Roni's Paradise Is Closing!

[riemens]

WTF now roni close her site too

Aloha Friends, First of all, Roni and I would like to wish all of you a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. Way back in 1999, when we first opened the doors to ronisparadise.com, it was a major struggle to get recognized in the sea of amateur sites and being the greenhorns that we were, had no idea on how to promote our site to the masses. It was only when we sought YOUR help, our loyal and hard working affiliate friends, that we saw the true potential of what our site was capable of and for that we will be forever grateful. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever and after much debate, we've decided to close our site completely at the end of January. As such, on January 2nd, we will no longer be accepting new joins and I request that you redirect your traffic elsewhere. We will continue to update our site throughout the month to ensure that members you have sent WILL get their moneys' worth. Any existing recurring members will be directed to cancel their subscriptions so they will not be rebilled in February. We apologize for the inconvenience this will cause some of you and hope you understand that for several reasons, we feel it's something we need to do. Aloha and Mahalo to you all and thank you for making Roni's Paradise so successful over the years. We will remember you always. Lucky and Roni

[BigD]

Just got the email too ... over the years this has been one of my best converting sites. Sorry to see it go it always has been a favourite of mine

[cots]

I am saddened and shocked at the news that Roni's site is closing. Right from my early days as just a surfer, Roni has always been one of my favourites. She is a beautiful woman and the quality of styling and photography has always been top notch. In latter years their site has also been a top performing affiliate. My last update for her (a recycled one) had great ratios and site was in my top 10 performers in December.

This is a real loss. Sometimes when we hear news of sites closing it's no big deal. They were either poor sites, or badly run, or both. Roni's was a great site, well run and had a good affiliate side.

I have known Lucky for quite a while and know he has become increasingly frustrated with a few things. Content theft and distribution via the Rapidshares of the world is one of his main gripes. I have written to him to see if he is prepared to share any insight as to the closure. He may not want to tell me, or he may give me info that I have to keep to myself. If I get anything I am allowed to share here, then I will.

It begs the question (for another thread) where do we all go from here?

[Smooch]

I too feel saddened by this news!

Roni's Paradise was one of my best converting sites and it will be a real loss if it finally closes it's doors.

As Roni's site depended on affiliate promotion, I fear it may be another casualty of 'Google Panda', which has seen many affiliate sites lose their positions in Google this past year. They talk about the affiliate model being the basis of their promotional activities, so I believe here is the problem.

Whatever the reason, I'd like to think someone could come up with a 'rescue package' for Roni.

[cots]

As far as I know Roni and Lucky did not depend on affiliate promotion only. They had a top list, a strong banner exchange programme and a guest model section as well. We could say all sites depend on the affiliate programmes we run but other activities do take place.

Panda or no Panda I find the google issue interesting. Our sites (pay) always used to be front page, but now they are nowhere near it. It's the scrapers and rip off merchants that head the lists now. I know some people on here get good traffic from Google but I do sometimes question whether it's worth all the effort?

Maybe I (and others) need a good lesson/refresher in SEO techniques?

Until we know the reasons for Roni closing (if we ever find out) I don't think a rescue package is a possibility. I will keep you posted if I find anything out.

[Toby]

Sad news indeed, but given all the others over the last year or two, not a complete surprise.

Geoff, if you do get a chance to speak with Lucky please pass along our best wishes. I've made a fair amount of money promoting Roni's site over the years, and for that I am grateful.

[jscott]

That sucks, they keep on dropping like flies Hopefully the upside to this is the sites staying in business become better, in all categories, better contents, designs, and marketing etc

Good luck to Roni and crew, wish you guys the best of luck

[cots]

I have heard back from Lucky, and though I am not at liberty to go into detail, I can say that all the reasons for the closure are common to a lot of similar sites. Thankfully there are no untoward reasons and both Lucky and Roni are well.

For all of us, the time comes when we have had enough. Roni has been modelling for over 12 years for her site and the fun goes out of it after a while. We have similar experiences here. Just how long can you keep going? It becomes a major issue when you are only doing it for the revenue but it's no longer fun. The likes of Roni and Astrid are not "professional" models. They don't do paid modelling for other sites/photographers. It's only natural that, at some stage, they want to retire gracefully. Thankfully we have our Angels. Nowhere near as successful as Astrid, but it's still fun to do and brings in some revenue. Now if only I could find one or two more MILFs that want to get involved

Toby I got Lucky's mail and replied before seeing your post, but will pass on your wishes next time I write to him.

[cots]

How ironical is this? As I was writing my last post I got my first sale at Glamour Images for today. Yep, you guessed - it was for Roni

[BigD]

Originally Posted by cots

For all of us, the time comes when we have had enough. Roni has been modelling for over 12 years for her site and the fun goes out of it after a while. We have similar experiences here. Just how long can you keep going? It becomes a major issue when you are only doing it for the revenue but it's no longer fun.

I can fully understand this. Me and my wife started out first amateur site in 1997 and after a while the fun does go out of it and with growing children it became harder and harder to find the time for updates. We eventually closed the site in 2003.

[Toby]

Originally Posted by BigD

I can fully understand this. Me and my wife started out first amateur site in 1997 and after a while the fun does go out of it and with growing children it became harder and harder to find the time for updates. We eventually closed the site in 2003.

You lasted longer than most. I got started in this biz, about that same time, building web sites for amateur models and cam girls. Most didn't last to see their site's second anniversary.

The fun going out of it and kids getting old enough to make it very difficult to keep them from seeing things they shouldn't is what did most of them in.

[cots]

Originally Posted by Toby

The fun going out of it and kids getting old enough to make it very difficult to keep them from seeing things they shouldn't is what did most of them in.

We made a big decision when we packed up and came out to Tenerife to do this full time. We told EVERYONE what we did. It simply meant we could never be caught out at a later date - like so many people have

[Toby]

Originally Posted by cots

We made a big decision when we packed up and came out to Tenerife to do this full time. We told EVERYONE what we did. It simply meant we could never be caught out at a later date - like so many people have

Yeah, my family (small as it may be) and close friends all know what I do. Beyond that I keep a low profile. I don't need the hassle of dealing with the judgmental and the gossip queens.

[js69]

I find it sad that Roni is going. She was one of the originals back when we started.
But I do think you might be missing something. They only had still pictures.
One of the things that we did right from day one, was to shoot lots and lots of videos and now have thousands and the old ones still sell. I am a video guy by trade and now it is really paying off. One of our sites is purely videos and it does very well. In fact, I don't shoot stills anymore. I sold off all my Canon gear.
We generate most of our sales, and the Panda update has been very good to us.
I also think you need a basket of business to survive out here and relying on one website is getting harder and harder.
My best wishes to Lucky and Roni because they are really good and were an inspiration back in the day when there were only a handful of us around trying to figure out how to market, bill, design, and still have fun.

[cots]

Originally Posted by js69

I find it sad that Roni is going. She was one of the originals back when we started.
But I do think you might be missing something. They only had still pictures.

Hi JS

I have been a paying member of Roni's site on a number of occasions and there was plenty of video in the member area. I admit it was mainly short clip/SD but it's quite some time since I was last member side and it may have changed.

At the time they reacted very aggressively to the 2257 rules and I think that prevented them from posting MHGs as theirs were mainly hardcore.

I never doubt your word as you know, but here is an interesting fact. At Glam Images I have a number of sponsors that I have set up specific affiliate accounts for videos. We have also recently tried MHGs for Candy Leglust. For some strange reason they are way less successful than image galleries. They get less traffic at GI and for CLL have had far fewer appearances, and, less traffic.

I, like you, feel the future is video but right now surfers seem to want at least some pics. Other webmasters I am friendly with are saying similar.