Are we in trouble?

[angelone]

I was cruising the web looking at some prominent gay porn sites that cater to gays who like watching straight men do gay sex. I came across a favorite one located in Arizona and low and behold the manager of the site told a story how everything has gone wrong since the beginning of the recession and now the site is in receivership. Wow, and I thought this gay porn site was recession-proof because hey, there are tons of horny gays out there who will pay for good gay-for-pay scene involving straight guys. I hope SBS isn't experiencing the same effects from this recession? I will sign-up again if it is.

 

[tampa24]

God I hope not. I doubt that mgmt will be very forthcoming about their financial standing. Though if the news is good they might even want to flaunt that fact. Who knows... We can however look at some anecdotal evidence and piece together a few things with common sense.

1) They have started a new site (BCB) and that is an expensive undertaking. It's a financial strain to get a new site up with all the expenses that that entails, while waiting for membership to pick up to at least a break even point. Before eventually turning a profit of course.

2) They have just purchased the rights of ownership to JustUsBoys. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they made a major purchase after just starting up a brand new site.

That tells me that they feel they are sufficiently capitalized to be around for the long term.

 

[rapper]

Borrowed ?

A lot of this business of "Going Under" has to do with a business operating on borrowed money . . . is someone blinks, they can't cover their obligations.

 

[dande01]

The media today has overplayed the recession and I think many people are terrified of what they are seeing. Although I'm sure there are many people out there that are hurting and loosing jobs and homes, this was going on for decades. Even when our economy was doing great, there were many loosing jobs and unemployed. Many have lost homes during a good economy.

I'm not going to say that certain areas of this country are hurting but I think the media is making it worse then it really is and its scaring people NOT to spend money.

Just recently I went to Disney World. I have a seasonal pass so I went. I just went to one park that was EPCOT. Epcot was packed and they had to close the park down due to so many people inside the park and that is just one park Disney operates. Now, Disney aint cheap. For a one day non park hopper pass it is $79plus tax. That is the cheapest ticket Disney offers. The park was filled with middle American's from all over the United States with young children. If our country was so bad, and based on the media it seems the ones that are hit hard by our economy is the middle Americans with families. If people didn't have money, why are they in Disney world for a week or more spending all that kind of money?

4 weeks ago I came back from a cruise. Our cruise was booked full. We go on Holland America which is known for an older crowd that are retired and on a fixed income...based on the media, this group of people are also hurting...so was the shipped booked full and people were spending money on excursions and gambling and drinking.

I live near a mall, its called Aventura mall. I live in Aventura, Florida. The mall caters to everyone in the surrounding area. Okay...the mall is packed due to the holidays...but the mall is always packed all the time and it looks like Christmas shopping year round at this particular mall. If people don't have money, why are they shopping? Eating in expensive restaurants in the mall?

There are plenty of people out there that still have jobs, still rent apartments, still have there mortgages and are not being thrown out of there homes. My credit card hasn't been cut..matter of fact on all 3 of my cards they raised my limited to $2K or more in the past 90 days. I didn't ask for it...they just gave Eddie and I an increase...my credit cards are still the same. My sisters are the same, my friends are still the same...everyone I know still has there credit limits and cards. So why do they say credit card companies are going to decrease peoples limits??? I didn't get a decrease, I got a rather hefty increase.

The point of my reply is to show that not everyone in this world or country is going through economic problems. Yes! there are many in our industry that are going out of business or selling. Its no secret that any production studio that produces DVDs are hurting. DVD sales since 2005 has been on decline. Membership sites have increase since 2005 and everyone with a camera thought they can make porn...so you got a lot of small amateur video guys putting up sites. This problem effected the industry and overwhelmed the system...so since people are cutting make, members are making decisions to which membership sites they continue to support.

The sites that give good customer service, change with the times, update there sites often, make changes to the site, listen to there members will do well. Those studios that have membership sites that want to party and do drugs and scam models and don't offer good customer support and don't update there site often will eventually go out of business or sell. Some in our industry get burnt out and tired...some made a shit load of money and decide its time to get out. Some are just old and been doing it for years and they are just tired to keep re-inventing themselves sell out and retire.

Here at D&E/BluMedia we are a strong company. This is our business and we have no intentions for screwing up. We take calculated risks that payoff in the long run. We update our sites and we offer good customer support. We change with the times and we are always looking for new ways of making our members part of community of sorts.

We don't waste our money and spend out of control, we invest in our business and our staff. We give you as members a great price and in return we give a great product. Not only is what we are doing, but its also our members. Our members and the support we get from the members is outstanding. You guys love what we do, we make you guys feel like your a part of Broke Straight Boys and our family. We listen to your suggestions, we do our best to give you the member great customer service. By doing this, you the members, appreciate our work. Its not what Mark, David, Eddie, Ted, Steve....etc. is doing...its YOU the members that we are here for and its YOU guys that make our jobs much easier...so its like a team effort. Just as long as you support us, we can put out a great product for you to enjoy. Just as long as you give us suggestions, we will do our best to make it happen. Just as long as you, the members, give us the good, bad and sometimes the ugly...we will make the adjustments. That is why our team and our members make a great match and I often say this...but we really do appreciate you and your support...and that is what our success is all about.

Some membership sites...just don't get it. We are here to stay and we have some great things for 2010! So keep on watching and supporting!!!

 

[BrokeStraightBoys]

I pretty sure I know which company you are referring to. They paved their way long ago because they didn't pay webmasters and then didn't pay taxes. There is some adult sites in trouble but this is mainly due to their mindset of not changing anything and lack of marketing. I have even made suggestions to some of them but they just don't want to do simple changes that would make a big difference in this tough economy and they wouldn't do any of them.

Mark

 

[ScottC]

Well I'm seeing something different in my neck of the woods. And David, you could very well be right, and it is indeed dependent on geography, but Phoenix has been hit hard by the recession-and has been in the proverbial shitter for almost 3 years now.

I worked for a credit counseling agency (one of the oldest and most respected) and in January of this year was laid off. Because it was a non-profit, much of our revenue came from donations, primarily the credit card companies and banks. The banks stopped donating money because of their problems and over 100 people were laid off.

In 2008 we counseled almost 250,000 people nationwide; by the time I was laid off, that number sky rocketed to almost one million. you're right when you say we've always had unemployment and foreclosures, but not to the extent we've seen.

With my education and background I should be working (aside from my writing and publishing which doesn't nearly pay my bills) and I'm not. I know of half a dozen publishers, and almost 2 dozen magazines that closed up because no one was buying. Authors who were self sufficient are now looking at other means of income.

so no, I don't think the media are hyping the problem, if anything I think they're downplaying the problems. Simply because things are okay where you're at, doesn't mean things are okay-not with a nationwide unemployment rate of 10%.

Broke Straight Boys will succeed where others fail because of their business model, their quality product and great customer service. I applaud BleMedia for working as hard as they do to bring a great product at a good price-and that is something which is always recession proof.