View Full Version : That blasted dollar dance
A lot of clubs have seen such a drop in "target" customers that they are relaxing their standards and letting more young customers and girls in. This demographic pays a cover and buys drinks so it allows the club to keep afloat.
Also that is why clubs let more dancers work now. The extra housefees make up for the lost business.
Is it right? No. Are lot's of clubs doing it to remain profitable? Yes.
Miabella if you are still in H-Town, table dancing and stage tipping will never be a draw there. With 60+ spas and 50 something clubs with sexual gratification on the menu, an increasing number of guys wants sex in the club, and the clubs that try to operate more like those in the Southwest won't survive.
miabella
11-17-2004, 07:21 PM
i'm still here, but i'll probably try dallas or austin or almost anywhere else in texas, heh for a little while in december since i've got actual savings now. now that i feel a lot more put-together, i may be able to get hired in a couple of the large clubs in january or so. i was thinking nyc this winter, but i'm not ready hustlewise yet. i may give it a try in 3-4 months since i have friends to stay with there. i like the club i'm at now, but it's small and the management issues may kill its customer base. i strongly prefer dancing nude, and that may mean i have to travel to work somewhere i can at least be nude onstage, even if table/private dances are topless/bikini.
so since i don't feel i've got enough hustle experience yet to work a super-upscale/large club, and the nude place i'm at in houston is the only one with consistent money for a clean girl at present, i'll probably end up mostly working out of dallas to build more experience before trying some of the more upscale-oriented topless clubs since i can stay with friends there also.
i'm kind of glad i started in houston. figuring out how to offer less contact but still get the same or better money than the high contact or extras girls has really helped me with approaching customers and also providing a good dance/stage show that is more sensual and sellable. it just took a while to get serious about it and focus on selling selling selling the whole time i'm at work.
i mean, i agree with you that houston is a lost cause for such a thing. too many dancers can't be amiable to mixed groups for a radical new type of club to work here. they'd rather get caught up in the whole extras/spa deal with constantly dropping prices for EVERYTHING. *sigh*
i do wonder if a club setup like a kind of paid party girl thing would work in some areas. where it was a nightclub kind of crowd (young and mixed), and the dancers kind of did 'group' shows, stripping kinda burlesque, very showy-style for a group of people for like 50-100. so people could pool funds and get one dance (it would last 8-15 minutes depending on pricing), and stage tipping would be heavily encouraged. most girls wouldn't sell more than 1-2 of those group dances a night, but they'd all get about the same money in stage, also, so it would end up being a flatter earnings potential, but very steady. every girl could make about 200 on the low and a really good hustler could sell several of those and break 500 routinely.
that type of non-threatening, partygirl/burlesque stuff might work, if you could find girls who could pull it off in enough markets. i don't know, it just seems to me the only viable option for avoiding situations like houston long-term. although club owners hardly ever think long-term, heh.
Lizette
11-17-2004, 11:07 PM
Wow! I love all the responses to this thread.
I hate the dollar dance. It's a 30 second sample dance and fails to sell $20 lap dances. 30 second samples = 1 song ---> $4-5, not $20. Dollar dances all night long. Gee, a dancer could earn an upwards of $60/night. Whoops! Forgot about tip out. $5.
The customers believe that they are doing the dancers a friggin FAVOR giving them a dollar. It's degrading. I can't dance in Fort Wayne, IN just for that.
The dancers who make money and drive nice cars have customers who "take care" of them. Even if there are no extras involved, I still prefer to earn money INSIDE the club and leave club life there. I'm not an escort.
michele1
11-18-2004, 07:12 AM
Actually alot of the reasons the club are turning more blue collar or more getto as brittany said is the rap and hip hop the clubs are playing. In clubs that have a music format you always see a better type of clientele. Just some food for thought.
Katrine
11-18-2004, 07:20 AM
I disagree. In many Houston clubs I have worked, they will not play hip-hop, and it doesn't seem to make a difference.
I also know many wealthy older customers who enjoy hip-hop/R&B, as long as it "sexy".
Many of the prime target customers of the past are simply coming in early and/or finding escorts.....
Whatever the music, it must be energetic...no "Drop it Like Its Hot".......
I think techno can kill energy more than hip-hop, IMO......
Most customers are barely even aware of the music if you are going your job...from what I notice.....
Katrine
11-18-2004, 07:22 AM
If you are doing dollar dance ladies, nothing wrong with asking for more tip! The waitresses usually are told to give customers as many small bills as possible...if he's only waving $1....move on!!!!
You can also find a good customer that asks you to stay the entire dollar dance for $20....this works well for me! Good luck, kick ass!
michele1
11-18-2004, 07:25 AM
The club I work in gets lots of golfers in from the large resort up the road. Periods throughout the night our dj will play that kind of music if young guys are in and the more upscale clientele has complained that they dislike the music, its too loud and they cant stand all the young guys standing around and dancing. So in my experience it does hurt. In the upscale clubs I have worked in the have music formats in place because of that but every were is different.
Katrine
11-18-2004, 07:29 AM
Well......hiphop/R&B has hit the mainstream for a while now. I worked for a long time at a club that had a former reputation as being ghetto. They banned all rap/R&B, imposed a dress code, raised cover, etc....
They only got minor improvements until they fired the gross girls, hired quality dancers, and made all the customers feel "VIP"
Miss Jessica
11-18-2004, 11:01 PM
Every Tuesday at every single club on the strip we have 2for1 dances going on all day. Usually the customers don't realize it's happening, so I'll just charge them for 2 songs anyway and pocket what would be the clubs $10 a dance fee. But if I get a cheapy, it's a good lil promotion to get him to cough up some $.
Amethyst
11-19-2004, 11:12 AM
We used to dollar dances at my club, but only when there were a lot of customers doing a whole lotta nothing. It generally got the crowd going and was beneficial.
Now we do T-shirt dances ($20, club gets half) at the worst of times - 12:00 a.m., right when most dancers are getting into the groove with their customers. Bummer.
The lovely management at my club is considering doing $5 dances all day on Tuesdays. These used to be a fantastic nights for dancers, but ever since they started offering $5 dances during the days on Tuesdays, they are only "okay" nights. Why would a group of businessmen with a corporate card to burn through want to spend their money in a club where the girls, as stated earlier, are perceived to be worth only $5?
The club had us try $5 for an hour one night, and the table I was sitting with was horrified and I was able to get paid an "hourly rate", which was not all that much but better than doing running around doing $5 dances. Of course, the cheapos were practically salivating and no, I did not see a whole lot of repeat dances going on (with the same dancer anyway). The management thought it was successful because they recorded 60 dances in one hour, never mind the fact that officially the dancers only made $300 amongst the 16 of us there ::)
What really surprises me are the dancers who are thrilled about being able to "easily" make $250 doing fifty $5 dances. Go figure.
So as a dancer, how do I get mngmt to understand they are making a HUGE mistake with this? I've already decided not to work at that club on Tuesday nights if this takes off, but the other nights will be affected as well. The club is already turning into a "hot spot" for the young'uns to take their girlfriends, get drunk, and "kick it".
Bridgette
11-19-2004, 01:54 PM
I think in that situation the only effective measure is to vote with your feet and move on to another club. That's what I wound up doing in Austin when the club I worked kept lowering the prices and made Tuesday $5 dance night. I honestly don't know wtf they're thinking with that, it seems to me that the little bit of extra bar sales that kind of thing generates would be negated by the animosity it creates with dancers.
Balance. Have to have balance. When do they see that screwing over the dancers does NO ONE any good in the long run? When do they see that constantly lowering our earning potential will eventually lead to fewer girls even wanting to dance, which will create a whole new set of problems? I mean seriously, there's only so many girls who will continue to dance for $100-200 a night! I know if that's all I made I'd have been outta there a LONG time ago!
CrescentLuna
11-19-2004, 03:19 PM
My club runs dollar dances all night, I've been going up to every guy and no one is up for private dances I might take a break in the dressing room, then go out again for dollar dances. Dancers only keep half of the $20/lapdance anyway. On Mon, Tue, and Wed they run a special that the $10 cover gets you a free private dance ticket - dancer turns in tickets for $5. The $5 deal is moderately nice because usually I can talk them into buying an additional dance because "they're better than the free ones" to guys that would normally not buy ANY dances.
Dollar dances can hurt, though, I've seriously noticed that my ability to sell a $20 moderate contact topless dance in NY is just as good as to sell a $30 one-way clothed dance in Baltimore. If every girl has been going up doing 1 minute long contacting dollar dances [damnit! it is supposed to be far away and CLOTHED, you imbeciles!] the customer is just NOT going to buy a $20 dance.
Also, dernit, is just not worth it in NY. 20 customers, let's say 15 will buy a dollar dance. Wheeeeee!
[Yes, yes, soon I'll be gone. If they don't fire me over thanksgiving anyway] *smirkle*
krchab99
11-20-2004, 03:54 PM
My club dose 5 dollar merry go round dances i don't really enjoy it much but it dose increase my income and help sell vip's. I hate trying to dance for a guy at a barstool or with the table in back but i always survice and make about 30 to 50 dollars depending on how long we merry go round for. :)
evan_essence
11-21-2004, 11:51 AM
Competition is causing alot of the issues we see in the stripping industry. Competition from LOTS of new Adult entertainment venues that chase the same dollar WE do. In other industries, increased competition leads to lower prices with MORE productivity (Sell MORE and charge less = more profit). Does anyone remember when a microwave oven cost $500? Now they are $50. Why? Increased productivity. Remember when Computers were $3000? Now $300 ....... Why .... you get my point.
There is another side to this deal. CARS. Remember in 1980 when a Mustang cost $6000? 26,000 now. Why? Percieved VALUE and marketing. Promotion and creative financing so us NON-Rich people can still afford to buy one. (Note I didnt say Own one).
The Stripping industry is at a cross-roads now trying to decide to go for low price productivity or percieved value marketing and promotion. THE DOLLAR DANCE IS PART OF THAT PROMOTION THAT WILL HELP TO INCREASE PERCIEVED VALUE.
/end economics 431Here's the counterpoint in marketing jargon. From experience, some of us see the dollar dance doing the opposite of what is intended. It's intended to be a marketing tool to increase the perceived value of a private dance. Instead, customer behavior indicates that, when the concept is executed poorly, the dollar dance is inadvertently being perceived as the club's primary value proposition, namely, discount prices. You're pitching it as a sampling of the high value available; they perceive it as a Kmart blue light special. Not the desired effect.
You wanna get paid for moving from guy to guy or for talking/promoting your "service"? sheeeesh women!Oh *giggle* i dont no that bussiness stuff, i just no boys hand me $$$ for riggling round nakkid.
aaarggh men!
noelle
12-25-2004, 04:10 PM
My club did a dollar dance for the first time last night. We didn't have any kind of meeting or notice announcing it beforehand. I was PISSED.
Dollar dances create momentum for a club when guys are slow to tip on stage or buy dances. If forces a sense of obligation within the customers to spend money on the dancers if the timing of the dollar rotation is proper.
In some clubs I work at after we get off stage we go around and do dollar dances. Dollar dances warm the guys up to buy regular priced ones. And the dollars you generate from the rotation can oftentimes be enough to tip out the DJ or even pay house fees for a night.
Why do stores have sales? To get people inside and hope they buy other non sale items.
The dollar dance "properly timed" should accomplish the same thing.
showgirlschloe
01-29-2005, 08:39 PM
Yes, it does pump up the crowd and you promote yourself But, god I hated those dollar dances. Running around with no top on trying to fit as many dollars in those 4 minutes as possible. It's degrading. I'm not a circus show. Thank goodness my current club doesn't do those. I would always talk the guy I was in front of to keep going so I didn't have to run around. There's nothing like being rejected for a dollar dance.
amylynnej
02-03-2005, 11:11 PM
Its not degrading. It can be money. Its up to you how long to spend on a customers lap and I often get 2-3 more customers to buy dances from me.
sol_de_pr2
02-16-2005, 07:12 PM
Puerto Rico is the land of the dollar dance. At most clubs dancers will go offstage and do a brief dance on guys's laps for a dollar. At one club in Ponce guys must stand up and get near the dancer so she can smother herself for a dollar each. At more upscale clubs they will only get near you and get their tips with little or no contact. For most guys it helps them decide who to buy dances from.
PaigeDWinter
02-17-2005, 01:05 AM
A club I used to DJ at had no set price for dances. The girls still managed to bank often, tanks to good management skills and it being an overall awesome club.
When I danced in NY, dances were $20 and the bars took half.
The place I'm at now in FL charges $8. Kinda smart since the customer sees a $10 as Dance Plus Tip and is more likely to do so and more likely to buy dances that way. Yay for psychology in a Not So Financially Stable county.
Djoser
02-17-2005, 01:31 AM
Where did you DJ, PaigeDWinter?
I love the idea of female DJs in stripclubs, but it is so rare that you see it, probably due to the inherent sexism of management in this business.
The only one I saw was bad, but my girlfriend worked with one that was pretty good once.
I actually was trying to get a dancer I knew to try it, and she saved my ass one night when I was sick as a dog. I could hardly hold my head up I was so sick, and she covered for me while I laid right down on the floor in the booth for about 20 minutes. The manager ran up screaming bloody murder, so I had to jump back in there, but that 20 minutes gave me the breather I needed. She had a pretty good voice, too.
Sorry to go off topic.
Dollar dances suck, yeah...
Bridgette
02-17-2005, 03:08 AM
Carlos, I think you're talking about dollar dance ON STAGE in PR. We're talking about dollar table dances. Supposed to be very short "teasers" to get the crowd riled up and in the mood to spend. Of course it doesn't actually work that way, it really serves as a way to piss off the dancers more than anything else. And we all know what happens when you've got a club full of pissed off dancers :P
amylynnej
02-17-2005, 10:04 AM
Think about the fact that if you get 2-3 custy's to buy dances from you that you never would have had without the promo dances or merry go round.
I would rather get all full price dances but quite often Ive found that this is a good way to meet a lot of customers and is often done when Im coming on the floor for the shift so its sort of an introduction.
sol_de_pr2
02-17-2005, 07:17 PM
Carlos, I think you're talking about dollar dance ON STAGE in PR. We're talking about dollar table dances. Supposed to be very short "teasers" to get the crowd riled up and in the mood to spend. Of course it doesn't actually work that way, it really serves as a way to piss off the dancers more than anything else. And we all know what happens when you've got a club full of pissed off dancers :POh, dollar table dances. Now that really sucks. What I meant is that after a dancer does a couple of songs onstage she goes offstage to briefly lap dance guys for tips. Thanks for the info.
IACali
02-17-2005, 08:13 PM
fine, I edited it myself before I got told to. :-X Christ. I'm still pissy though.
::)
cali
Bridgette
02-17-2005, 08:15 PM
Um, not primadonna, sorry. $1 dances devalue the product in customers' eyes, or just annoys them because they can't get a real dance when that's what they really want, but the club is forcing everyone to do $1 dances.
I don't have any trouble selling dances, and I don't need any $1 dances to help me sell. Most girls who work and hustle don't either. The $1 dance, MOST of the time, actually disrupts me selling - when they call $1dances I've almost always got a guy either buying right then or for next song, and we get interrupted, which screws up the flow and sometimes screws up the sale.
At my Baltimore club, lapdances are done in a seperate couchroom in back, and even if I've got a guy wanting a lapdance NOW, I have to make him wait because the club forces me to do $1dances on the floor. Would you prefer to dance for $20 or $1?
At my Phoenix club, lapdances are $10 and done on the main floor. Every single time they've called $1dances while I've been working there, I've had a guy either already getting dances or requesting one for next song. At that club they do 5-6 $1dances for 30 seconds each, which works out to about a song. So that would mean $5-6 for what should have been a $10 song. Of course the guys ALWAYS tell me to just go ahead with the regular dance during that time, and pay me accordingly, so I don't complain too much. Only time I really dislike $1dances there is when they call them just as I'm about to checkin for the night. In that case I just find some makeup to touchup until $1dances are done, then go checkin ;D Sorry, but I'm not interested in doing any half-price dances.
And frankly AmyLynne, if you're working a club where it takes $1dances to get guys to buy, then perhaps you're in the wrong place. I like working clubs where guys will buy regular dances all night long without the cheap teaser :)
PaigeDWinter
02-17-2005, 08:54 PM
Where did you DJ, PaigeDWinter?
I love the idea of female DJs in stripclubs, but it is so rare that you see it, probably due to the inherent sexism of management in this business.
Upstate NY for a while. Went to college for radio, and quite a few of us students were Strip Club DJs for a while.
Around here the owners/managers wouldnt hear of a female DJing. They should be doing female things, like wander about nekkid and such LOL.
Djoser
02-18-2005, 12:32 AM
Around here the owners/managers wouldnt hear of a female DJing. They should be doing female things, like wander about nekkid and such LOL.
Florida sucks, doesn't it? But damn, I miss the weather, lol...
The dollar dances can work, occasionally--I have seen it happen. As a DJ, though, I don't like the idea, as where it was done the song was switched every 20-30 seconds to keep it moving along, and keep the girls from getting ripped off. It wasn't me that night, thank God, I was doing body-painting, but my friend 'Indian' was busting his ass to keep up.
If it works, fine, but I don't trust the majority of managers, or DJs either, to know when it's a good idea and when it f*cks things up. Just like with the f*cking T-shirt dance specials that managers always kill the mood with, because they get a lousy dollar a shirt. I even worked in a place where I also got a dollar a shirt, and the manager told me all he cared about was selling T-shirts, not drinks or dances. I still only ran them when the crowd needed to be kicked in the ass, and that club eventually turned into a profitable place for everyone, not just the geek manager.
But most importantly, it is a very dangerous notion to put in customers heads, that a nearly naked woman dancing for them and them alone, for any length of time, is worth one stinking dollar...
amylynnej
02-18-2005, 12:49 AM
The dollar dances we do are often when its early in my shift and a good time to meet alot of customers. I can sell 2-3 customers off of dollar dances. I dont have a problem with doing it. If you do well its your choice and I respect that choice.
Bridgette
02-18-2005, 01:01 AM
My point is that you most likely could sell those same guys with or without the $1dance. You shouldn't have to do that to make money.
Furthermore, I've never worked a club where the $1dance was executed properly, and it actually winds up working against the girls.
amylynnej
02-18-2005, 01:13 AM
I have no choice so I make the best of it. And it has worked for me. Do I think it could be executed better, yes. But not sure how.
We onetime did a thing where we brought all of the girls on stage and intro'd them to the customers but that was only done twice that I know of and i dont think it helped.
I think if while doing a dollar dance and you show the emotions of hating it you wont sell a dance. I dont even take anything off. I just sit on their lap real quick, airdance for a few seconds tell them my name and then Im off.
miabella
02-18-2005, 02:32 PM
my club introduced dollar dances recently and i have to agree with bridgette. i'm not the only girl who's had a guy or two lined up for VIP and then has to wait on it until dollar dances are over. sure, some girls with regulars can get paid to sit with them through dollar dances, and sometimes one can find a few guys to do that with oneself, but you shouldn't have to! in the time spent on dollar dancing 1-2 times a night for maybe 100$ tops, an industrious girl could make twice that pretty easily. even when all the guys are tipping and every girl makes 50$+, it has a way of bringing the mood down because some of those guys will turn down girls, and getting turned down for a dollar dance is far worse than being turned down for a table dance or VIP.
it's like ten dollar nights at clubs that normally have 20 dollar dances. you're doing twice the work and thinking 'if they were 20 bucks all the time, i might only sell 12 on the slow nights instead of 20, but i'd have more money!' and you would!
i used to try being optimistic about all that stuff, but now that i've been at the same club awhile and gotten at least basic hustling down, i see that discounting like that just reduces everyone's money in the end.
DJShawnDoe
02-20-2005, 09:47 PM
Listen i am a Dj of 16 Years and have worked in many states and many clubs, most of those did dollar dances, i think it is the dumbest thing, ever created right next to feature selling club mechandise, but i understand the club makes there money some how, but not dollar dances, whooo hooo, ok lets do some quick math,
dollar dance time.............................................. ............. 30 sec per song
Most dollar dance special........................................... .........15 songs
dj spends between each "Grab a dollar,grab a girl".....................5 sec
Total time for dollar dances .......525 sec
Real Time...........9 min 15 sec
The girls have made 15 dollars if they sold all of the dollar dances, where as in 6 min time , 2 table dances got you 20, or 2 vip dance got min 40, so , the dj aspect got to go ultra fast , make the girls work real hard for 15 bucks (if they sold them all) then expect me to fire up the stage show whit my girls sweatin their butts off, and breathin hard with no time to let them collect them selves, time better spent promoting the vip and champagne,
(Footnote) everyonce and a well the old school true customer shows his face and really does take care of the girls, tippin more than a dollar,
Public service Message, If you go to an adult club, and they are doin dollar dances, pick your fav girl , hand her 20 bucks and tell her to sit back and relax, she did the 15 and you tipped her 5,
feel free to tack me down for feedback or discusion, this is my first real post on here i am new
thank you
Dj Shawn Doe
kitana
02-20-2005, 11:45 PM
We don't do a "real dollar dance", like you guys are talking about. But on weekends (*shudder*) I do just run up to random guys and do a few dollar dances of my own. We are so packed (300+ people) on weekends, I don't have time or the voice to try to strike up a hustle convo.
So it usually goes like this:
I go up to guy and do a little 5-10 second dance, I do the pulling of the thong out for the tip.
Me: "Did you like that?"
Him: "Yes"
Me: "Well, would you like to go in the back with me for more fun?"
If he says no, oh well. I'll try again later. If he says yes, then I just make an extra $30($25 minus the $5 tip out to the house).
I do $ dances because I can see how they can be useful in a younger crowd. I NEVER do them through the week, or if the crown is already generous.
It's just something I do to help stimulate my pocket when it's a dead crowd.
I don't think I would like it if it was forced though.
Kitana
DJShawnDoe
02-21-2005, 12:21 AM
i have a ? why would you not take advantage of the rowd bein generous, make that money! I ENCOURAGE THE GIRLS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE of any situation to make money, we are in this buisness to make money, if they offer the jugular, take it, less work for you tryin to talk them into it , : yours a concerned dj
miabella
02-21-2005, 12:29 AM
god, i think the girls would revolt if dollar dances lasted 30 seconds. ours last 10-15 seconds and are preprogrammed in a set of 50. so in theory, every girl would make 50$ in about 10 minutes if she did dances the entire time. in practice, only about half get sold for most girls. so it's still not great and robs momentum, but it's not quite leaving girls with 10$ for the same amount of time. i donno, they still suck at work. :p
Djoser
02-21-2005, 12:41 AM
Listen i am a Dj of 16 Years and have worked in many states and many clubs, most of those did dollar dances, i think it is the dumbest thing, ever created right next to feature selling club mechandise
Welcome, DJShawnDoe!
I agree, for the most part, as you already know if you read my post. Once in a great while they might be a good idea to get things rolling, but almost never as executed. I have yet to do one, and I won't be sorry if I never do.
The merchandise, on the other hand, is pure greed in action.
kitana
02-21-2005, 12:45 AM
Oh I agree Djoser! But I do them on my own, since you well know trying to get a Sc organized is like trying to contain a cluster-f**k.
Like I said I only do them if the crowd IS NOT generous. Or if they are dead. I think it livens them up a bit.
Kitana
Djoser
02-21-2005, 02:01 AM
But I do them on my own, since you well know trying to get a Sc organized is like trying to contain a cluster-f**k.
Like I said I only do them if the crowd IS NOT generous. Or if they are dead. I think it livens them up a bit.
Kitana
This is fantastic...whatever works for you, I'm all for it! I wasn't really disagreeing, and you know I have always had the highest respect for you.
But used as a personal sales tool, who could argue with that?
DJShawnDoe
02-21-2005, 02:03 AM
i do agree wih joser
JuliaChild
08-26-2005, 02:40 AM
My area has $1 dances all night long. It is up to the dancer whether she does them or not. I hate them and will not do them unless the mob was after me and I needed a buck or two to hold them back a few more seconds. When all the girls are giving it away for $1, it looks trashy. I asked my GM why he doesn't ban them. He said that it is the only way some dancers can make money, so he lets them. It's sad. I average 5x more per shift than the $1 dancers, specifically, I think, because I will not dance for less than $20. I am called a stuck up bitch by many customers with a stack of ones. I laugh merrily on the way to the bank.