Blog Post Written By: Melrose Michaels
Promotion is crucial in the world of adult content creation, as gaining subscribers can be an immense challenge. However, there exists an entire ecosystem on Telegram for creators to overcome this challenge. In this blog post, we'll explore how you can utilize Telegram to gain new subscribers, optimize and organize your adult creator business, and automate some of the processes.
Among the many messaging apps available, Telegram stands out for various reasons. Firstly, the privacy aspect of Telegram makes it a go-to app for many sex workers. In this post, we'll examine the core features of Telegram that make it an excellent tool for adult businesses. We'll then delve deeper into how these features can be utilized to enhance our adult businesses. If you want a step-by-step setup guide, check out this tutorial video first.
Security and Privacy
One of the biggest concerns for adult creators is privacy and security. Telegram offers end-to-end encryption for all messages, meaning that only the sender and receiver can read the messages. Additionally, Telegram allows users to set up two-factor authentication for added security. This is important because it helps protect adult creators from sharing sensitive data, but it’s also significant because of how you can utilize Telegram to store content and keep it easily accessible (which you obviously want to be protected and safeguarded as a creator).
Large Group Chats
Telegram offers its users the ability to create massive group chats with up to 200,000 members, making it an excellent platform for content creators to engage with their fans or collaborators in a single place. Creating a large group chat can also help content creators establish and grow their communities around their work. The sex work community thrived on the app due to the ability to create these large group chats, with numerous adult content creators having formed hundreds, if not thousands, of such groups. Additionally, file sharing is another standout feature of Telegram.
File Sharing
Telegram allows users to share files up to 2GB in size. This is a great feature for content creators who need to share large video files, images, or other media with their fans or collaborators. Additionally, Telegram offers cloud-based storage, which means that users can access their files from any device. This comes into play later when I explain how I store and organize my content on Telegram. While content can become compressed when sending via Telegram, there is also the option to upload your content there uncompressed as well - which I think a lot of creators aren’t aware of.
Channels
Telegram channels function like group chats, but with the ability to broadcast messages to a large audience. If you are a member of our SWCEO Telegram channel, you'll be aware that broadcast channels send messages out without permitting members to respond individually. However, they can engage in other features, such as voting in polls. Channels are an ideal platform for content creators to share news or updates, promote their work, and connect with their supporters. It's also a great way to expand your audience and build a following. Additionally, channels can be used to create private channels that are only visible to you. I'll elaborate on this later, but I have a private channel for my content, business ideas, reminders, and even one called "Talking to myself," where I send voice notes to myself while brainstorming concepts or ideas for my companies. Strange, I know, but the point is that you can have a channel that's solely for your personal use, where you can compile ideas, reminders, content, or anything else that you want.
Bots
Telegram provides developers with a powerful API that enables them to build bots. These bots are automated programs capable of executing various tasks, such as sending messages, exchanging files, and responding to inquiries. Although it's not a walk in the park to create a Telegram bot - I can attest to that, given that we recently released one for the #CEOsquad - the availability of this feature opens up many new use cases for Telegram! Moving on, I simply cannot do without the following feature of Telegram.
Schedule Messages
Telegram is an incredible platform for content creators to schedule posts or reminders at a specific time, thanks to its scheduling message feature. This functionality saves time and ensures that the content is posted at the optimal time. As a content creator, I use this feature by creating a private telegram channel named ‘reminders.’ I schedule messages to be sent to myself as reminders, whether it's for posting a story to my Onlyfans page, which can’t be scheduled, or shipping panties to a fan. Additionally, I schedule messages to manage my personal assistant or my internal team for my companies. I remind them of upcoming meetings and include the Zoom link, or when it’s late but I’m buzzing with ideas I don’t want to forget, I’ll schedule the message to send to them the next day during work hours. This feature is a must-have, and I use it daily on the Telegram app. Once you start using it, you won't be able to go back!
Now that we know about Telegram's core features and functionalities, let's discuss how we can use this app as an adult creator.
Staying Organized with Telegram
To begin with, I have a streamlined approach to organizing and storing my content, which involves using Telegram. I have created a private channel exclusively for myself where I share my content. Once my content is filmed and edited, I follow a specific process. I send the content to my private Telegram channel in the sequence that I want it to be published on my fansite. This approach enables me to stay organized and efficient, and I send it to myself in this order:
A text-only message that has the ‘title’ of my content (the title is just something I know I’ll remember the content by if I need to search it) and the date I plan on publishing it to my page (another tool I can search the channel by)
One SFW photo set
One NSFW photo set
One SFW OF story (a vertical clip for free page)
One NSFW OF story (a vertical clip for VIP page)
The trailer of my video
The explicit full-length video
A bonus clip of extended footage or an alternate ending I can send to fans as a locked PPV msg
A ‘sexting set’ of 5-7 pics of short clips that progressively get more explicit, which I’ll use in DMs with fans who want to sext etc.
Whenever I film new videos, I always create an outline of the content. After editing and finalizing the video on my phone, I send it to myself in a private Telegram channel, maintaining the same order as in the outline. This method offers the benefit of searchable content within the channel; simply click on the channel's profile image, tap the magnifying glass, and type in the title or date of the show. Moreover, it makes all of my content easily accessible on mobile, allowing me to retrieve it while on the go, such as when responding to direct messages from subscribers on OnlyFans throughout the day.
The other benefit is that you can open Telegram on a laptop or desktop computer by using a web browser, which means when you sit down at your computer to schedule content, you can pull up Telegram, download each piece of content, and schedule it in the order it’s supposed to publish.
When growing your business and working with a personal assistant to handle your content schedule, the process can become much smoother. One effective way to streamline things is by gathering all your content in a private Telegram channel and then forwarding it to your assistant in the shared chat for scheduling. The beauty of this method is that your assistant receives the content promptly and in the intended order, which reduces their workload and lowers the chance of errors.
I'd like to mention that I have a separate private Telegram channel where I keep voice messages for myself. This comes in handy when I'm chatting on SextPanther, and my fans want to hear my voice, but I can't record anything at the moment because I'm in a noisy place or in public. In such cases, I can quickly retrieve an audio message from my Telegram channel, send it to my fan on SextPanther, and voila! This is just one of the many benefits of utilizing Telegram channels effectively, whether you use them for personal purposes, team collaboration, or fan engagement.
I do want to note if you start a broadcast Telegram channel for fans, do not send explicit content through it. That does violate Telegram's TOS, and I have personally had two large Telegram channels disabled from testing this.
Growing subscribers on Telegram
Now, let's dive into the good stuff! How can we boost our subscriber count using Telegram? As I mentioned earlier, there are already large groups of content creators on Telegram. Many of these groups focus on Share for Share (SFS) or buying shoutouts. Personally, I'm a member of many groups where models share their fan count and their percentage ranking and offer SFS on platforms like OnlyFans and others - completely for free. Some models also sell shoutouts to get featured on their pages, but these groups offer a variety of opportunities. All you have to do is join these Telegram groups, find a model that offers a free SFS or one that you want to try, tap their username, and message them directly to arrange the details.
This strategy isn't limited to OnlyFans either. You can find content creators offering SFS and shoutouts for platforms like Fansly, LoyalFans, Fancentro, and more. Additionally, these groups aren't just for adult content - there are social media groups on Telegram that facilitate SFS on Instagram, RTs on Twitter, shoutouts on Snapchat and other platforms.
When you join these groups, you'll see models posting flyers. A flyer is a graphic, usually created with Canva, that includes the model's name, their fan count on their fansite, their ranking or percentage, and the type of promotion or shoutout they offer. This could be SFS, a paid shoutout, or guaranteed gains. Guaranteed gains (GG) is when a model posts your link to their fansite repeatedly until you reach the agreed-upon number of clicks. For example, if you buy a GG shoutout for $200 that guarantees 1,000 fans, you'll provide the model with a free trial or tracking link, and they'll keep posting it until you get 1,000 clicks.
Be cautious about GG because it may attract low-quality fans since free trial links are often used. Reliable sellers will have a review channel where you can read testimonials from other models who've purchased shoutouts or GG in the past and received positive results. I advise against spending money with a creator who doesn't have a review channel with testimonials from past buyers.
Aside from GG, you'll encounter many other acronyms in Telegram groups. Let's define a few so you'll know what people are talking about when you join these groups - I sure didn't at the beginning.
GG - Guaranteed Gains, when a creator posts & reposts you to their fan site using a tracking link until you reach the agreed amount clicks
PROMO - A shoutout or paid post to a fansite or social platform
SFS - Share for share, when you post a creator, and they post you, in the hope to gain exposure, fans or followers
RT4RT - ReTweet for ReTweet, when you and a creator retweet each other in the hope to gain new followers on Twitter
F4F - Follow for Follow, when you and a creator agree to follow each other to pump up follower count, I don’t recommend doing this
L4L - Like for Like, when you and a creator agree to like each other's posts to pump up like count
C4C - Comment for Comment, when you and a creator agree to comment on each other's posts to pump up comment count
Before I move on, I want to caution that there are a LOT of scammers on Telegram looking to take advantage of creators as well. Make sure that the person you’re looking to have a SFS or shoutout with has reviews from other creators, seems reputable and is active in our community based on their social media and other groups and forums. It’s still very important to do proper due diligence. If you're looking for a list of groups to get you started, join CEO Society, our exclusive private community for adult creators. In this supportive space, you'll have access to a network of like-minded individuals who understand the unique challenges and opportunities of the adult industry. Share your experiences, ask questions, and get feedback from people who truly get it.
Next, let’s talk about Telegram groups and how to automate some of the efforts around getting new subscribers.
Autofans
If you're a part of Telegram groups, you know how time-consuming it can be to create and post your flyers multiple times a day in 20-100 groups. But what if you could automate this process? That's where Autofans comes in.
Autofans is a program that automates your flyer drops in over 20 Telegram groups, posting your flyer once an hour in each group. This means you could have 14,400 flyer drops per month for just $49/month. And there are even bigger packages available if you need more. I've been using Autofans for a while now, and it has been incredibly effective at growing my page.
With Autofans, you only need to respond to models who are interested in scheduling SFSs or shoutouts with you. This means you'll likely receive a lot of requests, so be prepared to manage your messages accordingly. The program offers a 2-day free trial, but it usually takes at least a day for them to get your flyer drops up and running. If you ask, they'll extend your trial to give you a better chance to test out the service.
If you're interested in finding more Telegram groups for SFSs and shoutouts, check out the SWCEO Telegram group. I recently posted a comprehensive list of SFS groups you can join. If you're not already a part of the SWCEO Telegram channel, send us a DM on Twitter or Instagram, and we'll reply with the link to join.
In conclusion, if you're looking to automate your flyer drops in Telegram groups and grow your page, Autofans is definitely worth trying out.
TL;DR
Telegram is a powerful and versatile messaging app with a range of features that make it an excellent choice for growing subscriber count on fansites. With features such as channels, groups, and bots, Telegram provides a platform for fansites to engage with their audience, share exclusive content, and build a loyal following. Its advanced security features also ensure that fansite owners can communicate with their subscribers in a safe and secure environment. Overall, Telegram is a highly effective tool for fansites looking to expand their reach and build a strong community of followers. Its popularity is only likely to continue to grow in the years to come.
If you enjoyed this blog, you'll really love the Twitter Space we did focusing on this topic. We answered some insightful questions submitted by listeners that were not mentioned above, so make sure to check it out!
Want to be part of the conversation? Join us Tuesdays at 1 pm CST on Twitter where we discuss new topics weekly to help take your adult content creator business to the next level.
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