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Alright, a friend of mine made a big fuss over this picture, (naming no names) he said that it was "horrendous", I look sick in it, it is a boner-killer, etc. So the big excuse was "men are visual" whereas I think it's a fine picture "because I'm a woman". (Though women are welcome to take the poll as well). Thus, I want YOUR opinion on the picture, please answer below. You can do it anon or you can leave a comment with your vote (you'll see where to leave your comment on the page after you hit vote). Thanks guys =D

Now on to this week's article:::::::
li writes "It occured to me that my previous guide to cam pay sites was directed toward people who are already VERY familiar with the cam-community or are already a cam/blog site owner.

This is the revised guide to paysites with more handy information and better labled subjects so you can just skim what you already know with less risk of missing something you may find useful.

A special thanks to everyone who read my last guide and contacted me with additional questions and areas to cover.

Visit Li's new featured page on docweasel.com :: LiCam

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Step 1 / Technicalities:

The Equipment:
If you don’t “cam” at all yet and don’t have the equipment, you may want to consider the costs of opening a pay site before you decide you’re determined to open one. While you can very well open a cam site / blog like those you see around the net with just a web cam of even mediocre quality (resolution) easily picked up for around $40, a pay site is generally expected to have quality cam pictures. Most cam girls prefer using the Logitech Pro 4000($80), I recommend the Logitech Orbit, it has a higher resolution and will only cost you $30-$40 more than the Pro 4000 will.

Pay sites are also expected to have high resolution images, it’s generally the “big seller”, picking up a decent digital camera will run you upwards of $150, my personal favorites are the Sony brands but you can (and should) look around, a nice 4.1 (“4 mp effective”) mega pixel digital camera will run you close to $300 in most cases and a decent memory stick (so you can hold more than 8 pictures at a time) will usually run you another $50-$100.

While making videos with your web cam is accepted as long as it’s of some quality most cam girls are not satisfied with the mobility, etc, of their web cams and prefer to buy a video camera / camcorder for their video needs. You can pick up a decent camcorder for just over $250 now.

The Hosting:
This subject is often overlooked, while it is easy to find free hosting for your cam / blog site, all of that changes when you open a pay site. You’ll be needing enough space and bandwidth for all your videos, pictures, etc. A reliable server that rarely crashes is important as well, if your site crashes every time more than 100 people are on the page at once (A problem I have had in the past) you’re not likely to be happy and the down time can be just an annoyance all together even if you’re not worried about sales.

Realistically a decent hosting package for a beginner can be purchased at about $20 a month, as you expand you’ll end up spending more on hosting, needing larger packages. The majority, but not all, hosting providers have “one time start up fees” that usually range from $30-$50 in price.

Here's just a sample of what you'll see over at domedry.com Visit Li there today!

“Morals” & Job Hazards:
If you are the kind who will become embarrassed if you’re “found out”, find another occupation. I have seen and heard of way too many cam-girls who’ve been discovered by family members or ‘friends’ and were devastated. Also if you’re in it just for the money don’t bother, you won’t “get rich” overnight and you’re most likely to be ashamed of yourself if it’s not something you enjoy or want to do.

It’s rare but “stalkers” can develop, I’ve also heard of girls getting boxes of broken glass mailed to their PO Boxes, harassing phone calls even if you’ve never given your number out, etc. Just be careful, never give your full name out, and I wouldn’t recommend giving out your location at any given time, even if it’s not your home address, letting people know exactly where you go to school, work, etc, can be just as dangerous. While I have never heard of a cam-girl being harmed, it’s best to be safe.

When making your contacts public (E-Mail, messenger handles, etc.) expect to be contacted by a wide wide variety of people. Some are just looking to talk and may even become 'friends', others are only there to annoy, pester, and bother you by asking for you to go on cam for them, send them pcitures, and basically treating you like you have nothing better to do then cater to them, or worse. You can also expect your fair share of harassment and negativity for providing adult entertainment for money or material goods.

When signing up for your domain name (yourname.com for example) I would not give an address I reside in, a simple “Who Is” lookup will provide any person on the net with your full name, address and phone number if that’s what you’ve used to register your domain.

Also, realize that when you have however many hundreds or thousands of people visiting your site each day, adding up to hundreds of thousands per year, it is almost inevitable that you’ll bump into someone who recognizes you.

Step 2 / Site Design:

Color Scheme:
When designing a site you may or may not want to take into consideration web statistics (I mean if you really want a lime green layout, no one will stop you). However statistically speaking amateur sites with a feminine or even girly layout tend to attract more members, layouts using black backgrounds oddly have this same effect.

Splash/Intro Pages:
Splash pages are seriously a no-no for pay sites, again using statistics; you lose over 30% of your visitors by having a splash page. *For those who don't know the term, a Splash Page is a page that sites often use as a welcome or warning before entering the actual site. Try perhaps putting your age disclaimer in a pop up or just somewhere on the front page (Assuming your pay site is for adults, there are non-adult sites as well, still, avoid using splash pages).

Layout & Statistics:
The majority of people who visit a site will not scroll down at all if they do not see something interesting as soon as the page loads. That means you have approximately (give or take) 400 pixels in height to impress your potential members. I recommend using a flattering picture of yourself as the main focus of your layout so they see you immediately upon loading the site. This will keep their attention and also save anyone the hassle of having to scroll/click around to find a picture of the person they came to see (and most won’t take the time). If you’d rather use some other image for your layout (or none at all?) then I strongly recommend you put your cam picture or “remote cam” in plain view at the top of the page.

Resolution & Browsers:
People (As I'm sure you're aware) HATE to side scroll. When making a layout take into consideration what it will look like on other resolutions aside from your own. The most commonly used resolution on the net is 1024x768, it is important to at least make the site comfortably viewable at that size, but the best thing to do is try to make the site viewable at ALL resolutions (including 800x600 even though it is pushing out-dated). If the site is hard to view, your potential member will not bother to stick around. Checking your site on browsers (Internet Explorer, AOL, Mozilla, Opera, etc.) other than your own is also a good idea, I have heard that the new famous “Firefox” browser makes many sites impossible to view.

For more of this article, visit Li on Cammunity [dead link]

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