Increasing Customer Engagement

A few weeks ago we posted an extreme idea on the forums; relaxing some of our policies and encouraging customers to send tips to performers. While extreme, it prompted heated debate from both sides and many posted thoughtful and eye-opening comments. We appreciate the feedback very much!

Our goal is to continue to grow the network by providing top-notch and professional services, all while reaching a larger base of customers and helping all of you make more money.

This page describes several changes we plan to release before the end of August as well as the rationale behind the changes. As is true with everything we do, we will test these changes and monitor the impact before making a determination about whether or not they will be permanent.

Read the Forums to comment or ask questions about these changes!

The Data

A network as large and diverse as ours provides a wealth of data on customer behavior and spending. Some of our data is extremely sensitive, but what follows is some interesting bits that helped us shape our plan.

• Over 40% of active customers never enjoy a 1-on-1 show and instead opt for multi-user or voyeur experiences.
• In a test started August 11, 2010 where we sorted the list of models for basic users by the number of people chatting we increased engagement; seeing the time online double, the bounce rate decrease and overall new user spending increase.
• Each day we add thousands of accounts with 120 free credits; while not enough for a very long paid show it is enough to have fun through tipping.
• Each day 25% of performers who login never get a paid show.

New Performer Tools

Gearing up for an increase in traffic we felt it appropriate to add a few more tools to help you manage your rooms. Please know that some performers have abused the "ban" tool in the past and we will not hesitate to remove access from individual performers who abuse this going forward.

• Ban Customers from Your Room
  Performers will be able to ban any customer (regardless of type) from their room without alerting a monitor.  Inappropriate behavior like banning all basic users will result in losing this privilege.
• Block Video from "Basic" Users
  A button in the Performer Application will let you block basic users from viewing your live video.
  - You can toggle this on/off anytime
  
  
• Block Chat from "Basic" Users
  A button in the Performer Application will let you block basic users from chatting in your room. When they attempt to chat they will receive a message along the lines of, "This performer has turned off chat for Basic users, verify your account by making a purchase with a credit card."
  - You can toggle this on/off anytime

Policy & Other Changes

As part of this test to increase engagement we will make several changes to the network.

• Allow Nudity in All Rooms
  Full nudity will be allowed in all rooms and login types at each individual performer's discretion.
• No penetration with toys or fingers and no cumshots or orgasms, etc.
• User Type Clarity
  Customers will be classified into three types: Basic, Verified and VIP. This change should make it easier for you to tell who is who in your room.
  • Basic Gray font color, could be a guest or someone who has registered but not yet added a payment record to their account.
  • Verified White font color, indicates a customer who has a payment record tied to their account.
  • VIP Can use either white or gold font colors, indicates a customer with a payment record tied to their account who also pays the monthly VIP membership fee.
• Premiere Rooms
  All three customer types will have access to Premiere rooms. Verified and VIP customers can already control whether or not they wish to view the basic user chat and we are adding two important tools below to help performers as well.
• Tip Language Changes
  The tips sent in the open room will be virtual gifts behind the scenes (you earn credits for each gift, etc.). The language on the customer interfaces will be changed to refer to these as "tips" to make it easier for everyone to understand. The virtual gifts sent outside the chat experience will still be referred to as gifts. Any tips you earn will show up on your Virtual Gift report on the admin.
  Open Room Tip Amounts (credits):  25, 50, 100, 250, 500 
  
  Paid Show Tip Amounts (credits):   50, 100, 250, 500, 1,000 
  
  
• Paid Show Tips
  Currently only approved customers can send tips during paid shows and these tips are real dollar transactions (paid out with a 49-day delay minus $1 per tip). Going forward we will change paid show tips to credits (just like the open room) and open it up to all customers.

 Introducing Party Chat

For those performers who want to market themselves to more potential customers or create an environement that pushes tipping we have developed Party Chat. Once released a button will appear in the Performer Application that says START PARTY. When you push this button your room will be switched to Party Chat and the following changes occur:

• Buttons for paid shows are removed.
• You appear in a different category on the homepage and performer list.
• The user interface changes to make it obvious that a party has started.
• All customer types can access the room.
• Tipping will be encouraged in these rooms.
• Anything allowed in a paid show under our current policies is allowed during Party Chat.

We feel that successful performers will use Party Chat as a way to drive traffic to their room and build a frenzy amongst the chatters. Some may opt to perform while encouraging tips while others may use it as a tool to build excitement.

Whenever you want you can push STOP PARTY and your room will instantly change back to the login type you used before you started the party. If you successfullly built a frenzy during your party we expect that a paid show will follow very quickly.

Party Chat Rules

Initially we will launch Party Chat with few restrictions other than what is listed below. After we analyze the data we may add more requirements or make wholesale changes.

• After five minutes, if you have fewer than 20 customers (any type) in your party the party will end and you will be returned to your previous login type.
• The BREAK and FAKE SHOW buttons are disabled during Party Chats.

Final Thoughts

Our network has been extremely succesful over the last 14-years at connecting performers and customers while operating a professional, legal and ethical business. Nothing about these changes is designed to deviate from what has worked so well throughout our history.

The fact is that the nature of live video chat continues to evolve and the needs of both performers and customers is evolving; it is our responsiblity to test changes to meet these evolving needs so we can continue to provide the best experience for everyone!

All of us here at VS sincerely appreciate your support and the hard work you invest into making this network what it is today. We look forward to your feedback on the changes announced herein.

Read the Forums to comment or ask questions about these changes!