seems like everybody and there dog has jumped on the bandwagon to open a site. seems like they think they will make a million bucks after 6months. most the sites have nothing but crappy photos at best, and a small amount at that. and NO videos. theres alot of sites i want to join BUT the lack of good pictures, amount of pictures and the lack of ANY videos, makes me say hek no im not spending $30 on those sites. im not going to name any names BUT hopefully these poor qaulity sites know who they are. maybe they will wake up and smell the coffee, otherwise i see nothing but a "gone out of business" sign in there future
Posted by tom (Member # 223) on :
stick with the free stuff - it aint that hard to find and you are right there are a lot of people just trying to rip you off.
Posted by Mighty Mike (Member # 1922) on :
no pay site should even put themselves online until they have 1000's of photos, that is if they want a good amount of members
I sometimes wonder how many members a popular site has
anybody have any idea?
Posted by Craigy boy (Member # 3340) on :
I've been tempted to join some sites, but i find the monthly fees ridiculously high. Even more so when currency conversion is considered.
Some sites, like one of my all time faves, Devonne, didnt update for months! How pissed off would you be as a member? Imagine paying for 8 months or more with no updates?
I doubt there's money to be made for most people, but i guess some of the really famous ones do ok.
But, 99% come and go. Which reminds me, what ever happened to Steph & Maxine?
Posted by clyde121 (Member # 9080) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mighty Mike:
I sometimes wonder how many members a popular site has
anybody have any idea?
i got thinking about that also. ill bet its alot less than what everyone thinks
Posted by clyde121 (Member # 9080) on :
quote:Originally posted by Craigy boy:
Some sites, like one of my all time faves, Devonne, didnt update for months! How pissed off would you be as a member? Imagine paying for 8 months or more with no updates?
the same thing happened to me but on a different site. i actually wrote the webmaster a emial and told him if he didnt start posting new pics right away i was pulling my credit card and walking. i think it worked because he posted new material Posted by DancingFool (Member # 3728) on :
I got a good deal from Feet Heat and At Her Feet---the 2 best sites ever---great pictures, thousands of them, and a few decent videos. Not known for their videos, but the pictures are amazing.
Posted by Lou Gojira (Member # 983) on :
I think the problem that a lot of these webmasters and models have is that they go into a project like a paysite without thinking of all the REAL WORK that'll be involved in advance!
Sure, taking pics of pretty girls is always fun, and I'm sure the girls get a real charge out of posing in front of that camera too...but then there will be times when neither person wants to do a photoshoot, and yet they know they've got subscribers waiting for new material.
Suddenly something like making sexy pics, something that has always been done for fun, begins to take on a new -make that serious- connotation.
It's for this reason why we don't see Sultry Sasha's site anymore. She was constantly kicking ass, kept updating often enough, but once the site began to feel like work...well, that sapped all the joy out of it for her (and probably Photo Guy too). They made the wise move and got out before the quality suffered and the paying subscribers had to do without.
So I think a lot of these webmasters that go months on end with no new material have already reached the break point, and are just trying to hang in there long enough to snag those last few bucks before everybody gets pissed to the point of canceling.
I'd personally like to see a section either here on the forums or on another individual site where paysites for foot fans get reviewed by a panel of people...that way you get a few different takes on certain sites...reviews that are straight up, sometimes brutally honest so that you can go and read up on everything before taking that financial plunge. And why not? Movies get reviewed, music gets reviewed, so why not foot sites?
Posted by Tyler D. (Member # 11452) on :
quote:Originally posted by clyde121:
quote:Originally posted by Mighty Mike:
I sometimes wonder how many members a popular site has
anybody have any idea?
i got thinking about that also. ill bet its alot less than what everyone thinks
Not sure if this helps, but fmconcepts had 11,166 active users in their apache htaccess -> password file on 17 May 2001. About 15 of them looked to be designated as permanent/special gift, admin, or complimentary accounts for non-subscribers, so the rest were probably monthly subscribers I'm guessing
[ December 18, 2006, 06:45 AM: Message edited by: Tyler D. ]
Posted by clyde121 (Member # 9080) on :
fmconcepts isnt your "average run of the mill website". when you put it in perspective, ya theres alot of website that probably do well (but not as well as everyone thinks), but i would guess theres a hek of alot more sites that dont do well at all. i just dont see the point in wasting time, effort and money to open a site if its going to be half a$$ with crappy material. to each there own i guess
Posted by Wrinklesguy (Member # 732) on :
What none of the comnsumers really understand about running a website,is there is TONS of behind the scenes work that has to be done weather it be the hours you spend trying to scout for models,work with them,pay them, or the time editing photos and adding text and watermarking to them there's at least 20 hours a week in computer work with prepping to get them ready for the website.I agree there are crappy sites, and good ones.Regardless of how the pics turn out,someone put a crap load of time into it somewhere.I think there are a few bad apples that fell from the tree is all.Clyde I would love to see a site you created, seriously..if you have a high standard maybe you will be quite successful in it.I know my site had close to 100 new members this past month.I don't think ANY foot site webmaster is looking to make millions,that is just common sense..if you think you are going to make ANY money doing it,forget it...what you make will pay for the site itself and allow you to hire more models if need be.good luck
Posted by Champpalmer (Member # 16374) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lou Gojira: I'd personally like to see a section either here on the forums or on another individual site where paysites for foot fans get reviewed by a panel of people...that way you get a few different takes on certain sites...reviews that are straight up, sometimes brutally honest so that you can go and read up on everything before taking that financial plunge. And why not? Movies get reviewed, music gets reviewed, so why not foot sites?
I've created a section just for this at my forum. Most of the recent reviews have been conducted on clips4sale sites so far but there will be more reviews done on websites as a whole soon. Off topic but one of the gentlemen of the forum provided me with a review of sensualpunishment.com (a sister company/operation of footworshippalace.com) that I need to post for the east guys to checkout.
I agree..many times I've purchased memberships and media from many other sites and I felt I was left high and dry. There is no open warning signs for these sites either. Its frustrating because you'll never know what happens in terms of updates with a particular site pre-membership.
If you guys have in the past or present purchased a membership, movie, short movie, photos be sure to let fellow ff fanatics know experiences as well as let your thoughts be heard. Many of the site owners lurk the forum and this will be a perfect way to express all of your concerns.Site/Store Review here
[ December 17, 2006, 08:01 PM: Message edited by: Champpalmer ]
Posted by clyde121 (Member # 9080) on :
quote:Originally posted by Wrinklesguy: What none of the comnsumers really understand about running a website,is there is TONS of behind the scenes work that has to be done weather it be the hours you spend trying to scout for models,work with them,pay them, or the time editing photos and adding text and watermarking to them there's at least 20 hours a week in computer work with prepping to get them ready for the website.I agree there are crappy sites, and good ones.Regardless of how the pics turn out,someone put a crap load of time into it somewhere.I think there are a few bad apples that fell from the tree is all.Clyde I would love to see a site you created, seriously..if you have a high standard maybe you will be quite successful in it.I know my site had close to 100 new members this past month.I don't think ANY foot site webmaster is looking to make millions,that is just common sense..if you think you are going to make ANY money doing it,forget it...what you make will pay for the site itself and allow you to hire more models if need be.good luck
i agree with you and im sure it takes alot of effort... BUT what i was trying to say is...if your going to have crappy pictures, do updates every 3 months and dont plan to make any videos, then put a big sign on the front of your website that says "caution, this sites contains poor qaulity pics and no videos...and our girls arent attractive...oh and we probably wont do an update for 3 more weeks". dont try to fool the consumer. how many sites have you seen that say "updated 2 times a week".....ya riiiiight, updated 2 times every 2 months maybe.
Posted by Mighty Mike (Member # 1922) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lou Gojira:
I'd personally like to see a section either here on the forums or on another individual site where paysites for foot fans get reviewed by a panel of people...that way you get a few different takes on certain sites...reviews that are straight up, sometimes brutally honest so that you can go and read up on everything before taking that financial plunge. And why not? Movies get reviewed, music gets reviewed, so why not foot sites?
brilliant idea but it seems we need to be OVERLY nice around here...
Posted by Mighty Mike (Member # 1922) on :
quote:Originally posted by clyde121:
quote:Originally posted by Mighty Mike:
I sometimes wonder how many members a popular site has
anybody have any idea?
i got thinking about that also. ill bet its alot less than what everyone thinks
a few months back somebody posted a password to what I thought was a popular site
each pic had a view count and each pic was viewed about 23 times
this site has been in existence since 2003 so at most i'd say she had 23 subscribers
there's just so much free material out there i don't think most bother to join and I truly believe the main reason most girls have a site isbecause they like the emails they get from guys telling them they're hot
based on that site that I thought was popular it sure as hell can't be for the money
Posted by Wrinklesguy (Member # 732) on :
Clyde...That's going too far IMO..however,if it's that big of deal then i suggest certain consumers to visit all the BHE sites because you get PLENTY of sample pics and you know exactly what you're getting before you buy.I have seen a couple of sites that put a few really nice pics up for samples and the rest are lousy..what's good to one man is crappy to another..walk away if you aren't sure what you will get.
Posted by Lou Gojira (Member # 983) on :
quote:brilliant idea but it seems we need to be OVERLY nice around here...
Thanks Mike, and you're right...since we're doing a good job of exercising some courtesy around here in being "overly" nice toward others, "brutal honesty" could spark a flame-war pretty damn quick with the wrong people. It's a catch-22 sure enough, and I realized that after I wrote it...
But then, Champpalmer has a reviews section on his site, and that's not part of this forum. Problem solved! Posted by Tyler D. (Member # 11452) on :
quote:Originally posted by clyde121: then put a big sign on the front of your website that says "caution, this sites contains poor qaulity pics and no videos...and our girls arent attractive...oh and we probably wont do an update for 3 more weeks". dont try to fool the consumer.
i see your point, and i think that is great idea to shed the brutal honesty upfront, but how many vendors are gonna just come right out and admit that they're just trying to take your money if in fact that is their intent?
I do think you have the right idea in that upfront honesty is a much better policy and I hope to see more as time goes on.
Champpalmer did come up with a brilliant idea for like a reviews section and that would be great where people can offer honest feedback. I saw something like that at mousepad but it seems to be in test phase and never gets used. It's a shame this forum does not have a review section.
I do see that the one champpalmer mentioned is taking off though, so i think it will become a great place to combat some of the pitfalls you've been talking about with respect to taking the financial plunges and not knowing what to expect prior.
FM Concepts by the way, may not be a typical site, but it is certainly a popular site to this day still.
[ December 18, 2006, 06:36 AM: Message edited by: Tyler D. ]
Posted by Champpalmer (Member # 16374) on :
My thoughts are that someone should be able to give an honest review of a site or store. Either if the review is good or bad, its valuable information that the owner could use to make their establishment better. I think the important thing about doing honest reviews is that the person giving the review should note the good and the bad things about a site. I agree it can quickly get nasty because personal feelings can get involved. If the motives behind the site operation and review are honest and respectful, a review section of a site can be a extremely beneficial for us.
I welcome criticism about my operation because it will help me take my place to the next level. Obviously no one person can see all of the angles and any insight or constructive critism a customer can provide is key to becoming one of the better and healthy foot fetish sites.
Posted by Phil Feet (Member # 6423) on :
Hey
Some great issues raised here, as like minded individuals and so many webmasters interacting here at Wu's and other forums, would it not be an idea to create a type of foot fetish consortium where webmasters would sign up to an accepted code of practice, agree to abide by a complaints procedure and be bound by the bodies decision?
It would only take a domain registration, say 10+ webmasters to join together and elect a spokesperson, board and agree a code of practice.
Websites that fail to abide by the code of practice will lose the ability to display the logo and be and active member.
Customers could rely on this for a quality guarantee, where webmasters would place a banner along with their posts etc to advertise.
It would have to be non-profit and the webmasters would need to devote some spare time to it.
I would be first inline to kick off such an initiative with the offer to purchase the domain and offer bandwidth / hosting.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Phil
Posted by Bondo (Member # 1403) on :
With technology being what it is these days, it's so simple to take digital photos, upload them to your computer, and have someone design and host a website. That's why there are so many websites these days in my opinion. I also believe people are under the misconception that running a paysite is "easy money". It's not.
It might be a good suggestion to have a website review, perhaps even here on Wu's Feet Links. Although, with the ever growing number of websites these days, that would very easily be a big job.
Use your judgment. Do you like the free/sample content? Do you like the quality of the material? Is it worth the price they're asking?
I don't expect that everyone in the world will want to join my website, but it matters to me that the ones who do join are satisfied with their purchase.
Do I expect to make a living off of a membership based foot fetish website? Nope, but the membership fees does help cover the costs of hosting the site, paying models, etc. If I only at least break even, my mission is complete because I enjoy what I do.
I heard a rumor that one webmaster's ventures averaged 800+ members a month, but I have no proof to either confirm or deny that statement.
Posted by Tyler D. (Member # 11452) on :
I think Phil has a valiant idea and it is a good way to try and make a difference with all the mess and confusion that can be out there.
I'd be willing to join up with that consortium. My participation will be strictly limited to basic membership just because of other work I am tied up with, but I second Phil's notion, especially since he is kind enough to host this for benefit of the foot fetish community (similar to what he did with a free FTP server a while back if I'm correct).
Bondo had a great point about how easy it is for anyone to publish stuff nowadays, thus making websites all over the place. I wonder if the consortium though will be able to get good enough representation to even maintain influence or relevance. That will probably be one of the difficult things to deal with.
In a worst case scenario I can see it comparable to like a really small version of the UN with like thousands of rogue nations out there who operate with no regard for foot site standards.
Not sure if saturation has really made it better or worse for the end user. That is hard to say at this stage IMO. However, big media saturations like YouTube have certainly changed peoples standards (and options) for the better I think.
It's hard to say if the saturation in our own little world of foot fetish is affected for better or worse in terms of options vs confusion. Phil's idea definitely aims to alleviate some of the confusion though.
[ December 18, 2006, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: Tyler D. ]
Posted by Bman (Member # 2267) on :
OK. Heres my two cents worth. I have answewed many polls here> IE What to you like best? Toes, Soles? Bare feet? Feet in nylons? Feet in socks? Feet in flops? What color toe nails? ect. ect. I personally like high arches and red painted toe nails and a man kissing and licking her nyloned soles and the bottoms of her toes as if her toes were bent back as if wearing 6' high heels. To each their own. Why cant we get what we want? To be sure, I love stiletto heels, nylons, and female feet and such. But I Think that many pay sites are trying to please everyoney and no customer is really satisifed!. In Lord Lucans Up dates free movies showed ten free clips (bless you Luke) but 9 outa 10 flix from the advertisers had blow jobs going on. Duh? Whatta bout feet? And whats worse is the foot models that appear to be scared shitless when a man kisses her ankle or knee? Not to mention feet.In my hmo.. Check out Alas updates Thats about as close as I would get to a pay site
Posted by Wrinklesguy (Member # 732) on :
Screw the whole "UN" consortium idea, we all know how the real UN works, and nothing gets done,a smaller scale would have no better effect.This isn't the local Carpenter's Union guys, it's our own interpretation of how a female foot should look like and be posed like..customers either like it or they don't.They can shop around until they find someone's site that appeals more to them..it's all about a free market because "foot fetish" is so broad.
Posted by Phil Feet (Member # 6423) on :
Just a thought guy's, so to 'screw' the idea would be fine, however don't whine about good and bad pay sites, without any kind of quality seal as has been stated before, it may be a join and prey scenario.
Posted by Phil Feet (Member # 6423) on :
Oh and your own interpretation is fine, this idea was along the lines of qty of content, update frequency etc NOT interpretation on the actual images / videos themselves.
Posted by Wrinklesguy (Member # 732) on :
It's been fine for how many years?Why mess with a good thing,if WE know our sites are high quality and appeal to hundreds of people, then seriously..why should we worry about it.Don't let a few bad apples out of a few hundred or thousand discourage your website ventures.The weak websites with bad content that doesn't get updated much blah blah..will sink eventually,that is up to them.
Posted by Phil Feet (Member # 6423) on :
. . . . anyway it's Christmas, good will and all that
I have seen nothing less than perfection from ALL of the website owners here and sincerely hope that EVERYONE here at Wu's has a great Christmas.
Here is to leading the way into the new year and show the other sites what we are made of Posted by Wrinklesguy (Member # 732) on :
Here Here! I'll toast to that...let our differences not come between us! Merry Footmas and a Soleful New Year lol!
Posted by clyde121 (Member # 9080) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bondo:
I heard a rumor that one webmaster's ventures averaged 800+ members a month, but I have no proof to either confirm or deny that statement.
whats that old saying "seeing is believing". i would have to see that with my own eyes to believe it. take nothing away from the long standing legitimate sites that have accumulated a large following of memebers, but 800 is very hard to believe ( for me anyways). i guess anything is possible though
Posted by LordLucan (Member # 2130) on :
You'd be surprised at the number of members some sites have. I know of one that maintains a steady monthly members base of between 1500 and 2000 members, that's not including those who sign up for only 30 days then cancel. I know of many more that have memberships in the hundreds, month after month, year after year. You have to remember that these are just foot fetish sites. When you begin talking mainstream porn sites, the memberships are sometimes in the tens of thousands. I know of one webmaster who took just over 35 000 memberships to his sites last year. That's some serious money. As for the quality of sites...you can't be all things to all people. As a webmaster, I learnt a long time ago that you can keep some of the people happy some of the time, but you can't keep all of the people happy all of the time! Some sites cater to a very specific niche within a niche, just look at all the various sub sections that come under the broad banner of 'foot fetish'. Feet, barefeet, soles, arches, footjobs, non nude, shoes, heels, girl on girl, stockings, trampling, crushing etc etc etc. Some sites stick solely to pics, they are easier to produce, quicker to upload and remember, not everyone in the world had broadband. You'd be surprised at how many people still use dialup, not by choice, but because that's all they can access. If that's the case, who wants to spend hours and hours downloading movies? Therefore, sites with only pics have a great appeal. As with any kind of site, there are good ones, and bad ones. I believe it's a webmasters obligation to offer value for money. Frequent updates, good content are what people are seeking and I aim to deliver. I also believe that a site ought to make it easier for a member to cancel. My two paysites have easy to see and easy to find links taking you directly to the page where a member can cancel. Ultimately, a member should always keep in mind the old saying 'Caveat Emptor' or 'buyer beware'.
Posted by clyde121 (Member # 9080) on :
quote:Originally posted by LordLucan: I also believe that a site ought to make it easier for a member to cancel. My two paysites have easy to see and easy to find links taking you directly to the page where a member can cancel. beware'.
thats funny, sad and truthful all at the same time. i remeber joining a site a while back and when i went to cancel, it honestly took me about 20min to figure out how to cancel off my credit card. more and more i find myself buying clips from clips4sale. it suits me well, i pay for only what i want, when i want it. im surprised more sites dont use clips4sale. i know ive spent a couple hundred dollars there Posted by LordLucan (Member # 2130) on :
A tremendous amount of BHE sites also have shops at Clips4Sale, as do a growing number of more commercial foot sites. I agree with you Clyde that it's a great concept and one that allows you to buy only what you want. I have seen other's (www.clips.com)introduce a similar format too which indicates the old adage: 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' is certainly alive and well!
Posted by shamda1 (Member # 2506) on :
For my site I tried something a little different. My site is not a member site, all are invited to the site free. The pictures are all original and shot by me and free to everyone. Some sites buy their content from main producers and stick it on their site and call it theirs. The revenues for my site are generated by the video clips housed on clips4sale. Am I losing revenues for memberships? I would think I certainly am, but there are many reasons I do not charge a membership fee. Maybe more sites will follow my pattern, who knows.
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