The first thing you need to determine is whether or not you are genuinely cut out for this type of work. There is more skill involved as an independent than just stringing dirty words together. As an independent you are essentially a business owner, and you need to carefully consider if you have the skills needed to wear all the “hats” that an owner has to.

The phone sex industry is often misunderstood to newbies and seekers. They believe it will be a “quick fix”, a fast income, and a booming instant business. This is NOT the case. It is a business and like any other – it takes time to build it, which could be years. You can consider it much like a commission paid job selling door to door. There is a lot of foot work involved; a lot of selling yourself, using your customer service skills, technical know how, marketing, advertising, and of course performing the actual calls.

Any business owner of any type of business needs to think about money. You’ll be spending it, investing it into your business, paying taxes as a business owner, encountering legal issues, etc. You really need to have some type of reserve prepared for “emergencies” because every business hits a point where they will need it in some way.

The best way to really learn about running your own business or how to be an independent operator is to actually work for someone else, or work for a company for at least 6 months to a year prior to starting on your own. You encounter and see first hand all the work that is done. If you are a good operator and contractor you’ll like get some advice and make some good networking connections with other people. Most owners also started out working somewhere too, and with honesty and by gaining trust within your peers you may even get some type of additional assistance. Most owners appreciate honesty and will really help you out if they see you are responsible and loyal during your work experience with them.

The best experience doesn’t come from asking for help, or asking to be “taught” what to do. It comes from jumping in and learning everything you can on your own. No one can teach you what will work the “best” for you. If you are a hard worker you will learn from everything around you. The internet is your source too. As your self education grows you’ll learn “tricks” or get your own ideas without the assistance of others and you will be able to use them for yourself when it’s time to move on to your own independent service.

Below is a list of statements for newbies to the industry. You should answer True or False and your answers should be very honest.

The job is something I can display my talents with.

I enjoy talking to all people from all walks of life.

I am confident that I can do fantastic work.

I am self motivated to work independently without relying on others.

I can handle being self employed as an Independent Contractor.

I feel like I can contribute something “positive” to my callers.

I know how to improve my own skills.

I am customer service oriented.

I am mentally creative.

I seek to understand people and to identify with them.

I know the difference between earning “fast money” and “steady income”.

I am a good speaker and a good talker.

I know the difference between empathy and sympathy.

I am not judgmental and I have a good attitude toward sexual lifestyles.

I have excellent writing and communications skills.

I am thick skinned and strong.

Obviously all your answers should have been “True”. This wasn’t really a test but just a way to present a Phone Sex Operator’s skills in a different more positive light. If you are considering a career in the phone sex world, be sure you know what you are getting into and know 100% that you can do it with the very best attitude.

Figure out what exactly you are looking for: do you need someone to do a One Time design? Do you need continuing maintenance and updates? Do you need someone who can create graphics and logos? Are you looking for search engine optimization (there are specialists for this)?

Often you can get good referrals from friends or other business owners. Use a search engine on your own and look around. Look for a company that clearly has a “philosophy” stated on the site, so you get a feel for the way they do things. Make several phone calls and get many second opinions. Your Website is an investment in your business so you should treat it that way!

Be careful of pushy “sales” attitudes or pitches that sounds too good to be true. No Webmaster can give you everything.

Webmasters who approach YOU and tell you that you need them probably have a hidden motive. Nobody helps for free or for reduced rates…. There is always some type of “price” involved.

When a Webmaster looks at your page - don’t listen to claims of how horrible your code is or how much better THEY can do your site. The Webmaster should simply tell you how they would DO your site. You are not hiring someone to critique your work or anyone else’s. You should only care about what they can offer you, and for what price they will do it. Often a Webmaster will try to talk you into more than you need or want by using this tactic.

Find out about the Webmaster’s experience. Are they certified? Can they refer you to other former customers? How long have they been doing their work? What type of training did they receive? Ask questions and lots of them!

Ask the Webmaster if you may see samples of their work. Take special note if everything they do seems to be the “same” style. Basically the Webmaster you hire needs to accommodate YOUR style and not their own. Don’t take their word for what you need - do your own research and decision-making.

Talk to several webmasters and get price comparisons. Be cautious of being grossly over charged for simplistic work. A template design will run anywhere from $15 to $150 depending on the amount of content included: java scripts, flash pages, image maps, buttons, logos, graphics, blank template pages, and so on. Hiring a Webmaster to design a original page may cost a flat fee or possibly an hourly rate and will be over $150, quite possibly a lot.

Have on paper EXACTLY what you are paying for. Get a contract for what work is to be done. If you are purchasing a template then get a license for it and the terms for use. Do not consider a verbal agreement to suffice - memories can fade and different interpretations can often cloud the matter. Make everything traceable on paper.

Find out if the Webmaster has done any work for a similar business in your particular industry. If so, how will your site be different? Will the Webmaster cause any conflicts of interest with your competitors? Will the webmaster reuse your design on a competitors page? And if so, are they willing to accept the blame if your site turns out to be identical to a competitors?

Use your own text content - do not even let the Webmaster write it for you. They are web designers not specialists in your field of work and that being the case, they could possibly steal ideas, text, meta tags, and the like from others. Often this occurs due to ignorance rather than malice - but it happens more often then you might think. Make sure ALL content including photos are legal and licensed.

Do not accept legal advice from a Webmaster on your site. They are not qualified to do that. When they inform you of anything legally that you aren’t sure about - find out if an attorney represents them in their work. If not, ask yours and think about finding a better Webmaster.

Never forget that YOU control your Website and all of it’s content - not the person you hire to do work for you. If you do not like something they have done; say so and ask that it be changed immediately.

A really good and honest Webmaster will go above and beyond their duty to keep a client satisfied. A professional Webmaster knows that they aren’t “wasting their time” on your questions or your site - they understand that they are making their client happy and that your job matters.

Do pay your Webmaster in full. When you hire them to do work: they are to receive payment. Just because you may not have liked their “performance” doesn’t mean they worked for free. You can terminate the relationship with a shoddy Webmaster very easily and quickly - but read the terms of their contract carefully… you may still owe them money.

Never ever barter with a web designer. It never works out in the end, and they will not work as hard for you as the Webmaster that received a payment. Trust you gut instincts and make sure you are completely comfortable with who you hire… it DOES make a huge difference.

There are many hard working, creative, and honest webmasters out there running excellent businesses and many offer very comfortable rates. The scams are really the minority, but they do exist. Arm yourself with knowledge and you will never fall victim to them! Most webmasters DO want to do a good job for you - their customer!

Reciprocal Links are link exchanges between Webmasters. These are by far the most rewarding types of links you can get and do. They may increase your link popularity, and you MAY get a decent amount of traffic back. There is a problem with reciprocal links and that’s the time it takes to hunt down the other interested parties. You also need to keep track of who has your link, their contact info, and that they actually keep your link up. It is also important to note that many reciprocal links are not even worthy to do; many are a huge waste of time. A good one will work wonders, and a bad one will only drag you down.

Toplists are a great source of traffic for similar sites to switch around. But the ratio of making money from them is very low due to the severe amount of cheating that can take place on them. Some webmasters have actually created Toplists and make sure their 25 websites rank in the first 25 spots - which only benefits THEM. Pop-up windows are also often used to gain a high ranking, which only annoy surfers. Consider a toplist to be a “friendly” exchange of traffic - just remember it is the SAME traffic in each niche that’s being passed around. Some are of course better than others, and you should show caution as well investigate them. We Do have our own toplist here (we are not knocking them in general) and they really can be a nice source of traffic exchanging as long as things are truly done fairly.

Search Engines are a great way to get targeted traffic to your site. Search engine ranking is a much sought after task to master. Everyone thinks they have the answer, but the truth is that it gets more difficult all the time. Every time a new little “trick” arises - it is just as quickly phased out. Getting good traffic from the search engines is a complex study of a multi-leveled and ever changing topic. Search engines are not the same as search directories, though sometimes the two can work in similar ways.

Some pointers when it comes to linking and internet promotion are as follows:

Find out if your host has stats where you are able to SEE where exactly your traffic is coming from. This will help you to see what links are beneficial to you and send you traffic. Not everywhere that you link with will be worthy to keep…. and many will be. Be informed and you will not have to wonder! Most stats programs will show you where the traffic came from, how long the traffic stayed on your site, the pages that were viewed, and even the length of time each “hit” stayed. You will be able to see who sent you quality traffic and who didn’t. It’s very important to get familiar with who is coming to your site and how they found it.

Be sure you are promoting in a market or a niche that will actually benefit you. If your site appeals to men for example then don’t waste time listing yourself somewhere that the primary target is women. It should be common sense, but newbies may make this mistake fairly easily in such a huge market.

Try to stay away from sites that promote negativity. Insults toward other webmasters, websites, or industries are pretty much ugly behavior. Why does this affect you? The company you keep and align yourself with speaks volumes to others. This is especially true to your target customer base. Bad behavior can spread like wildfire pretty quickly. Be cautious of any site you link with. If for some reason they do “bad business”, or have “cheated other webmasters”, then you may somehow become associated with it. Essentially you want to keep YOUR business clean. Take some time to carefully review any site you want to link with. Make sure their ethics are, or at least appear to be similar to yours.

Save emails and file them from sites that have added a link to your site. Check to make sure your listing remains there. Many webmasters will cheat you, fortunately they are far and few between. Most ARE honest, but it never hurts to be careful. Make a hardcopy file of all your link exchanges as well. Keep good records so that you can more easily clear up misunderstandings or confusion.

A really good listing CAN bury your link 6 pages deep and still send you traffic. However, try to get a FAIR listing. This means if you have to plaster a huge banner for them on your index/warning page and your reciprocal link is several pages deep that it’s probably not fair. YOU will be the one who is cheated because you will be sending your traffic to them rather than the other way around. For some sites IT IS worth doing it this way, but not too many are. Do some investigation, ask peers in your industry. Listing too many banners and links on your index/warning page SLOWS it’s load time down, and makes it look cheap - no matter how neat you try to make it. Smaller banners and text links are usually better. Your goal should be not to send mass amounts of YOUR traffic away - but to create a fair and profitable exchange.

Just remember if you ever deal one on one with a Webmaster then you should be PROFESSIONAL at all times. Don’t barter or trade anything with them. Don’t do special little “favors”, or ask for them. If that’s what they are seeking then they clearly have a motive. There are tons of con artists out there and service owners need to be very aware as well as educated.

Should you BUY advertising link space make sure you check on the site DAILY and also get a receipt to file. If you are cheated in any way (and it does happen) then you can find a way to address it as long as you have proof. Websites who mislead you with free offers, bargains too good to be true, promises of huge traffic and such are probably bullshitting you… at least a little. When someone “claims” they get such and such amount of traffic ask for verification in their stats… especially when you are PAYING for it. Verify their claims - talk to other webmasters who use them as a resource. Make sure their terms, advertising policies, and costs are posted clearly and publicly on their Website. If they are not, you could get mislead or a “different” deal than someone else. Print out their terms, policies, and costs to avoid bait and switch tactics later.

Stories of advertising costs going to the advertisers “bandwidth” are also little schemes that exist. For instance: if you are to host THEIR banner and you have to pay them to host yours, then something is not quite right. Banners that are 468 x 60 and 25kb and under are pretty cheap to host. And a Webmaster who is offering advertising space should be prepared for their own bandwidth costs - not charge YOU for it. You should be paying only for the TRAFFIC that is sent, not their personal Website bills. Remember that if you pay for banner space somewhere you do not need to return the link too. If you do - that is a link exchange, not paid for advertising. When you pay for advertising you should be getting something extra… a benefit worthy of your money. Make sure you are getting what you pay for.

The soliciting of a link exchange could be a red flag also. It shows a webmaster who wants YOUR traffic. It’s best to find out what they want to offer you and WHY. Look for directories that cover a wide audience of surfers, rather than small niche sites.

When a webmaster wants to do an exchange of links but lets you know your site has too many problems that need corrected, that your site is ugly, or tries to push THEIR way on you… let them know you have lost interest. Link exchanges is not about “taking over” on your Website - it’s an exchange, a fair partnership of traffic… you help them and they help you in a FAIR way. It’s not an excuse to invade your personal property or space.

When link swapping becomes like trading baseball cards - it is no longer worthy to you, or anyone else. It has become old clutter that needs tossed to the trash.

Your goal as a webmaster is to never rely on ONE type of traffic or link exchange… incorporate them ALL. It is an always changing event as well - many sites vanish or shut down. You are never done finding places to list your page, it is a long time search and a great deal of hard work. ]]> http://www.telecoitus.com/phonesex/2006/06/15/exchanging-links-in-the-phone-sex-industry/feed/