On Wednesday the beautiful and all powerful Gracie be chatting with the pole dancing, sex positive feminist with a Bachelor’s degree in linguistics and a Master’s degree in internet technology ~ Amber Rhea.

Amber is also co-founder of the Georgia Podcast Network, co-host of the award-winning podcast Mostly ITP (which focuses on people and issues in Atlanta), main organizer of PodCamp Atlanta 2007, & organizer of Sex 2.0, an ‘unconference’ focused on the intersection of social media, feminism, and sexuality.

One of the things that impresses me most about Amber is that she gets sex work ~ despite never having worked ‘the game’, despite being ‘young’ and not a crone. She truly has wisdom beyond her years.

You can join the raunchy-fun and the ranty-goodness on Cult of Gracie Radio at 9 p.m. central ~ listen live, hang out in the chat room, and call in at 646.200.3136.

The girls of New Your City never cease to amaze me, Audacia Ray, Tess Danesi and Twanna Hines are just amazing women (among the others involved). Their latest project is a Sex Blogger pin-up calendar. It is absolutely stunning and gorgeous. The wesite - SexBlogger Calendar - is beautiful and just divine. Creativity, Sexiness and Savviness - ladies, I love it.

Masuimi Max Pirate Pinup - Photo by Laura Byrnes

I was reading Marketing Prof’s Daily Fix (what can’t you find on twitter?) and was surprised on how much his posting on Dirty Leaders are Good, Sometimes corresponded to the book I am currently reading (see below).

Steve Woodruff states, “There’s a price to pay for rising above the crowd and seeking to lead. You become a target. Dirt bombs and mudballs find their way into your orbit, because if you win, someone else loses. And that happens in business as well. If you are a thought leader, or a dominant player in the marketplace, or an innovative competitor creating disruption, one of the spoils of success is that you’ll be attacked. Perhaps you’ve actually earned the opprobrium of your detractors by wrong or ruthless business practices (that kind of dirty leader isn’t good!), but perhaps your character is being publicly assassinated simply because of jealousy or hatred. It’s hard to break new ground or expand into new fields without stirring up some soil. One way or another, few leaders escape getting dirtied. It comes with the territory - the territory of success!”

All I can say is, AMEN! It’s the truth! If you are trying something new or taking a different approach, don’t be afraid to do it and don’t be afraid of the mud that is going to be slung your way. What Steve is talking about are the Laws of Attraction, Forgiveness and Karma. And how positive action and non-resistance will help any individual achieve our wildest dreams and goals (read Florence Shinn if you need more).

Being ethical is what I founded my business upon. Providing my clients with solutions that people couldn’t/wouldn’t give them was my driving force. I am thankful for those I work with every day and I will continually do well by them.

In the Flesh: L.A. (the West coast version of In The Flesh founded by Rachel Kramer Bussel) is a monthly reading series held the last Thursday of every month at Hustler Hollywood, and features the city’s best journalists, authors, scriptwriters and more offering their torrid tales for your entertainment and titillation, hosted and curated by writer/editor Carly Milne (Sexography, Hooking Up, Naked Ambition).

From secret dirty confessions to unique sexual insights (and even the odd embarrassment or two), these writers get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Readers have included Willam Belli, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Maxim Jakubowski, Stan Kent, Shana Ting Lipton, Jenny Block, Regina Lynn, Rob Roberge, Eugene S. Robinson, Marty Barrett, Seth Greenland, Nina Hartley, Jeff Miller, Colleen Wainwright, Adam Grayson, Joanna Angel, Ernest Greene, Maggie Marr and BatSheva Vaknin. We’ve also been written up in Metroblogging L.A., LAist, Thrillist, Fishbowl L.A., Blue Blood and others.

Themed include Survival, Confessions, Madonna, Fears, Embarrassments and many more. Complimentary cookies and cupcakes from Schmerty’s will be offered. The event is free, but a suggested $10 door fee will be donated to the Rape and Incest National Network.

In The Flesh: L.A. debuted in May 2008. E-mail inthefleshreadingseriesla at gmail.com for booking, more information or interview requests.

The Next In The Flesh is This Thursday at Hustler: Hollywood. I will be attending, hope to see you all there!

A good friend of mine and I were talking about Fetish and mainstream marketing. He had bought Ed Fox’s latest book from Taschen and fell in love with it. What came out of this minor “erotic awakening” was how fetishism has creeped into the marketing/advertising for clothing, lingerie and footwear. He now saw it everywhere, even when it wasn’t supposed to be there.

I said, “Darling, where do think the love of women’s’ feet began?” The book is beautiful, high-art and worth the purchase. Check it chickies!

So Chris Brogan wrote an article on “50 Ways To Use Twitter For Business“, personally, Jeremiah Owyang’s  article on The Evolution of Business on Twitter was much better. But it got me thinking, what are best uses of Twitter for adult business and who should adult business tweeters connect with?

Twitter Basics

• Open a twitter account and use Twitter Search to see what people are saying about your name, your competitor’s names and key words that relate to your industry.
• Make sure you have a photo - no one wants to follow a faceless person, it shows LAZINESS.
• Dialog and interact, don’t just spam the crap out of your followers and with blog postings. Engage in meaningful discussions and funny comments.
• Talk about things in your industry. No, I don’t care what dildo was up Tera’s ass, talk about trends and new media outlets, etc. Also comment on industries that might be complimentary to what you are doing.
• No pushing and shoving. Again, don’t blast your content, photos and videos all the time. You will lose followers.
• Be Human and talk about YOU. People like knowing about people.

What to Tweet About

• Write about what you are currently involved in, reading or find engaging. Again, people like humanity and personality.
• If you own and adult related site, have your talent tweeting. Get them blackberries and iphones, let them tweet about their lives and things going on with them. Leverage your employees to drive traffic to your site. Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections.
• Ask questions about direction, marketing or content. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
• Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who she follows, and follow her.

Tweeting Etiquette

• You don’t have to reply to every @ tweet directed to you (try to reply to some, but don’t feel guilty).
• Use direct messages for 1-to-1 conversations if you feel there’s no value to Twitter at large to hear the conversation. No one cares about your dog and cat.
• Use Tweetdeck and Twhirl to manage Twitter.
• Shorten URLS with TinyURL .
• If someone doesn’t like what you say, they can unfollow you. Let them go, they are replaced by three who love you.
• Commenting on others’ tweets, and retweeting what others have posted is a great way to build community.

Twitter Pros & Cons

• Twitter takes up time. - Please! You can engage in twitter as much, or not as much, as you like.
• Twitter takes you away from other productive work. I have made some of my best business deals because of Twitter - making money and growing is productive!
• There are other ways to do this. Yes, but PLURK sucks!
• Twitter doesn’t apply to the adult industry. Twitter’s only a few million people (only). And you know what, they buy sex toys, see videos, are interested in mainstream marketing, etc.
• Twitter doesn’t replace direct email marketing. Ummm - Twitter is real time. If you send out one adult related link to a file or video, it will be downloaded 20,000 times in ONE DAY. Put that out to millions who may have not seen it and ummm - get where I am going?
• Twitter opens you up to more criticism and griping. If you hear what is wrong, you can avoid making those mistakes! Or you can discover how wrong they are and realize what you are doing is right.
• Twitter breaks news faster than other sources, often (especially if the news impacts online denizens).- Damn skippy. It’s a viral as viral can get.
• Twitter brings great minds together, and gives you daily opportunities to learn (if you look for it, and/or if you follow the right folks). My twitter is a mix of adult, mainstream adult and mainstream marketers, mixed in with people I just like. I get all kinds of info and ideas from comparing opinions and trends. Twitter is instant market research.
• Twitter helps with business development, if your prospects are online (mine are). Twitter has made me mad dollars in the past two months because people follow me and when they need me, they call or (@CallieSimms) me.

Sites I Have Found On Twitter I Love

• http://www.veronicabelmont.com/
• http://tastyblogsnack.com
• http://opheliaswims.blogspot.com/
• http://www.engadget.com
• http://yourdailythread.com/
• http://sparkleshelf.com

So in reading Ophelia Chong’s Blog today, I found an interesting post she made. She writes:

Google Search of “social marketing guru” brings up over 419,000 hits.

Some of the best:

“Steve I___ from Canada is a major social marketing guru and very good friends with Neil Patrick Harris…”

“Internet Marketing Guru Turned Social Entrepreneur. Joel C. on mission to help many become Internet-literate and eventually help …”

From Wikipedia: A guru (Sanskrit: ????, Bengali: ????) is a person who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and uses it to guide others. The word comes from Sanskrit Gu, darkness, and Ru, light (prakash); literally a preceptor who shows others knowledge (light) and destroys ignorance (darkness).

Can you be a Guru if you are using it for monetary reasons?

Well @Ophelia, I don’t think you can use the term “Guru” for monetary purposes based on the Wiki definition, but I would like to take it a step further and say:

I have never liked the term guru, I view it as a buzz word that people are throw around to quickly establish themselves as an expert in whatever the hot field is at moment - i.eg. social media and Web 2.0. The problem with using the term “GURU” is that it pigeonholes a person’s career and a potiential client’s perception of them. By saying, “I am a social media expert!” - leaves one to ask “Well, can you do anything else?”

There’s a perception the term conveys - saying “guru” makes it appear as though the person using it doesn’t have a diverse skill set or the capacity to leverage other marketing techniques in their campaigns.

A marketing expert knows that the online component of marketing makes up the largest component any plan these days, but print, advertising and traditional forms hold - heavy - weight. They are crucial parts in developing a holistic, cohesive marketing strategy that drives the success of any product or service.

Side Note/ Joke: Using the term Social Media Guru sometimes implies - “I really don’t know what I am doing”, “I am a master of the universe because I have to compensate for my mental inadequacies - caused by my *physical* inadequacies” or “I just want to look cool.”

I know, you wish. There are major things going on the past few weeks. I was contacted by my favorite editor-in chief, Rosanna Ciulla, about my writings and In My Bed Magazine; to my surprise and honor, she was reading the adult business blog at CallieSimms.net and emailed to ask permission to syndicate my escort business writings in the magazine, we are in the beginning phases of what content will be used; but I am excited.

In My Bed is one of the most innovative online magazines I have seen in many years. It’s not an adult related publication but it does talk about sex, sexuality and relationships. eSubscribe and be blown away!

Be Ethical, Be Legitimate. Anyone can work in adult marketing; there are many “designers, developers and marketers”. But I use those terms loosely because many “adult marketing companies” aren’t ethical. They under deliver, over charge and build websites on platforms that their client can’t understand, thereby making them slaves to the webmaster. When did the term adult become synonymous with the term idiot? Just because a client’s business is adult related, it doesn’t give their marketing team the right charge astronomical prices for third-rate service. Sooner or later, a client will speak up, vocalize their discontent and you will lose all your business.

Did you know? An individual adult entertainer usually makes $200,000 to $350,000 per year. A heavily marketed, niche adult website with creative, unique content can make up to $1 million per year. The average investment in marketing & publicity is about 15-20% of the gross income.

Being ethical and being legitimate is the first step in being successful.

Be More Than A Designer: Be A Developer, A Marketing Strategist, An Advisor and A Visionary. Anyone designing adult websites should be able to build just about anything. PHP, CSS, HTML, Java – I don’t care, you better know it and be able to do it well. I am not a designer, I am a marketing strategist; but my design team – Ope/Zig (the best) – can do anything a client needs them to do. They make it a point to test and demo all the adult related content management systems out there. By doing so, they know the best platform for any client site. If a client comes to us and loves what they have, we can work with it, but we work to improve it. If they don’t like it, they identify what isn’t working and develop several alternatives for them. If we have to, we will build what they want from scratch.

I strive to be more than designer, I strive to be a visionary. I not only create a site, I develop a strategy and a vision for the client. Now some clients aren’t ready for it, whether it’s a financial limitation or a mental step they aren’t to make yet, I make sure concept is there from day one. I visualize their BRAND and what it could be, even if they themselves don’t see it yet.

You have to ask yourself, “What is this company or individual’s five-year plan?” Next, work backwards from there. You are still building their brand, even if it’s an individual person and a name. You have to consider what would hurt that brand, what would dilute it and what would make it stronger. Throw in the average shelf life of adult name/product popularity and it’s some work!

If you have an idea that could be “The Next Step” and blow/transform their image into another lucrative income stream, you must present it to them, even if it’s risky. If you don’t present it, you are a bad marketer and don’t deserve their business. You need to be a visionary and an adviser because things in the adult market become tired quickly. It’s your duty to continually maximize their ROI; that’s what you are being paid for.

Have Standards and Integrity. This is where humanity comes in and I gotta get gritty. Our clients are people; treat them like people.

1. If you can’t get over nudity and provocative content, then this line work isn’t for you.
2. If you think you can use your status as an adult webmaster/marketer to try and meet adult professionals for your “personal” gain, then this line of work isn’t for you.
3. If you can’t imagine doing an online video series focused on selling couture sex toys and leveraging social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook to promote it and drive online sales – then EXIT STAGE LEFT.

What I Am Saying: Treat your adult clients like your corporate clients. Put all you know into practice and give them tangible results based on clear, ethical marketing practices. Make sure they have the proper tools to manage their content can do all the things they want to themselves. It allows you fill in the services that they fall short on and make you a more effective resource.

Play Nice With Others. There are great adult marketers out there. Play nice and make friends, you never know when you are going to need them. I keep in contact with the people I know have ethical standards and we trade and refer work whenever we need to. In fact, make sure you follow @PBVixen and @MasterRobyn on Twitter, these people have mad skills and I would work with them and for them anytime.

Breaking into The Adult Marketing & Web Development Business

Recently, I’ve received a lot of questions about delving into the adult marketing via Twitter and Facebook; the questions I am asked most are:

1. Is there good money in it?
2. Is it hard to do?
3. What do you do?
4. How do you develop a clientele?

The simple answers are:

1. Yes, there is money in it. Just like any business.
2. Yes, it is hard to do. Just like any business
3. I do the same thing you do for mainstream clients.
4. You develop clientele just like you do any business.

These questions are just the icing on the cake, what “inquiring marketing minds” actually pondering and asking is how to penetrate the adult industry and creating a successful business. They want to know if it can it worth the time and effort. Well, guess what? Any smart, determined marketer or developer can create a successful adult business, but they have to have a strategic plan to do so.

Here are my tips for deciding if you should start an adult marketing company:

Tip #1: Don’t approach the adult industry like it’s some secret Illuminati society that must be infiltrated. There are multiple ways to enter it: networking, emailing, trade shows, etc. It’s the same as any industry; it takes time and a targeted, strategic approach. Pick on that is most comfortable for you and go from there. For you online types, my next suggestion in perfect!

Tip #2: Set up an alternate Twitter, go raid my Twit-O-Dex (@CallieSimms) and start following adult entertainers, designers and other professionals that look interesting (@AudaciaRay, @VictoriaLane, @DarkGracie, @MasterRobyn, @Mindchaotica, @KimberleeCline and @PBVixen are a must). Start reading blogs, looking at web sites, check links and slowly start to comment. Just like it takes a website about six months to fully integrate into the Google sandbox and be allowed to play, it is the same for any new person in the adult scene. When you find something that tickles your fancy, proceed to Tip #3!

Insider Tip #3: Find something interesting? Go Google the crap out the thing that made you go – “OH!” and start studying it. Need inspiration? Check my side links, I put the stuff I really like there. Find a niche that works for you and start there, then grow.