I’m not a board whore!

Now I feel weird about sending icq’s to my friends when I have news I’m posting.   As a marketer, it’s a means of getting the word out there.  Don’t get me wrong though, I hardly ever post threads.  When the Players Ball comes around, I make announcements so my peeps know what time it is.

Everyone knows the Big Woody Awards are the longest running awards within the adult webmaster community.  The idea is to spotlight the players by creating a titled award designed specifically for the player.  Well, we decided to do the Big Woody Awards later in the year, so why not let BROmaster pick these awards!

I love http://www.imabro.com/bromaster/

One day I’ll know who Bromaster is.  For now, my personal dealings are through secret meetings  with people that are 5 people removed from the actual BRO himself.  After my meetings, these people meet with another group, they then meet with another to pass along our dialogs, etc…

All I know is, I will receive envelopes with the winners and the reason they’ve won.  I won’t even know who’s helping me present these awards.

Shit, I might even be one of the people that gets poked fun at! 

So far the worst comment about me has been “normal Blatt”.  Which isn’t so bad when KB is my brother.  It’s just funny that in comparison, I’m normal!

D-Money & Lil Jon did a deal.  Players Ball in 2008, ew weeee  weeee

Did the Players Ball sign Crunk Juice as an official sponsor?  Will D$ rap on the next Lil Jon album?  Will the Players Ball have it’s own song produced by Lil Jon?  Or is Lil Jon preforming?

Stay tuned!

So many shows coming up, which ones should I attend?  For me, which ones should I throw my parties at?

Lately, I make my decisions based on the people who throw the shows.  Are they nice people?  Do they care about the webmasters needs?  Are they providing an environment to do good business?  This is what goes on through my head.

I used to think the only worth while show was Internext.  But in the last few years, others have thrown very successful shows with really great turn outs.  It seems like Internext started to lose touch of what a webmaster needs, while others started to fill that void.  Phoenix Forum started to blow up, then XBiz threw awesome shows in both Hollywood and Vegas, Webmaster Access shows have always been impressive.  Cybernet Expo threw their last show in Tampa, but I really didn’t get excited to go to Tampa, so I didn’t go.  They made a great choice by choosing San Fran for their next one.  So sometimes it’s the location that turns me off.  Internext keeps doing their summer show in Hollywood Florida during the hurricane season, that doesn’t excite me much.  I wish they’d go back to New Orleans or pick a new location, keep their show fresh again. 

Let’s evaluate the owners of these trade shows.  Which shows have the owners in the trenches?  By this I mean, shaking hands with the sponsors and the attendees.  Being visible most of the time.  This means alot to me.  It shows they care.  Also, if something goes wrong, they’re right there to help make things right.

XBiz - Alec is always at his shows.  I like that he’s always trying to make his model better.  His numbers are pretty good as well.  He’s one of us, he has an affiliate program, resources for webmasters, chat communities, etc.  For me, he’s easy to work with when I throw my events at his shows.

Phoenix Forum - Ron C is always at his shows, shaking hands and being seen at some point.  He’s not in for the money, he’s providing a great service for the industry.  His shows are always very classy, free food, drinks, snacks, parties - everything is top notch.  The location is great in Phoenix as well.

Internext - The Vegas show is always a must attend event simply because it has the most attendees.  Their format, big show floor and too many competing parties got a little stale though.  I’m glad they’re changing it up at the Palms this January, this will provide a much needed change to their show format.  A step in the right direction.  They’ll never be the same power house as a few years ago, there’s too many other shows for webmasters to make choices with these days.  The Florida Internext is a show I can do without.  After deciding to not attend any of these shows for 3 years, this last year I decided to go back and see if it’s any better.  Still the same show.  Bad weather, bad parties, over priced sponsorships, jacked up prices at the hotel because it’s our people, long flights to get there.  I doubt I’ll go back to their summer shows unless they change the location and format.  As far as the owners, you never see them at the trade show or parties.  They send their little people for that.  It projects an image of “I’m better then you, I care more about the video side then Internet side”.  Why is it they’re everywhere during the AEE show and other shows catering to the video side, but non existant for the Internet side?  I like the owners on a personal level, but we’re talking business here.  As a person that attends a show, I want to see that the owners care enough to at least be seen.  

Webmaster Access - Lensman is top notch.  Eric is a stud.  With parties at the Playboy Mansion, excellent networking opportunites through the whole show, their Hollywood show is a must attend event.  All of their events are great, I think their best one is Hollywood. 

Cybernet Expo - Fay is always there, very hands on.  Jay runs the show and puts his heart into it, the results are usually very great.  Though it seems like their attendance is up and down, they do provide a great environment for networking with a fair sponsorship price.  Tampa was a bad choice of locations after great success in San Diego and New Orleans.  I think they’re pull of a great show coming up in S.F.. 

These are what I consider the major shows.  Of course there are many other smaller shows, lot’s of them in tropical locations.  I highly recommend those as well, but if you’re looking at attending the shows for the masses, the ones mentioned above are all great options.

Now that I’m back, I’m looking to release D-Money 2.0

This means, I’m building new webmaster oriented sites and crossing over into some mainstream projects. 

In a nutshell, I’ll be acting more as a broker of content, both for sale and for leased feeds.  Got a slick new system we’re finishing up that will help webmasters find exactly what they’re looking for without doing the research.  The best part is, it’s free.  I’ll take a piece from the content providers. 

Remember the good old days when the D$ Show was king?  It’s coming back, with a new format.  Included with my new shows will be a mainstream/webmaster cross over show called, “A Bro Thing” hosted by myself and my brother, KB.  Pretaped segments along with a real talk show studio and in house guests.  Look for celebrity appearances and lot’s of pornstars to grace the set.

Here’s the rub.  KB gets on major TV shows that would normally FRY anyone associated with porn.  Not KB, they love his honesty and candor.  I’m sure he’ll have a bad interview one of these days, but people need to give him a little more respect.  It’s really easy to hate or bash on him, he makes himself a target.  He’s a personality, he’s not afraid to speak his mind, he gives great interviews.

OK, I’m not sucking up to him, he’s my brother so I don’t need to do that.  Feels weird to give him that much props, so I’ll stop.

Screech was the bad guy, KB was the media darling.  MEDIA DARLING!!!!!  Star Jones wanted KB’s make up rubbed all over her new body!  Then KB spoke about the law.  The Bizzle bait threw out 2257! 

Then she realized she had to finish up with this topic so they both pretty much owned Screech together.  KB called him a “D-lebrity”.  Poor Screech could only come up with, “that’s not even a word”.

For a guy that did a Dirty Sanchez in a commercially marketed porn video, now he’s correcting vocab?  Poor Dustin got blind sided by another jab, KB says, “sorry Dustin but the D in Dustin stands for D-Lebrity”.  But Screech didn’t tap out just yet.  So Bizzle threw some bait, “you should have saved your child star money so you wouldn’t have to do porn”.

HOLY SHIT BIZZLE!

Definitely a classic KB media moment. 

Watching the premiere of the new TV show, “Californication” I noticed a big no no.  In the porn biz, we stay away from story lines of underage girls having sex, it’s wrong, it portrays something that is illegal and we as an industry have been told if mixed in a porn scene, it’s a crime.  It’s obscenity.  The community judges to their standards if it’s acceptable by their standards then that’s the law you live by. 

 So what happens when you are a major TV network?  Last night I watched a sex scene of a girl riding on top of David Duchuvony, topless.  Very sexual scene.  Pretty graphic too, they’re acting, so it’s not penetration, but their both models acting these parts and both actors of over 18 years old.  Later in this episode he learns that she is only 16 years old.

Do this scene in a porn movie and you’re doing something wrong. 

My opinion is, it’s wrong to do this scene in either scenerio.  But if it’s wrong for porn it should be wrong for mainstream as well.  Their reach goes out way further then a porn movie, almost every household gets cable these days.

Californication is a great show, by the way. 

 I just had to point this out in my blog. 

What if we filmed a webmaster version?  How to pick up affiliates?  You’re at a convention, doing the party scene, trade show floor, seminars, the whole 9 yards.  But you leave without meeting the right people, no real business got done.  There are actual techniques I can teach you to pick up webmasters/affiliates for business purposes.  It’s a science like any other.  Starts with the introduction, then to the warm up stage, the pitch and then the close.  Simple sales 101.  But webmasters are different.  Some are really into the tech stuff, some into pussy, some are more about only business while most are a blend of all of the above.

The key to picking up webmasters is to have credibility.  You can’t burn bridges in this biz or you will never hit the next level.  Rule #1, keep your name clean.

Until I release my reality show, I’ll share these basic rules of this fine art.

 Rules:

1)  Keep a clean reputation.

2) Fresh breath and clean appearance.  I’ve had lot’s of stinky ass dudes run up on me at shows.

3) Don’t get too drunk and talk shop.  Matter of fact, try not to get too drunk period.  A little buzz, socially drinking is fine.  Keep it together.

4) Have a stable of hot chicks.  Hire some models, make friends with some hot chicks at the shows.  You don’t really need to follow this rule, but since men are shallow and our biz is 98% men, this rule can take you from being the shy guy to big pimpin’ at the parties.  With so many men at these shows, they’re starving to meet more girls.  Dont’ actually pimp these women, prostitution is wrong outside of legalized brothels.  I guarantee you will get into all of the cool parties and maybe a few good dinners with a few hot chicks representing your company.  Give the girls your business cards and spend some extra time trying to teach them in a nutshell what your company does.

5) Post on a chatboard somewhere.  Either do them all or select 1 or 2 and maintain regular postings.  When you show up at a show and someone recognizes your nick handle, you’re in!  I’m surprised sometimes at how shallow webmasters can be.  If they see you on the board, have a drink with you at a show, you’re now a “stand up guy”.  Being a “stand up guy” means you’re on your way.  Don’t get me wrong, you need to progress from this stage, but at least it earns you something.

6)  Send whatever traffic you have to one big affiliate program or try a smaller rev share program that appreciates your traffic.  The idea is to get noticed.  When you spread only 10 joins a day to 5 to 10 different programs, you’re a small webmaster.  If you send 10 a day to a program, you’re getting noticed.  Hit them up after you send about a months worth of traffic (at least an average of 10 joins a day).  Ask them to send some back through your program, if you have one.  Once they start sending you back traffic, you’ve almost doubled your joins per day if they send equal joins or more back your way.  Then it’s time to send more joins to another program to get noticed again.

7) Take about 10 people or so out for a real nice dinner at a show.  Pick the people wisely, some people don’t mix well with others.  Feel that out and make the right picks.

8) Treat a group of people to a limo ride to an event, it’s these little things that will add up.

I can go on and on for days about this.  I don’t do these things I speak of because I already know most people in this biz.  But if I were looking to meet more, these are a few simple things you can try.

Our industry is full of personalities.  Some are famous because of the nature of their sites.  Since the beginning of the adult web gold rush, many names have surfaced to the top while many others built names then disappeared.  The ones that have disappeared are people like Grim Shawn, Porndaddy, Lee Noga (I love Lee, where has she been?), Dokk and several more.  Some became celebs within our business because of the success of their businesses.  Joe E, FM, RB are the ones that decided to step away from the lime light.  Current success celebs include Mike Price, Ahn, XXXJay, Brad Shaw, Lensman (even though he lays low), Sweet T, Ron C and many more. 

Chat board celebs are a little different.  Let’s be realistic.  Like them or not, they are seen because they keep posting.  So when people see them at shows, it gives them a distorted view of their “celebrity”.  Many know their name therefore they’re celebs?  Would you want to be famous within this business because you start a bunch of “would you hit it” threads?  Most of these chat board celebs are pretty cool people, I’m not trying to hate on them.  I’m just pointing out that they become figures without doing the business side of things for fame.  Many of these chat celebs start to see themselves as larger then life.  They can start anonomous nick handles to fuck with people, they can start drama because the live in the middle of no where, so how’s gonna come knocking on their door?  Where’s their balls when they meet their targets face to face at a show? 

I have a different type of status.  I’m known because I’ve been around so long and people see my name branded through the year with the Players Ball.  I named the event, “D-Money Presents The Players Ball”.  Of course I also started a behind the scenes video site, D-MoneyShow.com.  Like it or not, people know my name and most of the time my face as well.  But still, I don’t consider myself any different then any other webmaster trying to make a buck.  You’ll probably never see me call someone out in public or start a drama thread to resolve my issues.  That’s taking advantage of being known.  Handle your issues with a phone or icq message first folks.  Being an internet industry celeb isn’t that fun.  Everyone approaches you as if they know you, so you’re left feeling bad you don’t know their name.  It’s hard to tell the difference between a face you’ve met once in person vs someone you’ve never seen.  So many people, so many faces.  When you’re well known, it becomes a pain in the ass to move through a room of webmasters when you’re in a hurry to go somewhere.  Too many people hitting you up.  I can see why many of the bigger players lay low or hardly go to many shows.

Anyway, blogs are great for stupid discussions like this.  Just making observations.  Moral of the story is, be greatful for your celebrity status, don’t take advantage of it.  Being known doesn’t make a person better then the next.  What makes a person better is how happy they are with their life.  If you’re living a happier life then the next guy or girl, you might be living better.

SEE VIDEO

Not too many people see things from my perspective when it comes to this topic.  I’ve been networking at trade shows since the very first adult webmaster show, IA2000.  Many things stay the same while most things have changed.

Here’s the same old shit:

Private dinners, parties in rooms, people pretending they remember each other, newbies, hot chicks and the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood Florida in August.

Here are the changes:

No rain this time.  Everyone can thank D$ for this.  If I would have decided to throw the Players Ball outside by the pool (again), it would have rained for sure.  But I moved it indoors and it was beautiful outside.

Not as many private dinners.  Seems people are a little more discrete about going to an invite only affair.  Back in the day, RB, Joe E and Fantasyman would fight over who picked up a big dinner check.  People used to try to show off their player status by making sure people knew they were going to the Epoch dinner by saying, “so what are you doing now?”   Obviously the response answer back is, “what are you doing?”  Then that moment comes that they baited, “I’m going to the Epoch dinner”.   These days it seems people aren’t showing off their dinners, which is way more player like.  Personally, it’s hard for me to show up to lot’s of dinners when I throw an event at the show.  I’m usually in the room ordering room service and taking care of the sound, lighting and other bullshit.  The sacrifices D$ makes to provide high end entertainment for webmasters.

Parties have changed, but the Players Ball remains the same.  I’d say the best parties at this show in no particular order were, GFY’s Warm Up, Silvercash’s Bikini Competition, Adultrental Wet T-Shirt, The Boat Party and of course the Players Ball.  You can’t really compare any of these events since they are all so different.  It’s good to see the party scene get back on track during a summer Internext show.   The super high budget events are done, though the Players Ball still keeps the same budget as always.  I didn’t make it to the boat party since it was right before my event and I didn’t make it to the Wet T-Shirt competition but I saw Lia’s video footage, looked like a super dirty good time.

There are too many employees and not enough owners at the shows.  I’m old school, so I know most owners.  It’s hard for me to go through the little people because most of the time they’re too busy thinking they’re big time players.  It’s also a little difficult to find everyone at this summer Internext show.  So many people are split into different areas of the pool, conferences or sleeping in. 

Video companies are finally catching on to the web.  It’s good to see that they see a future in working with us.  It’s kind of sad that it took this many years but content will always be king and it’s never too late to make money on the web. 

It was only my 5^th Ball this year.  Each Players Ball or Rock The Ball has one common thing, the vibe is always fun.

Of course the show would never happen if we didn’t have sponsors to pay for it.  So first I’d like to thank the sponsors.

Main Sponsors:  PussyCash & CECASH

2^nd Level Main Sponsors:  OC3networks & KBeechContent

Co-Sponsors:  RageCash, Interclimax, SexDateCash, HornyMatches, D-MoneyShow, AVNonline & RealityCash

HornyMatches gave away $10,000 in the raffle, everyone was eligible to win.  Trustcash gave some cash to Trisha Uptown for winning the Ms New Booty competition during the Ying Yang Twins performance.  TopChoiceCash, thanks for your help as well.

I’d also like to thanks my crew, the Ju Tang Clan.  We host the event every time – DJ Evan, J$tyle$, myself D$ and my brotha KB.  These events wouldn’t be as fun for me without them behind me.

I can write a monster list of thank you’s, but it would be too damn long.  So to all of those that have helped even in the smallest of ways, thank you it’s always appreciated.  You know who you are.

Thanks to Farley, Monty, Chris, Renee and Darren for the extra support, couldn’t have pulled this one off without you.

Jonesy, thanks for the sound company hook up, we thumped pretty hard.

Sunny Lane & Trisha Uptown – You’re both exactly what we need more of at every Ball, so keep coming and we’ll keep lookin’.  At one point during the show, only KB, J$tyle$ and I had a private view of their asses shaking to the same beat and it was one of the hottest memories I’ll ever have from one of our events.  Man.

I have a ton of videos shot in HD, so it takes a little longer than normal to encode, but I’ll get EVERYTHING updated on the D-Moneyshow.com site by the end of this week.  Be sure to read my new blog, D-Money.com if you want more of the full experience.

Meanwhile, here’s the videos I have so far in WMV format.

http://www.d-moneyshow.com/videos/2007_internext_playersball/morebooty.wmv
http://www.d-moneyshow.com/videos/2007_internext_playersball/msnewbootypart2.wmv
http://www.d-moneyshow.com/videos/2007_internext_playersball/msnewbootypart3.wmv
http://www.d-moneyshow.com/videos/2007_internext_playersball/sponsor_thanks.wmv
http://www.d-moneyshow.com/videos/2007_internext_playersball/shakeitlikeasaltshaker.wmv

and a bonus D$ Show clip of KB, Cory, J$tyle$ and myself.
http://www.d-moneyshow.com/videos/2007_internext_playersball/cory_kb.wmv

What’s a Players Ball without some beautiful booty?  During the Ying Yang Twins we had a little competition during their hit single, “Ms New Booty”.  Trustcash was nice enough to pay the $500 cash prize to the winner.  Pimpin’ aint easy, neither is picking this winner.  Sunny Lane shaked it like a salt shaker and so did Trisha Uptown.

 In the end, it was the crowd that picked the winner.  Want to confuse the Ying Yang Twins?  Tell them they have to pick the winner.  It only took about 15 minutes to pick it.  I’m so glad Trisha has been a part of the Players Ball vibe since the very first Players Balls back when she was featured in Busty-Amateurs back in 1999.  She’s still as hot as ever.  Sunny Lane also brings that vibe alive, she’s been to 2 Players Balls this year and somehow found her way to shake it on stage both times.  We throw this Players Ball to celebrate our industry for a night and salute the Players.  This time, we paid tribute to the BOOTY!  Mark my words, both Sunny Lane and Trisha Uptown will receive a Big Woody Award at the Ball in January.  Their ass shaking was legendary!

Booty booty booty booty rockin’ everywhere!

We did it!  We broke the summer internext curse!  After years of throwing these events, it becomes more of a science.  Go above and beyond for sound and lighting, hire a superstar act that’s still current, place candles on all tables, have my official Players Ball DJ behind me (Evan), KB & J$tyle$ helpin’ me on stage and we’re good to go.  No cheezy script to read, just thank the sponsors all night and talk to the crowd.  Have fun. 

Of course there’s the other factors. 

How many passes do you print?  How many do you give to AVN to issue to each attendee? Signs placed everywhere in the lobby (inside and outside and through the hallways), get the sponsors their Players Cards, handle the sound requirements, the electrical, the lighting.   Get the booze for the Ying Yang Twins (2 bottles of Grey Goose, large bottle of Hennessy, 750ml of Patron, 12 of Bud and 2 packs of Swisher Sweets.  Have water and mixers chilled, deli plates, fruit plates, chicken wings, glasses, etc.  People don’t realize how much detail goes into events like the Players Ball.   It takes months of preparation and still you have last second glitches.  This time, the sound had a loud hiss during the sound check.  After spending almosr $2k for just electricity for the room, these “professionals” realize that the sound and lighting are on the same circuit box which creates the buzz.  So we needed to get an additional circuit box to split them up.  Sounds petty, but believe it or not, you have to handle these issues yourself and not depend on the “professionals”.  Glad I had the Ju Tang Clan with me during the sound check to help.  I can’t throw a party with a hissing sound while we thank our sponsors!  Everything worked out, just pointing out that these little details are to be taken super serious.

With all that being said, thanks to our sponsors, the Players Ball was one of the best ever!  We had the CECASH dancers behind the Ying Yang Twins all night, the best back drop you can possibly have.  The Ms New Booty contest was about 15 to 20 minutes long, hosted by the Ying Yang Twins and Ju Tang Clan.  Trisha Uptown won, the Twins were so confused they couldn’t decide.  It was close though, Sunny Lane shaked it like a salt shaker too.  But in the end, Trisha’s ass and the way she handled it won over the crowd so the $500 prize (from TrustCash) went to the old school Players Ball vet, Trisha.

We had about 700 to 1000 people at the party, it’s hard to say for sure since we didn’t need to use a clicker sicne the ballroom and lobby area could handle much more.  The entire room filled in at one point and it’s a big ballroom.  The vibe was perfect, people came with the right frame of mind.  They were STARVING for the this party.  The other parties we great, boat party before hand I heard was great, the GFY warm up was awesome, but a Players Ball is just a different event.  It truly caters to the entire show, there’s room for everyone.  We want our people to let loose and have fun.  It’s like a player trying to pick up a hottie.  Any true player knows you don’t have to try.  You just do.  Go do your thing and have fun and you’ll end up getting laid.  Same thing with the Ball, go and have fun, you’ll probably walk away with a major business deal.  It’s when you’re not expecting to do business that you end up bonding with others.  What is a Players Ball?  The Ball is designed for the industry to have fun, meet people, be entertained and end up stoking someone out with a round of drinks or reserved table seat, front row view on the dance floor with your hands in the air.   Maybe even a pic with the artist or getting a prop on the mic.  I want my crowd to walk away with a fond memory every time.  I also want them to know it wasn’t all me that made it happen, it was mostly the sponsors money and the people who help me during that evening.  Even an old school contact, Jonesy, helped out by hooking me up with his buddy who owns a sound company.  They were the real deal and they gave me the bro rate.

I have some new D-MoneyShow.com footage coming very soon.  When I get home, I’ll start editing the performances and behind the scenes.  I’ll report more details later, but for now, just know that the Ju Tang Clan Aint Nuthin’ To Fuck With!  We come with the real.  Oh yeah, Ace walked away with $10k from HornyMatches.com thanks to their raffle open to all attendees.  Number 445 was the winning ticket.