So, yesterday I cut ties with my webmaster and his company.

It had been coming for a while, and I think both he and I knew it. I like a little darker site, with a little darker theme (fetish), and his network is very bright and happy.

We had been talking for a few months about how we could make things work, but unfortunately he is not familiar with fetish, so keeping my site on a network that isn’t dark in nature was going to be a problem.

So we parted ways. There are two potential problems with this:

1) They apparently are going to keep the website up, and keep my domain name, regardless of whether or not I want that to continue. This means that any money that the site makes, I will not see a single cent.

2) They are refusing to give me the domain name of kellyshibari.com, which means in essence they are going to make any additional profits from me, in the off chance that I become a bigger name. This means that they will “own” me and basically any money that the site makes because of my future work, without me seeing a single cent.

It’s very unfortunate. I wish that things had gone differently. This is a pitfall of many new models entering the business – they don’t know the business of XXX well enough, and are just so happy that someone is willing to make a site with their name on it, that they are willing to sign their life away. And in my case, it’s pretty much what I have done.

A common problem that is encountered from the webmaster’s point of view is that they have invested hard money and time into a site – from the design, to the payment processor approval, to affiliate network configurations. Just letting it all go because a model wants to go in a different direction may seem like a waste of that investment. However, what is lost in that definition is that the model also has invested time and money – through her performances, through trade content agreements, and all without being paid for that work in the standard method. Instead, she too has invested time and energy, and there is value to that work. Although it may not be hard cash, the investment is made on the part of both parties. It can be difficult for either side to see that both sides made significant investments towards a project.

Investments, just as in the stock market, have no guarantee of return. However, using the argument that one side invested “more” than the other is a hard argument to prove. If the agreement between the parties is that of a profit share or split, then the burden of investment is on both parties.

A business split can be hard on all parties. Feeling are hurt, and egos are bruised. However, the hope is that over time the choice of doing what is right and fair takes precedence over the need to make a profit. It is my hope that over time, my ex-webmasters, regardless of any agreement, will decide to allow me to have my brand name back in my possession.

I’m staying professional about this. Lord knows I want to be angry. But I also know that part of this outcome was my fault. I should have hired a lawyer to look over my paperwork , and I shouldn’t have gotten glassy-eyed when I was offered the chance at a contract-girl position.

But as webmasters, who had been in the “game” for a while, it was also their responsibility to say “Stop. Have a lawyer look this over.” Had I had one take a look, I’m sure that he would have advised me to own my domain name. If that had happened, a lot of the current issues would have never been issues in the first place.

The silver lining in all of this is that I can take this experience and pass that lesson along to any new models looking into signing agreements with webmasters: OWN YOUR NAME. In all its shapes, variations, and forms. Otherwise, someone else will end up owning you.

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