Interview with Cory Wayne.

1) Can you please give us a brief background of your working experience in the adult industry and how did you start?

I started in late 2000, early 2001, working for an AVS named Adult Check. As many people that have been around a good while know, the AVS as a model was the dominant force for some time. I started off as a site reviewer and quickly worked my way up to a more Public Relations / Marketing oriented position.

The opportunity was outstanding and allowed for me to learn a tremendous amount about the dynamics and history of our industry. I learned how not only to market sites to adult webmasters, but to consumers as well. That is a mix I strive to perfect every day here at Wegcash. It isn't easy and I admire those that seem to have perfected it.

2) Your brand, WEGCash, has enjoyed a long-term relationship with thousands affiliates over the last years. Does this make your role as Director of Product Development easier when launching a new product or each time is a new challenge you have to face?

There are two types of program launches: The first is launching a site within a program that doesn't have a sweeping, webmaster following (usually a new program); The second being the launch of a site within a program that already has most webmaster accounts (whether they are inactive or active).

Wegcash certainly falls into the latter scenario. Now, that isn't to say that we do not get new webmaster signups, we certainly do, but the scope of our marketing / branding must certainly adapt to the obvious nature of our industry presence.

In my opinion, our scenario is a benefit in the way that we are a trusted brand. We are an industry household name. However, having the accounts in our system already means that a second, more challenging spectrum of marketing must be ongoing as well. That marketing is more adjusting to the needs of current accounts. In other words, contacting our affiliate base and acquiring new traffic (traffic not shifted, essentially expanded) and providing them with custom needs that ensure they make more money with us.

3) When you first got assigned the marketing department of WEGCash, did you proceed to a radical restructure of it or you were more conservative?

I was slowly integrated into my role. Authority comes with longevity and focus. There have been obstacles at this company, however, I have worked hard to meet them head on and work them out. That is really the key to longevity.

I also expanded my role by focusing on what I bring to the table naturally and with experience, while always attempting to learn other aspects of our trade.

I am in a great position now. Obviously, I have decision-making power and influence, but more than that, nothing can replace understanding how a major company operates, and making decisions that affect it.

4) The operating sectors of your company appear to be among the hardest to deal with in the adult industry. I'm referring to double confirm email marketing and pay-per-signup with free trials. Several affiliate programs went through both of them and went out of business. Does this fact make you any nervous?

No. It doesn't make us nervous. With any program we launch, one of key focus points is "longevity." We are in this business for the long-term. Decisions involving our email program has lost us short-term revenue, but made up for that 10 times due to long-term profits.

As you alluded to, our email program is a strict, double confirm, cann-spam compliant operation. Although competition is something that drives us, we put aside the operations of others in light of current compliancy laws; it is the single most important factor in sustaining our program's life.

5) I thought to give Googlism.com a try with "Join4free" as query. Here's what I got:
- Join4free is a great way to make money off of garbage traffic
- Join4free is the king
- Join4free is a great and easy way to make some extra cash
- Join4free is one of the most promising adult sponsors on the market
- Join4free is run by some stand up people
Do these results reflect what Join4free is all about? Is there anything more you would like to add?

Google is a powerful tool, which goes without question; however, I think people are mainly concerned with conversions, reputation and brand-awareness. J4F is an industry legacy in terms of innovation.

5) I did a small research and what I was expecting to see was proven valid. WEGCash is among a minimal number of big volume adult mailers that reach the inbox of major ISPs and free e-mail providers. How easy or hard is to achieve this result?

his really goes back to thinking long-term. Obviously, our experience pays off in certain, very specific, arenas; however, if you have the right philosophy and you are collecting the emails of those that want to receive your mailers, you shouldn't have a problem.

6) Mr. Wayne, do you have any concerns at the moment regarding the possible plans of some major ISPs to start charging for guaranteed delivery of e-mails?

We are a very adaptable company in terms of our multiple product lines versatility. Our priority concern is meeting compliancy guidelines; all else follows a distant second.

In terms of adapting to your specific concern, I will only say that we are constantly testing innovative enhancements over all of our products, including Join4Free.

7) Can you provide us with some characteristics that make WEGCash an affiliate program I shouldn't ignore and start sending my adult traffic?

Wegcash is a legacy company with years of Adult online experience. We utilize that experience by optimizing our program based on past and current consumer / webmaster trends. That combination in philosophy is a major key in success.

Because of our past successes, we have the ability to pay more and move faster when it comes to customizing setups for webmasters. We have in-house design, programming and support.

We also have the resources to acquire the very best in things such as exclusive content. We get producers and talent that are above and beyond other programs.

I don't think you can go wrong sending to our program and we are certainly willing to do everything possible to see to it that you have success.

8) The absence of affiliate programs like Nastydollars, Bangbros and Clickcash from industrial exhibitions and various events doesn't appear to affect their market position. How important is really the offline networking in the adult business?

For the aforementioned programs, it is an obvious mechanism for marketing. They are truly programs that should be admired from a production standpoint.

Word of mouth is extraordinarily essential, particularly in this day and age where surfers see adult site saturation and communicate in more dynamic forums.

9) Which was the worst business decision you made over the last year(s)?

Buying into a tgp with an extremely high percentage of trade traffic. That was a personal decision, and one that I lost on.

10) Does WEGCash generate in-house adult traffic or manages traffic campaigns?

Yes, we do. We believe strongly in diversification, however, that diversification does not come at the expense of competing with our webmasters. We work with our webmasters, as we consider them a part of our family.

11) Have your company considered moving to further online operations aside the adult industry? If so, what type and why?

Yes, not only have we considered it: we have done it. We have mainstream interest currently. I am also developing a new mainstream product that will be geared towards the "community" genre.

12) Recently the adult industry started having a growing number of portals following the style of youtube.com that openly accept submissions of sex oriented content without forcing an age verification process. While this is not something new, do you fear it may have a greater, negative impact in the industry considering the timing?

I don't see how it is any different than an MGP or TGP site in terms of legality to be honest. I am not a legal expert, however, the state of the business doesn't change due to this; just the processing of the medium that changes.

My opinion, of course.

13) Mr. Wayne, what new should we expect from the Product Development department of WEGCash over the next months?

We have two new Custom sites set to follow FuckHerRight.com, PinkandPerfect.com and MilfVixen.com. One of them is a gay production following the same philosophy of gay custom content.

14) Do you have any advice or tip to share with other directors that possible struggle to deal with time management issues?

This is a tough one, and for the sake of honesty, I don't think I am a great manager in every circumstance. In my opinion, the key to being a successful manager is hiring those you manage. That stage of infancy tends to build a level of respect, otherwise all kinds of variables exist.

I don't micromanage, I entrust authoritative-driven projects into the hands of those that want to make them work. If you don't have heart, you certainly will not have product.

We need people to care and to act on that passion.

15) If you are asked to thank only one person from this industry, which one would that be?

Thanking one person is tough, I doubt I could isolate one person to be honest. You get nowhere in this world without the help of others.

I honestly don't think I could single one person out.