Industry News

Apparently you can’t fix lazy or stupid

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t help some people.

A few months ago I was introduced to a cute little brunette who boldly told me she wanted to be the next Jenna Jameson. That’s music to my ears. As someone who specializes in marketing, if a girl wants to be the next big thing, that means I have a fun new project to work on.

Of course a lot of people say they want to be the next big thing in porn and obviously almost none of them reach the top tier, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun trying to get a girl there and those kind of “projects” really do get my blood pumping.

So I’m not going to lie, this new girl isn’t a perfect 10. But she isn’t bad and has a lot of potential. I could really foresee big things for her if she plays her cards right.

The first thing we do is talk about her name. She decided to name herself after a major car brand, only she wants to spell it slightly different. I spent some time talking to her about branding and why naming yourself after a trademarked anything is a bad idea and then why using complicated spellings of things is also a bad thing. It’s like if your name was Tracy, but spelling it Tracei or Tracee. I get the idea of wanting to be trendy and different, but in terms of marketing it’s a really, really bad idea. Remember, the harder you make it for your fans to find you, the less likely they will be able to.

That’s not to mention all the dumb asses who will spell your name wrong on box covers. Anyway, she decided she liked another name well enough and it was short, easy to spell and didn’t have any trademark conflicts with Fortune 500 companies, so with her agents approval, she went with it.

Next I helped her setup a twitter account and told her that she needed to tweet at least 3 to 5 times a a day and of course that means actual tweets, not just spam. My rule is 80/20. If you tweet 8 normal things then you can tweet 2 promotional type tweets. I admit I didn’t really come up with the 80/20 rule – Twitter themselves once posted it as a guideline so I just went with it and tell everyone I work with to do just that.

The girl in question has maybe tweeted 10 times total in the lest 30 days. Now keep in mind, this is a girl who wants to be the “next big thing”. Jenna Jameson didn’t have things like twitter in her day but I assure you if you she, she damn sure would have made good use of it. This girl however, can barely be bothered with it.

The next thing I warned her against is following fans. I told her not to do this because it can get out of hand really quick. Does she listen? Of course not. Not only has she started following the guys that ask her to, one of which sent her private messages every minute for three hours straight, but she also gave another random guy that tweeted her, her cell phone number because he told her it would be easier to text than tweet. You can just guess how that went. LOL

So I again reminded her a) stop following every guy who asks you to and b) start tweeting more, every single day. Even if you just say good morning, this is what I had for lunch, do you like my new shoes … just make an effort. In time it does get easier, you just have to learn to get into the groove of it.

Now anyone who is familiar with the Jenna Jameson story knows that Jenna didn’t just wait around for the Wicked Pictures PR team to promote her. She got off her ass, but on a fake British accent and called every single radio station she could to try and book herself interviews. Crazy enough, it worked. Jenna was a go getter. She didn’t just sit on her ass and hope for the best, she worked hard to make it happen and I mean she put in hours and hours on the phone every single day. People love to give Jenna Jameson a lot of shit but anyone who knew her back then wouldn’t dare. That girl worked. I mean FFS, she actually would use a fake British accent and pretend to be her own assistant to book herself promo gigs. Who the hell does that? And not only that, this girl would spend hours a day, every single day doing shit like that.

Now back to this new girl … you remember the one who wanted to be the next big thing? Well, next thing I knew, this new girl started turning down jobs. Outside of LA, the average new girl can get anywhere from $600 to $800 for a boy/girl scene. Someone offered her $900 for a boy/girl scene and a hand job. She turned it down. Her reason? “I’m worth way more than that.” Yes, she somehow thinks she is worth way more than the average new girl.

So I asked her agent, just out of curiosity, what exactly does she think she should be getting for something like that. When he told me she wanted $1,200 I almost peed my panties from laughing so hard.

The producer in question was nice enough about it, reminding her that they aren’t in LA and outside of LA those are pretty typical rates for a girl of her caliber. She couldn’t be bothered to respond. So now she’s offended one producer. So what do she do next? She gets offered $400 for a girl/girl scene from someone else. She doesn’t even respond. That producer puts her on his no list. Now he doesn’t ever want to work with her at any rate.

She’s making quite a name for herself alright, but not in the way she intends.

Next she goes on vacation for one week, then has two days she can work and then will be on vacation for another 5 days. Yet she actually complains to someone that her agent isn’t getting her any work. When exactly was he supposed to get her work, when she’s on “vacation” for almost 3 weeks? With a total of two days in between that she is available for work and any jobs he gets her, she turns down because she’s worth more than that.

In fact right this very minute she’s still on her scheduled vacation. Do you guys really think Jenna Jameson took a shit ton of time off? Of course not. If Jenna Jameson had days off that she wasn’t filming, and there were quite a few, her ass was doing something to promote herself.

I called this new girl 6 times in a 5 days period to discuss some promotional opportunities that have come up. She didn’t call me back once. Her agent tried to call her during this time to discuss bookings for when she returns, one was a $1,500 appearance fee to be a booth babe at a convention for one day. She didn’t bother to return his call either.

But you know what she did have time to do? Start using the other name she originally selected that was based on a popular car brand with the different spelling. #FACEPALM

So instead of bothering with this girl anymore, I decided to do something else. I decided to take a moment to discuss marketing and branding with the rest of you, those of you out there who really do want to be the next big thing in porn and actually have the drive and determination to make it happen.

Sitting around on your ass and listening to your suitcase pimp, I mean boyfriend, isn’t the way to make it happen. If you really want to be big then you need to do a few things … first and foremost you need to remain active on social media. Don’t just spam your account, I mean actually interact with your fans. This doesn’t mean follow them or give out your cell phone number. I just mean if they tweet you a question, answer them the best you can. If they compliment you, thank them for the compliment.

Do not EVER post anything negative on twitter. Don’t hate on people you don’t like even if they hate on you first. Don’t get involved in twitter wars, no matter how tempting. If someone is rude to you, MUTE them and then BLOCK THEM. (Remember to mute before blocking – this does matter).

Next get involved in the porn community. When there are events like the upcoming AVN nomination party, attend! Even if you know you aren’t going to be nominated for anything, it’s still a great opportunity to meet other porn stars. This also includes events like awards pre-parties, awards after parties and movie premiere parties. There is also porn star karaoke and well far to many events to name. The point is, you need to get out there and be a part of the industry community so you can network.

Stay in touch with your agent. You know what they say … outta sight, out of mind. If you want to make sure your agent has you as a top priority, touch base with him (or her) every once in awhile and remind them you are out there and excited about anything they can book you. And remember, USE YOUR MANNERS. Being a diva bitch to your agent isn’t going to help your case.

This new girl went to Mark Speigler and tried to sign with him. He was very nice and her and told her that she really wasn’t the kind of girl he normally works with but even if she was, he wasn’t really signing any new girls right now. Of course since then he’s signed two new girls. So obviously Speigler was just trying to nicely tell this girl thanks but no thanks. It’s not that she is all that bad. She really does have potential, she just has their weird attitude about her like, what? You want me to get out of bed for less than $250 an hour? She’s not really that way but she kind of comes off that way to some people because her boyfriend is telling her stupid shit and when she repeats it she sounds like a bitch. Because her boyfriend read on the internet that some girls are making $5,000 a scene. Of course back in Jenna Jameson’s day that was the case. But that hasn’t been the case for a long time now.

When you are new, you are no doubt going to be bombard with publicists who for $XXXX whatever per month promote you. While that may sound good in theory, if you are that new, it’s probably not a wise investment. Instead focus on spending your money on things that matter and that you know for a fact will have results like clothes to wear to industry events or parties. At those events you will be photographed and those photos will be all over the internet the next day so you always want to look your best.

Don’t get involved in any content trades or website deals until you are ready. Go to GoDaddy.com and buy your own domain. Never ever ever give control of your domain up to anyone. When you are ready and I mean, been in the industry for more than 15 minutes, talk to someone who really knows about website deals before signing the first one that comes your way. If someone approaches you about a clips for sale deal, turn it down. You need to be focusing on your brand right now, not some $5 deal that might or might not work out.

When you do get bookings, always show up on set on time. If you get a reputation as a diva, word gets around and people won’t want to work with you in the future. If you have a problem while on set, I tell girls to use the fake a potty method. Basically tell the guy you have to go to the bathroom, sneak your phone in with you and then go and call your agent and let your agent handle whatever the issue is. That’s part of what your agent is for, to handle problems for you.

Speaking of agents, if your agent hasn’t booked you any work in months, don’t just sit around bitching about it, find a new agent. Remember – in the state of California there is a 3 month rule which says if your agent hasn’t booked you any work in the last 3 months, you can write them a letter and get out of your contract. It’s really just that simple. Don’t be a bitch about it, just write your letter, thank them for their help and move on. You never know, one day you just may need that guy again. Or even worse, he may know someone that knows someone and if you were a bitch when you left, it could cost you later. In other words, don’t burn bridges. Just smile, say thanks and move the fuck on.

In your free time … wait a minute, why do you have any free time? I thought you wanted to be the next big thing? If you really want to be the next big star then you shouldn’t have any free time because when you aren’t filming, networking, or tweeting then you should be doing something to help get your name out there.

But if for some reason you do have some free time, start taking a bunch of selfies and videos of yourself. Save these and you’ll soon enough be able to use them for your website. You’ll want 100 of more of those self shot little clips and it takes time so make them when you have a little bit of down time. You know, in between calling people like James Bartholet (@JamesBartholet) and asking if if you can be a guest on his next radio show.

Contact industry blogs and ask them if they want to interview you. Have you read the latest issue of xcitement magazine? Contact Cindi and see if she would like to interview you for an upcoming issue. Worse thing she could do is say no. But you won’t know if you don’t try.

Are you listed on Porn Star Rankings, IAFD and FreeOnes? If not, contact them and get listed. If you are, make sure your entries are correct and up to date. If not, contact them and get it fixed.

The most important thing to remember is that you aren’t just going to wake up one day and be famous. It takes a lot of hard work and effort on your own part. As you get more and more famous you can begin to hire people to be a part of your team that will help make things happen for you. But for now, get off of your ass and quite just saying you want to be famous and actually make it happen.

The crazy thing is, the girl I originally posted about had someone to do all these things for her (for free). She just couldn’t be bothered to listen.

But that’s okay. Because now I have that much more free time to share all this information with all of you and maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to put it to good use!

 

 

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