By Erika Icon

YNOT EUROPE – One of the hottest social networking trends online is Pinterest, which allows Joe Average User to share his favorite images and videos by “pinning” them to categorized virtual boards of his own choosing, usually with links to the source intact. But like so many good ideas in the mainstream, Pinterest isn’t porn-friendly, so it’s of limited use for saving and sharing salacious materials.

Enter Pinsex, one of a handful of Pinterest alternatives designed especially for lovers of adult entertainment. More than just a place to show off a porn collection, Pinsex offers a social-networking experience that allows fans and professionals to connect in new ways. The site could be a marketing bonanza for studios, performers and webmasters, if they approach it the right way.

Launched in August, by the end of October Pinsex had acquired more than 15,000 members. The site is attractive and easy to use, and setting up an account takes no more than a few mouse clicks. We sat down with Pinsex Marketing Manager João Matos to find out more.

YNOT.com: Prior to Pinsex, what was your background? Have you worked with many adult companies?

João Matos: Yes, I did work with other adult companies. Actually, my first job here in Spain was with Pinsex chief executive officer and my good friend Christian Thorn at Lechill Mobile, a mobile content aggregator that provides services to 50 phone operators worldwide. We worked with many adult brands such as Private and Naughty America, specializing in everything from WAP sites to mobile apps.

After that, I took some time off and came back again in January of this year as the online sales manager for a company that managed several affiliate programs. In August, Christian and Pinsex Chief Technology Officer David Hawkins made me an offer I couldn’t refuse in an exciting and super-challenging new project. And here I am.

How is Pinsex different from other sites created for pinning adult content?

We want to offer a great pinning experience where it’s easy to find, create and categorize the content you like, but we also want to build on the social network functions, so that our users can share their common likes, find and communicate with people of similar interest and be part of a community that offers something special. We look at other mainstream social networks and try to see which features we can incorporate to give a better experience to our members.

Pinsex is more of a sexual social network, and our focus is on exploring and developing those possibilities; hence, we don’t see ourselves as a pure content site. There are also many established TGPs, MGPs and tube sites. We want to work with them, but we don’t consider them our competitors.

What we are is the nexus of the adult and sexual worlds. We are the place where all those sites and their users and the adult film stars they follow can all interact. We want Pinsex to be the place where it all comes together. It’s a place for couples, singles, married and divorced people. Pinsex is a place where the industry and the community meet.

What made you create separate sections for escorts and gentlemen’s clubs?

They’re two different things. One section is devoted to the clubs and what they offer, and the other is devoted to girls promoting private services. From a client perspective, we thought of men’s various needs: Sometimes you’re looking for gentlemen’s clubs to visit with your friends, and other times you’re just looking for girls. From the clubs’ perspective, the site is a great way to promote to a targeted audience; from the girls’ perspective, it’s an easy and nice way to be seen, get promoted, show their offers, put up their images, get more traffic to their website, etc.

What are some of the most popular filters people use when searching the site?

Right now, I would say the most popular are erotic, lingerie, amateur and Asians, but since we are adding new sections and developing new features all the time, that could change rapidly.

Who are the majority of your members: performers, fans, studios, other businesses?

The majority of our members are fans, since they are the ones that make this industry big and are always curious about new concepts. I strongly believe that our site design is also responsible for this, since it’s super user-friendly. The site is easy to search; it’s easy to watch and save all the content, whether the content is user-generated or sponsored. We offer everything you might need from images to videos in all categories — escorts to clubs, books to vibrators — as well as just about anything you could find in a regular sex shop. And this is just the beginning. We’re growing strong, and every week we’ll release new features, so it gets better and better.

How fast are you growing?

We’re adding 300 new users a day.

What is the craziest thing anyone has uploaded to the site?

For me personally it was a video of a cat watching TV. I almost asked, “Where is the love?” People upload all sorts of videos and images, so it’s not easy to select the craziest, but to me it was probably the cat. This guy just completely missed the point!

The site is free. How does it make money?

I was always told “the secret is the soul of the business,” but I will reveal some of our secrets. We are very clear that we don’t want to fill our site with banners or have loads of paid services; however, we have selected some specific ad spaces that we think are visible to the users but don’t destroy the image of the site. We’ve also launched a webcam girl and porn star cam service: Cams.Pinsex.com. We’re working to launch a good platform for the affiliate program owners to promote their content, and other exciting features are on the drawing board, but we aren’t at liberty to discuss them.

What do you see in the future for sites like Pinsex.com?

As I said before, I believe Pinsex.com is different from other pin sites. We want to build a social network where people can share their common likes and be a part of different communities, not just pin. Pinning, for us, is a simple way for members to save and share their favorite content, but we think it’s important to add more value to our platform.

I’m convinced several pin sites will be successful, as it’s a great model for adult content. I’d like to see us in the top 100 sites worldwide and as the biggest and most complete adult social network out there. With hard work and the great ideas coming from the Pinsex team, this is entirely possible.

Will you be introducing any new technology or platforms in the near future?

Always. We currently run one of the most technologically advanced sex sites in the market, and we’re constantly looking to improve. One thing our members can look forward to is that there always will be something new to check out.

Eventually, we want to exceed what’s being offered by any other social media site, adult or otherwise. Users can look forward to chat and webcams on the one hand, but also Smart TV channels and near-field interactive sex applications on the other. We plan for the future, and we also help build that future.

Recently we’ve also launched a blog, and we’re open to writers who’d like to start blogging with us.

How can people find you, if they want to reach you?
If they want to see me in person, they have to come to Barcelona and visit me or catch me on some of the fairs we attend. [chuckle] They can contact me via ICQ 633285000 or email me. We are always interested and open to new collaborations.