There’s no better feeling than hitting your first 1K subscribers or receiving your first pay check. Especially when you know how much hard work has gone into it.
If you’re asking the question, “how do I become a content creator with no experience?” let’s start by debunking the myth that adult content creation is an easy or fast way to get paid. To make money off porn and build a sustainable business, you need strategy, determination, artistry, and skill. Both on and off-screen!
When speaking with top-ranking creator Violet Myers, she said:
“It took me 2 to 3 years to make a mark in the industry. I’ve been a creator since 2018, so when 2020-2021 came around and I’d go out publicly I noticed I was getting recognized. Once I gained more fans, I saw my rate going up and became a contract star for a global production studio. I also got more brand deals and sponsorships, and more recognition from mainstream media.”
Here’s how to get started as an adult content creator:
Plan a budget for essentials
Despite what some may think, you don’t need thousands of dollars to start a business. However, it does help to have a little side fund to fall back on for the essentials. This will include savings for things like:
- A high-quality smartphone
- Lighting equipment, such as ring lights
- Microphone(s) like Rode Directional Mic
- Backdrops, sex toys and other props (if needed)
- Hygiene products
- Tripod or stabilizer for steady shooting
- Editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci, or CapCut
- Website hosting or subscription fees if you want to use fan pages like OnlyFans or Fansly. (Discovery platforms like Pornhub are free.)
A well-planned budget keeps you on track for professional content without overspending or sacrificing quality. Because if you’re serious about becoming the next fan-favorite, you’ll need to focus on well-made, high-resolution content with clear sound and engaging aesthetics.
Reaching out to more established performers or searching online articles and forums like Reddit is another great way to build connections, learn what you’ll need first, and gain inside advice on how to get started as an adult content creator.
Select a stage name
Names are important. We’ll probably always remember the name Ronald Weasley before we remember Rupert Grint, for example. So make sure you spend time choosing a unique name that aligns with your brand and vision. Remember it could become a long-term part of your career and even appear in major publications, so don’t rush your decision.
Aim for something memorable that represents your persona and values—whether it’s a realistic name like Lily Phillips or Alex Adams, or a more fantasy-driven one like Jewelz Blu. Before making it official, do some research on Google or social media to make sure a similar name isn’t already taken. Avoid symbols, as they may be hard for fans to remember when searching for you. And for privacy reasons, avoid using your real name.
Think about your niche
With so many genres (and subgenres) in adult content creation, finding your niche isn’t always clear-cut. But it can help you stand out as you analyze gaps in the market and lean into your personal interests or best features and skills (as well as your audience’s desires and interests).
In a recent interview, Sweetie Fox said:
“Ever since I was a kid, I have always loved to reincarnate into different characters and experiment with my appearance…when I started creating adult content, I noticed that the cosplay genre was very modestly represented. The idea of filling this niche and expressing myself through it was a perfect fit.”
Other creators filling a niche to stand out include Jasmine Sherni, who leans into her South Asian cultural background and went viral for her Desi-themed content. Alice Bong, who’s a notable fan-favorite for her seductive Cosplay scenes with over 40 million views on her Pornhub account alone! And couple, LeoLulu, who rose in rank quickly for their romantic videos (that don’t reveal their faces).
When thinking about your niche, here’s a few things to ask yourself first:
- What type of content are you comfortable creating? For example, do you want to dip your toes in solo content or dive headfirst to find collaborators for a gang bang?
- Is there a gap in the market you can fill? Whether it’s a certain physique that allows you to embody a real-life hentai woman, a love of romantic gay sex you can’t seem to find elsewhere online, or a creative eye for lifelike fantasy scenes… assess your strengths and see how you can use it to create unique content
- What interests your potential audience? From foot fetishes to POV (point-of-view) scenes, knowing what people are searching for is going to be key in creating content your fans crave. To explore this, you can research what’s popular in places like Google Trends, X (formerly known as Twitter), TikTok, Pornhub, and OnlyFans
Although defining your niche early on will help guide your branding and marketing, that’s not to say you shouldn’t experiment with different genres and styles. It simply helps you with a starting point to stand out from other creators and build your following.
Start an only fans or fan subscription page
There’s many ways to make money off adult content, from paid videos to selling merchandise. Platforms like OnlyFans, Fansly, and JustForFans allow creators to monetize their content through subscriptions. If you have an engaged audience, this can be a consistent and reliable income stream.
Our top tips for success:
- Promote free teaser content that makes your fans excited to pay for more. You can do this on a free page, subscription page, or social media like X or Reddit. An example of this is Joanna Angel, who uses a free OnlyFans page to direct fans to her paid account. Or Danika Mori, who uses X to drive traffic to paid sites like ManyVids:
- Create interactive experiences like AMA (ask me anything) or polls to build real connections with your audience and make them feel involved.
- Send custom messages in DMs and personalize content like shout-outs to top fans or voice notes as a surprise thank you.
- Offer bundle discounts or free trials to encourage fans to buy longer subscriptions. Just be careful with this one not to devalue your brand and keep your image exclusive and premium.
- Offer live streams, which are a popular way for new creators to gain traffic on fan sites. You can do this by promoting your live stream date and time on your social media, and then going live on OnlyFans.
Upload videos to discovery platforms like pornhub
With over 130 million daily visits worldwide, Pornhub is the perfect discovery platform. Not only can you monetize your content by earning ad revenue through Tiers, win monthly contests, and increase your visibility on search engines like Google, you can also easily connect profiles across different platforms to leverage massive amounts of traffic.
Here’s how:
- Think of Pornhub as your biggest marketing platform
- Add an official website to your Pornhub page, alongside social links
- Watermark your videos and add 3rd party links to your intros and outros where fans can find your paid content
- Optimize your video titles, tags, and descriptions with relevant SEO keywords, and use translations to target high-traffic countries like the USA, France, Philippines, Mexico, Italy, and Brazil
AI tools like GPTEASE can help you translate words or phrases into the desired languages.
Share teasers on social media
As you start to grow and think more about how to make money off adult content, social media is going to be your best friend. Here’s a few popular platforms to promote your content and find new fans:
As a SFW (safe-for-work) platform, this is a great place to mix professional and everyday content. For example, photos from a recent photoshoot alongside a reel of you cooking a new recipe or a carousel of a recent road trip, like creator Josie Jaxxon.
Josie engages fans with seductive SFW photos, as well as splashes of content you can find on the everyday Instagram profile. This helps build a real connection with fans while growing their interest to see more. Make sure you add some niche-specific hashtags to your posts like #contentcreator and end your captions with a call-to-action like “Want to see more? Head to the link in my bio.”
X (Twitter)
In May 2024, X published its new rules for allowing adult content, making it one of the most flexible mainstream platforms for NSFW (not-safe-for-work) creators!
When you post explicit content, new viewers will receive a content warning asking if they want to proceed. Fans will then be able to interact with your posts and click on links to find more of your content. This is a great opportunity for some seductive dirty talk (if that’s on-brand for you), enticing teasers that link to your latest videos or pay-to-view fan pages, and engaging with fans to build personal connections, as seen on Candy Love’s account below.
Reddit is another powerful NSFW platform for building your community and driving traffic to your latest videos, collabs, and fan pages. To maximize visibility, find and participate in subreddits that align with your niche, such as:
- r/PornhubModels
- r/OnlyFansPromotions,
- r/TattooedWomen
- r/TransGoneWild
- r/Gayporn
Using Reddit’s chat feature allows you to send private messages to your audience and help build personal relationships with fans. Using tools like RedditList, you can also discover more relevant communities with already engaged users. For example, you can see what’s trending and which threads are growing in popularity, as shown below:
It’s important to note that each subreddit has its own rules regarding self-promotion, so be sure to read and follow them carefully to avoid any bans.
Safeguard your privacy
As a content creator, you get to decide how much of your private life you want to share with fans. However, like anyone in the spotlight, it’s important to protect your privacy when it comes to things like location and personal identity. Here’s a few simple steps that can help keep you safe:
- Use a stage name instead of your real name
- Ensure any personal information is removed from your content, such as graduation certificates or family photos
- In some cases, it might be beneficial to keep personal accounts and professional social media accounts separate
- Use a VPN to protect your online identity
- Consider setting up a business structure like an LLC (Limited Liability Protection) for financial privacy
Our take on how to get started as an adult content creator
Starting as an adult content creator doesn’t happen overnight. But with the right insight and tools, many creators have built a thriving online career. Just remember to stay consistent, listen to feedback from your audience, and always prioritize your privacy and well-being.
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