Tales from the front lines

[BiBunny]

I am the little one of whom Daddy speaks. Any tips or ideas would be welcomed!

Honestly? Do you want to do it for fun or to make money?

Because if the answer is anything other than "make money," you should probably just go play on ************ or call into one of those free chat lines or whatever. I'm not saying that to be dismissive, either. It's just that there's business on one hand, and there's pleasure on the other, and knowing which one you're doing it for is going to help you get the most rewarding experience out of it.

 

[FantasyGir1]

Honestly? Do you want to do it for fun or to make money?

Because if the answer is anything other than "make money," you should probably just go play on ************ or call into one of those free chat lines or whatever. I'm not saying that to be dismissive, either. It's just that there's business on one hand, and there's pleasure on the other, and knowing which one you're doing it for is going to help you get the most rewarding experience out of it.

I have my Love for pleasure. This would definitely be for the money. But you bring up a very good point for those who contemplate doing it because they think it'd be fun.

 

[midwestyankee]

I have my Love for pleasure. This would definitely be for the money. But you bring up a very good point for those who contemplate doing it because they think it'd be fun.

Let's not ignore the possibility that you could actually enjoy doing web cam work and also make some money from it. In fact, given how hard it is for any solo entrepreneur or writer to develop a following, you'd darn well better enjoy the work. Suffering through work you dislike only for the pleasure of the rewards you anticipate is a shortcut to misery.

 

[BiBunny]

Let's not ignore the possibility that you could actually enjoy doing web cam work and also make some money from it. In fact, given how hard it is for any solo entrepreneur or writer to develop a following, you'd darn well better enjoy the work. Suffering through work you dislike only for the pleasure of the rewards you anticipate is a shortcut to misery.

Well, there's "enjoying" it in the way non-sex workers "enjoy" their jobs.

And then there are people who want to get into it because they think it's titillating or think that it's hot to get naked for strangers or whatever. Those people rarely last long, and they end up really disillusioned.

I'm not saying it's impossible. But there's a reason that every time a "middle-aged housewife who only does vanilla or submissive PSO calls that get her off" shows up on PSO boards, everybody rolls their eyes and thinks to themselves "This girl ain't gonna last long." And they almost never do.

Also, on a tangentially-related note, if you're trying to hook up with me or date me or whatever, asking me if I get turned on by my job is pretty much a one-way ticket to me never speaking to you again. Ew.

 

[midwestyankee]

Well, there's "enjoying" it in the way non-sex workers "enjoy" their jobs.

And then there are people who want to get into it because they think it's titillating or think that it's hot to get naked for strangers or whatever. Those people rarely last long, and they end up really disillusioned.

I'm not saying it's impossible. But there's a reason that every time a "middle-aged housewife who only does vanilla or submissive PSO calls that get her off" shows up on PSO boards, everybody rolls their eyes and thinks to themselves "This girl ain't gonna last long." And they almost never do.

Also, on a tangentially-related note, if you're trying to hook up with me or date me or whatever, asking me if I get turned on by my job is pretty much a one-way ticket to me never speaking to you again. Ew.

Yes, and by "enjoy the work" I mean that one has to enjoy doing the tasks that make an enterprise successful, and in PSO or web cam work, I would imagine that that means doing a lot of behind-the-scenes SEO work, site building and maintenance, and so on. Those are the kinds of tasks that I think one would have to enjoy in order for a web cam operation to be successful. Am I making sense here, or just blowing smoke up my own ass?

 

[BiBunny]

Yes, and by "enjoy the work" I mean that one has to enjoy doing the tasks that make an enterprise successful, and in PSO or web cam work, I would imagine that that means doing a lot of behind-the-scenes SEO work, site building and maintenance, and so on. Those are the kinds of tasks that I think one would have to enjoy in order for a web cam operation to be successful. Am I making sense here, or just blowing smoke up my own ass?

No, you're right about that part. If you don't enjoy that--or can't pay someone to do it for you--you're either really going to hate it, or you're going to have to work at a place that does all the advertising themselves and pays you next to nothing.

I enjoy SEO and advertising and such. I'm less enthused about actually talking to them, most of the time.

 

[Netzach]

When I don't want to talk to them it's several things happening, one or more of the following:

My hourly isn't high enough.

My hourly is too high and I'm getting brief idiots who want the titillation and to hang up fast.

I'm working too close to my actual self, getting too much GFE neediness.

I'm working too far from my actual self and I don't like the topics I'm getting.

My marketing is drawing dumb and dumber. (too cheap, too generic)

My marketing is drawing high-maintenance. (too serious and too fantastical)

I'm not feeling it. Best suggestion I ever read - take out 100 bucks in singles or write one dollar on 100 slips of paper, or use 100 dried beans, each signifying a dollar and put them in a pile moving one every time your rate for a dollar elapses. Suddenly you're completely in touch with WHY you are doing what you are doing, and you'll do it better.

I really fixed a LOT of these problems by doing two things - adding humor to my marketing materials - instantly the deadly serious douchebaggery factor went down by a million. Everyone says "don't add funny to sexy" and everyone is pretty much wrong. Bonus: the guys who like your sense of humor will probably be a lot less annoying to talk to. I actually like about 80 percent to 90 percent of what I get since I lightened up. Put your rate where your funny is - educated tart sarcasm is NOT basement level. 2 something p/m is good if you want to keep things focused and you don't ever ever ever like to be de-facto therapist, it discourages a lot of that. Me? I'm all ears so fake me, I'm 1.50.

Two - getting further from "real me" - if I'm having a shit day, she never does. If I'm not getting laid, she always is, and it's always good. If I'm stressed about money she just got a huge windfall. I make sure I like "her" I root for "her" and I want "her" to win. Her photos make me happy, her engineered personality is really nice, and I even pretend she wants me to win too.

I try to make a content girl into a person I want to escape to be - it works really well when it plays like second life for BOTH parties.

 

[BiBunny]

Ugh. I read this while I was half-asleep and promised myself I'd come back and reply...and promptly forgot. I'm SO sorry. My memory is complete and utter shit these days.

When I don't want to talk to them it's several things happening, one or more of the following:

My hourly isn't high enough.

My hourly is too high and I'm getting brief idiots who want the titillation and to hang up fast.

I'm working too close to my actual self, getting too much GFE neediness.

I'm working too far from my actual self and I don't like the topics I'm getting.

My marketing is drawing dumb and dumber. (too cheap, too generic)

My marketing is drawing high-maintenance. (too serious and too fantastical)

I think it's a combination of a number of these...and the fact that I have never, never, never done well on [insert most popular PSO platform here]. I hate it; hate the bidding/profile sorting bullshit; hate the fact that no matter what kind of prices I set, it still ends up being a massive clusterfuck; hate having to censor myself because I can never remember what you're "allowed" to talk about (and am too paranoid not to at least attempt to follow the rules); hate the constant connection problems; and, most of all, hate the kinds of dudes I pull from there.

I've started on a new platform (well, new to me) and am having much better luck there. It's slower, but I can tolerate the dudes I'm talking to considerably more. I let all the shit-ton of websites I once had go, so I'm trying to build up from scratch again, and it's a pain in the ass. I do have one new site, though, so there's that, at least.

I'm not feeling it. Best suggestion I ever read - take out 100 bucks in singles or write one dollar on 100 slips of paper, or use 100 dried beans, each signifying a dollar and put them in a pile moving one every time your rate for a dollar elapses. Suddenly you're completely in touch with WHY you are doing what you are doing, and you'll do it better.

Totally breaking out the Monopoly money for this shit.

I really fixed a LOT of these problems by doing two things - adding humor to my marketing materials - instantly the deadly serious douchebaggery factor went down by a million. Everyone says "don't add funny to sexy" and everyone is pretty much wrong. Bonus: the guys who like your sense of humor will probably be a lot less annoying to talk to. I actually like about 80 percent to 90 percent of what I get since I lightened up. Put your rate where your funny is - educated tart sarcasm is NOT basement level. 2 something p/m is good if you want to keep things focused and you don't ever ever ever like to be de-facto therapist, it discourages a lot of that. Me? I'm all ears so fake me, I'm 1.50.

This is almost exactly what I'm doing right now. And you're right, it seems to help the quality of callers considerably.

Two - getting further from "real me" - if I'm having a shit day, she never does. If I'm not getting laid, she always is, and it's always good. If I'm stressed about money she just got a huge windfall. I make sure I like "her" I root for "her" and I want "her" to win. Her photos make me happy, her engineered personality is really nice, and I even pretend she wants me to win too.

I try to make a content girl into a person I want to escape to be - it works really well when it plays like second life for BOTH parties.

Ooh...I never thought about it like that before.

That may very well be my problem for a lot of things. I've been doing shit I think will sell--including with my own content--instead of shit I don't mind talking about/portraying...with the exception of my new content girl (you know, the one I actually don't mind playing).

Ok, yeah, I'm a dumbass. Totally going back to personalities that don't make me want to shank them. Thank you for that.

Actually, thank you for all of it. And again, I'm sorry I didn't respond to this for several days. I'd forget my own name if I didn't have a driver's license to look at some days.