Sex Sells ... or Offends, too!

I recently was (once more) surprised and a little shocked when a woman connected to me who sells swimsuits posted two different pictures from her "line" that looked like they belonged in Playboy. One was a shot of her behind in a G-string suit and another was of her rather large bust in the same suit. First, I am not a guy, and I am not gay. Second, it's one thing to suggest sex sells ... but borderline pornography is a whole other thing altogether. You have to walk a fine line when you're peddling sexual-related items. I don't happen to think a swimsuit line needs to look like a Victoria Secret catalog. I will buy a swimsuit based on the suit. And I certainly don't want someone to post on my Facebook wall, which is highly personal since it's MY wall, some T&A shots of the suit. It's not necessary ... I'm a woman. Maybe in a Sports Illustrated world where your audience is mostly men that tactic might work, but in a social media world where you're selling to men AND women, not a good strategy.

We have two erotic novels in our arsenal of books -- California Girl Chronicles and Vengeance is Now. We don't push the erotic nature of the books in a tacky fashion. We discuss erotica and its recent surge in interest with audiences, but we don't get down and dirty with the details. Now mind you, it's about paying attention to your audience. We're not going to talk smut with a PG-rated show that does discuss adult content, but, say, we're talking to Playboy then we might get a little more specific about that content. So the moral to the story: pay attention to your audience! If you want to sell using social media where you cannot necessarily tell much about the demographic, don't EVER post a T&A shot of anything including a swimsuit. You won't sell a thing! Offend someone? Yep, without a doubt. And that is counterproductive.