Be part of the largest amateur website on the Internet.
Once
you have read through the following information, go
back to the main page and select the option that fits you
best. That will give you even more information on becoming part
of the Wild Rose Network.
Information On Starting An Amateur Site
So,
you're interested in getting on the Internet. Well, you've come
to the right place. We at the Wild Rose™ Network are more than
happy to help give you the information you need in order to get
started. Within the following pages, we hope to inform you and
to also make you think. The "job" of Internet Amateur is a fun
one and can be quite rewarding, but it is also one fraught with
lots of work and many pitfalls.
For
the first time, we women have a venue to express our sexuality
and ourselves. We have an inexpensive way to show the world who
we are and what we believe. The Internet truly is a portal to
discovery...the discovery of ourselves and of others.
WHAT
IS AN AMATEUR PAGE?
That
is both an easy question to answer...and a hard one. Some people
believe that an Internet Amateur should be a "true" amateur; a
housewife, a mother, a college student, basically anyone who has
never done anything like this before. Many people believe that
models, dancers, or porn stars shouldn't be classified as amateurs,
and that's where the dilemma resides. My personal belief is that
if the page is not being used to advertise or feature the woman's
other career, and is truly a personal page, then it may be considered
amateur. This is an area for discussion within our message boards.
An
amateur can be anyone, regardless of appearance, as there is a
place for everyone. Any woman that wishes to let the world into
her life can be an amateur. Mothers, grandmothers, thin, overweight,
black, white, they all deserve the chance of being themselves
and expressing themselves. We are all beautiful in our own special
ways, and the old cliché, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
holds very true on the Internet.
We
can't tell you what belongs on an amateur page, or what doesn't
belong. That is for you to decide. You may prefer very "soft",
non-pornographic content, or very extreme hard-core, that is up
to you to decide and there is a place for everything. What you
do need to do though, is to bring your true personality out in
the pages, that is more important than anything else. People get
to know you and think of you as a friend and confidant. They sometimes
live through your life and your exploits. Remember this and treat
them all with respect...it will be returned.
If
you are looking at starting a site primarily for profit, be warned
that it's a hard road and many sites make very little money. On
the other hand, some sites are extremely successful and do make
millions a year in revenue. None of these were overnight successes
and all took a lot of hard work to get where they are. It's almost
impossible to become financially successful with an amateur site
if you do it as a hobby or only part-time. It truly is a full-time
business and must be treated that way. 12-16 hours a day in from
of your computer is not uncommon and will be experienced.
If
you plan on a site primarily as a hobby, you can still make extra
pocket money. This is achieved through the use of sponsors (or
advertisers) and is discussed in more detail below. There are
a large number of women that put up sites for fun, to express
themselves, and just to meet other people. These women have fun
with what they do, and many of my favourite sites fall in this
category. Just remember, you will have costs running any site,
no matter how small.
HOW DO I START?
The
first thing you need to do is plan on what you want to say to
the world. Do you have something special you want to impart on
people? Are you an exhibitionist, bisexual, into various fetishes?
Then these are the areas you should concentrate on...be yourself.
Gather your thoughts and write them down. Too many amateurs make
the mistake of starting off without a goal in mind. They worry
about the technical aspect when they should first be thinking
of the content of the site. Now, on a sheet of paper, plan the
lay-out of the site. Think of the sections and subsections you
want and plan for those. Gather the pictures you want to display,
and then plan on shooting more. ;-)
Have
a look through the many available Amateur websites already up
on the Internet. This can give you ideas as to what you wish to
do, with both the look of the website and the content you wish
to display. I'm not saying to just go and "steal" things,
but get an idea about what you like and "borrow" the
concepts. Most Amateurs started this way, and it's quite commonplace.
You can go through some of the websites listed in my own "Wild
Girls" or "Creme
de la Creme" sections.
FREE SITE vs. PAY SITE
A decision
you will have to make is whether your site will be a Free Site
or a Pay Site. This isn't a decision that has to be made immediately,
you can start with a Free Site and move into the Pay Site realm
at a later date. Many amateurs make a very nice income running
a Free Site. They do this by proper use of sponsors (or advertisers).
A Free Site requires less work and is typically much easier to
maintain.
Pay
(or Member) Sites require much more dedication. Since they have
paying members, much more effort must go into the quality and
content of the site. Updates have to be done more frequently as
your members will come to expect it and demand it. Start up costs
for a Pay Site are higher as you need to develop (or buy) much
more content than you would with a Free Site.
Common
advice in this area is to start with a Free Site, develop a following,
then move into the Pay Site realm. This allows you to build the
site slowly and build up the content for your members side. It
also is easier to budget for.
SOFTWARE
When
you have the outline and the content, you're ready to start the
technical side of the business. You will need a few things first,
a good HTML editor, a good graphics program, and a program to
FTP your content to your site. You should pick up a few books
on HTML and graphical manipulation and study them. Don't try and
digest everything at once, just try to get a basic understanding.
The books will come in handy for reference when you really get
started.
HTML
(Hyper Text Markup Language) editors, such as Macromedia's
Dreamweaver, make authoring a website very easy. You don't need
any real knowledge of HTML as it's all done for you. There are
many very inexpensive, and some free, HTML editors that you can
find by searching such systems as Google.
HOSTING
The
next thing to do is to find a good Web Hosting Company. There
are a wide selection, so do your homework. You can also decide
if you want to pay for your hosting, or try one of the free hosting
companies on the Internet. There are pros and cons to both, so
fully understand your options before you select one.
DOMAIN NAME
Now
you need a "Domain Name". The domain name is the unique identifier
for your site that you see on the location bar of your browser
(i.e. http://www.wildrosenetwork.com). You need to decide on a
domain name and then check if it's available. The best way is
to do a "Who Is" at the Network Solutions site at http://www.networksolutions.com/ by typing in the sitename
selected with a .com at the end. DO NOT type in the http://www.
portion of the URL as it won't work. You may have to try a number
of different names before you find one free, so be prepared to
spend some time and thought on the site. When you have found a
free name you would like to use, you may register it at Network
Solutions at http://www.networksolutions.com/, or at DirectNIC (http://www.directnic.com)
Your hosting company may assist you with this process, check on
fees first though.
SPONSORS
You
may have been wondering how people make money form their sites.
One way is through site sponsorship (or advertising). There are
many different programs available to choose from and you will
need to test out a variety before you decide on who works for
you. Different types of programs include click-through, commission
programs and partnership programs for both sites and products.
Obtain a variety of different styles of programs to maximise your
revenue.
Once
you've selected your sponsors, get their banners and links up
in key areas on your page. You will have to adjust banner positioning
in order to find what works where.
A
great list of sponsors you can use can be found at the YNOTmasters
website
EXTRA CONTENT
You
may wish to add more content to your site in order to give it
a fuller and more general appeal. In order to do this, you must
buy pictures and video from a reputable content provider. You
may have heard the term "Public Domain", it's used all the time
in UseNet, well that's just not true. By law, ownership and copyright
is implied, which means that the picture does not need copyright
information on it or has to be officially copyrighted. All pictures
are owned by someone! DO NOT use any content unless it's your
own or from a reputable dealer. If you are going to produce your
own content, make sure you get signed model releases as a minimum.
Notarized photocopies of picture identification is your best protection
against future problems.
INTERNET BILLING
You
may have decided that you want a members area for your site. This
can be a great source of revenue and a way to give people a lot
more of what you have to offer. All you need is a method of charging
the people! Luckily, there are a lot of options in this area.
You may wish to procure your own credit card merchant account
or use a 3rd party billing company. Options such as 1-900 billing,
on-line checking or basic mail order are also available and should
be used in conjunction with credit card billing.
TRAFFIC
You've
designed your site, uploaded it to your server, and it looks great!
Now all you need is people to visit. One of the biggest headaches
on the Internet is getting people to your site, but with a bit
of work, you can get them there and hopefully keep them there.
You have many options available, link exchanges, banner trades,
picture trades and submittals, search engines, counters, submission
to TOP lists, picture posts and thumb-nail galleries, and submission
to Amateur Network sites such as this one (Wild
Rose™ Internet Amateurs Network) or Certified Amateurs
(a great source of amateur traffic).
WEBCAMS
A great
addition to any amateur site is the WebCam. A WebCam gives your
visitors a look into your life on an on-going or scheduled basis.
A WebCam is a small camera attached to your computer that captures
an image at a predetermined time interval. It then uploads the
image to your server where it can be viewed by your visitors.
Some amateurs use live streaming video in place of this, like
everything, there are pros and cons.
More Resources
There
are a number of great Amateur Webmaster resource areas available
on the Internet. They are the perfect place to learn more, ask
questions, and meet other people doing what you wish to do. The
best information always comes from the people that are involved.
Check
out these Resource and Message Areas:
• Wild
Rose Message Board
• Amateur
Masters
• Freak
Daddies
• YNOT
Masters
