Like a comment says above, it started out as a local endeavor but by 2009ish they were recruiting nationally. I believe he had friends across the country who would “scout” for the site. Kurt was discovered in a grocery store for example. They also used other models to refer friends and strangers. Jess discovered Ethan at a nude beach for example. Also clear they loved to pull from the PNW. Lots of the golden age stars are from the Seattle/Tacoma or Portland area.
To answer your other questions, the flyout was probably their biggest selling point. They’d fly guys out, put them up in 5 star hotels, treated them to very fancy dinners and filmed everything in a mansion in an affluent San Diego neighborhood. They also paid top of the market rates.
