If you are lucky and the market in your area is not too saturated with competition when you first start advertising as a pro-Domme or a dungeon for hire, you will get a flood of new clientele. Soon after that, business will likely slow down to a trickle. Learn how to stay in the business for the long term with these simple tips before you make your debut as a Dominatrix...

10. Good business practices
Be ready to session on time, keep your playspace and toys clean, treat your clients with respect and compassion. Train them to expect a routine. They'll come back. =)

9. Stay involved with the lifestylers BDSM lifestylers are a closely-knit community.
Different groups do different things. Commonly they get together, eat meals casual meals called "munches," throw wild and kinky parties, fight for their legal right to sexual freedom, and host affordable BDSM education classes and presentations. Attend their events and always show them the greatest respect -- never solicit anyone for play at a lifestyle event, try not to out dress anyone or show off, bring a fantastic potluck dish, and don't touch anyone's toys without asking first. You'll have fun and meet some amazing people.

8. Network
Find lots of other projects to be involved in, and do it frequently. Do some "trade for CD," or free/unpaid photography collaborations with local kink photographers -- nothing you aren't comfortable with, though. Some options are fetish fashion, bondage, BDSM activities, fetish activities, black and white erotic art, pinups.... Ask your photographers to link to your sites and portfolios. If you enjoy it, explore starring in fetish video, live performances and demonstrations, web cam sessions and phone domination. The publicity from one activity will help promote your other activities.

7. Socially network
Make sure to have a MySpace, LiveJournal, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Make sure each of these sites have a link to your main website, and post regular updates on all of them. Social networking is speedily becoming one of the biggest ways to keep in touch with your customer base. Don't be surprised when clients start asking if they can take you out to dinner at your favorite restaurant after reading how much you love it on your weblog, or buy you chocolates before the session because they saw it mentioned on your wishlist...

6. Promote yourself
Find sites that are relevant to your interests, and ask them to do a link exchange. Or, purchase paid advertising on other Mistress' sites or on Dominatrix directories and guides. Consider a free listing on http://RBSMistressDirectory.com -- our new, advertising-free Domme Guide! It's easy, free, and moderated by other female Dominants.

5. Charge a lower rate than your competitors
If you are just starting out, don't have a lot of fancy equipment and outfits or a lot of experience -- charge less. Your client could go to a fancy, fully furnished dungeon and session with a pro-Domme who's been in business for 15 years for $200... Or, he could give the hot new lady in town a try for $150. Sometimes, finances will win out. When you have more clients than you can shake a stick out, then you can consider raising your rates.

4. If you don't know how to provide any service well, don't provide it
There are dozens of books out there, and perhaps hundreds of classes, workshops, and presentations taught every year, dedicated to teaching BDSM technique. Read them, attend the classes, and practice on your boyfriend, or yourself. If you can't perform an activity correctly, not only will your client never want to session with you again -- there's a possibility you could seriously hurt or injure someone, and you could be held legally responsible. If all you know how to do is spank and flog, all you should do to your clients is spank and flog. Say no to all other activities, even if you lose a few clients because of this -- it will help you keep more in the long run.

3. Speaking of legalities...
Hire a lawyer and/or do research in your local area about applicable laws to your business and personal life. You may not agree with some of the laws, but that doesn't mean you won't have to face up to the consequences of breaking them. If you don't like the laws in your area, work to change them or relocate. Donate to the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. And at the least, it can't hurt to stay educated and informed of what laws you may or may not be breaking in your line of work. (Taxes? Health codes? Moral conduct? Prostitution and nudity?)

2. Choose a web developer/designer with marketing and promotion expertise
How your website is coded can make a big impact on how many visits you get. Many adult web designers create beautiful graphic-heavy interfaces, but they are either too lazy or don't know how to optimize the code of your website to allow search engines to properly rank your content. So, before choosing your web designer, ask questions about how they market and code your site. Look at some of their other customers' portfolios and see how they rank on major search engines. Do your research and LEARN about how websites work -- it'll pay off big in the end.

1. Choose an easy to remember business name and URL
"Miss Dress Dyvyne's Houze of Payne" may look cool to you, but it'll confuse your customers. They'll have a hard time spelling your name when they're typing it into google, and just a hard time trying to type that URL into their browser. You want something that is an absolute no-brainer, so you never lose a single client to a simple typo. Pick something catchy and memorable, but keep it simple to spell.

Have fun out there, stay safe, and be excellent at what you do.

 
A little more about the RBS:

The Red Boot Society is a group of experienced, well-known pro-Dommes who are devoted to to trying to bring a higher level of standards to the professional BDSM community. Among other things, we support ethical business practices, BDSM safety and education, and the promotion of skillful, responsible Dominatrices.To learn more about us, visit our headquarters at RedBootSociety.com or consider submitting to our new Mistress Directory/Domina Guide.