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The average guy's guide to the adult industry

The question guys ask me most is how to get into this: how I started, what it takes, how to get collabs. I've written most of the answers already, but a blog sorts by date, and someone starting out needs a path. This is the path, in the order I'd read it.

I'm not a veteran. I'm a regular guy a little further down this road than you. Most of it applies to anyone starting out; a few sections are written for guys specifically.

Before you start

Read these before you sign up for anything.

  1. How to become a male performer in the adult industry

    Start here. Most of this job is business and paperwork, and the sex is the smallest part of the week.

  2. The first 90 days in the adult industry, starting from zero

    The order I'd do things in if I were starting from zero tomorrow, and the mistakes I'd skip.

  3. Five myths about adult performers that the internet keeps repeating

    Clears out what people assume about this work before it shapes your decisions.

  4. How I got started in adult content as an average guy

    How I went from one X account to my first professional scene, and the first thing I'd tell you to do.

Your body on camera

Some guys never get past the mirror. These are about getting past that, and keeping your body working through long shoot days.

  1. Body confidence as a big guy on camera starts as a decision

    How I got on camera as a big guy, and why the decision came before the confidence.

  2. Being a BHM performer in an industry built for gym bodies

    What being a big male performer looks like in an industry built around gym bodies, and what's shifting.

  3. How I train: a male performer's gym routine, in plain English

    A training week that holds up through long shoots and travel, without the bro-science.

  4. Staying healthy as an adult creator: fitness and the long game

    The physical and mental load of this work, and what keeps people going for years.

Getting collabs

My rules here are short. Be professional. Everybody isn't for everybody. Ask politely, but always ask, even when the other person is a much bigger name than you. They might say yes. The posts below cover how to ask so it lands.

  1. How to ask a creator to collab without getting ignored

    How to write a collab pitch that gets an answer, and why "wanna collab?" doesn't.

  2. Asking a bigger creator to collab, and taking the no

    Why I ask people bigger than me anyway, the rates I get quoted, and how I answer a no without burning a bridge.

  3. What being a professional actually means in the adult industry

    How to approach people, take a no, and do the unglamorous work that keeps you bookable.

  4. How I pick collaborators (and what I look for in a co-star)

    The other side of the ask: the checklist I run when a collab request lands with me.

  5. Who I shoot with, and why

    What makes someone worth booking again, from the people I already shoot with.

  6. "We can get you to $10k/month" — how I read agency DMs and management contracts

    Agencies will find you once you start. How to tell a real business from a contract built to own you.

Paperwork before the first shoot

All of it gets signed before anyone undresses. I'm not a lawyer, and none of this is legal advice. These posts cover how I handle each piece and where the rules come from. Have a lawyer check anything with real stakes.

  1. The first-collab paperwork checklist: every document, in the order you'll actually need it

    The four layers of paperwork for a first collab, in the order they happen.

  2. What actually goes in a collab agreement — clause by clause, from someone who signs them

    The clauses that do the work in a collab agreement, and the ones people skip.

  3. The content trade agreement: what a no-money collab needs on paper

    Why a content trade still needs paperwork, in both directions.

  4. The collab clause nobody writes: what happens when they don't show

    Shoots get cancelled. The clause I'd write so a day-of cancellation costs you less.

  5. 2257 for solo creators: yes, it applies to you, and here's the file to build

    In the US, if you publish explicit content you're the producer, and producers keep the records. Solo shoots included.

  6. When a co-star won't show ID or sign the paperwork

    When a co-star won't show ID or sign, and why, in the US, that scene can't go up.

  7. The people I filmed first wouldn't sign the paperwork

    The people I filmed before my first professional scene wouldn't sign a release. What that taught me.

  8. Free model paperwork tools — §2257, model release, model agreement, BDSM consent

    The four forms I use, free in the browser: 2257, model release, model agreement and BDSM consent.

  9. The AI clause in your next contract is the one to read first

    The AI clause turning up in performer contracts, where it hides, and what to push back on.

On set

What a shoot day takes, from setup to the last angle.

  1. What actually goes into a scene (the SFW version)

    Most of a good scene happens before anyone's clothes come off. The business side of how one gets built.

  2. How I prep for a shoot: stamina on set as a male performer

    How I prep for a shoot day: what I eat, what I skip, and how I pace a scene.

  3. What equipment adult content creators actually need

    What gear to buy, in what order. Lighting beats cameras, and audio beats both.

  4. The male performer's playbook for AVN-week and expo shoots

    A field manual for expo week as a male performer: booking priority, testing, prep and on-set rules.

Selling it

Shooting it is only part of the job. Somebody has to buy it.

  1. How to start an OnlyFans in 2026: the setup checklist

    Setting up an OnlyFans as a business: platform mechanics, pricing, and the mistakes that end accounts early.

  2. Who actually buys male performer content

    Who's on the other end of the sale for a male performer. The answer surprises most guys.

Living with it

This work comes home with you. Plan for that.

  1. Pineapple Support: free mental health help for adult creators, and how to use it

    Free and pay-what-you-can mental health support for working adult creators who qualify, and how to ask for it.