Let’s be honest – camming is a grind! It’s easy to get discouraged with little interaction to keep you going, especially in the early stages of site development. Some days you’ve gotta take it easy to keep up your stamina if you are someone who puts in long hours on cam every week. However, sometimes it helps to throw in a pick-me-up show with a little extra razzle dazzle for inspiration – of course, it can take consistency over weeks or months to start to build up a regular client base, and if you’re able to deliver a quality experience and fun interaction semi-consistently, you’ll be way ahead of the game – so, in the spirit of hopefully sparking your creativity and supporting your hustle, we’ve put together a few tips to consider when trying to increase engagement and attract customers. You may be doing many or all of these already and this is just a refresher! Or maybe you’ve been getting a little downtrodden by the constant hours and need some ideas to perk up your shows. Whatever the case, here are some of the criteria you may want to look at when planning and executing your next show!
- Choose an exciting show title! The stream title is in your settings when you first create a show – you’ll see “Start Streaming” and just below it, “Show Title.” This show title is one of the first things Adult Empire customers see when they check out the Fantasy Club promotional dropdown. Think of any combination of descriptive, weird, funny, wacky, hot, horny, and enticing words to quickly catch the eye of your new customers. Go to https://www.adultempire.com/ and see for yourself what this looks like!
- Have an interesting tip menu! Take a little time to set up a fun engaging tip menu with a few wild cards in it. Though it’s not built into the site yet, you can play games like “roll the dice” or “spin the wheel” using apps on your phone or computer. You could also put some mundane options like “chug a glass of water” or something verbal like “tell a true sex story.” Or better yet, tip for “2 lies and a truth” and make the member guess. Games and fun things to tip for, in addition to having some explicit options if you choose to offer them, will encourage customers to spend.
- Dress to Impress! This means showing up in something eye-catching – do neon colors look good on you? Something strappy perhaps? Can you rock a fun g-string or maybe have a nice lingerie set you’ve been waiting to break out? Do you style your hair a certain way or use any accessories? Camming is largely a visual experience and presentation matters – it’s one of the only senses you’ve got to immediately draw in a customer, and thumbnails are a big component, which brings me to my next point.
- Be conscious of your thumbnail in free chat! If you are in free chat, your thumbnail is like a billboard! It refreshes every so often and it’s important to keep this in mind. Of course, it’s not realistic to have a picture-perfect thumbnail every time, and you *shouldn’t* strive for this, but keeping the thumbnail in mind will help you stay active and engaged physically with streaming. You want your thumbnail to appear welcoming and interesting as much as possible. It helps if you can move around. Stand up, change positions, do some stretches or dance, and adjust the camera angle to keep your stream dynamic and interesting. If a customer sees your thumbnail changing as they check the homepage, their interest may be piqued and they’ll decide to check out the action.
- Tidy up in the frame of the camera! Your whole room doesn’t need to be spotless; just the sliver of it that will show up on camera. I’ve definitely shoved piles of dirty laundry underneath the bed or tucked visible cables away behind furniture. Whenever possible, keep the aesthetic of your background in mind. Simple and clean are always a safe bet, but adding personality with fun set pieces, props, and colorful lighting can also be a good way to set the mood in your frame.
- Make sure you are well-lit! Having a well-lit stream is something else that viewers will find enticing. Good lighting can do a lot for a thumbnail and for your stream. You’ll want something at either around eye level or slightly above. In general, you don’t want the light to be coming from below your face as it can create unnatural and unflattering shadows. Lighting with even, bright coverage is best – ring lights work well, umbrella lights, LED panels, or mini panels if you have any of those on hand. You can also just repurpose household lamps you have laying around. Experiment – attention to lighting will take a good visual to a great one.
- Have something to do that looks entertaining if you get bored! Sometimes an unfortunate part of live streaming is dealing with dead time while you work to attract customers. Can you read a book or write in a journal with your ass in the air? Can you do a crossword puzzle or coloring book in a pose with a visible strap-on in the frame? Can you do a hot workout or yoga session on stream in a slutty outfit to occupy yourself and make additional use of the time? Maybe painting a masterpiece in the almost-nude? Whatever the thing happens to be, make it look good! Make a viewer want to stop and ask you what you’re doing, but give them a view while they’re at it, and don’t look so engrossed/disengaged that they feel bad interrupting you.
- Get comfortable talking to yourself! The essence of camming is not just about sexual excitement, but also about social interaction. Many regulars will end up becoming very loyal if they feel a connection to you. In order to get started building this connection, it’s important to ask yourself whether you’re creating a conversation for users to get engaged with. If you keep a running stream of commentary about whatever you’d like – what you’re thinking, feeling, doing, things happening in your life, political or social issues, controversial topics – literally whatever! If a customer comes into the room and hears you talking to yourself about something interesting, they will instantly feel like you’re talking to them and be drawn to engage with the conversation.
- Show an interest in your customers! One universal sales truth is that customers love talking about themselves – once you’ve drawn them into a conversation, have some questions on hand to get them going. If they feel like you’re genuinely interested in them, they will be more inclined to spend on you and become a regular customer. The bar is pretty low here, and a lot of times customers just want to feel seen and heard before opening their wallets. Stand out from the crowd by showing an active interest!
- Talk to anonymous guests as if they’re talking back! This one sounds weird too but it works – as you’re talking to yourself, if you notice anonymous guests in the room, include them in the “conversation!” Tease them and taunt them a little bit to sign up, imagine who might be on the other end of that guest handle. The goal here is to get them to feel like you’re just waiting for them to chime in and before you know it you’ll have anonymous guests consistently converting to registered customers. It may take some people several tries before they buy in and sign up – don’t get discouraged. This is a numbers game at the end of the day – you’re collecting customers, and sometimes that means playing the long game and remembering that they may tune in to your stream several times before finally registering and buying bits. This doesn’t mean giving tons of attention for free, but it does mean thinking strategically about whether someone is really a timewaster/lurker, or whether they might just need a little coaxing.
- Refrain from having your cell phone visible! If you were at a party and you saw one person who looked actively engaged in telling a fun story and another who was slouched over their cell phone in the corner, who would you try to approach first? Who do you think would be the more socially receptive partygoer? That’s how customers feel when they see creators haunched over a device in their thumbnail. I know it’s a tempting easy distraction, but it’s generally best to avoid looking at it at all while streaming unless absolutely necessary. I do keep my phone on hand when I stream for music selection and occasionally for timers or games if someone is tipping for a menu item, but I keep the face downward out of view of the camera and notifications off. If you have to check your phone for another commitment (like waiting for an important text/call), keep your pose in mind and find a way to check the phone subtly or off-camera. When in doubt, booty taking up the whole frame while you check works every time. Just don’t keep your back turned for too long and potentially miss something in the chat.
We hope you find some of this useful for your upcoming streams! Go out there and hustle, have fun, and happy camming!