-
$100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
So, after having a GREAT last Tues night working, I had a pretty crappy night tonight. I honestly feel like I'm losing it. I go about making my sales the same way as usual, and I even applied new techniques that I recently learned. Even worse, a salesman straight up told me that I had the best presentation that he'd seen in the place. And yes, he could've been lying, but for some reason I believed him - probably bc I asked him what was wrong w/the others, and he gave examples w/names and he was basically on point w/what I already thought.
I went to many customers tonight - some I tried to hustle, others were regulars who I just said hello to for 2 songs max; I didn't even try to get a drink out of them. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?
My basic approach:
Look for someone who's sitting alone. Sometimes I look in the mirrors to see if he's checking me out, other times I just go over. Approach customer and say something other than the typical "hi," which ALWAYS leads into some convo. Exchange names. I also cater to client's personality type, which there's more info about in Dancerwealth. Anyways, I ask him ques like where he's from, what he likes to do, etc. TYPICALLY around the end of the 1st song, I start to close and lead into some convo about what he wants to do and how I want to play with him somewhere more private. I do the whole head nod thing (which has previously been talked about in Hustle Hut). I also give him the option of a room or an LD, thereby not really giving him the chance to technically say "no." Sometimes, if the guy buys me a drink, I wait for 3 songs, bc in my mind, that's how long a drink should last...2-3 songs. I don't get what else to do? I'm upbeat, not fake (that I know of), try to mirror, usually try to touch the guy (if I'm standing) in some way, dance sexy on stage, make eye contact, appear confident, etc.
I just don't get it! It's not only this week. This whole month has been a struggle, minus 1 or 2 days. It's not like there aren't customers in the club - there are. It's not like girls who DON'T have regulars aren't doing things - they are, even though you still hear girls complain. I feel like one of those girls who always bitch about how slow it is, when they know damn well that other girls are making money. I've asked a couple of people how they're doing, and they say it sucks in the club, but still, it's really hard to compare bc (a) people have different ideas of what a "good night" is (b) people don't, understandably so, want to reveal that they've done good or bad, and (c) some have regulars and I try not to count those people.
It's just so frustrating not knowing what I'm doing wrong. Even more frustrating is not knowing, for sure, if it's me or if it's the customers. I mean, girls who have regs are def doing better - I don't have regs typically, so I try to ask girls who also don't have regs how they're doing. I hate seeming nosey, but I really want to find out whether it is, in fact, my hustle going wrong or just the club itself.
I think that I'm just going to change clubs :( I really don't want to do this bc as I mentioned in another post, I like this club so much. Ugh. My plan is to stay at this club for another 2 - 3 weeks to pay for stuff to start fresh: I'll get my nails done, hair done, new outfits, new jewelry, maybe some new extensions, prepaid cell to actually try and make regs, new shoes, etc. I will then audition at some other clubs. I like this idea bc not only do I get time to make more money to start fresh, but I also will see if the current club gets any better.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
It's not you it's the strip club economy.
Be happy you made $100.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
It doesn't sound to me like anything went wrong per se. I mean there will be nights you walk out with a grand, and there will be nights you walk out with $50. It happens to all of us. Dont feel down. :)
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
Why are you only approaching customers who are sitting alone? Sometimes there will be times when groups are more common and you need to learn how to approach them. I literally approach everyone in the club... it's a numbers game that works.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
The economy...thats what went wrong :(
Believe me, its happening everywhere. You could be the best salesman in town...if the people don't have the money to throw around anymore...its just not going to happen. Just be happy that you have a job, are able to work, and still have some cash coming in. You could work at FedEx like my friend and make 200 a week...yuck.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
Yeah, I used to make 5-700 on weeknights and more on weekends but lately: 1-200 feels like a ton of money. My friends work in promotions and average 60-100 a day for many hours of hard work plus commuting time. Even though I'm making 1/3 of what I used to, I still have all day to do what I want. Things will pick up I think...in a few years perhaps.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
[quote=exotica268;1826476]
I just don't get it! It's not only this week. This whole month has been a struggle, minus 1 or 2 days. It's not like there aren't customers in the club - there are[quote]
Hun, read around the forums a little more. You'll find that this last month, in particular, regardless of location, type of club, etc, has been bad for everyone. It's really weird, too. I was doing fine up until a month ago. I was still pulling in my norm, then it just stopped. It's freaky too reading around on the forums and everyone says the same thing.
The worst thing you can do is think it is you. Trust me it has nothing to do with you, especially reading your post, and if you do everything just like you say then it is not your fault.
Many others may not agree but I think you should be happy with $100. I made a grand total of $200 in the last 3 weeks....that's 9 shifts. And to boot, my club got raided tonight!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
audrey_k
It's not you it's the strip club economy.
Be happy you made $100.
$100 is good I think, especially if you are working in a smaller club that is overrun with dancers. We had 90 girls checked in last week one night at my little club. Or should I say used to be my club.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
I guess the main reason that I think it's my fault is bc I'm not used to this. Even when other girls would say how bad it was, how crappy the economy was, etc, I'd still be doing pretty well (at least to my standards). I'm not really a "regulars" girl, which is probably about to change, but I'd do fine just picking up the strays that walked in each night and making money off of them. I wouldn't necessarily get a bunch of money from 1 person, but my smaller amounts would slowly accumulate. I really think that each person should be able to be talked into 1 measly lapdance for only $30, and that's what I'd do. I was never a "room" girl, either.
I don't work at a small club, but I can see how making $100 would be good there. I work at a pretty nice club that's a decent size. There are LD options and 4 nice rooms from which to choose. It's the most upscale club that I've ever worked at. It's no Delilah's in Philly (from what I hear), but it's one of the better clubs in Baltimore, supposedly.
Thank you all for your responses. It does make me feel better to know that I'm not the only one who randomly saw a decrease in money, CherryBomb.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
[quote=CherryBomb954;1826560][quote=exotica268;1826476]
I just don't get it! It's not only this week. This whole month has been a struggle, minus 1 or 2 days. It's not like there aren't customers in the club - there are
Quote:
Hun, read around the forums a little more. You'll find that this last month, in particular, regardless of location, type of club, etc, has been bad for everyone. It's really weird, too. I was doing fine up until a month ago. I was still pulling in my norm, then it just stopped. It's freaky too reading around on the forums and everyone says the same thing.
Especially the past couple of weeks...
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
OK, you say you try to close after the first song and he says no, Do you stay and try another strategy or get up and move on? Are there people to move on to or is the club empty?
I made $50 one night last week because the club had 5 customers all night long. I sold 5 dances, after house and tipout I walked with $50. Two nights ago I walked with $175 because there were 9 customers all night long, and the last hour and a half they closed the stages because there were ZERO customers from 12:30-2am.
You can only do your best with what you have to work with. We all have bad nights, being able to overcome those bad nights, looking at your weekly and monthly earnings, investing wisely, and creating other streams of income is the key to surviving the slow season.
I went to get my car serviced and stopped in to see my fav car salesman. He said he had been sitting at his desk for the last 7 hours and no one even walked into the showroom floor. He hadn't even had a prospect for the last 3 days. Everyone in sales is facing a similar dilemma.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
i agree with everyone about having a bad day, heck even a bad week or maybe even a month. but for strippers to say that $100 is good- i don't think so. If I was consistently averaging 1-200/day, i'd find a different occupation. A secretatry making $10/hour makes $80 while sitting on her ass and keeping her clothes on.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
There are a lot of factors to consider on bad nights. Last weekend I made $3,000 in three days, which was awesome considering I never make a grand a night three nights in a row. This week has been worst; I walked out Wednesday with $300. Everyone had bad nights. Sometimes you just get unlucky and have guys in the club with no money (which is what happened Wednesday).
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
july is always bad because the kids are out of school, people are spending $ on vacations, ect. just hang in there. I only do the 2-3 song thing on SUPER busy nights, most of the time I do the 4-7 song hustle with more luck. But my club is slower. Some nights are just crap. if many nights are crap, you either need to take a day off to recharge or find a new club.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
8 hr shift- $400
8 hrs - $200
8 hrs - $700
3 hr shift - $15
3 hrs - $200
3 hrs - $12
2 hrs - $110
2 hrs - $40
These are from three different clubs. This is just a sampling from the last month for me. Get the picture? It's not you! It is the economy.
Oh, and the higher buck nights I had a 'whale', if you want to call those amounts that...
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
I wanted to chime in with what Britney Ireland mentioned. I had a string of ridiculously bad nights lately and yet the last three or four times I've gone in, I made over $200 (but couldnt't reach 300 after tip out, arg) but what worked to even get that amount was perseverance. What clicked for me was confirmed when I stumbled on a sales closing site and an excerpt from Zig Ziglar's Secrets to Closing the Sale. I am paraphrasing, but it basically pointed out that in sales, it is a good idea to be a 'little hard of hearing' when you start hearing objections while attempting to close.
Stay that extra minute or three when money is not flowing as usual. I approached an Asian guy at the bar of my club, initially with some hesitation (as that is the demographic I hardly EVER get dances from), and he talked about how he was close to leaving the club, yadda yadda yadda and I kept on charming him, " No way. You can't leave! I just found you! I want you to leave this club with a smile on yor face remembering how awesome of a time you had with me. I guarantee you'll leave with a smile!"
I basically hammed it up for all it was worth. He ended up asking ME to go ahead and dance for him when basically I kept bringing up how great he'd feel AFTER I got to show him what a great dance I give. And he got 7 dances and tipped me $30 extra bucks.
And this is a bikini, one-way mild contact dance (ears, shoulders, knees, "his" chest). And he did indeed leave with a smile. Take the first few rebuffs as a challenge to turn it around. If it honestly doesn't work, smile good naturedly and tell 'em, " Alright, but next time you're here, you're fair game!" and leave with a smile, always.
Before him, I saw another guy standing at the bar and he got 8 dances by my being very forward and tooting my own horn in a friendly, flirty way...with that darn shit eatng grin. Just keep smiling, be 'hard of hearing', and be your ownbest cheerleader! Keep repeating to yourself that these guys have YOUR money, and it's just up to you to get it from them.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
Awesome attitude, London! I have to remember to think positive some nights.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
Quote:
Originally Posted by
saphire123456
i agree with everyone about having a bad day, heck even a bad week or maybe even a month. but for strippers to say that $100 is good- i don't think so. If I was consistently averaging 1-200/day, i'd find a different occupation. A secretatry making $10/hour makes $80 while sitting on her ass and keeping her clothes on.
I totally agree. I mean, maybe in a pastie and thong club it would be okay where there aren't any lapdances/rooms, but I'm not grinding on penis and getting naked for $100 on a consistent basis if I can help it.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
Quote:
Originally Posted by
exotica268
I'm not grinding on penis and getting naked for $100 on a consistent basis if I can help it.
damn right skippy
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
Most girls have been dancing less than 3 years. That means most of you really have no longevity in the business (and that is not a bad thing, just circumstance) so I can imagine you are hit harder emotionally and mentally with the current state of affairs. I have been dancing since some of you were toddlers, so I have a lot of experience with having to adjust, change strategies, move, travel, etc.
It takes more than perfecting your hustle techniques, especially in times like this.
The main way I've always made it through when things went to hell in my club / area or during a certain point in time, is to basically...adapt. I've changed clubs, moved, gone on the road, changed my style, become more assertive, educated myself, created alternate sources of income, and most importantly I maintain my looks and attitude as best I can. All of these things help me keep my sanity and lifestyle whether stripper business is good or bad.
I have 3 other income sources now, so I am not totally dependant on dancing to pay the bills. This relieves a TON of stress so that when I go to work, I am not the desperate girl no one wants; I am the fun confident girl in a good mood that everyone wants ;)
I have changed my style many times, and incorporate various ideas to keep my attitude fresh, make myself stand out, and attract as many customers as possible.
Of course everyone can't pick up and travel or move at the drop of a hat, but it is my strong belief that most people could move around more than they currently do if they would simply make the choices. There is no point continuing to do the same thing over and over and over when it is not working.
I don't want to sound preachy, but hopefully what I'm saying will inspire some ideas for you ladies who are having a hard time. This is a really tough time and we have to make adjustments to get by.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
I sounds awful to say, but I am trying to look at it this way: If I work my 5 hours, and do my best, and only walk with $100, that is still $20 an hour. Sure, one dance an hour, it blows. But it could be worse. Not many regular jobs are paying $20 an hour at the moment.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BuxomBeauty
Most girls have been dancing less than 3 years. That means most of you really have no longevity in the business (and that is not a bad thing, just circumstance) so I can imagine you are hit harder emotionally and mentally with the current state of affairs. I have been dancing since some of you were toddlers, so I have a lot of experience with having to adjust, change strategies, move, travel, etc.
I've been dancing for 7 years and have changed my strategies numerous times to fit specific clubs. I've had to adjust my hustle for (a)full-grind LD clubs where girls talk dirty, guys like girls with lotsa ass that I just don't have, the hustle is quicker, girls hustle on guys laps while whispering in their ears, the payout is HIGH (b) classier gentlemens clubs where there are numerous beautiful girls who know how to carry-on conversations, actually have interesting things to say, and who carry themselves w/grace and dignity (c) neighborhood bar/dive-type clubs w/pasties and thongs where there are barely any customers and no LDs, but you are guaranteed dollars from each customer, just about, when you do dance (d) neighborhood bar type clubs where there are many customers and none of the girls really hustle (e) my very first club that had tons of cookie-cutter girls who all seemed to do their hair/makeup perfectly, had their boobs done amongst other things...whereas I was the newbie who didn't know how to perfect her hair/makeup, who couldn't dance very well or do pole tricks, and who was on the chubby side - just to name a few.
Throughout all of these years, I still typically made out pretty well (at least after getting to know how the club worked). If I had only been doing this job for less than 3 years, then maybe it wouldn't hit me as hard. But actually, I think it hits me even harder bc I have been successfully doing this for so long, even when other girls were complaining that there wasn't any money, and NOW all of a sudden I'm wondering if I'm just one of those girls.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mediocrity
I sounds awful to say, but I am trying to look at it this way: If I work my 5 hours, and do my best, and only walk with $100, that is still $20 an hour. Sure, one dance an hour, it blows. But it could be worse. Not many regular jobs are paying $20 an hour at the moment.
My shifts are 7 hours. that's about $14.30/hour to get naked, engage in fake convo and actually pretend I give a damn, and grind on random penis :-\. I see what you're saying though :)
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mediocrity
I sounds awful to say, but I am trying to look at it this way: If I work my 5 hours, and do my best, and only walk with $100, that is still $20 an hour. Sure, one dance an hour, it blows. But it could be worse. Not many regular jobs are paying $20 an hour at the moment.
this is what i say to justify dancing on really bad nights.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
I made $2 on a Saturday. That is a whole other level of sad.
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
I certainly wasn't trying to imply anyone specific is inexperienced. My post was a generalized statement meant to pass ideas, and to serve as a reminder it isn't about you or something you're doing wrong. It is a particularly bad time right now and a change of strategy (new club, new area, strip-tripping, new job, new business, decreased spending, etc) will be necessary to make it through this patch.
I think it is also important to remember that in most areas, July and August are typically the shittiest months of the year for strippers. The recession makes it worse. This month and next are going to be pretty horrendous for many girls, I think. Brace yourself!
-
Re: $100 night - I don't understand what went wrong :(
If you have a problem with taking your clothes off...or think that you have to make a certain dollar amount per shift to justify taking your clothes off and wiggling....then you probably shouldn't be in this profession.
My personal viewpoint on it has shifted over the years. In the early years I loved being topless, running around, etc regardless of how much I made because it was more than I was making as a teacher (a job I HATED) Then I got my head screwed on straight, saw it as a business, got my boobs done and adopted the "I paid top dollar to buy these, by golly you are going to pay top dollar to see them" take-no-prisoners SuperStripper attitude. Now that I have other streams of income, I don't HAVE to go to work to pay my living expenses....I've drifted more into the "Its not worth it if I only make x amount of dollars." philosophy.
Your personal opinion on nudity, money, what salary you can command in the mainstream job market, and how much you allow stripping to affect your real life are going to be the deciding factors for you. I wrote a blog over two years ago about the equivalent of crappy $200/nights.