Some of the Bay Area’s sex workers are also self-described geeks and marketing whizzes who use Game of Thrones t-shirts (“Winter is Coming”) and savvy social media marketing to grow their businesses and establish agency in an industry where workers are too often either victimized or criminalized.
From CNNMoney:
It’s no surprise that a region where a sizable population is flush with cash has a thriving adult services industry. What’s more intriguing is how those in the industry are using both the tools and the language of the area’s tech startups to build their businesses — and to try to change the public perception of their work.
Kitty Stryker [above], a self-described “steampunk courtesan” who rents her time for $350 an hour on up, has a day job as a social media marketer for a local startup. She uses the same apps to grow her evening business.
“Everything I know about social media marketing I learned doing sex work,” she says. “Currently I’m using Hootsuite a lot; I’m using Klout a little bit. I also use Twitter [counter], which is just this simple free thing, but it’s got very interesting analytics data.”
Most people don’t automatically think “sex worker!” when they hear someone say, “I have a Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, I have two websites, and I have Google Voice.” But why? Those tools work just as well for publicizing cam shows and shoots as they do for less titillating endeavors — they draw users, and high-paying users, at that.
“There’s a lot of competition to get the big-name clients,” said “Karen,” who estimates that she’s made close to $1 million over the decade she’s been working in the area. “When you do land them, I’ve heard of women getting condos, whatever they need.”