Hey there!  

1.  For now you are just a member.
2.  You will get a profile when someone posts a review of his date with you.
3.  Look in the "Regional Boards" tab
4.  Right now, unless you buy VIP time, you cannot use the PM system or read the juicy details of reviews.

1. What do I need to do to become a provider? Do we all start off as members and get approved shortly after registration, do I request this?  
2. Thanks!  
3. Thanks! Found it, wondering if non VIP members are limited to posting 1 pic per ad?  
4. Thanks! That sucks  

It can take awhile figure things out here but when you do TER is a great site. I recommend reading back a few pages here, the answers to many of your questions can be found here. Good luck and have fun!

One bit of information is your posts on any board right now are moderated. TER admin has to check them and approve them before they show up (post). Every new TER member goes through this. After you have posted on ther boards for a while you can contact admin using "Contact Us" at the bottom of any page and request to be un-moderated.
 
Everyone when they join TER is a basic member. There is no "Provider" membership, provider page, etc. (Even though you may have clicked register as a provider when you signed up [joined].) The way to let others know you are a provider is to post ads on your TER regional ad board, post comments on your regional discussion board (Don’t make these discussion board posts about you like an ad. They will be disallowed. Make them pertinent to the subject.), and participate on the Photo Only board. Check out the Self-Help Center for the guidelines for posting ads and how to post photos on the photo only board. The Self-Help Center link is on the upper right of most of the discussion boards under the red and white life preserver. It’s also at the bottom of the list of Quick Links on the left of the My TER page. See the My TER tab at the top of the page. Read everything there even the stuff for the guys. It's good to know all you can.  
 
You can pay for a VIP membership. It will give you full access to all TER has to offer but it won't distinguish you from any other member. The things I mentioned above and the link spoken about in the next paragraph will do that.  
   
Once a guy has seen you, written a review of you, submitted it to TER, it's been approved, and posted you will have a provider profile page. Your first reviewer will create your profile when he fills out your information. You will then have a TER provider ID number. (You can contact TER and correct anything the guy got wrong on your profile or didn’t know.) Now you can contact TER and request they connect your newly created profile with your TER handle/user name (MixedBombshell). Contact them using the e-mail you signed up with. Their address is [email protected]. (You can use the “Contact Us” link instead. It’s at the very bottom of the page.) This will give you the free limited provider VIP membership. It will also give you access to the TER PM (private mail) system and allow you to read your reviews in there entirety. TER will place a link which says "See my TER reviews" under your handle whenever you post on a TER board. Guys can click the link and be taken to your profile page and check you out. The provider VIP will also give you access to the provider functions on TER such as being able to white list clients.  There is a Provider's only discussion board. You have to have 3 reviews and establish yourself on the boards then request that TER give you access to it.
 
If you think you already have reviews here you can search to see. Click the reviews tab at the top of the page. Then click search reviews (just under the reviews tab). Scroll down to the 4th section titled Provider's Contact Information and enter your info. The basics should be enough. That is your provider name, phone number, e-mail, city, and country. Next scroll to the bottom of the page and click the big search button. You will be taken to a page containing the results. If you have reviews your name along with others will be listed down the left margin. Click on your name (in teal colored font) and you will be taken to your profile.
 
 
 
One more thing since you are new to TER if a client reviewing you is also new to TER his review may be held for a while until you get another review or he writes another one for someone else. TER wants to be sure you and your reviewer are legit.  
 
Welcome.

Thank you sweetheart! Yeah I'm getting the hang of it for the most part, I just realized provider ads only get 1 pic though?  
That should change like asap : )

Omg this was literally so helpful, and just as the title stated "help in a nutshell." : )  

...go take a look at the ad boards. You'll notice some of the ladies post another photo as a reply to their ad. Check out the Atlanta ad board the second or third ad by terrilynn and the one below hers by RaeMonroe. Those are examples of posting a photo as a reply to their own ad.

posts will not show up right away.  When anyone is new, they are moderated which means someone has to read their post and approve it before it goes up.  This happens to all new members whether you be a provider or a guy who is a hobbyist.

Yes, I definetely did that in the ad I submitted yesterday. Just did 1 picture as a response for now to see how it turned out but I still haven't got approved yet. *Sighs* I'm waiting patiently. 😉

Yeah the moderation is going to get annoying quick, but I guess you have to go through it to get to it so I'll wait (even though I can be so impatient at times).

Being a new member here myself, this is EXACTLY the information I have been searching for.  Thank you for taking the time to write this.  It is especially helpful to know how the provider profile is created and how to access the provider forum.  I admit that the process is a bit of a challenge but I am grateful to know that they ARE paying attention to these things.

Vip for the month is $25
Quarterly is $60
yearly $210

Where are you located. What local board do you post on?

...for folks joining now the monthly membership is $30. Once they have been around for 5 years it will go down to $25. The same applies for the quarterly it's $75 for people who have been members 5 years or less. I learned this recently. I don't know about the annual membership.

I remember when it was $25 then it went to $30.
I had no idea after some time it goes down.Nice to know I am almost at the 5 year mark.
Woo...time sure flies when having fun

Thank you, $30 isn't too bad!  
And I assume quarterly is for every 3 months ?

...so if you started it today it would run to the 22 of May. The quarterly (90 day) and the annual do not automatically renew. The monthly (30 day) does automatically renew.

Thanks love, you've been helpful.
I think I'll try the $30 one first, I'd like to switch to VIP today but don't feel comfortable until my ad has gone up. I tried putting it up a couple days ago & it still hasn't been seen by moderators I suppose...

Located in Las Vegas at the moment baby, I don't think I'm allowed to post the other site I am reviewed on but if you'd like you can text me for more info.  

...for the My Quick Links list on the left. Click on "My Message Boards" 3rd one down. You'll find a list of all your posts. There will be an explanation directly under the subject line of any post that has been declined. If it's still pending it will say "new" in the status column which is to the right.