The fan who talked about another model for years became my biggest whale

For years I thought I was in the content business.. obviously, right? adult content creator, it’s in the name..

for years I also thought I would make more money if I just shot better content, made better edits, posted more, got better botox lol, all of the things..

sooo that’s what I did.. I worked my ass off and ran myself into the ground making content, and I could not, for the life of me, understand why my income was less than another creators’ (with the same # of subscribers)

then one fan taught me everything I needed to know, and it took almost 4 years for me to learn this lesson.. yes, you read that right, almost FOUR years..

this fan followed me for a long time before he ever spent a dollar, we talked constantly, back and forth in DMs.. and here is the part that is almost funny in hindsight: he spent most of that time talking to me about ANOTHER model, a creator he was really into.. he would tell me about their dynamic, and guess what? I listened..

I listened, for no other reason, than because, that’s just how I talk to people..

during those (almost 4 years) he shared a lot about his personal life, what he was going through, the ups and downs, and I kept showing up for that too, genuinely, the same way I would for a friend

and then something shifted.. he told me he was grateful! he shared that, to him, our relationship never felt transactional, and that I never made him feel like a wallet.

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soon after that, he became my biggest spender across every platform and page I run, ‘till this day, 10 years later!

no, I am not telling you this story to make a point about patience, although patience is part of it. I am telling you this because this fan completely rewired my brain about how I understood my own business

I finally understood that my fans were not subscribing for my content, sure, the content was the language we used to get closer, but they were actually subscribing for access to me..

so, I stopped acting like a fkn vending machine that existed only to dispense photos and I started acting like a person building real relationships. I learned names, remembered what was going on in their lives, I kept notes, actual notes, on what fans told me so that the next time we talked I already knew their world

that’s the psychology of people and the psychology of sales, it’s wild, but not really, because when you invest in fans as actual people, you are pulling one of the best business levers there is.

The thing that nobody told me when I started this work (14 years ago) is that retention is not a content problem, it is a relationship problem. People do not stay because you’re “posting enough”, or “editing the best” they stay because they feel seen by you, and a fan who feels seen will climb every step you offer, not because you pushed them, but because they want to be closer to you!

There is a path that a fan walks from the very first free hello all the way up to the most personal, most expensive things you offer. I call it the sales ladder and every step is a small yes that makes the next yes easier to get.

Here is a taste of how that path actually sounds in practice:

after I have been building a fantasy with a fan in messages for a while, I do not cold pitch them a custom. I plant a seed. I say something like: “You know what would be even better than us building this fantasy in messages? Me actually filming it, just for you. Imagine pressing play and it is the exact thing we just dreamed up together”

and then I stop, I let it land.. sometimes they say yes on the spot, sometimes they change the subject entirely, but, either way, I do not chase it, and neither should you.. the curiosity will always do the rest, even if it’s not today..

^ that is just one upsell message, there are 5 total that I use, each one with its own bridge line, written to move a fan naturally from where they are to the next level of access without ever making them feel “sold to”. I shared all 5 upsell messages inside CEO Society for free, grab them here

I’ll end with this, if you are exhausted right now, pouring everything into making more content and watching the revenue sit still, I want you to try the reframe that changed everything for me..

you are not selling content, you are selling access to the one person they cannot get anywhere else, YOU.

seriously, stop counting subscribers and start counting relationships, because the audience you already have is capable of spending more than you think.. you just have to show up for them.. like the fan who talked about another model for 4 years, the one I never made feel like a transaction, the one who is still my biggest spender today. that is not a content strategy, that is a relationship.

not a vending machine anymore,
MelRose

P.S. I put the exact words inside CEO Society. 5 bridge messages, one for each stage of the fan journey, with notes on how to make every single one sound like you, get them here and let me know what happens next!