Would you be interested in joining a studio if…?

[Lupus_Magnus]

Would you be interested in joining a studio if…?

In my brief search looking into the caming business - the only thing I seem to see is that girls should work independently and studios are to be avoided.

But I was wondering if people may be interested in joining a studio if it offered the same type of benefits that I offer my contractors at my game companies; These benefits include health insurance, dental insurance, vision care, life insurance, paid vacation leave, paid personal leave, paid sick leave, child care, fitness, a retirement plan/401k, etc.

Just doing some basic math, for 15% of 10 average Cam Models ( grossing 3k a month) my company could provide the best health insurance out there easily , probably 1-1.5k left over a month for the studio in reserve for paid time off.

In addition , the studio would provide all the basics; training if need, promotion, a room community manager , any website /design help that was needed, and help removing any videos that find their way to other sites, etc.

So, lots of benefits for models to unionize - not so much for the studio as there wouldn’t be any profits … Ah-ha! You say? This poor guy really wants to help us and doesn’t care about the money.

Well – no. I am doing this for cash :dance:

Setting up a studio is only the first step. I want to learn everything I can from you and eventually I want to create my own cam site. I have a background in making/publishing/monetizing MMORPGs, and I think I could take a website like myfreecams and increase the revenue by at least double per model.

So, I have some financial goals for the site. I'd like to be netting in the mid six figures & I’m willing to dump about 200k into the creation of it. You can read a little about me here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mmosmart/

There are lots of things I don’t know about the industry yet, so this might not make sense. Which makes your feedback greatly appreciated!

Also,the benefits would only be available for U.S. models. But I'd be happy to brainstorm what we could do outside of the U.S.

 

[BarbieLuv]

Question 1:
If you're offering these benefits, would the girls being working set hours/hourly wage/have to 'call in sick'/ask to take time off/etc.? Because my favorite thing about this job is being able to take 2 weeks off because I've got the flu, or drop a scheduled day to go visit family, or stay online as long as I want to make as much money as I need. Having some sort of unionized 9-to-5-type environment doesn't sound condusive to the freedom non-studio models enjoy now. Health insurance is great and all, but I can pay for that out-of-pocket just fine without giving a % my earnings to a studio.

Question 2:
Where are you getting the 'average' camgirl salary is $3k? I'd wager a guess that on most sites it's a LOT lower than that; the average camscore on MFC is 600, which is roughly $12 per hour. That means that the average model on MFC would have to work 250 hr per month (roughly 63 hr per week) to make your 'average' salary. I'm willing to wager that $1000 would be more of a 'median' income (that's around 20 hr per week), which means that you'd actually need 30 camgirls making at LEAST that salary to cover benefits. Keep in mind that many models earn less, and some earn more, but this is just using 'median' data.

Question(s) 3:
What do you know about the webcam business/webcam models other than "Hey, this sounds like a good way to make money!"? Have you ever worked in the adult industry/with webcam services before? What experience are you bringing to the table that would make this a solid, dependable work environment? Do you have a team in place, or would this be a solo project? What % would you be taking from the models to make this health insurance happen?

 

[Lupus_Magnus]

Hi, Thank you for your quick reply. To your questions:

1. No, that's terrible. We live in the future! No one should have to work when they don't want to. People should want to work, and if they want to work they do their jobs better. However, if you wanted to go visit family or got sick - I think there should be some sort of paid time off system in place that you could request, but if you wanted to take more time off then the system allowed - I don't see a reason to penalize anyone.

2. I got the average from the models I had spoke to , a lot of them are/were in the top 20 for MFC so that's probably why the number is higher than average. I don't think I could make the numbers work for any model that grosses less than 3k , at least with the best plans. You might have to step down to a silver or bronze package. I'd say if this is your fulltime job and your not pulling in all that much income then this option wouldn't be right for you. It's hard out there and I know every dollar counts when you are first starting out.

3. Not a lick of experience! But I am passionately curious. I've sold a few companies in the past that inflates my ego just enough that I believe I can do this. I've recently started working with designers & engineers in SEA which gives me a large team with good margins to let me create things - I would create a new company here in the U.S. , but I would use the same Payroll & benefits companies for this new endeavor so the transition for everyone should be smooth. Percentage - in the 10 to 15% range.

 

[Fay_Galore]

I'm thinking, girls who make 3000 a month probably don't need the extras your offer since they're definitely considered successful in camming already.
Most girls already set aside a percentage of their earning for sick days, vacations and health care. Also, take into consideration, maybe camgirls don't make 40 hours a week on cam, but I'd like to bet most make at least as many hours being on cam as off cam preparing shows, promo stuff, social media, shooting and editing videos. etc.

I don't see much benefit to be honest. If you want to understand camming and camsites, the ultimate way to do that is sign up as a performer yourself! (seriously).

 

[BarbieLuv]

Thanks for your reply, but I agree with Faye - I'm in the general income range/slightly above what you state is needed for the best health insurance and could easily pay for it myself out-of-pocket for a LOT less than 10-15% of my income per month. Paid time off? Well, that's why I have a nicely padded savings account/rainy day fund. Requesting paid time off also seems like it could potentially be a lot of hassle/hoops to jump through as well to actually receive the benefits.

The only real way I see your plan working is if you encouraged lower-income models (so the actual 'average' salary and below) to join who actually needed the benefits you're talking about because their overall income isn't high enough to pay for health insurance/sick days out-of-pocket. That could really be a great addition to the camgirl community, especially for girls who might be camming because of health issues of some sort, but don't pull in a lot of money per month. But it seems like you don't want to cover/employ girls who earn below a certain threshold, so... Yeah.

It's worth mentioning that the Top 20 in Miss MFC that you've talked can easily make 10x your original 'average' camgirl income estimate in just one month, so they wouldn't have a need for this service either (can pay for their own health insurance/days off just fine.) It's easy to look at this industry with lots of optimism, but new studios/camsites pop up every week, and all expect to succeed. Out of all of them, I can name 4-5 really successful camsites and only 2-3 studios that have any sort of notoriety. It's a vast industry, but you admit that you have no knowledge of it, and seem to expect to start up a camsite of your own and have models earning $3k per month right off the bat. Just going to be honest: That's not likely to happen.

It might be a good idea to do more research into the industry as a whole, camgirl salaries, what payroll companies will work with adult industry businesses, licensing, 2257 complience, etc. Just learn as much as you can about what you're getting into before putting any real work into it, because you might find out that it's just not for you.

:twocents-02cents:

 

[Lupus_Magnus]

Hi Fay, I appreciate that.

I still see benefit in it, the collective power of a group getting lower rates. But I understand what you are saying, and I am glad to hear young people today are financially responsible to start saving for retirement early.

But if this something that really doesn't help anyone, I could just skip the studio idea.

And me? On Cam?

 

[AedanRayne]

What about those models who don't put in many hours?

For instance, Cam Model A puts in 15 hours a month and doesn't make much money. While Cam Model B puts in 30 hours a week and is consistently in the top. Would each model get the same benefits (including health insurance)? It doesn't seem fair that Cam Model A received the same perks as the model who works harder and has a higher income. Would you have rules that'd allow you to "fire" a model from specific benefits if she didn't make a quota?

Personally, this is not something that I'm interested in but it's an interesting idea. I like being independent (that's a huge advantage to being a cam model imo). That's not to say that some models wouldn't prefer having a company offer these perks.

EDIT: Not only is it not fair but what incentive does Cam Model A have to work harder? She can coast along, not making your company additional revenue, if she's getting the same perks as Model B.

 

[BarbieLuv]

And me? On Cam?

I didn't say to become a camguy, I said to learn about the industry more. There are plenty of ways to do that without being in front of the camera (watching models, reading camsite/studio TOS, researching adult industry laws, etc.)

 

[Lupus_Magnus]

The only real way I see your plan working is if you encouraged lower-income models (so the actual 'average' salary and below) to join who actually needed the benefits you're talking about because their overall income isn't high enough to pay for health insurance/sick days out-of-pocket. That could really be a great addition to the camgirl community, especially for girls who might be camming because of health issues of some sort, but don't pull in a lot of money per month. But it seems like you don't want to cover/employ girls who earn below a certain threshold, so... Yeah.

:twocents-02cents:

There you are again. And thank you, that little nugget might be something.

Also, I think I was a little misleading - the 10 -15% was off a 3k average in my mind. As you said the top 20 do indeed make much more than that. They would only need to pay the % to cover their cost which for a benefit packages for my current employees range about $350-750 a month depending on what all they want included. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Lupus_Magnus]

And me? On Cam?

I didn't say to become a camguy, I said to learn about the industry more. There are plenty of ways to do that without being in front of the camera (watching models, reading camsite/studio TOS, researching adult industry laws, etc.)

Sorry that was in reply to Fay's post. Sorry to be confusing, you're coming at me to fast.

 

[BarbieLuv]

The only real way I see your plan working is if you encouraged lower-income models (so the actual 'average' salary and below) to join who actually needed the benefits you're talking about because their overall income isn't high enough to pay for health insurance/sick days out-of-pocket. That could really be a great addition to the camgirl community, especially for girls who might be camming because of health issues of some sort, but don't pull in a lot of money per month. But it seems like you don't want to cover/employ girls who earn below a certain threshold, so... Yeah.

:twocents-02cents:

There you are again. And thank you, that little nugget might be something.

Also, I think I was a little misleading - the 10 -15% was off a 3k average in my mind. As you said the top 20 do indeed make much more than that. They would only need to pay the % to cover their cost which for a benefit packages for my current employees range about $350-750 a month depending on what all they want included. I hope that makes sense.

So for an 'average' earning model, to be eligible for insurance/benefits she'd actually be giving you 35-75% of her income (on top of whatever camsite she was working for was taking off) with probably a few extra percent so that you could generate profit on top of the percentage you're already taking? That would leave her with only $250-$650 per month to cover bills; assuming she's working 20 hr weeks (on-cam, not even taking into account off-cam work), that's only $3.13-$8.12 per hr to work for your studio... so she'd be making less than min. wage at the end of the day.

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, I'm not going to lie, that sounds like a shitty deal. :?

 

[Lupus_Magnus]

What about those models who don't put in many hours?

For instance, Cam Model A puts in 15 hours a month and doesn't make much money. While Cam Model B puts in 30 hours a week and is consistently in the top. Would each model get the same benefits (including health insurance)? It doesn't seem fair that Cam Model A received the same perks as the model who works harder and has a higher income. Would you have rules that'd allow you to "fire" a model from specific benefits if she didn't make a quota?

Personally, this is not something that I'm interested in but it's an interesting idea. I like being independent (that's a huge advantage to being a cam model imo). That's not to say that some models wouldn't prefer having a company offer these perks.

EDIT: Not only is it not fair but what incentive does Cam Model A have to work harder? She can coast along, not making your company additional revenue, if she's getting the same perks as Model B.

Hi Aedan, Thanks for joining in.

I think that is a great question. At my current company, I have a structure in place for those that work harder and pay them a monthly bonus of 5% of net revenues.

I believe we could do more to reward the harder workers on a site that we had control over, but that's more strategy to think on for the future. I really like that question thank you.

 

[Lupus_Magnus]

So for an 'average' earning model, to be eligible for insurance/benefits she'd actually be giving you 35-75% of her income (on top of whatever camsite she was working for was taking off) with probably a few extra percent so that you could generate profit on top of the percentage you're already taking? That would leave her with only $250-$650 per month to cover bills; assuming she's working 20 hr weeks (on-cam, not even taking into account off-cam work), that's only $3.13-$8.12 per hr to work for your studio... so she'd be making less than min. wage at the end of the day.

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, I'm not going to lie, that sounds like a shitty deal. :?

Right I agree 100%, like I had mentioned above to your second question, if you're not earning a lot right now - this might not be your best bet as I am imagining it. But I do like your idea for something for low earning models. I just don't know what that would be right now.

 

[BarbieLuv]

Right I agree 100%, like I had mentioned above to your second question, if you're not earning a lot right now - this might not be your best bet as I am imagining it. But I do like your idea for something for low earning models. I just don't know what that would be right now.

Okay, real-world scenario: One of your models averages $3k a month, pays her 10-15% for health insurance, brings in the income, etc. But one month, she hits a slump - Her earnings are barely $750 for the entire month. Maybe the tippers aren't there, maybe her grandma got sick, something happens and her earnings for the month are quite literally just what she owes for health insurance, with nothing left over. Does she have any options for this? Do you bail her out/pay for the insurance/cover her expenses? Or does she just have to pay you her entire monthly salary and let her bills go overdue?

Just to clarify, I'm not just making this example up, this exact scenario (minus paying for insurance) has happened to me before. Camming is a fickle business sometimes, and bad months happen to pretty much every model. So how do you handle it?

 

[Lupus_Magnus]

Wonderful Scenario!

So in my mind, most companies only give benefits after a 90 day trail period. if things look good during those 90 days, then no problem.

But, say if on day 95 the models disappears for 30 days. She would still be covered for those 30 days - plus 30 days after , but she would be let go at that point , but would have access to a health insurance at the special rate if she wanted to continue coverage and pay for it herself.

Now say they wanted to come back and try again? Well if the reason was good - and not just running away to Bali with her girlfriends for a month then she could apply to come back ,I think that would be fair. What do you think?

 

[BarbieLuv]

Wonderful Example.

So in my mind, most companies only give benefits after a 90 day trail period. if things look good during those 90 days, then no problem.

But, say if on day 95 the models disappears for 30 days. She would still be covered for those 30 days - plus 30 days after , but she would be let go at that point , but would have access to a health insurance at the special rate if she wanted to continue coverage and pay for it herself.

Now say they wanted to come back and try again? Well if the reason was good - and not just running away toBbali with her girlfriends for a month then she could apply to come back ,I think that would be fair. What do you think?

So when a girl signed up with you, she'd be giving you 10-15% of her income during a 'trial' period WITHOUT getting any sort of benefit other than 'eventually you will be insured'? And in the meantime, she would need to make sure her income was maintained at a certain level for 3 months (quite a feat, as other girls will attest), and I'm assuming if her income didn't stay above $3k... then she wouldn't be eligible for your plan anymore/be kicked out of the studio? That's a risky gamble on the models part, for sure.

Also, while your answer was informative, it really has nothing to do with the trial scenario I gave. I wasn't talking about a model disappearing, I was talking about her income tanking for a month, and whether or not you would take 100% of her income to cover her insurance/your profit, or if you would cover her. You didn't address that at all. For arguments sake, let's say that this is her 5th month working for your studio, so she's already passed your 'trial' period. What would you do? Cover her, kick her out, or make her pay a higher percentage back over the next few months to 'make up' for the lost insurance money?

 

[Lupus_Magnus]

I don't see any reason to take a % of income until we committed to each other at the end of the 90 days.

Sorry if I miss answered your question. But it would still work out the same, we would have 60 days to figure out what was wrong and why income dropped. But if there is nothing we can do after that time? I am not sure, maybe ask the other models in the group if they mind carrying her for another month? See if we could reduce the models benefits package to the minimum of what she needs? It's hard to stop working with someone at that point, but if things aren't going well and can't be fixed then they have to end.

 

[JickyJuly]

You're really not offering anything these girls can't buy for themselves for the same price or less. On top of that, buying your own insurance means less worry over privacy. If you want to soak up some piece of the camming pie, pimp an affiliate link. You got nothin' man.

 

[BarbieLuv]

I don't see any reason to take a % of income until we committed to each other at the end of the 90 days.

Sorry if I miss answered your question. But it would still work out the same, we would have 60 days to figure out what was wrong and why income dropped. But if there is nothing we can do after that time? I am not sure, maybe ask the other models in the group if they mind carrying her for another month? See if we could reduce the models benefits package to the minimum of what she needs? It's hard to stop working with someone at that point, but if things aren't going well and can't be fixed then they have to end.

Questions!

1.) What do you mean 'what was wrong'? Are you going to offer advice as to how to earn money to the model, help promote her in some way, or are you simply talking about lending an ear to her issues/working out arrangements?
2.) What if it was just a slow month, would you still see the model as a safe person to partner with after her income dropped so suddenly?
3.) Let's say 50% of your models suddenly have a slow month or even two (yes, this is plausible,) and you suddenly find yourself having to pay their insurance out of your own profits for 2 months while they get back on their feet. What happens to your bottom line?
4.) Are you saying that the models who begin to fail might potentially be riding on the backs of the other models in the studio's hard work/a percentage of the models who are thriving might be taken to buoying up the ones who are struggling?
5.) If the above is true, how is this arrangement fair to the successful models, who are now having to support others with their hard-earned money?
6.) Since webcamming can be so fickle and girls aren't guaranteed any sort of wage, would you have a minimum quota of some kind (per day/week) for them to continue working for you, rather than just going off of monthly earnings?

Also... Again, you're offering coverage only to those girls who can already afford it without having to give any sort of percentage of their earnings to a studio. Abiding by your proposed studio rules/regulations/earning quotas, etc. would be a pain in the butt, add an extra layer of stress to an already stressful job, and undermine all of the independence that non-studio models love so much. I still think that the only way this will work is if you offer it to girls who are making $1000 or less a month, but you'd have to take a MUCH smaller percentage to get them to sign up with you.

This is already an over-saturated industry in terms of studios/sites, so the fact that there aren't any studios offering these sorts of things to their models should tell you exactly how difficult/unrealistic it is to give camgirls employee-like benefits. In fact, since we're independent contractors, it might actually be illegal in some way (you'd need to research that hypothesis further!)

 

[AmberCutie]

Sounds like a great idea for girls who don't know how to be adults or don't know how to utilize online resources to their advantage.

Signing up for health insurance can be overwhelming.
Paying taxes can be overwhelming for independent contractors.
Learning how to create websites and catchy profiles isn't necessarily common knowledge.
Buying extra traffic or advertising can be out of our league...

If we aren't already savvy businesswomen who have our shit together, or have a good in-house support system. I'd suggest the majority of the girls "sampled" for this "in the top 20" are way beyond needing any of that. And many other girls who have at least a handful of common sense can use the Internet for research and help in the rest.

Studios are unnessary and take money that cam girls earn with their own integrity and physical presence on cam.

Unless a girl doesn't know how to be an adult(find an accountant), or doesn't have the freedom to use their own living space for cam sessions (needs an off-side dedicated and prepared camming space), or doesn't know how to research and learn how to fix up a profile and make an online presence for herself, a studio is just a waste of hard-earned cash.


So yes, there's a market for you, but you're going to get the girls who are rather clueless in business, and probably not all that profitable to you unless you're willing to do nearly everything for them except for their logging on cam to be pretty and touch their girly bits.
:twocents-02cents:

 

[HiGirlsRHot]

It seems to me this scheme might have made sense before Obamacare, but now I really question if you can get group insurance much cheaper than you can on the exchanges. Multi state insurance is really difficult to get and yet essential for camming. A 25 year old can get insurance for roughly $200/month a lot less than 10-15% that you are thinking of charging. If girls income drops from say $3K a month to $2K they are eligible for subsidy of about $1,000/year. A model is under 25 is probably better off getting covered by her parents insurance, which while not always possible often is doable.

Oh and just see Amber covered everything else I was going to say, so I'll stop.

 

[Kickaz]

Wait... You aim to hire top 20 models and pay them 3k a month... lol

Just my :twocents-02cents: I don't believe all studio systems are bad, but introducing a base pay in a business that success is based heavily on competition and dedicating long hours online, does not work.
Models would just put minimal effort for minimal results.

Also why only US models btw?

 

[IsabellaSnow]

Things like health insurance/pensions etc I don't really see as an advantage because for you to be able to do those things and still make money you would essentially be charging me more- probably considerably more- It's like saying "hey, I'll sign up for health insurance for you and charge you a few hundred $ extra for this service". It makes no logical sense to have the "benefit" when it's going to cost me more.

Payroll's etc can be useful, taxes are a pain, saving for taxes is a pain. I prefer it automatically going out of my wages so I don't ever have to think about it. I know most people are capable of hiring an accountant but in my experience with accountants you still end up having to do an awful lot of work yourself.
Being able to act as a job reference for future jobs and turn it into a more vanilla job could be useful. This is an issue for a lot of camgirls wanting to get out of the industry. Though I'm not sure if you could get in trouble for saying your girls have been doing admin for a fake company.

If I earned $3k average per month you would essentially be getting $450 of my money each month. For that $450 I would want my money's worth.

Idea's that might actually be useful for camgirls-
-Marketing. Most of it we can do ourselves over twitter etc, but marketing is a massive way to bring in new regulars.
-Profile updates/posters etc. Lots of girls have fan groups on their profiles which need to be updated with names/tips etc after each session. I don't actually have the right software on my laptop so it's a pain for me. I also honestly cannot be bothered and get fed up with it all. I'm lazy, I'd rather just get on cam and get on with it than faff about with things like that.
- Help with organising/funding girl/girl shows and other big shows.
- Funding to visit conventions?
- There are places that let you hire expensive sex toys like sybian's. I'm not entirely sure how it's done with hygiene etc, but purchasing high end toys that can be used by the camgirls for special shows (at no charge and with everything sanitary) could be useful.
- Organising events/get together's for camgirls. Maybe even helping to vet photographers and paying for photos to be taken for profiles and to sell.
- Daily pay/emergency pay
- A website with video/picture hosting, maybe something where girls could give access to paying members.
- You mentioned training- training is not something I think anyone who has never been a camgirl should try. Girls usually have a better idea of what men like about them than men do because it's unique and men are biased to their own opinions. But if you wanted to do training etc for newer camgirls then paying one of the models to spend time with the girl (probably over skype) showing her the site/different cam models, introducing her to ACF and just explaining how the site works and how to make the most of her new model status then that could be beneficial to all parties involved, including yourself.

Basically as a studio for me to benefit from giving them a percentage I would need them to help me make more money and make my cam life easier. Sick wages and holiday wages sounds pretty good but essentially I would be better off saving my own money seeing as it would be coming straight from my own pocket whilst giving you a nice little bonus. In reality I would be losing on money.
Also a lot of camgirls don't work that many hours. When I reached the top 100 I earned almost $14k but only worked 30 hours a week 6 days a week and I literally had no time for anything except camming. Expecting all camgirls to even work 20 hours a week is unrealistic. I had a reasonably good camscore so I wasn't the "average" model, but with my average earnings I'd only need to work 24-30 hours a month to make your $3k. Does that mean that all of those days off I'd be able to take I'd still get paid? How much would I be paid for them? I just don't see how it could benefit both you and the camgirl. And honestly I tended to work minimum and pulled in more like 10-15 hours a month.

The only way I could see anything benefitting both you and the camgirls would be if you worked with them on making their earnings higher and making their job that little bit more fun.
I am from the UK so I wouldn't be eligible anyway. Health insurance also clearly wouldn't be applicable for me and I have no idea if a US company could do my taxes with me in the UK.

I have always liked the idea that each time I cam I earn the same amount of money for that amount of time. It takes away the stress and pressure. What you could do is work out a camgirl's average per hour and continue paying her whatever the average is. When the average goes up you would pay her more, if her average went down you would pay her less. For me it's a psychological thing. If I feel guaranteed to earn my average then I'm a lot more keen to get on cam and work because I get nervous of not earning anything (even though that never happens sometimes I get bad days). Taking away that pressure would most likely mean I'd result in earning more even though technically I wouldn't be earning any more. I'm not entirely sure how you could work something like that out, and I don't think it'd be right for every model, but some might like it as an option.

 

[CarolinaBB]

What about girls who just need the studio for the space? Thhhats it. Is it still frowned upon in the Cam Community?

 

[BarbieLuv]

What about girls who just need the studio for the space? Thhhats it. Is it still frowned upon in the Cam Community?

That's the only reason I can see to ever join a studio really, if you need a physical location to cam from and they provide the equipment (lighting, webcam, computer, etc.) Then it might be worth giving them a small percentage of your income, at least until you can save up enough to get a place where you can cam from home. However, this sort of environment can also involve having someone watching over your shoulder/typing for you/pressure to perform sexual acts that you might be be comfortable with/set schedules/etc. So overall unless you're living in a situation where it's literally impossible to find time by yourself to cam, you're better off being independent! Also most studios don't offer any physical place to cam and are online only, you sign up for a camsite through them, and then they take a percentage of income for giving you 'advice' on how to be successful... which is often not very good advice at all.

There is, however, one exception: BoleynModels is an online studio which offers a secure daily pay option for girls, so whatever you make in earnings that day will show up in your bank account the next. They do take a small percentage for the daily pay option (which I believe is around 6% of your earnings), but I've heard nothing but good things about them, and I believe it's also run by a former model. If you wanted to join an online studio, then that would definitely be one to look into.

 

[CarolinaBB]

What about girls who just need the studio for the space? Thhhats it. Is it still frowned upon in the Cam Community?

That's the only reason I can see to ever join a studio really, if you need a physical location to cam from and they provide the equipment (lighting, webcam, computer, etc.) Then it might be worth giving them a small percentage of your income, at least until you can save up enough to get a place where you can cam from home. However, this sort of environment can also involve having someone watching over your shoulder/typing for you/pressure to perform sexual acts that you might be be comfortable with/set schedules/etc. So overall unless you're living in a situation where it's literally impossible to find time by yourself to cam, you're better off being independent! Also most studios don't offer any physical place to cam and are online only, you sign up for a camsite through them, and then they take a percentage of income for giving you 'advice' on how to be successful... which is often not very good advice at all.

There is, however, one exception: BoleynModels is an online studio which offers a secure daily pay option for girls, so whatever you make in earnings that day will show up in your bank account the next. They do take a small percentage for the daily pay option (which I believe is around 6% of your earnings), but I've heard nothing but good things about them, and I believe it's also run by a former model. If you wanted to join an online studio, then that would definitely be one to look into.

Ok, first of all... You w/ red hair = perfection.

I agree, the best way to go about it is to be independent. Since my living situation is temporarily funky, I have been looking for a studio space but its hard to find a "studio" that isn't virtual. Then that led into office space rentals.... ick... But I actually have an appointment this afternoon with a brick-&-mortar studio in San Diego. It may or may not work out, but here's to hopin'!

If it DOES work out..

Task #1: Make the studio room NOT look like a studio room.

 

[IsabellaSnow]

I've always rather liked the idea of actually going to cam in a workspace. Most of the studios you hear of are dodgy eastern european studios run by greedy men. I imagine not all of them are like that but it is the stereotype.

I like the idea of a nice rented house where you'd get your own pretty cam room to work in with all the lighting etc set up and equipment ready. I wouldn't care about scheduled times if I knew I were going to work in a nice area where other cam models would be working in other rooms in the house and you could have coffee/breaks together just like a regular job. But I'd want the entire thing to be female run and done in a pressure free, professional but friendly work environment.
I think the reason this appeals to me is I wouldn't have to explain anything to neighbours or flatmates and I'd be able to go to work on a set schedule then go home and not think about it at home. I also like the idea of being in a work environment where there are other people doing the same thing. It's why I love acf. I am a very social person so that interaction is important for me. Some of the flexibility is why I like camming, but it is also tricky if you just stop bothering or find excuses at home.

 

[CarolinaBB]

I've always rather liked the idea of actually going to cam in a workspace. Most of the studios you hear of are dodgy eastern european studios run by greedy men. I imagine not all of them are like that but it is the stereotype.

I like the idea of a nice rented house where you'd get your own pretty cam room to work in with all the lighting etc set up and equipment ready. I wouldn't care about scheduled times if I knew I were going to work in a nice area where other cam models would be working in other rooms in the house and you could have coffee/breaks together just like a regular job. But I'd want the entire thing to be female run and done in a pressure free, professional but friendly work environment.
I think the reason this appeals to me is I wouldn't have to explain anything to neighbours or flatmates and I'd be able to go to work on a set schedule then go home and not think about it at home. I also like the idea of being in a work environment where there are other people doing the same thing. It's why I love acf. I am a very social person so that interaction is important for me. Some of the flexibility is why I like camming, but it is also tricky if you just stop bothering or find excuses at home.

Like a playboy bunny mansion of camming. The only pressure is you better make your share of rent! That would be so much fun. I JUST started with a studio (like, my interview was 3 hours ago). It's run by a guy who seemed more nervous than we were lol. It's a startup business so his mentality is "if you don't succeed, we don't succeed". I'm excited to have my own space. Not excited to have to learn 2 new sites.

The huge plus is I go to work outside of the house. For family/friends that's kinda a must

 

[IsabellaSnow]

Like a playboy bunny mansion of camming. The only pressure is you better make your share of rent!

Exactly! Kind of like a sorority for camgirls! Ahhh a girl can dream

 

[CarolinaBB]

UPDATE: That studio SUUUUUCKED. Buh-Bye. :hand: