SO YOU WANNA BE A PORNO SLUT?
Hey! I'm BoringKate. I'm a dick girl and I've been doing solo self shot self owned porn for a living for most of the past decade. I get a bunch of people asking me for advice on how they can do what I do, so I figured I'd write something up. This is all really basic stuff, but hopefully you'll find some of it helpful.
expectations
Don't get into porn expecting to make a fortune (quickly or even necessarily in the long run). I've known people that did really well right from the start, but it usually takes a lot of time and work and luck to build a following and a lot of people never manage to. Most people who do porn don't even make a living doing it. You should just go in hoping to have fun and maybe make a little extra spare change (and then be grateful if/when it turns into a career).
Don't expect to get famous or do a bunch of studio work either. This whole guide is about making indie porn for a reason. It's the kind of porn I make and also probably the kind of porn you should be making. The studio model is antiquated, exploitative, and just not particularly viable. Like unless you look a very specific way, live in the right places, and are friends with the right people then it's pretty unlikely that you'll get offered more than a couple shoots (which you will receive no residuals from). You can't live off that. Even the handful of girls that do tons of studio work still make most of their money by producing their own content. Plus studio scenes are guaranteed to be almost immediately available for pirating and on top of that I've known girls who regretted the couple studio scenes they did because they weren't happy with how they were presented in them (with self owned stuff you have complete creative control).
But like do go into it expecting your friends and family to find out eventually.
the basics
For starters you're gonna need a stage name. This obviously isn't advice I followed (my first name isn't Boring and Kate is just the name I use in real life), but you want a cute first and last name that are memorable and unique enough (at least in combination) to be available on all the platforms you're going to sign up to.
social media and self promotion
I think it's an alright idea to have two twitter accounts. One as your main (optionally sfw) and the other (definitely nsfw) for automated promo posts (a lot of clip sites will automatically tweet for you when you release a new scene or get a sale). You could just go with one account (a lot of people do) (more people will see those automated posts that way), but those automated porno posts make you more likely to get shadow banned and some people just aren't as into following accounts where most of the posts are automated ads, so it can be good to separate it.
Once you have some selfies posted and a scene or two out it's worth following just a ton of other people that are doing the same kinda porn as you. Like and reply to their tweets occasionally (be nice) so they (and their fans) have a chance of noticing and maybe following you. It's possible for people to just stumble onto your stuff on some clip sites, but I really feel like having a decent social media following that you can promote your stuff to is key (and twitter seems like the best place for it).
Be sure to link to your stuff in your bio and/or pinned tweet.
I'm really not into retweet/engagement groups, but they're a thing that exist and seem to have gotten popular in the last couple years. Maybe they're worth looking into when you're first starting out.
Reddit is also pretty great for promoting yourself on. There are a bajillion subreddits and they all have their own rules, but most of them will let you post watermarked photos or videos (worth noting that to post a video clip you usually have to upload it to redgifs and then post it to reddit as a link).
Reddit lets you pin posts to your profile too (sorta like twitter) and it's definitely worth pinning some links to your stuff.
Obviously you can also get on instagram or tumbler or whatever else too, but I feel like twitter and reddit are the places most worth sinking energy into.
clip sites
ManyVids is the place to be. They only give you a 60% cut from clip sales, but it's the most popular platform of its type, so it's where you're most likely to get sales and where you're most likely to have people just stumble across your porn. There's no harm in being on multiple platforms though, so if you don't mind the hassle then you can upload your stuff to APClips, iWantClips, and Clips4Sale too.
Here are some links. Most of them are referral links. Totally legit if you wanna give someone else the credit for referring you, but there's no benefit to just not using a referral link when signing up to any of these sites.
manyvids.com/Join-MV/791658
apclips.com/refer?referrer=boringkate
iwantclips.com/home/model_signup/a9de9827319d96936872beabe3fc15c0
clips4sale.com/clips/page/openastudio
the part where you actually make the porn
I shoot everything with phone cameras and then edit it all with a pirated copy of premiere pro. You can use whatever you have on hand and whatever you're comfortable with though. It's 20XX and phone cameras have been pretty good for awhile now (I feel like the quality of your lighting almost matters more than the quality of your camera and that's why I try to always film durring the day with my curtains open), but if you have a nice DSLR then obviously go with that. Also if you've never done any video editing before then filmora might be a little bit less intimidating than premiere pro (it'll also probably run better on a lower end machine).
If you are shooting with your phone then you can use a screen streaming app to mirror your phone's screen onto a computer. That way you can film with the back camera (which is usually better quality then the selfie camera) while still seeing what you're filming. You can probably also just plug your phone directly into a monitor (lots of phones will do HDMI out with an adapter).
For photoshoots I like to use an auto clicker app that clicks the onscreen button to take a photo every 4 or 5 seconds (enough time for me to hit another pose without waiting around). I was using a third party camera app for awhile (that had a built in timer function), but I noticed that the quality of the photos was somehow noticeably lower than what I was getting out of the camera app that came with my phone.
You REALLY don't need to buy any equipment to get started (really all you need is a phone like even having a pc to edit video on is optional), but having a cheap little dollar store tripod definitely beats propping up your phone against boxes. The one piece of equipment I use CONSTANTLY are these like 60 inch tripods I got off amazon (with a cheap phone holder attachement). Slapping on a screw on selfie stick or gimbal extension rod (plus an added hinge) has been a bit of a game changer too because it lets me get my phone in closer (literally hovering over my bed without the instability that would come from putting the tripod on the bed), but I did fine without that for years. I have soft boxes (lights), but (because I get a decent amount of natural light) I almost never use them.
I feel like a dollar a minute is a good rate for when you're trying to figure out what to charge for a scene (though you don't need to stick to it religiously). I also feel like you should always try to charge $15 or more for each scene. Charging less might in theory get you more sales, but it never really seems to increase sales enough for me to make up for the fact that I'd be making less from each sale. That means you should aim for 15+ minute long scenes. Which doesn't sound long, but it's totally normal to struggle with it at first. Not to sound like Dan Savage, but it gets easier. Just try to relax and have fun while you're shooting. Don't rush stuff. Take some time to talk to the camera at the beginning and end of your scenes.
Try to make each of your scenes different from one another. Like try to introduce a single new concept with each scene. Like this is my first anal scene or this is my first fleshlight scene. Sometimes just having on a new outfit can be enough.
I pretty strongly feel like everyone should start out by doing solo porn and then only ease into shooting with other people later (and maybe charge a premium for those scenes with other people). I know some people find it hella awkward though and can really only shoot with a partner. As always, you do you.
subscription sites
OnlyFans has gotten really popular! So popular that it's maybe made all that stuff about selling videos on ManyVids a little less relevant. And so popular that it's made all that social media stuff even more relevant (discoverability isn't a thing on OnlyFans). It's actually where I make most of my money these days (which is helped by the fact that they pay out 80%). You should really be on OnlyFans.
I usually use OnlyFans for random nude selfies and for videos that seem too short to be worth selling individually on clip sites, but you can kinda just do whatever. I charge $10 a month, but you can also do whatever when it comes to pricing too. It's pretty common to also make a second OnlyFans account that's free for people to subscribe to. You can use that second account to sell scenes and/or to promote your main account.
onlyfans.com/?ref=80508
There are a billion imitators out there now though. ManyVids has their own OnlyFans style thing called a ManyVids VIP Fanclub and I've also managed to get a few subscribers on Fansly too.
manyvids.com/Join-MV/791658
fans.ly/application/form?r=boringkate
Just like with clip sites there's no real harm in reposting your content to multiple platforms.
You could also try out Patreon. They're super explicit about disallowing porn and I was even personally given a warning and made to stop posting porn on my patreon, but like you can give it a shot anyways or maybe find some less pornographic use for it.
cam sites
If you're gonna do cam shows then you're probably gonna wanna do em on chaturbate. It's just the most popular. Plus MFC doesn't even allow trans girls or really any sort of amab people.
I'm not super into cam stuff because it's a single time thing (you don't keep making money off of a live performance you did like you do with a pre recorded clip) (though there's admittedly nothing stopping you from recording your live shows and selling them on clip sites), because live shows so frequently get recorded and posted all over the internet (sometimes in places you can't even get it taken down from with a dmca request), and because I just find slow cam shows extra crushing and easy to get burnt out from. Some people really love doing cam work though and find more success with it than with clip sites. You do you.
chaturbate.com/in/?tour=OT2s&campaign=S1jJn
pornhub
Mastercard made pornhub stop allowing models to sell clips (on pornhub or the subsite modelhub), but you can still upload free videos. The ad revanue is abysmal (I think I remember it working out to like 60 cents per thousand views). It might be worth it as a way to promote yourself though. Just keep in mind that long form free content can kinda devalue your paid stuff.
pornhub.com/model/referrals?referral=85450102
dealing with piracy
Your stuff (including your paywalled content) is gonna get reposted. You can't stop pirates from being pirates on the internet. And I can't even blame them. I think piracy is rad. I pirate junk all the time. But lol since we're living in a capitalist hellscape it's obviously in our best interest as content creators to keep our paywalled content from being too easily accessible and luckily most sites (like mega and pornhub) make it pretty easy to DMCA things.
mega.nz/copyright
pornhub.com/information/dmca
shift4shop.com/business-tools/dmca-generator.html
avoiding burnout
I find it's good to stockpile completed scenes and release them at a steady pace instead of just putting things out as soon as they're done. That way I'm not just dropping off the map when I'm busy or just not feeling up to filming.
accepting payment from people directly
Never accept paypal as a form of payment from clients! Paypal will shut down your account for doing even legal forms of sex work. On top of that guys can dispute the transaction ages later to get their money back and you will have no recourse.
I generally default to accepting amazon gift cards (I always make a point of asking for amazon dot ca gift cards though because I am canadian and gift cards for one version of amazon cannot be used on another).
Cryptocurrencies (like bitcoin) are sex work friendly and transactions made with them are non reversible, but they're a hard sell for a variety of reasons.
I've heard of people using stuff like cashapp, but I think I've also heard of that stuff going poorly sometimes too. I don't really know anything about it though.
wishlists
Gifts are nice. You should have a wishlist. Probably on Amazon. I feel like that doesn't require much explanation.
Steam also has a pretty decent wishlisting/gifting system. If you're into PC gaming then you could just wishlist stuff on there, link to that wishlist, and start accepting any/every friend request you get.
Getting free sex toys to use in videos
You don't need a bunch of toys (you can definitely get away with just doing hand stuff), but if you wanna get some new toys then having fans buy them for you off a wishlist isn't the only way to go about it. A lot of sex toy sellers give out freebies. If you go on twitter and do a search for "new toy from" or "new dildo from" then you'll find a bunch of people namedropping what sellers they PROBABLY just got a free toy from (tho some people do also just post to show off what new toy they've bought).
I feel like there are three tiers or types of sex toy sellers on twitter.
1) Amazon sellers that'll have you buy a toy (probably some marked up generic thing that you could easily find for less on aliexpress) from them on amazon and then refund you by paypal after you've left a positive amazon review. There's obvious risk involved (it'd be very easy for them to reverse the paypal payment or for them to just never send it), but it seems to generally go fine. They won't care if you have a following, but they will sometimes care if you're in the united states.
2) Drop ship sellers who have their own website/store. It's the same toys from tier one, but this time around they'll just mail you the toy without any money exchanging hands. In return though they'll expect you to post a tweet (maybe even a youtube or pornhub video) promoting them and the toy once you receive it. Which means you'll have to be a porno account with at least a bit of a follower count for them to work with you.
3) Fantasy dildo companies with their own unique toys. Like bad dragon, but not bad dragon (I actually got a free giftcard from them once years ago by tweeting at em, but I heard they stopped doing it shortly after because people were impersonating models). Probably skip this tier unless you have a billion followers and are already certain that they're sending out samples to other people. Those first two types of sellers will probably say right in their bio that they're giving out freebies (inviting you to DM them), but this type won't, so there's no way to be sure. Try not to be too intitled. A lot of smaller toy sellers probably aren't making enough to even afford to promote themselves by giving out freebies.
at the risk of sounding like an old person ranting about avacado toast
Don't buy expensive porno gear or props when you aren't established enough to know for sure yet if you're gonna recoup the cost (you really don't need to). I feel like I've basically said that a few times already, but I've known multiple girls who sunk a bunch of money into it only to quite after just releasing a couple scenes that never sold. And even if you are making bank doing porn then still try to save your money when you can. Got paid with a gift card? Dope. Hold on to it till you actually have a use for it. Don't just go looking for something to spend it on. Amazon gift card money doesn't expire. Same with cash. It doesn't matter how much you make doing porn if you're constantly ordering in and taking ubers everywhere when public transit exists. Some days will be slower than others. Plus doing any type of sex work is like being an athlete. You can kinda age out of it eventually and having it on your resume is not going to help you get an office job. So just try to be responsible.
shoutout to Sophie Ladder
I'm constantly checking her "Clip Sites vs Fetishes" chart (which tells you what sites ban or allow what types of content). Also I only do solo stuff (and again I think it's a good idea to start out by doing solo stuff), but if you are shooting with other people then her model release forms are probably extremely useful too.
sophieladder.com/files/
that's all for now
I hope you found this all useful. I hope you appreciated the very modern web design. Have fun!
BONUS INFO FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN TAKING GIRL PILLS
Just do it! Being a dick girl is rad! You don't need to be mega ultra sure about it. Just give it a try. You can go off it later if it isn't right for you.
If you're interested in self medicating (rather than getting a prescription) then there's a ton of info on r/TransDIY.
reddit.com/r/TransDIY/