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SylvereApLeanan -> RE: Struggling Pro-Dommes (3/24/2014 3:08:16 PM)
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Whoo, boy...there's so much fallacy here I hardly know where to begin. I guess I'll break it down, point by point. For the record, I am not and have never been a pro-domme, struggling or otherwise. I have no plans to become a pro.
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ORIGINAL: JulieLACA
There Are A Lot Of Risks Being A Pro-Domme. There Are So Many Weirdos & Crazies In This Field So The Price I Charge Compensates Me For This & If I Charge Lower It Wouldn't Be Worth The Risk
Excuse me? You have one of the safest jobs out there because you get to screen the people before accepting them as clients. There are thousands of other professions that are more dangerous than yours. Police officers, convenient store owners, anyone who works with the general public - they don't get to screen anyone.
First, I'm with Athena and I want to see a source cited for the assertion that professional domination is "safe." Because I can cite a lot more sources that state that sex work of any sort is one of the most dangerous jobs out there.
But even if sex work were safer than another high-risk career, such as police officer or fire fighter, there's still a huge flaw in your thinking. Police officers and fire fighters wear protective equipment. Police carry several weapons, such as pistols, a baton, and pepper spray, on them at all times. A pro domme has...what? Floggers? Single-tail whips? Paddles? None of those will stop an attacker at a distance. Police and fire fighters also have people backing them up either in the form of partners or by radio. A dominatrix does not unless she hires a security guard. A cop's partner is paid for by the city/county/state, depending on the branch. A dominatrix has to pay her guard out of her own pocket. Her rates need to reflect that.
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Being A Pro-Domme Can Be Very Demanding & Stressful Because Of All The Different Personalities I Have To Deal With. What I Charge Compensates Me For This
You don't think this applies to everyone else? Everyone has a demanding and stressful job. Think of the cashiers at groceries or DMV workers. You act as if your job has special circumstances.
I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't agree that cashiers hold one of the most thankless and underpaid jobs. Maybe you've heard about the recent campaign to raise the Federal minimum wage in the U.S.? While job stress may not be as good a reason as safety, it's no reason to for the dominatrix to sacrifice making a living wage.
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I Have My Own Dungeon With Expensive Equipment. I Need To Be Compensated & If I Charge Lower Prices It Isn't Worth It
Excuse me? Everyone who starts their own business has to buy expensive equipment: Dentists, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, etc. This is just par for the course. You act as if your special.
Excuse me? Have you seen what dentists, chiropractors, etc. charge? Are you serious? And why do you think they charge so much? They have to pay not only for the equipment, but also for the training required to enter those fields. They can get grants and take out student loans, but loans must be repaid. A dominatrix also has to pay for specialized training but there are no grants or loans to help offset her costs. She has to pay for that out of her pocket. Most people who start a small business also have the option of getting a grant, taking out a loan, or finding investors to back their business ventures. A dominatrix has none of those. She has to pay for that equipment somehow.
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I Put A Lot Of Time & Effort In Being A Pro-Domme. I Wouldn't Feel Good Charging Less. It Wouldn't Be Dignified
So, you are working at a crappy job, and you feel dignified about that? You don't think other business people have to be competitive and cut prices to be successful?
I think feeling dignified is a red herring. What's really at issue is that she puts time and effort into her craft and she deserves to be compensated appropriately for her time and effort. She has to create her own website, her own graphics, her own content, her own advertising. So she not only has to be a good top, she has to be a web designer, graphic artist, writer, film maker, photographer, and marketing manager with a bit of psychologist thrown in so she knows how to make a session memorable enough for her clients to come back and/or recommend her to others.
So now she has to do seven jobs. Most of those career fields earn more than $10 an hour. The web designer alone makes $20-50 dollars an hour, depending on experience. Let's say she low-balls all of them at $20/hour and she spends 10 hours per week doing all of those jobs combined. If she gets one 60-minute session out of that, she needs to charge a minimum of $220 just to cover her labor costs, because that's $200 + another $20 for the hour she spent topping the client.
That doesn't even begin to cover her investment in equipment, wardrobe, paying to run a background check, the space she rented as a studio, or paying for a security guard. How much do you think those other things cost? Do you think they could be done for $100 or less? I don't, but let's say she can. Now we're up to $300-$350 for a one-hour session. That seems pretty expensive on the surface, but if you look at everything that went into that session, it's actually very reasonable.
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From my perspective, Pro-Domme is just like any other business: supply and demand. If your doing everything else right: advertising, etc., then the reason might very well be your charging too much.
What do you think?
Honestly, I think you need to go back to school and stop trying to dispense business advice when you don't know what you're talking about. I also think your whole post comes across as very whore-phobic and full of slut-shaming, but that's just me. I really have to wonder what your goal was for posting...were you trying to learn what other people thought or were you soliciting validation of your views? In either case, I think you went about it the wrong way and you probably aren't going to get the responses you want.
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