If you’re new to the world of sex work, you may be a little overwhelmed by the many different routes you can go down in its current flourishing scene. Like in any industry, the different forms of hustle within the sex work sector are very varied, and one type of sex work might be better suited to you than another.
Whether you’re a full timer, looking for some extra cash , or you just want to dabble for funsies, there’s a place for all in the sex work community. There’s countless things you can do in the industry, but here’s a beginner’s guide to the most current and popular forms of hustle.
In-Person Sex Work : Escorting
Let’s not sugarcoat things, escorting is- more often than not, having sex with people for money. *Technically* you’re selling your time rather than specifically selling sex, but the reality is that the majority of punters that you meet book that ‘time’ so they can spend it getting physical.
You’re either an independent escort or you work for an escorting agency. So, as an independent escort you work for yourself: you post your ad online alongside your phone number, and clients directly contact you to arrange the meeting. At an escorting agency these aspects are arranged by the agency, but the con is that they take a cut of your money (usually around 25-30%).
For the dates, you can either do an outcall (escort goes to the client- their home, or a hotel they book etc.) or an incall (the client travels to the escort- their home or a hotel that they book). Although sexual intimacy is normally involved in a typical escort date, it’s not the only part of the job.
Escorting attracts punters because they see it as more of an experience. It’s about making the whole booking slot pleasant for the client, which means plenty of talking, cuddling, emotional support- whatever seems to float their boat. Two main experiences that clients look for with escorts are a GFE (girlfriend experience) and a PSE (pornstar experience).
These are pretty self explanatory. The GFE is an imitation of a real relationship. They get all the good stuff- passion, care, warmth, without the commitment and pressure that comes with an actual relationship. The PSE is giving the client all of the fantasies that he watches on porn, that he doesn’t get to try out in his normal life. This normally involves crazier positions, rougher sex, anal- basically freakier stuff.
It’s up to an escort which experiences they want to offer. Some escorts also go on specific escorting trips/tours, where they announce that they’re travelling to another place for a specific amount of time, and try to get in plenty of bookings for a sort of sex weekend extravanagza.
There is such a thing as escorting without having sex. Some people genuinely are looking for something more platonic, or they want to simply be accompanied to dinners or important events. They do exist, but they’re just way rarer. So if you do come across one of these bad boys, hold on tight and don’t let go. But if someone ever tries to convince you that escorting doesn’t usually involve physical intimacy- don’t believe it.
Good if you… thrive in one-to-one interactions – are emotionally open – are not shy of physical intimacy.
Sugaring
Sugaring is a blanket term that has become a popular use of phrase for many types of ‘arrangements’. In recent years sugar dating websites have risen to fame and within the woke but broke Gen Z culture of today, it’s kind of become a funny joke to have or at least consider having a sugar daddy.
Sugaring is not as much considered a ‘job’ compared to other forms of sex work, which is why it’s more often a temporary thing, especially popular among young students who are exploring their sexuality and trying to pay their way through university.
Whilst the stereotypical idea of sugaring is a white haired zillionaire with a young blonde bunny rinsing all the money she can from him, this is far from the many forms that sugaring takes today. Whilst you can meet a sugar daddy naturally in fancy bars or sophisticated workspaces, most tend to create a profile on an online sugar dating website.
You can chat back and forth as you would on a normal dating site, check out their profiles, see their pictures, and decide if you want to meet for a date. On a first date, you will often meet up to chat and see whether you connect and possibly agree on an ‘arrangement’. Here are the typical 5 types of first sugar dates.
A common arrangement involves stuff like dinner dates, physical intimacy (usually at their place or in a hotel) and you getting your dough either monthly or by PPM (pay per meet). Most people start off with PPM and possibly move onto a monthly allowance once it gets more serious. Very close, sentimental relationships can form from sugaring and some people stick to one long-term sugar arrangement at a time.
However, sugaring can also be more of a casual vibe- many babies date more than one daddy/momma simultaneously and vice versa. It’s not completely unusual to fuck on the first date, and have very much no-strings-attached arrangements. Other arrangements are more travel or gift focused rather than being paid.
And some sugar relationships don’t involve sex. Again, this one is a rarity, but some daddies/mommas really are more interested in a platonic bond. Finally, you don’t have to be young to be a sugar baby and you don’t have to be old to be a sugar daddy/momma.
So in today’s climate, ‘sugaring’ is really a very broad term used to describe some form of mutually beneficial relationship that’s an exchange of physical/emotional intimacy for money, expensive things or new experiences. Some people call it ‘compensated dating’.
Sugar dating is a more discreet form of sex work and great if you’re willing to spend time with someone to forge a real relationship that has benefits on the side. It’s also great if you’ve never done anything like this before and are just intrigued or looking for some temporary excitement. Though like most sex work, if you want to make really good dollar, you have to be in it for the long game, so you’ll need to have a bit of patience.
Good if you… thrive in one-to-one interactions – have patience – are happy to invest time – would rather emotionally invested sex.
Entertainment
The most widely known form of in- person entertainment is stripping. The Ultimate Strip Club List is a great start to finding good clubs near you. You can get in touch with the clubs you like the look of to try and arrange an audition, where you will dance and get pretty naked before they decide whether you’ve got the gig.
An average stripper will work 3 to 4 days per week and obviously get used to working night hours that finish up at 4am (that’s not to say you can’t also do day shifts).
On a usual shift, you’ll arrive early to get ready and chill, before you start dancing. The strippers are normally on a rotation for the pole dancing. How good of a dancer you need to be depends on the club, but if you have your hopes set high, then it’s important to practice your dancing.
Then, you ‘do the rounds’, mingling with the customers to see if anyone wants a private dance, which is where the real money’s at. Private dances normally take place in another room with mood lighting and soft seating. The way it works is that you’re considered to be working for yourself, and not the club. You are technically a person coming in to ‘rent’ out the stage.
So once the club pay you what you made at the end of every night, you have to pay the club a fee back for the time you spent there. Here’s more insight into the life of a stripper.
As a stripper, you can also be hired to dance at private parties. Entertainment jobs tend to require confidence, or at least being good at feigning confidence because you’re usually showcasing yourself to a crowd of people. The other forms of adult entertainment include things like topless bartending and peep show work.
These ones are great if you fancy the attention of stripping without having to get too hands-on with customers. Entertainment jobs more sociable lines of sex work than escorting and sugaring because of the number of clients at a time, but also because of the other workers. You’re not in an isolated workplace environment, but mingling with the other entertainers. Therefore, if you’re somebody who’s comfortable in big social groups, you might excel in the entertainment business.
Good if you…are naturally extroverted – cope well with rejection- can gauge people quickly.
Healing & Massage
If you’re not well acquainted with this world, you may think the world ‘massage’ in relation to sex work has seedy connotations. The reality is that sensual massage is a profession practised for thousands of years in China and India. To be a masseuse, whether it’s sensual or tantric takes a lot of skill. This misconception often means that you have to set boundaries as a masseuse.
Similarly to escorting, you can be an independent masseuse or you can work for an agency. If you work for an agency they will often offer training for those with no prior experience. If you want to start out independently, you will need to take a training course first.
It works very similarly to escorting in that you normally advertise yourself online, have a consultation beforehand over text about what the client wants, and do either incalls or outcalls. A typical appointment takes place in a nice atmosphere which you create (e.g. soft lighting, music), and typically involves you and the client being naked.
The types of massage vary, but usually focus on the genital area and sometimes involve a good old ‘happy ending’. People might ask for extras, some people are happy to do this, others not. The two main types of massage are ‘sensual massage’ and ‘tantric massage’.
Whilst both aim to awake a sensual energy and are far from typical sexual favours, sensual massage is more focused solely on pleasure, whereas tantric massage is more psychological and has known to be ‘healing; for people who are are having sexual troubles such as porn addiction, sexual trauma, or erectile disfunction. This line of work therefore attracts people who are open, balanced and warm- pretty much natural healers.
Good if you… would rather intimate over clinical work – are emotionally open – are naturally sensual – are interested in long term sex work.
Online Sex Work : Content Creation
Thanks to OnlyFans, ‘spicy’ subscription based content creation is probably the most socially accepted form of sex work today. Especially since the pandemic, online sex work has become a lot less stigmatised also thanks to celebs like Cardi B and Bella Thorne creating accounts.
So for those of you who have never used it, how does OnlyFans work? The layout looks fairly like Twitter, so it’s familiar and easy to navigate. Once you create your account, verify your identity and ideally attach your social accounts, you can set your subscription rate. The minimum subscription price is $4.99 per month and the maximum subscription price is $49.99 per month. It’s said you should start low and increase as your following gains.
Then you try to promote your account in any way you can, which means for some people, sharing it on their main social accounts. This is a reason why OnlyFans became more normalised to the wider public- people were forced to share it on their mains. You can decide on OnlyFans to get paid weekly or monthly as you wish.
Once people start subscribing you need to plan. OnlyFans isn’t for the unorganised. If you want to be really successful it’s important to create a brand for yourself, post regular content and interact with your fans. People can also tip you, and PPV (pay per view) on messaging. It basically has many features of a normal social media site except people are paying for the content. And it doesn’t all have to be sexual.
People also post other stuff alongside the spicy content, like recipe ideas and workout plans. To be successful on OnlyFans, you should talk to your fans everyday and post every two days at least. Another popular content creation site is ManyVids. The main feature of ManyVids is homemade videos which punters can buy. It’s a bit like mainstream porn, except more personalised to you and your style.
You have your own profile, with all your videos on display, available to be purchased individually. MV Stars can charge a minimum of $1.99 per video up to a maximum of $999.99, but the average price is between $10-$20. You can also post free videos to initially promote yourself. ManyVids also allows more ways of marketing yourself: you can livestream, sell nude pictures to texting services, as well as physical goods.
Content creator requires plenty of planning, not to mention creativity. It’s not about being the most stereotypically beautiful person on the site, it’s about discovering your niche and putting in effort. You spend a lot of time taking good pictures and videos, editing them, thinking of captions, and interacting with your clients.
Your success is very much helped by promoting yourself on other social channels like TikTok, Twitter and Insta, so content creation is great if you’re someone who naturally enjoys posting a lot on these platforms.
Good if you…are motivated and organised – are an online extrovert – have a social media presence – naturally creative.
Live Cams
The hint is in the name. There are many camming sites you can use, three of the most popular are Chaturbate, MyFreeCams and JerkMate. On live cams you can go solo, with your partner, with a friend or even a group of people. Most cammers go live for 5-6 hours at a time, and if they’re serious about it, they do this 5 days per week.
You need to verify your identity first and choose your payout method. Cam sites can be daunting and a bit confusing when you first start out. It’s important to familiarise yourself with your chosen site’s features as much as you can before going live.
Most cammers come online in the same time frame each day as consistency is good for the viewers so that they know what time you’ll be coming online. So what happens during the sessions? Normally you set up a tip menu/price list, and you kind of just chill in a space (likely your bedroom) and interact with the people watching you. People can tip you to do specific things, like take off your shirt etc. and you can also do private shows for more £.
Once upon a time, I tried Chaturbate with my boyfriend. We were super naive going into it, and would log on at random times and frolic around for an hour until we got bored and impatient with making no money. After a while we started to understand that we were making all the rookie errors.
We bought an external webcam, came on at the same time everyday and started to understand what people liked about us specifically and honed in on that. Then we made money. Camming is hard work.
As someone more spontaneous, who thrives from new experiences and new faces, I found camming repetitive, compared to something like sugaring where I could constantly meet new people and pick and choose when I met them. However camming would be very suited to someone who prefers a stable job.
Good if you…are motivated and organised – are an online extrovert – like a fixed schedule – want a steady income.
Fetish Selling
Fetish selling is a great side hustle. Whether it’s your used underwear, sex toys or socks, it not at all emotionally exhausting and a very detached form of sex work. There are lots of sites to do it on, SofiaGray, PantyDeal and even Etsy are popular. However, often you have to pay to use these sites.
It’s becoming increasingly popular to sell fetish items and content directly through your socials like Twitter. Again, the more you brand yourself through your socials, the better. If you have a good online presence and a distinct persona, you can sell practically anything. Fetish selling works a treat if you already sell normal stuff online anyway via Depop/Ebay etc.
Good if you…are new to sex work – want emotionally detached work – have an online presence – need a side hustle.
Iso
Iso is a writer and filmmaker based in East London. She is passionate about all things erotic and leads a sexy, shame-free life in hope that she can inspire others to do the same. Originally from a Northern seaside town, she is naturally drawn to the best things in life: candyfloss, trashy karaoke bars and heart-shaped sunglasses.
