Up until this post, I was going to ask for the URL and whether Dopers will get a discount. 
Is it going to be explicit, or softcore? Each has their own advantages and disadvantages, both legal and practical.
Explicit, for the most part.
You have to ask your web dude what kind of technology he’s using to keep the site secure. How are you restricting access? A login system? Double check that all your content is behind a password protected directory or even something more secure - it isn’t just enough to only show logged in users the content, you have to make sure that they can’t hotlink to the photos.
I worry because a guy who took a class and is working on his first site will likely not know all the ins and outs of making a secure ecommerce site. I’ve done this stuff for a living for a couple of years and I’d be doubly concerned about security on a site where the product itself is all digital, not physical. I mean, it’s easy when you’re selling books or something, because your end product isn’t a file on a webserver that can be easily distributed.
I do assume you’re using a ready-made solution and not custom programming, correct? What software are you using? I’m not familiar with the adult web industry, is there a special content management system or such that is preferred?
The company that’s doing the credit card payments takes 14%. In exchange, they go in and take care of all the password protection. Once we finish building the site, we hand it over to them, and they take care of all the security stuff.
Eventually of course I hope to be able to afford to do all that in-house, but for now this seems like a good start-up solution.
OK the site launched today. Had my first paying member in less than an hour.
So now the REAL questions begin.
Who knows about this affiliate/referral thing? Anyone?
Anyone know how to make a more complicated membership work? The credit card company I used only does a single layer of membership: you’re in or you’re out. I want to offer different levels, different areas. Possible? If so, how, anyone?
. . . I’m sure I’ll have more as it develops. . . .
You might have to associate yourself with similar website owners (perhaps those not in direct competition) to get some of that advice. Certainly anything I used to know I’ve either forgotten or is obsolete.
I know there are forums out there dedicated to adult site affiliates and their programs, so perhaps that’s a good place to look.
double bill him yet?
if so, any probs?
A mod said I could post a broken URL to the site. It’s an adult site, but there is no nudity this side of the membership lock. It’s called ladiesmen dot com; the “niche” is that segment of the gay population that gets a kick out of “sneaking a peak” at the straight guys in the locker room; hence the ostensible marketing to women. As we all know, I could market it to women till I turn blue, and 99.9% of the members would be gay guys with a straight guy fetish. So that’s the market.
Any and all commentary will be appreciated and taken seriously. Especially if you spread the word to all you gay friends and tell them to join up. 
Ugh. Change the name. Seriously. Unless you are going to position it as an MMF site, which might have some potential. But, look, I won’t even gay-torrent a Sean Cody unless someone gets rimmed, so if this is just going to be guys standing around butt-ass nekkid, you have an uphill battle.
And as far as the straight guy fetish goes (I actually don’t care for gay-for-pay, and I think gay pornos are moving away from that, qv, Francois Sagat, Damien Crosse, Collin O’Neal, etc.), the fetish is flipping the straight guy to the dark side, not just an attraction to someone who likes the vajayjay. Just curious, do you have any actual gay men on the business side of this website?
You gotta start somewhere. The intention, at first, will be a younger, hipper Playgirl kinda vibe; we’ll see where it develops from there. Obviously we’ll react to member reactions. And yes, the only straight guys are the models.
Hmmm…interesting. I guess we really are a rainbow.
You are aware that Playgirl went bankrupt?
I seriously don’t want to rain on your parade, but I think some solid market surveying should be done.
To the best of my knowledge, I don’t think there are many sites making money off of women looking at nude men just posing…might be wrong, but finding free pictures of good-looking nude men on the Internet is not exactly difficult to do.
Gay men have a gazillion options, from amateur sites to semi-professional sites with famous models. Even Craigslist has some interesting snapshots in the Men Looking For Men section. For that matter, there are even many sites that will show you every nude photo of celebrities from film stills to candid shots by paparazzi. Again, most of those are free.
On the upside, your site looks quite nice. The models are certainly attractive. I am just not sure how you will ever make a profit off of this site until you find that special niche, and learn how to make your site worth paying for.
I really do wish you the best, and keep us informed how this goes!