The forest of c4s
I often hear critics say that no one truly successful would reveal their secrets. In fact, people say that you should not reveal your secrets in business, which is true in some cases. We all run a business on clips4sale: A clipstore with store management, administration, product development and creation, marketing, customer support and much more. However, I think that clips4sale is more like a wonderful forest. Each studio is a plant and the customers and visitors can walk around in it. The more stores, the more variety, value, nurture, recreation, satisfaction, paths, plants and unique things to look at and enjoy.
Top stores are like big trees, reaching high into the sky, blocking sunlight for the plants below, attracting the visitor’s view most easily. Not every top store is a tree. There are plants that live in colonies and spread out wide, getting sunlight from the spots in between the big trees. There are small flowers so beautiful and unique that a visitor can’t help to stop and look at them. There are a lot of weeds. You get the idea.
For that wonderful forest to stay attractive and expand, we need all the plants and we need a lot of wonderful variety: Unique flowers, herbs, berries, bushes, mushrooms and trees. New stores are like seeds landing in our forest. They could become anything and if we nurture them, they might become something great to look at, pleasing the visitor and having them come back. They increase the variety and size, the possibilities.
My perspective, my “secrets”
So I don’t think sharing my secrets is a negative thing in this environment. Sure, trees like mine might pop up right in front of me and take my sunlight, start to grow. But once we are a bunch of high trees, pushing each other further up, we could become the attraction of the forest. A plant might settle not far from me and grow so beautifully, that visitors especially like our location better.
From that perspective, my perspective, I will tell you about the secrets of my tree.
Continuity
When my tree grows bigger, it’s more noticeable and there is more to look at. It’s also important to see that I have grown or changed since the last visit, because otherwise I am just “that tree again”. So I try to post new clips daily and change my store’s appearance from time to time. Not as much that they don’t recognize me, but I might change the colors of my leaves. There is always something about me. Don’t stop. Either update, make clips, do marketing, but don’t stop. Not for a day. If you have to, schedule ahead. If you are forced to stop for several days, plan your re-launch carefully. Get the momentum going. If you do well, don’t stop. If you do bad, don’t stop. Just don’t stop. If you do, you won’t become the biggest tree.
Marketing
I post ads in the local newspaper about my tree and thanks to social media, people all around the world have heard about me.
A website
My tree actually has a website where people can learn more about it, look at it without visiting and even interact with it. People love that special bond with my tree and the website even attracts visitors that get excited about my tree first and then decide to visit it for real. You can get an easy website with WordPress. My host is adult friendly and personal. They respond fast and go way beyond normal service. I heard their prices are a little higher, but I can’t really confirm that nor do I care. It just works. Hosting has to work so don’t go with the cheapest, go with the most suitable and reliable. Definitely go with an adult friendly host or you might have to start over one day. And definitely check out… *filler* … (a site I am going to add here once it’s launched. It’s pretty awesome.)
social media
Some birds fly out far across the country and sing about my tree. No one really hears them, but it’s a fun gimmick.
Had it, didn’t do anything good, then got banned and didn’t even notice for a week. It was not nice because I quickly had 1000+ “friends” and they posted comments that would surely get you banned. Found out that there is no mass-removal tool for friends. In fact, facebook actively hunts down and kills off companies and websites who provide a tool to mass-unfriend. It’s against their policy. Why? It’s part of their strategy to catch you in their social web of endless advertising and they make sure you don’t leave that community too easily.
tumblr, vk.com, reddit
I regularly take pictures of my tree and put them on the internet with directions on how to find me in the forest. That way, if people like my tree and want to visit, they know what to look for. My tumblr gets about 1/4 of the hits of my c4s store and as much as my website. Many of them click on the link to my store. Few of them become customers, but it’s something. I just started vk.com, not really sure if it’s a good idea. I have a negative feeling about it because of clip stealing, but it’s so huge that I wanted to try.
tubes, xvideos, xhamster, pornhub
People stream viewing at parts of my tree. Some like it and check the directions, some continue to visit me. Big tube sites that allow producer accounts or links to your studio can be worth it. I have not posted to pornhub or xhamster in months. I use xvideos a few times a year and it always gives a traffic spike. Really brings more sales that day (even less, because there is a free video to get off to) but in the case of xvideos, you can earn money. See my protected articles in the dark room menu item.
fetlife, forums like xnxx, specialized fetish forums from my niche, youtube, imagefap, sex story sites
I talk with people and sometimes the topic of my tree comes up, makes them excited.
Other clipsites
There are some other, smaller forests where I have plants growing. Better said sitting around. I have a few other stores just for fun. Started them with the idea that I could earn significantly more, but pretty much all of them did not work for me. So I post the odd clip and earn 99% on clips4sale.
c4s internal promotion
Well the forest actually does some marketing for it’s plants as well. Put up your banner in the rotation, get interviewed for the c4s blog, get mentioned on twitter, tumblr, become a featured store. Ask c4s support about the options.
Timing
When I know groups of visitors are likely to come, like in the evening on a warm, sunny day, I see that my tree looks especially beautiful and enticing. I update around 1-5pm. Beautiful sunrises at 2am can attract a lot of people as well. Many people like to visit the forest on weekends, but it’s very crowded then and they don’t enjoy each individual plant as much. That is why insiders go on Monday. Since our forest is old and huge, a lot of people consider themselves insiders. You can get detailed information about your visitors when you implement google analytics and use the built in Sales and Stats tabs in your c4s admin. In google analytics, use the hourly graph to see when most visitors come to your store. If you have been updating at 11am then don’t wonder about the peak at 11-12. You made that yourself. If any other spike is higher, go for that. It’s higher than the time when you got exposure from posting a clip, so it might be a good spot.
Control
When several small trees around me manifest, I observe them. I also stroll through the forest and observe unique plants, impressive trees and small newcomers. A stroll can get your mind free and let you be creative. I watch what the other stores in my top categories are doing and react accordingly. If a studio publishes some great clips that dominate the top lists, I might reconsider publishing an especially awesome clip until their effect wears off. I might figure that it’s best to publish clips from a totally different sub-category for a while or I might come to the conclusion that it’s now or never, and I DO publish that especially awesome clip to break their momentum. Nothing your “competitors” do hurts as much as them publishing a great clip that you just have to appreciate. If another studio starts flooding the category with updates, I consider my strategy. Do I post a short but awesome clip that will sell many times due to the low price, possibly taking a higher spot in the top list than the flooding studio’s clips (because when you post 10 clips a day, each one is less likely to sell a lot of times. It’s a quantity above quality approach)? Or do I have the resources to out-flood them with even better clips? Study their patterns, picking my spots. I always observe. If a studio is flooding the category with awesome clips, that would obviously be intense and hard to break. I strive to be that studio, but I don’t want to over-pace. If there are no other updates in the category for a day and I have the most recent spot, do I overwrite myself to get more exposure from the main page? Do I skip a day? Do I prepare a clip so I can hit “activate” the moment someone else posts on top of me?
Always observe and act accordingly.
Content
I am just a tree, right. My content does not change much. But I have some pretty impressive branches and fun holes to look at. My bark shows marks and… okay you know what? Try some longer clips. There are categories absolutely not suited for this, which happens to be mine. Categories that are about an act that does not take more than a few seconds and that you can’t repeat as often as you want. Like peeing, sneezing, farting crying or laughing. Sure, you can cut something together, essentially making several clips to sell as one, having a lot more work. However, you won’t have an easy time making a 30+ minute clip in between the routine of regular (daily) updates. Truth be told, it can be worth it. My sneezing clips sell really well, if I make them. I don’t like to sell an 8 minute clip with 3 sneezes in it. Feels like cheating the customer and I don’t like that.
Long clips are more expensive and you earn more. Usually, people buy a clip. Period. They buy “a” clip. If that clip happens to be longer and more expensive, you get more money. If that clip happens to be long and boring, you only get that money once from that customer, because he sure won’t come back for more. So You have to find a suitable category, you have to think of a good clip idea and then you have to film yourself for a pretty long time and fill that time with worthwhile action, seductive pauses, sensuality and other things that grind customer’s gears.
Try making an awesome, longer clip. Don’t make a boring one. Don’t revert to clips under 10 minutes because they are easier for you and more exciting for the customer. Find a way to make a long, exciting clip. Do that regularly in between your other clips.
Love being that tree
Having the fetish. If you have the fetish yourself, it’s easier to read and understand the wishes of customers, find arousing new ideas, connect. The way you come across in your clips is different. In a good, authentic way. You can’t really fake authenticity, not on the level of producing clips from home. You can fake orgasms, excitement, joy. You can’t fake the expression of ecstasy on your face, the horny lustful sparkle behind your eyes when something really turns you on.
Doesn’t mean you can’t make great clips that people enjoy. It’s just one thing about me that I would consider a secret to my success. I have long learned that a studio can do perfectly awesome and successful without authenticity. It’s just a different kind of studio.
Attitude
I want my tree to seem friendly and comforting to visitors. I don’t want a backside full of thorns that I don’t like to show, but people who walk past behind me will notice. I want a great tree all around so I am honest to people and respect my visitors and customers.
There are massive amounts of adult workers who disrespect their customers. I don’t blame them. It’s a negative spiral. “That stupid freeloader didn’t spend on me” “That bitch didn’t even like doing it” “That’s his third question and he didnt even buy yet” “I just spent $50 on her and she doesnt even care”.
Forums of sex workers and customers (sex consumers) alike are full of negatives about the other side of the screen. I want to break that pattern and create a relationship of reinforcement and honesty. Just don’t tell them too much, because too much information about you is a turn off. You are a fantasy, become realistic, don’t become real.
Nutrition
A tree needs nutrition and to get that, I have roots spread out far across the forest. Not only as far as I can, but also to the spots where nutrition is especially high and unique. Some categories are more powerful than others. Here are some categories that work well for me when I post with my other store, which is not about my main fetish: Inflatables, Taboo, Nose fetish, Ruined orgasms, sneezing, farting, stuffing, brat girl, growth fetish, breast expansion, vore, giantess, pregnant, pov, foot fetish, wet look, ass worship, balloons, belly fetish, belly sounds, blow jobs, cumshots, burping, calves, food/object crush, pedal pumping, vacuuming, CEI, hair, hair cutting, gender transformation, transfer fetish, high heels, impregnation fantasies, ironing, leather fetish, medical fetish, milf, mommas boy, nose blowing, pantyhose, orgasm denial, plastic fetish, doll, shrinking fetish, sneaker fetish, underwater fetish…. there are some more, but I just noticed that there are just a lot of categories where clips usually sell at least one or two times and good clips sell many times. Find your own, spread out, experiment. Take a stroll.
Guestbook
My tree has a book where visitors can leave notes, as does my website. In fact, it’s quite easy to reach me or at least get my attention. Be available, have your email address somewhere.
Analysis
I look at my tree. Inside and outside. I write down when the leaves fall and at which pace. I measure the branches and examine the bark. I keep track of everything important. With c4s, this can be frustrating as their traffic counter, for example, just changes sometimes due to technical issues. So it’s unreliable at times. Nonetheless, I keep track. Not to see if everything runs smoothly, but to spot the problems and chances. I noticed things like the best times to update my store purely by keeping track of the hourly and daily visitors across months. I found the categories that work as secret sellers for me (see the quite long list above) by keeping all the information organized and up to date.
Description
Talk about the features of your tree in a way that people want to know more. I put more words and work in my descriptions as other stores and it paid off in the past. Since, recently, the clip pages became indexable by google, I create almost half of the traffic to my store by myself.
Know the forest
Know your way around c4s, it speeds up everything to a point where you can add clips almost blindfolded. Takes a lot of pressure off of you and gives you less reason to procrastinate. I always keep all relevant tabs open so I can start right away.
Summary
For your tree to grow you have to be active, continuously. You have to develop strategies, pick spots and categories. Most of all, you need good ideas and film those clips. Your forest has to be healthy and attractive.
Have fun growing!
Okay seriously, this is how I do it. Keep at it, observe, keep at it, adjust, keep at it, don’t give up, observe, use strategies, think, do. It’s nothing special, which is why I have created adult-income. You can do it. You can. But only you can do it and if you stop, no one is doing it and then it won’t work out.
I just started a new store, detached from all my stores, no marketing, nothing. Just like a total newcomer would have his small seed in the forest. It’s tough! I don’t know (much) more than you, I just didn’t give up for 4 years to get to where I am.
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