Trouble Scheduling Skype Shows

[Deleted member 43650]

So I've been having a hell of a time trying to juggle all the Skype requests - this has been going on since the very beginning of my camming 'career'. I work two jobs outside of camming, am married, and am working on my MBA. With my Twitter, OnlyFans, and Chaturbate broadcasts, I barely have time to do anything other than work and school...the only exception is time I spend with my wife, which is absolutely off-limits (that is, I won't cut that time short for anything). I really do care about my fans, but Skype requests have been stressing me out.

Lately I am considering just not offering private chats outside of Chaturbate (and other cam-sites I might eventually use), period. Most of the Skype guys are really testy, impatient, and sometimes downright rude. I worry about my credibility as a model given that I have quite a few fans emailing me daily asking me to Skype them...and I simply don't have the time. A lot of these guys will show up in my room, complaining about how I don't Skype them. It's getting to be a pain in the ass. I do tell them this, tell them about the waitlist, that I will get to it when I can (which I will), etc. but it doesn't seem to matter to them. It's actually causing me anxiety and kind of killing the fun for me.

I'm a nice guy but have had to get really assertive with some of these individuals. One of them was even imploring me to Skype him on Christmas day while I was with my in-laws, and further crossed the line by asking me to Skype him while I was babysitting my little brother (knowingly). Needless to say, I told him to never contact me again. Point is, I can see this situation arising again..

Is not offering private chats going to be a regrettable, bad 'business' decision for me later down the road? I am too new to all of this to know. Without trying to toot my own horn, I am doing pretty well on CB - what I am making 'hourly' (averaged) is much higher than I could ever make even with unreasonably high Skype rates. I've been consistently topping out as the #1 male whenever I broadcast for a good two months now, but I do understand that momentum can (and will) slow down for every model, eventually. My concern is that cutting off private chats now will hurt my business in the future.

Is it that big of a deal? Or would I perhaps be OK picking up Skype if and when my shows 'slow down' one day? I suppose I know the 'big picture' answer for myself - I don't enjoy or have the time for Skype - but I still want to hear the valuable insight I know the more experienced models here have to offer.

Any other models on here that do NOT offer private chats?

Thanks guys! Just a little frustrated right now...

 

[AmiGold]

I would say if it is stressing you out stop offering it. It is something you can always add back at a later day. You could always say that you are not taking new sessions at the moment until the waiting list is reduced.
I rarely offer them and only with guys that are trusted regulars that tip me tokens for them on cb. They know that I dont accept any other type of payment.

 

[Emberblaze]

If something is bringing you misery and not much money don't do it.

You could also make your skypes super fucking expensive so that it's actually worth your time to do them and eliminate a lot of the people wanting them. "Sorry guys, Skype is actually taking away from my time I'm able to broadcast and spend time with my family so I need to be really well compensated in order to do them."

 

[Deleted member 43650]

I would say if it is stressing you out stop offering it. It is something you can always add back at a later day. You could always say that you are not taking new sessions at the moment until the waiting list is reduced.
I rarely offer them and only with guys that are trusted regulars that tip me tokens for them on cb. They know that I dont accept any other type of payment.

Seems like a sensible approach. I'd prefer to work with my regulars as well, given that they tend to be the guys who are most respectful and patient. A lot of the Skype requests are guys who hang around my room and seldom tip or that I otherwise don't know very well.

Also, I always thought to myself: "Wouldn't our Skype conversation be exceedingly awkward seeing how all of our correspondence up until the Skype chat has been you (the client) hassling me and getting angry with me over email?"

Also, keeping to CB payments will kill the potential of getting banned, so there's that. Thank you!

If something is bringing you misery and not much money don't do it.

You could also make your skypes super fucking expensive so that it's actually worth your time to do them and eliminate a lot of the people wanting them. "Sorry guys, Skype is actually taking away from my time I'm able to broadcast and spend time with my family so I need to be really well compensated in order to do them."

LOL! I actually really like this approach - it wouldn't be dishonest either. If I'm going to ask my wife to go read a book in the other room for an hour, or take off time studying, I certainly should adjust the rate to something higher. I see your other point, too - just calling it what it is, the higher rates will make Skype less-appealing to the pushy/rude clients (who also just so happen to be the lowballers, too. surprise). Thanks for the input!

 

[IsabellaSnow]

I'm confused, are these guys nagging for you to skype them wanting to pay for shows or just expecting you to spend ages of extra time chatting to them one on one?

Either way, if you're doing well live then there's really no need to answer all the skype guys and give them that attention. I don't offer Skype as a rule, and I tend to charge higher than my sites private rate and have a higher minimum spend when I do. I don't know if it's the same for you, but for me, most of the guys wanting skype is because they feel entitled to a cheaper show and don't want to pay the normal private rates. That in my opinion is not worth my time as I rarely problems getting private shows for full price, I cannot say whether it's worth it to you, but it sounds like it isn't.

No one has any right to your personal time though, it's fine for them to express interest in skype shows, but from my experience camming, people who feel entitled to your time are not worth it. Camming can be a great gig, but one of the main parts is that you need to enjoy it or you will burn out quickly. If you get members who are causing you stress by pressuring you into things you don't want to do, or have no sense of you being a person rather than an object, you may burn out fast and not want to return, which will lower your income far more than losing out on a few skype shows.

I stopped offering Skype years ago because I had a regular who would tip "for skype" without asking me if I was available for a show, and then would put huge amounts of pressure on me if I did not do the show in a timely fashion. One time I got ill so had taken a week or two off cam, and talking to him in pm one night, at 4am my time (his timezone was different) he started having a go at me because he was horny and I didn't want to jump on cam and do his show. The whole experience was so stressful and caused so many problems that I put rules in place that protected me from repeating these sorts of situations.

Establishing boundaries which make camming a fun and relaxing experience for you, is essential for remaining in the game. So what you might lose out on a few potential regulars, if they're that controlling and awful then no money is worth their presence in your life. Much better to focus your energy on the members who will make you look forward to getting on cam than the ones who make you cringe.
Remember, you are in control of how and when you cam, not them. I know it sounds cut throat, but when it comes to shitty members/regulars, when you lose one, others will come along to fill the void.

 

[Starman]

I agree with Missvc (above) that you charge more to reduce numbers but increase revenue. In addition, how about restricting Skype sessions to those regulars you know well, and aren't pushy and rude?

 

[Deleted member 43650]

I'm confused, are these guys nagging for you to skype them wanting to pay for shows or just expecting you to spend ages of extra time chatting to them one on one?

Either way, if you're doing well live then there's really no need to answer all the skype guys and give them that attention. I don't offer Skype as a rule, and I tend to charge higher than my sites private rate and have a higher minimum spend when I do. I don't know if it's the same for you, but for me, most of the guys wanting skype is because they feel entitled to a cheaper show and don't want to pay the normal private rates. That in my opinion is not worth my time as I rarely problems getting private shows for full price, I cannot say whether it's worth it to you, but it sounds like it isn't.

No one has any right to your personal time though, it's fine for them to express interest in skype shows, but from my experience camming, people who feel entitled to your time are not worth it. Camming can be a great gig, but one of the main parts is that you need to enjoy it or you will burn out quickly. If you get members who are causing you stress by pressuring you into things you don't want to do, or have no sense of you being a person rather than an object, you may burn out fast and not want to return, which will lower your income far more than losing out on a few skype shows.

I stopped offering Skype years ago because I had a regular who would tip "for skype" without asking me if I was available for a show, and then would put huge amounts of pressure on me if I did not do the show in a timely fashion. One time I got ill so had taken a week or two off cam, and talking to him in pm one night, at 4am my time (his timezone was different) he started having a go at me because he was horny and I didn't want to jump on cam and do his show. The whole experience was so stressful and caused so many problems that I put rules in place that protected me from repeating these sorts of situations.

Establishing boundaries which make camming a fun and relaxing experience for you, is essential for remaining in the game. So what you might lose out on a few potential regulars, if they're that controlling and awful then no money is worth their presence in your life. Much better to focus your energy on the members who will make you look forward to getting on cam than the ones who make you cringe.
Remember, you are in control of how and when you cam, not them. I know it sounds cut throat, but when it comes to shitty members/regulars, when you lose one, others will come along to fill the void.

Thank you for the thorough, helpful (and, tbh, quite validating) input! After reading the responses here, I cant agree more that IF I am going to offer Skype, it will be to trusted regulars who observe my boundaries and aren't trying to finagle a 'cheaper' show. I further couldn't agree more regarding encroaching on my personal time - it is the one thing about camming that has put a bad taste in my mouth, made me feel 'burnt out', and I can see how detrimental that could be in the long run. Not worth it.

To clarify, yes, these guys are offering to pay, but are also extremely pushy about it. The guys who expect 'free stuff' - anything from free pictures to my KIK username, expecting me to spend hours chatting with them in return for nothing, I always ignore. Nothing good can come from someone with that mentality.

My experience is similar to yours - I've had a few guys totally 'lose it' and get really abrasive and rude. I don't understand how they can expect to have a pleasant private show after attacking me or acting so volatile. It makes it pretty clear that they just want to use me to 'get off', which I absolutely do not do. Moving forward, I'll be taking an even more firm stance toward this: if someone wants to get pushy or rude, for instance expecting me to ditch my wife so they can get off, well...they can get lost!

Thanks again!

 

[MojitosJourney]

I’m not sure what you charge for Skype vs private shows on chaturbate, but my experience with offering Skype is that 85% of the guys that ask for it, are looking for a deal. They generally want Skype because they want to pay less than they would on the cam site. Someone wanting a deal is not someone I need to go out of my way to accomodate. It’s better for me to do shows on my cam site. I now only offer Skypes for the exact same price as private, and I prioritise my shows on my cam site (Myfreecams) way over Skype. If you’re the #1 broadcaster, or even if you aren’t, your time is very valuable.

If you really want to continue offering Skype, I’d suggest using acuity scheduler. https://acuityscheduling.com/
You can set up a booking system so they can book and pay for the Skype ahead of time at set hours that you have set in your schedule as available. Maybe just set 2-3 hours aside a week available for Skypes and if they can’t make it then, they can catch you on your cam site at your convenience

I’ve learned that trying too hard to please customers can burn me out on camming and so for the longevity of your career, and for your mental health, please yourself first!!