ImLive, also called iamlive sometimes, is very similar to ifriends, like that site they have chat on all kinds of topics, with one corner of the site for "adult" stuff. Guess which part has the most traffic! Imlive continues to grow and is now -- by some measures -- as large as ifriends though.
imlive has regular girls, not just pro-models, the way you know that is when there is a simple way for girls to sign-up with their webcams, then you know it is a place for the real amateur exhibitionists.
imLive has 'Happy Hour' which gives the chat hosts a flat rate payment, and low costs for viewers ($1.48/minute in Mar 04).
They also provides CamtoCam. If you have a webcam you can simply turn it on and the chathost can see you. ifriends has the same feature but you have to be a VIP member.
If you have a favourite girl then you may as well join her fan club. This will give you more discount and free imliv Happy Hour Credit. Fan clubs cost $16 for a month or $30 for two months, and the girl gets 40% of that.
If you are tired of seeing the same chathosts in the same site then checked out their new chathosts list, and the new ones are required to only charge for $0.98 a minute.
There are prerecorded videos too if you want to watch a girl who is not online, but that rather defeats the object of live chat doesn't it? Still it can be worth it to take a peek at a girl who isn't around but who really appeals.
They have support for the sinulator -- the remote control sex toy. Of course not a lot of girls have got the actual hardware but those that do can be found under:
Members - Sexual Stress-Relief Hosts - Live VideoChat Hosts - Hosts with Sinulators. As you browse through them you'll also see an Icon:Host uses Sinulator
When I looked there 16 girls in that section, not a lot but more than I expected. I've also been told that the payout you get is lower -- in theory to pay the Sinulator fees, but if you calculate it then imlive are making some bigger profits here.
From time to time, imlive.com runs thematic parties like Easter party or even Father's day party. Girls are required to dress in theme when they are in the chatroom. It's very different from Amsterdamlivexxx's party when there are real partying parties.
Viewers can tip hosts, but of course the hosts only get 35% of the tip.
As a host you don't get paid as much as on ifriends, the imlive payout is only 40% and how much you can charge is restricted according to your "seniority" -- which is a combination of how many hours you have worked and what ratings you get. Actually I heard that now they have dropped this to 35%, so some of the girls are not so happy and are moving on to other sites. Sinulator sessions are only 25%.
Basically if you are new, or getting bad ratings, then you can only charge a little. But as you get more senior you can charge more.
Although I can understand the reasoning it seems a little unfair to someone who is experience already (at another site) and I'm sure will put off some models who know what they are doing but don't want to work through that initial period before they can start charging regular rates.
You can increase your payout to 55% by creating your own web pages on imlive, similar to how you can create your own pages at ifriends, and on the traffic via those pages you get 55%.
The Happy Hour promotion thing is not so great from the hosts perspective. When you get pushed forward into that promotional area you only get a flat fee of about $10 for the whole hour, regardless of how many minutes you did. Of course you will have the maximum of 3 guests in your room at all times because it's a promotion -- so that's a chance to show yourself to those guys and win them over as regular fans rather than to earn much during the hour.
Only hosts who are earning at least $20 or so a day are even eligible to get into Happy Hour -- Imlive sees it as a "benefit" to the host; a special promotion for them -- and only provides it to girls who are actually doing business.
Never seen any guy hosts in this area, only girls.
They have recently started to branch out into new promotions, including some more non-adult areas for "Fun and Friends". At the same time they've also introduced their screen savers you can run (well, if you have Windows) showing either a particular category of girls online or one particular host (selected from a limited list). Worth a try if you don't mind installing more software!
Notes about the international version
5 languages are covered: Italian, French, Spanish, German and Portuguese
This will open to customers 5 Sept 2005, but meanwhile hosts are being asked to get ready.
You can NOT use English on this site, it really really is for the specific languages.
Hosts and studios have to sign up separately for this, looks like these are entirely different back ends for the international and the original English version of imlive. Hosts, to join, go to the Member's Page at ImLive.com and click the sign-up link at the head of the page. You can join one or more of the sites. Each of the international language sites is independent: Chat is separate, the login is separate, the billing and payment are in Euros, you will receive a separate check - it will be just like working with 2 different sites.
Pro for Exhibitionists
Busy site with lots of viewers
Con for Exhibitionists
Only 35% payout, and imlive get to decide on how much you can charge a minute.
Pro for Voyeurs
Real amateurs, low rates newbies. 'Happy hour' is my favorite because you can get good stuff for less. Quite often you can see award winning chathosts doing 'happy hour' chat.
Host uses Sinulator
