This is a strange business. I tell myself that every day for a variety of reasons. Things that should be straightforward, never are. As we near the end of 2012, the adult industry is going through several paradigm shifts at once. Let me explain -
Here are some facts about the adult industry in 2012. Companies are disappearing more rapidly than new ones are appearing. Manwin is swallowing up many companies, which in turn then pushes the small companies out of production. The companies that are left in busineess are now trying to branch out into different streams of revenue. More and more talent is being recruited to enter the industry than ever before.
All of these factors have caused a severe stagnation in the amount of scenes produced in Los Angeles and the surrounding porn locations (Vegas, Florida, New York, London, etc). To be honest, the situation is looking more and more grim by the day (for the majority of performers & production).
The top male & female performers are still working the same amount as usual for the same rate. The top guys (Keiran Lee, Manuel Ferrara, James Deen, Johnny Sins, Mick Blue, and Erik Everhard for example) and the next tier are also doing reasonably well (Johnny Castle, Bill Bailey, John Strong, Jordan Ash for example). But after that, there is a HUGE middle class of male performers that are now fighting for less and less scenes. This is because of the influx of new male performers, who think 5-10 scenes a month is just fine. They live hand to mouth, check to check, often rooming or living with other performers in a porn commune type situation.
In real life, people who are making in the bottom 10-20 % in a business would leave said business to find another line of work. This is not true in porno. For example, Dirty Harry will hang on for years doing 2 scenes a month.
I am also in the middle class of this industry. I often do 20-25 scenes a month, but sometimes it can be as low as 15. And remember I am doing TS scenes, strap-on scenes, and other scenes most other male performers would never do.
So now I am faced with having to do the same thing as the large porn companies...attempt to branch out into different revenue streams (or be satisfied with making less money I guess lol). My main income of performing is now about 60 percent of what it was in 2008. I have worked extremely hard to become a half decent affiliate (I am counting Streamate in my affiliate income), and now I earn the equalivent of 4-5 scenes a month doing that. I also make a few extra bucks as the go-between of escort agents and the girls they want to contact. Giving a recommendation, phone number, email, twitter, or all of the above, nets me between 100-1000 bucks a month.
So I am still holding close to 10,000 dollars a month in income. This is fine for me, because I have eliminated all of my debt AND saved the bulk of my income over the past 10 years as well. So I can continue on in this business for many years to come if I so desired (I don't - I want to be finished performing within the next 2 years).
So each day I get up at 630am in order to check on my stock market portfolio and check in with my broker. Then I check my email & affiliate programs for any joins I received in the night. Then I start posting affiliate links on the 17 different twitter accounts I currently manage. Then I update the 3-4 blogs I now run (including this one). Then I post more links on the various adult forums where I try to gain traffic. Then finally I head off to work. Then I run a few errands, tan, grab some lunch, and either head to a second scene or hit the gym. By the time I get home for dinner it's usually 9pm. Then it's BACK on the computer for more posts, links, etc. Then I hit the sack past midnight and wake up and do it all over again. And again...and again...and again...in perpetuity. This is my life - working my ass off to make less and less money. WTF is wrong with me?