Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
You answered you're own question. You've never really had to hustle before.
If you don't learn to hustle now you're done for until it picks up again. No lie. I've been doing this for awhile and even as someone who has always hustled it's still a challenge.
What I've noticed in my club is that the girls who never really hustled don't dance anymore. The club is filled with 'veterans' and guys hate that. We know what we're worth and don't settle for less.
Let this be a lesson to you because when it picks up again and you're not lazy about it you'll make double the money and know what to do when it's slow.
So good luck. Take a break and recoup.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
^^ I disagree. A few years ago, when I was working in my club in ATL before the recession, I never HAD to "hustle". Just 95% of the guys I asked for a dance said yes. As for VIPs, sure I had to upsell them, but it wasn't difficult usually. So to tell her to throw in the towel and call her lazy is pretty harsh. Maybe her club was the same way! I also never did a proper lap dance until I moved to LV, and at that point I'd been in the industry 6 years. So it's not like you can't learn you know.
OP, I completely understand where you are coming from. I don't know what OTL is so you will have to explain that to me. I think having a new boyfriend is some of it; you're thinking more of him than being business oriented. Has the clientele changed at your work at all? Why do you suddenly hate talking to customers? With the fee increase, how many supplemental dances do you have to do?
I think I need more specifics to fully answer you.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
I am writing this at work... 12:30 and I think I have less than 100! I am not a lazy dancer. Our club was just full of guys that asked for dances, OTL (off the list), anything they wanted. Off the list is when a customer "buys" you for 1 hour or more. They just made all of us sign new contracts where we can only charge 200 an hour and they club takes 50.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
I am not sure if you have too many regulars to your club, but sometimes seeing the same faces gets redundant. Maybe you need a change of scenery, another club? Working somewhere new will make you feel like the "new girl" all over again. I am not sure how this would effect your MONEY though:(.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
I dunno girlfriend, is Denver busier in the Winter than the Summer?? Can you go to a different part of Co.??
Part of it is in your head, part of it is what's coming in there,
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
Christ, $150 for a fucking hour?
No advice here except keep pushing and learn your sales skills. Wait, are you on your computer in the DR or something? Get the fuck back on the floor!!!!
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SpeakngEZ
Christ, $150 for a fucking hour?
No advice here except keep pushing and learn your sales skills. Wait, are you on your computer in the DR or something? Get the fuck back on the floor!!!!
150$ an hour is WAY too cheap! I think it's time for a week or more long work trip!
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
$150 for an hour is horseshit. You'd make way more dancing on the floor. I'd say sell it as a $200 MINIMUM, and the customer can decide what they want to give you, and the club still gets it $50.
The most we're allowed to charge for an hour at my club is $250, but people tip us on that frequently (without being asked/hinted at) when they actually buy the damn thing, and I think even $200/hr is reasonable, if people are buying them a lot. It also depends on how long your shifts are. If you have 8 hours to make that money, I'd say lower fees are reasonable, while if you only work 5 hours I'd want more per hour in order to make a decent chunk per day.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
I don't think anyone was calling you lazy- but there is a difference between just showing up and making money- and having to realllllly hustle guys.
I find myself having to work a lot harder to make money now. Not dance more, per se, but really use my head. Ironically I'm making more than I was last year, but it means being funnier, flirtier, more demanding, etc. I can't just walk around looking hot and expect someone to pull me into a VIP room. Ahhh... those were good days!!
and $150 for an hour is complete poop!
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
$150 is around what I have made per HALF hour on my SLOWEST nights.
Why work at a club that's gonna cut you short like that? The whole point of dancing is having potentially unlimited earnings!
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
Been a while- I know 150 per hour is horse shit. BY OUR CONTRACT: We are ONLY ALLOWED to charge 200 per hour and $50 goes to the club.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lilmisscharisma
Been a while- I know 150 per hour is horse shit. BY OUR CONTRACT: We are ONLY ALLOWED to charge 200 per hour and $50 goes to the club.
dude, I would start working somewhere else. That's BULLSHIT. If your regular lap dances are 20 bux, you could make 200 bux in less than half an hour.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
Ive always found that if I'm really into a guy I'm seeing in my personal life, that my money goes down. I'm pretty sure the reason is, I get uncomfortable flirting with other people when I'm so into someone else, and it's harder for me to really act like I give a shit about all these other guys at work, when the man I truly love is at home waiting for me. What I find is the most difficult is looking other men in the eyes while pretending to want them--one of my BIGGEST money makers--while I'm truly in love hardcore with someone else. It's like, I can look them in the eye, but something subconsciencely in my body language says "you're faking it" and guys totally pick up on it. When I'm single, I don't fuck up or give off that vibe, and they buy that I'm into them and I make soooo much more money.
It sucks, but I always do better dancing when I'm single, or when my SO lives in another city. That way, I don't feel so bad about really hustling/charming the guys.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
I can clearly see the two issues that are holding you back: I'm going to post some links because I've put DAYS of time and effort into producing these videos and they explain it a lot better than I can by typing it all out.
1. You are not in the SuperStripper Zone when you are at work. You are thinking about your boyfriend. Only you can answer this question is he a true buyer or just a renter in this relationship If he is only in the relationship so long as it accommodates him...is he worth sacrificing your livelihood?
2. I agree with Stripper Hacks and Mediocrity: you need to learn sales strategies to close lap dance and VIP sales. It was VERY easy from 2004-2007, a little tougher, but still easier in 2008 than it has been this year. If you have never asked for a dance, then you need to learn the proper conversation techniques to close a sale.
Finally, how much you made last year has nothing to do with how much you "should" be making this year. So many entertainers are frustrated because they have unrealistic expectations for an economy at 10.2% unemployment levels!
I have worked in clubs that institute a certain price ceiling for VIP. It really does no good to hear someone from another market say "OMG, Its not worth it" Its worth what someone will pay for it. I worked at $200/hr clubs for YEARS and still made GREAT money because the contact was way lower. Maybe $150/hour seems low to someone from Vegas or NYC who can charge $500/hour, but if it's a choice between $150/hour and sitting at the bar being frustrated...I'll take the first option.
I disagree with JD's option of a road trip. If you don't have the skills to close sales in your home club, what makes you think there is a magic club in Dallas/New Orleans/Philly/etc where you don't have to ask guys for a dance? Going to another city is just going to add expenses (gas, hotel, food, licenses) and you won't have any social capital at the new club. Personally, I spend much of my first shift at a new club building social capital and just generally getting a feel for the place.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
Hi lilmisscharisma been a long time! Is it still were you can charge by the dance as well? When I was there most girls did the 150 per hour and chargwd for dances but I includd dances and charged 400. What about te steakhouse? Isnt it 300 hour to you? It was when you and I were in there together. That really stinks they did that. I havent been back there since sep of last year.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
Hey girl! I'm in the same boat -- I work over at Penthouse and had to go through the "New Contract" horseshit too...
Just wondering about the part in your post where you mention the $5 wristband? I thought Diamond had always done this, I worked there around this time last year and that's what they were doing...Were you referring to the $5/song they're charging us now for dances? 'Cause if that's what you're talking about I think I can offer some advice on how I've been dealing with the new fees they're charging us--
I went to the meetings over at PT's that Jim White had for each club before he put out the new contracts, and when we were sort of resistant to the idea he made a good point -- Our dance prices are now a MINIMUM per song, and we have no price ceiling on what we can charge for dances. Penthouse is a little different because we do full nude upstairs, and usually if a guy is buying a private dance he's going to go for a full nude one...So I charge 30/topless and 40/full nude...I actually have been making more money off of dances since the new contracts, and I rarely have a customer say that these prices are too much (which shocks even me!).
As far as OTL goes, Penthouse used to have a rule that we could ONLY do 100/hour off the list, 50 - club, 50 - dancer. I had come over to Penthouse from Diamond where I was charging 300/hr so I called bullshit on that immediately and just worked out something in private with the first customer at Penthouse I did OTL with and have been doing it that way ever since. I know they're a little more strict over at Diamond, but every time I've done that at Penthouse the managers have pretty much turned a blind eye... Don't know if I'd try it at Diamond though...
---> SO I just re-read your post and noticed you said they raised fees... Did they raise fees at Diamond instead of doing the $5/song? They lowered our fees from 60/70 to 50/60 (Same as what Diamond's are now) but we still pay $5 to the club per dance that we do... I'll do anywhere from 0 to 20 or 30 dances in a night, depending on what customers want, so that can add up to about 150, 200 to the club by the end of the night. They're also making us pay our fees BEFORE our shift now, so no lenience is given if we can't make fees.
VCGH is just sucking the cash out of us at this point...
Have you tried Diamond after Dark yet? I've heard it's good and some girls go over there from 2-4 after working the night at Penthouse... I might try it next weekend.
To culminate this rando-response though, I think Denver just kinda sucks for money right now -- I hear way more girls complaining about the lack of customers than gloating about the $ they're making. Wasn't like that this time last year... I was having $1000 at least one night a week at Diamond, too. Now, I haven't topped a grand since summer....
Hopefully better days are ahead!
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
I have three things to say here related to what previous posters have said and things that MAY have been implied.
First, yes, the $5 fee per song bites - but it's a lot less than what some clubs take. I know a lot of dancers are getting around this by tipping the guy at the register $2 - $3 to not mark down their dances (so they get to keep the other $2 - $3 for themselves). As a matter of fact it's getting to the point where the guys at the register are pressuring and insinuating for the dancers to do this. However, DOING THIS IS NOT THE ANSWER. It's stealing from the club, and if you get caught you'll be in big trouble. The other thing though is that if the club thinks that they aren't collecting enough fees from dances they are going to bring up the house fees again. What would you rather have them take... a commission of what you earned or a flat fee? I think most of you would probably agree that taking the commission is better because then if you don't earn much you don't have to pay out on what you didn't earn.
Second, urge your managers to take down or change their signs listing the prices. I know how hard it is to upsell a topless dance to even just $25 or $30 when the sign in the lapdance area says "Topless dances $20".
Third, VCGH has implemented the wristband fee in all of their Colorado clubs. Again, it's because they are losing money. Honestly though, I haven't really heard customers complain about it much. If they use it as an excuse to say they don't want dances, try to wager with them a bit. Tell them if they buy a minimum of 2 or 3 dances (paid upfront) that you'll cover their badge.
Re: GIRLS! I need your help!
To the 1st point -- They're still taking both the commission and the flat fee from us... They lowered the flat fee, but only by 10 dollars across the board, and actually *raised* it at Diamond... No great concessions were made in our flat fee, none to make a difference really... And yeah, the bouncers have been encouraging this. I don't feel bad taking money from the company primarily for the fact that when I went to the meetings, we were told a big chunk of their profits from the wristbands would be allotted for better advertising and since the contracts were put out in October, I have yet to see Jackie doing any new promos. I know it's only 2 months and there obviously needs to be more time for the profits to show, so that's probably just a bitter self-fulfilling prophecy because I don't expect them to meet that promise for a good while. VCG has a set percentage that can be allotted to every expense they have, as a holdings company, that they cannot stray from...Marketing and Advertising is something like 2% of what they gross?
Anyway, as far as tipping the guy at the register goes... I have yet to see anyone but the bouncer himself getting in trouble for that at my club. And if he's going to offer even still, that's his prerogative.
To the 2nd point -- I agree completely! Ours say 25 topless/30 full nude with "minimum" in small letters... Originally they weren't going to put signs up, and there was a wonderful time in October where no one had a reference point! I still just explain that that's a minimum, then I bring up the $5 fee and throw in something like "It's worth it for the best dance/hottest girl/me/blah blah bullshit" and it works much more often than not. I think the shut downs I receive sometimes are worth it overall for the extra 10/15 per song as long as I know there's someone downstairs who *will* pay, and if they are adamant then I'll make room for negotiations on a slow night.
To the 3rd -- Penthouse has always done the wrist band for as long as I've been there because of the nude room upstairs. So that's no different. I actually like it personally just because if a guy has to pay an extra 5 dollars to get to the nude stage, for most people it's a reminder that there's no such thing as a free show and they'll tip more. Different for Diamond though because there's no nude room...