As a new dancer how long does it take to usually start getting a steady clientele or income ? I know nights vary but how long did it take you experts or newbies until you started making decent amounts of money?
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As a new dancer how long does it take to usually start getting a steady clientele or income ? I know nights vary but how long did it take you experts or newbies until you started making decent amounts of money?
There is no such thing as a steady income as a dancer. One night you may make $1,200, and then you'll be lucky to hit $100 per shift for weeks on end. You have to be ready to leave your club at a moment's notice because the business can change overnight due to a change in laws, or a new, flashier club opening nearby.
My crystal ball says.... hold on.....
The first night I danced, I made something like $150, give or take, and I was *over the moon.* I'd never seen so much money before in my *life.* A few weeks/couple months later, I was making $100/hr average, but I could only ever force myself to dance for two, *maybe* three hours at a time. I was horribly out of shape, physically, and socially I was pretty introverted. Talking to people was something I *could* do, but it drained me, and drained me fast. Going in once every other week was a comfortable pace for me. So, even though my hourly average was up, my total money was super low. Two or three hundred, every other week. Around that time, I had a roommate who was a total badass legend of a god. She could pull doubles day after day. She could go in every single day for weeks without burning out. Her hourly average was lower than mine, but because she went in and stuck with it, she pulled in ridiculous amounts of money. Because she could pull doubles, she pulled it in fast. It took me months to save up for a trip we were about to take --a week before we were going to set off, she matched and exceeded my total savings in three shifts. Granted, she's been doing this a long time. Her tolerance for the kind of bs you see in the club is way up there, so it's no big deal for her to stay hours and hours and pull in as much money as she can.
Nowadays I can work 8 hours and go in three or four times a week. My hourly average is absurdly low compared to what it was before, but my total earnings have climbed up quite a ways. I'm also working at a different club, in a different part of the country, so both of those are factors as well. It's also a different season from when I first started. Tourdefranzia has the right of it -- there are tons of variables at play when it comes to determining how great or sucky of a night you'll have. Good or bad, your role is a relatively small one. There are things you can do to increase your chances of a good night, and a ton of things you can do to eliminate them. But as far as time goes, that's entirely dependant on how long it takes you to learn the skills that put the odds in your favor. Reading Hustle Hut is easy. Remembering to implement it in the moment is hard.
As far as regulars go, every guy you meet has the potential to become a regular. If you keep something close to a schedule, even if it's just one day where you can say you'll be there, it becomes easy to round up a crew of them. "You should come see me again! I'm here XDays and YDays for Xshift." If you feel comfortable setting up a google voice number and handing that out, that can help boost your odds of repeat customers, too. Otherwise, going in on the same day(s) should let you know pretty fast who the regular customers are for that day.
I made $ very fast ( but I had a lot of sales experience from my other job and had an advantage ). READ a LOT of sales books. Be aggressive. Keep your $ goals in mind and keep MOVING towards them steadily throughout shift. Drink water or fake drink / not booze to keep your energy up. Bring things to eat to keep your energy up. Dancing is exhausting. Develop your self care routine now to keep your body operating the best / maximizing your efforts.
It took me about 2 months before I started earning $100+ an hour on 8 hour shifts. I lurked this subforum and Hustle Hut like crazy when I wasn't talking to customers.
I also observed what the money makers at my club were doing and observed the girls consistently making low amounts. That really helped.
You might get lucky and make "new girl money" right away, then have it decline after a week. A lot of customers love seeing a new face and will spend. It takes a few weeks to build up steady regulars. I've seen newbies start and immediately start making $500+ a night and other girls start and barely make their house fee-for weeks! The girls who weren't making $ were "too nice" not aggressive enough and too shy to demand their money. All the top earners I knew (including myself at one point) learned to expect and demand money (not necessarily in a bitchy way--just don't fuck with guys who aren't spending.) Hustle Hut is your best friend.
The first two (maybe three) weeks that I danced I worked at the absolute shittiest club in all of Massachusetts. I made maybe between 75.00 and 150.00 a shift, which was pretty average. A lot of the girls there were happy with that. I just never saw the point of dancing naked and hustling to make what a waitress at TGI Fridays can make.. so I went to a bigger/ nicer club where I consistently making $300- $600, with some 700-1000 nights sprinkled in there. This was def. within my first month.
^This. Every shift is a gamble. Nothing is guaranteed.
It seems like there's 3 money making patterns for new dancers
-start making money right out of the gate and continue at a fairly steady pace
-start well making "new girl Money" then hit a slump between that and learning to hustle and making good money again
-those that start slow and slowly have increasing income as their hustling improves
Fortunately, I fell into the first type. I'm the better safe than sorry type though and didn't rely on dancing as my sole source of income until about a year after starting.
A "steady clientele" might not happen so quickly, if you are referring to having a few reliable decent spenders that you can count on for part of your income. If your club is at least somewhat high-volume, you won't even need regulars to make good money.
The girls here who have warned you about inconsistency are definitely right. Unless your night is lined up with one or more regulars (again, not necessary at most clubs), you go into the night not knowing what you're going to get. After a while you'll be able to have a ballpark figure of what to expect, though.
My first night dancing I made less than $100. I was very discouraged. The next day I worked I made over $300 and got more confident. Now I average more than double that, even during slow times of year.
Just hustle, don't waste time with guys who aren't spending money, and you will see the money start to flow in.
I started at a dive and was making 'money' right away. Back then, I was happy to make $100-200 for an eight-hour shift (I understand that some women live in areas where this is the earnings ceiling, but it wasn't at this club and in this city). I was extremely, extremely shy and would never approach anyone for conversation or dances. I started working in 2006 - right before the recession hit.
I suppose I'm one of the few in this industry who makes very consistent money. I've only made $1k+ once in my entire dancing career (the only shift I worked in an upscale club). But I've never left with less than a $10/hour average (think: dive during a winter storm in the upper Midwest), and I rarely make less than a $75/hour average. I routinely make ~$150/hour - that's my 'normal'.
Some women take to this industry like fish to water, and others (like me) take a while to internalize the sales and social skills needed to succeed as dancers. And, of course, your money will also depend on a plethora of other factors (location, appearance, presentation, persona, etc.).