I dunno im thinking out loud now lol and at the end of the day i know its my own decision, but im guessing many of you work independantly for similar reasons? Redsxx
Yeah, you're right there.
I've worked for an agency and now I'm fully indie, though I did both for a while. In the end agencies are more of a pain than they're worth - taking some of the money that you've earned since they 'found' your clients for you, when a profile on AW will find you more clients than you even need for free! I know their commission is technically for them vetting clients and checking security etc but you really can't rely on them for that. Often more than one person works an agency's phones so even if the agency owner tells you all the right things at your interview, the people they employ may not have even met you or have any reason to be overly concerned with your security. I think at my agency, out of the 30% commission, maybe about 10% went to the phone bookers (a different one each day of the week) so they were desperate for clients and hated girls who argued or were fussy or not available 24/7 with 5 mins notice. Also, your commission pays for their advertising but 30% of your entire monthly earnings? That's a lot of money and you can get a few paid ads (plus dozens of free ads) for around ?100 per month.
Hmm. I'm a bit biased maybe.
But that's only my experience and doubtless other people will have had differing ones. I think everyone would agree though to stay away from agencies that can't even sound professional over the phone! I really think that's a terrible indicator of their general attitude - eg any client is fine, all girls should see anyone and offer all services, girls mustn't complain about smelly/rude/abusive clients, agency will do anything to get more clients (like lower your rate without even asking you about it to persuade a client to book you), plus lying to clients over the phone about your appearance so when they meet you, they aren't happy. And then hounding you for your commission 24/7 and if the owner is male, he'll probably want to f*ck you, too. Nightmare!
I think one or two or all or a mixture of the above reasons are why so many sex workers prefer to work independently. With the Modern Internetz, it's pretty easy, too. Have you checkout out the security buddy section of this forum? If you can find someone in your area with experience in escorting you should be able to get more specific and useful advice about exactly what steps to take next. Plus, very importantly, someone on the other end of the phone who can be there when you're nervous, or meeting a client for the first time, or puzzling over some silly timewaster's email!
Also, this forum happens to be the perfect place for newbie questions, too.