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JBM:
Hi Sharky and congrats on having strong sperm like me. How
is the new baby?
Sharky:
Thanks a lot, although I think you have the super
sperm! I only spit one out at a time!
Having a baby boy is great, but he pisses everywhere... It's
like he was born with a firehose and hasn't figured out the
off switch yet!
JBM:
How did you get the name Sharky?
Sharky:
My brother actually came up with the name. I graduated
from a High School where the mascott was a shark. I started
Sharky's Porn Page in early 1996 while trying to teach my
brother HTML. Then in later 1996 when I started working for
Cybererotica there was already a Mike working for them, so
Ron Levi (Fantasyman) called me Sharky to prevent confusion.
The name just stuck.
JBM:
Where are you from?
Sharky:
I'm a military brat. I was born in Okinawa, Japan
and graduated High school in Guam. I've settled where most
of my family is in Tampa, Fl.
JBM:
What did you do for a living before the internet?
Sharky:
Was there life before the Internet? lol. I was actually
a college student, and a lifeguard. I dropped out of college
half way through my sophomore year to focus on the Internet
work full time. The money was better and honestly I wasn't
a good student! I don't regret it and would do everything
the same again as it's been a great learning experience!
JBM:
How did you become the webmaster at Cybererotica?
Sharky:
I was actually one of the first webmasters promoting
Cybererotica in mid-1996. Back then thy used a digits.com
counter on a pass-thru page to track clicks, and we were paid
less than a half cent per click I think. My website was hosted
on a free hosting account that came with my internet connection
and it got so many hits it clogged my hosts T-1, so they shut
me down. Ron called me up and asked why I stopped sending
hits, when I explained, he offered to host the site and help
build it into a paysite. As part of the deal I would help
him out with Cybererotica. I got so busy with Cybererotica,
that we never did build my site into a pay site.
JBM:
I came to work for Cybererotica after a falling out with a
partner. Do you remember that you were the one that hired
me?
Sharky:
I do actually! I don't remember the exact time, I
think it was late 1998 or early 1999. You really took the
bull by the horns if I remember correctly. You set up quite
a network of freesites!
JBM:
Tell me about your company.
Sharky:
I have 2 companies actually. The first, and my oldest,
is a design company - AAA
Adult Design. We are one of the oldest adult design firms
out there, and have worked with many of the largest companies
in the industry. Currently we have 6 people in the company,
including 3 designers, a programmer, a project manager and
myself. At one point we actually had about 12 people working
for us, but as the industry has evolved, so have we.
Our mainstream division, Twin
Dreams, has really taken off lately. We have developed
our own e-commerce software and are working with several new
franchises building their whole online business system from
scratch. We also host about 60 of our design clients and will
soon be launching an all new hosting service for mom and pop
businesses.
My other business is United Web Management. It's only client
is MikeAI's Hi-Rise Technology, owner of the famous Amateur
Index and originator of the single girl paysite niche.
We were hired in February to take over management of his adult
business. We have 5 full time staff members and will be adding
more soon. It's been a chore, but we are making headway and
actually improving a lot! Be sure to check out the new design
on http://www.amateurindex.com
as well as the new paid spots at http://www.amateurindex.com/webmasters.html
JBM:
Where do you see the adult internet going in the future?
Sharky:
The Adult Internet is a changing industry. With the
new laws and obscenity prosecutions you need to have your
T's crossed and your I's dotted more than ever. More sponsors
are shifting to exclusive content to stay competitive and
legal. I think the industry will continue to consolidate and
eventually there will only be a few large companies controlling
the affiliate market while many of the older freesite guys
will start their own paysite networks.
JBM:
What style of paysite tour converts the best these days?
Sharky:
While reality tours are still converting, they aren't
doing as well as they once were. We've had a lot of luck with
1-2 page hybrid tours that take the video and trailer style
from reality tours, but the graphics style from the old 700x400
tours. You will see a big shift from reality style designs
in the next 3-6 months.
JBM:
You ran one of, if not the first live webmaster radio show.
How did the idea for "Sharky Live" come about and
how do you feel about all the webmaster radio shows that have
come and gone since?
Sharky:
SharkyLive was the first Webmaster education radio
show on the net, adult or not. K-man and Joe Holler had another
show which launched a day or so before ours, but seemed to
be more entertainment and gossip based. The idea came about
while I was working at Cybererotica. We had a RealMedia license
sitting around that wasn't used and I started to play around
with it from my desk. It started as a random thing where I
played music or Ron and I chatted back and forth while a few
of our friends listened. When we actually came out with "SharkyLive"
Ron had the idea to use it as a marketing tool to webmasters
by teaching them to promote Cybererotica, and infomercial
if you will.
JBM:
Your really into grilling, give me your best steak recipe.
Sharky:
I sure am! I live for grilling! As a matter of fact,
I have set up a forum dedicated to grilling at http://www.Sharky.com
.
A good steak doesn't need a great recipe. I like to use a
well aged Ribeye cut at about 1 1/4" thick. I use fresh
cracked pepper, coarse kosher salt and olive oil to season
it. If I am feeling adventurous I will make some fresh herbed
butter and place a little of that on the steak after it's
taken off the grill.
Another good one is with flank steak: drizzle a little extra
virgin olive oil over top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and
grill it up. Top with a butter mixture of blue cheese, butter
and chives and you have yourself a nice steak. Add some grilled
asparagus and you have yourself an excellent meal!
You have an Asian Grill Master working with you. Greg has
all my respect on the grill!
JBM:
Let's not give Greg a bigger head than he already has please!
What are your plans for the future?
Sharky:
I plan to continue to grow my businesses! I am really
making a strong move into the mainstream design and e-commerce
business. With UWM we plan to open our traffic resources to
all webmasters for paid placement spots. Currently our traffic
is like gold and we are very picky about who we send traffic
to. Paid spots will allow webmasters with smaller sites the
chance to buy into some of the most productive traffic on
the market!
JBM:
Ryan is a friend of mine that works with you. Don't you agree
is wife is way too hot for him and should be with someone
who can handle her hotness, like me?
Sharky:
haha. Should I even touch this one? I agree you are
a stud with the fertile nuts of Gods, but I am very proud
of Ryan. He's scored a beautiful wife who has a good head
on her shoulders, aside from her other ASSets! I'm not sure
why she chose him, I'm led to believe he lays pipe like a
master plumber!
JBM:
Any secrets to planting a perfect belly flop?
Sharky:
Dedication to the artform. Mind over matter, no pain
no gain. Sure someone else can make a bigger splash, or jump
a little higher, but when true from matters I dominate! I
plant perfectly parallel to the water, without a flinch!
JBM:
Tell us something no one knows about you.
Sharky:
Hmm. I've been pretty open about myself in the past.
how about I crapped my pants in the 3rd grade and my parents
made me wear a diaper to school to teach me a lesson!
JBM:
Wow! Actually JimW who works here, still wears a diaper!
Anything to plug?
Sharky:
There is always something to plug!
AAA
Adult Design provides adult website design and consulting
services to a broad range of clients. With almost 10 years
experience in the adult internet, we know what it takes to
convert traffic and retain members. When designing your website,
we guarantee an improvement in conversions from your previous
design. When consulting we can work with our design team,
or your own designers to manage a new website development
process or tweak existing websites, members areas, banners,
ads, etc. Use our experience to increase your bottom line!
Looking for quality paid spots or TGP traffic trades? Visit
http://www.amateurindex.com/webmasters.html
JBM:
Thanks for talking to me Sharky
Sharky:
Thank you for taking the time to interview me Shok.
If you are ever in Tampa look me up and I will grill you up
the steak of a lifetime!
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