CamLife Magazine
CamLife magazines Bender Cain interviews Jay Kopita of the Ynot group”
Hey Jay how are you doing, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to sit down with us here at Cam Life Magazine to answer some questions for our readers.
My pleasure. Anything I can do that can benefits the cam community and also continually raises YNOT’s profile in the cam community is especially helpful and enjoyable for us.
So, Jay, you and your partner own the Ynot network can you take us how long have you been operating?
YNOT started out as YNOT Adult Network back in 1996. It was the very first online resource company, traffic network, forum and vital online meeting place in the adult online industry. Many of the earliest pioneers in adult got their start on YNOT. You had to actually be voted in to be approved as part of the network. YNOT Masters soon followed which provided news, forums, business listings that you could bid for placement on and several other resources specifically for webmasters and anyone working on the b2b side of the adult online industry. I joined the company (and the industry in general) in 2000 when I was hired on as part of the PR team. My business partner Connor Young actually started in the industry in 1997 as a webmaster running AVS (Age Verification Sites) and would later join YNOT soon after me. So as a company and brand, we’ve been operating for nearly 22 years and I myself am coming up on 18 years.
So I believe almost every company has a story almost as unique as the people that start them especially in the adult entertainment adult industry so can you tell us how it all started for ynot?
Long story short, a genius whiz kid fresh out of high school created the YNOT Network back in the day and it became wildly successful within a very short time. When it came to naming the company, after all of his hard work he thought, “why not??” and since the beginning the name YNOT along with the ? has been our brand to which it remains today.
What did you do before the Ynot network?
Me personally, I was an aspiring (mainstream) actor thru much of the 90s. After graduating from
the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Theatre and Speech Communications, I moved to LA,
waited tables, went on auditions, and occasionally booked gigs in commercials, TV shows, indy
films, and theatre a few times a year. Worked enough and built up credits to legitimately call
myself an actor but wasn’t making a living on it. Decided that having a backup plan for life was
a wise choice so I gave up the dream and for a couple of years I worked for a Hollywood
Public Relations firm and then took those skills that I acquired (writing, story pitching, and event
production mainly) to the adult industry. At the time of hiring, I was employed by Sextracker and
YNOT (which were both owned by parent company Flying Crocodile) whom many now know as
Streamate, and less than a year later, YNOT split off and I ended up staying with them.
Ok, Jay, you attended a lot of trade shows all over the world what are some of your favorites
experiences so?
My wildest and experiences certainly date back at least 7 or 8 years and beyond. Things were much MUCH wilder then. Nowadays I just really enjoy seeing new places and meeting new people. I always find business opportunities at all the trade shows I regularly attend and I always make a point to connect with friends old and new, clients and business associates that have supported YNOT for years. I also really enjoy anything that thrusts YNOT into the spotlight, whether it’s my own event or a part of someone else.
How has attending the different trade shows helped grow your business?
You just can’t beat face to face time with people. Skype is nice but trade shows are much better. We are truly a global industry and it makes such a difference to see everyone… anywhere from one to half dozen times each per year. It’s critical to keep your brand relevant and since I’ve been the front man for YNOT for quite some years now, it’s also important for me to maintain my personal relevance. I do it all… seminars, networking, dinners and parties. There are no shows that I currently make a point of attending that don’t bring me back a significant amount of ROI, and ROI isn’t just measured with new business either.
So let’s talk about the Ynot awards I know it must be a lot of work. How long have you been
doing the awards show?
Yes, it’s a lot of work indeed, but so rewarding in so many ways, and now that we are approaching our 8th year for the YNOT Awards, it has become very familiar to me to produce. I’m always trying to improve it, but the basics are totally understood. The learning curve is long gone so my ability to work smarter with it is getting better and better.
Another thing you do that I think is just awesome is the Ynot grandprix how did this come about and do you have plans to add on to this event?
Well, thank you. The funny thing is, when my team came up with the idea back in 2010, I Wasn’t thrilled about it. But hey, I’m much more of an execution guy than I am an ideas guy and will run with something if I see it’s short and long-term benefit. That’s not to say that I don’t come up with great ideas myself once in awhile… but any task thrown my way, or one that I adopt, I’llalways do my best to make it epic. Currently, the YNOT GP is coming up on its 8th season and I plan on keeping it as is. I pick 4 trade shows that I really enjoy attending, I get the sponsorship support I need to make the event break even at least, and it’s just a great event that provides solid branding and something the industry has come to look forward to several times a year. The cash prize and the wining and dining also doesn’t hurt attendance either.
Ok so Jay you also do a podcast I mean is there anything you don’t do? But for real for someone who has never tuned in to your podcast what can they expect?
There is little I don’t do or won’t do but for my sake and everyone else, I’ll leave that to your imagination. Porn and Coffee podcast was born December 2015 and the concept was Thomas Skavhellen’s idea. I’m fortunate in that he approached me to co-host it with him and we aim for3 published episodes per month. He’s a phenomenal personality and great at editing sound and video. I love working with the guy and it shows in our podcasts. Essentially we just try to bring something interesting, fun and useful to the table with each podcast. We want to feature our guests in such a way so that everyone has a great time, and the content we put out is not readily accessible anywhere else. People can expect that when they listen to any podcast we put out… that they’ll either learn something new about the guest or something new about any of the business models we feature. We tend to go with some of the more well-known in the b2bside of an adult but are open to anything unique.
I know you are kind of an expert on email marketing how important do you think email marketing is
to grow your business?
Email marketing is critical to growing your business. Absolutely critical. This is one of the
founding principles of YNOT Mail and why we launched it. Too many people are leaving money
on the table by not fully utilizing their email/ contact/client lists, or worse… they are doing it
wrong and risking getting blacklisted or using a mainstream platform that will either get them
banned or with zero deliverability. If you work in the adult industry it’s very important that you
are doing email marketing and that you are doing it right. Why wouldn’t you use an email
solution specifically built for most facets of the adult industry with YNOT Mail, from a company
with a name you can trust for over 20 years, and highly accessible people who you’ll see at
shows and also have a personal interest in your success? Our YNOT Mail team is completely
easy to work with. Richard is an amazing director.
Jay, you are a big supporter of the cam industry I feel Cam is more than just a business its community. What are your thoughts on this?
Absolutely it’s a community. And a quite tight-knit one, regardless of how vast it is. YNOT has
been a part of the cam community for many years and one of its strongest proponents in the
media and events. When we launched YNOTCam.com a few years ago it didn’t take us long to
be embraced by the webcam community at large because everyone sees us as a cam-centric
media and events company. Of course, we cover various other aspects in adult, and B2B was
what we were originally known for, for many years, but given our long-running deep
relationships with most of the cam networks, and now with many studios around the world,
YNOT is solidly entrenched in the cam community. It’s only getting better and better as well.
Where do you see the live Cam community in 10 years?
I see it has a much bigger market share in adult entertainment over traditional porn and much more interactivity with fans. I also think virtual reality (VR) will play a much more important role. I’m not the greatest at this crystal ball stuff, but without doubt, the webcam industry will always be here, and YNOT will be an integral part of it.
How important is B2B marketing in the live Cam industry?
From a branding standpoint for businesses, it’s very important. As with any sector of an adult, out of sight often means out of mind. If you aren’t marketing your business to other companies that could potentially be doing business with you, then this will lead to fewer sales and opportunities, not more. I could never understand how companies who need to get more exposure and aren’t necessarily getting direct sales out of it choose to scale back and cut down on their marketing and advertising. B2B marketing is a cumulative effort. The less you are seen, and the more opportunities that you skip out on, the less relevant you will appear. Perception of success means so much in an industry where there is plenty of competition… adult is no different.
I think it is so cool that our two companies can not only network and cooperate together but actually be friendly and build respect for each other thank you so much, Jay, for everything you have done for the community.
Thank you for this opportunity, Bender!
