Sabien DeMonia has been camming for over four years, with over 15 years of experience in the adult industry. You can find her on Streamate and CherryTV. She recently sat down with Cam101 to answer burning questions and spill the tea about the state of the camming industry and advice she would give to beginner cam models.
As an ambassador for CherryTV, what do you like about the platform and what do you think still needs to be improved?
CherryTV has a lot of great aspects, but it is also a camming site that is just starting out. For example, they don’t have the ability for privates yet, which is where I like to work mostly. I am not really a Freemium girl, because people can just find that content on Pornhub and don’t feel motivated to tip. It’s all about creating an experience. My viewers feel like they can have a one-on-one experience with a pornstar.
How did you build your current following?
I began my career in modeling when social media was just starting out. I built a huge following as a glamour, fetish, and tattoo model. I accumulated a massive following on Facebook, back when it when in its early days. Now I have over 85,000 followers on Instagram and what I have learned is the most important thing is to be genuine with your fans. It may sound cliché, but being yourself is the best thing you can do to gain a following. If you try to pretend to be something that you are not, your fans will sense this and figure out that you’re a fake. If fans get to know you, like you, then it won’t matter what platforms you are on because they will follow you. I have one guy who has followed me from the start of my career when I began at a studio in Estonia. Since then, he has followed me onto OnlyFans, CherryTV, etc. He doesn’t mind setting up new accounts wherever I move to because he has formed an attachment to me and is a loyal fan. You can form healthy relationships with your fans by being yourself and being friendly. A good tip is to remember your fans' names or nicknames. Keeping their names in mind shows that you really care and make them feel special.
Looking back on your career, is there anything that you wish you knew at the beginning or something you would have done differently?
Yes, there are quite a few things I would change, but most importantly is to not let people pressure you to do things you are not comfortable with. Don’t speed up things. If you are all about the chase, you do not let yourself grow. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t chase people’s opinions so much and I wouldn’t chase the trends. I would focus on developing my own tempo and rhythm. In the past, I felt pressured by my agent to do a hardcore level of porn when I wasn’t yet ready for it. It felt like a challenge to do, which it should not. Anything that you do should feel natural and right at the time. As a result, I did gain a fanbase, but they came with the expectation of highly hardcore sexual content all the time. Therefore, you may have the repercussion of having to turn down content requests because it will be for an area you are not comfortable with. If you find people pressuring you to do things you are not comfortable with, it means that they don’t have your best interest in mind. They are thinking about the bottom line, rather than what is best for you.
What advice would you give on how to price your content?
What I have found helpful is to first calculate the cost of creating the content. This includes your time spent creating the content as well as any physical costs. If it is a piece of content that causes you to spend a lot of time getting ready, getting a lot of props, and you invest a lot of time marketing it, then I would charge a higher price. In addition to calculating the costs, I do some research prior to creating content to see the interest level. I usually start with my base rate, then add all the extra costs and factor in the supposed interest level.
My prices for groups and privates are very different. This is because in group chats, I do not have a lot of levels in my tip menu and I do not expect to do any extreme or hardcore stuff. If what you are offering is not terribly unique, and there are a ton of girls already doing the same thing, it is best not to overprice yourself and remain competitive. However, if what you offer is special or is difficult to find, then you can charge a premium for it. The more niche your fetish is, the more you can charge for it because there are not a lot of individuals out there offering it.
Sometimes quality is more important, and sometimes quantity is more important. In group shows, quantity is the key. The larger the audience you can attract, the better. In these cases, it is best to keep your prices low to reach the most amount of people. For example, with OnlyFans, quantity is the most important thing and on ManyVids the quality is far more important.
Is there any general tips or advice you would give to new cam models just starting out?
Don’t get discouraged. It may take time or a few platforms to find your footing but stick with it. I personally went through four or five platforms before I found the ones that I liked the most. As the creators, we are the ones with the power that fuel the platform. In this sense, just make sure you are creating content that you enjoy and you eventually will find the right platform for you. Every platform has a different approach and business model, so every model will like different things on every site.
It is also important to not put all your eggs in one basket. As just witnessed on Pornhub and OnlyFans, if you are only on one platform, you are risking your business and earning potential. By diversifying your income, you are increasing your safety to continue earning.
Also, it is important to work smarter, not harder. If you find yourself strapped for time, you can reuse the content in different ways. For example, if you want to produce clips but do not have time then you can record one of your cam streams and sell it on different platforms. This can also result in more people coming to your shows because they watched a recording of one and liked what you did.
In the end, it is most important to cover yourself. This means keeping documentation of every content you produce and make sure all the legalities are properly done. Relationships can change over the course of your career, and without the correct documents, you are putting yourself at risk for lawsuits or people screwing you over. Just keep doing what you love safely and the rest will follow!
If you are a fan of Sabien DeMonia, show your support! She is nominated for Cam Model of the Year by XBIZ Europa Awards and you can vote for her here. You can vote as many times as you would like and the winner will be announced on September 16th at the XBIZ Berlin Virtual Summit.
Also, follow her on Instagram and Twitter for high-quality content and relevant news.
