Adult Site Broker Talk Episode 101 with Brad Mitchell of Mojohost

1 (7s): This is Bruce Friedman of Adult Site Broker and welcome to Adult Site Broker Talk, where every week we interview one of the movers and shakers of the adult industry, and we discuss what's going on in our business. Plus we give you a tip on buying and selling websites this week. This week we'll be talking with Brad Mitchell of Mojohost.

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1 (1m 39s):
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1 (2m 30s):
Now time for this week's interview my guest today and adult site broker talk, once again is Brad Mitchell. Brad, thanks for being back with us today on adult site broker talk.

2 (2m 40s):
Hi Bruce. It's my pleasure. Happy to be back. Thank you for having me

1 (2m 43s):
Glad to have you. Now, if you're in our industry, you no doubt know about Brad and mojo host. Mojo host is a leading company in hosting adult website. Brad is certainly an icon in the adult internet industry. You'll see Brad at virtually every single adult event. Now mojo host prides themselves on great customer service and technical support. They're based in Detroit, Michigan, and have data centers in Miami and Amsterdam. They take pride in 99.9, nine, nine a lot, a few more nines, I think, percent uptime and put in the work to make it possible. Mojo host is a self-funded company that's been profitable for more than 15 years.

1 (3m 25s):
Did I miss anything there? Brad has anything updated since we last talked?

2 (3m 30s):
Yes, Bruce. This is our 22nd year in business and we have a new data center that we've built in Detroit, Michigan. So those are, are those. Those would be the updates to that. So,

1 (3m 41s):
Okay. Well how are things going at the new, not the new data center?

2 (3m 45s):
Things are good. It's been really quite the endeavor. So two years ago, I started on the concept and design and started constructing our own wholly owned data center. And we're, we're seeing that come to fruition now, as we, as we end in 2021 and enter into 2022, so I'm super excited. It's been quite honestly, it's the largest investment of my life. We've built a gorgeous data center. That's many, many, many times redundant on all different systems of power and air conditioning and all different types of networking. I'm excited for that. And we've got big things in store.

1 (4m 26s):
You gotta be pretty proud of where you've come when you, when you walk in the doors of that new place.

2 (4m 33s):
I am actually. And, you know, I I'd say I, I pinched myself each time I walk in the office, you know, it's, there's a lot of data centers out there and we've been fortunate that I've chosen good data centers for mojo host all the years that we've been in business. It really helps us to provide the best level of care and service to our clients. But in having the ability, the opportunity to design our own data center, I then got to make all of those specific choices with my team and all of the experts and consultants that I could hire about how we would build and deploy our own space to serve our needs. And so, you know, I'm very proud of that. And then, you know, as part of that, it's not just a, it's more than a multi-million dollar investment.

2 (5m 17s):
I think, you know, at the end of it, you know, for what I would say is a very modestly sized data center at a megawatt and a half, the total construction, it's about $6 million to, and as a part of that, I've really taken very special care. And I'm not just all of the most important things, which are keeping everything fast and online and, and super redundant for all of the different critical systems that you would expect in a data center, but also in the design elements that I think brings some extra special character to the mojo host facility that, that you won't see anywhere else. And so, you know, maybe, maybe some of that's not so important, but, you know, I had this moment when I was doing the design where I really decided that I wanted to go, you know, a couple of extra steps, you know, a few hundred thousand dollars more to have glass walls that look into all of the data centers to have, you know, locking rolling steel doors that roll down down behind all of them, for security to have, you know, mosaics on the wall and, you know, the very interesting epoxy floors.

2 (6m 25s):
And, you know, we have even a wall at the data center inside of our office space. That's adjacent to it, which is made from recycled motherboards, from servers that we decommissioned in Miami, which is pretty cool because, you know, they've still got all of the Intel CPU's and the copper heat syncs on there, but we're very, we're very proud of the deployment. And I, I think that our customers would be proud to be our customer being hosted in the site.

1 (6m 50s):
You've got to maybe a host an event in Detroit one of these days, so people can take a tour.

2 (6m 58s):
Yeah. We're certainly looking forward to that. I think, I think we'll be cutting our teeth and ready to be show ready, so to speak by the end of first quarter. So cool. I look, I very, I very much look forward to doing a lot of video, have, you know, having people out to the site, but also doing some really comprehensive videos and explaining the technology and the infrastructure we've gone above and beyond to make it extremely green and extraordinarily redundant, you know, in every different respect. So I'm, I'm excited to finally be able to see myself and to show others what what's been my passion for the last two years.

1 (7m 37s):
Yeah. I, I, this would be a worth a trip from Thailand to go check it out, man. I may just have to do that. So what are some things that you've obviously, you know, I mean, from where you started, you know, one man operation to, to where you've come, you've obviously been very successful. What are some things that companies with longevity focus on to stay on top and the adult industry?

2 (8m 6s):
So I think the answer to this question might be, would be of course, different with each owner that you may interview. But for me, I think probably my top three answers to that question. The first one would be my main focus is always to make sure that we have an excellent product. So a lot of people, a lot, especially a lot of business owners are dreamers, right? So as a business owner, you've got the choose your own adventure every day that you go into the office and each year that you're running your business. But I think being mindful of what's your core deliverable, what's your core product and making sure that your product is good for the customer always is, is of paramount importance.

2 (8m 49s):
Because at the end of, at the end of the day, I guess I would say in the 22 years that I've been in the industry where I've seen a lot of company owners fail has been when they've taken their eyes off of the price, that one core thing, which they were so good at, whether it was from luck or timing or skill or prowess To go and do other ventures, it's easy to lose oneself. You know, another thing that I think is very important is integrity.

1 (9m 22s):
Absolutely.

2 (9m 23s):
So I think I've integrity. And I think, you know, I don't know if I want to say it's a couple of different things, but integrity and humility. You know, I, I think a lot of, a lot of us when we started our business, everyone starts from zero. Everyone starts with some humble roots of, they've got an idea. And most of us, if not all of us start with, you know, we have no money and no backing and we've just got time and sweat and equity in our business to go and to build a brand. And I think sometimes people over many diff over a longer span of years can kind of lose themselves in terms of how they relate to other people.

2 (10m 4s):
So I think it's very important to maintain a sense of humility, to always be a good listener to everyone that's around you.

1 (10m 12s):
I'm sorry. What did you say? That was a joke.

2 (10m 17s):
I think, I think being a good listener, I think having good integrity, being honest, you know, I, I, Bruce, you've talked to thousands of people just like I have over the years. And I'm proud to say that I think you would be hard pressed to find somebody that says that I've wronged them in any business fashion. I personal past,

1 (10m 34s):
I haven't, I can't find anybody that doesn't like you, so that's a good, that's a good thing.

2 (10m 42s):
There must be, there must be a couple out there, but you know, at the end of the day, I think, I think to be in business for the long-term, you have to do all of those things. And then you also have to be mindful of the future and you have to be smart with your money and you need to be strategic about how you invest or reinvest into your business, because the truth of it is no business that has any longevity has, has accomplished this without continue continual reinvention and reinvestment. I think, you know, on every three to five-year cycle, there there's a turn, you know, turn and in the market or in business. And it's important that you're mindful and looking ahead and making plans and investments, so that you're ready for the next thing, because it's usually the case that if you're not growing, you're dying.

2 (11m 28s):
Right. So, so keeping all of these things in mind, I think is how an action is how somebody would, could experience longevity.

1 (11m 41s):
So what industry sectors have the most potential right now and why?

2 (11m 46s):
Great question. So I'm still a dreamer and I love seeing and hearing new ideas from, from people that have experienced and have no experience. And sometimes they're, they're equally interesting on both sides because when you open yourself up and you're, you have conversations with people that, that haven't even done business in our business yet, and they have some ideas it's really great because you get sort of an unfiltered opinion. And so I think it's always great to see because I don't necessarily know who's got the next great idea. I don't think any of us do know necessarily, you know, you don't kind of know until you've seen it, sometimes it's already happened and you're like, damn, that was really good.

2 (12m 34s):
That was, that was great timing. That was a great idea. And

1 (12m 37s):
Can we thought of like only fans or something like that? Right.

2 (12m 40s):
I mean, and I think, you know, a lot of us have had great ideas and maybe we didn't bring them to market and we kick ourselves. But so I think, you know, most potential, I think certainly the new ideas, maybe the ones we don't know about yet. So I think it's always good to be paying attention to trends and watching how people are interacting, how people are buying and consuming entertainment, because at the end of the day, that's what, that's what, that's what this is. This is adult entertainment and it's connection, you know? So, but in terms of what is the most potential right now, I think none of us could have an argument against clip sites and live cams. You know, th the platforms that have been developed and launched, which allow performers of any maturity, you know, an experience to sort of self publish, you know, and collect like these platforms, they allow people to publish their content and, you know, collect revenue.

2 (13m 37s):
And I think that those, those are currently the most relevant, obviously that the history of the past of adult entertainment has been a lot of subscription-based services. And I think what's different now with how people are consuming content is it's much more dynamic. I think there's certainly an still an incredible future and subscription-based services, you know, and those who, even for those independent and platform-based performers who are producing content and have subscribers to their channels, you know, they very quickly learned that you have to be interesting and you have to always be, you have to actually work really hard, you know, to produce interesting content to mean to get subscribers.

2 (14m 21s):
And then to be interesting enough to continue to experience growth. I think also it's certainly the case that live cam services are extraordinarily compelling and both on both sides of the house, both on the Quip site side and on the live cam site side, you've got a lot of mature businesses that are doing a lot of volumes of dollars. As we, as we now know, it's billions of dollars, you know, both sides, cams, and clips. And I think we see platforms innovating that are also finding a way to mesh the two cams and clips. You know, like I know that this is certainly the case, you know, with only fans with many bids with, I want clips with clips for sale, you know, these are all awesome platforms.

2 (15m 12s):
And with, as with anything else, I think that that means that there's opportunity for, for growth, right? So the question is if someone was going to come to market and bring a new product and they wanted to do what say live Jasmine is doing, or what only fans is doing, they have to have an angle, or they have to have something new that they bring to the table. They have to have something better than just offering a larger share of the revenue to their performer, because at the end of the day, it's the consumers that are making that choice voting with their dollars.

1 (15m 45s):
Yep.

2 (15m 46s):
So it's, they really, they're going to have to be able to make everybody happy and to leverage technology and do so in a, in a smart and wise way. And so I think that there's, you know, it's, it's a big internet and I'm, I'm constantly amazed even with, you know, the stable of clients that we've got. And right now, mojo hosts serves, I think around 1400 different companies wow. In the space. And it's a lot. So we're serving, you know, the whole, the whole gamut of everyone's different ideas, whether it's, you know, everything from review sites, to advertising networks, to campsites, to quit platforms, to traditional pay site programs, we host all of that. And to be honest, I see, I see customers and all different parts of this succeeding.

2 (16m 33s):
So, you know, work hard, have a good idea, and that doesn't guarantee success. But I think the, you know, I think we're continuing to see growth in this and this explosion of platforms that allow creators to be innovative and, and to self publish.

1 (16m 51s):
So I

2 (16m 51s):
Think, I think we're going to continue to see more of that,

1 (16m 54s):
You know, and in the process and you alluded to this, you're going to see a lot of people pop up and doing, as they like to say here in Thailand, the same, same. I love that saying, oh, it's so hot. So what is this, what does this mean? What does this product do? Same, same. And you saw that a lot with pay sites. And a lot of them have failed because they didn't try to innovate. They didn't try to do anything different and it's really no different than any mainstream business. Right?

2 (17m 28s):
Sure. I mean, sometimes same, same can be good business. I mean, as a hosting company, I look at Amazon's AWS and I think, heck if I could be same, same, well, you know, and get some fraction of 1% of those tens of billions of dollars in cloud sales. Yeah. That would be a pretty great business, right? Yes,

1 (17m 47s):
Yes. Yeah. But yeah, I see a lot of people, they want to start a clip site. They want to start a fan site. They want to start a campsite. I see this through my general consulting company. And the question I always ask them is how are you going to be different? What are you going to do? That's going to get a customer away from Ana and also a, a performer away from only fans away from live Jasmine and a good deal of the time. They don't have an answer.

2 (18m 22s):
Sure.

1 (18m 23s):
So that's a problem. That's a problem.

2 (18m 26s):
Yeah. That's always, that's always going to be a, be a fundamental challenge. I mean, one of the things, when I, when I get to have conversations with new business owners and they're looking for some guidance and, you know, a lot of times you're trying to pre-qualify somebody or challenge them to ask them, what are they going to do? And I guess a lot of times when I find myself in conversations, they're telling me what they're going to do. And I'm just trying to add a little bit of guidance. You know, one of the things I think that helps business owners to be more successful is to truly believe in their product and be passionate about what they're doing.

1 (18m 58s):
So,

2 (18m 58s):
You know, I think the best example of that is I want clips. So, you know, that's an excellent platform. And one of the things that they've focused focused on is, you know, a lot of different fetishes and catering to a lot of, you know, BDSM and other types of content in that market. And I think Kevin, you know, I think if the owners and the operators of a site have an eye or have an interest, or really understand something better rather than trying to be a generalist or just launching a platform and not having something that they feel like they can do better. You know, I think if you're able to, with any fetish interests or, or segment of our industry, I think if, I think when you're able to bring people together with a sense of community and drive based on that, and just be the even, you know, if you can just be the best at doing even one of these markets and not, not try to do everything for everybody, if you can just be very, very good at one thing that I think that that can be a knockout success.

1 (20m 7s):
Absolutely. So what are some common mistakes that newcomers often make that may harm their new business?

2 (20m 16s):
Well, it's never easy starting a new business.

1 (20m 19s):
No,

2 (20m 19s):
You've got everything against you and nothing but an uphill battle. Right? So when people are starting a new business online, they have, they have no traffic, they have no software, they have no content. They have no merchant processing. They've really got nothing, but they have an idea, right? So, you know, common mistakes, I think sort of a broad question, but I think there's, there's lots of potential pitfalls. I think sometimes seeking guidance from people who aren't qualified to advise them that can be a common mistake, right? So like anybody that's seeking to start a new business and they're getting counsel from somebody, they should absolutely ask the right questions and ask around to try to vet them and try to understand what is their history of experience that they can be giving me advice.

3 (21m 3s):
Absolutely.

2 (21m 5s):
I think that people that start a business need to have a clear vision for what they are willing to invest and or lose and be very committed to that and not necessarily to losing money, but, but to understanding that it's not field of dreams, like even if you're able to design and create a product, that doesn't mean that once it is online and I can go surf your website and buy something that you're going to be instantly successful. I think a lot of people run out of steam before they've even hit stride or even figured out how to market.

1 (21m 41s):
I don't. I know, I hear, I hear some people I hear from people that say, I've got this totally developed website and it's great, and I want to sell it. And it hasn't even either hasn't launched or it launched a month ago because they're already tired of it.

2 (21m 60s):
I mean, my comment on that would be sent, send me people that have failed because of someone's someone's, if someone's got a truly unique code base where they, that they own it and they've done the development and the product works and it's actually programmed right. Then maybe there's some residual value in that. But certainly, certainly, certainly custom programming is hard. It's a very hard, I it's almost like the, the rabbit hole in Alice, in Wonderland because you really have to be working. You have to know what you want. You have to have a good business strategy. I think a good business strategy brings you online in stages. And the first of those is maybe like, you know, a minimum viable product, But you've got to be able to get to the finish line, like

1 (22m 47s):
Yes.

2 (22m 48s):
And you have to, you have to be working with trusted programmers and you have to get your deliverables. I've talked to so many people, so many business owners over the years who have spent tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in programming and never ended up with finished code. One of the things I would always recommend to people is that you separate your hosting from your programming resources. So of course your programmers and your custom developers are going to have opinions about where you host. But I would tell you that it's in the best interests of your new business to have multiple people working for you, each of them with their own fiduciary responsibility. So for example, if someone like, if someone was to come to me and say, Hey, Brad, I've got this idea.

2 (23m 29s):
And I know that this idea is complicated and it might take one or more programmers. I might recommend say, Kwan tox, for example, who has lots of resources and available programmers. And I know that VUCA and his company, they work hard and they get jobs done. And I've got lots of mojo hosts customers who are happy using them who have built whole platforms. Right?

1 (23m 49s):
Yeah. They've done a lot of work for me too. And oh, I believe in them, you know, a thousand percent

2 (23m 56s):
Sure. But it's important that I've also seen other situations where somebody is using an individual program. That's not part of a larger organization, or maybe it doesn't have a reputation at all because maybe they've never even developed, but they're essentially working for this client and that is their job and their sole income. And when things go south, if a programmer and a business owner don't see eye to eye, sometimes it's the case that the business is held hostage for the code. You don't even have the code. They don't even have the code that they want yet. So who can help you in that situation? Well, if you were at the right kind of a web host that can lock it down and you have the right types of design and implementation, then those are the kinds of situations that, you know, hosts can help guide you into an, a hole in a host and understands how to actually manage someone's platform.

2 (24m 49s):
Like what it's gonna look like in a real world environment can take a look at how queries are written and how things are structured and how pages are loading and tell you whether or not your programmers and their markup, whether it's done right, or it's done wrong, or it's efficient, or it's inefficient, they can give you this kind of feedback. And if the host is good at what they're doing, you're not even having to pay for it. Maybe you've got a 50 or a hundred dollars VPs with them, or maybe you're spending a few hundred dollars a month on a dev server. You know, I mean, you've got support and backups and things like that, but this is, this is where someone that starts a business, they can leverage that expertise and they can do it at no cost. So yeah, I think not having, not having multiple people, giving you feedback on your new business idea, I think that can definitely be a pitfall.

2 (25m 36s):
And at the end of the day after you've got a product designed, you need to be able to traffic it. And your first traffic bias, not your biggest traffic by your first traffic bias, making sure that shit works. And then, and then you're working to see if you can convert. And then after that, you're working to see if you can retain. And then after that, then you really need to start spending money to start advertising. So

1 (26m 1s):
Yeah, I see so many people, they just throw a bunch of money at traffic and they go, oh, buying traffic doesn't work, no buying traffic works, but you need to test, test, test, test. Oh. And by the way, what you mentioned about programmers, I mean, we've all, we've all had that problem. I I've had that problem, my first program, or ran away with my money. And I had another bad experience with a guy and went to Kwon talks and I never had a problem again. So in fact, I had problems with every program or I ever had until I went to Kwan talks. So going to a big company that has lots of resources and you know, your guy's not going to go away at so important.

1 (26m 44s):
I, I respect individual programmers and all, but I know it's risky. It's risky, man. It's just,

2 (26m 54s):
There's a lot of wonderful ones out there. I think, I think if someone starting a new business and they're going to go down that path, I think that they need a consort. I think that they need a few different people that they're talking to. So that, that way they can develop a strategy.

1 (27m 7s):
Absolutely. Absolutely. So what would you recommend to someone looking to launch an adult industry project?

2 (27m 16s):
Well, before COVID, I would have one of the recommendations. So I've, I've had this question put to me before. I remember talking to somebody a few years ago and you know, he was just ready to spend a bunch of money. And I said, you know what? You really need to take the time out from the other business that you own and you need to come and attend one of the industry conferences you need to go and you need to be a student. And if you want to shadow me just to meet a lot of people, you know, and, and learn some stuff, but you need to go there and you need to be a student. Yes. Because you don't know what you don't know. And I think that you need a broader understanding of what's going on for the whole ecosystem of how all of these things work together. Everything from the billing companies, the cam companies, the traffic companies, you know, the technology side of things to form some opinions, but really just to understand how, how the world turns that, and you know, it used to be, you know, I think that podcasts, like what you have, I think information that's online.

2 (28m 14s):
I tell everybody to go join experts.net. So, you know, there's a community online and you can, you can meet people and read threads and you can ignore what you don't want to read. And, you know, the same is certainly the case also with GF, why, while there is other stuff in there, there is also tidbits of business information. And you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of stuff out there, but basically I think when someone's starting a new business, like they need to really commit to it and they, they should be a student. They need to slow their roll. They don't know everything. You know, your idea probably isn't so great that it's going to succeed. No matter how you deploy this idea, you know, you really should take the time to, you know, be before you start spending money because once you spend it, it's gone.

2 (28m 59s):
Yep. So

1 (29m 1s):
I say, go to, well, I would say go to a number of shows before you put in that kind of investment.

2 (29m 7s):
Yeah. Yeah. Perhaps, I mean, the other, the other thing I'm always recommending also is just a gut check on, are you really willing to put the time and effort in

1 (29m 17s):
Yeah.

2 (29m 18s):
Are you really, are you really willing to work? Because I also see not, I see other people with ideas that, you know, they have a large pocket book. They have the money to go fund development and other stuff, but it's very hard to start a new bit. Like if you listen, if you've got, if you've got six or seven digits to go start a new business, and that's enough to payroll, a couple of people to actually run and operate this business, then good for you. But most of those businesses, aren't going to succeed. Most of those new startups aren't going to succeed. If they blow their watch too soon, they don't deploy it successfully. Or if the actual owner isn't really passionate about the business, because it's very hard to hire pat, it's very hard to hire passion, right?

2 (30m 5s):
So you can get, you can hire great employees that work hard, but it's hard to hire, like, you know, someone that can be a visionary and an integrator, someone that can have the vision and actually do the work and be the task master. And every business needs both.

1 (30m 19s):
You're the best evangelist for your brand. Nobody else can, nobody else can equal that. That's my feeling.

2 (30m 28s):
Usually that's the case.

1 (30m 31s):
That's my feeling you actually have been been. I won't say fortunate because you've been smart enough to bring in someone like Natalie who is just, you know, so passionate about your brand. I won't, I won't compare her passion to yours. Cause I don't think anybody's passion can equal yours for Mojo's, but man, she's, she's getting pretty close.

2 (30m 55s):
Yeah. We're both, we're both very, we're both unique and I'm very, very fortunate to have her and I'm always, I'm always looking to see, you know, she, she's very rare, so I'm very lucky to have her on the team and we've been very successful together and both Natalie and I are always looking for talent out there to join our team.

1 (31m 13s):
Well, she's, she's, I think she's the best hire you've you've ever made. And that I know of, I just, you know, I, I can't, I can't get over it.

2 (31m 26s):
I, I'm very proud of what she's accomplished. And, and I'm also very proud of that. I think that, you know, we've been together several years now and I think she's really happy with her job still. So, you know, that's awesome.

1 (31m 39s):
Well, Brad being happy with the job, I think always has a lot to do with the guy on top and how you're treated. And I know how you treat your employees, how well you treat your employees and how you treat your friends. And that's how you treat your employees, how you treat your friends and it's, it's awesome. And that it has everything to say about it. Really.

2 (32m 4s):
Thank you.

1 (32m 5s):
Oh, you're welcome. I mean, I mean, you, you don't have to do things like rent a bus from, from Berlin to Prague, take everybody to lunch, you know, and, and do things like that.

2 (32m 17s):
So here's what I

1 (32m 18s):
Remember. You know what I remember the best, by the way, you know what I remember the best and I tell people this story all the time about you remember the, remember the, the, why not show in San Francisco?

2 (32m 30s):
I do.

1 (32m 31s):
And I remember a bunch of us were downstairs and there was a gap in the show and we're all kind of standing around networking, of course. And you went to the bar and said open the bar it's on me. And I was just like, wow, I didn't know you that well then. And I was just like, wow. I mean, that's, That's cool. Okay.

2 (32m 56s):
Well, cool. It's interesting. Right? Because I wasn't a very cool kid or a very cool young adult. I don't know if I ever, if I ever found, if I ever found cool in my life, it was in my experience working with all of you, people in this industry and just doing things the hard way when I started off. And then I went to my first conference back in 2000, I was nobody from nowhere and living on credit cards as a very young 20 something year old, trying to figure out his first business and adult. And back then, there were a lot of still very cool people who made a lot of money very fast. And my humble roots just involve.

2 (33m 37s):
I mean, I don't want to say bribing people, but hospitable, like, you know, providing a little bit of hospitality and that type of situation, but, but not just paying for the bar. So the success like you gave the example of the bus. So what I would, what I would tell you the difference between, or the similarity between that, that experience on the bus and that same experience at why not was, I don't have a full memory of either one of those days. Like completely, my brain just doesn't work that way, but I'm very, I'm very consistent. It's not just that I paid a bill for something to happen. It's that I was there doing hand-to-hand combat and making sure that everybody was taken care of and that all of their needs were met.

2 (34m 18s):
And I was probably introducing people to opportunities.

1 (34m 21s):
You even waited for Dan Leal who was oversleeping. I'll never, I'll never get on. He'll never, he'll never hear the end of that one who overslept by like an hour. And we're like waiting on the bus and bruises and back bitching. It's like, goddammit.

2 (34m 36s):
Yeah, well, no, no, no man. Or woman left behind, you know, one of the things I think one of the, one of the things I think I've taken on over the years doing such hospitality is, is trying to care for the flock. Right? So in all these different circumstances, I think it's very important to me and, and, and certainly to make sure that everybody, you know, we have a good time. We do so many usual things, but I think it's very important to make sure that you're really looking out for everyone's best interest in every circumstance, because things do get weird and sometimes they get complicated. And so, you know, we're all human. And I think it's, it's, it's good to allow for everyone to make a mistake here or there, but really just to be looking out for everybody else, which means sometimes doing hard stuff, like cutting people off at the bar and walking them back to the room and sometimes making sure they get in bed and sometimes making sure that they don't die.

2 (35m 31s):
Like all of these things are things that have happened over the last 22 years.

1 (35m 34s):
Oh sure. Oh sure. My broker tip today has to do with what to do to make your site more valuable for when you decide to sell it later, this will be the first in a multi-part series. First, make sure you're converting as much of your traffic as possible. Traffic's expensive, whether it's search engine, traffic, review, site, traffic, or affiliate traffic, you pay it a lot for it. So make sure that when someone lands on your site, you give them every opportunity possible to either spend money or do whatever it is you want your visitors to do in the case of a pay site, make sure your billing options allow as many people as possible to buy, have multiple ways to pay in north America.

1 (36m 16s):
Most everyone has a credit card, but in other parts of the world credit cards, aren't used nearly as much in Europe. For instance, credit card usage is low. So look for billing options that will match the areas where your traffic comes from in Europe, ACH and debit cards are used a lot in Africa and other developing areas. Many people pay by mobile, do your homework and find out how people pay in the regions you get. Most of your traffic it'll make you more money. The worst thing you can do is get a visitor, have them want to buy, but since you don't have their preferred way to pay, they can't. If you're looking for suggestions, feel free to get in touch with me via my website.

1 (36m 58s):
Along with this is to improve your user experience, make your site attractive and easy to navigate. People have more options than ever these days. I can't tell you how many sites I go to. Even some that are owned by large companies, where the navigation isn't obvious to the user, you poke around the site for what seems like an eternity to do something that should be relatively easy. Keep it simple. Before you launch any changes to your site, ask your friends to go to the site and check it out. Unfortunately, designers and web developers don't think like us. You need real people to look at your site for you. The same kind of people who will be visiting your site next, make a good offer.

1 (37m 40s):
If you're selling something and the offer, isn't good. You won't make money. It's plain and simple as that. And if your offer is to contact you to get more information that make the offer attractive and easy to understand, if you're selling something, make buying easy, show them an easy way to buy and then leave, help them by making suggestions on what to buy. amazon.com is the best at this. They always have suggestions on what to buy based on your buying and browsing history. They use AI to do this. There are AI engines available these days at a modest cost. Look into this. If you can, don't clutter up your site with unnecessary items, buttons, and images.

1 (38m 21s):
Keep it as simple as possible. The best and most successful sites are the simple ones. The ones that lead you to take the action you'd like them to do. It's not that hard. Just remember when you're putting together any site, try to think through buying process like a human being, whatever you do. Don't turn that over to your designer. Don't just say, build me a website. What you'll get out the other end will not give you what it is. You're looking for. Give them as much direction as possible and make it easy for them to build a site for you that makes your business succeed. We'll talk about this subject more next week and next week, we'll be speaking with Brad Mitchell once again in part two of our interview.

1 (39m 5s):
And that's it for this week's Adult Site Broker Talk. I'd once again like to thank my guest Brad Mitchell of Mojohost. Talk to you again next week on Adult Site Broker Talk. I'm Bruce Friedman.