Failed dot-commers move into porn

Courses for budding porn site operators are attracting failed US dot-commers in their droves, and Australians are showing signs of getting in on the action.

ZDNet Australia reported yesterday on the growing trend of dot-com has-beens to cash in on online porn and the Adult Webmasters School -- www.adultwebmasterschool.com -- which kicked off July 1, claims a large proportion of its students have a failed Internet business behind them.

The course, which teaches those who enrol how to profit from the online porn business, has attracted over 200 students each month since its launch and hopes to have over 2000 people signed up by the end of the year. Only two Aussies are on the books to date but close to 40 percent of the total headcount are former employees of failed dot-com businesses, according to the school's chief executive Philip Brandes.

"Since a lot of these 'dot-bombers' have prior Web, computer and/or marketing skills, the transition is relatively easy. They pick up the material far quicker that those coming from a more traditional line of work," Brandes told ZDNet Australia in an email interview.

According to Brandes, adult Webmasters don't feel the bite of a bad economy -- sex sells no matter what happens. "I chose this industry due to the stability that is inherent in the online pornography business. Having been involved with the Internet from an early age, I knew the end was near for companies trading at 40 times their book value, yet not earning a profit. It was time to go in to an industry that generated profits -- a lot of profits."

According to Brandes, when you cater to people's most basic desires -- food, shelter, clothing, sex -- there's a pretty good chance of survival. "Pornography is the largest product/service on the Net and despite the usual slow-down during summer, the online Adult business is booming. Not one of our students who has been with us for more than 30 days has failed to generate revenue."

Brandes says that the school has attracted a good portion of female students and despite what some may think, this line of business is just as complex as others. "I analyse conversion ratios, niche effectiveness, click-through ratios, sponsor sales, traffic bandwidth...It's not just about looking at nudie pictures," he said.

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