I've been in this business on-and-off since 2009 and I can honestly say, I've never known business to be this slow. I'm in North Manchester and I'm currently lucky to get one client a week, if that. This has been going on for a while now. It's so bad, that I'm starting a full-time job soon because not knowing if I can pay the bills or eat is too stressful.
The reality for me is that Manchester has always been a bit on-and-off and I've worked in the City Centre and South Manchester too. I've generally relied on touring to help with the quiet times, but this is something else all together. I have excellent reviews and I can't find anything negative about me on any forums either.
I rely on AW for work now however, I've had my own website in the past (which was successful), but I decided to ditch it due to the amount of crazy men who would get in touch and I stopped feeling comfortable meeting people without any feedback after a few bad experiences.
I can't help thinking that there a now far too many of us in this industry (even Clients say this to me) and as I don't charge super-low rates, I just can't compete. I also think AW doesn't advertise enough or put any effort into ranking higher in Google.
Clients complain that girls who are cheap offer a bad service, but they still continue to visit these ladies (and then moan about them on those hideous forums). Clients seem to expect the world for next to nothing prices and it's really depressing. I'm also not having a go at any other lovely ladies out there. We all do what we do and it's a very difficult job, regardless of whatever our rates are.
I'm not being negative, I just wanted to say how I feel and what my thoughts are, as I really don't have anyone else who I can talk to about this. None of my friends or family know what I do for a living. I've been living a lie for a very long time now!