A letter from Boris

I recently found out about the economics behind some OnlyFans accounts. For those who don't know, onlyfans.com is a platform where content creators meet their audience and have a method to charge a fee for access to their content. The platform hosts a lot of mature content, which is a euphemism for nudes, erotica, and porn. Fans pay a monthly fee and get access to all the x-rated content created by a creator.

I think it's an excellent service that managed to cut out the middlemen in an industry where the men (and it was mostly men) in the middle took advantage of the women (yes, it was primarily women) providing the content. Now, these content creators get direct access to their fanbase, and some make millions.

A friend of mine spoke at a conference about digital content and was seated next to a very successful OnlyFans content creator, which is a euphemism for a person who sells nude photos and videos of themselves. He asked this person where most of her revenue came from, and she didn't hesitate and answered, "dick appraisals." She then went on to explain that she (and a lot of her colleagues) offer a service where men can send in dick pics and get them reviewed. They provide a basic text-based review for $50, a video message from the OnlyFans model for $250, and for a thousand bucks, a 5-minute video call where they can show their manhood to the OnlyFans model, in which she assures the caller that his penis is beautiful, the best she's ever seen, and also much bigger than she ever expected. And that's where the majority of her revenue came from.

We laughed about this for a moment, but then I started thinking: this is genius. Think about it for a second: there are a lot of men who are insecure about their penis. Indeed, they can ask their partner, but how honest will they be? So, paying for an independent review makes sense. And we know some men feel a great urge to send dick pics, so I'm relieved now they have a less benign way of scratching that itch without bothering unsuspecting women.

The story gets better, however. My friend became curious and asked how she handled the apparent avalanche of dick pics needing reviews. She shrugged and told him she outsourced the reviewing to India. So now I imagine a middle-aged, mustached Indian man sitting behind a computer and typing (and this is funnier if you imagine it read out loud with an Indian accent): "dear sir, I have reviewed your beautiful penis and it is marvellous and shiny and really quite large and impressive."

My grandparents bought a classic French house in the south of France in their fifties and retired there. The house had a wine cellar so they kept some wine and champagne. My grandfather boasted of his unique relationship with the grower-producer of his favourite champagne. He told us all that she would write him a letter, at least once a quarter, telling him about their unique champagnes and offering to send him a few of her special bottles if he was interested. He would write back, tell her which champagnes he liked, and order another box. After he died, the family cleaned the house and found stacks of the now infamous letters, which were just regular brochures with a pre-printed signature. There was no special relationship. He had just assumed the pre-printed folder was a personal letter.

I don't think my grandfather ever ordered a penis review from an OnlyFans model. But I do see a connection between my grandfather falling for a simple ad campaign and those men sending in dick pics, hoping that a beautiful woman will look at them. Both are duped in their quest for a personal connection with someone firmly outside their reach. We can easily dismiss the penis-review seekers as dirty, frustrated men. But how boring is that?

Look deeper and we can see that people seek a personal connection to the people and brands they admire. If, as a brand or company, you can help them with their insecurities or give them the impression that you have a personal connection with them, then you'll give them a tremendous amount of satisfaction, and you'll be able to charge for it accordingly.

Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten Founder, TNW

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