Topics for an Indie's blog?

[Rusty Trombone]

Well the alternative system they tried in the Eastern Block wasn't exactly famous for being nice and gentle either.

Especially dentists!

 

[just4fun]

Interesting discussion on pricing strategy. Basically, customer pays for the perceived value, not for the cost. Sad but the market economy is that cruel.
I liked the article, it reflects not only the expenses, but also the amount of extra time and effort needed in the preparation –that time is also cost. BTW, I have a friend who is a dentist and clients also ask him for discounts saying: "Wouldn't there be another way to do it cheaper?" Then, he replies: "Always, but not here and I wouldn’t recommend you to go for that." What happens is that he has a huge clientele, and he can decide who is not his client.

Plus he may have boat payments or several expensive gf's so root canal is always the best way to go so I've learned.

 

[Joe2017]

Well the alternative system they tried in the Eastern Block wasn't exactly famous for being nice and gentle either.

Even worse, there the cruelty was in the system, not just in the market.

 

[shadowboxer]

Plus he may have boat payments or several expensive gf's so root canal is always the best way to go so I've learned.

My dentist here in Tokyo has a collection of expensive cars which he likes to take for a spin on the Nürburgring.

 

[AMcguyver]

Yeah I tried very hard to think of a profession that people don't ask for discounts but had quite a difficult time! I'm sure there are many courageous souls out there that have asked for a discount on just about anything.

I really liked this article

In the photo/video world we get asked for discounts All The Time.

We also get a ton of people that are like “well, we don’t have a budget, but it would be great for your portfolio” or “we can’t pay you, but you’ll get a lot of exposure from this project”.



I swear, if I had a dollar for every time we get requests like that, I could fly to Japan.

First Class.

Monthly.

 

[MikeH]

Tell them you tried to buy groceries with exposure but somehow it didn't work out.

 

[Mr Cat]

Just found out about this topic, I haven't read it yet so I'll just answer to the initial question.

What I'd like to read is the funny encounters, and the sexy encounters. The kinky and funny blog of an escort in Tokyo.

Of course keeping some personal details out, for privacy sake.

 

[C4ssandra]

I really liked this article

In the photo/video world we get asked for discounts All The Time.

We also get a ton of people that are like “well, we don’t have a budget, but it would be great for your portfolio” or “we can’t pay you, but you’ll get a lot of exposure from this.

I'm not surprised at all to hear that. Some of my friends are artists and when people commission them they always try and haggle. I'm guessing that photography is seen as a similar type of "soft skill" where a lot of people think the price tag is negotiable.

I commission artists fairly frequently (for dnd character portraits of course ;P), and I always try to tip at least 15% to make up for all the bullshit they deal with. Very similar instances of people saying they "need art for their passion project" and that the commission will be worth it based on the fame the artist will get.

I think that things like art, photography and sex work all have a lot of invisible labor that the consumer rarely thinks of.

Especially so with photography I think. Even for an untrained eye it's easy for most people to look at art and think "wow that's amazing I could never!" But with photography it's a lot harder to see everything that's gone into a photo.

 

[Sudsy]

Especially so with photography I think. Even for an untrained eye it's easy for most people to look at art and think "wow that's amazing I could never!" But with photography it's a lot harder to see everything that's gone into a photo.

Yeah, I'm not a pro, just an enthusiast (family, pets, etc), and all my gear together is worth around 2 million yen.

Serious pros have a LOT more than that invested into their gear - and they have lighting rigs on top of that as well. Point in case, my tripod cost like 30,000 yen. My professional photog friend's is worth nearly ten times that..... and they need several of them.

Then they have the education to go with it, software and hardware for processing, high grade printers, usually a studio (or location fees), an assistant or two, marketing costs.... and on top of all that, they usually have to refresh large amounts of their gear every couple of years as tech improves.

 

[AMcguyver]

Yeah, I'm not a pro, just an enthusiast (family, pets, etc), and all my gear together is worth around 2 million yen.

Serious pros have a LOT more than that invested into their gear - and they have lighting rigs on top of that as well. Point in case, my tripod cost like 30,000 yen. My professional photog friend's is worth nearly ten times that..... and they need several of them.

Then they have the education to go with it, software and hardware for processing, high grade printers, usually a studio (or location fees), an assistant or two, marketing costs.... and on top of all that, they usually have to refresh large amounts of their gear every couple of years as tech improves.

Don’t forget equipment insurance and pro camera repair plans, for when your brand new $2000 85mm 1.2 lens decides to remind you that gravity works, or when you put your $6000 camera rig down on the beach for a split second to adjust a lightstand and a rogue wave comes along.

 

[Sudsy]

Don’t forget equipment insurance and pro camera repair plans, for when your brand new $2000 85mm 1.2 lens decides to remind you that gravity works, or when you put your $6000 camera rig down on the beach for a split second to adjust a lightstand and a rogue wave comes along.

That reminds me, I need to talk to my agent about getting my cameras/lenses insured. I just realised they're worth more than my car....

 

[Rusty Trombone]

I think that things like art, photography and sex work all have a lot of invisible labor that the consumer rarely thinks of.

Pretty much all industries have invisible labor. You want a good product or service, you need to put the hours in behind the scenes.

Comparing Sex Work with photography is kind of apples and pears.

With Sex work you have low start up costs (comparatively - 250,000yen quoted), a high physical personal risk. You can also price yourself into the market as you are learning the trade (and increase your rates as you get better at it)
With photography (from a outsiders views), you have high start up costs, low personal risk (apart from financial) , and I imagine you need to have experience / skill / training before you are going to sell anything.

No disrespect to escorts, but it seems to me to be an easier profession to get into. But I'd say the physical and mental toll is huge.
I'd compare it more to baseball. There are millions of high school baseball players in Japan. Only about 100 each year make the draft, and of those only about 10-20% will make it to the top team and make real coin. The point being, anyone can play baseball, but to be good at it, you need hard work, and talent. And even then you may not succeed.

 

[superbowl1999]

Enjoyed both articles. I’d like to read how changes since you started make you feel about the future of your profession.

For example, technology seems to have made it easier for us clients to find prospective providers, but as has been mentioned already in this thread, the barriers to entry have been lower so much that it’s now also harder for us to determine what is real or not on our end. How has technology over the last few years affected independent providers?

Also, porn is crazy today and I’m sure it is a very important part of our (clients) expectations. How has the increased intensity of porn affected (or not) your profession.

 

[Durg50]

Also, porn is crazy today and I’m sure it is a very important part of our (clients) expectations. How has the increased intensity of porn affected (or not) your profession.

There’s a whole chapter (or at least a big bit of one chapter) that talks about that in this book - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_that_Changes_Itself
Its quite interesting. Basically people used to be able to jerk off to a pretty lady flashing some ankle, but as porn gets more and more hardcore our brains get used to it and we need more and more extreme stuff to get off.

 

[superbowl1999]

There’s a whole chapter (or at least a big bit of one chapter) that talks about that in this book - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_that_Changes_Itself
Its quite interesting. Basically people used to be able to jerk off to a pretty lady flashing some ankle, but as porn gets more and more hardcore our brains get used to it and we need more and more extreme stuff to get off.

And it’s easy to obtain. Me and my cousins used to have to go on Indiana Jones like adventures to find the hidden porn stashes of our fathers. Now, you Google the wrong term and wow.

 

[Simonka]

Enjoyed both articles. I’d like to read how changes since you started make you feel about the future of your profession.

For example, technology seems to have made it easier for us clients to find prospective providers, but as has been mentioned already in this thread, the barriers to entry have been lower so much that it’s now also harder for us to determine what is real or not on our end. How has technology over the last few years affected independent providers?

Also, porn is crazy today and I’m sure it is a very important part of our (clients) expectations. How has the increased intensity of porn affected (or not) your profession.

Great topic. Porn consumption can rewire the brain and lead to sexual dysfunctions. It can be addicting for some, similar to substance abuse. They end up losing their natural instinct and need to be stimulated with increasingly hardcore material.

Then there’s the disconnect between liking something and wanting it. People get addicted, they watch porn to masturbate, and then feel gross after they finish because they don’t necessary like what they’re doing.

It’s very similar to drugs, if you do it once in a while it doesn’t affect your life that much but addiction can be quite concerning.

Personally if I’m worried that a client may be looking into the PSE option, I will be very straightforward about my limits in the email. Not always the case but men with no sexual experience may expect some porn action. Can’t blame them tho, it’s widely available and hard to stay away from.

 

[Juliet]

There’s a whole chapter (or at least a big bit of one chapter) that talks about that in this book - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_that_Changes_Itself
Its quite interesting. Basically people used to be able to jerk off to a pretty lady flashing some ankle, but as porn gets more and more hardcore our brains get used to it and we need more and more extreme stuff to get off.

I think this is part of why so many people see the porn industry as abusive. Not because of the concept of porn or sex work, but because the actresses tend to be coerced into more and more extreme shoots that they aren’t comfortable with, as the industry demands increasingly hardcore stuff. E.g. I’m pretty sure anal sex was seen as very extreme only a decade or so ago, now it’s normal and basically expected out of all pornstars. The audiences are unable to get off with normal vanilla sex anymore (which is pretty sad IMO but it’s their choice I guess)

 

[Frenchy]

I think this is part of why so many people see the porn industry as abusive. Not because of the concept of porn or sex work, but because the actresses tend to be coerced into more and more extreme shoots that they aren’t comfortable with, as the industry demands increasingly hardcore stuff. E.g. I’m pretty sure anal sex was seen as very extreme only a decade or so ago, now it’s normal and basically expected out of all pornstars. The audiences are unable to get off with normal vanilla sex anymore (which is pretty sad IMO but it’s their choice I guess)

yes and no. At some point , it becomes so ridiculous that it’s not even arousing anymore. There will be a return of the pendulum towards more subdued erotica. Personally I could get way more turned on by the old-fashioned love-making half naked in front of a chimney , on a fur carpet, with pearls and silk and champagne, more suggested than revealed...

 

[Durg50]

yes and no. At some point , it becomes so ridiculous that it’s not even arousing anymore. There will be a return of the pendulum towards more subdued erotica. Personally I could get way more turned on by the old-fashioned love-making half naked in front of a chimney , on a fur carpet, with pearls and silk and champagne, more suggested than revealed...

Me too. But you and i are old and grew up with that more soft-core stuff in our formative years.

 

[Jaaz]

Late night soft core porn on paid cable was as good as it used to be back in the day. Even when we had the internet - dialup, which then gave way to DSL - downloading an explicit photo, which was usually tasteful, took a long time.

Which is to say, lack of easy access left a lot more to out imaginations.

 

[Durg50]

Late night soft core porn on paid cable was as good as it used to be back in the day. Even when we had the internet - dialup, which then gave way to DSL - downloading an explicit photo, which was usually tasteful, took a long time.

Which is to say, lack of easy access left a lot more to out imaginations.

Paid cable? You had it easy. the lingerie section of my mum’s mail order catalogues were the best it got for me.

 

[alekzar]

Paid cable? You had it easy. the lingerie section of my mum’s mail order catalogues were the best it got for me.

Same here, until I found a Milo Manara book in my father's bookshelf. Not bad for a start (at least for the drawings, the story was kind of optional)

Edit : since we got a bit side tracked, what about a blog post about how is made a decision if a client is "safe" or not ? Although I guess giving too many informations on the thought process could backfire as people would try to "trick the system" if they read about it :/

 

[Frenchy]

Same here, until I found a Milo Manara book in my father's bookshelf. Not bad for a start (at least for the drawings, the story was kind of optional)

Edit : since we got a bit side tracked, what about a blog post about how is made a decision if a client is "safe" or not ? Although I guess giving too many informations on the thought process could backfire as people would try to "trick the system" if they read about it :/

ah! Manara! Great memories here too

 

[Acid Burn]

Paid cable? You had it easy. the lingerie section of my mum’s mail order catalogues were the best it got for me.

Cinemax and soft core Emmanuel movies for me.

 

[Frenchy]

Cinemax and soft core Emmanuel movies for me.

Not to be pedantic but you probably meant Emmanuelle
Unless they made a male gay version, not sure