How to start a NSFW webcam business

Do not get into this line of work until you have fully accepted the possibility that your family, friends, vanilla job, hometown, etc could find out.

It can take YEARS before you get to a point where you can make SW your only source of income.

You may not even make your first sale for 2-3 months, this is normal.
If you don’t have the patience or desire to put in an insane amount of effort to build a fanbase, or wait some months before making any sales, this probably isn’t the job for you.
The golden rule is – NO PLAY BEFORE PAY – EVER!

Ignore the haters – Some people hate sex workers and nothing you say to defend yourself will change how they feel, or their crazy beliefs.

Don’t engage in bullying or callout culture unless someone is a genuine threat. It looks immature and unprofessional to potential customers and other professionals.

Don’t be afraid to start with your phone as many of us did and upgrade later. Investing in your work quality will pay off, but this is generally something that is done over time.

If camming isn’t going well – Consider dick ratings, content sales, underwear sales, kinky calls, virtual GFE as ways to suppliment your income.

Protect your mental health, it’s great to be productive, but you can’t be if you are burnt out and you’ll be irritable which is noticeable to your audience!

Don’t forget to take breaks when you can, burnout comes REAL quick in this line of work.

Join the group on Reddit and ask questions, the members are usually very helpful.

If you are a new webcam model or creator, consider joining WeCamGirls to utilize their resources.

Find out which platforms to use and which to avoid.

It seems that OF (and others) is changing and placing more and more restrictions on NSFW content.
We DO NOT recommend OF as they banned sexual acts in August 2021 and are banning creators everyday – you won’t get your money out either.
ps. The owner was recently exposed for sponsoring the genocide in Gaza.

Create accounts on several platforms and see which works best, if one account is banned at least you still have the others. Check out JustForFans, Myfreecams, Chaturbate, Manyvids, Clips4sale, Fansly, LoyalFans, StripChat, NiteFlirt.

Some find it helps to create backup social media accounts, one for SFW, one for yourself, one for NSFW etc.
Keep your accounts seperate and see which generates the most interest. DO NOT share pics across these accounts, clients love to play detective and doxx unweary creators.

Be wary of scammers cloning your accounts, search your names every now and then and report them before they damage your reputation.

Follow SexWorkCEO on X, Instagram and on YouTube for creative ideas and excellent advice.

Follow Adult Services on X, post your ads on our “Wednesday Webcam” and “Fetish Friday” threads. See the insert window below (when X allows it to work properly).

Studying and keeping your creative juices flowing are important to enjoyment, learning never hurts and can inspire you!

Be careful who you trust! – A lot of people in this industry are cliquey, fake and use their peers. It’s sad but part of “the game”.
Take the time to get to know people before you trust them with any intimate and private details of your life.

What people say about you is a reflection of them – not you!
It’s called “reflecting” and is a toxic trait, basically people just wrongly assume that you are like them.
Read our article on Red Flags for more info on what people say/do and why they do it.
Comparing yourself to other creators does nothing. Everyone is going to have something they’re better at than someone else and that’s ok. Even though it kinda sukks a little at times it gives you a goal to aim for.

LEARN from others content and use it for inspiration, watching hotties make $$$ can inspire you to do even better.

Be kind, be supportive and be yourself!

@sophie_ladder spent years comparing cam/clip sites and compiled this handy chart sothat you can compare features/rules of popular sites. Thank you Sophie.

Cam moderators – They give their time in exchange for either praise, love, or something else. They are not sex workers, oftentimes manipulative and out to exploit models – avoid them.

Posters – The men posing in front of hired Ferrari’s that take half your money for scheduling posts.

Sex Workers selling courses or “paid mentorship” schemes are no different to crypto guys selling “signals & stock picks”. Successful people don’t normally have time to sell courses, it’s just a quick cash grab.

Name Calling and Body/Age/Rate Shaming – There is way too much name calling and age/body/rate shaming going on. Strippers name calling escorts, escorts running down creators and visa versa, it is immature and unnessesary and doesn’t achieve anything but cause animosity in the industry.

Everyone is free to charge what they decide works best for them, and it doesn’t concern anyone else.
#SW has enough problems and haters already – #SW needs to stand together and help one another.

Scamming – Con artists exist in all fields. It is our duty to stamp out those who con clients as it does irreparable harm to the entire industry and undoes all the hard work we put in to make ourselves trustworthy and “train” clients to adhere to screening requirements.
If you see a cloned account – report it!, tell the original account holder because the first thing a cloner does is to block the person they are cloning.

Read our article on Scams sex workers should be aware of and wise up to them – You’ll be glad you did!

Having your own site, creating verified pages on sites like ours will enhace your persona, add realism as well as increase your advertising – at no extra cost! The more profiles you have, the more people will see you and the more they will be able to relate to your persona.

Find Places to host links – Adult Services, Allmylinks and linkTree are a few.

Keep your links pages updated – LinkTree/website etc, It’s really annoying clicking on expired “dead” links and clients will leave. You don’t see how much traffic is using your links pages and it’s way more than you think. People who are genuinely interested do want to see more of you – even if they don’t step forward right away.

Hotels and AIRbnb – You can get sued for using hotels and airbnbs to film content in without a release form, plus the location has rights to a percentage of your income from filming done on their property. Please don’t post photos of their property on your social media, better still, use locations that are ok with you filming explicit content AND get a location release form signed by the property owner.

If you decide to do porn it’s going to be on the internet for life, if you signed releases you can’t expect videos to be removed once you change your mind.
You cannot have all videos removed if you no longer want to be associated with your past in porn.

Most independant creators you collabed with – will take your porn down on request.
But the following, probably NOT :
a) Proper production companies.
b) Every company that licensed your porn from the production companies.
c) All the pirates, copycats and thieves.

As it’s a cvil matter, you would have to consult a lawyer who will advise how to proceed.

This is a question for your lawyer, it depends on the Region, Terms and Context etc –
If the content is used in a way that you did not expect – you might have a case, even if it was mentioned in your form.

Pick a name that sounds like a real name (first & last name) and not a username.

Research that name and make sure no one else is using it (the hard part), otherwise advertising will be hell.

Don’t go for a persona you think makes a lot of money, go for something you can relate to. People can tell when you genuinely love what you do.

Plant your persona in google, if you were to google your name your personal website or page should pop up first. (Not so easy as google search has changed completely in the last few months).

We found this very useful article on how to create personas, by an expert on the subject.

Keep up with your fans on social media (Twitter, NOSTR, Mastodon, Fetlife), let them have a peek into your life so they can feel more connected to you and who you really are.
Create your own site for your persona, our article How to create an Adult business website deals with all the aspects of creating a NSFW website as well as free listings to create more awareness and drive traffic to your site, you can then create newsletters/blogs for your fans and help them relate to your persona.

“Your vibe attracts your tribe!” The way you market yourself, showcase your brand, create your content and set your rates really does determine the kind of people you attract.
Keep checking sites, social media for your name and pics. Scammers will steal your content and try to create an identical profile to fool the public, scam them, then take it down and you get a bad reputation.
Use a DMCA (leaked content removal) service to take down stolen content. Be 100% sure that you own the rights to the content before requesting a takedown.
If you don’t own the rights YOU can be sued (not the DMCA) and the DMCA will charge you for wasting their time.

The quickest way to succeed is to start now and figure it out as you go. You can’t learn to drive in a parked car.

The first step is to pick a niche, popular niches include amateur, gamer, roleplay, hotwife, giantess etc.
Compare the available sites – Rules, pricing, allowed content, TOS etc. This link was kindly shared by @sophie_ladder – Thank you.

Next you need to set up your profile, chose a username and a display name. Your username is often the URL of your profile, so it’s important to choose something you won’t regret later.

Your display name is what will be shown to the public. Incorporate your niche into your display name and it will make you more memorable and improve Google rankings. Read our article above on creating a persona if you get stuck. Do Not use your username as a display name and make sure your passwords include a few #6*+Cc^ characters.
Very often we see hacked accounts where the display/user name is the same as the password – Don’t make it easy for hackers!

Some platforms have strict verification processes, follow the steps in their guides to improve your chances of approval. Also read the T’s & C’s, posting rules etc and make notes of the things that could create problems later on. We have included a growing list of things that can get you banned from OF (Stay away) below.

Choose high-quality profile and banner images that showcase your assets without revealing too much or breaking any rules.

Your bio description attracts clients and converts them into paying subscribers. Look at some popular performers for ideas and create your own clear, concise description. Copying others bios is regarded as “identity theft” online and can cause problems later.

Create a welcoming message for new subscribers, it’s a great way to engage with them and build rapport.

After setting up your profile, it’s time to start your page. You may have an option to choose between free and paid pages.
Free pages attract a larger audience, paid pages allow you to monetize from the start.

Price your page at an affordable monthly rate and consider offering bundles and discounts to encourage subscriptions. Remember, the most money is made in the DM’s as users unlock more content.

While in settings, you could restrict countries from reaching your profile for greater anonymity, hiding your follower count initially helps attract more subscribers, users are prone to subscribe to popular creators.

Adding your payment information is the final step to start earning money. Create a separate bank account for your webcam income to simplify tax payments.

Think about your posting schedule, camming is time-consuming so it’s crucial to plan ahead. Decide how often you want to post and allocate time for creating content. Having a backlog of content is helpful if you have other commitments besides your webcam.

Now you need to create three types of content:
1. Content for your page
2. Content for social media promotion,
3. Pay-per-view content.

Your first post should introduce yourself and what subscribers can expect from your content (Pin this post).
Aim to post content on your page at least once a day in the beginning and dedicate specific days for content creation. You may have “NEW” status for the 1st week or two, take advantage of this advertising bonus while you can.

1) Post high-quality content on your page to retain subscribers,
2) Use toned-down content clips for social media/site promotion,
3) Save your most explicit content for pay-per-view messages.

It’s important to actively promote your new page on platforms such as social media, on your private site, Linktree and as many free profile pages as possible.

Engage with your audience and collaborate with other creators.

This is tricky nowdays and depends largley on your location.
Make sure you are putting some of your earnings away into a savings account.
Be prepared to save 20-30% of what you make to pay your taxes with.

PayPal
DO NOT use paypal – it’s not sex worker friendly anymore.
People can dispute or cancel payments – Even after they’re already sent! Paypal can and will freeze your accont without any reason whatsoever, and make you pay them back every single penny. Also any cash in PayPal will be frozen for 6 months.

We recommend Bitcoin, Cashapp, SnapScan, ATM send, EFTPOS machines, Simplii, or ppv (not tips) through ManyVids, OnlyFans, etc.
Also look into using FSC Credit union, Bank Australia, Yoursafe.com,
Unfortunately this depends heavily on the region you live in and the platforms you use.

DO NOT give out content in exchange for wishlist items until you physically have the item in hand, or the money is in your account.

DO NOT create/give out content until you have been paid.

Remove metadata (EXIV) from all pictures and videos – or they can be used against you.

Place a watermark on all pictures and videos – or they can be copied and used by other people.

Clean up your filming area! get clothes, trash, clutter, etc out of the shot and your content will improve 200%, read our OF chapter on what’s not allowed on screen.

Consistency is key, when starting up it’s really important for new customers to know when they can expect new content from you to keep their interest.

Onlyfans is not an option, OF banned sexual acts in August 2021. They did not ban nudity so this is probably why so many people still think it’s ok to post porn on their site.

Research the ToS of sites you want to use carefully and join the group on Reddit.
The best way to start building a fanbase is by consistently going live on sites like Myfreecams, Chaturbate, Manyvids, Clips4sale, Fansly, LoyalFans, StripChat, NiteFlirt, JFF, MintStars, Fanzter, Slushy etc.

You will get strange requests – if it doesn’t sit with your gut and you don’t want to do it – Don’t.

Don’t get intimidated by rankings, contests or the success of your peers, it’s not a reflection of you, your ability, or what you create.

Take care of your body. There is a LOT of fluid exchange in shooting with partners, and you need to be knowledgeable in how to protect yourself from colds, flu’s, and infections as well as being safe regarding STI’s.

Don’t do penetrative stuff during “shark week”. Caps get dislodged, strings have a mind of their own.

Always get nails professionally done – you don’t want them falling off mid show.

LOCK THE DOOR! – Roommates, family and neighbors have interrupted many shows because they heard things they shouldn’t have.

Don’t be embarrased by anything – Guys aren’t fazed by farting, burping, falling, blood etc, and many have fetishes for that sort of stuff.

Be prepared for the backlash and hateful comments people will leave on your post for simply being a sex worker, ignore those comments because they’re just looking for attention.

It’s important to note that OF officially banned sexual acts in August 2021.
These tips are known to cause account bans on OF –

Having more than TWO accounts.

Accepting payment for your OF via a third-party app or bank transfer.

Compromising client confidentiality (uploading screenshots with usernames etc).

Sending out EXPLICIT content to expired subscribers, once they unsubscribe any explicit media is unsolicited as the consent is revoked.

Absolutely no booking info in your bio. OF does social media audits and if you’re a liability for prostitution/escorting they will ban you.

Bondage media where ALL limbs are restrained.

Showing links to other sites or hidden messages inside your content. (Do that here or on Linktree, Social Media).

Carrying out raffles or any games where a participant may pay, the site does not have gambling licenses.

Talking about MEETS, arranging meets, even giving false hope of meets. Tell your fans not to do this as they will get you banned. If a fan does this you MUST report it.

Requesting your OF subscribers message you through other apps. (You can do that here).

Breaking the Fetish rules that are put in place (ABDL, watersports, scat, blood, CNC, lactation are forbidden).

Explicit headers or profile pictures, these can be seen by ANYONE before age verification is carried out, keep them PG.

Pets, Alcohol, Guns, Drugs, Logo’s or family photos you may have on the wall or being in the background of your videos.

The insertion of ANYTHING that isn’t specially made for penetration. All items must be body safe! (One woman was banned for inserting a lit candle).

Outdoor Content – Someone posted topless in her garden while sunbathing and was banned for indecent public exposure?

Public Content – you must be able to produce a location release form if asked for. Outdoor content will be removed until they have proof it’s on private land.

Music and backround videos are regarded as “copyright infringement”.

Having videos with fans (tagged).

Having videos with strangers (tagged).

Having anything going on in a car.

Mentioning “Hotel”.

Mentioning “Public”.

Tagging a third party that’s literally tagged.

Mentioning of ANY commercial business, eg Walmart, Tesco, Woolworths, or any other business, don’t have any clear logos or suggest anything about meeting someone there, or working there is regarded as “Commercial Activity”.

Having conversations with fans about other people – wives/gfs/family, due to “Content features and image of, or reference to, someone whose age is not verified”.

Posting promo that does not list every single person that might be in the video or picture.

Certain Role Plays are NOT permitted!
Nun/priest cosplays for “religious” reasons.
Rumors are School/School girl etc may not be allowed as well.

No sales of drop boxes, Google links etc.

Panties cannot be sold if mentioning of them being soiled, cummed in, or worn for x amount of days.

Squirting must be w/out a doubt squirt & nothing else. Color/Volume/Distance may all be considered in this.

OF is not only reading your DMs, they are listening to your voice audio’s and playing your live shows back as well.

Make your subs pay through cashapp/wishtender for OF/? and give them free sub links.

Migrate people from one platform to a new one.
“Sub to my new platform just to try and you’ll get 3 months free on the old one”.

All of which is against the TOS – Obviously.

I’m so sorry you’re going thru this but you’re not alone at all.
This past year has been tough and it seems that it’s getting tougher, whether it’s the influx of new webcam sites or the economy, maybe a combination of both?

Let’s try to understand why it isn’t working for you:

Equipment:
Do you have good quality? Ok camera? Lights? Sound? Try using different lighting. Make things look cozy and nice, not cluttered.
Not cold white neon lighting, dim lights, use a ring light, use lightstrips or lamps around your room to make it nicer, add plants, or some decor.

Internet:
If you do have good equipment, is your internet connection good? Is your stream laggy, use ethernet cables if possible (it’s a lot faster than wireless).
Run a speed test – open a new “incognito tab” and type in your room URL and check your stream quality.

Schedule and consistency:
Do you have a schedule and follow it? Or do you show up at random hours every now and then for 30 minutes and give up because it’s not going well?
If you don’t have a schedule try to do 4 hours at the same time for a couple of weeks.

Sites:
What sites are you trying? Did you take advantage of each sites “New” tag?
Do you know how to use the resources each site has – apps, bots, games, hashtags, scores, etc? Maybe it’s time to try a new site?

Location:
Where are you located and do you have your location blocked? This can affect your placement on some sites.

Prices:
Are you over priced? Check similar girls and their prices. Look up some models who are successful and see what they do, what they charge.
How do you promote tipping? Do you have a menu and goals? Do you interact with people? Do you give away too much for free? Or too little?

Attitude:
What’s your attitude on stream? Do you just sit there waiting for the tips? Dancing, teasing, doing chores, moving around in general does help with getting attention. You can always do something involving things you enjoy, like if you have cute lingerie you can do a “fashion show” or if you have lovely hair maybe brushing it/caring for it. You could fold laundry or play a game (look into T.O.S because there’s different rules around this). You can even put a little box on your stream in OBS/Netfix and show viewers what you’re watching just to get a conversation going.

Freebies:
Do not give anything away for free! Say hello to viewers and ask them what they’re into, then ask them if they want to go private. Talking too much for free or masturbating/being naked does not usually get tips. Charge them to ask questions.

Struggling to make sales in DMs:
Have some friendly and flirty comeback lines to help engage fans, PPVs are only half the battle. Get fans to share their kinks and fetishes, take notes and apply those kinks to your conversations.

Keep notes on fans:
Take notes of your fan’s, once you know their likes and dislikes you can apply those notes to your conversations and make them much more personal.

Blocking:
Block whoever is annoying you or ruining your vibe, being demanding or complaining about your prices.

Passions and Interests:
Make a list of topics, hobbies, skills and subjects that genuinely interest you. If you have expertise or knowledge in specific areas it could set you apart from others in your niche.

Testing:
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different topics and content formats to see what resonates best with your audience.

Refining your niche:
As you create content and gain more experience, be open to narrowing down your niche further. Your niche should be something that excites you and keeps you motivated.