Thinking of becoming an escort? It’s not all glitz and glam. Despite some of the better pop culture portrayals of the sex worker life, it can be incredibly hard physically and emotionally. If you’ve been curious about getting into the business, there are quite a number of points you might not have considered. We’ve put together a list of ten things you’ll need to think about before you dive head-first into escorting.
What to Consider When You Want to Become An Escort
1. What’s your name? Is it long, hard to spell or commonly mispronounced? You might have a problem there. Many professional sex workers don’t use their real names; others will combine their first/middle names to something short and catchy. Names are important because of how your profession will fit in with your personal life – if at all. If you’re going into escorting, hoping to remain relatively anonymous and never being caught by your family and friends – get a pseudonym! Our tip: think of the name you always wished your parents had named you.
2. It’s not money for nothing. Sure, you love sex and maybe you can deepthroat. But how often are you going all out in the sack? Imagine that level of effort, multiple times per day. Sex work is incredibly physically demanding on your muscles and your privates – think seriously about soreness, UTI’s and yeast infections from condoms and lube. Stock up on cranberry juice and Canesten.
3. How much time are you willing to dedicate to your craft? Assuming you’re decently popular, you’ll be receiving plenty of emails, texts and voicemails from potential clients. Your job isn’t just gettin’ it on; you’ll be your own personal assistant. Screen every single bit of contact and make sure your customer is legitimate; time wasters are annoying but violent creeps are worse. That leads us to safety…
4. Are you going with an agency or solo? If you’re solo – will you take cabs or will you have someone to drive you? Having a trusted person to take you to and from is handy – what happens when you’ve caught a cab to meet one person at their hotel, but you arrive to find two (or more) waiting for you? Hopefully your cab hasn’t left. Always have someone available for a safecall.
5. Speaking of location, where do you entertain clients and will you offer an outcall service? If you live at home, think about renting rooms in a hotel or brothel. Be picky with your outcalls – some may be nice hotels, while others will be to private residences. Some escorts will refuse house outcalls, it’s like online dating – always meet somewhere public (well, as public as possible)
6. Can you dedicate time and effort to your appearance? Hair, makeup, nails, working out – this stuff is essential if you’re advertising yourself online. Your face will most likely be blurred, but the rest of your body needs to be true to the photos.
7. What are your dos and don’ts? Be upfront about what your services are (and aren’t) to avoid any misunderstandings during a booking, and so your client knows what your boundaries are. Don’t be pressured to do anything you don’t really like just for the money, and you’re absolutely free to keep certain things for your personal life. You have to put a price on these services, too. How much is your best handjob?
8. Your personal life. Are you in a relationship, or will you be? Any partner you become involved with needs to know what you’re all about before exchanging bodily fluids and serious emotions. Obviously you’ll be using condoms for everything (including blowjobs) and getting tested regularly. If you don’t date while you work, consider future partners – they’d be better off hearing it from you than finding it out online.
9. You are basically a small business (or if you’re a man, you may not be so small...) but this means you have a legal obligation to declare your earnings and pay taxes. Look into the legality of what you want to do and how you plan to advertise, these things are dependent on what state you live in.
10. Are you emotionally strong enough for this work? Unfortunately, this is hard to gauge before you dive in. You probably think you’re good to go because of X, Y and Z, but really think about it, consider your reasons for entering the industry and whether they’re healthy. Think about all the things listed above; the amount of time, organisation and effort – both mental and physical – and decide if you can commit to the lifestyle.
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