60 Days of Online Sex Work
My second month of sex work was, for better or worse, much more adventurous than the first. I had some really great, consecutive high-earning days. I also had a couple of weeks where I was barely getting any traffic at all. But all things considered, I'd say I'm heading in the right direction and learning more about how to make this side gig work for me.
Within the first two weeks of August, I cleared $1,000. I was overjoyed because it took me the entire month of July to make that amount. Some of this, I think, is due to exposure. I've been available on the site for longer now, my username and listing photos are more recognizable, I have some more reviews and ratings now, and I'm slowly building up a roster of regular callers. Some of this is also pure luck, for which I am grateful. Dear universe: give me all the luck you have to offer, I'll take it all.
In an effort to be somewhat helpful to my fellow online sex workers (my fellow newbies anyway!), though, I will do my best to summarize the things that appeared to work in my favor, and the things that definitely need more fine-tuning.
Raising my rates was the best move ever. This wasn't a conscious business decision. I had a truly atrocious call that drained me and required me to sign off for several hours to regain my bearings. That was infuriating to me: the painful $20 I made off of that one call actually cost me hours in potential earnings. I learned some lessons that week: firm boundaries are a must, sometimes the money simply isn't worth it, don't be afraid of a bad review, and don't allow customers to have that kind of power over you. I raised my rates because in that moment, I felt that I wanted and deserved more for my time. And when I woke up the next day, it still felt true, so I kept my higher rates. Most of my regulars have stayed on, and I'm still getting new callers. It's been a great experience for me in learning to value myself more, and and I'm glad I did it.
Getting ahead on content is a lifesaver for my low- to no-motivation days. Sometimes my body image is shit, and I can't bring myself to get in front of the camera. Sometimes the idea of recording an audio just feels like way too much work. So when I do get a burst of inspiration and I have all the ideas and I want to do all the things, I try to make the most of it. I started writing blog posts in advance, creating photosets and audio clips for the following week, and so on. Building up a content library is obviously not a new or novel idea by any means, but it goes a long way on those hard weeks when you might otherwise feel like you're dragging "behind." Getting ahead of those slumps can make them feel a little less painful.
Experimentation is fun! And potentially lucrative. I went into this thinking I'd market myself as a submissive, girl-next-door type person—which, for the most part, fits with who I am. I figured as a new sex worker, why not choose something I'm most comfortable with, something that requires little to no acting on my part? I've been moderately successful with this persona. But I do get calls and messages from people who are looking for something else! Sometimes I end up talking to men who want to be emasculated or humiliated. Sometimes I end up talking to submissive customers who literally just want to share stories with me, a fellow submissive, in a nonsexual way. I'm learning that versatility goes a long way in this industry, so I'm trying not to box myself into any one category, and I'm trying to develop more skills in other niches along the way.
Relying on call volume is not enough. I love phone sex because I get paid by the minute. It just makes sense: I'm on the phone for X minutes/hours today, and I made a certain amount today because of that. But sometimes all my regulars are busy that week. Or maybe it's summer and everyone is out on vacation. Whatever the case, if sex work is going to be a sustainable source of income, I need to: a) have a decent amount of savings to help me get past the slow seasonal traffic, and b) diversify my income streams, such as by making more content for passive income and establishing a presence on multiple platforms. I'm still working on all of these things. Content creation is not my forte—there's a reason I chose phone sex over fansites, even though fansites are all the rage these days. I just can't stand the idea of producing a boatload amount of content, to post everyday, much less multiple times a day, in order to justify the subscription price for customers. It's a lot of pressure and honestly takes the fun out of it for me. So I'm looking into clip sites and other options... but that is still very much a work in progress.
I net over $2,000 in earnings in August, which is double the amount that I made in July. I'm very pleased with myself, especially since so much of the month was slow traffic for me. I had many, many bad days on there. But I'm optimistic that things will get better with time, and I'm excited to become even better at this work.
