PROS KNOW - OnlyFans. We had the absolute pleasure of talking to a dear friend who is a content creator on OnlyFans. During the pandemic OnlyFans exploaded, it is becoming a household name brand, and it is giving sex workers of all types a new platform to share their art, services and have a profitable side hustle.
Q: Tell us about how your journey with OnlyFans started
I started OnlyFans during the pandemic as a way to supplement my income once I was laid off from my job. As everyone was at home bored, I started to see and hear of more people making the decision to monetize their nudes online. This wasn’t a quick decision for me, I toyed with the idea for a while before fully committing. I was nervous I wouldn’t do well because I am not a size 0, I have cellulite, and my boobs aren’t huge. A lot of what gave me the confidence to start was watching women on TikTok talk about their experiences on OnlyFans and understanding that subscribers don’t care about the cellulite on your thighs or that your small boobs, what you see as a flaw someone else sees as absolutely beautiful and it’s what they want to spank it to.
Q: What did you research before starting?
Marketing on social media. Platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok DO NOT ALLOW direct links to OnlyFans. Posting direct links will get your profiles deleted and/or banned. Save yourself some hassle and learn how to indirectly promote your OnlyFans.
How to properly fill out the forms. If you don’t fill out the OnlyFans required forms properly your account will be denied. You need to give them your real information so they can verify you and your age and so you can get paid.
What to post and my own boundaries. If you are not comfortable posting nude photos or yourself playing with toys that is FINE! But this is something to communicate on your profile. In your bio say what you will be posting. This will set you up for success and hopefully limit the number of people asking for different content in your DM’s ( it won’t eliminate it, but it should cut the number down).
Q: What tips you would give someone who is just starting?
Create a persona that won’t be linked to your real name. Then create separate social media accounts on all platforms with that persona. Turn off any type of synchronization of contacts/lists in the setup process. Check all your settings again once the accounts are made to make sure they are set properly and the platform knows to not EVER sync or recommend your profile to people you know.
Make it clear what you will and won’t do. You can always change what you do, but when you are starting state your boundaries. This way if someone asks you for something too much you can refer them to your bio where you have stated boundaries.
DO NOT GIVE AWAY TOO MUCH TOO FAST!! I have seen so many people starting that have given everything they got in one go, which then gives their buyers no reason to subscribe and no reason to come back. It also makes more work for you. If you give all your photos at once, you now have to go create so much more content. I don’t even give full videos or photoshoots all at once, I give snippets of them for a price then tease the rest for a different price. You want to make your clients crave you.
Meetups. I have seen many people’s accounts get taken down because they advertise meetups to locals. In OnlyFan’s mind, this is escorting, something they do not want to be a part of. On that note, another reason people’s accounts get taken down is that they post their links to their escort agency or their escort website.
Move any personal items out of the frame. If you are planning on exclusively creating content in your home move any items that can identify you. Think about photos on the walls, pictures on nightstands, sweaters with school names on them etc.
Post content consistently. this doesn’t mean you need to be creating content every single day, but the more consistent you are with creating content, the better the chance you’ll retain and gain new followers. Block off an afternoon or day to batch-create content. Change lingerie, change your makeup, and change your hair throughout so it looks like you have taken content on different days.
Don’t worry SO MUCH about the quality when you are first starting. Having semi-good consistent content is better than having high-quality content that is barely being posted. Remember people are paying you, this is a job. If you stop showing up, people will not renew and not purchase.
Don’t expect to make bank in the first few months. Just because other people have quit their day jobs because of OnlyFans, doesn’t mean the minute you sign up your going to be able to do the same. Put in the work, do the research, and promote yourself and you’ll eventually get there.
DO NOT IGNORE PEOPLE. Once you start OnlyFans and have some content up, you will start getting DMs which can be overwhelming. Set a time to go through these and reply to them as best possible. I wish I would have started to make it clear in my posts that there will be times when I cannot reply to every comment and every DM I get. One thing I learned was it got easier to batch create thank you’s to send to people for their support (I make new ones monthly so I never repeat a thank you message).
Save for taxes. Just like any job, you need to pay taxes and you don’t want to fuck yourself over at tax season if you owe. There are many websites to go to understand how much you should be saving from each payout for taxes.
Don’t give away too much to fast. Make your clients crave you.
Q: What should you invest in for OnlyFans?
Before starting on OnlyFans I invested in 2 things: Lingerie and a Ring Light. . I had a good amount of lingerie, but I went out and bought cheap lingerie in different colours and styles. This allowed me to take shoot a lot of content in a short period when I first started. Since my apartment doesn’t have the best lighting in my bedroom so instead of giving my neighbourhood a free show while shooting in my living room I decided to buy a cheap ring light to shoot content in my bedroom.
Once I started making money on OnlyFans I invested in the following items:
A camera- I started creating content with just my phone. I know a lot of people who still primarily use their phones. I wanted to upgrade so I could also use a camera for other things.
More lighting- I now have a ring light and two box lights.
A PO box- I decided to start sending items out to subscribers. I didn’t want my address linked to anything, so I went to Canada Post and bought a PO box.
Editing Software- there are a ton of free apps and software to use out there which are all AMAZING. Just like the camera, I wanted to upgrade so I had access to good software for OnlyFans and other things I do in my freelance job.
Scheduling Software– to make my life easier I invested in software where I can dump in my content once it’s made and schedule it to be posted on different times and days.
Lingerie- Doesn’t have to be expensive, but the more variety the better.
Props and Toys– This depends on what type of content you are creating, but the more the better for the larger amount of content you can create and offer.
Sheets and Blankets- Simply so you can change out your “backgrounds” frequently and always have clean sheets to sleep on 😉
Myself- I was never the type to invest in hair and nail, but since starting OnlyFans I have liked the look of myself with no roots showing and freshly done nails. I stick to very neutral and/or easy-to-edit nails so people won’t know I batch-create based on the nail colour or set I am wearing.
Q: What’s a day in the life as an OnlyFans creator like for you?
Wake up– grab my phone and check how much I made overnight.
Coffee Time- Drink coffee and check that all my scheduled posts across multiple platforms have been posted and how well they are doing. I take this time to respond to any comments and messages on social media platforms.
Freelance work- I still have a freelance job, so I work in the midmorning until early afternoon on that.
Content Days- I get ready and batch-create content for my OnlyFans for the week.
Non-Content Days- film/photograph any requests I have received.
Edit- make any and all edits that need to be done to post on a different platform and for advertising purposes.
Schedule Posts- I use Later to plan out my posts.
Before logging off- Respond to any messages and comments that have rolled in.
Log off- Have me time where I make dinner, go to the gym, socialize, etc.
Before bed- log in one more time for messages/comments.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add for those thinking about starting?
I wish I would have known most days are lonely as a creator, especially if you don’t have a support network of people who know what you do. You are pretty much doing your job in secret and always alone while creating. I have a solid amount of people who know what I do and whom I can talk to about my job throughout my days, but others think I only freelance and have to tread water on how and what I talk about. I schedule in time for me throughout the day so I don’t get swept up and overwhelmed. I found at the beginning I would burn myself out easily because I didn’t put boundaries in place for a work-life balance. In talking to my therapist about my job and day-to-day activities, we established it is VERY important for me to structure my day in a way that I am not focusing on OnlyFans for the majority of my days. Having other things to do/other forms of income is important.
On the flip side, working for yourself is also VERY rewarding! and being able to blast music in my apartment while getting all dolled up to take sexy and empowering photos of myself as a woman is exhilarating. Depending on the type of content you create, having multiple O’s a day isn’t that bad either 🙂
Just like any form of SW, this won’t last forever. This can be for a multitude of reasons, the site gets shut down, someone IRL finds your account (and you are not in a safe space to keep working), people stop buying content, a partner has influenced you to stop, you have to stop for medical and/or mental health reasons etc.
Another consideration is there are going to be people in your life you need to tell what you do. Those conversations can be hard. I remember when I went to deposit money into my savings account one day and talk to my bank about getting a loan for a large purchase I wanted to make the question hit me like a semi-truck. However, this was also a blessing as the banker let me know a SW friendly accountant to go talk to so I could get my tax information in order.
If you are considering starting on OnlyFans my biggest tips are to research, read other content creators’ blogs or watch youtube videos on what it’s like, and remember you aren’t going to make bank overnight you NEED to put in the work. This isn’t just sex it’s sex WORK and that is exactly what OnlyFans is, it’s WORK.
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