VIPWithMe.com Status Update

[LightHouse]

Aiming for a July launch, but not going to rush things either. The majority of the core functionality is starting to come together, however the external billing code is not even started on yet which is a major component that is missing.

I need to get a merchant account, figure out a good system for handling direct deposits to flirts, etc.

Lot's of work, i imagine your working on it everyday? Are you going for it to be completely automated?

How are you planning to promote it and advertise?

 

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[sprite]

Looking at automating as much as possible. Building it to run as lean as possible and ability to scale infinitely.

Marketing plan is not fully developed yet as I am taking one step at a time, but the affiliate program is a big part of it.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

You might want to work on the merchant account -- I hear it can be tough for "x-rated" purveyors to secure new merchant accounts.

 

[sprite]

You might want to work on the merchant account -- I hear it can be tough for "x-rated" purveyors to secure new merchant accounts.

Right. Which is why I am building a fully functional product before handling that part so I can demo the product and explain that it is not the typical x-rated site, and show how the platform will be used for non x-rated sites such as a horoscope/tarot community as well.

 

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[555555]

First, thanks for taking the time to share your progress Sprite, it's been extremely insightful. Second, have you given any second thought about the solidarity of your revenue model, being that the girls set their rates arbitrarily? Although it's innovative, I think that this model would make your revenue stream both highly volatile and inefficient.

 

[sprite]

This has been extremely helpful to me. Just keeping a super simple todo list. Whenever I think of something I add it onto the list.

Important TODO:
Favorites
Date Select Transactions
Admin Interface for managing pictures
Admin Interface for approving new flirts
Admin Interface for managing accounts
Send mail with payment request
List of all flirt's callers that she can mass message and send attachments.
Phone call comments should not show up under what are flirts doing.
Multi word tags
Front page featured listings
Rank listings according to popularity



Less Important TODO:
Fill in missing texts
Fill out why sign up
Change default avatars
Remove comments from listings
Possibly change the edit listing view
Change the way passwords are reset to a more secure method
Restyle alt box h3 header
Clean up phone view.
Change balance update to use a rjs instead.
Make affiliate area pretty with graphs.
Make it so calls can only be rated and commented on after they are completed
Placed/received calls include listing name and rate


Done
Fix comment ordering on profile page
Minute Billing
verify that you have at least 2 minutes worth of balance before placing a call
Ratings
Paginate Transactions
Change signup age to 18
Make the limited client profiles available to public
Set minimum and maximum listing amounts.
Downcase tags in listing browse
Fix bug where flirt can't rate or leave feedback if she calls another flirt.

Since I am the only developer I don't really have a need for a full project management system, but sometimes it's hard to know what to work on next, with a simple todo list I can keep myself organized enough to where I can pick a task depending on the importance and my estimated time it takes to complete.

 

[andviv]

lighthouse posted about a project management tool that works perfect for this type of projects. Simple to set up and the tasks are easy to organize.

 

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[sprite]

Got a chance to get my hands dirty with Prototip2 today.

Prototip 2 - Create beautiful tooltips with ease

I wanted to be able to view more users in the browse per page but still have the ability to display extended info. I solved the issue by just showing avatar + name, then adding a hover over tooltip that triggers an AJAX call to grab the content I want. Going to add more content such as ratings, etc inside the tooltip.

You can see sample here:

Showing users » VIPWithMe! | Live Phone Flirting and Cam Girl Community

Also been very busy cleaning up the UI in general as well as taken care of a lot of Internet Explorer display bugs.

 

[LightHouse]

That's interesting, i might use something like that in the future! Are you still on schedule for a launch?

 

[sprite]

That's interesting, i might use something like that in the future! Are you still on schedule for a launch?

To a certain extent. However, I am a bit of a perfectionist so not going to launch until I think it is ready.

Some major components still remain.
-Admin backend.
-International calling support.
-Credit Card Processing
-UI Tweaks.

Overall I am pretty much on track though. With a big project like this it's pretty hard to estimate exact deadlines. I've also had a law class this month with a lot of schoolwork which has held me back a bit.

 

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[LightHouse]

To a certain extent. However, I am a bit of a perfectionist so not going to launch until I think it is ready.

Some major components still remain.
-Admin backend.
-International calling support.
-Credit Card Processing
-UI Tweaks.

Overall I am pretty much on track though. With a big project like this it's pretty hard to estimate exact deadlines. I've also had a law class this month with a lot of schoolwork which has held me back a bit.

Are you planning on changing the UI of the main page as well? any ideas for that?

 

[sprite]

New stuff over the last week
-Cleaned up affiliate page [graphs daily affiliate earnings now]
-Status bar that updates every 5 seconds with your balance and status
-International Calling is mostly done [still need to do some billing code for it but got the groundwork done]

 

[TC2]

-Cleaned up affiliate page [graphs daily affiliate earnings now]

Just curious. What affiliate program you used to integrate into your site?

Thanks!

 

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[365]

I love this thread. To watch something grow from an idea to a real business is just amazing. Its also very interesting to see some aspects of development process for a somewhat more complicated website. I have no IT background and its hard to imagine what kind of steps are necessary to make which function work.
Thanks a lot!

 

[sprite]

Just curious. What affiliate program you used to integrate into your site?

Thanks!

I wrote my own.

Basically I store an inviter with each member signup. I can then pull affiliates from looking at the inviters.

Example code for pulling affiliated users

@user = current_user
@tier1_affiliates = @user.children
@tier2_affiliates = @tier1_affiliates.collect { |e| e.children }.flatten

 

[sprite]

Bought a flash video chat solution that I am working on integrating into the site now. A problem with NiteFlirt is that users have to use 3rd party messengers for shows with cam.

 

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[Roman]

^^^

Awesome!! I see you have identified one of their weakness's.

I assume you have done the SWOT Analysis for Niteflirt,

I can't wait till you launch

 

[sprite]

Chat is up and running

Going to tweak it and then adding the flash based instant messenger I bought as well.

 

[ITA]

Great thread and congrats on all the hard work, it's gonna pay off! Just wanted to say, you might want to drop 50 or 100 bucks in one of the freelance designers pool websites, and have them go at it. No offense but your logo looks quite amateurish right now, and that's the first thing the eyes go to in eye tracking analysis.

 

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[neverfastenough]

Great thread and congrats on all the hard work, it's gonna pay off! Just wanted to say, you might want to drop 50 or 100 bucks in one of the freelance designers pool websites, and have them go at it. No offense but your logo looks quite amateurish right now, and that's the first thing the eyes go to in eye tracking analysis.

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/business-building-e-biz-internet/19252-logo.html

 

[LightHouse]

Knock, Knock. How's the progress Sprite?

 

[sprite]

The chat is temporarily down while I'm making some small changes to it.

Did the code yesterday to finish up functionality for user and listing ratings. Going to finish up the display for them.

Next I am going to either do some work on the front page or finish up the billing code for international calls.

Things are still moving along, getting closer to launch one feature at a time

 

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[sprite]

Added more content to front page.

 

[neverfastenough]

Sprite,

Can you explain your decision to use the Community Engine plugin over Lovdbyless and Insoshi? Was it because it's more of a plugin that can be added to an established site rather than a standalone version like Lovdbyless? Or are there other benefits?

Thanks

 

[sprite]

Sprite,

Can you explain your decision to use the Community Engine plugin over Lovdbyless and Insoshi? Was it because it's more of a plugin that can be added to an established site rather than a standalone version like Lovdbyless? Or are there other benefits?

Thanks

It seemed to have the most features. My version of Community Engine is completely hacked to pieces though. The community for Community Engine is semi active. The main developer is active on Google groups and I follow the repository on GitHub and patch in any updates I need into my code as well as contribute my own bug fixes.

 

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[sprite]

For those still following this I started working on the admin backend

Here is a screenshot of the vital stats page, it updates every 5 seconds and I can log in from anywhere to check on current calls, current profit, system account balances, etc.

http://www.spr1te.com/backend.jpg

 

[DominaKiara]

Well this thread certainly caught my eye! I'm a long time contractor of NiteFlirt and they are really not doing a great job at keeping their contractors and customers happy at the moment, so NOW IS THE TIME if you are planning on getting any of their client/contractor base! I signed up, but what caught me (and all the other girls from NF and other platforms I've talked with about this) off guard was this....

This site is currently under development. All money should be considered 'play money'. Thanks for testing.

No offense, because I think what you're doing is GREAT! But I won't be using my account until I'm getting PAID for it. And that's the consensus of a few of the other girls, too. I understand you want to have a working product before you get a merchant account, but nobody that I know of who has been in the business for more than a few months will do this for free. It's WORK and it's not always fun.

I am looking forward to another platform where I can set my own prices - which is the same as what NiteFlirt, Adult Works, Phone Encounters, and Talk Sugar do to those who were asking (and those are the biggeest companies out there at the moment). And I'm also looking forward to a fresh 'boss' with good/new ideas, marketing techniques, not to mention more profit for me!

The way I see it, if you play your cards right, you could be bigger than NiteFlirt, and you seem dedicated enough! Just a few tips from the contractor end - LISTEN to the girls/guys that 'work for you' (I know, we're technically independent contractors). NF RARELY listens to what the contractors need, that's why they're loosing so many contractors AND customers now when they're supposedly making their site better.

Implement a system where girls can bid to feature their listings, like NF. That was a BIT profit for NF, I'm sure, because I lost hundreds alone per year my first year! Not sure if you know how NF used to work, but you could set a certain amount of your income to go toward making your listing more visible as opposed to the girls who did not bid or who bid less than you.

EX: Jane Doe bids $.05 for each time a customer clicks on her listing name and that $.05 goes into the company that she works for. She appears as number 10 on front page of girls in her category. Stacy bidds $.10 for each click, and she appears number 5 in her category because she bid more htan Jane, and so on.

Also, be careful calling the contractors 'flirts' - I'm not sure if that would cause legal issues with NF.

If you have any questions and want an opinion of a contractor who plans to work for your company in the future, drop me a line! dominakiara on YIM or [at]gmail.com I'd be happy to help!

 

[LightHouse]

Well this thread certainly caught my eye! I'm a long time contractor of NiteFlirt and they are really not doing a great job at keeping their contractors and customers happy at the moment, so NOW IS THE TIME if you are planning on getting any of their client/contractor base! I signed up, but what caught me (and all the other girls from NF and other platforms I've talked with about this) off guard was this....

No offense, because I think what you're doing is GREAT! But I won't be using my account until I'm getting PAID for it. And that's the consensus of a few of the other girls, too. I understand you want to have a working product before you get a merchant account, but nobody that I know of who has been in the business for more than a few months will do this for free. It's WORK and it's not always fun.

I am looking forward to another platform where I can set my own prices - which is the same as what NiteFlirt, Adult Works, Phone Encounters, and Talk Sugar do to those who were asking (and those are the biggeest companies out there at the moment). And I'm also looking forward to a fresh 'boss' with good/new ideas, marketing techniques, not to mention more profit for me!

The way I see it, if you play your cards right, you could be bigger than NiteFlirt, and you seem dedicated enough! Just a few tips from the contractor end - LISTEN to the girls/guys that 'work for you' (I know, we're technically independent contractors). NF RARELY listens to what the contractors need, that's why they're loosing so many contractors AND customers now when they're supposedly making their site better.

Implement a system where girls can bid to feature their listings, like NF. That was a BIT profit for NF, I'm sure, because I lost hundreds alone per year my first year! Not sure if you know how NF used to work, but you could set a certain amount of your income to go toward making your listing more visible as opposed to the girls who did not bid or who bid less than you.

EX: Jane Doe bids $.05 for each time a customer clicks on her listing name and that $.05 goes into the company that she works for. She appears as number 10 on front page of girls in her category. Stacy bidds $.10 for each click, and she appears number 5 in her category because she bid more htan Jane, and so on.

Also, be careful calling the contractors 'flirts' - I'm not sure if that would cause legal issues with NF.

If you have any questions and want an opinion of a contractor who plans to work for your company in the future, drop me a line! dominakiara on YIM or [at]gmail.com I'd be happy to help!

Wow thank you for taking the time to provide some insight from the contractor end of things.

On your concern about the play money deal, I tihnk it is that way because it is not technically live yet. There are still a few things that need to be finished. I am sure Sprite can elaborate a bit more on this though.

 

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[mtnman]

Holy SHIT!!

Talk about some feedback from your targeted users...

If anyone has read the EP post, it's peaking through the lines at her every word up there ^^^^^^. I'm serious.

 

[sprite]

Well this thread certainly caught my eye! I'm a long time contractor of NiteFlirt and they are really not doing a great job at keeping their contractors and customers happy at the moment, so NOW IS THE TIME if you are planning on getting any of their client/contractor base! I signed up, but what caught me (and all the other girls from NF and other platforms I've talked with about this) off guard was this....

No offense, because I think what you're doing is GREAT! But I won't be using my account until I'm getting PAID for it. And that's the consensus of a few of the other girls, too. I understand you want to have a working product before you get a merchant account, but nobody that I know of who has been in the business for more than a few months will do this for free. It's WORK and it's not always fun.

I am looking forward to another platform where I can set my own prices - which is the same as what NiteFlirt, Adult Works, Phone Encounters, and Talk Sugar do to those who were asking (and those are the biggeest companies out there at the moment). And I'm also looking forward to a fresh 'boss' with good/new ideas, marketing techniques, not to mention more profit for me!

The way I see it, if you play your cards right, you could be bigger than NiteFlirt, and you seem dedicated enough! Just a few tips from the contractor end - LISTEN to the girls/guys that 'work for you' (I know, we're technically independent contractors). NF RARELY listens to what the contractors need, that's why they're loosing so many contractors AND customers now when they're supposedly making their site better.

Implement a system where girls can bid to feature their listings, like NF. That was a BIT profit for NF, I'm sure, because I lost hundreds alone per year my first year! Not sure if you know how NF used to work, but you could set a certain amount of your income to go toward making your listing more visible as opposed to the girls who did not bid or who bid less than you.

EX: Jane Doe bids $.05 for each time a customer clicks on her listing name and that $.05 goes into the company that she works for. She appears as number 10 on front page of girls in her category. Stacy bidds $.10 for each click, and she appears number 5 in her category because she bid more htan Jane, and so on.

Also, be careful calling the contractors 'flirts' - I'm not sure if that would cause legal issues with NF.

If you have any questions and want an opinion of a contractor who plans to work for your company in the future, drop me a line! dominakiara on YIM or [at]gmail.com I'd be happy to help!

Thanks for the feedback. The reason for the 'play money' warning is because the site is not technically live yet, but I decided to keep the "work in progress" up as it makes it easier for testing. I had to temporarily put development on hold due to a lack of time to work on it. My schedule has now freed up and VIPWithMe.com will be my 100% focus from November until it is launched. I am hoping to have all features implemented by New Year. At this point I would say we are about 80% there. Then after that taking care of merchants accounts, accounting, etc will take another month or two.

I am making sure everything is done 100% the right way instead of rushing anything. I really appreciate your feedback and will be in touch with you on YIM before we go live