Working as an independent escort or through an escort agency? What are the pros and cons of both?
If you are considering becoming an elite escort, it’s worth knowing the pros and cons of working as an independent escort and working with an escort agency before starting your career.
Independent escort or with an escort agency? Choosing your business model is an important decision
If you have not yet, you must determine whether you have what it takes to become an exclusive escort. But once you have decided that elite escorting is your next big career move, you must decide whether to pursue clients as an independent escort or through an agency.
There are pros and cons for each option, so you must decide which option will be the most beneficial for you personally and your finances. Don’t forget there is always room to change your mind if you find that your choice does not work for you.
What does Escorting Look Like in 2020?
Like many sectors, the escorting industry has suffered due to the Coronavirus pandemic, putting many escorts out of work. Some women moved to more unsustainable sex work or side hustles to make an income, as the safety nets other careers can access are not available for them.
In the post-pandemic world, escorts find creative ways to continue seeing clients, including getting Covid-19 tests regularly and sanitising all surfaces. Escorts have become in demand after a year spent touch-starved and in want of a companion. Men who have spent time isolated and alone are now looking for the perfect girlfriend experience as things become increasingly safer.
Similarly, more women are looking towards working as an escort, both working through an agency and independently. Women who have lost jobs in other industries, can’t find a part-time job to supplement their studies or even want a more flexible career change are turning to elite and high-class escorting to make their living. Whether they are working with an agency or working independently, it’s essential to understand the pros and cons of both.
Business and Finances
One of the most significant differences between working with an agency and working for yourself is financial management. While working with an agency, they will take a finders fee or commission for every client they supply you with, as they put effort into advertising you on their escort agency website, vetting potential clients, and matching you with the right client for your services.
As part of an agency, you become part of a network of women on their books that could provide you with support and advice when you start, not to mention someone making sure you are safe after an appointment – it’s worth the percentage of commission in itself. Usually, the only cost will be to provide the agency with professional photographs, which they can arrange with you.
However, if you decide to work independently, you will need to understand the finances involved with running a business and invest time in doing market research into your competitors. While you will get to keep any money you earn from clients, you will have to consider how much you spend on expenses, like where you operate and your work phone. Before you go independent, take a look at other high-class escorts in your area – what do they charge? What services do they offer? You can get a good idea of what the base costs for your services might be, then look into what your pricing strategy might be. If you would rather someone else do this for you or already have the information to help, an agency might be your route into elite escorting.
It’s important to note that some women who choose to work independently have to take another job while building up their client base, leaving the profession due to money problems in the first few months. As an agency escort, you will be associated with the agency’s good reputation, thus open to client bookings sooner. When you gain a steady stream of clients, you might earn more as an independent escort, but you will be working twice as hard as an agency escort to secure your clients and arrange your finances.
Organisation
Working as an independent escort is the perfect option for those who love organisation. If you enjoy blocking bookings into your calendar or planning your social media queue, you might be more suited to starting your career as an independent escort because you will have control over every aspect of your work, from your brand to your work hours.
Most of your time will be spent building up and maintaining your business with a steady flow of clients. Once you are well established, with a group of regular clients, your management duties will slightly diminish as you can afford to spend less time on your self-promotion. You can control the number of clients you see depending on how much money you need to make. Every aspect of your career is in your control as an independent escort.
If these time management duties are too time-consuming around your other life commitments, or you don’t think that you can handle the pressure of being self-employed, then maybe you are more suited to working through an escort agency. The agency will manage all of your appointments for you, so you don’t have to worry about being an entrepreneur in exchange for a commission. It is crucial to ensure the agency is reputable enough to respect your working hours and boundaries, as some might be more than willing to take advantage of you.
Brand and Marketing
As an independent provider, most of your time will be spent marketing yourself and building a brand with your escort persona. With social media platforms and simple website templates, it’s easier than ever to set up your brand and start attracting clients, but you will need to stand out from the crowd. That is the difficult part.
Do some market research to see what there is on the market and how other girls market themselves to apply to your brand. Remember your audience. You want your profile to be appealing to an elite clientele, so your profile should include professional photography and think about the channels you will use. Which websites will your profile be best suited to?
Not everyone has a natural talent for marketing, which might leave you better off seeking to work with an escorting agency. In exchange for a chunk of your earnings, the agency will advertise you on their website and recommend you to clients based on your services or look. There’s no need to worry about maintaining a website or keeping a professional brand online. The agency will handle all of that for you.
The agency will also manage your bookings according to your availability, so there’s no need to spend all of your time working out the best time to see a client. However, the downside to working with an escort agency is that you might have to relinquish control over how they market you and your services. The agency might falsely depict you using different images or stating services you do not provide, which might lead to an unhappy client and possibly an unsafe situation.
Your Safety is Non-negotiable
All of your time spent working as an elite escort, both with an agency or independently, your safety is a top priority – “your safety is non-negotiable”.
You need to take the necessary precautions to protect yourself and those around you if you are to work independently. Therefore it is necessary to screen your clients in advance of your first meeting, both to ensure that they will not harm you and the client is not a police officer working to entrap you.
While working independently, you will learn the right questions and ascertain their intentions from experience, which might leave you knowing the hard way. An anonymous escort says they’ve “dealt with is people who aren’t straight with you, who try to manipulate you into situations where you end up underpaid or unpaid. So you develop a sense of when things don’t add up, like if they keep avoiding certain questions and trying to steer the conversation in the direction, they want to take it, rather than engaging with you in a fair and open way.”
Start off by asking a client their real name, home address, and for authentic photographs – legitimate customers will give you all the information you need, setting themselves apart from the time wasters and scammers. If you are on an agency’s books, they will screen all your clients for you, keeping detailed records of anybody contacting the agency. Often, agencies share details of abusive or scamming clients to avoid taking bookings from, so it is less likely you will encounter a bad client while working for an agency.
When working with an agency, they will provide you with a ‘security buddy’ who is there to keep you safe at all times during your time with a client and outside of work, consistently keeping in contact with you to ensure nothing bad happens. Most often, an elite escort will not divulge their line of work to their family or friends. So if you work independently, it is important that you have someone to fulfil a similar role or begin to risk your own safety.
Another aspect of your safety at risk as an independent is your identity while working as a high-class escort. You will want to keep your private and professional life far apart while working independently, not only for yourself but those around you, especially your children. If you work independently, use an alias and do not show your face or any identifying marks (i.e. birthmarks, scars) in your advertisement or promotional photos. You might want to have a separate phone number, email address, and social media for work purposes, anything from taking appointments to providing services – you do not want your personal details associated with your work persona. If you were to work with an agency, often these would be provided for you, or they would offer advice on how to do this yourself.
Additionally, it is essential that your client feels safe during the booking process. Most men seek to book with a reputable agency to ensure they are not going to be mugged, cheated, or anything otherwise.
Operating within the Law
Make yourself aware of the local and regional laws regarding escorts and the law. If you’re not clued up, you could risk spending time in prison or heavy fines as some countries regard escorting as illegal. If you are considering working as an independent escort, ensure you have the time and funds set aside for a good lawyer to handle any legal issues that may arise.
However, escorts running into legal issues while working at an agency will be protected by the agency. As there are very few lawyers that specialise in sex work, the agency will have already established contact with a law firm that has in-depth knowledge and practice of laws surrounding the sex industry. At times, operating an escort agency can be risky, and agencies will know how to avoid legal hassle with an understanding of all laws in the country of operation. If you are not confident or do not understand the law, it is best to hire legal counsel or seek to work through an escorting agency.
Conclusion
Overall, it is important that you think carefully about whether you would be more suited to working through an escorting agency or working independently, as there are pros and cons to both.
If you decide that being an agency elite escort is for you, it is essential to do your research before approaching an escorting agency to ascertain their reputation in the industry. Search for local agencies through a search engine or escort review forums such as theeroticreview.com. There you will find reviews of the escorts on an agencies books and what escorts themselves have to say about an agency, which will give a candid look at what it is like to work with that agency.
Sources
The Lost Year: Making your workplace Covid-19-safe — when you’re an escort