This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
I've got a timely episode for you today. Welcome to "Saudiceful School." Thanks for tuning in. We're gonna talk today about OnlyFans. That's right, the platform or network known as OnlyFans. How many times have we talked about OnlyFans on the podcast?
Exactly zero, I think. Maybe we've mentioned it a couple of times, but I don't actually feature a lot of OnlyFans content or creators, and that's because we keep it pretty family-friendly here on the podcast. In case you're not familiar with, the OnlyFans platform had tremendous growth at the beginning of the pandemic, largely due to amateur online sex workers, actually, I should say, sometimes professional online sex workers who solicited supporters through the platform. Now, some of these performers have done very well. There's been lots of news stories about them earning tens of thousands of dollars a month, though, of course, I think it's also good to point out that many others have not done so well.
Now, today's caller, this brings me to the focus of today's episode because it is a family-friendly podcast. Today's caller does not want to do that kind of work. She's wondering about using the platform for something much more PG rated, okay? So OnlyFans was not originally set up to be primarily or exclusively for adult entertainment. It's just kind of turned out that way.
So she's wondering, can you use it for other things? And of course, people do, but there are some questions that kind of come up about that. So also one note, in the time since this question has come in, the rules have changed once again. So the OnlyFans ban on adult content has actually been lifted, what she's referring to here in her question. So that's gonna factor a bit into the answer as well.
So I will address that in my answer first, a shout out to our sponsor, and then the detailed question. [Music]
Hi, Chris, this is Stacy, and I recently started listening to the show. I'd like to start a fan club and I'm wondering about the best way to do it. Now that OnlyFans has announced that they're removing sexually explicit content, I'm giving it more serious consideration. However, I worry about the stigma of being an OnlyFans creator, even though it no longer has that adult content.
I think some people will still think porn when they think OnlyFans, and that has nothing to do with my fan club. Should I be worried? Are there any good alternatives? Thanks. [Music]
Hey Stacy, thank you for listening.
Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for the question as well. I'm excited about your fan club and definitely want to have you get off to a good start. So, you know, short version here is I agree with you. I think people will definitely think porn or adult content, let's say, when they think OnlyFans.
In the news recently, OnlyFans announced that they were going to remove certain types of adult content, but there was a bit of an uproar from some of those performers and they've actually put it back. So it's not actually going to be off the platform now, and I think it will continue to be the majority of the content. Whether that's the case or it changes again in the future, personally, I'm not sure the stigma, or at least the, let's just say the perception, can be overcome, at least not easily. So it's not a perfect comparison, but there's a number of far right political networks that exist as an alternative to Twitter or Facebook. And so some of these networks, they aspire to go mainstream.
They say that they don't want to just be about politics, but if you look at them and you read some of the content, like the vast majority of it, is a certain type of political commentary. So it's kind of hard to break away from a label or category like that once you have been so established or steeped in it, you could say. So when it comes to OnlyFans, I personally think the brand is forever associated with that, with that adult content, or at least it will be for the foreseeable future. And in the world of social platforms and networks, a lot of things can happen in the foreseeable future. So I would look at Patreon.
I think that's the most obvious alternative, the most direct comparison, but I would also consider building your audience on a network like TikTok, or at least attracting an audience on a network like TikTok that's beginning to offer more monetization opportunities. And eventually you want to get them off TikTok and onto your website and such, but we've talked about that elsewhere. Overall, as we have seen before, if you have audience, you have lots of options. If you don't, it's much harder. So whatever decision you make, make it first and foremost with a question of where can I recruit and cultivate and nurture an audience?
That's my two cents on that. Thank you again for the question. Listeners, if you have a question, sidehustleschool.com/questions. You'll continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects. I'll let you know if I make an OnlyFans account myself, but probably not gonna happen.
So until then, come back tomorrow, new episode every day. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
