Friday, February 04, 2011

How porn stars can make money by hosting phone-ins with their fans

With the explosive growth online social networking in recent years, porn stars now have several ways to communicate with their fans online. But broadcasting the minutiae of everyday life via tweets and updates is not for everyone – be it the fan, or porn star.

However, there is a ubiquitous device that that allows for a much more intimate form of communication: yes, it’s back to basics folks, I’m talking about the good ole’ telephone!

By hosting phone-ins with their fans on multi-party conference lines powered by premium rate numbers, porn stars can make money from callers, irrespective of whether they actually talk to them or not.

The host announces a time and date in the future when they will be available. A countdown clock on their website will add to a sense of occasion.

When the time arrives, the host dials in on an 800 number, and all participants on a premium rate one.

The host is then connected 1:1 with those callers who elected to join the queue, with an unlimited amount of callers listening in. These are known as eavesdroppers and are especially welcome, not least since they pay the same as those that do end up talking with the host. And thanks to CLI suppression, there is no way of the caller knowing where the host is located.

Furthermore, since the caller already has a contractual relationship with his or her phone company, the porn star does not have to enter into one: the caller’s phone company effectively act as cash collection agents on the porn star’s behalf with no credit card needed…

This technology can easily be combined with cam: give the visual feed to surfers for free, but to actually hear and interact, they need to call – thus transforming the phone into a microphone, loudspeaker, and convenient billing mechanism bundled into one.

Such phone-ins are ideal platforms with which to upsell paysite membership. Alternatively, they can be used as a way of bonding with existing members, whilst generating a brand new revenue stream in the process. Or both.

The conference itself should be monitored by an experienced operator who then acts as an interface between the host and the callers. This way, any inappropriate callers can be identified and terminated accordingly.

The porn star can determine how much per minute they would like to charge, but must adhere to the chat guidelines set by the regulator of phonepaid services. Such conferencing is ideal for a QA session, but can also be used for ad-hoc 1:1 sessions with diehard fans at any time.

In an era of increasing information overload, it is reassuring to know that celebrities within the adult space can adopt a back-to-basics approach by connecting with their fans via a device that they all have. A genuine value-added experience which, correctly priced, eager callers will only be too happy to pay.

Finally, by tweeting the time and date of their phone-ins, porn stars can easily promote the event to their receptive followers.

This way, porn stars can benefit from proven billing and technology dating back to the pre-web era, whilst capitalising on the free advertising opportunities afforded by social networks in the internet one.

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