This weekend, I saw the effects of being young, naive and new to the world of Adult. A young girl came to me after being taken by someone known to take advantage of and prey on brand new girls. Sadly, girls enter the industry unprepared and don’t get the result they were looking for—the girl from the little town in the middle of nowhere comes to Chatsworth (AKA the Porn Capital of the World) to make it big in Adult. You need to be smart, do your research and be “in the know” when you’re the new girl in porn. Here are a few topics to consider:

Why You’re Getting into Porn

Are you getting into porn to make a quick buck? Making good money can take some time. Newcomers tend to make less per scene than more established performers. If you come to Chatsworth to follow your dream, come with more than a few dollars in your pocket. You don’t want to be desperate and do things you will regret later on. This way you come on your own terms and will feel a sense of accomplishment when you do make it. Also realize that if you are a MILF, you’re going to work less than a 19-year old girl. Take that into account financially.

Are you looking to make career? The average span of a typical porn girl’s career is 3 to 6 months. If you want to last longer you need a plan, which should a great agent/agency and/or manager, publicist and maybe even a lawyer. Make a list of what you will and won’t do on film and stick to it. Write your goals down and how long you’d like to take to achieve them. Do you want to direct, do you want to get into mainstream and/or do you want a long career in front on the camera—these are all things to think about. Treat it like any other business. It’s also good to have a back-up plan like taking a few college classes to get yourself closer to a degree, so you can have something to fall back on.

There’s No Going Back

Once you dip your toe in the water and film even just one scene, you’re in the biz. Anyone can found out you’ve made a porn whether you do 1 scene or 100. Of course, it won’t be all over the news like Kim Kardashian, but anyone can find you. Even if you choose a porn name that’s nowhere near your real name, people could still recognize you. Your family and friends could find out and so could a future employer in the civilian world. You can be open and honest and tell everyone or you can keep it a deep, dark secret—either way, it’s going to come out. It could keep you from working a normal job in the civilian world, if the porn thing doesn’t pan out. I’ve seen quite a few stories about teachers being outted and losing their jobs, along with police officers, government officials and more.

Do I Really Need an Agent?

An agent can do a lot of things you probably can’t do—they have connections and that means they know all the studios, directors and performers. They won’t send you to a random set with a director they have never heard of. They aren’t just trying to get their 10 or 15 percent. They want you to be safe and have a good experience. The job you do on set reflects on them and all their other girls. If you are considering one or more agencies, talk to some of the girls on their roster and find out if they like the agency, if they are working and any other questions you may have.

Many girls have tried to go it on their own. If you have been in the biz for a while and have made some connections, this might work for you. But if you are brand new, you could put doing yourself a disservice. I have known performers to show up on what they thought was a reputable set and either get raped, not paid or worse. If you really want to rep yourself, ask other performers if they have heard of the director or studio and do someone research online—Google the company and see if there’s anything on them. Go on industry forums and on sites like XBIZ and AVN. And if you do get work on your own, always bring someone along, preferably a male friend you know well.

Another route is to get a manager. This can be tricky too, because some “managers” are nothing more than suitcase pimps who want to make their living off you and aren’t looking out for you and your best interests. Some will try and get you to escort, whether you want to or not. Again, do you homework and find out what kind of reputation this person has. It can be very hard to get away from a situation like this. Many managers are fine people who have clients who are thriving in the industry—you just need to find the good ones.

Safety & Common Sense

One of my friends was saying how common sense isn’t really all that common. And you know what…she’s right. If a guy you don’t know offers you a free plane ticket halfway across the country and a place to stay, there’s going to be strings attached, whether you know them upfront or not. Again, do your homework. The correct scenario would be you coming out here on your own—that means paying for your own plane ticket and hotel (or model house if you sign with an agency). This way you are here on your own terms and don’t owe anybody anything. However, in the random chance that a major studio like Vivid or Digital Playground offers you this type of deal, take it—just make sure they are legit. You might just want to come out once or twice and check it out before moving here, and see if you like living in L.A.

Getting known in the Adult industry means going out to parties and other events where there’s alcohol. Being drugged by GHB isn’t something that just happens in bars with random strangers. Although this isn’t common in the industry, it sometimes happens. Always watch your drink. If you leave it sitting somewhere and aren’t watching it, get another drink.  Make sure to bring a friend to events with you so you have someone watching out for you.

If you have sex while not on set, use a condom. Most diseases in the industry come from the outside. Whether you’re with a guy or girl you’ve been seeing regularly or you decide to escort, play it safe and use condoms, unless you know they’re tested, too—and, you need to see paperwork for that. Antibiotics can cure most STDs, but some are forever. Don’t take chances.

Another thing that should go without saying is that the ladies should be on some form of birth control. This could be the pill, the Depo Vera shot or even an IUD. Pick on and take it regularly. Many young girls do scenes without being on birth control and they get pregnant. I was shocked to hear of how many girls do creampies without being on some form of birth control. Getting pregnant is serious stuff and isn’t good for your career. If you decide to get an abortion, you will lose weeks of work, so it’s not good financially either. When you go get your next test, ask them there or head to Planned Parenthood or your doctor.

The Business Side of Porn

Earlier, I talked about making Adult a career in regards to finding an agent, manager and/or publicist. Another person you want on your team is a lawyer. After you choose your porn name, make sure to buy the domains for your sites, and right away. If your porn name is Betty Page, you would want to buy at the very least these combinations:

BettyPage.com

BettyPage.net

BettyPageXXX.com

Just buy the domains whether you are ready to use them or not. Then, when you want to build your website you have them. A client of mine had two of these three combinations taken—someone had bought them and wanted to charge her $20,000 for one domain. If she had bought them in the first place, she wouldn’t have to pay to get what should have been her own site back. Most domains for $10-15 a year (on average) and that’s a small price to pay.

Another thing that’s important is to trademark your name. If your name is trademarked and someone buys BettyPage.com, BettyPage.net and/or

BettyPageXXX.com, they have to give you your site (or sites) and not charge you. You own the name. Another reason this is a good idea is because you won’t have another porn girl coming out in the next few months, years or beyond with a name very similar to yours. Some girl could be Betty Paige. Wow, that’s just an “E” added at the end and the names are quite similar. She could be trying to get some of your fame or their could be confusion on the set when the director thinks he’s getting a blonde, short girl, but a dark-haired very tall girl shows up. This is also a good idea for future merchandising opportunities like toys, clothing, etc.

When picking out your name, find something you can stick with. Think about it for a week or so and see if you can live with it. Again, do your research and go online and make sure the name hasn’t already been used. I know a girl who was blonde and surfed every day. She retired from porn a few years ago and another girl came along who was a dark-haired BBW with the same name, only spelled differently. I pointed this out to her, but she didn’t seem to care. This will confuse the fans in Google searches that don’t know how to spell her name correctly.

Final Thoughts

This is all just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making good choices when entering Adult. I have worked in the industry for over 7 years and most people are pretty cool. But like in any industry, there can be a few bad apples. Besides doing your homework, the most important thing is to follow your gut. If you have a bad feeling or your gut is telling you no, go with it—better safe than sorry. If you are new to the industry and have questions, hit me up. And, good luck!

I spent my weekend at Adultcon with the t-girls at the Grooby/Shemale Yum booth and with clients Nikki Delano, Nicki Blue, Grace Evangeline and Paris Rocks. There are over 500 pictures of the 3 days that you can view—you must have a Flickr or Yahoo account to view them. The links are below.

Day 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkeygurl/sets/72157627189203875/

Day 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkeygurl/sets/72157627199456909/

Day 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkeygurl/sets/72157627332410818/

While hanging out with Kiki D’Aire and several times throughout the weekend, I was asked by men how to get into porn. In fact, I’m asked this question at least 10 times a week. I’ve written about this in blogs and as Dear Betty, sex advice columnist, for WantedList.com. Here is one of my blogs from 2009—enjoy!

First off, I’m a publicist, NOT an agent, modeling agency or studio. These are the people that you need to contact. The fact that I know porn stars and directors will not get you in the business. I can help you once you actually are in the business—publicists get you press and help make you famous.

You don’t have to look like Erik Everhard or Jean Val Jean to get into porn—there are quite a few regular looking guys. You don’t have to be a male supermodel to be in porn—that’s the just the majority. You can be a regular guy like Ron Jeremy. This is just a general overview and not the case 100% of the time.

Keep in mind, being a dude, having a dick and/or maybe some sexual prowess isn’t enough. If everybody could be a pornstar, then everybody would. Before you delve into the exciting world of making porn, you should consider a few things:

• Once you have made 1 or 100 movies, they are out there for the world to see. There’s no hiding you did it. So, consider the consequences.

• Are you a good-looking guy? Yes, looks do count.

• Are you willing to work hard on your body? You will have to workout. Erik Everhard and his buddies probably spend hours in the gym (to get those biceps) and watch what you eat, along with upkeep like haircuts and potentially waxing (yes, those parts and potentially more).

• What sets you apart from the crowd? Most male stars have some distinctive quality about them such as dick size and/or girth or special performance skills. You’ll also need a name that stands out like Lexington Steele (AKA Lex the Impaler), Will Powers, Tim Von Swine, Nacho Vidal or James Deen. And yes, these names are already taken.

• You have to have sex with whatever chick(s) they pair you with, whether you think they’re hot or not. And, you have to appear on camera as though you and that starlet have some intense chemistry.

• Have you ever had sex with 20+ people watching you? The eyes of everyone on the set will be on you.

• Can you take the pressure? Being a master of keeping it cool is always important.

• Can you keep it up for 1 to 4 hours? These guys and their members work long hours.

• Are you prepared to do sex acts you might not like, including anal and double-teaming a girl with another guy?

• Can you cum on command? That’s right—it’s all about when and where the money shot happens. And can you keep yourself from coming, until it’s time for the money shot?

• And lastly, men generally get paid less than women do (usually they make about half what women make). There’s a greater demand for women in the business. The upside is that if you’re good, you’ll work a lot. The industry tends to use the same guys over and over and not let too many new guys enter the talent pool.

After you you’ve considered all of the above, you might be ready to step in front of the camera. There are agencies you can sign on with. You might want to start by contacting a studio or your favorite director and see if you can get a bit part in a movie. If you do a good job, other roles might come your way. And after you make 100 movies or so, you might be a star, director and/or have your own line of sex toys. In the world of porn, anything is possible.

I was having a conversation with my webmaster, Wordman, about the importance of a girl’s photos. And, it got me thinking about how it would make a great blog topic.

My current clients all have professional, high quality photos–if new or potential clients don’t understand the importance of having great photos, I always explain it to them. It’s worth it to pay a professional photographer $300 and up for stellar photos. Why? You’re investing in your future and your ability to get work. Your photos on your agency’s website are what directors and studios are looking at and are the most important thing in getting you hired.

Make sure you actually resemble your photos. If you show up on set looking nothing like your photos, you could use the job. Some photographers do retouching, so you and the photographer should decide what is the right amount of retouching and/or of it is really needed.

It’s also a good idea to have at least a few different looks with your photos to show your versatility and that you can lend yourself to other looks and play a variety of roles on camera. And with the explosion of parodies, this has become increasingly important.

Hiring a make-up artist is also important–you might want to save money and do your own make-up but it’s really worth it to spend $100 (or a bit more) to look your best. Find one who makes you look and feel amazing and uses just the right amount of make-up. I personally recommend Angie Peek, who also does some truly awesome things with hair. Check out her website here: http://officialangiepeek.com

Show up to your photo shoot feeling good about yourself. It will definitely show through in your photos. Make sure to find a photographer that you vibe with and gets you. Some photographers can only connect with some subjects–find one that connects with you and can capture the best you in every frame. There are a lot of really great photographers in the industry and even more in mainstream. I’m not going to recommend any photographers because there are so many and it’s a personal preference. If you see another girl’s photos that you like, ask her who did them. Recommendations go a long way.

Seriously, take a look at your photos. Are you happy with them? Are your photos dated or older? It might be time to invest in some new ones.

People walk around thinking that any press is good press. I hate to break it to them, but bad press is merely bad press–and, it can take a long time to make your reputation sterling again. Seriously.

We have had clients come to us with bad reputations and ask us to help them, give a little spin to their careers–as long as they are willing to change, then anything can be turned around. A prime example of this would be a client who was perceived as a diva, due to her last manager–she hired us and went on to win multiple awards and people have nothing but great things to say about her work. Yes, her reputation did a 180. She had a great PR team behind her and she decided that making the change was worth it for her career.

We’ve had other clients who pretend to change and their reputation stayed them same. Why? Because, it’s all about perception. If people perceive you a certain way, it’s very hard to get them to change their minds if you keep repeating past behaviors.

The flipside of this is clients who come in with a decent reputation or are brand new and have no reputation–the biz starts to get to them and they stop returning phone calls, miss interviews, don’t show up on set and neither their agent or publicist can corner them. If this is nipped in the bud, it can be OK. But if it continues, a rising starlet can become the object of everyone’s blacklist. And that’s very different from what she envisioned when she signed on with her agent and hired a publicist. Publicists do have a limit as to how much magic that can conjure up–when people stop believing in your client, it’s over. We work in a small industry where people talk and word gets around fast.

What can you do to change your image if it’s a bit tarnished or even seemingly beyond repair? You could hire a publicist who can help you reinvent yourself, but that will only take you so far. A great place to start would be on set–show up 15 minutes early or even on time, be pleasant to everyone you deal with from directors on down to the janitor, come prepared to work with the correct wardrobe and proper grooming, and do the best job you can do on your scene (or scenes). Of course, this is just a start, but simple steps can make a difference. Yes, we do work in porn and people think they don’t have to be professional, but you do–that’s how you can stand out from the crowd, be hired over and over again and make a name for yourself.

Besides your work, people will be looking at you on other levels. What are you saying on Twitter? Are you slamming directors and/or other performers, being nasty to your fans or haters, talking about doing copious amounts of drugs or just being negative? You’d be surprised at who is looking at your Twitter, Facebook, pay site, etc., but people who have influence do. Before you make statements in public forums…think! When you go to parties, are you pulling off your clothes and/or getting beyond drunk? Yes, how you behave at parties counts, too.

If you’re serious about this business and your career, remember perception counts. The Rub PR cannot only make you a star, but can change the old you into something really amazing. Are you ready to make that change? Contact us.