Community Profile:
12 Questions from Shane of Divashow.com

1. Tell us about yourself! What are your hobbies, interest, personal  life, goals, etc, etc.

Shane: My name is Shannon Niedens. I'm from Wichita, Kansas aka No Where. I'm 32 years old married with 2 children. My husband is the server administrator for Power Storm Web Hosting. In my spare time I love to read. I read mostly horror stories from authors like Stephen King, Robert R. McCammon and Peter Straub. I also love to shoot pool, though I have not had time in years to play regularly. I'm very interested in politics these days. I'm concerned not only for the state of our industry but for the state of the nation as well. I've been very active recently doing volunteer work for many liberal and democratic agencies. My goal is to help to get people into the voting booths both in the off year elections as well as the next presidential election.

2. What did you do before you started in the adult internet industry?

Shane: Wow, I'm not sure I can remember that far back. I did a lot of odd jobs before adult. For 6 months I worked as a black jack dealer in a local hotel bar. I did a three day temp job putting tax stamps on cigarettes. I've worked at more fast food joints than I can even remember. I also worked for a couple of alarm monitoring companies.

3. Please tell our readers about your personal background?

Shane: I have a fairly small very open family. My father is a sculptor and very liberal in his thinking. I was always encouraged to think for myself and to disregard what others thought. I think that is what allowed me to go into adult when the opportunity arose. When I started I was using Corel Photo paint and just
experimenting with the software. My first designs were very clunky and almost cartoonish. But over the years I moved over to using Adobe Photoshop / Image Ready and I was able to improve my skills. I went through several down times where I was just sure that I was in the wrong field and wasting my time. I would go off line for a year at a time trying to find some thing that I could do and be happy with, but I always came back to the internet, and adult. These day's I'm thankful that so many people like my work and that I am able to make a living doing what I love. I've been able to meet some truly amazing
people and work out of my home. It's been a wonderful ride so far, and I can't wait to see where it takes me.

4. You are also a web site designer. Please tell us what you can do for someone that may be looking for a new web site, or totally overhauling their existing web site!

Shane: My goal when I design a website is to provide my clients with a site they will love not just now, but in 8 months or a year when they have looked at it every day. I work with my clients to provide them with what they want as well as what they need. If some one is looking for a new web site I always try to get an idea of what elements they love from other sites. Then I try and tie all those elements into one solid design. I'm very open with my clients regarding their options when it comes to dynamic site building. As a fan of open source software I have compiled a list of free software that works well in use with adult sites. This helps new web masters realize their ideas on a smaller budget. For those looking to overhaul their existing site, I like to look at what is working in a site design. Some times the best thing you can do for an overhaul site is change out some images or make small layout improvements to see a drastic increase in sales. I've never been one for reinventing the wheel. (If you are looking to get a new site or redo your existing please visit sinfulerotica.)

5. What is your graphic experience/background?

Shane: I started out in 1997 I think working for Adult Designz. It was a great place to get to know the business and really stretch my wings. My first mainstream site design was in 2000 when I did a site for a local audio sales store. Over the years I've learned Photo-Paint, Photoshop, ImageReady, Vegas Video as well as Mambo/Joombla CMS and Zen Cart for e-commerce sites. I have several designs currently online like Power storm, Venetian Dreams and Twisted Toyz.

6. You also work with Divashow.com Please tell our readers what that sponsor program is, and what it offers?

Shane: Diva Show is a live cam site. We offer a solid affiliate program for the site at divacash.com. Currently we are updating both sites to help webmasters to convert their traffic better. We are in the final stages of instituting NATS, we have added Iframes as a promotional tool and we are getting ready to release some galleries for affiliates as well. We offer a couple of different options for webmasters. There is 20% recurring, earn up to $150 per join including trials and 100% of all initial sales options. Webmasters can also earn an extra 10% or more from their referred affiliates. Our system will allow webmasters to track all sales including their affiliates. This way our affiliates will know exactly what they are earning.

7. How did you end up working for Divashow?

Shane: I was actually introduced to Divashow by a webmaster linkup friend of mine Zobmaster. He was aware that I had been looking for some thing new and set me up with an interview with Andrea (Spaced forever). After a short interview I knew that I wanted to be involved with Diva.

8. What is your favorite part about working in this business?

Shane: I love the work at home aspect. I really like the control I have with what I do. I don't have to get approval from any one before I accept/reject a client. I don't have to justify my actions to a supervisor. I never was very good at that in a standard 9-5 job.

9. What are three things would you like to see changed (be it positive or negative) in this industry, tomorrow, a week from now, or a year down the road?

Shane:
9-1. Total support for the adult industry socially as well as governmentally.
9-2. More community activism in our industry.
9-3. Investment opportunities for webmasters. I think it would be wonderful to see more support of new sites on the web. Having willing investors would be a positive step forward in my mind.

10. If you were starting all over today, would you do anything differently? And if so what would that be?

Shane: I wouldn't be as timid as I was then. I also would have worked smarter and diversified my portfolio a bit earlier on.

11. What piece of advice would you give yourself if you were just starting out in the internet industry - adult and or main-stream?

Shane: Never give up. There are so many things that you can do in this industry that you can't give up. Instead try some thing else, but just keep trying. If you don't you'll always wonder what if.

12. Any new projects in the near future you would like to share with our readers?

Shane: I'm working on a blog right now called Bitchhookerz.com. It's mostly a day in the life of a webmaster/designer/affiliate rep kind of thing. I also try to help out webmasters by posting links to content,
sponsors and other beneficial services/goods to adult webmasters when I find good ones. I have a few other surprises in the hopper that are to be announced a bit later in the year.