*How long before you were supporting yourself? Survey of ALL models!

[TemporarilyWhining]

OK, for the sake of the many who use this forum for research before taking the camming plunge, I'd like to take a general financial survey of all the models here.

For my own part, I am not full-time yet. I am part-time, and due to various life factors including illness, unable to stick to consistent hours so far. But I have been successful when I am on cam. I started in 2017. So for me, it's still a side-gig.


So to the extent that you are comfortable, please share with us:

1. How long you cammed for before you consistently started earning enough to support yourself without another job/source of income
2. What year you started camming(I suspect this is far less sustainable as a full-time career in more recent years, due to increase in competition)
3. What site(s) you're on, and if you do any side gigs like photo/vid sites if that is a sizeable portion of your cam-related income
4. What general niche do you fall into? Cum show, non-nude, fetish, gf experience.... And what body type/look would you say is your draw - bbw, large breasts, young, small frame, average body, MILF/mom bod, Asian, alternative, blond, etc. etc...
5. If you feel comfortable sharing a ballpark figure of how much you made when you first hit that self-sustaining mark, please do. If not, would you say you have an "expensive" lifestyle to maintain, or a "cheap" one, so we have a general idea of what kind of income we're talking here [big difference obviously if you're living rent free at your parents', vs. supporting 8 kids in a flashy mansion]
6. Any other details you are willing to share, like how many hours you work in a typical month, how much effort you feel you're putting into the job/how hard it is, etc.

7. If you DON'T make enough to support yourself, or are NOT full-time, please share your info as well - including whether it covers just incidentals, or a big portion of your income, and if you want to be full-time or are happy just with camming as a side gig

Feel free to (#)number your answers if you feel it keeps your post more organized!

I know these things are personal, but this kind of info can really help us as a community to get a sense of what kind of financial opportunity is in the industry, if it is changing over time, and how this life is helping or not helping those who choose this route financially. Also, it will tell us if certain niches (or sites) make more money than others do currently. Please share whatever tidbits you feel comfortable with! - any little bit of info is helpful to the community, and to future models.

Of course, we all know success will vary widely. No one can use this info as a guide to their own success really, because it will come down to each model's talent, personality, and dedication to the job, plus current market factors. BUT this will still tell us a bunch about trends and overall ranges, while still keeping the info pretty general so it's not too private.

I hope you all are doing well, feeling fulfilled, and that those bills are getting paid! Much love to all!

 

[Miss_Lollipop]

1&2. started camming in 2011. I was living w family so my expenses were low but it was enough to pay my husband's tuition and housing in another state almost immediately. Within 3 months I had stopped taking a paycheck from my job at a non profit and moved in with another partner. I could have easily supported myself though.


3. I was on mfc and still am. I also get side income from 4 clip sites 1 texting site and a phone sex line as well as cammodelexpress.

4. Niche.. is I dunno. I do a lot if hardcore shows, I connect w regs on a pretty personal level and I do a lot of BDSM as well as crazy stunt type shows. Average human body..a lil overweight.. hourglass figure. White. American accent. 30 yo. I do a lot of gg vids and shows

5. Ballpark figure ... Year 1 I was making around 70k. Year 2 I broke 6 figures. I make low 6 figures a year still before tax all income sources included... But live camming makes up a smaller slice of the income pie


6. Details: first two years I went so hard. I lived ate breathed camming, my income was less diverse, I had less content, I also attracted more ppl that wanted to help me (I was in a rough spot) and I also was a good 40lbs skinnier. Now I'm more established my income is diversified and more stable, I can take more time off live camming, I am far far more balanced and I work less on cam hours. Sometimes I find inspiration and motivation harder to come by now I'm able to relax a bit more.

 

[Wolf_3_5_9]

I don't wish to side-track this survey, but if you're aim is to create a resource for new/prospective models, you should point out that the responses to this thread are probably not representative of the industry as a whole. The models who are active on this forum are likely to have found some level of success. A vast majority of new models will have quit within the first few months.

 

[AmberCutie]

1. How long you cammed for before you consistently started earning enough to support yourself without another job/source of income

I stayed at my day job for 4 months before jumping ship. I went part time hours at the day job about 2 months into that. Even while I was juggling the day job, I was putting in 80-100 hours per month camming.

2. What year you started camming(I suspect this is far less sustainable as a full-time career in more recent years, due to increase in competition)

August 2009. And that's the big catch, because back then I was a grand novelty... there were very very few models from the US or other English speaking countries camming back then. So I hit the ground running, so to speak. I gained traction very quickly, and embraced the success. If I was just starting now I don't think I'd make enough to afford a mortgage.

3. What site(s) you're on, and if you do any side gigs like photo/vid sites if that is a sizeable portion of your cam-related income

MyFreeCams is my home. I did sign up for cams.com before MFC, but their terrible model and tech support drove me to MFC. Thank goodness. I started selling photo sets for tokens on MFC in 2010, then videos in 2012. While I did open a ManyVids account early last year, it has not been a sizable portion of my income.

4. What general niche do you fall into? Cum show, non-nude, fetish, gf experience.... And what body type/look would you say is your draw - bbw, large breasts, young, small frame, average body, MILF/mom bod, Asian, alternative, blond, etc. etc...

I fill a girl next door type role. Some people call me a MILF because I'm clearly not a teenybopper, though I'm not a MOM so... rawr. I'm slim-thick and curvy with huge natural breasts so that's a big appeal. I started out only doing cum shows/penetration in private or group shows for the first few years. I've turned to mostly public shows with token countdowns more recently.

5. If you feel comfortable sharing a ballpark figure of how much you made when you first hit that self-sustaining mark, please do. If not, would you say you have an "expensive" lifestyle to maintain, or a "cheap" one, so we have a general idea of what kind of income we're talking here [big difference obviously if you're living rent free at your parents', vs. supporting 8 kids in a flashy mansion]

My first few months I averaged about $11,000/month and knew there was even greater potential if I pushed for Miss MFC Rank. That's how I knew it was worth going all-in on camming and quitting my day job. I submitted an I AMA on Reddit (I think I was the first cam girl to ever do so, there have been others since) when I had been at it for a couple years. I mentioned there that I was maintaining a 6-figure yearly income. So I was doing very well.

6. Any other details you are willing to share, like how many hours you work in a typical month, how much effort you feel you're putting into the job/how hard it is, etc.

My first 2.5 years I'd range from 70-130 hours per month and consistently ranked in the top 20 Miss MFC ranks due to that. I started dwindling down to much lower hours after that, only putting in over 80 during rank push months. I think I started to get a bit tired after the first few years from pushing so hard at first. Burnout is a thing, and while I feel I'm a natural at this job, the amount of models on the site has increased competition and thinned the member pool, thus making it a little harder to reach the same goals I could easily attain at first. So now I'm just doing what I can do to maintain a comfortable income from MFC without burning myself all the way out.

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

OMG, Miss_Lollipop and AmberCutie, THANK YOU so much for contributing and giving such great details! You ladies are the best!!!

I hope everybody will keep the replies coming - this could be really useful info!

My estimation is that earnings have dropped off significantly (generally speaking of course) for anyone who started post-2015 or -2016, when all the mainstream ads and docs about the work started, but we'll see... Of course, as we noted, those who are most successful are going to be those who are really good at what they do, and mostly who work really hard at it, but I'm also curious too to see if as competition heats up for women who fit more mainstream categories, if the niche or fetish markets are still making as much, or even more - and if perhaps, markets like BBW are actually heating up vs. in years past as stigma around body types goes down. I'm also very curious how this affects women of color, as well as those for whom English is not their primary language.

Also, does anybody who's been really successful (female) have short hair? lol

And what about male models, or couples?

6. Details: first two years I went so hard. I lived ate breathed camming, my income was less diverse, I had less content,

To clarify, would you say you were roughly at, above, or under 40 hours per week?

It sounds like AmberCutie was under 40hrs per week, but close some months - and of course as we all know, for every session that is on-cam, there is a lot of time spent behind the scenes on prep/equipment/etc. But certainly those who are looking into this as a potential career, or who are already camming but only part-time, will tend to compare cam hours to their full-time job hours and want to know how the pay is versus time put into the job. (But of course it's pretty hard to give an hourly rate, even as a ballpark figure, and a bit easier to give a general estimate of time put in per month vs. rough annual income at the start of success.)

[I think one of the things that kills me personally, is that I'm such a planner/researcher, that it currently takes me more hours behind the scenes just to produce a single hour of on-cam work. But that's because I'm newer, and I think of this time put in sort of like earning a degree before a job - if I go in and do poorly, I will lose interest and feel frustrated, so I would rather really put in some entertainment I'm proud of. I suspect in the oversaturated market we have today, that prep time might really be necessary, to stand out above the many newcomers who just half-ass it and then ultimately quit. Hopefully soon I will spend less time behind the scenes, and more just on cam raking up the dough, lol!]


Again, thank you so much for getting the ball rolling!

 

[AmberCutie]

It sounds like AmberCutie was under 40hrs per week, but close some months - and of course as we all know, for every session that is on-cam, there is a lot of time spent behind the scenes on prep/equipment/etc. But certainly those who are looking into this as a potential career, or who are already camming but only part-time, will tend to compare cam hours to their full-time job hours

Oh yes I only listed hours that MFC had me listed as broadcasting. There are many more hours each day/week/month that are hard to keep firm track of because as @Miss_Lollipop described, we eat live and breathe camming when we are going full throttle.

 

[Miss_Lollipop]

OMG, Miss_Lollipop and AmberCutie, THANK YOU so much for contributing and giving such great details! You ladies are the best!!!

I hope everybody will keep the replies coming - this could be really useful info!

To clarify, would you say you were roughly at, above, or under 40 hours per week?



Again, thank you so much for getting the ball rolling!

I was at roughly 15-20 hours a week of broadcast time. I also did skypes and lots of other Non broadcasting stuff.

Now im closer to 10-15 hours a week. There is a LOT more variation - in feb for example i had 700 minutes of broadcast time. In jan i had 4000. But i know im doing a lot less hours broadcasting weekly and putting more time into content etc


i also want to mention that models that started a while back - while yes the market is a different place than it was in 2011..2010 etc.. the models that did NOT do well back then despite trying very hard, will probably not be around to give much input as they will have eventually given up, moved on etc. Camming has such a high turn over rate

regarding short hair - mine was chin length but still in a very femme style when i started. I know when Le_lea cut her hair short (i think she shaved it all off) she said it hurt her $$$

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

Thanks again, ladies - great info!

I wonder too if for those who do like the work and have some level of knack for it, if it is even today still a matter of just sticking it out long enough to be successful, to gain a following and figure out what really sells the best for you personally, or if many will never make it despite however much natural talent they may have, simply due to competition and the way rating systems/front pages are set up on sites. I don't know that there's any way for us to measure this question, except if a bunch of people write in, including those who signed up more recently, and the trend is overall that people who kept going despite a rough start eventually had success. [I know for me personally, it has been a real challenge to be lost in the middle of 50 pages of models. I don't suck, so I don't stay at the back page and do rise from there quickly after logging on. But, I haven't been around for years to have the following of the top page models. So despite all the hashtags I may use and all that, I get lost somewhere in the middle of the pages where customers typically stop skimming through, and my room counts suffer because of it, as does some of my access to higher tippers. Consequently I give a much more entertaining show than some of the front 2 page people (I know because I check out their rooms a lot to learn from), but I make significantly less at the moment than they appear to. I'm sure I could help myself with more effort put into marketing, but I just haven't had the energy to do much with that yet.]

I also wonder if many who are not successful making a ton of money camming alone, might be able to do this full-time based primarily on non-broadcast services, if they focused more energy on content production. It seems that typically models start out with the camming, and it takes a while to have time to add quality content to sell with it. I myself have only produced 2 sets of photos, and they were non-nude at that because they were for my non-nude account, not the other one. I'm a skilled photographer so I can get good quality shots, but it takes so much time especially since I have to shoot myself, and then have to do all the editing to imprint my cam name and DMCA logos on them, that I did not bother to do more than that yet. Am thinking to add fetish sets, and eventually video. But even those two, sold well within CB where I cam, and got 100% positive ratings. But they really only sell when I'm camming, because I don't bother to do all the other marketing avenues off-cam yet, and have not put them on any other content sales sites. Every single step takes so much time to learn to do when you're newer, and I'm still trying to learn coding, and lighting techniques for video, and all that, plus of course just the most successful techniques while camming to earn the most with the least effort/emotional drain so I don't burn out. It feels like too many things to juggle and do them all well just yet, especially since I have a lot of stuff going on in my own life this year. It sucks to put in full-time level hours (a few weeks easily 60 hrs/wk of camming and behind-the-scenes effort), and then some weeks come away with significantly less than I used to make at my other full-time careers. But again, I personally haven't been doing it that long yet, nor kept consistent hours for regulars to easily follow me daily.



Anybody else able to share some info about your journey, successful or not? (you don't have to share all the details - even answering one question is helpful!)

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

Anybody else got stories of success, or semi-success, to share? Anyone camming at least part-time consistently and able to reliably pay more bills because of it?

I certainly hope so!
Please share even a morsel of your story with us! Give the new ones out there some hope, and perspective if sometimes this takes time to build in the current market...

 

[Yarrow]

1. Right away... but I jumped ship on my old job and dove head first into camming. I told myself I had to make it work and I managed to do well enough right of the bat to support myself.

2. Feb 2014

3. I started on CB and remained there for a little over a year and a half, then I moved to MFC where I wanted to be the whole time but the camscore system terrified me. I cammed on CB off-and-on after that until the photo ID on CB expired and they never returned my support messages so I just gave up there. I also am on AmateurPorn.com and ManyVids. The video sites made up about 7-8% of my income in 16'-17' - this year I am making less on them due to MFCShare and the fact I don't really promote them much.

4. I straddle a lot of non-nude territory with how I operate my room, what I would call a 'Hang Out' model --- but I get naked. I'd say I have a hint of GF experience and heavily rely on my artistic nature for shows/style. My look is young, normal/athletic build, girl-next-door. I don't have large boobs but I have nice looking ones and a pretty decent ass. I think I have a hispter-ish/artist look to me.

5. I made my low-income goals right away and was able to get an apartment by myself within a month and a half. I was not living with my BF at the time, but was staying with him while I relocated to my current location from thousands of miles away and looking for a place for myself. My living expenses are not huge but I have digestive and health issues that eat up a significant portion of my income each month. Because of the health stuff, I am very conservative with rent in order to be able to comfortably pay all my bills and save as much as I can. I don't live flashy by any means but I don't deny myself my fun or lattes.

6. I have worked about the same amount of hours a month since I started. I would say it averages 80ish hours online but has gone up to 140 in one month. That said, I put in a LOT of offline hours getting prepped for shows/making content/staying connected with people. I have tried to limit offline work more and more but it's difficult with the style I seem to be best at - it just takes a lot of extra work people don't see. I really enjoy camming but it can be incredibly draining and can creatively take over my brain which leaves little energy for my personal work (I'm an artist). Due to the emotional labor and mental rummaging I do on a daily basis I think camming can be relatively hard. I do think self employment as a whole is like this though - whether you are a cam girl, building contractor, or restaurant owner. I've made a lot of sacrifices to lead this life but ultimately I think it's worth it and I'm very happy I can support myself while saving for my future.

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

OMG @Yarrow, thank you - awesome info!
So glad for you that you're getting what you need from the job too, even if it is draining at times and a struggle to balance with other priorities. If I can say so, I bet that even though it make take away from your time working on your art in the short term, in the long-term, and during hiatuses if you take any, your experiences and feelings with probably fuel a lot of new art years into the future! So hopefully, it won't actually harm that part of you, even as you focus for now on making your income this way. I know for me, that has definitely been true.


I hope others will chime in!

 

[Sillykitty]

Hi! Im new here and figured this might be a good post to dive right into!

1. I started camming because working a normal job was hard for me due to health issues, but bills for my hubs and I dictate that we need to be a 2 person income household. I was shy for the first 6 months, but then committed myself to camming part time, and made more in my first full year than I ever did in the service industry working full time.

2. I started late 2016, moving into more consistency in 2017. I feel like I'm a late bloomer, and I'm learning new things about camming every day.

3. I'm only on streamate, I don't do anything else or promote myself anywhere else. I tried the social media route, but it was exhausting for me, and didn't feel authentic because I had no drive to keep it consistent. I want to branch out onto mfc or cb, but I'm actualy nervous, lol. I don't do any clips either.

4. I fall into the fetish category, but also girl next door. I do vanilla shows and a lot of domination shows- cuckold roleplay etc. I started doing a lot of submission shows as well, but I felt that people tried to push My boundaries way too often, and I would break the 4th wall so to speak and kill the mood. so now I only do them with people who I've done them with before. My body type is very average. I have nice boobs and a good booty, but I am also kinda thick with a belly. I pass for mid 20s. I'm dorky and approachable and up to date on pop culture stuff, which I feel helps me be relateable.

5. I don't have a flashy lifestyle, but I do have a mortgage and debt, health bills, etc. My goal for my first year was to make enough that I could support my husband and i, while using his income to tackle our debts. I hit that goal, and only worked about 10-20 hours 3 weeks a month, taking a week off for lady time or when health issues arise. Some weeks are way worse than others, but when it's all averaged out it's more than worth it.

6. Some weeks I put in a lot of effort, and those are the weeks I do the best. When my mood is awesome, my health is cooperating, and I have time to sit and be on cam, it helps. Some weeks just suck and are completely draining. That said, I love this way more than any of my service industry jobs that I had, and if I couldn't cam, I think I would be depressed. It has given me a way to really get to know myself, my kinks and fetishes, to learn about people, and to foster a welcoming kink friendly tiny little corner on the internet from a cozy spot in my art studio. The most rewarding part, besides being able to be an even earner with my husband whole dealing with a chronic illness, is how nice guys are. I'll get a message after some shows with guys thanking me for being open minded. Most of my shows are with regulars, and while ive never had any offsite contact with any of them, and have always had very clear set boundaries in place, I find that my shows are consistent. I'm a VERY different person on cam than I am in real life (thank you theater degree), and being someone else for a couple hours a day can be very mentally draining, but doing so has helped me keep my "real" life separate from my cam life, as my husband and I both come from very conservative religious families. I'm hoping to put in many more hours this year and branch out as well. I wish I would have started sooner or hit it harder when I started.

Hope this gives a little more insight for ya!

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

Thank you @Sillykitty, and welcome! That was a lot of interesting info, and it's great to hear from a newer model who does fetish shows! I relate to some of what you're saying, so it makes me wonder again if SM would be a good place for me. Several people keep telling me I should try it, but like you, I am nervous to try a new platform, lol! I am still learning the original one (which for me is CB)... But it is awesome that you're successful, and I think your point about going all-in sooner makes sense. It's tough to do sometimes for new people, financially, but it would make sense that it is easier when you are really focused, and have just decided to be comfortable with it and get a lot of experience up front. I think a lot of people who start out are unsure about the job, or about themselves as models, and it holds them back a lot.

I learned too, that at the beginning sometimes sucks, and it really does seem that pushing through and looking at averages over time is the best way to handle it - not to freak out during a slow day or month that that means the end is nigh, lol!


If I can ask, since you come from conservative families, do you do anything to disguise your identities, or do you just let the chips fall where they may as far as being discovered by people you may know? It seems to me that more successful models do not generally do anything to hide their faces, because people connect a lot to the face, but one can do other things to change one's appearance (although that gets tiring to keep up with every day), and perhaps in your fetish work you use masks or something else? I notice a lot of new models are concerned about identity, especially when they come from conservative backgrounds, and will tend to cover their face, which for many may hinder business.

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

Another question for everybody: Do you recall what you did at the beginning before you had regulars, to get people to come into your room/to occupy yourself when no one was talking? A lot of new models suffer from low traffic and having to talk to themselves for long stretches of time, so whatever you can offer in the way of what worked for you (for traffic, for tips, and for your own sanity) would be very helpful!



[I think I started with some weird props, entertaining myself with hobbies of mine, playing some games that I made up and were silly to get people to talk, a lot of small tip goals (too big holds people back when they don't know you), occasionally a free flash when I got desperate for traffic, and telling interesting stories that could keep me going in monologue for a while when the room was slow. When all else failed, I put on some of my favorite music and just danced or sang my heart out. I did try to engage people who came in the room one on one, but that rarely worked on CB - it seems like they come in the room already with only one hand free, so they don't type anything until they tell you at the end what a great time they had. Which BTW, reminds me that newcomers should avoid as much as possible giving out free stuff. I was non-nude,and very tame, but even so I did a lot of caressing myself and it got regulars but encouraged them not to pay because I am apparently TOO good with my hands and expressions, lol! So take it easy, and DON'T PM for free... charge at least a little something. When they see you value your time, they are more apt to pay for it.]

 

[Magnolia]

OK, for the sake of the many who use this forum for research before taking the camming plunge, I'd like to take a general financial survey of all the models here.

For my own part, I am not full-time yet. I am part-time, and due to various life factors including illness, unable to stick to consistent hours so far. But I have been successful when I am on cam. I started in 2017. So for me, it's still a side-gig.


So to the extent that you are comfortable, please share with us:

1. How long you cammed for before you consistently started earning enough to support yourself without another job/source of income
2. What year you started camming(I suspect this is far less sustainable as a full-time career in more recent years, due to increase in competition)
3. What site(s) you're on, and if you do any side gigs like photo/vid sites if that is a sizeable portion of your cam-related income
4. What general niche do you fall into? Cum show, non-nude, fetish, gf experience.... And what body type/look would you say is your draw - bbw, large breasts, young, small frame, average body, MILF/mom bod, Asian, alternative, blond, etc. etc...
5. If you feel comfortable sharing a ballpark figure of how much you made when you first hit that self-sustaining mark, please do. If not, would you say you have an "expensive" lifestyle to maintain, or a "cheap" one, so we have a general idea of what kind of income we're talking here [big difference obviously if you're living rent free at your parents', vs. supporting 8 kids in a flashy mansion]
6. Any other details you are willing to share, like how many hours you work in a typical month, how much effort you feel you're putting into the job/how hard it is, etc.

7. If you DON'T make enough to support yourself, or are NOT full-time, please share your info as well - including whether it covers just incidentals, or a big portion of your income, and if you want to be full-time or are happy just with camming as a side gig

Feel free to (#)number your answers if you feel it keeps your post more organized!

I know these things are personal, but this kind of info can really help us as a community to get a sense of what kind of financial opportunity is in the industry, if it is changing over time, and how this life is helping or not helping those who choose this route financially. Also, it will tell us if certain niches (or sites) make more money than others do currently. Please share whatever tidbits you feel comfortable with! - any little bit of info is helpful to the community, and to future models.

Of course, we all know success will vary widely. No one can use this info as a guide to their own success really, because it will come down to each model's talent, personality, and dedication to the job, plus current market factors. BUT this will still tell us a bunch about trends and overall ranges, while still keeping the info pretty general so it's not too private.

I hope you all are doing well, feeling fulfilled, and that those bills are getting paid! Much love to all!

I'll bite!

1. About 6 months, but it was more a side-job/hobby during those months. Once I started putting in the full-time hours I could support myself.

2. 2014

3. MFC, Twitch, Patreon, iWC, c4s, MV, and justthemusic.org. I've tried about 5ish other sites as well but dropped them because they didn't bring me enough income for the work involved. I make about half my money online from clips and half from camming currently.

4. Non-nude, fetish, femdom, musician, girl next door. My camroom is 90% just chill in some sweatpants and hang out and/or play piano and sing, not a lot of sexytime happens. But when it does it's a super special thing! I'm all over the place with clips, tried a bit of everything and have two femdom stores, one fetish store, and one vanilla store.

5. My first year full-time I made about $50k, but month by month varied wildly. There was a month or two I didn't even make a grand. I have a pretty average lifestyle, but like to splurge now and then. I'll put it in the terms of "I own my own nice car but not my own house." Each year I've made considerably more though as I've built traffic, tried new things, and gained regulars. Made a little over double that amount last year, so it has gotten better for me BUT only because I decided to branch out from camming (while still not dropping camming completely because I think camming helps my clip sales and vice versa).

6. Hours per month is a tough one for me since I've had to take almost full months off a few times in the last year. Lately it's been 5ish days a week with about 8-12 hours of work a day, mostly offline work. I don't put many hours into camming and consider myself a part-time camgirl now. Camming is still very challenging for me, never got easier! In fact I'd definitely say I put in more hours for less reward now, which is why I went part-time.

7. I do have a dayjob as of late last year. I own my own business and it takes up a good chunk of my time. It's also a decent size of my income now (wasn't making any profit for myself for a few months though). I love my irl job but I will be selling it off within a couple years, at least that's the plan. It started as a family project and I don't have as much passion for it as I do sex work. No regrets though, it's been super fun and a great learning experience. My long-term goal is to continue working in the adult industry and as a musician for as long as possible, whether that be as a camgirl/clip-maker or finding another place in the industry. I was a host and supervisor at a club, then a gogo dancer, and then a stripper before I started camming and I've definitely moved around and tried all sorts of styles when it comes to camming and clip-making, so I have no idea what my role in the industry will be even a year from now.

 

[Sillykitty]

I solo cam, and I use hair extensions and wear different clothing to cover tattoos. I also utilize my geoblock feature. I'm approaching my 40s, have been married for over a decade, no kids- so my thought is, if my family finds out - so be it. Id rather it be when I have a few years under my belt so I can go "see? I'm still me, I've been me this whole time, the world didn't end, and I treat this like a business, allowing my husband and I to live a nice quiet little life". If i was younger, it would be very devastating, but having an established life make it easier to not have to justify my choices. Although obviously, id much rather avoid the drama. It makes it easier for me to seperate the two, in cam and off cam lives, so that way i dont accidentally slip up when im talking to my family, if that makes sense.

My hubs and I are both active in local fetish communities, and all of our friends are aware and supportive of my career choice, which is really awesome, otherwise I think it would be very isolating .

As for cam traffic, for sm since it's mostly private show based, I will literally sit and have a conversation with myself, then ask other members to join in on my fake conversation, lol. It starts everyone talking, but I never really deal with more than 20 members in my room at a time. I think the high numbers of members and watchers on a site like cb/mfc would stress me out, but it's like you said, fear of the new platform!

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

Wow, thanks @Magnolia for sharing! That was great info. Also great to see a non-nude model, and how many different approaches there are to being successful in the cam world. I love to hear everybody's unique stories! Also interesting that you note it took some time to build up, but that once you went full-time, that made the difference. But it also sounds like while you struggling a bit with the cam aspect, you really have a love for sex work, which I'm sure is a big part of the success... that you are good at what you do shows.


I suspect that people who are purely in this for the money, and who don't like the entirety of the job, are not going to do as well financially, and not going to last long enough probably to build the fan base needed and get through the tough times. I struggle with this because I am someone who prefers to be behind the scenes, but I really do like sex, and I do like to entertain people. Some parts of the job I love, when I can control it. But some parts I hate - I hate getting treated like an object and a piece of meat, especially before having the kind of huge following that more established models have who can defend her in their room and keep the environment light and fun. Guys coming in and demanding and acting like you're just a blowup doll and not a human, suck very much, and they are very prevalent during the first few months especially. It takes a strong manager to set the tone, and keep it a respectful and fun environment rather than a place where dogs are barking at you every minute. Of course, that may also be a factor of what site one is on, and the traffic at CB might be more given to that than a place that is focused exclusively on privates. I will have to try other platforms to see.
I don't see sex work as something I would do forever, but I don't see it as a summer strip job either... something maybe I could do for 5-10 years, and then check out as I develop other things. But of course for me, that involves some ambivalence about being too successful which holds me back - if I am too successful, then it will be really easy for my images to show up everywhere and ruin my future intended career, which is a bit more serious in nature and not based around sex work. So it's like a transition career, at least at this moment, and that makes me unsure about going all in. It is completely opposite of the careers I have had before this. And it is not opposite of, but pretty dramatically different from what I hope to be doing when I am older. But for me, the other factor is I am very ill and unsure how long I'll live, so I kind of just need to jump in and make money and work from home now, and not think so much about the long term plans anyway. Maybe they'll happen, maybe they won't. But camming is happening NOW, and that at least is something I can control and have a lot of fun with.

I share all this because I think a lot of new models and models-to-be who are reading might relate. When I am on, I do fairly well, so I can see the potential to be successful if I really commit to it. But part of me is scared to get TOO successful if I really go all in, because there are consequences to fame, you know? Sex work fame particularly. Even if that is stupid that society is like that. It still IS like that. Particularly because I have traditionally worked internationally, and I'd like to go back to that if my health improves as it has been slowly doing. This could be seriously dangerous for me in the types of countries in which I work, where women have very few rights to begin with, and it would be easy to misunderstand who I am and what I do as a cam girl and not take me seriously, at the very least, and possibly lead to violence at the worst. But then again, I think I might learn a lot of things from camming that might HELP me in future careers.



Again, THANK YOU for adding your experience!


I hope more will continue to do so!

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

@Sillykitty, thank you for that! That is fascinating info. I too am older, and I think it helps me a ton. Because if people I know find out, I'm like, I'm a grown woman. I can do whatever the fuck I choose to with my own life! If you don't pay my bills for me, then you have no say.

I'm personally am glad I did not come to this as a younger person, because it would have been really hard to deal with, and also from an identity and career standpoint, I wouldn't have had a chance to do much else so it would be easy to think that's all that I am and all that I can do... which inevitably gets scary then when there are slow months, or as one ages. But instead, I see it as kind of a mark of honor that I can be older and be even more sexy than I was when I was in my early 20s. Back then I was kind of unsure of myself, sexually and in other ways. But now I'm not. I have plenty of sexual confidence, and now I also have a lifetime of stories to tell and things I've tried that in my personal type of cam show, makes it a lot easier to keep things going. I've also been up in front of a crowd a lot in other capacities, so I know how to keep a room entertained. When I was in my early 20s, I was still trying to figure out how to do that and sometimes getting awkward and uncomfortable and failing miserably, because I hated public speaking and being the center of attention. Now I still technically hate it, lol, but at least I'm good at it, and can pretend very believably that I like it!

So age, for me, is a huge asset as a cam girl. But I am very mindful that I also got lucky in looking younger, which has hurt me my entire career and now suddenly is actually helpful - but I might be at the tail end of that luck and so if I start to age suddenly, I wonder if that will make a difference or not. I think I'll still be fun-loving and young seeming, but... now I am aging enough to at least look like I'min my 20s, so I wonder as I age after that what will happen. I figure I need to have a good following before that happens. But then again, I do think it's a lot about confidence, and I have seen MUCH older cam women who pull down a good living, probably because they kind of corner the market in their age group. I think in the future there will be more and more market for that, as people live longer and older people have more tech skills to access online sex workers, and younger people more and more see the sexual viability of older women, who are hot well into their 50s and 60s, and in cases even beyond that. I would LOVE if I live into my 90s, as many of my relatives have done, to return to sex work at that age, and clean the fuck up as perhaps one of the few ladies really getting it at that age! I want to be a 90-year-old sex symbol, haha - with a maturity I never could have had when I was 20.


Anyway, it's great that you have some supportive community, and that you have found ways to hide your identity a bit.

And yes, CB is based off the idea that if you're successful, you'll have thousands of people in your room at a time. So, coming from SM, that might be a bit overwhelming and intimidating. But it is very possible to gain crowd control skills, and find means to corral that yourself, without even having anyone to moderate your room for you (although perhaps your husband could do that for you). It's got its own culture that you need to learn. But, I like the freedom the site gives to have a huge diversity of models, who can do any weird type of thing they like and don't have to fit any type of mold. It is well-known platform that certainly has a lot of traffic, so there is a lot of potential for regulars from all over the world. It does have a lot of drawbacks. But some people on there who fit their style are VERY successful. And there is no rating one has to maintain. You get rated by customers who tip you a minimum amount, as whether your service provided was satisfactory or unsatisfactory. But so far I have had 100% satisfaction rating, so I don't think it's all that hard to get if you're clear with your customers what you're about and what you provide. The people who tip then, know what they're getting, and definitely want it. I would think the ideal is to learn multiple platforms, so you can multi-cam, or just single cam but switch to another site when things are slow. But I want to be confident on one site before I start getting all complicated, and confuse myself! lol

 

[caireen]

OK, for the sake of the many who use this forum for research before taking the camming plunge, I'd like to take a general financial survey of all the models here.

For my own part, I am not full-time yet. I am part-time, and due to various life factors including illness, unable to stick to consistent hours so far. But I have been successful when I am on cam. I started in 2017. So for me, it's still a side-gig.


So to the extent that you are comfortable, please share with us:

1. How long you cammed for before you consistently started earning enough to support yourself without another job/source of income
2. What year you started camming(I suspect this is far less sustainable as a full-time career in more recent years, due to increase in competition)
3. What site(s) you're on, and if you do any side gigs like photo/vid sites if that is a sizeable portion of your cam-related income
4. What general niche do you fall into? Cum show, non-nude, fetish, gf experience.... And what body type/look would you say is your draw - bbw, large breasts, young, small frame, average body, MILF/mom bod, Asian, alternative, blond, etc. etc...
5. If you feel comfortable sharing a ballpark figure of how much you made when you first hit that self-sustaining mark, please do. If not, would you say you have an "expensive" lifestyle to maintain, or a "cheap" one, so we have a general idea of what kind of income we're talking here [big difference obviously if you're living rent free at your parents', vs. supporting 8 kids in a flashy mansion]
6. Any other details you are willing to share, like how many hours you work in a typical month, how much effort you feel you're putting into the job/how hard it is, etc.

7. If you DON'T make enough to support yourself, or are NOT full-time, please share your info as well - including whether it covers just incidentals, or a big portion of your income, and if you want to be full-time or are happy just with camming as a side gig

Feel free to (#)number your answers if you feel it keeps your post more organized!

I know these things are personal, but this kind of info can really help us as a community to get a sense of what kind of financial opportunity is in the industry, if it is changing over time, and how this life is helping or not helping those who choose this route financially. Also, it will tell us if certain niches (or sites) make more money than others do currently. Please share whatever tidbits you feel comfortable with! - any little bit of info is helpful to the community, and to future models.

Of course, we all know success will vary widely. No one can use this info as a guide to their own success really, because it will come down to each model's talent, personality, and dedication to the job, plus current market factors. BUT this will still tell us a bunch about trends and overall ranges, while still keeping the info pretty general so it's not too private.

I hope you all are doing well, feeling fulfilled, and that those bills are getting paid! Much love to all!

1. How long you cammed for before you consistently started earning enough to support yourself without another job/source of income
I was living in Mexico when I started with very low cost of living so I was able to support myself right away.

2. What year you started camming(I suspect this is far less sustainable as a full-time career in more recent years, due to increase in competition)
I started in January 2010. As Amber said, back then there was much less competition. New models showed up very prominently on the main page and a night with 500 girls on at once was crazy.

3. What site(s) you're on, and if you do any side gigs like photo/vid sites if that is a sizeable portion of your cam-related income.
I am on MFC. I occasionally cam on SM, and had a year in 2013-2014 where I was on SM full time. I also sell videos on MV, C4S, and a bit on IWC, but it's a small part of my income. I am trying to spend a bit more time on content to increase that, though. I didn't start selling videos until 2012.

4. What general niche do you fall into? Cum show, non-nude, fetish, gf experience.... And what body type/look would you say is your draw - bbw, large breasts, young, small frame, average body, MILF/mom bod, Asian, alternative, blond, etc. etc...
I guess.. girl next door?

5. If you feel comfortable sharing a ballpark figure of how much you made when you first hit that self-sustaining mark, please do. If not, would you say you have an "expensive" lifestyle to maintain, or a "cheap" one, so we have a general idea of what kind of income we're talking here [big difference obviously if you're living rent free at your parents', vs. supporting 8 kids in a flashy mansion]
I didn't put much effort into camming in the beginning. I sort of cammed the bare minimum to survive and travel a bit and took a ton of time off. My first year I think I made around 40,000. Each year I made a bit more after that, but I don't think it was until 2015 that I made 6 figures (or maybe even 2016?). I got more serious and consistent with it in 2015/2016. And actually I'm thinking in CAD.. the exchange rate has varied (my first year the CAD was slightly higher or on par with the USD.. that was a bad time ahahha).

6. Any other details you are willing to share, like how many hours you work in a typical month, how much effort you feel you're putting into the job/how hard it is, etc.
When I started camming I was probably only working like.. 20 hours a month. Now I cam between 60 and 80 a month on MFC (or more if I'm really pushing for rank) usually BUT I also make custom videos and spend a lot of time on other cam-related things and do some hours on SM sometimes... I feel like I'm always always working.

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

Thank you so much @caireen! Awesome info. I'm seeing a trend too that it seems like a lot of models feel they need to work more hours now to make the same amount, or perhaps to hit new goals as they progress in their career. As a career, it definitely demands a lot of your time.

I wonder, though, how so much time spent in the industry affects your view and experience of sex? Like I see already that I start to think of sex in terms of what my customers want, in my down time. Which freaks me the hell out! Like, when I fantasize about women now, I find myself sometimes thinking of her in the type of fantasy a rather depraved dude would have, which is not at all the type of fantasy I used to have about have sex with a girl! Then I feel bad. Also, the things I do for cam-time, I no longer want to do in my personal sexual life. Like even masturbating, I'm like ugh - that's weird, that makes me think I'm giving a show, that makes me think of work! - so it's limiting my personal repertoire, which is a major downside! And that's when I'm not even working, I'm on hiatus (I prefer to call it sabbatical, lol) - when I'm actively camming a lot, I don't even ever want to have sex at all, which is astounding to me because I have a high sex drive that I thought nothing could possibly kill. But when you connect my clit directly to my bank account numbers... ugh, that is a surefire lady boner killer. I don't get off on making cash, although I know some models actually have a bit of a fetish for money. I'm kind of the opposite, it makes me think of accountant-type stuff. Also, I don't want to be touching myself and hearing imaginary tip sounds in my head, lol! It's a minor kind of cam girl PTSD. ("Spread legs, bb" UGH - shut up!) lol

It's also hard not to talk like a cam girl when I meet other people. Like, if the subject of sex comes up, it's hard not to launch into a bunch of stuff that makes me seem way more than just a casual amateur, lol. Recently I was hanging with a girl I am getting to know as a platonic friend. We've only hung out a few times. Somehow we got on the subject of sex, and before you know it I launched into this tirade about how poorly designed vibrators are, and giving reviews of a bunch when she asked for a recommendation. She'd only just tried her first one, and here I am giving the run down on like 30 of them, pros and cons, lol! I just couldn't help it - I have soooo many feelings! But, I don't want her to know I cam, because this is a small community,and she is close with some people who would totally blast that everywhere and it would be a problem. Also, I'm afraid she would look me up, lol, and that would embarrass me because I don't like friends of mine watching me have sex, nor do I accidentally want to hit a page and find THEM having sex! Just do not want that image in my head, haha. So now I think she just thinks I'm like a weird professional masturbator in my alone time because I'm super lonely and pathetic, lol. She knows I'm single, and I did mention I'm having trouble meeting ladies here in the dating scene, because so many people are closeted. Thank god I don't have a house full of cats, because that would just complete the picture... already praying she doesn't spread the news around town about my extensive collection of vibrators,lol! It might be jarring to them if they found out I'm a cam girl, but it would not be a hell of a lot better for them to think I'm a sad single woman in my 30s with a serious illness, who is too sick to work and occupies all my time with a house full of "personal massagers." I dont know whether to laugh my ass off, or throw up, at the thought of that rumor circling the local religious crowd.

Anyway, I digress. But I'm worried this job is making me weird. And that's a serious concern, because I was already weird enough before I started it.

I don't know, man. You have to pay me a hell of a lot of money to be worth taking away the sexuality I have in my personal life, and also my ability to connect to others like a normal human being. So I continue to weigh the pros and cons of going all in. What is the price of enjoying the use of my clit for the rest of my life? Hmmm.... If I touch my breast, I think of what they all say about my nipples. I don't even use my dildos anymore because that got ruined for me - and that's a big loss, lol! If I moan, sometimes I hear tip sounds and jerk my eyes open in case I forgot -am I still on cam? Am I arching my back enough?


Posters on here are talking about a hell of a lot of hours to be focused on the job. Aside from the stuff we usually talk about like fear of social backlash if we are identified, or problems in relationships with jealous partners, there are personal psychological and social effects to camming. That has to be logged in with the money that's made, a tax on your sense of self and sexual expression. Perhaps some are better at separating these than I am... but I am one of those who used my real sexuality on cam, because I have such a high sex drive in real life I figured I'd put it to use. I do fake it, which I think is a necessity of the job even though I'd never done that before in my life, but a lot of it is also real. And so now it all blends together in my head and kind of messes all of it up. When people you're not into and do not love (or frequently even like) are throwing demands at you - even though most of mine now are positive and within boundaries I set - or paying you to cum, it's hard to feel connected to the genuine joy of sex anymore. Also, sometimes someone will say something that randomly turns me on a lot, and then I end up fantasizing about it later, and feeling super confused, lol!

The life of a cam girl is weird.

 

[TemporarilyWhining]

*Note, because someone else made a comment on on of my other threads that made me think of it: If you would like to contribute your info to this thread, but want to remain anonymous, you can DM me with the reply , and what thread it's for, and I will post it anonymously here for you. Sorry I didn't think of that before as an option!

We want the collective info so we can see trends, it doesn't necessarily have to be tied to a specific model's name. I am very grateful to all who ave posted here so far, and I hope the replies keep coming!