I’ve been wanting to expand the scope of this blog to include all kinds of topics related to running your own, empowered, and awesomely sexy business. Or to put it another way, the topic of enjoying the business of YOU!

Whatever kind of show you want to put on in your life, the behind the scenes reality is always different from the “final performance.” You work and work and work to make things look seamless and almost effortless. To trick the audience into only seeing the beautiful and fabulous part isn’t ever an easy thing. But the outcome is usually something you should always be really proud of and able to “sell” like it’s the most wonderful thing you’ve ever created. And if you believe in that the whole process will be 100x easier.

Loving yourself is hard enough, but being able to proudly put your love on display to the world is tricky. You’ve got to believe in yourself before anybody else ever will.

You can be the brains, brawn and beauty in this work. There’s something truly special about that. Let’s all love our sex, our minds and our bodies. That’s the biggest investment you can make for your new show of life. When there’s no acting involved your show becomes an experience. Something unique each time it happens. Something to grow from and grow into. A truly fabulous feminine experience all your own.

Paris Hilton via last.fm

Uber-Celebrities such as Paris Hilton and P. Diddy have literally overhauled their personalities and created some unique form of highly sensational, super-persona. Something the media is absolutely engrossed with. In doing this they’ve turned their name, their quirks, their biggest faults, and their image into entire brand lines. However, it sometimes seems as if their image has overtaken their natural intuition in favor of a narrow view on marketing and making money.  They’ve sold books, fragrances, music, clothing lines, you name it and they’ve gone there.

There are similar parallels in the adult world with woman like Joanna Angel, Jenna Jameson, Belladonna, Sasha Grey, Tera Patrick, and Dana DeArmond defying the typical porn star blah with the special spice and flavor they add to the industry. Passionate vixens with intelligence and savvy.

To me, these people are wildly passionate about their craft– that is creating an enterprise centered around their identities and their ideas. Some have reached monumental levels of success. This desire to capitalize on their unique ability to see the world, taste the world, smell the world, and experience the world is what branding yourself is all about. Success depends on how well you understand the playing field.

There is however, a greedy way to do this, but also a more empowering (and fulfilling) way to do this. I stick to fulfillment and empowerment. (I sleep better at night.) Paris Hilton may not care whether the attention she receives is true or false, negative or positive, because in the end, it meets her needs for her brand… attention = money. I think if I was to create a network of Wildly Passionate People it would be filled with self empowered people who see the value in their skills and abilities. Because you truly have everything you need to be a successful person, CEO or activist… if you do decide to participate in life. (And that’s something I really do believe about everyone.)

Staying true to yourself is hard no matter what. Whether you live a small town life, in an office job, or a bright lights, flashy style kind of life. Identity is a weird thing. You carry it with you everywhere. Sometimes you don’t know what it is, where to find it, or how to understand it. But in the past few years of my life I’ve found how truly powerful it is. In business and in life. The abundance you can bring to yourself is remarkable if you just know how to enlist the aid of your identity.

It will take immense investment, interest, and intellect to pull it all together to form a cohesive vision however.

But never fear because Joodie is here to guide you along the way. Sign up for the newsletter. Leave me comments. Ask me your craziest questions! I’m here to help you find that Wildly Passionate spark within you.

Stories of passionate people:

• Belladonna Radio is Live and On the Air (laist.com)
• Sasha Grey, The Dirtiest Girl in the World: The Story Behind the Story (idiomag.com)
• Shabooty Interview Series: Andy San Dimas (shabooty.com)
• XRCO Awards, 4/16/09 (2/2) (laist.com)

This is part number one of the “First Steps” series. Before you can register your domain name you need to know what you want to call your business! Writing down a list of keywords that inspire you, or describe you can be very helpful. Adding words like ‘porn, sex, xxx’ to your domain name may limit your reach on the web. For instance, many email spam blockers would instantly categorize any legitimate email you may be sending out as spam. Also, search engines may filter you out immediately and possibly unfairly. Once you have your keywords, form a few possible business name ideas. Keep them short. Catchy. Descriptive. And enticing. Use something you wouldn’t mind seeing written out on a business card, or in a logo on your website. Something with lots of possibilities. Also, keep it easy to spell and remember. Many people just use bookmarks, but isn’t it much easier to type out your favorite websites and access them from any computer?

Now comes the reality. Checking if your domain name is available. Head over to GoDaddy.com (by the way I’m not affiliated with them, I’ve simply used their services for years and never had one problem) with your ideas nearby. The best suggestion I have is to aim for a .com. Using .net, .org, .biz, etc can be harder to remember and many people just remember your business name, assuming it’s a .com and they can find it later. Essentially, make it as easy as possible for your potential customers to find you. Sadly, you have to assume your site is one of many in a large list, and most people have a very short attention span. Make sure you stick out in people’s minds and make it easy for them to remember you! Now, all of this can be very difficult considering the huge amount of .com’s that are already registered and taken. Very often I’ve had to go to option 4, 5 or 6 on my list. But stay strong, and make sure you get something you can live with for a very long time (changing domain names often is bad for business).

So now, let’s say you’ve found the perfect domain name. What next? It’s actually pretty simple.

1. Add to cart.
2. Enter in your personal and billing information (GoDaddy accepts Paypal!)
3. Ignore all the crappy addons they want to sell you.
4. IMPORTANT! Add Private Registration. This is absolutely mandatory in my eyes. Just do it.
5. As far as picking registration length… ask yourself how optimistic you’re feeling about this business? (…hopefully very!) Go for a few years.
6. Again, ignore all the ‘great deals’ they want to sell you.
7. Check out.
8. Save all the login info they give you.

And that’s it. You now have a domain name! Stay tuned for part two in the “First Steps” series!

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• Startups: Domain Names are Gold (startupprofessionals.com)
• How to Choose a Good Domain Name (chris.pirillo.com)
• Building Your Location Independent Online Business: Getting Your Website Online (Part 1) (locationindependent.com)

Personally, I love to read a well written non-fiction book. They seem to be catalysts for my creativity and goals. I’ve gone through the huge database that is Amazon.com and picked my Top 40 books for Wildly Passionate readers. Now, I have not read all of these books (my pocketbook will not allow it) but as I do find great resources I can do some great summaries for you and reviews. I’m currently pushing my way through “The Boss of You” and we will see how that turns out. You can find the list here at Wildly Passionate’s Top 40 Books. If you’re not much of a reader, don’t fret, I’ll be sure to bring you the most relevant and useful information from anything I find. But if you’re like me and enjoy being fully immersed in a project, one or two of those books might be just the thing to get you jump started.

The Top Four Places for Researching Your Niche:

• The Internet (meaning websites and potential competitors in your niche)
• Blogs (great personal, first hand writing and knowledge straight from the source, usually unbiased and insightful)
• Books (obviously great care has been taken to put together most books and even just skimming a novel may spark new ideas you never knew you had)
• People (networking is really valuable. So find like-minded folk and get to know them. Most people are very excited to share what they know to anyone asking specific, intelligent and valuable questions.)

Just remember that some resources might not be coming from the most positive of places. Beware of anti-sex-work writing and propaganda. Always take note of the positive or negative effect different ideas bring to you. It can be invaluable when designing your new project. Creating a type of boundary list and the beginning of a solid foundation for your business.

On image, persona, and marketing…

Many times in favor of exposure and success a person has to appear as something slightly different from themselves. For instance, a cute, girl-next-door-type model may decide not to get that tattoo she wants or dye her hair that certain color. It’s all in favor of her image. How people will perceive her. And who makes up her market audience. Nobody wants to risk their financial stability if they don’t have to.

So the question to ask is, what type of customers do you want to attract?

I’m referring to the persona you will portray, the way you come across, and the type of people you will potentially be interacting with professionally. There are many modeling markets; glamor, commercial, beauty, nude, fitness, fetish, etc.

But what’s the trick to standing out?

• The real key though is the idea of selling your beautiful self exactly the way you are.
• Market your self as a dynamic, real, and personality infused you!
• You can still be edgy or alternative. You can still dress up like an angel. That’s the beauty of it.
• The magic is in you. The only thing that makes you different from the rest is the personality you have.

You already stand out!

People buying (or being attracted to) your personality make for better customers, network opportunities and friends. They’ll create a community of real interaction and involvement. Which is just what you want and need!

Reality is Sexy

Play up your best qualities! Market yourself as an honest woman and your customers will look up to you, trust you, and interact with you more. The fact is, there is no “trick” at all. Tricking your customers into paying will only damage your brands reputation and lend to short lived income. So don’t trick… always treat your customers with a pleasant and friendly tone. You are welcoming them into an important part of your world, one you are passionate about. And I really think quality customers will lead to a more fulfilling business experience. After all, who really likes the corporate con man, or the ‘sleep your way to the top’ money junkie? Keep your integrity and build your brand on what you wake up with every morning and go to sleep with at night, YOU!

The hottest thing on the market today is reality.

The difference between a sloppy, unsuccessful internet business and a successful, budding enterprise is research and planning. It’s not always the most exciting part of the ride, but without it you’ll have a very short ride indeed. Think of things in terms of the long run. If you put sloppy content or design up on your site it will leave an awful first impression, one that’s hard to run out of people’s minds. Start out strong and there’s no where to go but up!

I talk a lot about figuring out your personal comfort zone, etc. But now you need to find your niche.

What’s going to make your business unique and fresh to an already established industry?

Whether you’re selling environmentally friendly sex toys, or porn shot exclusively in corn fields you need to know the power behind it. Why start up a business in which hundreds of other people have already established a name for themselves?

If you want to put one foot ahead of the game, be unique. Find something that people want, but don’t yet have. Something new and fresh. Find a personality trait, a market, an audience for what you want to do. Look at what’s out there, and figure out what’s lacking. You have the opportunity to bring something completely brand new to the industry. Take advantage of it! You might even have a bit of fun researching your competition. (Okay it can actually be a lot of fun!)

To be clear, I will not solely focus on running a paysite here. Instead I will attempt to cover a broad area of business endeavors. My favorites:

• Paysite Owner
• Sex Toy Shop Owner
• Sex Blogger
• Boudoir Photographer
• Porn Star
• Commercial Nude Model
• Sex Educator

My expertise is in running a paysite, because that’s how I make a living and I have been doing it since I was 18. But I’ve dabbled in other areas and really love to blog and write just as well. In running a paysite by myself I hold all sorts of job titles: accountant, model, photographer, web designer, graphic designer, photo editor, makeup artist, creative director, marketing exec, customer support technician, and so on… It takes many talents to be a self employed person running their own business. I haven’t mastered them all, and plan on sharing the mistakes I’ve learned from. I’ve done a lot of “trial and error” with my business without any real plan to follow or model to recreate within my business. Hopefully you can take what parts of this blog you need and apply them to your own website or business, and leave the rest if it does not apply to you specifically.

Reader interaction is encouraged and I know we can all learn from each other. Leave questions in the comment area or send it straight to me via my contact page. Other readers may have more expertise or knowledge about certain specifics so add your thoughts and advice to the site whenever you want. I love to hear from you all!

Here are some amazing books I’ve added to my home library and really enjoyed.

In my title you may notice my little slogan “the art of The One Woman Show”. Now what is it? It’s fairly simple. It’s the creative result of an ambitious sexy woman! This blog is focused at those looking to start modeling, web design, photography, etc. I run a paysite on my own entirely and get a LOT of questions about how it’s done. It’s a really great experience because you never have to comprimise for anyone else. It’s your own business and you have total control. I think with the right insider stories, product reviews, and cautions I can share a great deal about making your sexiest dreams come true.

I’m all about going after what you’re most passionate in life and for me, it’s even better to help others do the same. I’ll be accepting email questions in an Ask Joodie type way. Ask your questions, be detailed, be vague and I’ll give you the best answer possible on this blog. Send your questions to joodie@postlapsaria.net and make sure to let me know that it is a question for Wildly Passionate. Whatever you may be wondering,  I have no doubt, others are too. I’m hoping to review the best stores for lingerie, sexy toys, sex positive companies and affiliates, and generally fantastic people to get hooked up with in creating your One Woman Show. It’s all about you being the boss and calling all the shots. So send me a message and ask away. And stay tuned for some awesome reviews I have set up.

From paysite, to private cam show, to selling photo sets, and other adult products. You need to get paid. You’ve done the work, you’ve provided a service of some sort… now what? Most payment processing websites out there exclude adult content, which means your options are limited. Now you just have to make the best choice for you and decide what you’re willing to sacrifice or not.

There are certain risks that companies must deal with if they decide to accept transactions of the adult nature. Liability and other legal issues are a big concern.

Complying with laws and regulations is key.

A quality billing company will make sure they have all the proper papers before providing you with any sort of payment solutions.

• If you have a paysite, your credit card and billing processor will take a percentage off the top of your profits for their services.
• You will need to sign a contract of some sort. Read it carefully!
• Proof of age (usually two forms of ID) are very common as well. Keep them on hand, but don’t share them before reading all the small print.
• Often, with each billing option you want to have available to your customers, you will have to make a small sacrifice in the form of a fee or percentage.

The most important thing, is that you aren’t giving up any rights to your content; meaning images, videos, or words. Like any creative genre you should retain full rights to your creations. Don’t accidentally give away your identity in favor of money or traffic unless that’s something you’ve decided to do. I’ll discuss modeling for existing sites in a later article.

I’ll be comparing the services and products out there today individually and in further detail, so that you can get the most of what you deserve and still provide quality solutions for your customers. Remember, your customer’s number one concern is safety: Is their private information being kept private? And your website’s main concern is maximizing profits without sacrificing quality. Stay tuned for my tops choices and reviews!

I thought I’d take advantage of my laziness last night before heading to bed. Falling asleep with your makeup on, a big no no. Yeah, well, sometimes people get tired. Upon waking I realized I had dark bags under my eyes and smeary left over mascara from the day beforehand. Which brings me to my focus, being photogenic (or not).

Starting out as a fresh faced web model you’ll probably be handling your own makeup (and styling, outfit changes, accounting, etc!) and need to know the difference from your usual look and a photo ready look. Here’s a picture where I focus on each point listed below, it will keep you looking like the beautiful vixen you are. No matter how many pounds they say the camera adds, a little effort will keep the confident spark in your eye when you know you’re looking fabulous.

The camera picks up and highlights different things than your naked eye may see when looking in the mirror. What looks great under a dull incandescent light bulb, could be a horrific color mismatch under the glare of a raw camera flash.

Pay close attention to:

Your under eyes.

Mine have a purple or blue tint to them and poor color balance on a typical digital camera can make your eyes look more sullen and tired than usual. A light concealer or under eye brightening tool clears this problem up easily. I’ve used Smashbox Photo Op, DuWop doubleglow7, Tarte Rest Assured Brightening Wand, or a simple Maybelline Cover Stick from my local drugstore. For maximum brightening use a yellow tinted concealer to cancel out any blue or purple darkness.
(can be used on cheeks and brow bone also),

Your eyebrows.

They show expression shape your face and frame your eyes. They’re important! Use a tweezers regularly and keep them looking the way you want. I use a brow filler and brow wax to further shape and fill my brows before a big photo shoot. Full brows are sexy and tiny tadpole brows just look unnatural and are not flattering. An easy way to bring more attention to the eyes is to add a highlighter to your brow bone. So keep them natural, it makes a world of difference!

Your cheekbones and jaw line.

Why? Certain angles can give you a circular shaped baby face or a double chin. Definition and good bone structure can mean the difference between BAM and BLAH! Good lighting can nearly eliminate any worries about this, but usually I just use available light or the flash right on the camera. So if you have a blush or contour powder a shade and a half darker than your natural color it can be carefully applied to minimize the chances of a slightly less photogenic you. Don’t ever go overboard, just a small amount of powder in the hollows of your cheeks and along your lower jaw line will do the trick.
*Also: to make your nose look smaller, you can contour the sides with the powder and you have an insta-fake-nosejob!

Your mouth.

Pucker up! (Though fish faces might be a bit too much.) Alright, the key is simple, moisturize. Chapstick, lipgloss, Vaseline, whatever! A smooth, sexy pout is key to a great shot. Lipstick alone tends to make lips look dry or aged, so if you do use it, add lipgloss on top to keep your pout as shiny as possible. Oh and make sure your teeth are clean and fresh! If you feel like whitening them Crest Whitestrips have cut the costs down immensly and are a wonderful investment for a happy smile. Nothing is sexier than a happy, smiling, vixen!

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