How has the SW business changed over the years?
Is the business changing faster now?
How have review boards changed over the years?

There wasn't much advertising on the internet and I worked solely for an escort agency in Sydney, visiting businessmen in hotels in the centre of town. It was all night work, and I had a driver who stayed with me for my night. No twitter, no marketing or emailing or admin for me - I just showed up dressed and made up and was driven around to jobs or for coffee breaks and then went home. I worked 2/3 nights a week and never gave it any thought on my days off.

What you ask...

Fascinating. Thank you for the great response!
I read one article about how the internet and social media and even just cell phones have changed the business so much, but that article wasn't as informative as this post.

Thank you for your response. I am starting to learn that with all the changes mentioned in the response above yours the business changes lightning fast. For example, there is a huge back lash against review boards on twitter now that are fed up with the ratings systems. While some you say may be very insistent that you write a good review, I see some on twitter that do not want you to write a review. So will put up a nice note from you on their web sites. I suppose this could just be VIP provider. The providers that are just starting out need the reviews to build up their name in the business.

Oh yeah and I'm glad you mentioned working out. Interesting to learn that perhaps that need is increasing. Are clients more fit as well?

I first got into the hobby back in 1997. The internet and cell phones were around even back then, but both charged by the minute. The internet wasn't a part of the hobby yet, so I found escorts either by calling agencies listed in the yellow pages (under E for Escort) or calling phone numbers from ads in the local free weekly paper. Most escorts worked for agencies, and even some of the independents at least used a driver for security.

I'm noticing the younger ladies are less professional and see it as a fun thing to do for extra cash rather than an actual job where they have to deliver consistent quality and reliable service to their clients.  

for the hobby.  Before them you had to buy weekly entertainment magazines and go to the personals section, or look up agencies in the Yellow Pages, or look for street walkers, or maybe strip clubs.

Please let me know.  I can definitely contribute my .02 but you ladies wouldn't understand that and it's now worth .005 after grade inflation as everyone now gets a '10'

back when I was a teenager.
And again when I was stuck in Memphis after missing the last flight out.
I never pulled the trigger though...until this year.....and you know I don't even know why not then...and why now...

see a new provider with very few or no reviews to be asking $500 or more and not even be GFE; while the going rate for a quality well-reviewed GFE provider is $400-500. For me, it is all about spending time with a known quantity rather that TOFTT at the same price point.  

to start a new thread about legalization and SW rights.
Perhaps Friday....

The industry is booming.
But I would like to somehow figure out if there is a way to actually know if that is true.
Can we ever really know?

Back in the day, SW meant a street walker. That was the only game in town. You really had to be careful to avoid the dekes. Not to mention the sessions were short, and lousy.  

Wow the the dark ages of P4P was bleak! Or at least most of the time.
Yeah maybe I should spell out sex workers now because I had forgotten about street walkers.
When I moved to DC there were street walkers close by.
Also the police station was close by.
Which was next to the drug corner

And after YP came waiting for the Village Voice or some other alternative local weekly.  Only published once a week.  Viillage Voice I believe was the precursor of BP. I think Craig's List came out around the same time.

Another major change in the last 20 years is screening. Only agencies did any screening, and all they did was compare the phone number on caller ID with a list of phone numbers of bad johns that had used that agency in the past. Without screening, escorts did LE checks to screen on the spot, and tended to have a driver or some other backup plan in case the john got too rough.

Don't forget "Screw" magazine and those newsprint handouts that used to be available in adult bookstores and strip bars.

I started a very, very long time ago. A massage parlor I worked at for several years closed. For 2 years after that I ran into people I knew from there on AOL and in various local chat rooms on MSN and Yahoo. I tried (and quickly quit) a few different agencies and then started advertising as an Indy in our local free newspaper - Riverfront Times.