I've been flip/flopping today on whether I should write another post about client etiquette, or something a little more personal.
While I'm sure I could fill a book with different tips and tricks for clients, I figured maybe I should space those posts out a bit! Otherwise it will quickly become the only thing I write about.
I would love to shed some light today on a few really interesting (at least I think they're interesting) aspects of working internationally that I doubt most people even consider.
There are vast cultural differences in how this industry is presented and how you have to "sell" (market) yourself in different regions. The most obvious example of this is the popularity of different advertising platforms across different areas, and how dramatic the shift there can be from city to city. A platform that is fairly popular in my current home (Calgary) is virtually unheard of in the next city over (Edmonton). This is simply because of the prevalence of business travellers between Calgary and other cities where this platform is well known, bumping up the amount of providers posting there and the likelihood that google will prioritize it in searches.
But generally the marketing we use between the US and Canada, and across all platforms here, is still fairly similar. As such you get into a routine of how you market yourself, and it tends to have roughly the same impact in most North American cities.
... boy was I in for a shock the first time I worked in Asia. When you are used to presenting yourself in a particular way and having that generally succeed across multiple platforms, you're not really prepared to shift your entire strategy overnight.
Over here in NA, we are used to posting a lot of selfies and less edited pictures. Severe over-editing without any selfies for verification is a pretty good sign that someone is a catfish, and no one wants to be on the wrong end of a bait-and-switch. There was even a stretch of time where I used no professional photos whatsoever because selfies were what everyone here seemed to prefer. Now I find it has shifted back to a reasonable mix of the two, which is ideal for me. I love a sexy photoshoot after all!
Singapore broke my spirit because of this. *sad violin noises*
I was working for an agency at the time, and the language barrier between myself and the person who ran it led to me not fully understanding when he described the type of photos they preferred. So I ended up over there with photos that were too "unprofessional" to be acceptable. It was still an amazing time, and I was able to skip 2 months of Canadian winter, but it negatively impacted my business and reputation there to a degree I was not prepared for.
My photos were too realistic, they looked too much like me. What the clientele there were expecting was professional quality photos (No selfies, no phone pics. Good studio lighting and high pixel counts.) that were severely over-edited to the point that they look VERY different from how you appear in person.
And to be completely honest, this wasn't really an unreasonable expectation on their part. Regular people can often have a very hard time distinguishing between an edited and unedited photo (even if the person's proportions are impossible and alien-like). So what these clients were used to seeing is girls who look nothing like their pictures when they arrive, and that's what they've come to expect. So if your photos are more realistic, they will actually believe that you will arrive looking FAR worse than the pictures. If you don't look stick skinny, they will expect you to be overweight. If you don't have completely blurred skin, they will expect you to arrive with severe skin issues. If you don't look incredibly tall and lean, they will expect you to be short and squat.
Add to that a culture that is extremely image-focused, and you end up with a predilection towards studio quality pictures as well. You want to present yourself in a way that says professional photography is all you will accept for yourself, you're not a low-class "selfie" girl! But also those photos must be overedited and have you looking like an alien masquerading in a human costume. (I'm not joking. I have photo examples I was sent by the agency of women with completely impossible body structures.)
On top of that, I am not a skinny girl. I'm not overweight either, I have an athletic figure with a big booty and strong legs. By the standards of the body types they were most used to seeing, this made me "large" to a fair amount of people. Truth be told, if I was as skinny as the women there I would be 1 foot in the grave and look SICKLY. But when you simply aren't used to seeing different body types, it makes sense that my body would stand out.
It was a wild cultural shock for me. I have been debating working in Asia again since the borders have started opening, and finally booked a trip to BKK for August. I'm excited to give it another try and see if working independently and having control over my own advertising makes a difference... most of the excitement coming from wanting the vacation!
I want to eat the incredible food again, feel the humidity on my skin, and wildly objectify every hot Asian dude I see while awkwardly flirting! It would be an amazing bonus if I could also make a profit while doing so.
Anyway, I just thought these were some interesting differences! Certainly a few things that hadn't even crossed my mind before experiencing them firsthand.
I cannot wait for my month in Bangkok coming up, so I can test the waters there and see how different it is. Plus I'm just gonna fuck like... so many hot dudes. It will be the best August ever, NGL.
That's probably enough for me today! Talk soon and remember to stay safe, have fun, and always tip your whores.
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