Theory on sales in summer slump

[gonzo]

On another subject, I ask Pistol how the sex industry is doing in Las Vegas.

“I don’t know if you’ve run across the fact but sexual libidos go down when ever the temperature goes up,” he reflects. “That’s a fact.”

We get into generous debate on this topic, but I won’t bore you with details. Although I was about ready to whip out the Sonny Crockett, Miami Vice, no socks argument to slay Pistol's objections once and for all.

“I’m talking about society at large,” says Pistol. “While vacations might be part of it, guys aren’t as horny in June, July and August as they are in other months.”

I suppose Pistol never heard of a bikini.

“That’s just the reality,” he says. “I’ve seen it year after year.”

Then, again, Pistol also owns a strip club and video stores so he might know something the rest of society doesn't.

“I see it first hand and all kinds of areas- from Arrow to the strip clubs to the book store,” he says.

“Is that why summer's always considered the slowest time for the adult video industry?” I ask him.

“That’s right,” he says. “Go all the way back before porn and look at the birth rate. June, July and August will wind up being nine months later the lowest birth rate months.”

I mention to Pistol how my balls become overactive once the temperature goes over 80, and he says I’m out of the norm.

“I always thought I was.”

“Now you got confirmation,” he says. “And this is why we don’t sell as many videos in June, July and August.”

“One more thought thrown into this whole recession story,” I comment.

Pistol tells me the overall Vegas economy is down and we chat about the slow, bill paying element of the porn industry.

“They think paying a bill is a criminal act,” Pistol reflects. “The sad thing is when ever enough of them hit, it’s a steamroller through the industry. I often times had a theory- there’s one million dollars in the industry. And if anybody holds it for a day it fucks up the whole system. And everybody wants to hold it for a day or days.”

[Rob Spallone’s similar theory states that there’s only $10,000 in circulation, but who’s counting.]

Pistol’s also in an enviable position because his titles have built-in branding.

“You go into a store and see thousands of titles- you’ve never heard of any of them," he continues. "They don’t mean anything to you. Then you run across a Deep Throat. You go I’ve heard all the hullabaloo about that. I think I’ll pick that up.”

“But if you can’t figure out how to stand out from the rest, you’re just part of the pack,” says Pistol. “Otherwise it’s just a morass of titties. So far I’ve been doing just fine sitting on the sidelines selling my old stuff which has more cache than the new stuff. My movies have names they’ve heard of, and that means something.”

Read all of the Gene Ross interview

[Greg B]

I've never had a summer slump. I've read about them for years but don't ever recall having a summer slump.

[softball]

Originally Posted by Greg B

I've never had a summer slump. I've read about them for years but don't ever recall having a summer slump.

Yeah, and your business is setting new sales records. Greg, what is your secret?

[Toby]

July and August have consistently been two of my better months.

I don't really spend alot of time trying to figure out why, I just go with it.

[Greg B]

Originally Posted by rhetorical

Yeah, and your business is setting new sales records. Greg, what is your secret?

Well smarty pants this past month has been my best yet. The secret is doing more blog related stuff.

[softball]

Originally Posted by Greg B

Well smarty pants this past month has been my best yet. The secret is doing more blog related stuff.

Uh huh....
what kind of per centages are we talking here?

[DannyCox]

Keep in mind that "best ever" is always relative.

I have 14 years of statistics that show that summer does have a 5-10% slow down based on a yearly overview. But 10 years ago, we were doing close to $500K a month in in July and August. These days, we're doing about 20% of that! So far, this summer kinda sucks.

[Forest]

July is on track to be my second best month of the year traffic wise

design end is steady but no increase there

[RawAlex]

I will say that this summer has been easier to actually get traffic to sites, I have no drop off in hits sent to sponsors and such through the time frame, which is good.

The downside is the some sponsors that coverted 1 in 400 to 1 in 500 in the past are sucking it as bad as 1 in 5000 now. So traffic is consistant, but sales are getting a little sparser. That being said, July is a better month than June this year, where I have already passed last months sales numbers which puts me 5 days ahead, or about 18%.