My own sob story, he he

[AndreFuture]

I'm still trying to figure out what platform gives me the most traffic (for a lack of a better word), and so far in my entire three weeks of escorting, Rentmen seems to be the best bang for my buck. My trial just finished and I'd like to renew, but wanted to ask if anyone has a discount code that they can share, since I noticed there's a field to add one. I know $30 isn't a huge amount to pay, but I've only had two sessions and spent quite a bit of money traveling to them, so a discount would be much appreciated.

 

I kinda wish I hadn't paid for a VIP account with A4A, because it's been nothing but flakes and they don't provide nearly enough space to explain yourself or your services compared to Rentmen. Ah well, live and learn.

[Mikegaite]

I don't have a code, but the general advice when you are first starting out is to advertise in as many places as possible regardless of cost because the revenue increase of additional business will offset the advertising expenses. When I was younger I used to focus on the expense part of the profit equation rather than the revenue part, and I regret that. I would say focus on the revenue part, and the profit margins will take care of themselves.

 

That being said, you might get clients to sponsor your rentmen expenses if you ask nicely or just are nice in general to the right people. Good luck.

[Juan Vancouver]

This is entirely on a different subject but I wanted to comment on something you wrote on a different thread and forgot. So glad to have been reminded of it.

 

Absolutely NEVER spend more than 10% of a one hour rate to go to your client. If your transportation cost is higher than this, then he should cover it. And I mean, your taxi. If you are charging so little that 10% of the fee will not cover local travel, then you are charging too little. Up your rates.

 

I know you are starting and that at this point every single cent you save might mean a lot, but this is precisely the moment in which you have to put on your big boy pants and set the rules with your clients that you will continue to honour for the rest of your successful escorting career.

 

If you are close by and the expense is up to 10% of your hourly fee, pay it yourself.

 

If he is farther than this, take a cab and charge the roundtrip carfare to him. Do not spend two hours in public transit to make one hour rate. In time you will become busy and this will be huge mistake. If you get clients used to you paying for hours of travel to get to them, not only you are giving your work away for free, also they will get used to it and will rightly expect it for as long as you have a work relationship with them.

 

Of course clients here might protest and encourage you to continue giving away your work for free. I must remind you, however, that this is a business. You HAVE to run it as a business. If your expenses are taking away your profits, you have to change your business model.

 

Don't worry about clients balking at this. Some will, but most clients who are looking for a reliable, professional escort, will celebrate the fact that you are behaving in an adult, professional manner and will the thrilled to enter in business with you.

 

If you provide a good service, you deserve to make money.

 

If you are not making money, the business doesn't deserve you.

[AndreFuture]

This is entirely on a different subject but I wanted to comment on something you wrote on a different thread and forgot. So glad to have been reminded of it.

 

Absolutely NEVER spend more than 10% of a one hour rate to go to your client. If your transportation cost is higher than this, then he should cover it. And I mean, your taxi. If you are charging so little that 10% of the fee will not cover local travel, then you are charging too little. Up your rates.

 

I know you are starting and that at this point every single cent you save might mean a lot, but this is precisely the moment in which you have to put on your big boy pants and set the rules with your clients that you will continue to honour for the rest of your successful escorting career.

 

If you are close by and the expense is up to 10% of your hourly fee, pay it yourself.

 

If he is farther than this, take a cab and charge the roundtrip carfare to him. Do not spend two hours in public transit to make one hour rate. In time you will become busy and this will be huge mistake. If you get clients used to you paying for hours of travel to get to them, not only you are giving your work away for free, also they will get used to it and will rightly expect it for as long as you have a work relationship with them.

 

Of course clients here might protest and encourage you to continue giving away your work for free. I must remind you, however, that this is a business. You HAVE to run it as a business. If your expenses are taking away your profits, you have to change your business model.

 

Don't worry about clients balking at this. Some will, but most clients who are looking for a reliable, professional escort, will celebrate the fact that you are behaving in an adult, professional manner and will the thrilled to enter in business with you.

 

If you provide a good service, you deserve to make money.

 

If you are not making money, the business doesn't deserve you.

 

Those are all very good points, and I appreciate you reiterating what I ended up learning the hard way from my experience.

 

I hadn't looked into the cost of travel when I set up the appointment (I was in town visiting and forgot how horrible LA traffic is), so I ate up the costs even though it was substantially more than 10% of my fee. I did mention to him that it had cost me quite a bit to get to him afterwards, and he apologized and offered to pay for my transportation for our second appointment. The actual cost of travel was still more than he could afford to chip in, but I figured that 1) he was my first client and I wanted to make sure he was really happy with me to give me a good review (I considered it a "good will" investment; 2) as a trans guy, I don't get much business (so far); and 3) I wouldn't necessarily set a precedent that I pay my own long-distance travel because I was in town for only a couple of weeks and wouldn't have much of a reputation by then. Still, I wisened up quickly: I had another potential client who lived even further away, and as soon as he told me his location, I was already calculating what his additional fee would be, before he eventually flaked.

 

Now that I'm back in DC and have gotten my feet wet, I don't plan to be as generous with my time and now know better than to accept a appointment before figuring out the time/cost/profit.

[Juan Vancouver]

Good to hear you're learning the ropes. It's a daunting job if you don't know how to do it.

 

There are websites that provide a pretty close prediction of what your taxi fare will be. If you input your current location then your destination, the website will tell you how much it might be. Double it and when confirming the session, matter of factly just say: "Since you are quite far from me in order to go to you I will have to add my roundtrip cab fare. I am not a cab driver so this is just an estimate, my rate is _____ plus something around taxi estimate. "

 

Depending on how far you are, the estimate might be too much. Some clients might think it is better to come to you which might be better for you.

 

Most serious clients know the drill. This should not be a problem at all.

 

Don't be shy to ask anything else.

[rvwnsd]

...Absolutely NEVER spend more than 10% of a one hour rate to go to your client. If your transportation cost is higher than this, then he should cover it. And I mean, your taxi....If he is farther than this, take a cab and charge the roundtrip carfare to him. Do not spend two hours in public transit to make one hour rate. ....

 

As a client, I could not agree more with Juan's advice.

 

A guy I hire does not own a car, so he takes San Diego's abysmal public transit to get around, including to appointments at my place. The last time he attempted taking the bus he was over an hour late because two buses were running very late. I now pick him up and drop him back home. I've offered to pay for a taxi, but he does not want to take one.

[Riley Wynters]

This is entirely on a different subject but I wanted to comment on something you wrote on a different thread and forgot. So glad to have been reminded of it.

 

Absolutely NEVER spend more than 10% of a one hour rate to go to your client. If your transportation cost is higher than this, then he should cover it. And I mean, your taxi. If you are charging so little that 10% of the fee will not cover local travel, then you are charging too little. Up your rates.

 

I know you are starting and that at this point every single cent you save might mean a lot, but this is precisely the moment in which you have to put on your big boy pants and set the rules with your clients that you will continue to honour for the rest of your successful escorting career.

 

If you are close by and the expense is up to 10% of your hourly fee, pay it yourself.

 

If he is farther than this, take a cab and charge the roundtrip carfare to him. Do not spend two hours in public transit to make one hour rate. In time you will become busy and this will be huge mistake. If you get clients used to you paying for hours of travel to get to them, not only you are giving your work away for free, also they will get used to it and will rightly expect it for as long as you have a work relationship with them.

 

Of course clients here might protest and encourage you to continue giving away your work for free. I must remind you, however, that this is a business. You HAVE to run it as a business. If your expenses are taking away your profits, you have to change your business model.

 

Don't worry about clients balking at this. Some will, but most clients who are looking for a reliable, professional escort, will celebrate the fact that you are behaving in an adult, professional manner and will the thrilled to enter in business with you.

 

If you provide a good service, you deserve to make money.

 

If you are not making money, the business doesn't deserve you.

 

Juan, you make a very good point. I never thought about the 10% travel expense before in such simple terms (I've just made it much more complicated than it ever needed to be)

 

It just goes to show that even though I've escorted for about a year and half now, I still have a lot to learn about the business.

[seaboy4hire]

Good to hear you're learning the ropes. It's a daunting job if you don't know how to do it.

 

There are websites that provide a pretty close prediction of what your taxi fare will be. If you input your current location then your destination, the website will tell you how much it might be. Double it and when confirming the session, matter of factly just say: "Since you are quite far from me in order to go to you I will have to add my roundtrip cab fare. I am not a cab driver so this is just an estimate, my rate is _____ plus something around taxi estimate. "

 

Depending on how far you are, the estimate might be too much. Some clients might think it is better to come to you which might be better for you.

 

Most serious clients know the drill. This should not be a problem at all.

 

Don't be shy to ask anything else.

 

Google maps is good for est cost of an uber. But kinda hard to do if your on the phone with the guy and not by a laptop.

 

Hugs,

Greg