Holidays are past, everyone is at work, vacation season is 2 months away, the days are longer.

I suggest some kind of marketing variation for you.

Dear Ms. Ricci:
In any business there usually is a slow time of the year. However as it pertains to holidays, business tends to be slow because you clients priorities come first.  However I was wondering would you have a strong customer base and how many of your customers would tend to be married since the hobby would tend to be expensive? Finally, I was wondering what would the population density would be in your metropolis and have you found a way to identify new hobbyist or anyone whose is not aware that you are a major participant in the game? Finally, I can see you tending to be creative with your compensation packages or coming up with some type of a barter system to promulgate business where they would give to certain charities or organizations that you would cherish.  Also try to attend certain events in places or conventions during the summertime where you would think that men would tend to frequent.  These would be good places to identify knew and potential clients. Thus, expanding your horizons as you expand your business simultaneously.  This would be a viable option and as it says about business new clients are just as important as old clients.  
With respect to the verification issue with new clients you might have to do more employment verification with them but it just might be worth it. However I don't know the volume of business that you would like to do, but you might have to be slightly hire in the numbers that you would do. Also see if you can attend meet and greets in your area. This might be a new venue where you can meet and identify new clients as well. Also if you have any friend that would be providers ask them how are they getting knew clients and also what boards would you belong to?  These are also ways to expand the potential numbers of hobbyist that you would be exposed to.

Boy, you really walked into that one.

I'm experiencing a very slow period, which is discouraging because I recently got a fantastic new TER review. I am blaming the holidays and hoping that that's the main reason (Easter/Passover having just passed and Mother's Day coming up) I try and be careful during the "high times" so I don't feel strapped during the "dry times" but it's getting downright awful. I don't wanna hear any "you should charge less" replies, but I would like to know from both hobbyists and providers, whether holidays are a slow time, generally.

llike Christmas, summer vacations, weekends  gradutions, will take away from your business. I'm in a tourist area, where the winter is an excellent time of the year for providers.  However, the summer is can be a really difficult time of the year. Many providers where I am, tour in the summer.

because of family commitments.  Depending on where you live, the summer could be good or bad.  In Florida, many providers tour elsewhere because it is so hot and few tourists are around for business.  Also, not sure if the ecconomy has rebounded sufficiently yet.  I know my hobby spending is down.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm in Boston, which is better in the Summer for tourism and steady in the winter with businessmen. The recent marathon helped me tremendously, but I wonder how much I could really see tourists this summer; won't they be with their wives and kids!?

diverting funds that I would have to spend on a wide range of products & services.   I don't think I'm anybody special...  more like typical.   It will not stop my hobbying but will affect the frequency.   Around holidays & vacations there are other needs for funds so that is a factor as well as time.
skb

Sorry to hear business is slow for you.  Too bad you're in Boston!

Not sure why it's slow, probably because the weather is getting nice so we're going outside more, thus, we are happier and thus, we make less calls.

Feb, May-Jul, Sep-mid Nov with an average of one client per day four (occasionally five) days a week. The rest of the time was random and much slower, with anything from no one in three weeks to only six in an entire month.

Part of it was marketing; sometimes ads just didn't work as well as I thought they would. Other times, marketing seemed secondary because I was entertaining repeats or regulars. And still other times, it was only due to the ads that I had anyone call at all.

everything you're doing so that you can answer this kind of question in the future.

Keep track of:

which ads are pulling in business for you;  
how much you make in any one day/week/month (and which day/week/month);
who appears to be your actual market (I ended up with two niches - the under 30 men and the over 50 men);

and so on and etc.

Knowing what's working and continuing to improve on that, and what isn't working and making needed adjustments is how to run a successful business. If you don't know any of this, then how do you know how much you're actually earning AND how to make the slow times less slow?

You don't want to hear it, but - "you should charge less".  You have good reviews and back channel reports and you are a very attractive woman, but your rates are very aggressive.  You have the right to set whatever prices you want, but you should not be surprised if these prices result in a "very slow period".

Thanks for feedback everyone. I had been very busy with my personal life and had little time to manage my ads, my blog, etc....so I'm getting back on top of things.

There the element of fantasy in this business. One of the fantasies is that this temporary girlfriend doesn't have ANY of the drama of the real thing. For the average joe, streaming their consciousness into a blog is probably not too much of a worry. For a lady trying to market the illusion of the perfect temporary GF, it might be a buzz-kill.

That said, I also imagine this business runs hot/cold. Saving for the inevitable rainy days is imperative, and requires a real budget where you pay yourself a salary from the bank account.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, I agree 100%, I need to get in touch with my INTROVERT side! I've made some rookie mistakes of late, so hoping to bounce back and working hard to do so!