Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies
A lot of webmasters and BROgram owners and even photographers think like webmasters (or whatever their title). Not like the consumer.
I can't tell you the number of conversations I have had on ICQ or at conferences with people where some BROgram will tell you the customer wants this or that but it is not based on ANYTHING they have picked up from the actual CUSTOMER. They are just parroting board lore, or what they THINK the customer wants. That is why a lot of these programs and sites are failing.
The smaller companies, the mom and pops, are not having these issues. They are in more direct contact with their fan base, and often times know each others names, and where from, and what they like. A lot of good feedback directly from patrons, and members. A lot, have forums where they interact with their fan base, and keep their finger on the pulse of demand.
This is why they are uneffected, or minimally, by this economy. If you give people exactly what they want, they are not going anywhere. The more they feel a part of the process, the more they remain loyal.
It is something few larger companies practice, but the grass roots guys and gals do.
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Oh yes BF, mos def, the smaller sites have a pulse on their niche, because if they do not make that "minimum" per month, hosting, model fee's, etc. They can find themselves offline too. And they absolutely are aware of this. Some sites are on a razor thin line every month, in terms of profitability. But they keep chugging away and going to sleep every night thinking of how they can "out innovate" the competition. Good luck to the smaller production houses and godspeed!
There are also sites that just have it down. They have the great shots, the angles that the surfers love and again, great quality HD video. They are branding themselves each and every day and I fully anticipate that these concepts will be around, 3-5 years from now. I also believe that the Biz is getting more and more "nicro niche". At least in terms of mom and pops clearing under 50k per year. Or combining their concepts into one, like Astrids Angels, been around since at least 2001, they own 5 satellite sites and they are combining their pantyhose and nylon concepts into one nylon megasite, as an example. Many new business models coming out for the smaller companies this year and I suspect into next.