times a video goes viral because a few influential people saw it and shared it.  But shy of being able to get Conan O’Brien to post your video on Twitter, it is hard to know what will be the next laughing quadruplets or sneezing panda. However, your video doesn’t have to go viral to get great exposure.

Going viral is an issue of popularity (and influence)

Oftentimes, getting a video to go viral is a matter of getting the right person to share it – someone who has both popularity and influence. Once an influential person gives the video social proof by sharing it, then the power of popularity takes over.

Keep in mind that just because a video gets a million views on YouTube, this does not mean that the originators of the video are making any money or getting people to go to their website. No one may know who they are.  They do have the potential to capitalize on the popularity of their video and use it to promote their agenda.  But one of the issues with viral videos is that the original host does not usually remain the only host. In fact, other people posting and sharing the video is the essential element of the viral process. So, even if you placed your website at the beginning or end of the video, if it goes viral it is possible that your info will get edited out.

Great exposure does not have to be viral

This is where influence becomes more important than popularity.  To get exposure for your content you need to make sure that your followers and fans will share it. The chain is simple; I share a video with my followers then they share the video with their friends.

It is called the x250 Rule:

I have 250 friends and they have 250 friends= 250 x 250 = 62,500 people

Though many of us have more than 250 friends or followers, not all of them will share your content. But every person you show your content to has the potential to show it to their friends (who might share it with their friends, and so on). Your video might not go viral in the usual sense, but you can still share it with tens of thousands people!

Make sure your content is sharable

Creating adult content that is universally sharable often means taking the “Adult” out of the content.  However, the content can be as simple as a video blog, filming behind the scenes of your movie shoot, taking some funny home video, etc.  Basically, content that shows your personality. Showing something out of the ordinary is a great way to make it personal and appealing.

Filed Under: 7 Veils, Adult Industry, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

Who you are can make you famous!

April 22, 2011 By 3 Comments
Adult Star and pro-wrestler April Hunter

Feature Friday Photo: The sexy and delectable April Hunter

These days, with everyone who has an Internet connection going online and being content creators, it is getting harder and harder for adult stars to set themselves apart. Finding a niche is vital to separating yourself from the crowd. If there were a magic formula to this, everyone would do it. The trick is to look inside yourself and find that thing that sets you apart and then essentially exploit it.

Finding your thing is the key to success in everything. You have to find what you are good at and then run with it.  The hardest part is committing to it, and taking the time to build your skills and proficiency in your natural talent.

In certain ways the Internet makes it easy to make yourself seem unique and different. A nice website, some good photography and a good copy editor and you can create the illusion of an interesting persona. However, social media busts this personal mythos.

When you use social media, you are actually talking to people. So even if you try to maintain an inventive personality, at some point your real self comes out.  Finding a niche that separates you from the pack needs to come from you.

Many people think this means you need to have a special skill or talent. But this is not true; a niche can be anything from the talkative sweet girl-next-door type whose main skill is chatting you up on Twitter, to the dominatrix who will only talk to you if you say please.  It can truly be anything, but make sure that it is really you.

This week’s Friday Photo features April Hunter.  She has found a niche that is true to herself and is blowing it up!  I was originally going to write a post about the power of YouTube for non-viral video marketing. But now you will have to wait until Monday to read that post. April inspired me to write about the importance of being true to yourself and distinguishing yourself through your own personal niche.

Adult star and pro-wrestler April Hunter

April has created a dynamic career based on her interests. Starting off as a dancer, she realized this was not enough; it wasn’t bringing her the career satisfaction or potential advancement she wanted. So she got into fitness modeling, then became a pro-wrestler.  Now as an adult star, she is all of it and more!

On Twitter she is a great tweep to chat with. Her content is funny and engaging. She shares great pics from her life, and is also really easy to talk to. Her site really shows her passions and her specialty.

In short, April has done an exceptional job of turning her interest into her niche and that niche into a career.

Make sure you visit April’s website: www.aprilhunter.com and chat her up on Twitter @AprilHunter

The takeaway: To set yourself apart, you need to be yourself.

Filed Under: 7 Veils, Adult Industry, Feature Photo Friday, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Facebook lets you evict your fans!

April 20, 2011 By 1 Comment
Sexy fans

Are your fans enthusiastic or crazy spammers?

Facebook has added a great new feature for Fan Pages, the ability to unlike a page or person.  Are spammers plaguing your Fan Page? Do you have fans who post inappropriate content? Now you can do something about it besides just deleting the post.

In February, Facebook made some big changes. One of them was allowing Fan Pages the ability to like other Fan Pages.

Well, some pages started Liking pages and then posting inappropriate content on their wall. The page could remove the content, but they could not do anything about the page that Liked them. So they were being left open to more spam, plus they were also getting associated with these pages by being listed on their Likes. So, for example, if a hate group Liked your page, you would be listed on their page among the pages they Liked. With the Fan Page’s ability to set their featured page, you might even be a featured Like, displayed prominently on their sidebar.

Facebook now allows Fan Pages to remove a Like from their page. You can “unlike” them, even ban someone so they will not be able to post or otherwise interact with your page.

This new feature doesn’t just let you kick people off your page, it will also help you engage better. You can now sort your fans by people and pages, so you can see everyone who Liked your page. This gives you more opportunity to interact with other pages and deepen your Facebook relationships.

Keep in mind, if you are posting content on other people’s pages, you can now be removed. If you get banned by pages, you might also risk catching the attention of Facebook and getting deleted from Facebook for spam. So when you post on another Fan Page wall, make sure it is quality engagement and not spam.

Filed Under: 7 Veils, Adult Industry, Facebook & Twitter, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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