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how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
I'm sure this has been discussed before somewhere, but I'm not really sure what terms to do a search under for this. /:O
Anyway...lately both clubs I work at have been dismally, depressingly panic-inducing SLOW from the time I show up (anywhere from 6-8 pm) until around 11, sometimes even midnight. It seems like there's been a late crowd the past few weeks...and by the time the money actually starts flowing somewhat, I've already either psyched myself out ("omg this is depressing, there are three guys here, it's always like this, I fucking hate this place, I'm going to make nothing tonight I just know it...") or I've just let my energy and momentum drop off a cliff, so by the time it starts picking up, I'm in this bovine state of laziness and negativity. I usually end up doing okay at the end of the night, but nowhere near what I'm used to making, and the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it's my attitude and not the club that's the problem.
Last night was this scenario exactly--DEAD from the time I walked in until 11 pm, and after midnight I literally had 5-8 people waiting for LDs at a time, and couldn't get to them all before we closed. :O
I guess I could try coming in later...but I haven't been doing that b/c especially at my home club, the fees for coming in later are *ridiculous*. I wonder if it would be worth it though....?
So how do you keep your momentum and energy up for 3+ hours when it's slow, and keep on your toes until the money starts coming in? How do you keep from psyching yourself out and mindfucking yourself into negativity?
Last night I got out of the funk by changing into what one of the bouncers calls my "ninja outfit" (a black 2-piece outfit with fingerless fishnet gloves and a rhinestone collar :P ) and dancing to my "fuck you" set, basically just going WITH the sour mood and doing the intimidating thing with custies instead of trying to fight it and be cute and happy, lol. And it worked...I made $50 onstage during my fuck-you set and suddenly had guys coming up and asking for dances, when before I couldn't have given them away. So I managed to get back into positive momentum, fortunately.
But there must be other ways to just...NOT mindfuck yourself in the first place. Advice please?
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
My club is the exact same way. I would like to hear how to deal with it as well.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
I have a Nintendo DS that I bring in. I like to hide where I can see the front door but new custies can't see me. It passes the time nicely.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
My club is often like this as well. Honestly, I don't deal with it well at all. I get really frustrated.
The nintendo is a good idea, but do you play out on the floor? I don't like to sit in the dressing room for too long.
It's wierd if I have 2 nights and leave with the same amount of money, but one night I made it slowly throughout the shift and the other I made it all at the end, I am happy with the constant night and pissed with the late money night. I'd like to hear more suggestions as well.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
I think most clubs don't pick up until about 11 pm. I read a magazine or catch up with the girls (not bar customers) until about 10. I don't bother trying to work until then. I will dance when asked, and more rarely, do a VIP when asked.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
unless the fee difference is like 100 dollars or something, i'd come in later. most of the time girls will be like 'omg i can't pay 70$ to come in at 10' and instead pay 35 to come in at 7 and be miserable for hours until the busy time.
frankly, in the scenario you're describing, i would waltz in as late as possible if i knew the money wasn't really turning up until latenight.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
I am the same way. I have to get there when it's busy or else i will lose all momentum and never get off my ass. The diffrence in house fees is a lot, but for me, its worth it. If I got there at 6, I woudl pay $15. When I get there at 10, I pay $70( weekdays, weekends its more) It's worth it for me to go in later and pay more. BUT....in Vegas, the clubs don't close. I can get there at 10, and work till whenever. And it stays busy until 4-6, customers are still there until 9ish, but I've seen stragglers there still at noon.
On the other hand.....if you get there early, like at 6pm, you feel ahead of the game. If you can get 1 dance before every one else,you feel ahead.
What might work well is to get some good motivational books, or cd's to take in and read or listen to until you have some customers. That's better than playing nintendo cause it will keep you motivated and pumped up, ready to start making money when guys finally get there. If you listen to a good sales or motivational book, you'll be ready and waiting for someone to walk in for you to pounce on.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
I have to be at work when the club opens and stay until closing, at some nights we get in at 5-6 and sometimes we don't do our first stage set for 1-2 hours due to the farmer clientele working in the fields, and not coming out at opening. It sucks and I get sleepy.
We usually eat our dinner, or sit and talk, or if a few regular guys come sit at the bar, chat with them until the guys that can be worked come in.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
I start at 8pm usually and my club hardly ever gets busy until 11-12.
I just hang out with my dancer friends and have a chat until the guys come in or I might have something to eat. It doesnt really get to me Im used to it now.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
I got in a habit of going in later and it worked . What brought my mood down was sitting in the back listening to all the negative talk in the dressing room from other girls. I felt more energetic and got my hustle back.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
i had this problem my first few weeks. however i quickly learned that i get psyched up by making money, and since i come in at 7, i am not terribly psyched up when i first get there. i do my stage set, dance on the side stage, and just warm up for the night. i'll do some stretches and try to get prepared for the later evening. i walk around the club looking for anyone outright ogling me (if so, i go sell a dance or three) and then i route back into our break room. there i just hang out, read, play nintendo, etc. then 10-20 minutes later, go do another round again.
the only trick i see to it is just mental control and keeping myself from worrying early in the night. having confidence that the money will get better later. also i don't listen to a single negative utterance another dancer's behalf. in fact, i usually think, well if you're gonna be so sour, i'll just make some extra money for you, kay? }:D (hopefully this isnt just rookie enthusiasm!)
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
We were dead until about 11:30 also. I came in at 6:30 and by the time it picked up the negative vibe was horrible. Everyone was begging to go home. I tried to stay positive by focusing on how nice it was not to be slamming while I was still learning what to do. The only thing that sucked miserably is that I'm not allowed to sit down ever because I'm a waitress.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
We are usually dead until about 11 as well. I usually chat with some other dancers, call my man, eat dinner, or just sit bored out of my mind. I like being on time and most of the girls roll in late, but you could miss out big time at my club because we usually have little to no girls at shift change and if guys come in, you can likely get their money. We are technically not allowed to come in late if we are scheduled unless you have prior approval for something like school or another job. Girls still roll in late and just pay the fines I guess. When I start school I will just bring in some homework to look over I guess. I try to use the time to morph into my stripper self and talk myself into making money.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
belive it or not i sit at the bar. watch everything around me. i sometimes get guys that come up to the bar. start a convo with me then boom off we go.
i just dont get out there and piss myself off untill it's busy or i see potential. for some reason at my currant club i dont make money utill later anyway so i gave up trying to get that early money. unless of course someone or something makes me get up!
it also works because not everyone in the room has seen me over and over. so i look like new meat. not to mention if it's early and everyones sees you get turned down then they dont want you either. pack mentality
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
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Originally Posted by
Littlelo
I have a Nintendo DS that I bring in. I like to hide where I can see the front door but new custies can't see me. It passes the time nicely.
i don't have a portable gaming system (i wish i did) but i do read a lot. i keep a book in my bag or in my locker, sometimes a few mags. it keeps my mind off how slow it is.
i try and break things up. i'll read a bit, then i'll go somewhere secluded and do some stretches, then i might eat a snack or touch up my make-up. just, keep yourself occupied. whatever you do, DON'T sit around staring and DON'T join in "omg it's so dead" conversation. we're all guilty of it, but it solves nothing.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
I have had trouble with this myself, in some clubs I worked in in Daytona. It would be slow until midnight or even later, and we were all so bored and depressed from it being shitty it could be hard to snap out of it and give the new guys coming in the door a good show.
But that's what you have to do, if you want them to stay--and better yet come in again, maybe a little earlier next time, lol!
Curiously enough, in my present club there is sometimes a 'slower' period from about midnight to about 2 PM, on a few nights, where time seems to drag a lot more. I think it's because it tends to be a lot busier than most clubs from 8-midnight, and when it slows from being busy it seems slow--even if it's way better than those damned clubs in Daytona, lol.
The best way I have found to combat this boring depressing feeling setting in, is to try to have fun with your coworkers, and with the music. It helps a lot if there is at least one other person there that you genuinely like and that you can have fun joking around with.
The most fun I have had yet at my present club was actually a shitty night, but Maria and Dara were both there, and they kept coming up to the booth and plotting what song to play when the other was going onstage. The laughing and high spirit that resulted carried over into the rest of the people working that night, we all had fun.
I have also succeeded in getting dancers who were pissed off back into fine form by playing 'angry' music for them, this has transformed the night many times, especially in one slow club in Daytona, where it worked about half the time. If a woman is inspired onstage because she loves the music and it fits her mood, regardless of who is there, she can put on a show that will get whoever is there off their ass and up to the tip rail.
Then if new guys walk in, they see guys at the tiprail and a woman dancing energetically, instead of the guys at the pool table and the poor girl miserable and sulky onstage. Boom, they go to the tiprail as well, and you are started...
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
Same problems here too. It's like a tomb up until later in the evening. I like to goof off, play around with the other girls or waitresses, strike up a conversation with one of the one guys that might be in the bar (that wasn't a typo) and it sounds silly, but practice or get ready to have flirty conversation with the guys later.
It's so hard to not get discouraged, and when you all sit around together, soaking and rolling around in eacho others misery, it brings the entire club down in the dumps. That turns into a nasty cycle.
I was actually thinking about bringin in some cards next time I go to work, see if I can get the girls to play a game or two...Strip Go Fish? Hehehe.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
^^ LOL, I actually have a regular who keeps saying he wants to bring in a deck of cards and do card tricks with me in a CR ;D But he keeps forgetting to bring them!
Anyway, I'm going in later tonight. I usually get there around 7, I'm going to hit the floor a little before 10 tonight. Kind of nervous since it means paying more housefee, but here goes.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
I usually get in early and will have a different slower hustle. I will just have conversations that often lead to dances or champagne rooms. Somehow me just being laid back makes them feel like i'm not just talking to them for the money LOL }:D .
Or i sit and watch whats going on in the club and get into the vibe for the night: What's my target, Why do I want that and How will I FEEL when I get it. I am usually ready to go when it picks up by then. I want what i want and i can now go get it!
I Make it a point NOT to join in on the it sucks convo. I usually just reply, he's not here yet but he's coming - Only Takes One! I have conversation with the hosts. It's good for them to know you so they can lead you to the good guy$...
Other nights I take my time getting dressed. I feel super sexy because I have everything juuuuust right. I don't mind it being slow at first it lets me warm up slowly.
Coming in later can be a great motivator, though. You've had extra rest/time for your real life. You have a shorter shift to make the same goal so procrastinating isn't an option...ya gotta go get it. So, unless the money is gonna kill you, it can be worth it if sitting around messes with your head. For me my attitude counts more than anything else.
I just happen to like the quiet time in the beginning.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
Coming in later can be a great motivator, though. You've had extra rest/time for your real life. You have a shorter shift to make the same goal so procrastinating isn't an option...ya gotta go get it. So, unless the money is gonna kill you, it can be worth it if sitting around messes with your head. For me my attitude counts more than anything else.
You hit the nail right on the head regarding your attitude. Depending on your financial situation, goals, ect... evaulate your obligations and schedule. Your mood and mental state have EVERYTHING to do do with your income and energy you put out to customers. Do your work schedule based on what is working for you not other girls. If you dont already keep a written log of your work hours , income, mood, regular customers start now. This will help remind you of your "prime income hours" . When your income drops on a consistant basis then redo you schedule and stradegy.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
^^ Thanks for the ideas, all of you! I tried coming in later last night, and it did help. My house fee was $75 instead of the usual $30...which practically gave me hives until I realized at the end of the night that I'd made that much in stage tips. ;D I made about the same amount of money as I'd been making, but in less time and with less sitting around moping beforehand. And honestly, I was lazy last night. I admit it--I was. I definitely could have made more.
I think at my other club though, hustlebunny's idea of coming in earlier and perfecting my slow hustle is the way to go. At Club A (where I worked last night), it's practically guaranteed that it won't get busy until midnight. At Club B, you never know--last time I worked there it was slammed from like 8 to 9:30 and then got dead! Some nights there, if you come in later you might actually be missing the rush. Weird. But I admit I am TERRIBLE at a slow hustle. I can't do it! But I definitely want to change that. I'd LOVE to be that one girl who can swoop in on the one guy in the club, chat him up and sweep him off to the VIP while everyone else is sitting at the bar complaining that there's no money and there's only two guys here and they won't spend. :P Maybe I'll start a thread on that.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
let me ask you this: how on earth do you pull off the "fuck you" look and do well with it? when i do it it scares people off.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
This is the true at my club and it sucks to be a waitress because I can't sit down. Literally standing around for a good 5-6 hours sucks. Anytime some poor guy comes in me and the other 3 waitresses are practically all over him. Imagine the love for the guys who just want to sit at the bar and drink - not buy dances or anything.
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
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Originally Posted by
mina loy
let me ask you this: how on earth do you pull off the "fuck you" look and do well with it? when i do it it scares people off.
I don't even know; I just know that glaring at custies gets me so much farther than smiling at them, lol. I think it's in the eyes too; I always have on a fuckton of black liner/shadow and get a lot of custies doing double takes and gushing about how I look exotic and have intense eyes. I guess looking at them like I'm about to kick them in the balls goes with the whole intense vibe. ;D Onstage I'll catch a custy looking at me and I'll look right into his eyes and give him a big smile out of nowhere, and that catches so many custies off guard, it's hilarious. But then as soon as it appeared, the smile vanishes again. 8) I swear this alone gets me dances most nights; custies will come up to me after stage and ask me for dances without me even having to hustle them. This is why I love going onstage...it's the easiest way to line up dances.
When I try to smile and act cute and friendly, I get NOWHERE. When I give off the vibe that I expect custies to please ME and not the other way around, I make money. I don't even know why, but I'll just keep doing what works anyway!
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Re: how to stay positive and upbeat until the money arrives?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Picaresque
I don't even know; I just know that glaring at custies gets me so much farther than smiling at them, lol. I think it's in the eyes too; I always have on a fuckton of black liner/shadow and get a lot of custies doing double takes and gushing about how I look exotic and have intense eyes. I guess looking at them like I'm about to kick them in the balls goes with the whole intense vibe. ;D Onstage I'll catch a custy looking at me and I'll look right into his eyes and give him a big smile out of nowhere, and that catches so many custies off guard, it's hilarious. But then as soon as it appeared, the smile vanishes again. 8) I swear this alone gets me dances most nights; custies will come up to me after stage and ask me for dances without me even having to hustle them. This is why I love going onstage...it's the easiest way to line up dances.
When I try to smile and act cute and friendly, I get NOWHERE. When I give off the vibe that I expect custies to please ME and not the other way around, I make money. I don't even know why, but I'll just keep doing what works anyway!
you inspire me. i currently don the all-black look with minimal makeup and smile and be cute. it doesn't seem to be working. i do all the same tricks onstage as everyone else (except the ass clap. i haven't mastered that one yet) and still get tipped less. maybe i'll try your method next time.