From Home (Internet and Newspaper Ads) Email-Only Bookings No Website In a Women's Collective Phone Bookings Working in a Parlour Working From Home Working in & Running a Parlour
As with any other type of self-employment, it is up to you how you run your business. There are lots of different escorts out there using different methods to bring in business and working different hours to suit their own lifestyle. Some are mothers of school age children who work from 10am-2pm in term times, some have full time jobs and work in the evenings and weekends, some do it full-time 7 days a week and so on.
With escorting, it is relatively easy to work hours to suit due to the nature of the demand for services. However, while you are establishing yourself it may well pay to be as flexible as you can. If you are good and build a solid reputation, then in time you will probably be able to dictate working patterns more easily.
There are different ways of taking bookings too. Some girls advertise their phone number on their websites and some don't. The ones that do quite often do not answer withheld numbers for various reasons (more on this in the testimonials below). Others only take email bookings which can mean they reply when it is convenient for them to do so, rather than being at the beck and call of their phone. Some, however, like to get a feel for the client over the phone so they won't take a booking unless they have spoken to the client. It's all down to individual circumstance and choice – that's the great thing about being an independent.
You don't even have to have a website or photos on the web to be a successful internet escort. There are so many different variations on the way girls do business and it is hoped that some of the options below will give you some food for thought about your own set-up.
Working from home via Internet and newspaper ads
Louise
"I worked for a year from just newspaper ads only, nearly all my bookings that I took via the paper were half hour bookings which were really good fun and it kept me very busy, I went in the paper every week without fail and only didn't go in when I was on holiday.
I also got some reviews on a well known punting website and then started to get longer bookings as well (I must admit I was scared of taking longer bookings as half hour booking were all I knew). After a year of working from the papers only I decided to get a website and venture onto the www, I got myself a webmaster and asked him to add my reviews onto my website, joined some directories and it all took off again so now I have a mix of newspaper bookings (majority half hour) and longer bookings from my website.
My days are varied as internet bookings tend to book in advance and I get my same day half hour bookings, it keeps me busy my days are taken up with both half and hour+ bookings but I apply the no withheld numbers or text rule seriously as you can get a lot of timewasters but you can also get some fantastic regular clients as well. If you do decide to advertise in the paper, be prepared for a lot of questions, questions; like what do you look like? etc as they cant see you. I choose not to show my website address on my paper advert as I live in a fairly small town.
I think I have the best of both worlds and very varied days."
Email-only bookings
Melanie
"I've been an escort for nearly 4 years now and in that time I've learned quite a bit about the business. It was my decision to become an escort. It was never based only on the financial side of things either. The whole idea of being paid for sex was a turn on for me. Fortunately, I have an understanding partner who gave me his blessing.
I spent the first part of my career as an 'Agency Escort' the internet wasn't really an option back then but I'm glad I cut my teeth with them. I wasn't sure if I was cut out to be an escort (it's one thing enjoying sex but another to have sex with someone you don't even fancy for money) so with no outlay, someone advertising me, giving advice and me not wanting to advertise a telephone number I looked up the agencies in my Yellow Pages. I met a few of the people running the agencies before I decided whom I would go with. You can tell a lot about an agency on a first meeting. The phrase 'the good, the bad and the ugly' springs to mind!
The downside to an agency is you have to pay a fee every time you take a booking but it can stand you in good stead, because once you become an independent escort you just put what your agency fee would have been, to one side and this will pay your tax.
Once I left the agency I decided to become an independent. I had a site linked to another site (this meant I had to go through another party in order to make amendments to my site. It usually took weeks to get anything changed). Thankfully, there are a lot more reliable webmasters out there now. The site went down several months after. The owner was abroad and it was very difficult to contact him. After 3 months without a site I didn't want to wait any longer and didn't want to publish a number in the newspaper. I then decided I had to set up my own site. I did this in August 2003 and I've never looked back.
I'm still an email only escort. I feel this allows me to get to know the client before I ever meet them. The fact they are taking time out to write to you, as opposed to dialling a number tends to weed out the timewasters. It's much easier for me to type a sarcastic email than going red faced and telling someone to 'piss off' whilst standing at the checkout in Sainsbury's.
All in all I'd say I've been very happy as an escort."
No website
Celine
"I don't have a website and I've never advertised either. When I first started as an indie I was just about to register an advert on Punternet.com, then I saw the message board! I had a good read of the threads (it was a bit better in those days) and made a few posts myself. After about a week I received an email from a guy who'd noticed my posts on the board and wanted to know more about me and enquire about a booking. I received a similar email from another guy. I booked a hotel room and saw them both in the same day. The first guy posted a good field report of our meeting. As soon as that FR hit the board, the 'phone started to ring!
It was a bit jammy really, perhaps 'right time, right place' and all that. Anyway, one good FR lead to another and I've never needed to advertise since. To be fair, I only work part-time, as I have a full-time job and so it may not generate the volume of enquiries required if you were a full-time escort. However, it keeps me ticking over nicely. Some of the guys do tend to gossip amongst themselves about whom they've seen and what they thought of the lady and it's these personal recommendations which are enormously powerful as a marketing tool!
I also think networking with other ladies is incredibly important. I don't mean arse-licking or hitching a free ride either! If you're on friendly terms with other ladies you can benefit from their experiences and they might even recommend you to others. Don't abuse this though – help each other out and you will both reap the rewards of your shared experiences and contacts. It's just enough to maintain a general presence on the scene so people don't forget who you are. I'm bisexual and like duoing with other girls and I also enjoy the party scene, which has helped enormously with increasing my exposure to many guys in one go, most of whom I probably wouldn't have met otherwise. I have some pictures of myself on my friends' websites to promote our duo's, but that's also helpful to link to when guys ask me what I look like. Your friend's site is therefore promoted too.
Because I've registered on both Puntingzone and Punternet, my email and work mobile number are displayed there. I don't answer withheld numbers and the enquiries are roughly equally split between the two. Your emails and telephone manner can also sell yourself. If you're friendly and chatty, the guys get a better idea of what your personality is like. I'm a bit of a nutter so I tend to go for a bit of humour and banter. This seems to select the type of guy I know I'd get on well with! Don't let them take the piss though ;o) and limit your chat accordingly."
Working in a Women's Collective
A collective is one where a group of WG's work independently in conjunction with other WG's. In a collective, all members pay a share of the rent and contribute to the outgoing costs i.e. advertising, supplies etc.
The Pros:
Your working hours can be flexible.
You have the security of working with other women.
You are not accountable to a ‘manager'.
You are free to market yourself as an independent.
You have ultimate control over your working practice and what you wish to charge.
The money is very good.
The Cons:
It is sometimes hard to find a group of WG's who know each other well enough to gel in a collective.
Ultimately one person has to agree to hold the lease. This could lead to a power imbalance.
The women who holds the lease would will be the one on the line should the police become interested.
Chasing ‘subs' can be a problem if you choose the wrong working partners.
Phone bookings and withheld numbers
Brandy
When starting out, you will have no idea at the beginning of your career just how many people there are out there willing to waste your time on the phone. All for the sake of titillation. Which, to some extent is understandable but it doesn't make you money, just wastes your time.
“Timewasters” are those who normally call from withheld numbers. They ask about your services (sometimes go into explicit details) but they have no intention of booking you. These are normally men, but it has been known for women to do the same thing. I can only assume that it's for the same reason as their male counter-parts. Sexual titillation.
I learnt this lesson very early on in my career. Before I found the Internet I used to advertise at the back of the local newspapers. I was inundated with calls, most of them from a withheld no. As green as I was I answered every phone call. Out of the three months I advertised out of local newspapers, I received only a handful of bookings from serious customers. When I found the Internet things got a little better but not much. I didn't yet have a website so I would just advertise in escort directories with a few pictures. But you still had your share of timewasters who would get off on those pictures and wanted to add a voice to their fantasies.
Granted you will have genuine callers who call from their place of work or business that automatically withholds their number. But if a caller is serious about making an appointment, he will leave a message on your voicemail stating the reason why the number is withheld and that he will call back from a non-withheld number. This does happen. You will also get clients that you have made a prior arrangement with to meet at a hotel, which he calls you from, but which also comes up withheld. But the same applies; if it is a genuine customer he will leave a message on your voicemail letting you know who it is and probably asking you to call back.
But the longer you're in this business, the quicker you get to learn that a huge proportion of people calling from a withheld no. have no intention of booking you. Whilst I have no problems taking phone bookings I myself refuse to answer a call from a withheld number, but some escorts still choose to do so. Some will answer enquiries regarding their services, but will tell potential clients that they need to call from a non-withheld number to make a firm booking, otherwise it will not be honoured by the escort. Which is fair enough. But in my two years experience as an escort, I, not once had one booking that was made from a withheld no when I used to answer them. A lot of escorts, in order to combat the timewaster and his antics, will not even advertise a phone number on their website. They insist initial contact be done through email, and a phone number only given out just before the appointment is due to take place just to reconfirm appt details. More and more ladies are turning to this method of initial communication because of these timewasters. Which may seem a little harsh but it's with good reason. And they find it works for them.
Right now though there seems to be another type of timewaster via the telephone. Lately there seems to be a sudden increase in guys phoning from a telephone box to make a booking. You can tell this because of the normal day-to-day noises you can hear going on in the background. I get the impression that gentlemen are realising that more and more escorts aren't answering withheld numbers, and so are trying to find another way around it. I personally would strongly suggest not accepting bookings from guys calling from phone boxes. Someone who isn't willing to use their own mobile or landline phone to make a booking should be avoided. With the advent of cheap mobile phones (or even sim-cards if it's a matter of discretion) there is little excuse nowadays not to have a proper contactable phone no. At the very least it would be difficult to cancel a booking at short notice if the client is unreachable.
To reiterate, different ladies work different ways. Ladies (such as myself) will take phone calls from genuine enquiries from non-withheld numbers. For me you get a 'feel' of a customer before you meet. So it's always nice to chat on the phone. You learn as you go along to keep the conversation short and sweet, yet firm and polite. You will have ladies who will take enquiries from a withheld no., but insist on a landline or mobile number to make a booking. Lastly you will have ladies who insist on initial contact via email only. Ultimately it all depends on what each individual escort is comfortable with. The choice is yours to make in the end.
Working in a Parlour
Massage Parlours are places where there are often many girls working. The building may be kitted out with massage tables instead of beds in order to appease the local council, although this is not so common any more. Massage parlours are also sometimes called saunas and this is especially the case in Scotland. As a rule the police will leave a massage parlour alone and will only (usually) perform a raid where it is suspected that other unlawful activities are taking place i.e. drug dealing. I worked in Oxford, Swindon, Reading, Chippenham, Cardiff and once in Ilford. The money that can be earned in a day depends on the parlour and the area of the country.
The benefits of parlours are:
- You can talk to and gain advice and support from other girls
- It's safer than lone working as there are always people to help should there be trouble
- You don't have to worry about advertising and marketing yourself
- You don't have to worry about building up a client base or regulars
- You don't have to travel to bookings
- You can move easily from parlour to parlour and find work anywhere
- You don't have to answer the phone and mess about with time-wasting calls
- You can work hours to suit
- You don't have to worry about finding a place to rent or worry about complaints from the neighbours etc etc
- You can make money very quickly
- And… most importantly (for me anyway) you can keep your private life and your work life entirely separate. You only have to set aside one or two days a week for work. The rest of the time prostitution does not intrude on your day-to-day existence.
The downfalls of parlours are:
- Many parlours take 1/2 of your earnings, at the very least they take one third
- You have no employment protection and you can be fired at will
- It can be a very tiring way to work as often you may have sex with over 10 men a day
- Many parlours are run by very unsavoury characters who may hang around
- Prices are often fixed and you can be fired for 'overcharging'. You may feel that £120 is not enough for an hours hard-core domination — tough!
- You may be expected to take part in a line-up for customers in which you are compared to other women. Many women find this upsetting.
- Few parlours are non-smoking
- You may find that shifts have been overbooked and there are more girls working than you expected
- Some parlours do not have a private girls living room and you may be expected to interact with clients who have had a service and wish to sit around and chat. Personally I find it very difficult to be 'on' all the time and find these sorts of places very tiring. You may feel differently.
On top of this there are a number of very very bad parlours in the country. I would seriously advise any girls against working in these sorts of places:
- Parlours where they take half your money AND expect you to tip the maid AND expect you to pay towards advertising
- Parlours where there is a maid employed but you are expected to answer the phone and do the cleaning and laundry (and no doubt tip her at the end of the shift to add insult to injury!!)
- Parlours where they expect you to pay a bond of hundreds of pounds that is (apparently) given back to you if you prove yourself reliable. Don't fall for it!
- Parlours where interviews take place where a parlour owner has sex with the girl
- Parlours where drugs are used/sold on the premises
- Parlours where you are forced to have sex with people you'd rather not
- Parlours where you are pressurised into having sex with people you'd rather not
- Parlours where you are pressurised into providing services that you are unhappy about i.e. OWO, A-levels
- Parlours where you are not allowed a break
- Parlours where they ask for ID (NEVER give your personal details out)
- Places where you are expected to give your own tips to the house
- Parlours where you are pressurised to show your face on the internet
- Parlours where there are no fire escapes
- Parlours which do not take into account your own personal safety i.e. drunk and aggressive men are let into the building
- Parlours which are unclean or structurally unsafe