is MFC a "real job"?

[bodisha]

A "job" doesn't have to be something that you hate and makes you miserable.
I am also in the "career" field of camming. This is my full time job and career and I work damn hard off cam to make that possible. Most "real jobs" also come with real days off, those don't come often to most full time cam girls.
The career cam girls are always doing something related to camming. Planning the next show, keeping up with regulars, photoshoots, videos, related editing, profile updates. From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, most of us are working in some form or another, on cam or off.
Yes camming can be very fun but it can also be very straining. Our emotions are at stake more often than in the normal work place.
I'm on cam an average of 8 hours per cam day (roughly 30 hours per week )
I also make and edit AT LEAST one custom video per week
1-2 photoshoots per week
couple hours per day answering MFC mails and keeping up with my pals ( which I welcome and enjoy )
Mail out packages about once a week.
Design and order Swag and raffle prizes.

All the stuff I do that is not on cam is done on my "day off."

Most people with the average "real job" would sleep for a month after one week of my schedule.

Heck, gotta give it to Amber, She does all that crazy cam girl stuff AND runs and maintains the forum.

Sorry for the long winded post but this is a subject I do feel passionate about.
Behind the scenes is called that for a reason, it is not often seen, let alone understood.
I'm glad you asked this question!

Jolene... thanks for the detailed post... it's never been my intention to dispute how real a cam model job is... and i'm not mocking it when i put "real job"... simply that as a person that's been doing the corporate grind for as long as i have... it's a pretty foreign life style to me... and i suspect many other members

i mean for myself... i'm use to weekly status reports... progress reports... performance reviews... implementation deadlines... jerk off bosses... kiss ass co-workers... pissed off clients... corporate politics... 60+ hour work weeks... and then when i log on to MFC i see women on MFC just chatting... playing a game... dancing... and sometimes watching TV or playing video games... which is just the side we see as a members

with the flexible hours... the lack of a supervisor... ability to work from home... make an agenda on cam that you want... pick and choose what you want to deal with... the occupation of cam model seems more like a "dream job" than a "real job"... but you were able to put it in context for me... part of what i was hoping for was to get a better understanding of what actually makes it work for you guys or to understand the stress part that us members don't actually see beyond what we see on cam... which you gave me a better idea of... thanks

 

[Miss_Lollipop]

Since we're talking behind the scenes here's a rundown of my behind the scenes stuff.

-Regular Photo Shoots at least one a month. These take 1-3 hrs.
-Editing those pictures. This can take hours.
-Uploading them to MFC. This takes forever because of their retarded ass upload system which is ONE PICTURE AT A TIME.
-Regular shooting, editing and uploading my videos. At least 2 a month. Shoots take about an hour, and then editing takes at least another hour.
-My website upkeep - right now this takes a bit of my time as I'm still working on getting it how I want it.
-At least an hour of twitter, blogging and social networking. Probably more.
-I send dirty emails to those who tip for them. This takes about an hour each day.
-Finances. I'm trying to keep up with all my expenses and doing my own books with quickbooks. I'm crap with numbers and keep calling my accountant friend every few hours but this is currently taking me at least 2 hrs a week.
-Personal Grooming. I would do less of it if I wasn't on cam every day.
-Mailing panties, packages and prizes. Several hours of time a week.
-Working on graphics for profile/raffles etc. 1-2 hours a week.
-Answering bullshit emails. "how much for x" "will you do x" etc. Many of these don't pan out and are just time wasters.
-My regular tippers get my skype and I let them bug me when I'm just hanging out.
-Buying supplies, setting up and doing regular 'different' cam shows. I try to do different things on cam day to day this takes creativity. For example my set up for halloween took about 2-3 hrs to put together.
-I should but don't put enough time and effort into keeping fit.
-Playing a game/being bubbly is kinda like being an entertainer on a stage. It's enjoyable but it still takes effort. You are the focus and sometimes its like herding chickens. I currently cam 4-6 hours a day 6 days a week. (Though this week has gone to hell due to illness and disasters). At the end of my cam day I'm wiped out. I had fun, but I'm wiped OUT!



I recently got told that 500 was 'high' for panties and that '1000 tks for 10 mins of custom video' was too high.
I explained it this way:
500 tks = $25.00 for me.
- 30% taxes = 17.50
If you are in the US I will spend a few dollars on postage and a few dollars on supplies (fancy paper, lollipop, envelope, ziplock baggie) so take it down to $15.00
Average cost of a pair of panties = $5-$10.00
It will take me about an hour to cum in these panties, take a picture of me cumming in them, edit upload and send that picture, pack and mail your panties.
So I'm making $5-$10 for my time.

But this is high?
*grumble*

Even though i take sundays off I usually spend them working on stuff like jolene does.

 

[spika]

You do realize that many models do make the kind of hourly wages you're talking about right? Or better?

$100 an hr is 2000 tokens an hr. On a good night I make that.

Oh, I know it's possible, I wasn't doubting that at all.

I think it's more the fact that I've just been struggling to get my act together. I can only seem to handle being on cam for about an hour before I'm painfully bored, and since I'm new I'm attracting the freeloading crowd and I've been struggling to make much more than 100 tokens in an hour. I've been doing countdowns, but apparently 300 tokens for me to take my bra off is too lofty of a goal in an hour.

I know what I've been doing wrong is not maintaining a schedule, so I'm trying to be better about that.... Also, I think part of the issue has been that I haven't pushed group shows or privates at all, and I really should have been. I think because so much of the talk here on the forum has been on creating good public shows, I totally forgot that doing privates was an option and it's been pretty rare that anyone's even gone out of their way to inquire about it.

I think for me, I fall into the trap of being discouraged because it's going to take time and effort to get to where I want to be with it.... and where I feel like I'm at the disadvantage psychologically is that because I only have the endurance right now to do a short shift... 1 or 2 hours a day is about what I've seemed to be able to handle because things aren't going well, even if I have a relatively modest goal of 1000-2000 tks and hour, I'm still coming up really short because I'm used to working 20 to 40 hour work weeks, so for me to really dedicate my time to it and get started I'm taking a pay cut.... whereas, if I was used to making minimum wage, $50-$100 is likely what I'd be used to making in a day so even if I only worked an hour, I'd be feeling like I was "doing better".

So obviously, what needs to happen is I need to get my head on straight and stop thinking of it like that because all I'm really doing is being self-defeatist. It *is* work, and I ought to be treating it as such because eventually it will pay off.

 

[Miss_Lollipop]

So obviously, what needs to happen is I need to get my head on straight and stop thinking of it like that because all I'm really doing is being self-defeatist. It *is* work, and I ought to be treating it as such because eventually it will pay off.

*hugs*
Just like you worked your ass off to get into a field where you could ask for $85-$100 an hour, this is one where you do work your ass off for it too.

 

[Anonymous]

I recently got told that 500 was 'high' for panties and that '1000 tks for 10 mins of custom video' was too high.
I explained it this way:
500 tks = $25.00 for me.
- 30% taxes = 17.50
If you are in the US I will spend a few dollars on postage and a few dollars on supplies (fancy paper, lollipop, envelope, ziplock baggie) so take it down to $15.00
Average cost of a pair of panties = $5-$10.00
It will take me about an hour to cum in these panties, take a picture of me cumming in them, edit upload and send that picture, pack and mail your panties.
So I'm making $5-$10 for my time.

But this is high?
*grumble*

I agree that anyone who says that 500 tokens is "too high" for panties is just silly. And some people seem to forget that what they pay us is not what we get in our pockets. On MFC 500 tokens doesn't equal $50 in the model's pocket...it equals $25.

It looks like most models on MFC charge 600 tokens for panties. On another forum I belong to, models have talked about selling panties for $50 and up.

 

[JoleneBrody]

"dream job" than a "real job"...

:-D Even though a lot of work is involved, I won't argue the dream job part! It's really hard to self motivate to do something you don't like when no boss is involved. You have to love the hard work involved to be able to get it done as a cam girl. I would compare it to farming. That is hard ass work with long hours but the people who do it find it rewarding.

Thanks again for the post. I'm really enjoying reading everyone's responses.

 

[LailaBaise]

"dream job" than a "real job"...

:-D Even though a lot of work is involved, I won't argue the dream job part! It's really hard to self motivate to do something you don't like when no boss is involved. You have to love the hard work involved to be able to get it done as a cam girl. I would compare it to farming. That is hard ass work with long hours but the people who do it find it rewarding.

Thanks again for the post. I'm really enjoying reading everyone's responses.

Yes, hello there, I'm Farmer Fluff, and I harvest cum.

 

[JoleneBrody]

"dream job" than a "real job"...

:-D Even though a lot of work is involved, I won't argue the dream job part! It's really hard to self motivate to do something you don't like when no boss is involved. You have to love the hard work involved to be able to get it done as a cam girl. I would compare it to farming. That is hard ass work with long hours but the people who do it find it rewarding.

Thanks again for the post. I'm really enjoying reading everyone's responses.

Yes, hello there, I'm Farmer Fluff, and I harvest cum.

I've got just the plow for your field. brown chicken brown cow.

 

[AmberCutie]

I was inspired by a model in a model's only thread earlier by something she said. Instead of putting quotes around "real job" referring to camming, she referenced other jobs as "normal". I got a :icon-idea: immediately.

I think this is the perfect way around the offensive "real job" stigma. Clearly, camming is an abnormal job. It's highly misunderstood, not commonly acknowledged as a standard career path, and extremely awesome and flexible. Others are normal, in that they are widely understood and acknowledged... even taught in school!

So I request we make an agreement! The next time we want to discuss how camming is a different way to make our paychecks, we use normal and abnormal instead of that R word that seems to get all our sexy panties in a bunch.

Shall we?

 

[alymariee]

I was inspired by a model in a model's only thread earlier by something she said. Instead of putting quotes around "real job" referring to camming, she referenced other jobs as "normal". I got a :icon-idea: immediately.

I think this is the perfect way around the offensive "real job" stigma. Clearly, camming is an abnormal job. It's highly misunderstood, not commonly acknowledged as a standard career path, and extremely awesome and flexible. Others are normal, in that they are widely understood and acknowledged... even taught in school!

So I request we make an agreement! The next time we want to discuss how camming is a different way to make our paychecks, we use normal and abnormal instead of that R word that seems to get all our sexy panties in a bunch.

Shall we?

i agree someone on twitter said to me today "Ever think of getting a REAL JOB you cam whore?"
bahahaha i just laughed. haters.
anyway abnormal and normal it is

 

[MadisonLeigh]

Welp, it pays real money that I use to pay my real rent and bills. So...yes, it's definitely a real job to me. I don't personally plan on doing this as my career, but I give mad props to the ladies who are doing so! Planning for a long term career in the adult industry brings its own set of challenges with it, that I don't think I would be prepared to handle.

I enjoy camming the majority of the time, but it is work! For me, it's harder in many ways than just showing up, clocking in, and having someone tell me what I need to do. It's cool to be my own boss, but that means I have to motivate myself. I would like to do freelance web design when I graduate, and right now I am learning some valuable lessons about working at home and running my own business. I am generally not the most motivated person but I feel like I'm becoming more self disciplined.

I had a seasonal retail job last month, and ended up not having time to cam. I could not cover my expenses on that salary...and I don't live lavishly at all, but part time minimum wage just doesn't pay the bills. I can be financially independent with camming; I'm not going into student loan debt like so many of my friends, and I am very grateful for that. If I had to go back to a "normal" job permanently, I would probably end up with quite a bit of debt by the time I graduated.

 

[CommonAnomaly]

Camming is absolutely a real and normal job.

It's just one that some people in society aren't okay with okay, but we can't use that as a basis for calling it fake or even abnormal. So some conservative mouth breather thinks less of the amazing ladies on mfc? Who cares? Personally I find it utterly criminal that Stephenie Meyer is a published author (apologies to any Twilight fans). Using a corporate hierarchy as the basis for defining a real job falls apart when you look at writers or professional photographers who work freelance.

Being a Cam Girl is kind of like being a professional wrestler, in a way. They are hired contractors paid wages commensurate with the appeal of their physical form, and ability to perform in character and market themselves. They even all have stage names and most have catch phrases.

If I thought for a second that I could make a living camming, then I'd do it in a heartbeat.

 

[Anonymous]

someone on twitter said to me today "Ever think of getting a REAL JOB you cam whore?"

What a dick! bscene-birdiered:

It seems like the ones who say "Get a real job, whore!" are the ones who are pissed about not getting that free flash/your Skype screen name/your phone number/etc. :lol:

 

[PlayboyMegan]

I was inspired by a model in a model's only thread earlier by something she said. Instead of putting quotes around "real job" referring to camming, she referenced other jobs as "normal". I got a :icon-idea: immediately.

I think this is the perfect way around the offensive "real job" stigma. Clearly, camming is an abnormal job. It's highly misunderstood, not commonly acknowledged as a standard career path, and extremely awesome and flexible. Others are normal, in that they are widely understood and acknowledged... even taught in school!

So I request we make an agreement! The next time we want to discuss how camming is a different way to make our paychecks, we use normal and abnormal instead of that R word that seems to get all our sexy panties in a bunch.

Shall we?

i agree someone on twitter said to me today "Ever think of getting a REAL JOB you cam whore?"
bahahaha i just laughed. haters.
anyway abnormal and normal it is

I get this ALL of the time. People also tell me that I must be stupid because I did not pick a job that required intelligence. :roll:

 

[alexa7]

I was told once by someone on MFC that "I should get a real job and contribute to society like everyone else" I am sure that sexytime contributes in someway to society. The last time I checked the IRS considered MFC a job, and required me to contribute to society once again. enuff said

 

[Nordling]

I was told once by someone on MFC that "I should get a real job and contribute to society like everyone else" I am sure that sexytime contributes in someway to society. The last time I checked the IRS considered MFC a job, and required me to contribute to society once again. enuff said

You have to wonder why a person with that opinion is even poking around on MFC. I'd like to ask them, "what do you consider a contribution and what isn't?" Cam modeling comes under an umbrella of careers we might call Entertainment. What a dull, gray, pointless world we'd live in without all the many types of entertainers... singers, dancers, actors, jugglers, comics, Cam Models and countless others!

 

[Remykins]

I was told once by someone on MFC that "I should get a real job and contribute to society like everyone else" I am sure that sexytime contributes in someway to society. The last time I checked the IRS considered MFC a job, and required me to contribute to society once again. enuff said

To those guys I say "what would you do if there weren't girls like me who provided the entertainment for you to jack off to? Can you imagine a world with ZERO porn and the only thing you'd have to look at is your toilet bowl before you jizz?" Usually shuts them up.

But yes, to add to this discussion, camming IS a real job. It may not be conventional, and it may be looked down upon as degrading...but IMO, flipping burgers for minimum wage while your potential for greater goes straight out the window is degrading too. At least at my "degrading" job, I get to have fun every day, make others days brighter and happier, make a really good living and get to have experiences most people dream of. The only thing that would make this job a dream job, would be society and my family accepting what I do as a valid source of income, and quit making this shit so taboo. Most of the population enjoys pornography, yet to do it is still considered a negative thing. Its ok to wank but its not ok to be the maker of the wank material.... :roll:

 

[Bohemian_Lady]

Being a corporate zombie/slave for the last 20 yrs that's had to show up to a brick & mortar business with an established set of hours, reporting to a supervisor with a defined job duty i was obligated to perform... I do find it difficult to wrap my mind around MFC being a "real job"

I have been there... I worked for Costco, Teletech and the Salvation army, although I am very new to camming I have put a lot of work into it and starting this week I have a 9-5 Schedule to further my self in the CamWhoring buisness. As a mater of fact in an hour I'm plunging in my striper aerobics dvd for my daily work out. Also my BF is scripting some bawdy films and we start shooting those in next week.

 

[Rosemary]

Well it's certainly not a fake job... :?

 

[JoleneBrody]

Personally I find it utterly criminal that Stephenie Meyer is a published author (apologies to any Twilight fans).

That's what I'm talking bout roit thur!

 

[BCamden]

 

[alymariee]

Welp, it pays real money that I use to pay my real rent and bills. So...yes, it's definitely a real job to me. I don't personally plan on doing this as my career, but I give mad props to the ladies who are doing so! Planning for a long term career in the adult industry brings its own set of challenges with it, that I don't think I would be prepared to handle.

I enjoy camming the majority of the time, but it is work! For me, it's harder in many ways than just showing up, clocking in, and having someone tell me what I need to do. It's cool to be my own boss, but that means I have to motivate myself. I would like to do freelance web design when I graduate, and right now I am learning some valuable lessons about working at home and running my own business. I am generally not the most motivated person but I feel like I'm becoming more self disciplined.

I had a seasonal retail job last month, and ended up not having time to cam. I could not cover my expenses on that salary...and I don't live lavishly at all, but part time minimum wage just doesn't pay the bills. I can be financially independent with camming; I'm not going into student loan debt like so many of my friends, and I am very grateful for that. If I had to go back to a "normal" job permanently, I would probably end up with quite a bit of debt by the time I graduated.

i find myself having to motivate myself to. and it makes it that much harder of a job...
i mean think about it. do you HAVE to work a 9 to 5 FOR someone for it to be a REAL job?
no.
you can run your own business and be your own boss and still have it be REAL job!

we are running our own business. it doesnt matter if we show our bodies.
it also doesnt make us "unintelligent" cause we didnt "pick a job of intelligence"

to be honest i think this job takes a lot more than customers, fans, or family and friends seem to realize. you really have to be able to think on the fly. be able to change your mood as quicly as possible in order to get your room in the right mood so you can make your money for the night. you have to think of clever things to keep the guys guessing... cause im sorry but you guys get bored easily lol. and its ok i do too. on top of all that we have to be sexy and entertaining AND BE A BUSINESS WOMAN.
no girl (or very few) show for free. and that is because it is our BUSINESS. you cant go to mcds and get the burger before you pay and people who work at mcds dont get bitched at for "not having a real job"

personally... id rather work for myself and have the possibility to make way more than minimum wage than have to work FOR someone and only make minimum wage.

sorry if that seemed a little heated ive just dealt with some buttheads today on cam!

anyway...
camming is a very REAL and NORMAL job and people just need to start getting used to that

 

[RedHerby1]

it's a normal job. I just asked a Romanian model "How was your weekend?" and did get the answer "I was in the mountains for a team build with my colleagues from the studio".

And yes, all the models did return from this trip, no one was killed and buried in the mountains

 

[Bohemian_Lady]

-I send dirty emails to those who tip for them. This takes about an hour each day.

Why didn't I think of that!! @_@ not to hijack this thread but how much do you charge in tokens for dirty e-mails?

 

[Miss_Lollipop]

I list prices on my site.

http://domme.miss-lollipop.com/?page_id=26

these are just the domme ones but they're the same price

 

[tonyxtreme]

I was told once by someone on MFC that "I should get a real job and contribute to society like everyone else" I am sure that sexytime contributes in someway to society. The last time I checked the IRS considered MFC a job, and required me to contribute to society once again. enuff said

He's probably the same asshat that things girls that work at hooters are disparaging towards women and tell girls there that "they should get a real job". Well last time I checked, and I have several friends that worked there over the years, most are college educated, raise their kids and are excellent parents, are fully functioning members of society. So the proof is in the pudding.

 

[SNATCH]

I personally feel that anyone who doesn't consider MFC to be a "real" job is a fucking dumbshit. [When I say this, this goes for the people that are telling models to get real jobs]

Since we are getting paid, in REAL money, && not Monopoly money, yes, it's a real job, lolllllllsssss.

 

[Jessi]

Even though I can't put it on a resume, MFC has taught me some important skills that are valuable in other jobs

Interpersonal/communication skills (I used to be SUPER shy)
Negotiation
Planning
Self Management/ discipline
Time Management
Social networking and marketing oneself
Keeping calm under pressure, and putting on a happy face even when when you want to punch a giraffe in the nuts
Mental math has greatly improved

Im sure there's others too :thumbleft:

 

[AnnieAlleyCat]

I'd love to make MFC into a "real job" for me. Unfortunately, being a new model, with a crappy cam, and having extremely strict times for when I can get online, it makes everything that much more difficult. However, since I haven't found any sort of other job (after two years of looking), this is my job.

 

[innesx]

I don't cam strictly on MFC, in fact I'm very rarely on there anymore, but my camming is part time. I have another part time job that I love and is more guaranteed income. But I believe camming is a real job for some people, yes!