Being an Adult Webcam Entertainer
This is something that I don't like to admit, and normally I cringe at the mention of it, but in order to put the past completely behind me I must tell my story. I used to work as a solo adult webcam entertainer; this means that I was paid (per minute) to have adult related conversations and relations with people over the internet with them watching me via my webcam. I did this for about 2 years until I quit for many reasons; the most important reason being because I wanted to do something that my daughter could be proud of me for doing. Plus most of the people were often very rude.
A normal night would consist of me spending about an hour on my hair, makeup and wardrobe, queuing a few good cds for ambiance, and turning on my webcam to open my chat room for business. The host (me) would wait in their chat room for clients to enter and talk. This is where you can either persuade someone to spend their hard-earned money on you, or not. I'd have to flirt and make idle chat about their day and what they do for work...normally allowing them to direct the conversation. Being too pushy isn't beneficial unless that's the kind of room you are in. I list any limits that I have (things I will not do) and ask if there's anything the client is looking for specifically. I also had a picture and video gallery. The picture gallery was free to anyone who was purchasing time with the website so they could see more of the models. And the video gallery was a good way to make money when I wasn't online; clients would pay a viewing charge per video to watch any of the series of videos I made.
Some people are looking for softcore adult interaction, while others get online and are looking for a full-blown fetish scene. Each host has their limits and their specialties...I was a fetish entertainer. Being this, I quickly realized that a lot of people out there have things that they are hiding from the world about what gives them pleasure in one way or another. I never thought that people could be turned on and aroused by watching someone smoke a cigarette or cigar, or watching someone putting on a pair of spiked heels, or by watching the host brush her hair or paint her fingernails.
While most people are grateful to you for helping them fulfill their fantasies, there are clients that treat the host with no respect and even sometimes meet them with verbal abuse. Lots of hosts are treated this way with the belief that they offer the services of a prostitute; this is not so - a webcam host or hostess is never touched in any way, and certainly never meets anyone who is or has been a client of theirs. Some clients come into your video chat room without even coming to your chat room first and demand that you be undressed beforehand...but teasing is the name of the game. If I didn't like the way they played my game, I wouldn't let them play anymore - anyone rude can be kicked or banned from a hosts chat room upon the host's discretion.
When a client goes into a host's room, they agree before entering to pay a per-minute charge which is set by the host herself. These charges can range from $.98 a minute up to $4.98 a minute and up. I normally charges $3.98 a minute unless I was doing mostly hardcore fetish, which I would charge $4.98 a minute. The option is there for the client to be visible on their webcam, but to me this was distracting because you have to type, talk and act at the same time, and then you'd have to include making sure to watch them on their camera so they can see you're interested. The time a show for a client will take always varies, but I've had shows last up to 2 hours with one person. I did have a few loyal customers, one in particular would come to my room and spend hundreds of dollars every week to have me watch him on his webcam.
I got a paycheck every 2 weeks, and I was pretty happy with the compensation I received - which were normally between $400-$700. I got to choose the hours I wanted to work; there were no minimum or maximum amount of hours I was required to put in for my company and no mandatory weekends. Payment was logged after every paid video session so that I could see what my paycheck was going to look like and then work more or less accordingly to what I needed to make that month. A good deal of the time was wasted sitting in my chat room and video chat room waiting for customers or talking to people who have no intention of paying for a video chat session. Patience is a much-needed virtue with this job. Yes, you do have to pay taxes on the money you make while being an adult webcam entertainer. Sure the money might seem good to you, but I didn't feel that it was worth wasting hours of my time every night just to degrade myself, rarely having fun doing it, and putting up with people's attitudes.
Being an adult webcam performer has enlightened me in the ways of the world; no one is really as innocent as they seem; people are willing to put on false fronts to influence others to do things for them, give them money, and etc. There are a lot of dangerous people out there, especially in cyber space looking for someone to take advantage of - I met quite a few of them and heard their frightening stories. If you're a parent, stay away from adult chat rooms, and please use care when letting your children use the internet. Be responsible so that both you and your children can grow up safe and secure.
