Monday, September 25, 2006

Rebirth of a Foot Site

We have an announcement to make. Planet of the Arches is under reconstruction. Just as with the Six Million Dollar Man, we are making Planet of the Arches better, faster, and stronger than you now know it. Please take a few minutes to find out the changes we are making.

The new version will be about function instead of fancy graphics. We want to keep it simple this time around. One of the things people want to know is who the new models are. The new version will show this with a simple add option. One week, you might see 20 models on the Girls page, next week you might see 22. It will be just that simple. No flashing GIFs, or blinking text, just go by the number of girls you see.

You will be able to recognize updates more clearly than you do now. Furthermore, nearly each update will come with a sample clip for you to view. Speaking of clips, the updated version will have full-length clips, not just samples.

The current find the girl by date situation will be no more. Each girl will have a photo that will take you directly to her gallery. There also won't be any breaking up of sets to keep the updates fresh. So you will not see 20 pictures of a girl wearing a white tank top, blue jeans, posing on the sofa one week. Then the next week, you see her with the same clothes on, except now she is posing on the bed.

We are not sure if we will keep the blog going though. But as a consolation, the new site will have a huge foot model shoe sale store. All the socks, stockings, and shoes the girl put up for sale belong to them. Best of all, each purchase will come with the photos and the DVD's the girls shot while wearing their shoes.

The new version of Planet of the Arches should go live on October 1, 2006.

Thank you for being our fans over the years. This new version is to show our appreciation for your support and fanship.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Death of a Foot Site

Yes...the play on words is unmistakable. But this is nothing to scoff at. An up and coming foot model with her own site, recently called it a day. This is the second and final time for this taking place. It is never a good thing when a good foot site closes its doors, especially when it has a growing fan base. There is a reason for everything, of course. Its time to review a few reasons foot sites close shop.

One of the biggest myths about foot sites is they generate a huge income for their owners. Most of the time, that is not the case. The large sites make their money two ways, with multiple sites and affiliate programs. No one foot site, even a hardcore foot site, pulls in big bucks. That is the reason the owners create a slew of foot sites, ranging from mild to wild. Large sites know the best way to promote their sites is to let others do it for them. Webmasters join affiliate programs to promote large sites for a portion of the signups they generate, making it a win-win for both parties. Small site usually self-promote, and get their signups and customers by word of mouth.

Some sites have the fortune of having little to no overhead, but doesn't guarantee they will stay in business. It is possible to pay models very little to let you do a shoot with them. But if you are not making that money back, then what is the point, other than the love of it. Lower pay usually means less time shooting and less potential for eye grabbing outfits and poses. A few sites have models that do not receive a cent for their time. That too translates into less time shooting, and usually no potential for eye grabbing outfits. So when a guy is shooting a girl for free, he definitely needs to step it up for his fans. If he cannot capitalize on it, his fans will go elsewhere.

There are other reasons beside those two, but one more comes to mind--tunnel vision.
If a site doesn't shoot for its fans, then it is definitely doomed to fail. Although a site owner should be into the content produced, if it is not taking off, it may be time to take an alternate route. For example, if a site is a food crush fetish site, and it does not catch on, the site could refocus its efforts. Perhaps it could combine the crushing with the act of eating the food off the feet. Another idea could be for the site to abandon food alltogether, and have the model crush guys or other models.

Regardless of the reason for a site closing, it is never good. Site owners facing closure can take a cue from large corporations, such as Boeing, Kodak, and KMart. Those companies rethought their strategies, reorganized, and reconstructed. Owning a foot site is a dream for many people. So if they must close down, they should take heart. They should take heart in knowing they lived their dream because that is something the majority of people on this planet will never do.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Youtube and Censorship

The Internet created a ways and means for people all over the globe to communicate with each other. It allowed those near and far to share images, videos, thoughts, ideas, and feelings. One of the newest and hottest ways for people to do all of those things is Youtube. As with any medium that allows people to view content, youtube exercises its right to censor things it deems inappropriate, obscene, pornographic, and anything else the Gods who monitor it deem bad.

Recently, my good friend FootChat found out from one of his friends, a fellow foot admirer named Zach, that youtube removed some of Zach's videos. Zach was clueless about it, of course. And it happened many moons after Zach uploaded the videos the youtube Gods deemed bad. Not long after that, youtube suspended my account. It cited me for continuing to load inappropriate videos. Well, if youtube told me they were inappropriate in advance, I would have removed them myself. Honestly, I would have never figured seeing a fully-clothed girl play with a 35mm camera with a lens that fully extends when turned on, and retracts when turned off, would be inappropriate, obscene, offensive, or pornographic. Speaking of pornographic, the jury is still out on 2257, the Bible adult webmasters must follow so as to avoid incarceration. Youtube also cited a fully-clothed girl walking around in Waldenbooks in her stockings as inappropriate, obscene, offensive, or pornographic.

That took me back to Irwin Schiff's book, and how he mentioned the way federal judges can interpret the law in the way they see fit. And if you don't know the law, you truly can be taken for a ride. To paraphrase, he said a federal judge could charge you with the crime of eating a banana in broad daylight on a Thursday. If you don't know the law, then how can you argue the judge is wrong? Let's get back to youtube. It deemed those two videos bad, yet allows a video of a girl telling guys to stroke it to her feet until they....

Footchat said other foot admirers will probably fall victim to youtube's arbitrary pruning of foot fetish content. Some of you may wonder if I pleaded my case to youtube, as I would plead my case to anyone charging me of a crime. I did. The result was after a few emails, youtube replied with a generic response that let me know none of the Gods there read anything I had to say.

So my fellow foot admirers be wary of youtube and its Terms of Use (TOU). But then again, as long as you upload the most blatantly sexual of foot videos, you will be OK. Its the nonhardcore videos youtube is really concerned about.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Socks, Heels, and Sneakers

After seeing forum after forum with sections for buying and selling worn items, and web sites specializing in worn item buying and selling, it was only a matter of time before we did the same.

We've been selling models' sneakers to their fans at our sites Planet of the Arches, Planet of the Arches DVD Store, and King of the Heel for some time. If any of you know about sites, as Eugene Ferkauf said, "Traffic is the name of the game". It came down to creating a new site, one that would allow everyone to see the items up for grabs. So we started Workout Girls Feet. There is a specific section that showcases the socks, stockings, and shoes the girls want to sell to their fans.

The best part about the items for sale are the freebies that come with them. Each pair of socks, stockings, heels, or sneakers comes with all the photos and DVD's the girl shot while wearing them. None of the items are props; they are genuine articles the girls own and wear regularly.

As more girls learn the power their sweaty socks, sweated in heels, and stinky sneakers hold, they will put more stuff up for sale. We will update that section each time more items become available.