This is Bruce Friedman of Adult Site Broker and welcome to Adult Site Broker Talk where each week we interview one of the movers and shakers of the adult industry and we give you a tip on buying and selling websites. This week we’ll be speaking with creator, Bull Boss Josh. I wanted to let you know that I’ll be in Prague for the TES affiliate conference September 12th through the 14th. This is one of my favorite shows and I think everyone in the adult industry should attend. We’ll be sponsoring the event as usual. If you go to our event section on adultsidebroker.com we have a discount available on badges for the show. And if you’d like to get together and discuss buying and selling websites, send me a message on our website once again, adultsidebroker.com. I’m looking forward to seeing all of my adult family there. I’d like to invite you to check out one of our projects that we’re very proud of, the WarOnPorn.com. You’ll find articles on age verification laws and more on the industry’s plight in the War on Porn and the numerous attacks on us. Go to thewaronporn.com and check it out. Finally, just a reminder, we’re always looking for buyers and sellers of adult sites. Perhaps you’ve been thinking about either selling your site or buying one. Please feel free to contact me at adultsidebroker.com with any questions you may have. Now time for our property of the week at adultsidebroker. We have a buyer who’s looking for dating and lifestyle sites in Europe. They’d also consider other geos. They currently operate some very successful sites and wish to add to their network. If you own such a site and are considering selling, now is the time to contact us at adultsidebroker.com. We’d be happy to give you a free no obligation assessment of the value of your site. Adult Site Broker is representing this company as their buyer’s broker and we can do the same for you. Contact us at adultsidebroker.com for more details. Now time for this week’s interview. My guest today on Adult Site Broker Talk is creator Bull Boss Josh. Josh, thanks for being back with us on Adult Site Broker Talk. Thank you so much Bruce for having me back. I’m thrilled to be here. It was great the first time. It will be even better the second time I’m sure. I have no doubt. Only fans creator Josh Boss also known as Bull Boss Josh online is this week’s guest on Adult Site Broker Talk. Josh is a Canadian content creator who has diligently worked to keep his adult industry work private from his personal life despite being a three-time Gavien, Grabby and ICCA nominee. He’s best known for his exquisite phallus which has been privately molded and sold as a popular Dildo replica online. He has recently been traveling more for collaborations and networking in the industry through his large social media presence and Blossom.com page. His hobbies include fitness, baseball, bowling and guitar. He’s also a big music and movie buff. Bull Boss Josh has expanded his content career into the realm of content house production and an online venture to connect Canadian sex workers better and build hubs for the adult industry nationwide all while continuing to stay locally anonymous. You can follow Josh on Twitter, Reddit and Telegram @BullBoss Josh and Instagram @Bull_Boss Josh. Finally, Snapchat @Real Josh Boss. Josh, how has your content creation evolved over the past year since our last interview and what new platforms or ventures have you explored? Well it’s really been an incredible year. I’ve done so much, I’ve evolved so much. You can never really foresee where the industry is going to go or the path you’re going to take in it. I did make a concerted effort to make some more straight porn in the last year. Basically attempting to get an AVN nomination and to get noticed a little bit more on that side of the industry because it really has been, it’s really difficult to break into, but it is something that I enjoy doing quite a lot and I basically broke out of the shell of only doing what was seemingly working online for me and trying to evolve and expand to become a little bit more natural in who I really am, which is a bisexual and omnisexual person and I wanted that on display in my content moving forward. I wanted that to be the expectation for my following and for my subscribers that they know ahead of time. This is what you’re going to get when you subscribe to me and there’s no more surprises because when you first do that and you first start introducing new styles of content, everybody’s like wait a second, you’re not gay and it’s like no and I’ve never claimed to be, but now it kind of seems to be a little bit more common knowledge. So lots more straight content in the last year and more to come and continuing to make my buy and my gay content as well. I think the most important change in the last year for me has been the beginning of this production company Bullpen. Yeah, it’s the Bullpen series aptly named after myself and it’s essentially a way for us to create porn production hubs here in Canada where we can unite Canadian creators both large and smaller in whatever local city I am hosting in. All the while bringing in some bigger names from across the country and the United States. So in this last house, which just released its first bit of content this past weekend, now when this airs, this will be later on, but Sure, congratulations. Thank you very much. Yeah, Tony Genius came up from LA. He’s a big star. He really added so much value to the house and we really just had an amazing time. It was professionally filmed the whole time, professional photo shoots and a ton of content and great memories. So it went off completely successful and the next one’s already in the planning stages and it’s going to be bigger and better. We’re going to be hosting our own podcast during the house. We’re going to be we’ve got several videographers this time and it’s just growing and growing and the interest with the interest has been amazing. We had AVN and Xbiz press releases for it. So like the buzz got out there quick. So that’s kind of been taking over for me and all the while I’m still trying to manage creating my usual content. And so it’s it’s been a lot added to my plate, but I think I’m built for it and I’m ready to go. Not too many hours in the day. No, really. I mean, I have cut my sleep short once or twice here and there. That’s for sure. I was going to guess that, yeah, because you have a straight job as well. I’m still working a day job. That’s correct. And in fact, as we’re as we’re talking, and again, I don’t know where I’ll be when this airs, but I’m moving to a new city here right away within the next month. And so I’m also in the process of selling my house and buying a house and starting this new job and everything else. So that’s all on my plate at the same time. So yeah, it’s been a lot. I can only imagine I hate moving one time I bought my place just so I wouldn’t have to move. Anyway, how have you overcome, create or burn out or content fatigue? So I think honestly, like I kind of mentioned already that I’m built for this a little bit. I take it as a challenge to kind of plow through the constant hours, but I try to be proactive about it too. And I am aware of it. And I’ve been doing therapy for the better part of the last year. I keep in an excellent personal physical health. I’m doing cardio. I’m going to the gym. I’m eating right. And maybe most importantly is I’ve been way more efficient with my content creation in terms of the way I schedule it around my day, like setting times for me to sit down and film and or edit. Whereas before it was just kind of like whenever I had a minute, I would just do it. Right. I was like, I can’t fall behind. I can’t misstep. That’s not really healthy after three and a half years of doing it. You have to schedule it like a real job. I mean, it really is. I mean, if you don’t, if you’re not taking breaks, you will burn out. And so I don’t think I’ve hit a burnout yet. And if I have a, I haven’t noticed. So I mean, I’m sure it’s coming, but, but maybe, maybe not. Maybe if I can keep staying efficient and being proactive, I think maybe I’ll be okay. We’ll find out. Has there been any thought of subcontracting some of those duties like editing, for instance? Yes. And so it’s a good point that you bring up because I have done a little bit of that. I have a great editor who lives a few hours away from me. And I, you know, I have yet to kick anything back to him really and say, no, you got to do this differently. He just kind of gets what, what I’m trying to do. And he gets it out as soon as he can. And that’s been helpful. I basically do it for like maybe 25, 30% of my, of my videos now with him. And he’s, he’s been fantastic. That’s been helpful for sure. And we talked a little bit on the last podcast about how I was never going to dip into the only fans agency thing. So, but I did that. I did do that. Never said you did that. A long time. Yeah. And, and I still, I’m still apologizing for it. I’m apologizing to every single one of my subscribers for, for what happened because they weren’t great. They weren’t great. And there was two, there’s two companies that I used. My day job was changing and I was trying to contract out some work and I didn’t think I’d have the time anymore during the day. And yeah, it was a bad experience. We’ll just leave it at that. But it never again, ever, ever again will I ever do that. It will always now forever be me on my only fans page and every other page for that matter. Because it really wasn’t worth it. I lost some trust and I lost some. There wasn’t that genuine feel on the page anymore and the subscribers aren’t stupid. They know, you know, these agencies a lot of the times try to think that trying to make it sound like no one will know the difference, but oftentimes they do. And again, I can’t speak for every agency. I’m sure there’s some good ones out there, but this is just my experience. There are some very good ones and then there are also some very bad ones and I know of both. Right. I think I just, I think I was unlucky, but it’s not worth the risk anymore. At least not right now. Like many things you should have talked to me. Yeah, I probably should have been next time, you know, I get a question about anything. Maybe I’ll just come to you. Well, you know, I do have a lot of contacts after over 25 years in this industry and I kind of tend to know where the bones are buried. So I make this available to all of my friends in the industry and you’re certainly one of them. Hey, just ask me. I’ll be glad to make those introductions for you. And hey, it’s not a problem at all. And I’m going to give a shout out to my editor, Jed, as well, who’s really fantastic and does a great job. So you’ll hear this when he’s, when he’s doing the editing and we love him. So absolutely. You received three more major award nominations this past year. Tell me more about those and their significance for you and your brand. Yeah. So those were a big surprise for me. The Gavians in particular, because like I said, I had done more straight stuff in the year. I had still done some gay content, but I thought, you know, it wasn’t fair for me to be campaigning for Gavian awards. I think I just felt I was being told different by my peers, but I didn’t feel like it was right. And I was like, you know what, I’m going to campaign for some of the avian fan awards this year and see how that goes instead. And it didn’t go. I didn’t get nominated at the avians. And instead I got two Gavian nominations when I’m and what I am, I actually was really, really like taken aback by that because it seemed to mean more to me to get nominated when I wasn’t the one leading the charge. It really felt good to get those two Gavian nominations. And those, those were particularly special. So it was, again, it was favorite, favorite dick. And thankfully that’s my favorite one to get by the way, favorite dick and favorite indie male creator. So I was, I was thrilled. I was thrilled to get those. And then I also got a, another favorite dick award nomination at the ICCAs. And that was the inaugural ICCAs, the international content creator awards led by Mr. Jordan Star, the beautiful Jordan Star. And that took place in Porta Bayarta in May. And so that was an honor to get nominated there because there were some serious industry giants alongside me and those nominations. And it was very cool. Did you make the trip? I wasn’t able to make the trip. Unfortunately, but nice place. Yeah. And I’ve been there. It is fantastic. I really did feel like I missed out for sure. But hopefully next year. I used to love PV. That brings up another question as a bi performer. How much do you get pigeonholed one way or the other? Hopefully again, not so much because I think that the expectation is there that there’s going to be all types of content on my pages now. And thankfully my following and my subscribers have been relatively polite about it. You know, though they might say, like, oh, you know, like I might send a video out in the DMs. That’s a boy girl video. And oftentimes, you know, people buy it just the same, but sometimes I’ll get the message and from someone that will say like, Oh, not for me. I’m just looking for your gay content. No problem. But they’re not giving me a hard time, which I think is the most important thing. When I first put out straight content after about a year and a half of making content, I put out a straight video and I did get a lot of flak for that from Twitter people for sure just because the expectation wasn’t there. And so but I think that’s changed a lot. And I think hopefully moving forward, I think anyone that stumbles upon my page, I keep a very good mix on my Twitter page and on my Reddit pages of all the types of content that I do so that there is no misinformation about what it is I’m doing. Right. Exactly. What mistakes have taught you the most valuable lessons since becoming a popular creator? You mentioned the one about an agency, but besides that, anything else? Yeah. So just just my bad luck with the agencies. I would say the one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned was really doing anything on short notice in this industry. I find it can be always more helpful to take a minute and take a breather, get information from your peers, get information from your subscribers, your followers and not rush into anything. You know, we can get people on our pages constantly making demands, right? Looking for something specific or pushing you in one direction or the other. And the more successful you get, the more you find people are trying to kind of pull you in one direction or the other. So I think taking a step back and really being self-aware and just not doing anything, like I said on short notice too quickly. Just learning to be patient and reasonable with any major changes in life as well because the changes that you have in your real life are going to impact your business and your content creation. And if you’re the only person running everything, you have to take a step back and really look at it and say, okay, where’s this going? How are we going to manage it? So that’s been a big lesson for me. I understand because that’s what I do. Yeah, 100%. It’s you have to be fully self-aware of what’s going on, try to forecast where things are going, that kind of thing. When the past I never did that. It was always just going along for the ride and riding the roller coaster. And now it’s a little bit of that still, but at least with some experience and some maturity in the industry, I can say, let’s have a look at this. Let’s have a look at a bigger picture. Yeah, absolutely. Has staying anonymous locally become easier or harder as you’ve grown and evolved? Definitely harder. So I have had some people in my life discover me since we’ve last spoken to gay members, not members, to gay people in my life have discovered me both on Twitter. Oh, really? Stumbled upon my Twitter page. So those were some very interesting conversations because one of the people is kind of, you know, the relative, not really, but like through marriage and that kind of thing. So it was like, it was a little more awkward. It was like, oh, so it looks like you and I need to have a talk. But no, both of them were really great about it actually. I explained my circumstances, my reasoning for doing what I’m doing, and they were both actually really cool about it. But it did raise a lot of red, not red flags, but it like, and put me on high alert in terms of who else could be discovering me. Because I have been taking more risks. I’ve been putting my face out there. I’ve been making straight content and all of those evolutions and changes will broadcast you in avenues that you weren’t before. They don’t call it social media for nothing. That’s right. Yeah. And it’s, and you can’t keep doing the same thing forever. It doesn’t really work that way. So it’s just, it was just kind of a natural evolution. So I’m still, I’m still in this, this tug of war between trying to promote myself as much as humanly possible while still keeping some level of myself hidden to the world. And it has been challenging for sure. And my therapist is amazing. She’s been really helping me through that compartmentalization and dealing with the anxieties of the day to day, basically walking around, looking around at people going like, "Do you know me or do you recognize me? What is my work?" Peers find out. All these anxieties are going along. That must be fun. Well, I’m better now. I’m better at it now than I was. That’s for sure. That’s what therapies for my friend. Yes. Food for the soul. 100%. How has your vision for your career changed since our last conversation? So you know, at first it was just doing solo stuff. That’s what everybody wanted to see. "Hey, you’ve got a nice penis. I just want to look at that." And that was great. I mean, how nice if that was all I ever had to do. But like we just said, the evolution continues. And so it was now, then it became making porn. And then it became making porn with women. And then it became these production aspirations that I have for the bullpen series. And you know, it’s, I wouldn’t even say it’s a vision for my career because I can’t really pinpoint exactly what it is. I would say an end goal is for me other than continued growth, continued success. I find this to be a true passion for me. These, you know, it’s a lot of hours and it’s a lot of work, but it doesn’t feel like work for me. I love every bit of it. And I’d say my vision for my career, if I’m being honest, would be just to continue to grow, to continue to enjoy it. And I think when the moment stops and I’m not enjoying creating this product anymore, is when I need to look at what I’m going to do. Oh yeah. Do things as long as you’d like them and don’t do things that you don’t like. I mean, that’s kind of a rule for life. How much longer do you think you’re going to have a straight job? Well, I don’t know. So the move I’m making here right away is really beneficial to this content world of mine because I’m moving to a big city. I mean, I currently live in a very small town hours and hours away from big cities. So traveling and working has been an incredible challenge, but now I have the availability that people come to me as well, where I don’t have that now. And so, I mean, really, I mean, the sky could be the limit for me in terms of content creation, whether or not people want to continue to watch it and buy it, I guess we’ll be up to all the other aspects of my work. I think they will. With your passion and your success to this point, I don’t think you’re going to have a problem, a personal opinion. I’m hoping not. I think you’re right. Yeah. Yeah. No, I know that you’ve got to be cautiously optimistic about that for sure. Always. How has your revenue diversification strategy evolved beyond all the things? Right. Yeah, that’s been a lot since the last time we spoke for sure. So one of the bigger ones has been a chatter bait and working with chatter bait and getting on there and doing live stream stuff. And part of the reason why I was so gung ho, I guess you could say about doing it at first was that I am isolated in this little town away from collaborations. And so it gave me another outlet to, you know, express myself sexually. It gave me another platform to advertise my socials on my only fans, everything else. And a new audience. All right. I mean, anytime you can get a new audience, you don’t want to be dipping into the same well your whole life. And so just diversifying that way, you know, it’s relatively lucrative too, if you’re consistent at it and you’re good at it. Tatterbait’s great. I love it. I love it. I love streaming. I didn’t realize I would love it as much as I do. And I still stream on only fans as well because I like to mix it up and, you know, there’s a different audience for both, right? But also I expanded out to many vids. I chose many vids as one of my other platforms to release just individual videos on it. And that’s done really well for me too. And again, it’s about what you put into it. So the more time I spend over there on many vids, the better it will be. The bullpen was another revenue diversification, obviously, this production company. I mean, the long-term goal for that would be to be making a pretty serious profit off of, off of creating these content weekends and these content houses. So for now, it’s just a great way to unite Canadians and get us working and get our, get some content out there. But eventually I think this could be a good moneymaker too. So that’s, that’s really the end goal. Anything with just for fans yet? No, so I did have a just for fans. I technically still do. It’s an archived page where it’s just whatever I had posted up to that point. Back at that time when I stopped posting there, it was just too much going on. And I thought I couldn’t get quite enough traffic over there compared to only fans. So I just kind of left it. And it’s just sitting there waiting for me to kind of, you know, come back to it. For the gay content, it’s great. Yeah. And I think that’s what I have to do with that is I have to just focus on the gay and maybe even some of the buy content over there and just abandoned everything else over there and just kind of just separate it that way. Most likely because a vast majority of their traffic is gay. Oh, huge. Yeah. Huge, huge, huge portion of them are. Yeah. That’s for sure. And then I still have products and promotions that I’m selling. I mean, I’m still selling tons of replicas. I’m still doing tons of promotions on true blossom who have been amazing this whole time and love them so much. And you know what? I buy a lot of promotions through blossom too, because it really is an effective tool. So yeah, there’s been a lot of diversification since last time we spoke, honestly. And hopefully the next time we speak after this, I’ll have a lot more. Well, I’m sure I’m sure you will, Josh. There’s no doubt in my mind. How do you handle the business side, taxes, contracts, negotiations while still staying anonymous? So you can’t. And that’s kind of like it’s like in that realm, you can’t stay anonymous, right? Because you’re dealing with with your your legal information, especially when it comes to taxes, but also with contracts like on set or when you’re dealing with press releases and identifications and getting all that sorted out. Like for the bullpen, you know, we had everybody come in, sign the papers, picture of IDs, full consent talks. Everybody knows everybody’s name. There are ages. So you can’t keep anonymous in that realm. And you need to just be able to trust the people that you’re working with. And the tax, like for example, the tax guy I used this past year specializes in Canada in this type of market. And that’s that’s how I found him. And that’s why I used him because the year prior, I had used a general tax person and that was a nightmare. I got dropped by my CPA, who was a personal friend because their firm said, well, we can’t deal with anybody in the adult industry. We have a bunch of schools as clients. Right. I mean, so the lady I dealt with was cool about what it was I was doing. But like it was one of those places that set up with cubicles. And I’m like, I’m not going to sit here and talk to you about this with someone else right there. So we had to go get an office and I had to explain to her what I was doing and she was cool with it, but she didn’t really know how to navigate through the process because it is such a gray area, at least in Canada. And I’m assuming it’s the same in the US and elsewhere. But so when you find the right people, you know, I found the right guy and he was great the whole time. So but as far as being anonymous in that realm, it’s gone. You had, you just have to give that up. No, absolutely. But I mean, there are specialists who do that in the US as well and check our podcast for that because we’ve talked to some of them. So also with not only taxes, but financial planning and investments. So we have all that on the podcast. So that’s one of the things we’ve tried to specialize in. How do you stay creative and avoid falling into repetitive content patterns? And what role does audience feedback play in shaping your content? Staying creative is a big part of my day because I have to basically my process is finding inspiration wherever I can get it. If that means going on Instagram and finding something that’s funny or sexy or whatever that’s getting engagement and I can do it too, or I could do it better or whatever, then I bookmark that and I set some time aside to try to create that content. So I mean, you have to dip into new wells to find new inspiration for your creativity or you will fall into making the same thing over and over again. And sometimes you can do that. You can have the same stuff. Sometimes people want to see, yeah, if it’s working, but you can’t only have that there, you need to have a mix. So that’s one way that I do it. Audience feedback for me really is everything. It directly relates to how I envision my content moving forward, right? Like you can’t please everyone and you need to make the content that you enjoy. Like I have to still enjoy what I’m doing. So I mean, there’s a balance there between the two, but the feedback is extremely important. I mean, they are your customer and we have to draw in new audiences too as part of that evolution, which was part of why I wanted to start doing more straight porn and it absolutely brought in a whole new audience of people that were looking for that kind of stuff. And so that’s why now it sells. At first it didn’t really sell as well, but now I mean it sells just as well as everything else that it do. So I do have a good mix and new balance. And it’s just about trying to stay on your toes, find inspiration, be creative, whatever it is that you can get an angle on, right? I get it. What self care practices have become essential to your routine? You kind of alluded to some of it, but why don’t you get into a little more detail? Sure. Yeah. So I mean, well, self care. My whole business is self care because it’s such a self centered business. My whole day I’m staring at pictures on video of myself and I’m thinking about you get very critical obviously. Yeah. You sent me a picture of you in front of that pink microphone that looks like a penis and I said, "Oh God, we should use this for the podcast." And you’re like, "No, I can get a better one." Yeah, I need to take a better one. That’s exactly it. And you know your angles, right? And everything. And it’s just like you to get very good at that, but it can also weigh on you mentally. You know, I’ll sit there, I’ll be looking for my inspiration for my next creative, whatever. And I’ll start running into all these other creators that are maybe more successful or bigger or better looking or funnier or whatever it is. And it’s just like by the end of it, you have to really check yourself and go, "Okay, I just dragged myself down mentally for no reason. I’m in here trying to better myself and instead I walk out feeling like shit." So it’s just a matter of keeping perspective on that. And the therapy, therapy’s been huge for me for that. I talk with my therapist about that all the time. But general day to day, you know, sleep, set a routine, don’t sacrifice it if you don’t have to. You know, healthy eating supplements, like healthy supplements, you know, that kind of stuff has been completely essential to me because I’m getting a little bit older. I’m not a spring chicken anymore. And my, you know, my A.F.I. when people find out about how old I actually am, they’re quite surprised. So I think that means I’m doing a good job. I have A. Elman’s older than you, but go ahead. So my routine’s been working, I guess is what I’m getting at. That’s great. That’s great. People used to say I didn’t look my age when I colored my hair. And now they don’t say that. Anyway, where do you think the industry needs better support or resources for creators? So yeah, that’s a tough question because I think that it can depend on where you are. So for the United States, I mean, I can’t really say as much because obviously I don’t live there. I mean, I’m connected with a lot of people who work there and who are content creators there. But legally in the way that things are politically, it’s vastly different here in Canada. So but one thing I can talk about is the Canadian industry needs to be more self-sufficient because we’re so spread out. Our major cities are so spread out. Finding collaborations is tough. And we rely heavily on the major hubs in the United States, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, even New York. We rely on those places to go and film or do collabs or content weekends or whatever it is because that’s where everybody is. And that’s going to continue. I mean, that’s not going to change. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t try to do something better here in Canada as well. So part of the reason for my bullpen content house is that. But I also have a new business venture starting up. I can’t speak too much about it yet because we aren’t off the ground. And again, I don’t know when exactly this will air. Oh, come on, Josh. It’s just us. Yeah. But what it essentially is, is it’s going to be a business that is going to unite the needs and I’ve pulled the needs of content creators in Canada and the US for that matter. It’s going to unite businesses and to make it easier for creators to locate what they need, but not only what they need, but that they can trust what they’re finding that these companies are vetted photographer slash videographer misconduct is a huge problem for content creators. So if you were to come onto our website and find a photographer and then you find yourself assaulted, we’re not providing a very good service. So it’s going to be heavily vetted. The entire business is going to be based around that trust. And we’re going to do our best to try to be ready for any potential influx of people from the United States that may need to find a new place to work, depending on how things go over the next four to five years politically. You know what I’m saying? Oh, I know exactly what you’re saying, man. I didn’t vote for him. Well, we want to be ready. We want to be ready. If people want to work here, we want there to be the option to be able to come here and easily find the companies and the businesses that you want to work with without having to do it all on your own. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Canada became the haven for porn because they’re certainly doing everything they can to hurt our industry, aren’t they? They are. And we have a couple of hubs already. It’s just a matter of promoting them and growing them. You know, Montreal is a great place, but Vancouver is also a great place because it tends to be where everyone flies in on that West side. If you’re coming to Canada, you’re stopping in Vancouver. So why not hub there? Calgary is another one. I live in Alberta, so we’ve got Calgary, Edmonton, very close to each other. There’s a lot of opportunity here to create these hubs and to be self-sufficient and to be ready to welcome anyone that wants to come and work here. Yeah, I got a story for you. I almost ended up in Edmonton when I was a baseball broadcaster. I almost ended up doing the Edmonton AAA team. I was a finalist anyway. I didn’t get the job, but I would have lived in Edmonton, which I’m sure I wouldn’t have dug too much. But anyway, at least it would have been a gig. It’s all relative. It all depends on what you’re used to, I suppose. Isn’t it? Well, coming from San Francisco Bay area, I mean, come on. Anyway. What strategies help you stand out in an increasingly crowded market? Yeah, you know, this industry is more saturated than ever. And I know people say that all the time, and we talk about it all the time, but it is the truth. And that’s what everybody feels. Creators that are established and like us that have been around for a long time, we feel it. And the new creators struggling to get noticed, they feel it. So I mean, trying to stand out is just part of the creativity you have to come up with every day. So I have some things that still work, you know, I mean, my people still enjoy looking at my penis and I’m not bothered by that. I’m really happy that they do. And I’m going to keep showing it off as much as possible until it stops working. And I just don’t see it stopping. So I mean, I can do that. Hopefully. Hopefully. Yeah. But you know, one of the things I learned from the fallout of the agencies that I used was that the personable approach, that direct connection with fans is more important than anything. When they subscribe and they want to ask you a question or they want to get to know you, they want to get to know you. And it’s really, really important to me moving forward from now on that I really have a solid direct relationship with my fans. And that goes for my social media too. I mean, I can’t spend a lot of time on my socials chatting. They have to reserve that for the paid platforms. There’s just not enough time in the day. But I still do my best. If I get a compliment in my DMs on Twitter or on Instagram, you know, you might at least get an emoji response or you might get a thank you from me, but it’s me trying to make some form of a connection and show you that I’m here. I’m not just a bot or I’m not just a company. And doing things like video calls, custom or customer requests, that kind of stuff. I’ve done a lot of personal video calls lately and that’s been super fun for me too. So I mean, there’s a lot of different strategies that can kind of help you stand out in that way. But I think really making that connection is the difference maker. Because so many people start up, right? They start up these only fans pages because they’re sexy and hot or whatever. And then they just get companies to run them and they’re not around. And the odd person is going to hit because they’re just so hot that it doesn’t matter. But for most people, you have to build some relationship. You got to work. You got to work it, man. Speaking of fan interactions, what’s the most meaningful one you’ve had so far? Most meaningful fan interaction. You know, okay. So if he’s listening, he might know who he is. So there’s been lots. But I can think of a couple offhand. So when I was in LA, 4X3, I had a guy show up to meet me. And I was already talking to some other people at the time, my blossom booth. And he waited so patiently. Just standing there, just staring at me. And when I got the opportunity to stop and talk to him, he was just so amazing. I could tell that it made his day. It really did make his day to be standing there talking to me. And I just thought that was the coolest thing ever. Your celebrity. Well, sure. I mean, I guess. I don’t feel like that. But like, I know you don’t. But you are to a lot of people. Well, in those moments, it was like that. And it was just really heartwarming. And so I’ll always remember him. I’ll always remember that moment. And I’ve had some similar moments too when I’ve been doing some of those video calls that I just mentioned. Where you get people one on one like that face to face. And they kind of just like, they kind of just stare you. They’re like, holy shit. It’s just me and you. I’m going to take your word for that. Yeah. But I like them. And so what I do is, for example, like, you know, it might just be the two of us are doing our thing together, right? And then we finish. And then it’s like, hang out for a few minutes, five minutes. And we just chit chat and ask him about his day. Ask him what he’s up to that night and really make a connection. And I truly like doing that. It’s not just for show. It’s not just for the product. I mean, I, I’m just a friendly, general, warm person. And I like that. Yeah, you’re a nice person, of course. By the way, how do you handle negative comments or criticism differently than you used to? So I mean, I don’t know if I handle it necessarily differently. In the past, I had made comments I would go on and I would, you know, maybe correct whatever it was somebody was saying. I thought you were gay. Okay. Well, I’m not. I’ve said that I’m not just a gay guy. I’m a, I’m an obvious person. I, and I would go on and make those corrections. And sometimes that turns into a bit of a back and forth depending on how you want to structure your engagement on your social platform. But he wanted you to be gay. Right. Right. Yeah. How dare I? But I, I don’t care anymore. Like if I don’t, I’m not bothered by negative comments or interactions. I literally just block. If you, if you’re going to take the energy to come on and say anything negative, I just instantly block you. I don’t care. Me too. I had a large creator on one of my Instagram videos, relatively recently say something about like, you know, not having like a huge chest. I can’t remember how we worded it, but something like, you know, like I don’t have big packs. And I’m like, why, why would you go out of your way? Like I didn’t say anything back. It is instantly blocked. I’m like, okay, bye. That’s, that’s fine. Like I just don’t need it. And I don’t want to waste any mental energy on it. You don’t need, there’s not enough time in the day. Fuck you and the horse you came in on. Where do you see the adult content industry heading in the next few years? Oh, that’s a good question too. I know. You know, it’s hard to say where for sure it’s going to go. You see a lot of content creators doing more high quality shooting, studio level quality shoots. And I think a lot of us aspire to try to do something like that. I mean, I do something similar with the bullpen, you know, hiring professional videographers and photographers and we’re not really messing around when it comes to the big scenes and the almost weekend. We are making it look as good as humanly possible. Now is it full studio movie quality? I mean, no. I mean, ain’t nobody got that kind of money for those cameras all the time, but like we are trying to up our game and there’s a market for everything. I mean, the amateur style iPhone stuff is still huge and I still film a ton of that as well. But I like to get a good mix of it out there. I like to have some cinematic, beautiful looking content, but I also like to have that raw at home alone type of energy where no one’s watching. And so really, I think the industry is headed in a way where content creators are just getting really good. They’re getting really, really good at what they’re doing on social media and they’re on their only fans pages. I mean, there are some huge creators out there that are making some serious studio level porn to the point where really it’s indistinguishable between that and a studio and can essentially operate as a studio in itself. So really, where is it headed? Is there an amalgamation of the two? Do studios open up and start subcontracting and working closer with content creators who are doing their own thing? I think they already are. I think to a degree, sure. But I mean, on a level that’s expected, maybe it’s hard to say. Or does everyone just keep trying to up their game? Do the studios try to just compete directly against content creator? Kind of a losing battle. I think they’ve realized already they need to work with content creators and not compete with them. Well, I think they have done that to some degree, too, right? With things like, you know, you’ll have these big stars that are working for the studios, but they’re also allowed to have their only fans and make their own content and all that kind of thing. Because I mean, really, people are making way more money doing their own content in most cases or in a lot of cases, I should say. So if you don’t allow them that opportunity, they’re just not going to work with you. Right? I mean, I know I wouldn’t. Exactly. And these partnerships, these content shares work great for everybody. And I think pretty much everyone’s doing it now. So I think all the all the studios, I think, are doing these content partnerships. And it’s the way things are. What impact do you want to have on the industry or community? You know, I want to be able to say that I went out and made the content that I loved making. And if that inspires anyone else to do the same thing, then that’s good enough for me. That kind of an impact is important to me. Really to inspire anybody to do anything is huge for me. I don’t know how ultimately impactful I’ll be on industry-wide scale, but if I can just be a small cog in the wheel and help move the industry forward, inspire someone to do something creative or great, or who knows what? I mean, I guess that’s what I would aspire to most. That’s great. What investments have you made in your content creation or business? Well, obviously, I mean, like we kind of talked about with upping quality that comes with a cost, right? That comes with extra phones, extra lights, extra cameras, extra people. So I’ve done quite a bit of that. And I first experimented with it back in October of last year. I rented a really, really nice condo. I rented my first videographer, my first professional videographer, and Snot Girl pics on Instagram, by the way, everybody go check her out. And she filmed just the most beautiful cinematic scene ever that I’ve made still to this day. And she became my videographer for the bullpen series as well because of her work. So branching out and spending the money and investing in yourself in that way, in myself that way, I should say, has really paid off for me. And it’s been noticeable with the comments and the feedback I get on some of those videos. People really appreciate it. They can tell that you’re putting the work in. They know you’re putting in there. Not just, I mean, like I said, they like the stuff that’s at home too and the cheap phone footage, but that’s a compliment. That’s a balance into what you’re doing. You need to show people that you care and that you’re trying. You want to make them a good product. So I mean, yes, spending money, I’ve invested that way, you know, trying to branch out, doing things like the chatterbait, that kind of stuff. There’s a time investment with all of that. And that’s huge too. It’s a good thing for you. There’s 48 hours in the day. That’s what it feels like, doesn’t it? I swear it does feel like that. I was up at like five o’clock this morning and I can’t believe I’m still awake right now, to be honest. I mean, it’s after 10 my time. So it’s felt like a 48 hour day. Oh, Jesus. Okay. Well, Josh, I’m going to let you go. I’d like to thank you for being our guest today on Adult Site Broker Talk. And I know we’ll have a chance to do it again soon. I can’t wait. Thanks so much for having me. My broker tip today is part four of what to do to make your site more valuable for when you decide to sell it later. Last week we talked about keeping your site up to date and making sure everything works. Next, find new ways to monetize your website, such as sell advertising. If you’ve got a free site like a tube, that’s the best way to monetize your site. If you have a tube, another way to make more money is to sell premium memberships, offer free users one level of content, and for premium users, you can do things like give them higher quality or longer videos or both. You can also make the site ad free for premium members. Start an affiliate program. If you have a pay site, this is a great way to increase your quality of traffic and get more joins. With all sites, you can figure out other upgrades and products you can sell to your users. Pay sites can also sell pay per view, where people have the option of paying by the scene for content they can’t get on the site. This is also another way to charge users as opposed to a monthly fee. Sell them other products like toys and novelties. Market your business. Do things to improve your search engine results. There are some great SEO consultants out there who can help you get higher search rankings in Google. If you want some recommendations, contact us on our site. List all the benefits of your site and your marketing and how they affect the user. And of course, hire a great marketing consulting firm such as Adult B2B Marketing, which we also happen to own. We’ll talk about this subject more next week. And next week we’ll be speaking with Kaytlin Bailey of Old Pros. And that’s it for this week’s Adult Site Broker Talk. I once again like to thank my guest, Bull Boss Josh. Talk to you again next week on Adult Site Broker Talk. I’m Bruce Friedman. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [BLANK_AUDIO]
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