DEALING WITH ANNOYING AND ABUSIVE CLIENTS

What most aspiring cam models don't realize is that "camming" is a customer service job like any other. While you decide when you do it, how you do it and who you do it with, good customer service is crucial for your business. But no matter how well you treat your viewers and depending on who you advertise and where you advertise you WILL get a couple of rude clients a week.

You have to learn how to not let it get into your head and remember it's nothing personal, these people have to make other people feel bad in order to feel good about themselves. They will pick that little thing you feel the most self-conscious about and use that to try and kick your self-esteem to the curb. That's why god gave us the block button. Just remember, there are always two nice guys for every nasty one!

  FAMILY AND FRIENDS FINDING OUT

Other important thing to consider is what happens when your friends/family/co-workers find out what you do. Yes, it is more likely to be "when they find out" than "if they find out". In most cases the clients come from the same country you live in, and you will be advertising on the same internet your loved ones surf every day. Almost every household has an internet connection these days, and you can bet someone you know surfs for porn. It might be your dad, your brother, your brother's friend, that guy from work or someone you went to school with.

There are things you can do to minimize the possibility of someone finding out, such as block your country/state/zip code from accessing your website or your profile, or not showing your face in any of the pictures in your profiles.

If you think there is a big chance that someone will find out anyway, one option is to tell them yourself. It is not nearly as scary as it sounds, and as an adult, you have the right do make your own decisions. Plus it won't sound as bad when it's coming from you as it would sound when someone else tells your family, "by the way, I saw your daughter naked on the internet, I didn't know she was a porn star!", or sticks your images on your dad's car window (has happened before). If you don't know if you are ready for an adult webcam career is to ask yourself a question: "Would I be embarrassed if someone found out what I do?" If you answered yes, you should take some time to think if you really are mentally ready and comfortable with what you're doing. After all, once you upload your first explicit image or do your first camshow, your images will be on the internet forever.

  FREEBIE AND PREVIEW HUNTERS

We all love free stuff. However, the constant begging for a free camshow will get on your nerves most days - especially if you are an independent cam girl. You are trying to work and some people will try every trick in the book to get a freebie. "It's my birthday, how about a free show", "Give us a preview, I want to know what I'm getting", or the most common excuse: "I need to see you on cam first to know you're real". It is perfectly understandable that a client is afraid of scammers (there are plenty), but unfortunately freebie hunters have realized this is an excellent way to get a flash of the girl without paying a penny.

There is nothing wrong with giving a free show for a regular, trusted client on his birthday, but falling for every excuse will end up losing you money. You are better off using that time and energy on a paying client. Unfortunately, there are little to no ways of knowing who is serious about paying for a show, but when you gain a little experience, you will soon develop a so called "radar" for freebie hunters.

  ZERO PROFIT DAYS

It is known that the first couple of weeks are the best for a cam girl's business. It's called "the new girls luck". It's fun while it lasts, but that might also make a newbie cam girl think that every day will bring in hundreds of dollars, and fall into desperation when the luck is over and they get their first zero profit day. No matter now hard you try, no-one seems to be interested, there is a bunch of newer girls around, and you have just wasted a whole day sitting on your computer waiting and waiting.

This can be very frustrating at times. Sometimes even an experienced cam girl needs to remind herself that good times always follow the bad times. It's a cycle like everything else in life - but here's a tip: in the camworld, this cycle often seems to follow the cycle of paychecks in the 'real' world ;-)

  HAVING YOUR IMAGES ONLINE FOREVER

As mentioned above, the minute you upload your first naked picture, you will be naked on the internet forever. It doesn't matter where it is or if you delete it when you decide to quit your online career, there is always someone who saved it on their computer and posted it somewhere else. Same goes for camshows. You might think it's impossible to record certain types of live feeds/videos, but there is always a way. In most cases these images will never come back and haunt you, but there have been numerous cases where girls have graduated, tried to apply for a certain job and someone has found out they have been an internet cam model in the past.

People have been unable to get a job at a kindergarten, as a police officer and even at the fire department because of their past. I'm sure you have heard at least the story of a teacher who used to make extra money by posing as a nude model for artists and got fired when people found out.

I think we all agree, it should be classed as discrimination when this happens, but it will take time for the world to change. In the meantime, everyone who wants to get into the adult business should think hard what price they are prepared to pay.

  MESSED UP SLEEP CYCLE

This is probably the most insignificant downside of the job, but if you have a day job, you should remember, that most people will surf for porn / buy camshows after the rest of the family has gone to bed. There are always exceptions for the rule, but most cam models will agree that evenings and nights are the busiest times of the day. Soon you will find yourself staying up longer and longer, "just getting the last show" and putting your greed before your sleep!

  FINAL WORDS

While some of the cases above are an every day nuisance, most of them are worst case scenarios. Don't let them put you off if you have a genuine interest in making money off the online camming industry. After all, there are thousands of cam girls, and only a fraction has ever had anything disastrous happen to them. And if you decide to join the cam girl community, you will soon notice that the pros outnumber the cons. Good luck!

  HAVE YOUR SAY

Are you a cam girl and would like to add something to this article or have further questions? Go to AWN Forums to share your experiences, knowledge and to get advice from experts.

  INDEPENDENT CAMMING

Independent camming gives the greatest profit margin. You receive 100% of your earnings, the only commission you pay is fees to your billing company. You have no rules to abide by, you can be as rude or polite as you want. There is no comeback and nobody to complain to. Sounds great doesn't it? But you alone are responsible for generating your own traffic. And this is an art form in itself.

You should aim at building a great reputation and a solid base of regulars who keep you on their list and come to you every time they need their cam fix. There will be days / weeks / months when it feels like no-one is interested, and at times like these your regulars will keep your head above the water.

  WORKING ON A CAM SITE

Working on a cam site takes the pressure out of finding traffic. They find the customers for you. And in return they take a large percentage of your earnings. It is not uncommon for a cam site to take 70%* of your earnings. And there might lots of other girls on site who have set their per minute fee as low as they can to get more sales and you have to compete with this. When you are looking for the best cam site to work on, you should browse the site first and pay attention to the average per-minute rate, and if it's much lower than what you are prepared to charge, move on and try and find a better place. Should you go with a site that has thousands of girls, or with one that has a couple of hundred girls? Common sense says you should choose the latter simply because you will have less competition and you won't be buried on the last page in the listings. However, in most cases the number of girls has little or nothing to do with how much you can earn on the site; it's the number of customers that really matters. Sites that have a lot of girls normally have a lot of customers aswell, otherwise all those girls wouldn't stay on the site for long.

  CONCLUSION

The wisest thing to do is to combine the best of both. I recommend you try a lot of sites and stay on the ones you find best, and if you find a good source of getting customers independently, milk it while you can :) Your per-minute fee may seem small on a camsite, but let's remember you can have multiple guys watching you at anyone time and they are all paying a per-minute fee. And 30%* of something is a whole lot better than 100% of nothing.

And here's a tip: with the cam splitting software mentioned in the software article it is possible to be logged into multiple sites at the same time. Please note it is considered polite and some sites insist that you log out should you get a show on a rival site. Guys who enter you chatroom and see you halfway through your show and busy chatting to someone else will generally leave quicker than they arrived.

  HAVE YOUR SAY

Are you a cam girl and would like to add something to this article or have further questions? Go to AWN Forums to share your experiences, knowledge and to get advice from experts.

  THE OBVIOUS

A computer, a webcam and an internet connection will get you started. And you don't have to spend big money on any of these. Your first webcam can be a 20 dollar affair from Ebay. And that goes for your computer too, it doesn't have to be the latest model or amazingly powerful.

The most important thing will be your internet connection. And more specific than this, it's your upload speed that counts. If you're currently on dial-up then this will be your first priority. Faster upload = faster cam stream. If you own a digital camcorder or digital camera consult your manual as there is a good chance it has a webcam mode.

  PERFORMING AREA

You will need somewhere to perform. This can be your bedroom, front room or garden shed. It doesn't matter. But think about your performing area. Is it clean? Is it safe for you to work in? Piles of dirty laundry don't look very nice and cables can be easily tripped over sending your computer crashing to the floor. Above all your preforming area needs to be comfortable for you. So a bed, a sofa or a chair as part of your area is a good idea.

Wherever your performing area is, make sure you're somewhere where you can't be interrupted. Most guys don't mind your pet wandering in the background occasionally, but some cam sites can be very strict about this, and won't allow anyone or anything else on cam when you're performing, unless they have signed a contract too.

  LIGHTING

Lighting!! It is amazing how much better your webcam picture will look with good lighting. Bad lighting will make your picture grainy and dark. It will also make you look terrible. Normal ceiling lights are usually not enough. They will create shadows that are not flattering to you at all. It's better to overdose on light than not have enough. Professional studio lights or even regular workmens' lights give fantastic results. But a mixture of fluorescent and standard household bulbs is sufficient until you can upgrade. And for those of you who are thinking: "Nah... I'll just turn up the exposure in my webcam settings!" - DON'T even think about it. There are too many cam girls who think they can hide their little imperfections by doing this, but the only thing they will hide are their nostrils and their belly buttons. The average guy buying a camshow wants to see all of the girl, the real deal, and won't pay attention to the things you want to hide in the first place.

  YOUR SHOW ROUTINE

Basics covered, now you need to think about your show. What are you going to do on cam? Most camshows are a strip followed by some toy fun. Some guys like to direct you, some just want to sit back and relax, some just want some sexy chat, but you should be prepared for all of that. They usually last 10 minutes or longer, and the length of the show should be negotiated with the customer beforehand. You also may want to invest in some work outfits/costumes, sex toys and LUBE! Lube is your best friend, it's always cheaper to buy this from a sex shop. A tube of KY from your chemist won't last very long. And personally, we think it's really thick and gloopy. Have a few trial runs of your show before you go live for the first time, and it isn't a bad idea to record a show and watch it to see how it looks and if you need to change anything.

  IDENTIFICATION

There will come a time where you need this. All legitimate cam sites require this to make sure all performers are of legal age, and if you want to have a trustworthy billing company handling your payments, be prepared to send them a copy of your ID, too. If you don't have a scanner find someone who has and make a scan of your picture ID.

  BANK ACCOUNT

You do want to be paid? Some cam sites have services such as Epassporte that will give you an online account and send you an ATM card to withdraw your earnings. Others wire directly to your bank or send a check. Independent cam girls especially will need access to a bank account, and of course a billing company. A few words of caution: no matter how much you trust somebody it's always best to be in control of your own finances. Unless you are completely sure about someone never have your money paid into another person's account. There's a good chance you will never see that money.

  HAVE YOUR SAY

Are you a cam girl and would like to add something to this article or have further questions? Go to AWN Forums to share your experiences, knowledge and to get advice from experts.

  WHAT TO CHARGE

What you charge plays a role in what you earn, I don't have to tell you that, but it isn't the most important factor. It doesn't matter if you work on a cam site or on your own, there will almost always be people who charge less than you, and who charge more than you. And those who charge less will get more shows than those who charge more, but both will earn roughly the same at the end.

This, of course, also depends on the quality of the show, and if you are offering something other girls are not, you can charge more without losing customers. If you're not, the wisest thing to do is to charge the average price to start with.

Mind you, cam sites often have limits on what you can charge, and as a new girl you might be forced to charge the smallest fee at first. Don't worry, it's not hard to work your way up, and charging less at first is a great way of getting people to 'try you out' and to get some regulars.

  CAM SITES

The all-around average per-minute price on cam sites seems to be between $1 and $1.50. Some days will be busier than others, and even the time of the day will have an effect on your earnings. The trick is to find the best times to be available, and therefore avoid having to sit at your your computer for hours, doing nothing, getting frustrated.

This might be harder for the part-time girls who need to get up early in the morning, but generally, evenings and early nights are the best, as the average customer is likely to have returned from work and has some time to spend on himself.

Also, make sure you are online as much as you can when the world gets their pay checks. Even if at the time you too have gotten yours and don't really need that extra cash, the first days of the month are when people are feeling the most generous. Now to the earning part. You might have heard about some girls making thousands in a week just by working on a cam site, but you should not expect that right away, if ever. These girls are one in a million, and often their stories and incomes are higly exaggerated, either by the girl herself or the cam sites they work on. They might have a special talent, or they might be plain lucky.

Usually success like that is a combination of working on the site for years, having tons of regular customers who rate you high, and give you a top spot on the site's "Hall Of Fame" or "most popular" list, and that in turn brings in more customers.

A more realistic goal is to make enough to pay a bill or two, if you work a couple of hours per evening, a few evenings a week. Don't be discouraged if you don't make that right away - the job will become easier when you have a few regular customers who come to see you every time you're online. Now if you are able to put more hours in, you will naturally earn more, still, the timing is crucial. A couple of extra hours won't make a huge difference if most of your target audience is asleep or at work!

  INDEPENDENT CAMMING

Most of the things I wrote above, such as the importance of timing and regular customers, also apply to independent camming. However, as an independent cam girl your own choices and business sense can either make you, or break you. Finding good places to advertise your shows at is hard to say the least, but when you do find one, it's a gold mine. In these cases, when the demand is much higher than the supply, you can charge upto $3 to $5 per minute without losing any customers to cheaper girls, simply because there aren't any, or there are very few. And the best bit is - you can keep 100% of your profit! Working independently can be very profitable, and most girls who earn their living from camming have a place like this where they get most of their cam shows. If you haven't found 'your place', keep looking, and in the meantime, spread your advertising as wide as you can, and replace quality with quantity. It's harder work, but it may just pay off and you might find a gold mine of your own.

  CONCLUSION

As mentioned, there is no such thing as a minimum wage in camming, but there is also no maximum amount you can earn - sky is the limit, so to speak. The main things that affect your earnings are hours you are able to put in, when you are able to cam, where you work / advertise, your talent, motivation and business skills, and finally - plain old luck! A cam girl I spoke to said: "Some days I earn 400 dollars, some days I earn 20, but I have a certain goal for a day that I aim to reach, that I'm happy with". You will know what your goal is soon after you start, and if you are interested in exact figures, I recommend going to the AWN Forums, or any other place where cam girls share their experiences. Many cam sites have a message board for their girls, and earnings are often talked about - but remember not to believe everything you hear ;-)

  HAVE YOUR SAY

Are you a cam girl and would like to add something to this article or have further questions? Go to AWN Forums to share your experiences, knowledge and to get advice from experts.

  SHORT HISTORY OF ADULT PAYMENTS

It was certainly easier for cam girls to take payments a few years ago, when PayPal was still 'adult friendly'. I was by far the most widely used method for its simplicity; everyone had a PayPal account, customers didn't need credit cards, fees were low and you could spend your earnings on Ebay the very same day. But as it gained popularity among the adult industry, scammers followed, and PayPal did what they had to do to protect themselves and their customers, and banned adult transactions.

This caused a panic among cam girls, and while many gave up not wanting to risk losing their money or their account, some continued to process their cam show payments through PayPal. Most customers didn't know things had changed, or didn't care, but a few saw it as their chance to play games with cam girls. They would get girls' accounts closed just for the fun of it, or even blackmail girls, threatening to report them to PayPal. Needless to say, other cam girls also realised it was a great way of pulling the rug from under their rivals' feet.

Not long after PayPal closed their doors for adult, cam girls found out that there was a new payment company in town. The UK based online payments service Nochex worked in a similar way to PayPal, and soon picked up where PayPal left off. But the initial problem with fraud followed, and it didn't come as a surprise to most when Nochex announced that they would no longer be handling adult transactions. Some would even say that this needed to happen to the cam girl community; the best and the strongest would survive and those that didn't were a good riddance. Even though this minor 'payment revolution' has made camming more complicated, I think it's forced cam girls to take a step in the right direction and seek better, safer solutions, dedicated to the adult industry.

  LOOKING FOR THE BEST PAYMENT SOLUTION

If you work on a cam site, and intend to do so in the future, you probably will never have to worry about payment companies - you can leave that to the people who run the cam site. For independent cam girls, however, it can be a struggle trying to find an adult friendly company that processes transactions instantly, doesn't take a huge cut of your earnings and has a good reputation among cam girls and customers. One thing to consider when choosing a payment processor is your target audience. It's a fact that even though most U.S. customers have a credit card, many don't like using it online, and if your target audience consists mostly of U.K. residents or other Europians, you should have a non-credit card option too, otherwise you're going to lose a big percentage of your potential customers.

Having a phone/SMS billing company as one of your options would be good, since pretty much everyone has a phone these days. The common problem with these companies is, that you will have to pay upto 45-60% in transaction fees. It's also proven to be quite the task to find a reliable phone/SMS billing company that actually pays you when you withdraw your money, and doesn't play tricks on your customers to get more money in their own pockets.

Customers have reported that soon after paying a cam girl via a certain phone/SMS company, they started getting strange text messages. When they got their phone bill, they realised they had been charged twice or even four times the same amount, and didn't have a clue of how to cancel this subscription, or how to avoid this from happening in the future. Incidents such as this will not only damage your reputation, but the reputation of the whole cam girl community. Finding a reliable, low-in-fees, adult friendly billing company is much easier for those who have a website or even just a simple web page, since most legitimate billing service providers require their users to have one to place their payment links/codes on. Getting a website isn't as complicated and costly as you might think, and we have a whole section devoted to this subject. Trust me, you'll be happy you went through a little trouble to get a website/webpage, even if it's just to get a better payment processor.

  SO WHAT COMPANIES SHOULD YOU USE?

Below is an alphabetical list of the most widely used online billing companies, and as you can see, I have sorted them into three categories depending on their reputation and what you can and can't use them for. Please post on the AWN Forums if you feel that I have misplaced a company, or forgotten to list a company alltogether.

• Ikobo
• MoneyBookers
• Nochex
• PayPal
• WorldPay

• 123 Ticket
• GottaPay
• Greenlight Solutions
• StormPay
• TextBill

• 365billing
• CCBill
• Epassporte
• Epoch
• GXBill
• Jettis
• Netbilling
• PasswordByPhone
• Verotel

  HAVE YOUR SAY

Are you a cam girl and would like to add something to this article or have further questions? Go to AWN Forums to share your experiences, knowledge and to get advice from experts.

  DEMANDING CUSTOMERS

Anyone who's ever worked in customer service remembers this cheerful bunch. They act like they're the only customers in the shop, and treat you like you were put on this earth just to serve them. Everything you do is wrong, and you can be sure they'll let your manager know that. There is simply no pleasing these people. You might wonder how this quality presents itself in a person who buys cam shows. For example, they might want you to give them a discount rate. Not because they couldn't afford your normal rates, but because they think their business is somehow more valuable to you than the next guys, and you should bend over backwards to get it. If you get a demanding customer to actually pay you, that's where the fun begins.

They have a special fetish, and for that you need to dress as Santa Claus, but wear a fisherman's hat turned inside out, shave your head and read a bible in a german accent. And they will not settle for anything less. You tell them you won't do it, and they'll throw a hissy fit and leave bad feedback/tell others to avoid you.

So, do you keep their money and tell them to f**k off, like you want to, or do you get your bible, your fisherman's hat and shaving cream? If you have any patience left, I suggest you try and calm this guy down, tell them you probably aren't the right girl for him, and offer him a refund, if you can.

If you know a girl that enjoys catering to strange fetishes and might be up for this task, refer him to her, and everyone will be happy. But if you suspect he's just being an ass and gets his jollies off by degrading women, you don't have to put up with him, and neither should others. Guys like this are usually a waste of your time and energy and most likely will leave you bad rating/feedback, and sometimes attempt to damage your reputation, but most cam sites will remove a bad feedback if you tell them the whole story, and possibly ban him. Still, you should warn others about these guys, because I'm sure you would appreciate it if they did the same to you.

  THREATENING & BLACKMAILING

All demanding customers won't threaten you if you don't do what they want, but all guys that threaten you will demand something, and often attempt blackmail you. There is no need to worry or lose your sleep over this though, as most guys that go around threatening girls will never actually do what they say they will, and as mentioned above, no legitimate site will tolerate customers like this for long.

For independent cam girls, resolving a problem like this can be more complicated, but there are things you can do. Don't pay attention to him, don't panic, and if you do, don't show it to him. They feed off the attention and will only get more excited if you get angry and start counter-threatening them. The best thing to do is to stay calm and block him if you can/need to. If you have a reason to believe he will take action, take screenshots of every threat he makes, save your conversation logs, try to get his IP address, report his profiles/accounts/chatroom alias to whatever site you met him on and let them know what he's doing, ask advice from others and warn everyone else you think needs to know.

As a last resort, go to the police. At this day and age, they take internet threats seriously, and it is possible for them to trace him and show up at his door if needed. And don't worry about your family finding out (assuming you are of legal age to cam), it's confidential.

  BEGGERS & TIME WASTERS

Most people would feel uncomfortable begging their friends, let alone strangers - but not these guys. They think all cam shows should be free, and will resort to begging when they find out you won't give it up for free, and not least because they know it will make you feel awkward. They'll give you sob stories, be super nice to you, offer to give you a show in return (!)... basically do anything but pay for it. You will hear that everyone else gives cam shows for free, or have cheaper rates than you. And when you do, have the balls to ask him why he's still talking to you and not getting a cam show from one of these free/cheap girls if they are so easy to find. That usually shuts them up and makes them realise you're won't fall for their tricks.

Some have different tactics, although their goal is the same - to get free stuff. They will chat you up, try to befriend you and make you feel bad for not being able to keep them company all night long. They might joke about you giving them a free cam show, but never ask it straight up. These types of guys can be even more annoying than the ones that beg, they notice if you're too nice and try to take advantage of that, knowing that at some point you'll cave in and give them a free show or at least a titty-flash just to get rid of them. There's nothing wrong with being nice and polite, and chatting with people, as long as you won't let it interfere with work. If you feel like someone is taking advantage of you, or taking too much of your time with no intentions of giving anything back, you have to put a stop to it. Learn to say no (or at least "I'd love to chat but I really need to work") - that skill will come in handy in this business!

  OBSCURE FANTASIES

If you're a cam girl or considering becoming one, you probably aren't the most prudish person, but we all have our limits. And you decide what yours are before you get into the adult industry, so you can make them clear to others when you need to.

Doing business online, you're bound to meet people who have a different idea than you of what's erotic. Being in the adult business, I feel that we're not ones to pass judgement on people and tell them they are pervets as long as their fetish is legal, but just because you make your living fulfilling people's sexual fantasies doesn't mean you can't have any self-respect. And too many times girls put their greed before their conscience. A good rule of thumb is: if you wouldn't do it in your private life, don't do it on cam/for money. Girls have told me countless of stories of customers with strange desires, and while most are harmless, such as wanting to see a girl crush balloons under her feet, some are borderline illegal. I'm sure everyone is familiar with the school girl fantasy, which itself isn't all that uncommon or creepy, although it hints to liking teenage or young looking girls. Some customers like to take it a lot further though, and ask the cam girl to pretend to be 13-16 years old, and make it very clear what sort of "fantasy" they are after. And there are countless of other "fantasies" like this you might get asked to perform.

In these types of situations you have to make the decision yourself. As far as I know, playing along and doing a cam show like the one I described above, isn't illegal as long as the girl is over 18 years old, the customer knows that, and it's clear for both parties that it's a role-play. I will say though, that most payment companies and cam sites are very strict about these things, and you should consult your billing provider/your cam site first.

  STALKERS

You can be in the industry for years and not get one single person 'stalk' you, but equally you can be unlucky and have a constant problem with one, or several people giving you more attention than you feel comfortable with. In most cases it stays on the internet, but you can never be too careful with your personal information, such as your real name, address and phone number. Usually you can't tell a stalker/potential stalker from a genuinely nice guy who just wants to get to know you better and be friends, but a stalker type is likely to get the wrong idea and want to take it to the next level, and also get jealous of your other customers. Unfortunately there are men who think that if you do this sort of job you are somehow "easy", and they may think that they have a chance with you, especially if they know/think that you are not in a relationship.

I feel the best way to deal with an obsessed customer is to be gentle and polite, but make it very clear that you are not looking for anything serious. For most of these guys it's like a hobby, and they'll just move on to the next girl when they realise their feelings are unreciprocated. There is another type of stalker that is much less flattering, and often harder to get rid of. They, too, might start off friendly, but soon show their true colours and start harassing and threatening you, or even claim that they will ruin your business, and all this time you'll just be wondering: "What'd I do?". So how can you get rid of a harassing stalker? I recommend you do the steps I mentioned in the "Threatening & Blackmailing" paragraph, don't put up with nutcases, and whatever you do, don't give them what they want - attention.

  ADDICTION

These are the men that churches talk about when they attack the adult industry, and pissed off wives complain about on Oprah and Dr. Phil. They spend all their money on porn, whether it's pictures, videos, or... cam girls. Although it's never your fault, if you know about his unhealthy addiction you might feel uncomfortable taking his money day after day.

There are two types of approaches to situations like this; you can think that you aren't responsible for your customers financial decisions and take their money with no guilt, after all, if they don't, someone else will. Or you can be the voice of reason to them, and refuse to let him go bankrupt - at least not by throwing money at you.

  DEALING WITH OTHER CAM GIRLS

Working on the same site with countless of other cam girls, 'fighting' over the same customers can create friction, and often does. Rumours spread, nasty things are said and little 'clans' are formed. I might be all fun and games at first, getting to hear juicy gossip - untill it's your turn to get attacked. 'Not taking it personally' sounds easy, when you're not the target, and not getting involved is be the hardest thing to do when your reputation, your business and especially the people you love get attacked. It's really a shame to see this happen, when we should stick together and the energy could be spent in much better ways. The easiest thing to do is to prevent this from happening from the start. Make lots of friends, but don't tell them stuff they or someone else could use against you. Even if your friend is the nicest person on earth, you can never be sure about her friends, and the friends of her friends, and so on. And you can do your part stopping rumours and gossip - just don't tell 'em forward :-)

  FINAL NOTE

Although I have only concentrated on the negative side of the industry in this article, I can't stress enough that you won't have to deal with these situations daily, for every unpleasant encounter you will meet 20 nice guys/girls, and you'll have tons of funny stories to tell when you're old. Maybe not to your grandkids... but you know what I mean ;-)

  HAVE YOUR SAY

Are you a cam girl and would like to add something to this article or have further questions? Go to AWN Forums to share your experiences, knowledge and to get advice from experts.