So I'm transitioning from sugar baby (I know, I know) to independent provider and I'm wondering how I appeal to clientele as I have no reviews. I'm not in a position to ask my former "boyfriends" for reviews as that was not the nature of the relationships. What did you ladies do when you were first starting out? How do the gentlemen on here feel about booking someone with no reviews? Any tips or links to other threads that covered this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Guys here call it Taking One For The Team when they see a provider who doesn't have any reviews yet. Probably the best way to attract some interest here would be to participate in the regional board that is closest to your area. Respond to other people's posts there, and maybe even start a thread where you introduce yourself.

and being active on your regional board is likely to tempt reviewers to see you. Only a small percentage of hobbyists are active reviewers, getting even one positive review by an established and trusted reviewer can open the flood gates for you.

Also remember, you are allowed to link your website to all of your posts "except" for OP's IOW posts that begin a thread and are not a reply to someone else's post.

Depending on your location TER may or may not be a big help to your business. If you are in a city like Atlanta, LA, LV, NYC or Chicago, TER can be huge boon to your business. If you are in someplace like Houston or Tulsa, your benefits will be a bit more muted.

I'm in Chicago so we will see how things pan out. Thank you!

Asking for a deposit for all dates, even your one hour dates will kill even a well reviewed provider's business.
 
No TER member with half a brain in his head would ever even consider sending a deposit to a complete unknown. If you want success with the TER crowd, I would suggest you drop your deposit demand immediately. If you don't you are going to fail miserably with the TER members. If I had a friend who told me he planned on sending you a deposit, I would smack him upside his head and continue smacking him until he came to his senses. Friends don't let friends do patently stupid things like sending deposits to hookers, especially unknown hookers. lol

I hope I am making myself clear as to how much this will hurt your business.

Trust is everything in this business and most but not all will not touch you unless you have reviews or a way for the guy to verify you.  the only thing I can add to what has been said is to maybe join a verification site like P411 or ask another established provider that is your friend to send some of her clients to you and ask them to write a review for you if they liked your services.

I can't join P411 without reviews unfortunately. As far as being 'verified' I'm on date-check and my identity has been verified by slixa and eros. Thank you!

I'd also add, probably in the context of P411 but if you have good screening processes P411 might not matter, list your self as newbie friendly. More of a win-win on both sides that way.

to a post, you can include a link to your website or mall ad at the bottom.

Once hobbyists see how attractive you are and get an idea of your personality (from your posts), someone will jump at the chance to see you.

Good luck.

of 3 hours or longer.

Her pics are attractive and if I were in the Chicago area, I might be tempted to TOFTT if I had some knowledge of her skills. The double edge sword is how to get the knowledge without reading any reviews. There was nothing on her website (at least that I could find) that talked about her likes regarding kissing, oral pleasures, etc. HINT HINT.

Previously, she required a 25% deposit on ALL dates and a 50% deposit on all dates over three hours. I am sure that policy was killing her business, let's see if business picks up for her now.

For instance, if she has to book a hotel just for his date.  

Also, on tours... if a girl has enough demand that she CAN fill up her time with guys who will pay a deposit, why not do that, instead of taking the chance (almost a certainty, IMO) that someone will flake? That's just smart business. Besides, the less aggravation she has to deal with, the more positive her experience, and the better her attitude and focus.  

Regrettably, I had a date scheduled for today, and did NOT ask for a deposit, even though I had to book a hotel (I'd seen the guy before, and trusted him). I also paid extra for a room with a specific amenity that he'd requested. Because he wanted a early morning-to-afternoon time frame, I was planning to check in yesterday night, and pay for a late check-out. The guy emailed me to cancel at 12PM yesterday. I would have had to cancel by 6PM the night before, so I just paid for a room I didn't need... in kind of an out-of-the-way location, too, so no hope of me scheduling anything else there. That's what we get for not asking for deposits. (This was a 4+ hour date, but same would apply if it were 2 hours).  

Also, deposits do tend to weed out the time-wasters... guys who just aren't serious, and those who aren't respectful of our time/business. Again, less aggravation = better attitude.  

However, there will be some reduction in business, to be sure. She will need to strike that balance between quality and quantity. And it's hard enough for a new provider to get momentum going, without putting further obstacles in the way of new clients.  

But, there are a lot of guys out there who WILL pay a deposit, even if there are many who won't

Not someone established trying to eliminate time wasters.

Are you seriously suggesting a brand new woman without a single review can afford to be chasing off potential customers by demanding a deposit for every single date? Even a well reviewed gal with a long list of regulars would have a hard time pulling that off. I know we mean well, but your well intentioned advice is likely to end her career as a hooker before it even begins. Fortunately the advice she has received from me and others seems to have taken as she has amended her deposit requirements to something that won't chase off all her customers.

You normally give some pretty good, even handed advice here. but you blew it on this one. Sorry.

that it might make it harder to attract business as a new provider.  

As per my post:  

"However, there will be some reduction in business, to be sure. She will need to strike that balance between quality and quantity. And it's hard enough for a new provider to get momentum going, without putting further obstacles in the way of new clients.  "

However, I don't think it's accurate to say that NO clients will pay a deposit. Some will.  

Yes, if she wants a lot of clients right away, it's a terrible idea. However, if she's willing and able to take things slowly, she might end up doing just fine.  

When I had to establish a new persona due to a stalking issue, I had no public photos... they were all secured in a password-protected gallery. I also had a 90-minute minimum, and rates that were on the higher side for my region. For the first few months, I had zero reviews under that persona. Not even a single post on TER. Most people on this board would say I'd get no business. That wasn't accurate. I won't say that I was busy, but things were steady.  

The advice given on this board is the way that 'most' people do things... it's advice that 'generally' applies. And yes, 'most' people do it a certain way for a reason. Because it 'generally' works.  

However, it's silly to say that she's doomed for asking deposits (or doing anything else that would insulate her from disrespectful clients or timewasters). It's a much harder, slower road, that's all. It will take patience, and some VERY skillful marketing. She might get only few clients per MONTH, and no reviews for a very long time. But that's an issue of quality vs. quantity. Some girls are fine with sacrificing quantity (and quick money) for a better experience. Others (like me when I was new) panic, and sacrifice all pretensions for some 'steady' income. (The price I paid, was that my experience as a newbie was horrific)

 If that's not acceptable to the OP, then yes, she should relax her requirements a bit.  

**Edited to say: I have only one page of reviews under my current persona, and haven't gotten a new review for over a year. Yet, I do ask for deposits for incall and/or travel dates for new clients (or when costs/travel distance is substantial, or even if a guy just seems unreliable). I actually haven't had a lot of issues getting deposits, so long as I explain what it's for and why I require it.  

A lot of people would say not to trust *me* when giving a deposit. However, the reason I'm in business with so little TER activity is because I actually give good enough service to have a TON of repeat business

-- Modified on 12/22/2016 11:18:11 AM

Agree!

I agree 100% with what you said.  I guy would be a fool to pay a depeosit for a girl with no reviews or no established hobby history with clients.

I really appreciate your side to things. I'm not starting at zero (aside from zero TER reviews)...I'm starting with a clientele base who isn't on TER and frankly I'm focused on quality and appealing to the type of client that I'm used to and that I enjoy spending my time with, not just any hobbyist who will leave me a review. Low volume works for me, I'm simply transitioning from having a few loyal, longer-term clients (sugar daddies) to a more public persona and taking on new clients/ trying to grow my business.  

Frankly I haven't had an issue with the deposits and I'm surprised that people on here think that it's scamming; why would I sacrifice tons of my personal income on a site/ marketing& ads/ pictures/ incall locations/ supplies/ grooming/ constant upkeep of these things/ my business & name/ and risk getting bad reviews all for a few deposits of like $200- that's ridiculous.

Thank you for sharing my insight on things or at least seeing where I'm coming from I think I'm just in framing my business however I please. If that doesn't attract every hobbyist then I am just fine with that.

I do have the GFE tags on my actual ads on other sites- I added it to my website though, hopefully that will take the guessing out of the equation

Your actions speak much louder than your words, fortunately your actions also are going to attract a LOT more TER type customers than your words here.

You asked, I along with other answered and as you can see the overwhelming response from the guys is that almost to a man, none of us would even consider sending a deposit to a complete unknown. It appears you have taken those words of advice to heart as I see you have dramatically changed your deposit requirements to something that makes a lot more sense.  

Good luck to you, and please don't let "pride" get in the way of being successful here. A LOT of women will give advice that boils down to "do as I say, not as I do" If you check out the ads of other "well reviewed TER providers" you won't find one in a hundred asking for deposits from local guys looking for dates of an hour or two. You show good sense by listening to what you "need" to hear and not necessarily what you "want" hear. Once again, I wish you nothing but the best here