by Simon Davies
This would communicate that you know what you’re doing, and are also sensitive to their needs. The feature is that you escort couples and the benefit is that you’re experienced in making first-timers feel comfortable.
Generating interest is one thing, but creating DESIRE will persuade your potential client that she really needs to book you rather than merely wanting to meet you. See the difference? A need is stronger than a want.
When a person is convinced they need something it is surprising how logic goes straight out the window.
I’m sure you’ve been in your favourite store and seen the latest gadget. You really like it… your breathing starts to become slightly more rapid. In fact, you imagine yourself owning and using it.
Have you also noticed that you start finding reasons why you really need it? Yes. Well, the product marketers have done a great job because they’ve created desire.
To create desire in this context you should take your prospect on a journey by bringing the date you could have together to life.
If you envisage that your ideal prospect will be visiting Your Town on business, then mention a few highlights of the city. Perhaps include the special Italian restaurant that serves the most scrumptious hot chocolate fudge cake. Or the intimate piano bar that make a Cosmopolitan cocktail to die for.
You are creating desire by getting her to imagine having a great time with you. Also ‘intimate’ and ‘die’ are both emotional words which generally hook women.
The other trick to create desire is by the way you present yourself. I’m talking about your portfolio of pictures (the next section is dedicated to photographs).
Right, you’re potential client is all revved up and absolutely dying to meet you. What now?
We need some ACTION!
The goal is to ask her to make the decision to call, email or text. You are asking her to press the imaginary ‘buy it now’ button.
Make sure that your email address and telephone number are prominently displayed on each of your web pages. In addition, give instructions of when you can receive calls, for example, “I’m available to take your call between 6pm and 10.30pm Monday – Friday… ” Obviously, it’s better if you don’t place too many restrictions on when prospects can call you.
You could also invite her to leave a voice message or send a text if you don’t answer the phone.
However, you will find that the majority of initial contact by potential female clients will be by email or text. A phone call will likely be the next stage for most because ladies feel more comfortable with meeting a guy having spoken on the telephone.
Congratulations, you’ve now structured your text to give you the best chance of attracting plenty of clients.
WRITING STYLE IS KEYS
Writing style is about how you come across to your reader…
If you went to college or university and were taught the finer points of academic writing then dump all you learned right to the back of your mind.
You see academic writing is too formal and stuffy for the purpose of selling. It’s plain boring! It’s lacking in emotion and any hint of personality.
When writing for your prospective client you must try to connect on a personal level. Imagine you’re sat opposite each other sipping coffee in Starbucks. Yes, really picture being sat in a big, comfy leather sofa having a flirty chat.
Definitely avoid what I call ‘addressing the crowd’. This where you write as if you’re talking to a group of people. You can tell this is happening when you start to use phrases like: “I’m sure some of you will agree” or “for those of you who like…”
There’s also a simple trick that brings you and the reader closer together and that’s by using the word ‘you’ rather than ‘I’. Here’s an example:
Instead of saying,
“Book now and I’ll give you a selection of Belgian chocolates”, say “Book now and you’ll receive a selection…”
Using ‘you’ sounds more human and personal.
LITERARY TECHNIQUES THAT ADD ‘SPARKS’ TO YOUR WRITING
Novel writers use figurative language to create powerful pictures in the minds of their readers. And you can use the same tools to jazz-up your writing. Two of my favourite techniques are similes and metaphors.
Just to refresh your memory, they are words that stand in for another one. Similes are comparisons: “he was smooth like chocolate.” Metaphors replace the word altogether: “it is raining cats and dogs.” You can have some real fun dreaming up similes and metaphors, but more importantly witty original ones will help your words to really connect with your prospect.
If you do choose to use figurative language avoid ones that you’re used to seeing in print or hear everyday on the TV or radio.
Well worn clichés shouldn’t be used in writing your profile because they have the faint smell of unwashed clothing. For example, tall, dark and handsome, good sense of humour. If you must use a cliché then apologise for doing so. It at least demonstrates you’re aware you’ve just broken an unwritten rule of good writing.
STRUCTURING SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS
Research has proven that short sentences and paragraphs work best at holding a reader’s attention. This is especially true of the Internet where reading from a screen can be particularly tiring and boring.
I’m not suggesting that you count every sentence, it would drive you mental. However, be aware that anything more than 16 characters in length is perhaps too long.
On the web people like bite sized chunks of easy to digest information. Therefore, your paragraphs should contain no more than one or two linked ideas.
In a nutshell, your writing should be friendly, conversational, clear and easy to understand.
The words that your prospect reads must leave her with a strong feeling that you’re a nice guy and one she’d like to meet. You can’t come across as being: perverted, self-absorbed, strange, arrogant or plain dumb!
I make no apologies for repeating what I’m about to say…
It’s the words you use and how you craft them - more than anything else - that will make Miss Loadsadollars pick up the telephone or drop you an email.
A PICTURE SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS
Firstly, do NOT put any pictures of your private parts on your web site. You might be proud of Jake the snake, but 99.9% of potential female clients will not appreciate it – no appreciation equals no booking.
Secondly, you must add some pictures. If you don’t then don’t hold your breath whilst waiting for phone to ring off the hook, it won’t. To prove this point check out a dating site and see how many girls insist on a picture of the guy before they’ll even consider replying to an email. Answer? The vast majority of them.
Lastly, refrain from using some dodgy holiday photo taken years ago or the one that shows you with a former girlfriend.
Even if you’re male model material I would advise that you don’t use a clear face shot. Why? The number one concern for most clients is discretion. And many will think that if her potential escort’s picture is plastered all over the web someone may spot you together and expose her dream date as a hired hand.
Therefore, I feel it’s best to either use blurred shots or ones where your face is obscured because you’re facing away from the camera.
You will get people who ask for facial shots, but don’t be pressured into emailing any. It sends out a strong signal regarding your own self-worth and confidence in your appearance if you politely explain why you won’t carry out their request.
If you have the spare money then it’s definitely worth getting some professional shots done because they’ll add credibility to your service. Prospective clients will think, “…well, if he’s using professional photos, then he’s probably a serious player and not some pervert who fancies himself as a gigolo.”
I say professional but there are also plenty of people on photography courses who are very competent and would be more than happy to take a few snaps of you, for not much money
.
The best way of reaching them is by contacting a local college that offers photography course or by posting on a local web forum. Just tell them you’re trying to gain a little modelling experience.
What kind of shots should they be?
Opt for at least three different looks: casual, formal and sporty.
For the casual look a pair a jeans, shoes and shirt will suffice. Your formal appearance will require you to wear a dinner or business suit. And finally your sporty look…
If you have great abs then show them off dude.
Where your overall physique is good, but your abs don’t resemble an egg carton then consider wearing a vest top. Try white if you have a tan or are naturally dark skinned. And a black for other skin tones.
Girls also love legs, so if yours are like Lance Armstrong’s then show them off, but choose a nice pair of underwear or shorts and not some old underpants.
Should you show tattoos? If you’re adorned with them and it’s part of your identity then yes make it a benefit that she’ll be dating a rock god.
If you have one or two that you’d rather not show off then cover them up. Or consider getting them airbrushed out of the pictures.
If you can’t afford to have photos taken and touched-up then just have one or two taken by a friend and blur them using ‘free photo editing software’ you’ll find on the web. This is something your web designer would include as part of their service.
My final thought on photographs is that black and white are preferable to colour because they don’t date and I’m sure you’ll agree that some of the most iconic photos have been done in monochrome.
GETTING THE BEST OUT OF NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE ADVERTISINGS
I advocate the web as your primary medium for attracting clients, but newspapers and magazines also have their place.
So where should you start?
The first decision to make concerns the geographical area you’d like to advertise in. If you’d rather avoid the possibility of a female relative, friend or co-worker calling you then you’ll need to advertise out of town. In other words, choose a newspaper that isn’t available where you live or work.
Assuming you’ve identified a suitable area, you then need to get hold of every daily, weekly and monthly newspaper or classified ad publication.
Next, trawl through them all and look for escort advertisements, there’s usually a special section.
If you can’t find any escort ads then that tells you one of two things. No escort advertising allowed (some editors have ‘morals’) or the response rate is so poor that no escort bothers to advertise.
Oh, all right… it could also mean that everyone else has missed a trick and you’ll clean up were you to advertise. Highly unlikely in my opinion because there’s a pretty good reason why escorts aren’t already advertising.
It’s really a case of follow the crowd. And besides, your prospective client will probably buy or lay her hands on the paper that features escort advertising.
Okay, you should now have at least one or two publications with escort ads. Circle any male escort ads you find because you’ll later need to work out how you can differentiate yourself from the rest.
Don’t start writing your headlines just yet as you need to conduct a little more research.
My tactic when advertising in an unfamiliar newspaper or magazine is to buy the target publication for say a week or so. The actual timescale is dependant on the frequency it hits the news stand.
Doing this will give you some useful information:
Are the same escorts/agencies advertising consistently
Which days of the week are most popular for escort ads (if it’s a daily)
What you can and can’t say in the advert
Consistency is a good indication that the publication is pulling in business. And knowing the most popular days of the week tells you when you need to be in there.
You should also bear in mind that a daily city or regional newspaper will probably cost more to advertise in than a local weekly rag.
If you only have a small budget then don’t blow it all on one big advert in your preferred publication. Murphy’s law will dictate that you won’t receive a single call and if you do it’ll be someone asking for a plumber.
It’s more prudent to dip your toe in the proverbial water by starting with a small advert and seeing what results you get.
Call the advertising department of each publication and ask for the ad rates and copy deadlines. Remember you are still in research phase, so ignore any sales patter and attempts to get your credit card number.
When you’re finally ready to book the - just before the deadline - ask for an introductory rate.
If they reply we don’t offer introductory or single insert discounts then politely say: “thank you, but can I leave my telephone number just in case some space becomes available?”
It has always worked for me. The salesperson will either offer a discount on the spot or they call back pretty soon. Negotiate hard when booking advertising space.
Due to the fact what you can say is constrained by space it’s harder to craft an amazing ad, but by using the AIDA principles discussed previously you should be able to out pull the competition.
Magazine advertising:
Magazines cost more to produce. Therefore, advertising rates are higher when compared to newsprint and the web. Moreover, they tend to have national distribution. And many don’t allow escort advertising. The combination of above factors tends to make magazine advertising a non-starter in many cases.
However, if you plan on making escorting your full-time occupation, then consider magazine advertising.
Identify potential titles by visiting your local magazine seller and flicking through to find any featuring escort advertising. If there are lots of guys advertising then it’s fair to assume it has pulling power.
Make a note of the web address and later visit their site and download the media pack. This will give you details of rates for different kinds of ads and possibly deadlines.
Give the publication a call and follow the same procedure as for booking newspaper space. In other words, don’t sign on dotted line straight away: negotiate hard.
If you do decide to advertise in a magazine, then I would suggest that you don’t include a web site address. Why? You’ll find it almost impossible to ascertain where your visitors are coming from. It’s best just to give a telephone number, so you can ask callers where they stumbled across your number.
HOW TO GET FREE PUBLICITY
Rather than going down the paid advertising route you can gain free exposure in women’s magazines by doing this.
Find out the name, email address and contact number of the editor/deputy editor of any magazines you think will be read by your target audience. Then call or email asking if they’d like to do a feature on a professional male escort.
If you can offer a twist then all the better. What’s a twist? Anything that gives the story an unusual angle. It could be something like the fact you used to be a police officer, fireman, lawyer, teacher (or still are). Maybe you’re a salsa instructor, dog warden or have a medal for bravery in action.
Most magazines are crying out for content and some will literally bite your hand off to get the story. Obviously, the more established you are the easier it will be to convince her that you’re the real deal.
But don’t let that minor detail put you off. ‘He who dares wins’ is the motto of the world famous Special Air Service, embrace it.
You won’t be offered any money, but you can insist that your web address is featured at the end of the article. Voila! Free publicity.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF ESCORTING
Authorities in most countries are not really interested in the professional escort plying his or her trade.
What they’re generally concerned with is preventing exploitation of vulnerable people, stopping sex trafficking, and controlling street prostitution and brothels.
So, unless you’re in a draconian country that punishes people for going on a date because you or the other person are married, then escorting should present no legal problems.
Even prostitution (sex in exchange for money) is legal - with restrictions - in many countries around the world including most of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand… And it’s either legal or tolerated across Asia.
However, prostitution is ILLEGAL in the USA.
The very first item on your list of ‘things to do before I start escorting’ should be to read a copy of your national and state (if applicable) laws in relation to prostitution. Unless you plan to offer a totally non-sexual service, even then I think it’s a worthwhile exercise.
Ignorance of the law is no defence.
Do a search on Google or your preferred search engine. Let’s say you’re in Florida. Tap in the following keywords: ‘florida state legislature’ or ‘prostitution law florida’.
The former keywords (florida state legislature) will give you access to the actual laws as passed by the law makers. These are the ones to scrutinize. Whilst a search using ‘prostitution law florida’ will provide links to more general information on prostitution laws – read both.
The main points to remember are:
Be careful when discussing ‘services’ on the telephone or via email
Read the laws relating to prostitution
Don’t solicit for business – stand on street corner or in a bar asking for business
Add a disclaimer to your web site stating:
“Money exchanged is between consenting adults of legal age, and is for time and companionship only. Anything implied or inferred on this web site is not to be taken as an inducement for anything other than time and companionship.”
Disclaimer: If in doubt you should seek the advice of a qualified criminal lawyer in the country you are escorting in.
