Unfortunately, many young people get into porn because they think it is quick and easy money. Scouts, agents, and studios sometimes use this myth in order to attract new talent, as a matter of fact. Well there are certain truths to the stereotype; however, for the most part after your first scene or set of shoots, the quick and easy part ends forever.
Like any job, and like any industry, porn is work. Performers need to learn and hone their skills, whether it is fucking or giving blowjobs, or simply getting the right amount of facial expression and vocalization. If you do not treat the job as a job, you will soon find yourself without one, and unless you were only doing it for a one time experience, you need to make certain things happen in order to be successful. Here are some tips to what you need to put into the job of being a pornstar in order to maximize your revenue.
Treat Every Scene as if It Were Your Last
In terms of your fans’ minds, you are only as good as your last scene, and if you show up on set hungover, tired, bruised or blemished beyond repair, you might either have your shoot cancelled, your fans may leave you in droves, or you might simply not get called back to work again. Treat every gig, every studio, and every performance as if it were the most important performance of your life.
Be Polite
The industry can be a lot smaller than people think, and when you throw a hissy fit on set or do something otherwise unprofessional, word spreads fast. Models who see you in not so good of a light move from studio to studio, and producers, directors, and crew often talk to people from other companies about the models they have worked with. So treat the environment on set as you would any job – and refrain from gossip. Shut your mouth if you don’t have anything nice to say – about another model, a director, or whatever. Anything you do or say that in impolite or discourteous could come back to bite you.
Promote Yourself
Studios spend a lot of time and energy promoting their product and their models, but especially in this day and age with budgets strained, if you promote yourself you will most likely be the first to get called for a shoot. Talent that comes with its own talent based is more highly prized than you might think. Producers even work with models they can’t stand just because they have more Facebook likes than anyone else.
Get your own porn Twitter account, Facebook page, Tumblr blog, or whatever else you can do, and relentlessly promote yourself, get your fans excited, and make sure that you are getting talked about, chatted about, and tweeted about. It’s not as difficult as you might think, and you might be surprised at how potential studios react to you after you have only a few thousand Facebook friends. (You can also make some money on the side by creating affiliate accounts to promote studios you have worked for – why only get paid once for that scene you shot? You can continue to make money as a web affiliate via your social media networks.)
Stay in Contact
After your shoot is over, don’t fall off of the face of the earth. Without being extremely annoying, keep in contact with the people you have worked for and worked with. Sometimes schedulers, directors, and producers are so busy it is easy to forget about someone when making last minute scheduling decisions. An occasional text just to say “hi,” a tweet, or a FB message (once every week or two) might be just the trick to getting called back sooner and more often. Keep in contact with performers you have worked with as well. They might drop your name to the right people at their next shoot.
Create a Brand out of Yourself
Don’t be lazy, and don’t shoot a scene just to buy enough weed to get you to your next scene. If you are reading this and I am describing you, then trust me, you are in a sorry state and will regret not having taken advantage of all the options to make money that are available. In addition to porn, you can webcam, escort, go-go dance, or even start your own small amateur studio. It doesn’t take much, and with the extra money you make from your social media affiliate accounts, you can easily invest in a good enough camera to start your own work.
Surround Yourself with Responsible People
It’s OK to party and enjoy yourself after you have made a cool couple of grand, but act as if that is the last amount you will make for a while, and focus on creating your own revenue streams. This might not be possible if you have stoner roommates, irresponsible friends, or unreliable co-workers. Surround yourself with other people like you – who get up every weekday morning and work. Even if you don’t have a shoot for several days, you can busy yourself by promoting your latest scene on Twitter, or filming some VOD shows to sell to your fans, or making even more money webcamming. At a bare minimum, go to the gym 5 times a week at least. Chances are it is your body that keeps the producers calling back, or not calling at all, depending.