Finding Models to Cam for my Site - Not Easy!!!!

[atom]

So, I won't spam my site here but I have been in the online adult industry going on 14 years now. Ive done quite a few solo girl sites. Around 2 years ago our company started a webcam site.

I have had a hell of a time finding girls to cam. I realize since the site is newer we are not going to have the draw of an mfc, livejasmin, streamate etc. The tips just are not there. To offset this I found a few girls who would work at a per hour rate. It seems something always comes up though and for whatever reason it doesn't happen.

Here is what I am looking for and what I have explained to everyone Ive talked to. 4, 1 hour shows per week to start. Each show consist of flirting and talking with the members, wearing something sexy etc. <-- first 40 minutes of show. The last 20 would be naked and doing some member requests. i.e. masturbation, dildo play etc.

What do you guys think is a fair hourly rate for what I described above?

 

[Violet October]

I like that you're asking what a fair hourly rate would be... BUT would these member requests be for free? I know you would be paying the model an hourly rate, but no member should get a show without paying. I would personally NOT be happy about giving freeloaders a free show. And 20 minutes of being naked and masturbation play should not come as a cheap rate.


For some girls, a 20 minute masturbation/tease show has already racked up a lot of tokens/gold on other sites. Well more than what most sites would enjoy paying a model a flat rate for.

 

[NoelleBright]

I like that you're asking what a fair hourly rate would be... BUT would these member requests be for free? I know you would be paying the model an hourly rate, but no member should get a show without paying. I would personally NOT be happy about giving freeloaders a free show. And 20 minutes of being naked and masturbation play should not come as a cheap rate.


For some girls, a 20 minutemasturbation show has already racked up a lot of tokens/gold on other sites. Well more than what most sites would enjoy paying a model a flat rate for.

Not to mention that it's only going to set a precedent that members don't have to tip in order to get to see what they want on the site.
It's only going to further cement the problem that you have where members aren't willing to tip.
Why would they if they can obviously get what they want for free?

 

[Camgirl]

So, I won't spam my site here but I have been in the online adult industry going on 14 years now. Ive done quite a few solo girl sites. Around 2 years ago our company started a webcam site.

I have had a hell of a time finding girls to cam. I realize since the site is newer we are not going to have the draw of an mfc, livejasmin, streamate etc. The tips just are not there. To offset this I found a few girls who would work at a per hour rate. It seems something always comes up though and for whatever reason it doesn't happen.

Here is what I am looking for and what I have explained to everyone Ive talked to. 4, 1 hour shows per week to start. Each show consist of flirting and talking with the members, wearing something sexy etc. <-- first 40 minutes of show. The last 20 would be naked and doing some member requests. i.e. masturbation, dildo play etc.

What do you guys think is a fair hourly rate for what I described above?

$50 an hour minimum if 1099. With a contract or some sort of prepayment or legal agreement that protects both parties to ensure payment/services. A lot of girls, including myself, make at least that already - on a slow night.

Like Isabella, I wouldn't work for much less than $100 per hour if tips weren't included.

 

[IsabellaSnow]

Well, on average I earn between $90 and $135 per hour, my average was closer to the $135 mark for a while, but I haven't cammed as much lately so it's gone down.

If I were to be paid by the hour for camming including nudity and whatever form of show I'd probably take between $90 and $100 per hour. This'd be if I weren't earning income from the tips.

I don't know how you want to work it with your site, whether the models working for you under a set pay would receive their share of the profit from tips on top of what you'd be paying them, or if you'd take all of the tokens, which though I like the idea of a set pay, I also know members would be less inclined to tip if they know that a model is going to earn the same amount whatever they do.

I don't know how much I'd make off your site with members, if it's a low traffic cam site then maybe not much at all, if there were a chance I'd make a decent amount in tips then I'd be more inclined to take the lower amount of consistent pay and then work my arse off to make more. You'd probably make a loss at first, but if you got a bunch of successful camgirls remember that they'd also be bringing their own traffic, if you rewarded them for traffic they bring/guys who sign up to be members on top it'd be attractive to models, and well, you might make a loss at first, but in the end you'd most likely make the money back and it'd be the kick start to running a successful site.

You could probably get other camgirls to work for cheaper, and many much more expensive, but with myfreecams and streamate as competition you'd be harder pressed to find any girls who'd be willing to work under their average pay, and there's definitely something to be said by hiring more successful cam models.

 

[atom]

I completely understand what you guys are saying. The problem is, its a double edged sword. I can't keep members without girls performing on cam, I can't get girls to perform on cam because I don't have members staying around.

To be a member they must pay a monthly fee. We do not allow viewing of our cams to the public at this point in time, just because we don't want to be giving things away for free.

I also realize that the hourly rate would be higher because I would not be expecting members to tip right off the bat. With that being said, I did have a girl who used to come on 2-3 times a week up until right before Xmas. She would see around 15-40 bucks an hour additional in tips from members without asking. We told her not to request tips because she was given a very fair hourly rate.

That's why I'm asking what you guys think a fair rate would be? I really have no idea. Let's say you get on cam for a couple of hours, what are you happy with when you are done? I know this can probably vary depending on time of day... Have any of you ever broken down your average per hour rate? I just don't want to start pursing models, offering them something and insult them.

If you guys are happy, my members see it, I am then happy cause they stick around. Its a big circle of happiness and we all make money :dance:

I appreciate the responses I have received so far.

 

[atom]

I see 2 more replies came in while I was typing the other one. The last 2 shed a lot of light on what I was asking.

Thanks!

 

[Camgirl]

I completely understand what you guys are saying. The problem is, its a double edged sword. I can't keep members without girls performing on cam, I can't get girls to perform on cam because I don't have members staying around.

To be a member they must pay a monthly fee. We do not allow viewing of our cams to the public at this point in time, just because we don't want to be giving things away for free.

I also realize that the hourly rate would be higher because I would not be expecting members to tip right off the bat. With that being said, I did have a girl who used to come on 2-3 times a week up until right before Xmas. She would see around 15-40 bucks an hour additional in tips from members without asking. We told her not to request tips because she was given a very fair hourly rate.

That's why I'm asking what you guys think a fair rate would be? I really have no idea. Let's say you get on cam for a couple of hours, what are you happy with when you are done? I know this can probably vary depending on time of day... Have any of you ever broken down your average per hour rate? I just don't want to start pursing models, offering them something and insult them.

If you guys are happy, my members see it, I am then happy cause they stick around. Its a big circle of happiness and we all make money :dance:

I appreciate the responses I have received so far.

I am quite certain we all break down our hourly average. Monthly average, weekly, etc. My hourly average over the last 30 days was $$237.19

 

[atom]

My hourly average over the last 30 days was $$237.19

That is incredible!

 

[KylieJacobs]

All I can say that you're in a really tough business, competing with all of the big websites out there. Not that it can't be done though!

What makes your site different from the rest? You might appeal to more models if you did a certain fetish, and it would help you stand out from the other cam girl sites.

As far as pay...my suggestion would be to do a hourly pay as you suggested, but then give a percentage of tips, bonuses, or SOMETHING as an incentive for models to: #1 want to work for your site & #2 it encourages the model to do her best. I've always worked the hardest at jobs when there was some incentive for me to "do better." If you get paid the same whether you just show up for work or you work you ass off....why would you WANT to do your best? :twocents-02cents:

 

[IsabellaSnow]

If you get paid the same whether you just show up for work or you work you ass off....why would you WANT to do your best?

Maybe if camgirls started averaging having more viewers in her room her pay would go up? And maybe each member who joins the site and pays the monthly fee referencing her she'd get extra for it. My regulars want to spend their money where I'll get most of it and see the most benefit. On myfreecams camscore is a big bonus on this as I get more traffic the more I earn which in the end means I earn more.

Reasons I'd work for your camsite would be essentially because I'd not have the stress of worrying if I'm going to earn money or not. I'd love to be on a set wage and not have to worry whether I'm going to make all or nothing. The extra bonus of making extra tip money would be a great incentive to work harder. But... of course, a trainwreck of a day for me is earning $30 per hour, $50 an hour on myfreecams would for me also be what I'd consider a fail of a day, under half of what my current average wage is. I wouldn't mind working for your site for an hour or two around 4 times a week if I knew I'd be paid a set wage I'm happy with. That wage would have to be a minimum of $100 per hour though, coming to about $1600 per month.

If you cannot provide this sort of amount to camgirls then you're pretty much doomed to fail because myfreecams offers this sort of income. Not everyone makes that amount, but then there are reasons that models are successful on myfreecams, whether it's good looks, luck or a good mind for camming, they've brought something to the table and are making myfreecams thousands of dollars a month. They will also have a fanbase. You're starting up your site, the models working for you shouldn't be putting themselves out of pocket for you, you should be putting yourself out of pocket for your site, because eventually if you make it succeed, those models will be making you very rich. Members shouldn't be lurking around and paying for an empty site either, or even a site made up entirely of unpopular models. They are paying for a variation of models, one's that are available, not blank screens and models sat there not giving a fuck.

 

[Camgirl]

My hourly average over the last 30 days was $$237.19

That is incredible!

Honestly, it is not really that uncommon for models to have a hourly average like that on Streamate and MFC, where most girls on this forum cam. I would say my 30 day average is typically around $100-150 on a consistent basis, but my birthday was in December, which bumped it up a bit.

I think it's a good idea to do your research, because if that number was shocking to you than you may not have a accurate grasp on cammodel earnings. Maybe setting up a poll on avg hourly earnings here on the forum might be a good idea.

 

[PunkInDrublic]

My hourly average over the last 30 days was $$237.19

That is incredible!

Honestly, it is not really that uncommon for models to have a hourly average like that on Streamate and MFC

Might not be uncommon but is still incredible! Even at just 100 an hour models are making 4 grand a week and over 15k a month if they work 40 hours. Pretty baller yo.

 

[Violet October]

We told her not to request tips because she was given a very fair hourly rate.

That right there is a HUGE no. A model should ALWAYS be encouraging (or at least ALLOWED to encourage) members to tip for the show. If you ask her not to, you're letting the members think they can always get a show without tipping. The men do NOT need to know that you are paying the model an hourly rate. That should not matter at all. You want members to spend money. And if men think they can get a free show, why tip? Keeping her from asking for tips now will make it harder to get members to pay later.

 

[Jillybean]

We told her not to request tips because she was given a very fair hourly rate.

That right there is a HUGE no. A model should ALWAYS be encouraging (or at least ALLOWED to encourage) members to tip for the show. If you ask her not to, you're letting the members think they can always get a show without tipping. The men do NOT need to know that you are paying the model an hourly rate. That should not matter at all. You want members to spend money. And if men think they can get a free show, why tip? Keeping her from asking for tips now will make it harder to get members to pay later.

Yeah from a business standpoint you're saying, "Please don't get our customers to give us more money."

What?

 

[atom]

All I can say that you're in a really tough business, competing with all of the big websites out there. Not that it can't be done though!

What makes your site different from the rest? You might appeal to more models if you did a certain fetish, and it would help you stand out from the other cam girl sites.

As far as pay...my suggestion would be to do a hourly pay as you suggested, but then give a percentage of tips, bonuses, or SOMETHING as an incentive for models to: #1 want to work for your site & #2 it encourages the model to do her best. I've always worked the hardest at jobs when there was some incentive for me to "do better." If you get paid the same whether you just show up for work or you work you ass off....why would you WANT to do your best? :twocents-02cents:

Awesome post Kylie, I do believe in incentives. We do it for our employees and I would consider models one of our most important assets. A percentage of tips earned I think is a must. As far as the tough business goes. I know it all to well. I've watched this industry change over the past 14 years and have had to adapt and think out of the box quite a lot. Our site has been around for 2 years now. We do have a good member base, to take it to that next level we are going to need to make some changes. I think first and foremost that starts with quality girls.

Thanks again for the post. Very constructive.

 

[atom]

If you get paid the same whether you just show up for work or you work you ass off....why would you WANT to do your best?

Maybe if camgirls started averaging having more viewers in her room her pay would go up? And maybe each member who joins the site and pays the monthly fee referencing her she'd get extra for it. My regulars want to spend their money where I'll get most of it and see the most benefit. On myfreecams camscore is a big bonus on this as I get more traffic the more I earn which in the end means I earn more.

Reasons I'd work for your camsite would be essentially because I'd not have the stress of worrying if I'm going to earn money or not. I'd love to be on a set wage and not have to worry whether I'm going to make all or nothing. The extra bonus of making extra tip money would be a great incentive to work harder. But... of course, a trainwreck of a day for me is earning $30 per hour, $50 an hour on myfreecams would for me also be what I'd consider a fail of a day, under half of what my current average wage is. I wouldn't mind working for your site for an hour or two around 4 times a week if I knew I'd be paid a set wage I'm happy with. That wage would have to be a minimum of $100 per hour though, coming to about $1600 per month.

If you cannot provide this sort of amount to camgirls then you're pretty much doomed to fail because myfreecams offers this sort of income. Not everyone makes that amount, but then there are reasons that models are successful on myfreecams, whether it's good looks, luck or a good mind for camming, they've brought something to the table and are making myfreecams thousands of dollars a month. They will also have a fanbase. You're starting up your site, the models working for you shouldn't be putting themselves out of pocket for you, you should be putting yourself out of pocket for your site, because eventually if you make it succeed, those models will be making you very rich. Members shouldn't be lurking around and paying for an empty site either, or even a site made up entirely of unpopular models. They are paying for a variation of models, one's that are available, not blank screens and models sat there not giving a fuck.

Another great post. This leads me to another question. Is MFC the site that makes you the most money?

 

[zippypinhead]

Hold on a sec. It has already been established that this guy is working from a subscription model, and not a microtransaction model. Those are two completely different dynamics. It's probably the reason why it isn't working out, since subscriptions don't seem to be the order of the day for successful cam sites (at least not multi-performer cam sites -- I can see it working well for a single star's website, though.) Folks keep latching onto the idea that the model MUST receive tips for her service, but why in the world would that be an expectation in a subscription site? Guys are paying up front for full access, they are not paying piecemeal for on-the-spot interactions. And if guys are paying for the access, then it stands to reason that a model would be working for an hourly rate while she is providing that access.

The problem, I think, is that the entire model is probably not what you want, atom. As has been made abundantly obvious in this thread, camsites are a microtransaction model, and it seems that plenty of the performers who work in this manner can't even really imagine working for a set wage and without incidental transactions like tips or private shows. Not that I'm anyone, but I would think that adding the ability for tips to enter the equation, on top of an hourly wage, might be a good way to improve your performer retention, and as others have mentioned, add a new revenue stream to the site. We all know how it works around here -- guys buy credits or tokens or whatever cute play-money name you want to assign to the cash, the site takes a hefty cut, and the model gets the rest when she's tipped.

There's a reason why microtransactions are such a prevalent model in camland: dudes with their dicks in their hands are really reliable when it comes to the impulse buy.

 

[atom]

My hourly average over the last 30 days was $$237.19

That is incredible!

Honestly, it is not really that uncommon for models to have a hourly average like that on Streamate and MFC, where most girls on this forum cam. I would say my 30 day average is typically around $100-150 on a consistent basis, but my birthday was in December, which bumped it up a bit.

I think it's a good idea to do your research, because if that number was shocking to you than you may not have a accurate grasp on cammodel earnings. Maybe setting up a poll on avg hourly earnings here on the forum might be a good idea.

237.19 an hour was shocking to me. I know girls can average $100 an hour over a sustained period of time. My girlfriend was able to do it. She had hours that were above $237 as well. Over a 30 day period though she never ever made it close average over $200 an hour. I know regulars pay a big part in incomes. I also know, once a girl has worked for a site like mfc or streamate for awhile and has a regular following, they won't want to try anywhere else. Totally understandable.

 

[atom]

Hold on a sec. It has already been established that this guy is working from a subscription model, and not a microtransaction model. Those are two completely different dynamics. It's probably the reason why it isn't working out, since subscriptions don't seem to be the order of the day for successful cam sites (at least not multi-performer cam sites -- I can see it working well for a single star's website, though.) Folks keep latching onto the idea that the model MUST receive tips for her service, but why in the world would that be an expectation in a subscription site? Guys are paying up front for full access, they are not paying piecemeal for on-the-spot interactions. And if guys are paying for the access, then it stands to reason that a model would be working for an hourly rate while she is providing that access.

The problem, I think, is that the entire model is probably not what you want, atom. As has been made abundantly obvious in this thread, camsites are a microtransaction model, and it seems that plenty of the performers who work in this manner can't even really imagine working for a set wage and without incidental transactions like tips or private shows. Not that I'm anyone, but I would think that adding the ability for tips to enter the equation, on top of an hourly wage, might be a good way to improve your performer retention, and as others have mentioned, add a new revenue stream to the site. We all know how it works around here -- guys buy credits or tokens or whatever cute play-money name you want to assign to the cash, the site takes a hefty cut, and the model gets the rest when she's tipped.

There's a reason why microtransactions are such a prevalent model in camland: dudes with their dicks in their hands are really reliable when it comes to the impulse buy.

As I said in an earlier post which was probably overlooked because I type a lot. We do have tipping. We also have bonuses for members to tip along with telling them that if they have specific request, models are more inclined to fulfill them if they tip. One of our models that was working for us who left right before christmas was making an additional 15-40 per hour from tips.

What we didn't want to happen was models make the whole show tip focused because like you said, we are already charging members a monthly fee. We do not discourage tipping from members at all. Hell, if they buy 2 dollars in credits, we give them 2 free.. What we did/do discourage was the models making that whole show about getting tipped.

Thanks for the comments. I do appreciate the input.

 

[Violet October]

What we did/do discourage was the models making that whole show about getting tipped.

Thanks for the comments. I do appreciate the input.

Any kind of public show should be about getting tipped, in my opinion.

 

[Kunra9]

His point being though, that he runs a site with a subscription. You have to pay a monthly fee to access the site.

If I was paying a monthly fee to look at webcam models, and then every time I went to a model's room she was demanding tips for a show, I would cancel my subscription in a heartbeat.

So he has to find that happy medium.

They are ALREADY paying members. Why should they have to pay MORE just to see a standard show.

Now if I was a paying member, and a girl was in the middle of a masturbation show, and then did something like "xx amount of tips for anal, xx amount for DP" I would find that acceptable.

Retaining the models would have to be a nice balance between hourly wage and percentage of tips. So even if they have a terribly slow day where NOBODY tips, they still made $50 an hour. Maybe the MFC models make on average 100 an hour. However, when they have a TERRIBLE day, that can easily drop down to 30-50 an hour.

So perhaps the better question to ask many of the girls that are on this forum would be, how much do you make on your absolute WORST days. Lets say the consensus is 40 an hour. Offer 30 an hour and 50% of the tips. So when she has a great day, she can easily exceed 100 an hour, but even on her worst day she will still break 30 an hour.

 

[KayleePond]

I actually think that MANY girls would fucking love to work on a site where the income was guaranteed! If the per hour rate was reasonable, I think you could find plenty of girls to work on your site.

 

[Kunra9]

I actually think that MANY girls would fucking love to work on a site where the income was guaranteed! If the per hour rate was reasonable, I think you could find plenty of girls to work on your site.

I completely agree.

Think about the girls at the bottom of page 2 of MFC who struggle. I guarantee many of them would LOVE to jump on a site where they know that no matter how bad the day is, they are still getting paid.

And I think if played correctly, you can attract more members this way.

There have been plenty of times where I have tipped towards a show and then the countdown wasn't met, so now I've spent money and essentially got no return. However if I was paying 10 bucks a month and knew that no matter when I logged on, I would DEFINITELY see a show, I might be pretty happy with that.

"10 dollars a month, guaranteed live shows 24 hours a day. No more waiting for countdowns."

Kind of appealing honestly.

 

[KayleePond]

I know that once I hit my goals for the night I often loosen up and have a lot more fun! The stress and pressure is off at that point, so it's nice. I don't mind doing the work if I'm sure I've been paid for it and I'm sure others would feel the same. Of course it still really comes down to what your hourly rate would be and quite a few other specifics about the site. If it was pretty good and all checked out, I could see putting in some time on that site on days when I felt MFC was slow, if I was in a financial crunch, or maybe even on off days or a few regular shifts a week.

It's tough because MFC has such HUGE potential for big days but there's no guarantee. Slow days can be downright scary sometimes. It's nice to have a way to be secure but no one wants to limit themselves either so it can be kind of a puzzle. It's an interesting balance, for sure.

 

[Camgirl]

I actually think that MANY girls would fucking love to work on a site where the income was guaranteed! If the per hour rate was reasonable, I think you could find plenty of girls to work on your site.

Yep!

 

[Violet October]

I actually think that MANY girls would fucking love to work on a site where the income was guaranteed! If the per hour rate was reasonable, I think you could find plenty of girls to work on your site.

Yep!

I would definitely spend a lot of time on a site knowing my hourly was guaranteed and that I had the potential to make more through tips. But only if I was allowed to encourage tips.

On my own personal website, I will do an hour long members show each week. These men have already paid to see the shows so they will get shows. But obviously I will do a lot more if they are tipping during my shows. And if I do a couple shows in a row where no one tips, I will definitely start giving incentives to tip:

* If we get x-amount in tips before X amount of time is over, I'll do THIS in addition to my show
* HT tipper during my show gets X for a prize!
* Tip controlled shows
etc.

 

[Camgirl]

My hourly average over the last 30 days was $$237.19

That is incredible!

Honestly, it is not really that uncommon for models to have a hourly average like that on Streamate and MFC

Might not be uncommon but is still incredible! Even at just 100 an hour models are making 4 grand a week and over 15k a month if they work 40 hours. Pretty baller yo.

I absolutely agree!

I wish I had the stamina to work 40 hours a week. I spend about 40-60% of my time in private so 16-24 hours a week of masturbating plus maintaining an active sex life might kill me.

 

[Violet October]

My hourly average over the last 30 days was $$237.19

That is incredible!

Honestly, it is not really that uncommon for models to have a hourly average like that on Streamate and MFC

Might not be uncommon but is still incredible! Even at just 100 an hour models are making 4 grand a week and over 15k a month if they work 40 hours. Pretty baller yo.

I absolutely agree!

I wish I had the stamina to work 40 hours a week. I spend about 40-60% of my time in private so 16-24 hours a week of masturbating plus maintaining an active sex life might kill me.

Same here! That's partly why I'm making use of MFC more now. I spend the majority of my time on SM in private masturbating and it's pretty hard on my body. But my guys there want that a lot more than my other kinds of shows that I can do on other sites.

 

[mynameisbob84]

You could probably get other camgirls to work for cheaper, and many much more expensive, but with myfreecams and streamate as competition you'd be harder pressed to find any girls who'd be willing to work under their average pay, and there's definitely something to be said by hiring more successful cam models.

Very much this, yo.

Trying to set a "fair" flat hourly wage for live webcamming is a pretty arduous task that I wouldn't like to take on myself. There's just so many factors to take into account when you remove the free market element, ya know? Does an hour of camming really warrant a flat hourly wage five to ten times that of a nurse, for example?

I think Isabella's right in that the only way you'd get it to work is to look at the kind of camgirls you want to bring in and offer them something similar to what they're already earning. Bringing over a successful model with a large fanbase will cost (and should cost) you more than bringing in a newer model who is yet to garner a following, but there's a greater potential to make good on your investment there. So it's less about offering a set hourly wage for an hour's work a few times a week, and it's more about investing in a performer (or performers) who will (hopefully) bring your site traffic and earn your site money through subscriptions and additional tips.

So I guess you'd need to think about the models you're looking to attract. The models who have been at it for a while and who have the most to offer you in terms of a fanbase that will follow them to your site and the potential to make the most money for you and your site will naturally expect a high hourly wage in order for them to do that, or it's just not worth it for them to leave a site they're already successful on. Conversely, models who are maybe newer and less experienced, or who may have hit a brick wall on the site they're currently camming on probably won't have a huge fanbase to bring over to your site and are potentially less likely to generate subscriptions and tips than the models who have already proven uber successful in camland (though that's not to say that they can't or won't), but then these models would likely be tempted by a lower hourly wage. It's a balancing act, I guess :twocents-02cents: