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becoming a phone sex operator
Projeck
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
so...anyone here ever done it? are there reputable companies in the business, or are all of these sites as much a scam as they seem?
is it possible to chat through the computer directly, or a cell phone, or does it necessitate a landline connection?
also, how can I know that my number won't be sold by whatever company?
is it possible to chat through the computer directly, or a cell phone, or does it necessitate a landline connection?
also, how can I know that my number won't be sold by whatever company?
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I know a couple people that have done it.
I don't really know the ins and outs of it.
I... I'm not sure I can link the place here. You questions are probably answered in their faq though.
1) You give them the number you'd like to be reached at. You've volunteered your number so they don't technically care if it's a cell phone or landline. Note that landlines are usually better quality and you don't need to worry about being cut off. You also cannot receive texts at a landline, although your personal number is masked.
2) The pay is inconsistent and shitty. You usually listen in with others before you get started, and you do not get paid for that. You then become a "junior" operator and you have an existing employee listen in on you. You get a normal rate, but the existing employee gets a large cut of your wage. You have to match their schedule for them to "graduate" you from junior to regular, and as a new regular employee will reduce the pool of available funds, they generally have little reason to help you.
3) You have to be "available" during the working hours but there is no guarantee that you will receive a call. You are not paid if you are not on the phone. Often you have set points where you will get a pay boost, where a person has to input their credit card details or opt for additional minutes. It is typically less about phone sex and more about filling the air with a good script to get people to commit to a phone call of a certain length.
4) You have to adopt and develop a persona with a history, as people will talk to you about that history and may want you to reveal more information about yourself. You don't want to shut them down, but you don't want to give out real information either (to prevent stalking).
Some creative google searches should reveal these articles, which are probably more up-to-date than whenever I read the last one I read. Like most things that let you work at home and require you to put your own resources in to the deal, the pay is usually bad (below minimum wage).
This can be a decent way to make a little extra money from home, but don't expect it to pay your rent.
To reiterate a couple of key points: you don't get paid if you're not on the phone. Some companies will only pay you after you have racked up a certain amount of billable pay. Some companies will also count your first 1-2 minutes on the phone at a lower rate, because your job is to promote retention.
You might get a check for $100 or $200 every few weeks. Maybe. If you're good. It might be as little as $50 a month.
The woman I lived with who did this had multiple personas. In her case, the persona who got the most retention was a preoperative male-to-female transgender. My girlfriend would lower the pitch of her voice a little bit and play that role. She also had a teenager persona (in the porn sense - 18 years old) that was fairly popular.
In the US, you're not allowed to talk about any fantasies that, if they were real, would be illegal. No pedo, rape, snuff, or animal stuff. You're allowed to terminate a call if a customer is abusive, but the threshold for "abusive" is high. They have to be talking about acts of violence, or stalking you.
That said, many callers just want to talk. Sometimes there won't be any overtly sexual part of it at all. They just want a friendly flirty voice to chat with.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Google Voice is another possible option.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
I'm amazed that there is so much misinformation on this thread about this subject. I've been successful as a pso as have many others. Not only can being a pso pay your rent, it pays my mortgage, bought me new cars, funded by retirement fund as well as providing a very nice lifestyle for me. Anyone who is not making a living in this business is doing it all wrong.
If anyone is still interested in this subject after the two months since the last post, let me know and I'll point you in the right direction.
Yes! Very interested. What companies should I be looking into, to start? Do you have regular clients that call you, since you've been doing it for some time, now? How much should I expect to make, if I do pretty well? I've been reading articles all day, so any advice/suggestions you can give will be wonderful. Thank you! xx
Secondly, you can start by the phone sex forums, front to back. Just google that and you'll find them. You have to join and be approved because they are not public and only pso's and company owners and service providers such as adult web designers are permitted to join. You and your personal info are safe there. Read before you ask questions because all the newbie questions have already been answered and start reading with the newbie section. Then read the section about companies and start taking notes about which ones would work for you. Actually, takes notes about everything. This business is much more complicated and much more difficult, demanding and time consuming than you would think.
You can probably forget most of the articles you have found online. Most of them have been written by people who don't know what they're talking about and have experienced or researched only the lowest level of the business. IMO, they're good only for a few giggles and eye rolls just like the movies about psoing--lol. Very little relationship to reality there. And, no, we do NOT make $12,000 per week or whatever the ridiculous number was in the last silly movie about pso's.
How much you make depends on many factors--your own innate ability, your learned skills which improve greatly with time and experience (always take notes), your life experience and education, your availability, which companies you are with and this horrible economy. On the forums, you'll find out which companies are good, which are bad and which are downright ugly.
Regulars are the name of the game and repeat business is just as important as it is for a brick and mortar business. The key is being a really good listener, being intuitive and then simply providing good customer service.
You have the option of working for taboo companies--that is, companies who have a long list of subjects that you are forbidden to discuss--and no-taboo companies where nothing is a forbidden subject and you get to choose what those are. (In the US it IS LEGAL to talk about any subject you choose. The UK companies have lots of taboos by law). I'm only aware of a couple of companies that try to "force" you to talk about subjects that you find offensive.
Reputable companies will NEVER give or sell your name and phone number to any client. Why would they? That means they would be cutting themselves out of their cut of the price the customer is paying every time he calls--DUH... lol....
Most of the info stated above by feral and iggy would apply to ONE COMPANY only and has absolutely nothing to do with ANY the of good companies in this business. Good companies are not like that, at all. The companies referenced above are scraping the bottom of the barrel of this business and I'll bet I could name the most infamous of them--lol. The only legit reason for the existence of such awful companies is that they will hire any warm body and a newbie can get some experience for a couple of weeks or a month before moving up to a decent company.
I do agree that Google Voice and Skype are good numbers to use as an extra layer of insulation for safety and privacy reasons and I do use them. A land line--the old fashioned POTS line--is vastly preferable if you're serious but there are a few companies that will hire you if you are using a cell as long as you have very good service and never drop calls. Cell phones can be a problem, especially if the customer is using a cell too, since you both have to go through the company phone system and this can cause poor quality calls.
So, in closing, did I mention taking NOTES??? lol. Being a pso is not easy; there's tons to learn and the learning never stops but if you persevere, you can do really well financially. Personally, I would never consider going back to the vanilla world but, like everything else, this job is not for everyone.
Good luck.