AOL Whores

[Guest sdmuscl4hire]

I am a bit concerned and confused here so maybe you guys can help me. I have advertisements just about everywhere I think is a good source for clients. I also advertise on AOL. Now my account has been terminated due to an asshole reporting me to TOS because he is against prostitution. I know the feelings here about the aol escorts but HELLO, if I relied only on the calls from the viewers on this website I would be starving to death. How does one make a living escorting just on the review section on this site?

[BewareofNick]

>I am a bit concerned and confused here so maybe you guys can

>help me. I have advertisements just about everywhere I think

>is a good source for clients. I also advertise on AOL. Now

>my account has been terminated due to an asshole reporting

>me to TOS because he is against prostitution. I know the

>feelings here about the aol escorts but HELLO, if I relied

>only on the calls from the viewers on this website I would

>be starving to death. How does one make a living escorting

>just on the review section on this site?

 

Michael, you might try using some of the more creative ways that some of your fellow escorts use to advertise on AOL:

 

SmallTownJohn:

 

Member Name: I am a *COMPENSATED MALE COMPANION*(ALWAYS on TOP of the situation)--remember: A Ford Escort is a car

Location: In Atlanta NOW (June 17th & 18th) Washington DC(June 19th thru June 23rd) Soon:Nashvile & Kansas City

Sex: Male

Marital Status: PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS ONLY

Hobbies: Serious inquirers over 21 years old...ASK for the LINK to my WEBSITE *No Offense but NOT into Blk. guys*

Computers: Upfront, Honest & Nationally Recognized***Casual, Masc. & Discreet***Don't Do TINA

Occupation: Nothing is ever intimated or inferred by my profile or page...for entertainment purposes only

Personal Quote: REMINDER: Be cautious of evasive guys, fly-by-night operations & major attitude/hype

Hometown HomePage: http://hometown.aol.com/smalltownjohn1/

 

These guys had the same problem that you did:

 

Atlyngmassage

 

Member Name: JOSH and Drew

Location: Atlanta, GA

Sex: Male

Marital Status: SERIOUS ONLY IMs ONLY!!

Hobbies: Josh-5'9-140-Brn-Haz-24 yo (B)

Computers: Drew: 6'2-190-Blonde-Blue - 24 yo (T)

Occupation: Ford Escort Dealers and Students

Personal Quote: New name aol reasons!!! IM or E-mail us now for info!

[Guest sdmuscl4hire]

how do they differ

[Guest DCeBOY]

i'm supposed to be on sabbatical, and we're not even friendly with one another, but... i'll try to be helpful. (i swear i'd be canonized if i weren't jewish!) :+

for AOL, you just have to stay a step ahead of the game.

currently, "escort" is frowned upon in profiles. say "compensated companion" or something to that effect.

make sure there is NOTHING sexually explicit or vulgar in your profile. do NOT list any kind of genital measurements or even refer to genitalia. don't put a link or URL for a website that has nude pics on it; just say something like "contact me for photos" but DO NOT email nude pics! ever! point people toward a website.

[+ deej]

Ethan nailed it.

 

AOL narcs are routinely looking for specific buzzphrases in profiles. For a while it was "M4M". Right now it's "Escort".

 

You have to Pay Attention and stay one step ahead of them.

 

And you shouldn't use AOL as your primary e-mail address. (Read HooBoy's diatribe about this in the FAQ -- it isn't there without reason!)

 

There is also a loon called "ReportDaHo" trolling AOL looking for escorts and reporting them to TOS. (In fact, he often posts bile-filled messages here but we kill 'em in the queue.)

 

All you can do is stay ahead of them.

[Guest sdmuscl4hire]

Damn I really do have a communication problem dont I, How does one make a decent living without advertising on AOL, I know damn well the things said about us that do advertise on AOL here on this site, so tell me how to make a decent living without AOL

[Guest sdmuscl4hire]

Member Name: Michael Johnson

Location: San Diego/Orange County

Sex: Male

Marital Status: Professional, Compensated Male

Hobbies: Ford Escorts really are the way to go if chosen correctly, Ask for my Web Page Link

Computers: I play in the "middle of the road" as it tends to keep you more entertained. Local and Nationally recognized.

Occupation: Quality and Professionalism are what I base my life on. Tina is the name of a Performer who sings her heart and soul, period.

 

Just in case someone else tries to tell me how to write an AOL profile the above is what I use

[Guest Tampa Yankee]

deej and ethan have it right. Use AOL as an adjunct. Keep your profile clean but not squeaky clean. Get your point across without the buzz word alarms or being too explicit about exchange of cash for service. Use 'male companion' and be clever like the example BofN gives. Indicate that you are available by appointment and have a wide range of interests. Interested parties are invited to inqure via email -- where you might direct them to a wep page.

 

BTW AOL is not the culprit as deej says. THey seem to only take action in response to complaints. I came to this conclusion when I figured that AOL could find escorts on AOL as easy I can and there is a shit load. It would be like deleting fish in a barrel if their heart was set on it. NOt saying that they are your friend only that they devote their resources to attracting more customers and making their shitty browser more so. :+

[+ deej]

Looks good to me.

 

Of course, if someone turns you in to TOS you're done. Period. No appeals.

 

That's just the way the AOL narcs work.

 

And to think you actually *pay* for that kind of customer service! x(

[Guest sdmuscl4hire]

How does one make a decent living without advertising on AOL, I know damn well the things said about us that do advertise on AOL here on this site, so tell me how to make a decent living without AOL

[Guest DCeBOY]

how to work without AOL

 

oh good christ! i'll be selling all of my posessions and moving to calcutta soon!

 

well, michael, the answer to your question can be found in the answer to a question of mine: why do you feel you need AOL to make a living? what is it that AOL is doing for you now?

i have an AOL account (actually 2, but that's a long story involving paranoia that i don't need to get into at the moment) but it really isn't useful as a business tool. in fact, soon, i'll be dropping one of the accounts, i think. in the past approximately 9 months that i've kept track of it, i have attained ONE client from AOL--maybe two. i won't say that everyone on AOL is a wanker ready to try to get pics as masturbatory material, but a high percentage is. the only thing i can think of that AOL is good for is keeping in touch with existing clients. for the most part folks go on AOL either to "hook-up" or to sit there & castigate their primates.

 

marketing, i think, is your problem, michael. AOL is where you market yourself. change that. you're reviewed here, aren't you? in some markets i think that's more beneficial than in others. do you have a reasonably high-quality website of your own that does NOT bombard a visitor with unending pop-up ads? if you don't, get one. with the vast array of web-building tools out there you can probably set it up yourself. i would advise staying away from a free server. they're slow, unreliable, and force ads. you can get a decent hosting package for LESS than you're probably spending on AOL every month. (i think i pay about $10.70 for mine.) be careful of any charges for bandwidth usage--there will be software that can help you monitor such things so you stay within your quota. if you have an overage, upgrade to a different package.

 

you're going to think i'm being mean when i say this next bit, but i'm not. decide what you want to say on your site, and then have someone anal enough to be bothered by mistakes check it over. spelling errors, misused punctuation, and grammatical errors are all easily avoided. they point to a cliched 'dumb whore' & i don't think you're dumb. just have someone else proof your writing. let some of your personality come out on the site. make it unique.

 

once you've decided what you want to say, make sure your pictures are clear & up-to-date. (i should follow my own advice here, but that's not really my point!) i tend to often forget that not everyone has DSL, so reduce the resolution on pics so that they are still nice & clear, but won't take an hour to download on a regular modem.

 

after you've developed your site & it is up & running, promote it. i'm bad at this, but others here (perhaps deej) could provide you with some useful tips. there are lots of escort rings & things out there. you might also want to join the escort mailing list. (i've been banned--go figure!--because i'm not a typical bleeding heart, brainwashed, liberal fag; if you contact me privately, i will give you info on how to join it.) if you can sort through the drivel, you do sometimes get some good networking & advice.

 

list yourself on as many escort sites as possible. i don't know whatever happened to escorts4you; it seemed to crash & burn after this site really took off. consider rentboy. i joined, but haven't had anywhere near the client response i anticipated. the DC section of the site is small, though. i'll give it a few months. i have no idea what they have in terms of san diego listings. others to consider are meetlocalmen. personally, i think they're crap, but other folks seem to do well by them. for the most part, these listing services are free of charge to the escort. (i know rentboy charges though.) somewhere, i have a list of sites to get listed on. contact me privately & i'll send it to you. this message is already way too long for me to include it here.

 

you CAN live well without AOL. i'm not saying to get rid of AOL. you just shouldn't throw all your eggs in the AOL basket. if you keep it, great! it will be a back-up and it will supplement your other (more effective) marketing efforts.

 

i hope this helps & i hope it passes dan's muster.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Ford Escorts

 

Ethan, Deej and Beware of Nick all made excellent suggestions and points.

 

But Tampa Yankee raises the more interesting comment. Part of what AOL does is combine things. So therefore "top quality" or "top service" combined with "Ford Escort" or "male companionship" is sufficient for their purposes. It really does not matter HOW you word it. Changing your profile regularly is a good idea. Another thing is to take great care with the conversations and IM exchanges you have on line. This is not going to prevent someone who simply stumbles upon your profile and reports you, but you can minimize those odds. You can also simply create a new account, which is a hassle but none the less possible. If you care to write me directly, I have some more suggestions for you as we just had the same problem with one of the Twink Hos in April and I know too other escorts here in Los Angeles with the same problem.

 

Good Luck!

[Guest DCeBOY]

>Member Name: Michael Johnson

>Location: San Diego/Orange County

>Sex: Male

>Marital Status: Professional, Compensated Male

>Hobbies: Ford Escorts really are the way to go if chosen

>correctly, Ask for my Web Page Link

>Computers: I play in the "middle of the road" as it tends to

>keep you more entertained. Local and Nationally recognized.

>Occupation: Quality and Professionalism are what I base my

>life on. Tina is the name of a Performer who sings her heart

>and soul, period.

>

>Just in case someone else tries to tell me how to write an

>AOL profile the above is what I use

 

well, you're trying to be too cute with it.

i'd take out the blurb about ford escorts. it is superfluous since you have compensated male (although i'd add "companion" to the compensated male part). the tina thing is sketchy. let people ask you about drugs & say no. you're a bit too pre-emptive on that one, i think.

 

you can put your height & weight on there if you want. even sizes of various muscles. don't try to get cute & put "shoe" sizes or anything like that.

[BgMstr4u]

RE: Ford Escorts

 

"How does one make a decent living without advertising on AOL, I know damn well the things said about us that do advertise on AOL here on this site, so tell me how to make a decent living without AOL"

 

It has been said in more place than one that one of the pillars of aol's success is gay participation, including escort activity. I doubt very much if aol is actively searching for and deleting escort profiles, and agree with the posters above: they are responding, on a minimal response level, to individual complaints. They disallow your profile, but they do not actually ban you from aol.

 

It seems to me however that there is another issue here. As much as I love escorts and hope for legalization, the fact remains that solicitation and provision of sex for money is illegal in the US, no matter how it is dressed up. The harassmenet of escorts on aol is not structurally different from going after boys on the street, arresting people in bars and bathrooms, and setting up stings to catch the unwary. Vigilance against trouble of this sort is part of the price paid for working on the other side of the line drawn by official society.

 

What to do? Do what people in this arena have always done: Be alert. Be less obvious, more clever. Persevere. Be careful. Watch your back. Don't assume that because the internet is a new medium which crosses legal jurisdictions and therefore has not yet fallen into a clear legal status that it won't or doesn't.

 

One final thought. aol is a good example of the privatization of law. There is no compelling legal reason for aol to go after profiles as it does, even in its present minimal way. That it does so seems to be an anticipation of future regulation, and an avoidance of legal hassles from pro-regulation morals types. A sort of pre-emptive action which will inoculate them from trouble while allowing the activity which generates so much of their business to continue. Hypocritical? Yes. Necessary? Yes. Beneficial to our interests? In the current climate, probably.

[Guest BodyWork By Bill]

RE: Ford Escorts

 

Here's what I do. The main reason for wanting the word escort in my profile is for people doing searches for escorts online, but I don't want it to be seen by the casual chatroom viewer. By adding the following line to my profile, anyone who is searching for the keywords "escort" and "AZ" will see my screen name. However when they pull up my profile, the word escort can't be seen visually. What it does is change the font to white type on white background, adds the text, then changes the font back to black on white. Here is the line:

 

< body . bgcolor=#FFFFFE> < font . color=#FFFFFE> Ford Escort < font . color=#000000>

 

I added the ford part just to be on the safe side. I've had the same aol account for 6 years now, ducking their radar is second nature to me now. <knocking on wood>

 

BTW there is a ton of stuff you can do with aol profiles that most people don't know about. If you'd like more info check this url:

 

http://www.coloryourprofyle.com/

[+ deej]

RE: Ford Escorts

 

That's a really useful site for AOL users, but be ready for a FLOOD of popup and pop-under windows when you leave it.

[Guest DCeBOY]

why aol does it

 

i've known several people who were very highly placed in aol before the time-warner merger. aol isn't anticipating future regulation. they provide a PRIVATE service. there is no public "right" to aol. the simple fact is: they get to set up whatever TOS they like (within the confines of the law) and you get to either accept them (have an account) or not (go elsewhere).

take a look at AOL's ads on TV. they bill themselves as the cyber-disneyland almost. they're going for a "pro-family" (i know that's a loaded phrase, but bear with me) and VERY PRO-CHILD atmosphere. because a profile--to be effective--is available for ANYONE to come across, they regulate profiles. it is a matter--for them--of not offending other members. it doesn't matter if other members actually ARE offended; they've decided what's offensive & what isn't.

 

i'm rambling...

[+ deej]

RE: why aol does it

 

>i'm rambling...

 

No, actually you provided a pretty good summary of the situation.

 

Years ago, when AOL was just starting up, I lived in the DC area and was offered a free lifetime AOL membership if I'd switch from Compuserve. (They AGGRESSIVELY went after that market!)

 

I declined at that time, as did most Compuserve members I know. The vendors we communicated with were all on Compuserve, not AOL.

 

Within a year I was hearing about TOS violations and cancellations, and that continues to this day. In the early days, the word "aggressive" was a trigger to get your profile nuked.

 

It's sorta ironic that AOL finally got me as a customer BY BUYING COMPUSERVE. x(

[DaninWA]

No offense guys, but I don't think any of you answered Michael's question. How does he make a decent living without using AOL? What other avenues are available to him that will actually draw clients?

 

I have very little experience with escorts (only one), so I wouldn't be much help. I'll take a stab at it from a career change perspective.

 

Michael, what were you doing before you started escorting? Would returning to that job or something similar be an option for you? What about becoming a personal trainer? I've seen your photos. You obviously know how to build a great body. I'm not suggesting that you should change careers. I simply have more experience in the corporate world.

 

Dan

[DaninWA]

Definitely have to refresh my writing skills. Used too many I's in that last post.

 

Dan

[Guest TexasTaurus]

>How does one make a decent living without advertising on

>AOL, I know damn well the things said about us that do

>advertise on AOL here on this site, so tell me how to make a

>decent living without AOL

 

 

You already know the answer! You can't.

[+ deej]

RE: how to work without AOL

 

>after you've developed your site & it is up & running,

>promote it. i'm bad at this, but others here (perhaps deej)

>could provide you with some useful tips. there are lots of

>escort rings & things out there.

 

For web rings, I don't have a list. Last time I did this for a pal, I found another escort's site that's on a ring and start surfing the ring. At each site you land on, make note of the rings listed on *that* site. It won't take long to build up a long list. Then join 'em all. It takes about a half hour to do all this and your site at least *looks* way connected.

 

There is also a M4MEscort group at groups.yahoo.com but it's so spam-laden I can't imagine anyone actually finding it useful.

 

>list yourself on as many escort sites as possible. i don't

>know whatever happened to escorts4you; it seemed to crash &

>burn after this site really took off.

 

The two partners had a blowup.

 

> consider rentboy. i

>joined, but haven't had anywhere near the client response i

>anticipated. the DC section of the site is small, though.

>i'll give it a few months. i have no idea what they have in

>terms of san diego listings. others to consider are

>meetlocalmen. personally, i think they're crap, but other

>folks seem to do well by them. for the most part, these

>listing services are free of charge to the escort. (i know

>rentboy charges though.)

 

Actually, most of them charge the escort for listings. MLM and rentboy.com certainly do. But I know for certain rentboy.com has a trial period for no charge (or they did). I don't think MLM does, but I think I remember him telling me he had a money-back guarantee. So you can try them to see if there's any ROI.

 

I'm really starting to wonder about the efficacy of those advertising sites in some markets, though. Here, for example, it seems that everyone's first resource is Gay Chicago Magazine (or this site). None of the online advertising outlets have much of a listing for the Chicago area, yet Gay Chicago Magazine has 4+ pages of ads every week of the year.

 

More and more, I'm hearing from local guys that try rentboy.com, MLM, etc., that they just don't pay off. One pal tried rentboy.com for 3 months and didn't get a SINGLE inquiry from them.

 

An LA escort/pornstar here for the Grabby awards had rentboy.com switch his ad to Chicago just before the trip and back just after. In LA, he gets a lot of business from them. He also placed a one-time ad in Gay Chicago Magazine. He made enough his first day in town to pay for the five-day trip, ALL of it coming from the ad in Gay Chicago.

 

Your mileage may vary. I really think it depends on the market.

<shrug>

[guyinsf]

I don't know you or your clientele, so this may not apply to you.

 

I wonder whether you have developed some regular clients? It seems to me that if you want escorting to be your sole source of income, at least some of your business has to come from regular clients (or referrals from existing clients). Regardless of how or where you market your services, I think that relying on a regular stream of new clients may be difficult.

 

So, I am going to assume that you do have some regular clients. Talk with some of them about their experience of you. Why do they keep coming back to you instead of going to someone else the next time they're in the mood to hire someone? See if there are any qualities that get mentioned more than once. These are your strengths as perceived by others. Use this information on your website.

 

You might also want to ask regular clients if there is anything about their sessions with you they would like to change. (You might not want to do this, however, because I can imagine that it might be difficult for all parties involved and it also might backfire on you. Maybe you just want to do this part internally.) Depending on how you want to relate to your clients/the market you are trying to reach, these questions may be different. If you are basically a "vanilla" type of escort you might want to ask yourself: Am I personable with my clients, or do I remain detached? Am I focused on each client's experience and feedback, trying to bring him pleasure, or do I just do my standard repetoire every time? Do I remain friendly at the end of a session, acting graciously and following up positive comments with affirmations, or do I lose focus and think about how to get away from them? I'm sure there are other areas to think about for different types of escort/client relationships (for example, if people are paying you to act like their master, are you able to sustain that role while in the client's presence? do you have sufficient negotiations with them beforehand about what their limits are? etc)

 

Finally, for any escort, I think this is an important question: Do I actually enjoy doing this, or am I only doing this because I don't want to find another type of work? I think it would be difficult to be successful at this "job" if you weren't really into it. Many jobs allow employees to just "show up" and "go through the motions". If they're bored, they don't get fired or lose their income. An escort, however, needs to at least create the illusion that he is enjoying himself. Displeasure/boredom/disgust can show up on someone's face in a very subtle way, even when he is trying to hide it. I can't imagine that many clients feel good about themselves if they leave a session feeling like the escort was truly put off by him.

 

Just some of my random thoughts, for what they're worth.

[Guest DCeBOY]

RE: how to work without AOL

 

>Actually, most of them charge the escort for listings.

 

the only people i pay are the folks at rentboy. rentboy does have a trial period (a month, i think). during my trial period i had lots of inquiries and a couple of actual appointments. now, i seem to just get emails from people saying to contact them if i plan to visit their areas. that's annoying! either fly me out, or just check the travel section here. i'm not going to keep some list i might never use. if i've already seen someone & he wants to be informed if i visit where he lives, that's a bit different; that's client retention.

 

>I'm really starting to wonder about the efficacy of those

>advertising sites in some markets, though. Here, for

>example, it seems that everyone's first resource is Gay

>Chicago Magazine (or this site).

 

that's important deej. thanks for noting it. you have to pay attention to your market. i don't know much of ANYTHING about the manwhore market in san diego. if there are decent print media to consider there, michael should. i have an aversion to advertizing in print, for some reason. staying away hasn't hurt me. but, if you pick up the Blade or MW you generally find that folks are either porn actor quality, or street trash; i'm neither.

 

also, if you travel, be sure to modify your marketing to the area you're visiting. i do well in the northeast, mid-atlantic, and florida. in new orleans, i suck--even though half my family is from there. i'm too abrasive. i have this bad habit of telling someone when he asks an idiotic question.

 

if nothing else, michael, i hope we've given you a starting point to help you cut the AOL umbilical cord. G_d; i'm going to be nice again.... you've got what it takes. i think with a little effort, you can easily get to the point where you don't have to rely on AOL.

[Guest DCeBOY]

>Regardless of how or where you market your services, I think

>that relying on a regular stream of new clients may be

>difficult.

 

it depends entirely on where you live. DC always has people coming to town. relying mostly on new clients isn't that hard. i'd have to say that 75% of my clients are visitors to DC. of course, i may see those visitors time & again if they come here often.

 

the only bad time in DC is during congress' summer recess. not only are a lot of staff members back in the districts, but there's a lot of family tourist activity. guys come with their families & often can't break from the wife & kids to experience the pleasures of ethan--no matter how deeply they yearn to do so. :+

 

>So, I am going to assume that you do have some regular

>clients. Talk with some of them about their experience of

>you. Why do they keep coming back to you instead of going

>to someone else the next time they're in the mood to hire

>someone? See if there are any qualities that get mentioned

>more than once. These are your strengths as perceived by

>others. Use this information on your website.

 

excellent advice, guy.

 

 

oh, by the way, michael: show more of the foreskin! if nothing else, it will make me happy. (and that's what is really important.) }> a nice hole shot, a la aaron grey (i want him!) wouldn't offend me either.