This is one of those posts that may seem geared more toward men than women, but there are actually lessons for both herein.

It occurs to me that the two most popular purportedly big money making niches are porn and gambling. Maybe combining the two could make you some big bucks.

What we could do is take a photo of a woman and make her into a puzzle. The player starts the game by spinning a wheel to see how many puzzle pieces he will start out with. Then, he must guess whether she is clothed or naked in the photo. And, clothed could include the skimpiest of outfits too. And, maybe she’s naked except for a pair of thong sandals, so technically she has some clothes on. Also, she may look naked, but actually be wearing something very minimalist, perhaps even glued on. Any amount of clothing counts as clothed, as long as she is wearing it. A sweater tossed over her shoulder doesn’t count.

The player can buy additional puzzle pieces to fill in the blanks, but he doesn’t know where those puzzle pieces may land. When he’s ready, he places his wager on whether she’s wearing something like a string bikini or nothing but her birthday suit. Guess right, and she does a little striptease for him in a video. Guess wrong, and he has to try again.

Maybe if he loses he instead gets to see some lame video. Some sort of vintage porn from back in the day when belly buttons were considered obscene. She’ll strip down to a two-piece swimsuit, get embarrassed he can see her belly button, and dash off the screen before removing another stitch of clothing. All in sepia tone video, with some scratches and film grain added in Photoshop.

Technically, maybe it doesn’t count as gambling, since the player never wins any money. All they win is seeing naked chicks. But, I’m not a lawyer, so don’t take my word on that.

Of course, for many people, gambling and porn are outside their “business comfort zones.” Maybe you’ve fantasized about being on a beach somewhere getting paid to take photographs of beautiful women as they strip down to nothing, but, deep down, is that really something you’d be comfortable doing? It’s okay if you’re not; it doesn’t make you any less of a man. But, if you just don’t want to admit it; that’s okay too. It’ll just be our little secret.

Fortunately, there are more ways to make money with women than just having them pose for pictures. There’s more to women than what’s on the outside! Of course, many of my regular readers already know that, but we may need to point it out for newcomers and those that will invariably find this post while looking for “hot naked chicks” in Google.

Although some are loathe to admit it, there are differences between men and women, and a member of the opposite sex can often offer a different perspective from your own.

You may think, for example, that your blog or website appeals to women, but a woman may tell you differently! Perhaps she has some advice to offer that might make your site appeal to a wider range of women. Maybe it’s something relatively simple, like a redesign, that can do the trick. Other times, it may be more wholesale changes, at which point you need to weigh the benefits of attracting more of a female audience against any potential loss of your male audience.

Sometimes that advice may be on a temporary basis, as in a simple review. Other times you may wish to take things a step further and form a partnership of some sort. Be careful here, especially if you are partnering with a girlfriend or just a friend, as opposed to a wife. While a business relationship can be rewarding, you also have to consider the legal ramifications and prepare for them. What happens to your business if you and your girlfriend break up? Unlike a marriage, you wouldn’t have any type of legal relationship to help sort things out (or muddy things up as a divorce often does). Before forming any type of partnership, contact an attorney or other business professional to learn what steps you need to take to prepare for any eventualities.

For business partnerships, even with a girlfriend, this shouldn’t (hopefully!) be a problem. You’re not asking her for a prenup; you’re asking her for a legal formation for your partnership. You need to be prepared for such things as one or the other of you losing interest, the business relationship just not working out, one of you buying out the other and the conditions and terms under which that would happen, whether one partner could sell their stake in the business with or without the other’s approval or right of first refusal, and, yes, your romantic relationship not working out and what effects that will have on the business relationship.

A lot of factors to consider, yes, but such partnerships can be rewarding if you both bring something to the table that helps you both succeed.

You could also consider hiring women on a freelance or employee basis, depending upon how your web business is setup. Perhaps you are creative and smart and able to write your own content, but perhaps for certain topics a woman’s voice might be more appealing to your audience. And, not just their voice per se, but their perspective as well.

It’s important too that you just don’t think of women for the feminine aspects of your business. That would just be short-sighted. It may also be that your wife or girlfriend may be better at math than you. Maybe you’re the creative genius and you need someone to manage the accounting ends of things. Or vice versa! Don’t just think about involving a woman for girly things, but in all applicable areas. With a girlfriend and wife especially, you should have some knowledge as to her strengths and weaknesses, and where you might utilize those strengths in your business, if she’s agreeable to working with you, of course.

I remember years ago reading about a woman who was a business partner with her husband. She described him as not just her husband, but her best friend as well. And, I think that would be the best kind of relationship to have. Too often, I think, people refer to their spouses as “wife” or “husband” but that really doesn’t convey a deepness of relationship. It’s almost like you were assigned a spouse, and you’re just stuck with them. Whereas saying they’re your best friend really means something. And, if you can find someone and enjoy both work and play with them, that’s really something.

People really need to look further than just temperamental notions like feeling a “spark” and other physical sensations and look at forming deeper bonds with someone. It’s something that our society seems to have lost. We seem to look more for short-term personal gratification than long-term bonds. We have more ways to connect, though we seem less connected these days.

Maybe our business relationships can be a start for that. We don’t seem to maintain those long-term anymore either. We’ll dump a good relationship for a cheaper price, rather than continue to work with someone we are familiar with and can depend on. Employers dump employees for cheaper ones, instead of focusing on forming long-term relationships that can help the business grow.

Relationships are important everywhere, even in business. So, whether it’s a wife or girlfriend or just a friend of the opposite sex you can trust, consider how that relationship can help build your business to the benefit of you both.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 12:16 am and is filed under Blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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