Serious biz question for programs regarding partnership / percentages...
 

So, I have a good friend who was the male star of a very successful B/G paysite (under 20,000 Alexa) for many years... he is no longer with that site but wanting to do his own thing, with my help.

The site he was with he did not own or manage in any way, he simply received a paycheck. So, he has no way of having a customer list, emails or anything like that. He is effectively starting over, although he was a fairly big name and continues to be recognized a lot, so his new site has the potential to gain popularity quickly.

We have shot several scenes for his new site, myself shooting over half of them, and I will probably be shooting 50% or more of them in the future. In addition, I will be responsible for all of the back end stuff... getting traffic, using my servers, my bandwidth, my affiliates, customer support, design, site maintenance, my billing accounts, weekly webmastering duties with updates, editing, adding content to the affiliate program etc. Also, I am financing about 60-70% of the cost of the shoots for the time being. That will change if/when the site is self-sufficient, and we'll be deducting our expenses off the top. HIS plans are to hire an editor to help me once the site is profitable, since I currently do everything myself.

So... my question is, what percentage should I be asking for?

minimum 50%

Get 100% and write him a check.

becoming as big as MilfHunter will be tough though ;))

51% or more..keep some sort of control...:thumbsup

So, all he's really bringing is his name and his spooge? Not even a back catalog? Unless this guy is on par with Ron Jeremy for name recognition, I wouldn't be embarrassed to ask for as much as 75%. Remember, talent usually has a short lifespan before the next big thing comes along (ha!) and most of your subscibers are going to be looking for his female partners. Might be different if it were a gay site, but probably not by much; same short fame cycle. What does Google AdWords come up with for searches on his name? That's how many people care.

Even at 50% it's a lot of work on your end, I agree with Roald write him a check and since he's a friend put in some bonus structure while he's actively involved in the site.

673,000 monthly searches - The problem is, he can't use that name for the new site, and the old site is still operating with a new male talent, so trying to siphon any of that traffic that's going to the old site is going to be a real pain in the ass for me.

I'm not worried about losing control. It's my network, and he just wants to be added to it. He knows he could never start a single site from scratch and try and make it, so we agreed to add him to my network (which, of course, is yet another thing I'm supplying to this partnership).

Regardless of what we agree on, worst case scenario is he takes his site and goes somewhere else... it won't affect any of my other sites.

i would go with paycheck plus a small % ownership. non-ownership puts him right back in the boat he was in in his mind i'll bet. maybe check plus up to 10%? his obligations to the company should be more than just using his name/talent. you should clearly define both of your rolls/duties right out of the gate so there is no miscommunication or misgivings later :2 cents: good luck in your venture :thumbsup

not being able to use his own adult performer name.... wow, he should fight for that! oh, and if I was going to be doing all this, I'de make sure I owned the web domain and rights to use everything if he decides to leave.

Yeah, Roald has the right idea. Check/bonus structure. You'd have to hit a bunch of blogs/news sites with press releases and posts saying you're featuring "Dick Cavity, formerly known as Edward Stickyhands" or whatever to try and get your new site news to dominate the SERPS, and that's a lot of work. Tier your structure. Healthy search numbers, though; it's a better start than from scratch.

His old "name" is also the old domain name. The old company owns that domain and won't be giving it up any time soon, lol. They also own the trademark to that name.

Im sure there is a way to work around that, why not mention the name? Perhaps someone clever comes up with an idea to work around it ;))

Roald... the one who knows too much, lol.

I'm sure you'd be helping out with bringing in new signups.

smells like:

https://gfy.com/showthread.php?t=1036288

its all in your sig man :thumbsup

We are using it on the site... somewhat. Think of: The Artist, Formerly Known As Prince... lol.

The site in question is actually not in my sig... although there is a hint there.

if this is your first time then 50/50 is probably fair. but your doing most of the work. even at a 50/50 split his name should have some pull or your getting a crappy deal.

Your options are probably 50/50 (no matter how much more effort and resources you put in) or pay him a shoot fee or salary and keep 100% of what is left after the lawsuit.

:2 cents:


.

milf hunter is the man!

If its milf hunter.. I would wait until the law suit is done.

mlfhunter.com
milf-hunter.com
milfhunger.com (my fave)
milfhunted.com
milfhunting.com
milfhunters.com
milfhaunters.com

You're welcome.
I now want 5% of all earnings.

Not sure what this is a list of...

WOW - okay then, let me "walk you through it":

Use one of these domain names for your new site, get some (if any) juice from your stunt cock's former "name".
Otherwise he's just a stunt cock.
Didn't you say part of the "issue" was that he couldn't use his own name, domain, etc etc?
Be creative was the advice Roald gave you so now I've helped you further along.

Now I want 10% of all earnings. :)

You gave me a list of already registered domain names.

I would rather rename him to Joe Fucker than try and get someone to remember that his name is now mlf hunter.

None of that matters anyway, because we've already got a new site, all designed and ready to go, content is being shot since April.

The big thing is... I started doing this because we're friends... he needed help so I started helping him. It's now become a job by itself, so we need to move the discussion to percentages. I run eight other sites for girls, and we have a split that everyone is happy with, but this new one is a little different... he has a much bigger name and following than the girls do, but I'm also doing much more work than I do with the other sites.

Sooo... back to my original post...

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/milfhunter.jpg

Looks like solo site material to me! :Graucho

P.S. Change the spelling of his name to Sean - problem solved. :upsidedow

ADG

Haha! Yeah, I didn't see if any of those were registered, just trying to be creative. :)

I also run a network of sites (28) and have splits with models/producers. I do everything 50/50. If a site becomes outrageously successful and I end up doing 100% of the work then I usually adjust that split somewhat. But mostly it's 50/50.

Being super-successful and having to re-adjust would be a good problem to have if you write that into your agreement somehow. And you MUST have a legal binding document if it's a friend especially. Best of luck!! :)

i would say if it involves mr rees, you need to be very careful. that lawsuit looks dangerous and also looks contagious. anyone playing there could end up catching some of it.

You should offer him to 10-20% + a small per rate fee.

For the most part, no one gives a flying fuck about "male pornstars" these days. The ones they do care about are all signed to contracts with big companies or are mercenaries getting paid $6-800+ per day and are booked out the door, and those guys do it because they know thats a lot more than they will make with a paysite dedicated to themselves if they walked away and tried doing something like that. THey don't have the infrastructure nor is the demand out that purely for the male performer, unless of course they were going gay for pay, in which case he would deserve a 50-70% (for obvious reasons) - more growth opportunities, and harder work.

Assuming its a straight site, if you give him a %, make it low, and also pay him a flat rate per scene to cover his "work". Offer him 20% + $2-300 per scene and call it an expense - that is his rate. To be honest, if he thinks that is too low, him walking away is probably a good thing. You are probably saving yourself a headache down the line (a lot of work for a disgruntled partner). Partners are all about expectations. I don't see a male-pornstar site exploding at all, and if one did, it would be totally unpredictable and unexpected (i.e. you couldn't plan for it). If this person is asking for 50%+ and are any decent, I doubt you could live up to his financial expections. I think anything more than less than 60-70% on your end for work + financial risk isn't worth your own time.

In the hypothetical of "if its milfhunter" - honestly, I don't think anyone will care. I think he blew a great deal with RK. You can go out and hire Ron Jeremy for $5-600 a scene. Seems like a similar play, and one that is meh.

Proper financial expectations would be a middle of the road salary ($50-60k per year at 50% split), MAYBE, with the chance of it being much lower. If you need to create a thread to prove a point (just an assumption), sounds like you are starting off on the wrong foot. If it really is an inquisition, set the expectations really really low, so you are good long term, and can surprise to the up side. You might want to even tell him this is more of a hobby than a business.

In the hypothetical if its MilfHunter, I think he blew a great thing with RK.

He will never be anywhere remotely as successful without that line. If he opened up his own site, it would effectively be like starting from scratch, 10 years later, and going up against smart, entrenched, and experienced competition.

Good luck.

Thanks. This is kind of what I thought, just wanted other opinions.

while only a small percentage of men are able to perform on camera the work load of creating, building and maintaining a site and network by FAR out weight showing up with a hard dick and fucking a woman. as a matter of fact, the dick wielder is replaceable... you are NOT... I would factor that into any percentages :2 cents: