The cost of advertising...

[Mocha]

Does anyone else feel that the cost to advertise as a gay escort seems to be astronomical these days?

 

Lets look at some examples: Lets say I want to advertise on men4rentnow.com, rentboy.com and also part-time massage guy on the side. And lets go for the platinum ads, gold placement - in which they recommend we advertise on, and include 2 massage sites like Masseurfinder and massage m4m. And lets pretend we are in a city with 50+ advertisers on rentboy which equals more $$

 

Men4rent: $99.95/mo. platinum

rentboy: $99/mo. gold

massage m4m: $99/mo.

Masseurfinder: $58/mo.

 

Grand total: $355/mo. for continuous re-billed ads at 'mid-grade' level placement

 

Thats more than any other bill I have and nearly 3/4 of my monthly rent. Sometimes I feel that I can't even save up like I want to because the advertising fees are already high, and keep going up although rates haven't necessarily gone up. Now, its easy to just advertise on 1 of each as most people cruise around various sites anyway...but with traveling, sometimes you want to be listed 'everywhere'. And being listed everywhere is not cheap.

 

On the other hand, you've got alot more sites dedicated for women which are free...but as far as I know, there are no free advertising sites unless you 'sneak in' some ads on other sites.

[josephga]

oh i know. I use to spend around 200.00 a month for massage ads. advertising is your biggest cost however its also a great tax deduction

[cany10011]

maybe having a few regulars

 

will help offset the advertising costs.... in fact, i'd be happy to see one or two escorts weekly if i found the right ones (i get bored easily unfortunately)....

 

oh i know. I use to spend around 200.00 a month for massage ads. advertising is your biggest cost however its also a great tax deduction

[josephga]

some sites dont charge every one the same either. i signed up for one site the first day they launched. I paid 34.95 a month and the price never went up. then i noticed they started charging new advertisers over 50.00 a month

[josephga]

will help offset the advertising costs.... in fact, i'd be happy to see one or two escorts weekly if i found the right ones (i get bored easily unfortunately)....

i use to have a guy that bought 2 massages a week from me then he had another guy he saw once a month for escort services he spent more a month on escorts and massage than most do on rent. then some people like variaty and never go to the same person twice. I had this one massage client that had 4 massage therapist. I normally saw him once a month as he made his rounds

[jankeedaddy]

I noticed that no one metioned gayromeo as an escort site. I am not an escort, but I believe that registration is free. I don't know how much they charge for "star" service, but probably less than is quoted herre for the other sites. I almost always check gayromeo first for a city that I am interested in. Got in the habit in Italy, but it worked for Turkey, Jordan, and NYC.

[corndog]

Advertising is an unpleasant but necessary expense in most businesses. However, deciding whether to do it is simple. Does it bring in more money than it costs?

 

I think that potential clients use the paid sites to verify that an escort is currently active and serious about their profession. When craigslist was an option, I often looked at both craigslist and rentboy. Seeing a listing on craigslist verified that an escort was active and available, and seeing a listing on Rentboy tends to indicate that they are serious and professional.

[Guest countryboywny]

Does anyone else feel that the cost to advertise as a gay escort seems to be astronomical these days?

 

 

 

Men4rent: $99.95/mo. platinum

rentboy: $99/mo. gold

massage m4m: $99/mo.

Masseurfinder: $58/mo.

 

Grand total: $355/mo. for continuous re-billed ads at 'mid-grade' level placement

 

 

I sure wish I could earn MY business' advertising budget for the month in two hours...

[Steven_Draker]

I noticed that no one metioned gayromeo as an escort site. I am not an escort, but I believe that registration is free. I don't know how much they charge for "star" service, but probably less than is quoted herre for the other sites. I almost always check gayromeo first for a city that I am interested in. Got in the habit in Italy, but it worked for Turkey, Jordan, and NYC.

 

Hi Jankeedaddy and welcome.

GayRomeo charges 40 Euros per month or 90 Euros for 3 months for Star membership, which gives you a better placement, more exposure and other benefits. Basic escort and regular accounts are free of charge. In my experience GayRomeo works well only in Europe. The response that I get from that site when I'm in the US is limited. Rentboy, Men4RentNow, Rentmen are a good alternative that works well.

 

Regards,

[Michael Wayne]

craigslist theraputic services is much cheaper for the massage aspect. I look at it like this: one and a half clients pay the entire advertising budget a month. As I learned in college: you have to spend money to make money. Escort ads never lose money- unlike stocks. Every ad I have ever purchased has paid off big time. Hang in there. The more visible you are and the nicer you are to clients the more good ones will find you. as Obi Wan said, "Patience, young one. patience..."

[jankeedaddy]

Hi Jankeedaddy and welcome.

GayRomeo charges 40 Euros per month or 90 Euros for 3 months for Star membership, which gives you a better placement, more exposure and other benefits. Basic escort and regular accounts are free of charge. In my experience GayRomeo works well only in Europe. The response that I get from that site when I'm in the US is limited. Rentboy, Men4RentNow, Rentmen are a good alternative that works well.

 

Regards,[/color]

 

Dear Steven, Thank you for your expertise. Although there are about 15000 escorts on gayromeo in Europe and less than 180 in the US, I still find that I look, especially in New York. There are a high percentage of Europeans using the site in NYC (no surprise), but also a large number of locals using the free listings. I like the available feedback of the site through the "guestbook". Also, many of the escorts on gayromeo have more "European" rates for extended time (evenings or overnights) of $200 - 500.

[Mocha]

I sure wish I could earn MY business' advertising budget for the month in two hours...

 

Whats your monthly salary? Annual? I may only get a 2 hour booking once or twice a month. Now, I don't spend $355 a month advertising, but that was an example. I barely use rentboy, and if I do its only $30/a month. Don't get me wrong, advertising doesn't make me broke...and in fact some days I forced myself to pay for an ad, and I wanted to slap myself for not putting it up sooner. But, some days advertising comes at the same time as the bills and it can throw me off. The webmasters also aren't concerned if we don't get a client at all from their sites, and its happened before where I've paid and didn't recieve anything. Part and parcel, but its not nice to know that I gave away money that a client gave me, invested it into advertising when I could have done something else with it if I knew the site wasn't going to work out. In particular, Im very careful where I use certain sites before I pay them.

 

However, one thing I am particularly annoyed about is men4rent's lack of concern for their customers. A situation came up recently where I switched bank accounts and unknowingly did not realize men4rent had not collected on the membership fee. Yes, my mistake for allowing it to bounce, but now they are trying to fry my balls with some downright ridiculous shit. My account has been completely deleted and cancelled out, and here's what I got:

 

Dear Sir,

Our policy is with more than one revoke of payment the account is deleted and we will only reactivate with a money order payment and payment for the revoked subscription.

Our records show you purchased a 10 day platinum subscription + on 11/4/10 that was canceled before the 10th day. The payment was revoked on 11/24/10.

You purchased another 10 day platinum subscription + on 11/15/10 and that was revoked on 11/24/10.

In order for us to reactivate your account you would need to include the $79.90 for the 2 revoked subscriptions along with the money order payment. Money order info is as follows:

Step 1:

Chose a membership plan:

 

 

90 Day platinum - $459.00

180 Day platinum -$659.00

365 Day platinum - $999.00

 

 

90 Day Premium Listing - $269.95

180 Day Premium Listing - $459.95

365 Day Premium Listing - $799.95

 

90 Day Basic Listing - $159.95

180 Day Basic Listing - $259.95

365 Day Basic Listing - $419.95

Step 2:

Make Your Money Order Payable To: Wintice Group, Inc.

 

Step 3:

Mail Your Payment To:

Wintice Group, Inc.

8581 Santa Monica Blvd. #457

West Hollywood, CA 90069

YOU MUST INCLUDE the following along with your payment:

1. Your Screen Name and Email Address

2. A photo copy of your driver's license with your payment to verify

that you are at least 18 years of age.

By sending payment, you agree to all TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

 

*Valid Driver's License required to verify you are at least 18 years of

age (YOU MUST INCLUDE a copy along with your payment)

 

Your account will be activated within 3-10 days of receipt of your

payment. You will be notified via email when your account is activated.

It may take up to 1 week or longer for your payment to be delivered via

standard mail.

 

Regards,

 

Customer Service

Men 4 Rent Now

 

It all goes back to the premise that some people think that we as escorts are making 6 figures...even though we've only been doing it for less than a decade; much less 5 years. That we never have a bad week, because afterall we're escorts. $1,000 for a yearly membership? Seriously? So they next time I get an overnight...fuck all the other commitments, Im just going to give it to men4rent...