">
A WARNING!
TGPs are just amazingly bad for your bandwidth bill! ONE listing at q TGP can bring in literally 10s of thousands of surfers per day. When you start to multiply those numbers by the total number of pics on your site - man, this get's EXPENSIVE!!! IF you're going to have a crack at the TGPs - make sure you've got bandwidth to burn and that you're getting it REALLY cheap. Paying $5 for overage? Forget the TGPs...
DO NOT submit to all the major TGPs, or even a few larger ones, without FULLY understanding that this will cost you a lot of money in bandwidth.
Forget banners and ad graphics...
This is just something that I've found - and it's contrary to what many GOOD gallery builders out there might say, but I find that I get sales without ad graphics. And don't forget that tens or even hundreds of thousands of people looking at 50kb's worth of banners will all add up. Comparatively, text links and ads don't amount to squat on the bandwidth front.
On text links...
Get away from ads that look like ads. That sounds like a totally dumb idea, I know, but just TALK to your surfers. What I've been finding works is using really laid back dialogue on the page - and using text to TALK to the surfer - even when you're not selling (even though ALL of the text is there to help sell...) Make them laugh, freak them out or think of some other way to engage their brain. EVERYONE - whether they've been an adult webmaster for 5 years or 5 minutes can talk to people. Learn to talk to your surfers.
Niches - very important...
What I've found works best is if you pick out a niche which is a bit unusual, or a bit different. Try to find something that will capture the surfer's imagination. TGP surfers are almost impossible to get to a sponsor, but if you can show them something they've not seen before, that looks weird, or different, then you've got a chance. Try to find the 'latest thing' and look at obscure paysites that aren't over-used. Finding these paysites is going to take a lot of time and experimentation, which brings me on to...
Sponsor...
Not all sponsors or paysites are going to work. Fact. Here's some even worse news - by the time you KNOW that, you'll have wasted a lot of bandwidth. The easy answer? Sorry - it's down to trial and error. Pick a Paysite you think looks good, trawl the adult webmaster boards for recommendations - if that has worked for you in the past, ask who others are using, or simply trawl through the TGP gallery sites and see what all the regular gallery builders there are using. Finding a sponsor that works and a Paysite that hits the spot is part of the TGP gallery builder's job.
Traffic & where to submit...
Where do you submit? OK, I'm going to be a B'stard here - DON'T BE LAZY! You should never need to ask what the major TGPs are. Submitting a gallery to a TGP takes a matter of minutes, and in 24 hours you'll know whether it's a major traffic sender or not. Another part of a TGP gallery builder's life is to research into the TGPs that send the BIG traffic, and refine their list of ones that are worth it. You should end up with a list of 100 - 160 which will bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors. Simple referrer statistics will tell you EXACTLY who the big ones are.
Themes - AGAIN!
I'd not only say it's important that your TGP gallery has a theme, I'd say it's essential. If you've made a page with 'some pics and some ads' - you're not going to make a sale. Pick a niche, pick a Paysite, match the thumbs and the pics to that Paysite's content, and tie in the text and the ads. Get the surfer interested IN the Paysite with the content you have here. Talk about what's going on in the pictures on your gallery, and refer to the Paysite all the time. If your page doesn't get the surfer curious about the Paysite then it's a waste of cyberspace! Keep your stuff smooth - sell without selling!!!
Layout
Use 20 thumbnails. The first part of the page is the most important. While EVERY thumbnail image can't have a text link next to it, do your best to position the thumbs so that they make the surfer look at the 'ads'. Don't use boring layouts. Learn how to use tables well. Make vertical stacks of thumbs - and put small groups of thumbs to the left or right of LARGE text ads. Everyone says that TGP rules are strict - but if you're using good layout and 3 large ads which aren't blind or misleading, you'll have plenty of chances to sell.
Can you go softcore and make money?
Most TGP galleries are hardcore. But yes, you CAN use softcore thumbs and pics and still sell. It really depends on your niche. If I am doing lesbian - yes, I can have 20 pics of 2 girls kissing and then use some really hardcore text to sell a sponsor's tour. It's very possible - you just have to choose your niche carefully. An example of where it would be impossible to keep it softcore would be say a cum-shot gallery, or a group sex gallery. Those pics would have to be hardcore and you'd have to decide if you wanted to go that route...
Wrapping up...
TGPs are dangerous and they are expensive. They're exhausting, hard work and the goal posts are constantly moving. It's certainly not an easy area or an area I'd advise anyone to go into lightly. Is there money to be made there? Yes - that is a fact. It's exciting, fast paced, and a massive gamble! It will take a long time to learn how to make it as a TGP'er (something I'm far from achieving!) and the lure of massive traffic will, no doubt, continue to appeal to many an adult webmaster. For anyone with the resources, the time, and the determination - it's one possible way to make it as an adult webmaster.
A daily routine...
Unless you build and submit daily, you'll not get good results. Trying it once and then evaluating what happened won't work. Again, this is going to cost you a LOT of money in bandwidth and NO - using a free host is not the answer. You won't make it that way. If you want to make $5k - $10k per month with TGP posting, it's got to be paid hosting and there's no way around the fact that you're going to burn one hell of a lot of bandwidth. Hosting with massive, cheap BW allowance is going to be a major concern.
GOOD LUCK!!!
TOM ^"^