Hi there boho’s!! Right now, today, I am going to do a double post, so this is #1 for obvious reasons. As I spent almost a decade in the clubs and have long since retired it’s awesome to share all these things with y’all that I would have normally kept secret. I hope you can use them to plan your weeks or figure out which time is best for your club. One disclaimer: these are generalizations, each club is different because every location has different vibes. But these are the typical, traditional shifts, let’s check out their pro’s and con’s:
TICK TOCK BITCH
Daytime Shifts – Since I am writing this in the daytime, I thought that it would be easiest to start here. Daytime shifts are amazing because you’re finished in time for dinner. I switched to daytime when I started dating someone that I wanted to spend my nights with (if you know what I mean). Day shift is a different animal, but I went on to work it for a few years, and here is how to know it’s for you.
For daytime dancers, you usually get there between 10 AM -12 PM I wanted to get there by the lunchtime shift at this one club on Fridays because they did this thing on stage to get people to tip and it always worked and kicked the day off right. Then there is always the afternoon lull before happy hour! Happy Hour is when I had the most fun. I digress. Happy hour is great if you can get in with a group of dudes that come in every day. They might buy dances sometimes, but they are there to keep your morale up and buy you drinks. Then you can seize your prize of the day shift – the lonely guy who just got off work. Now this lonely guy can be a one-off or turn into a regular so know how to do that and figure out if you want him to be in your daytime regulars.
Working daytime will give you so so so many regular clients because in most cities you won’t be dealing with the tourist crowd that comes at night. These clients are local and will come back to see you if you hit it off. Pick the last guy and make the most money off him and if you have time try to find one more local before you clock out around 7. I rarely stayed past 7 PM working the day shift which was also amazing because: hello regular sleep schedule. You DO have to watch your drinking during the daytime. I would just stick to wine and NO shots/liquor and this would help me keep a nice buzz but not go too hard I couldn’t drive.
One club would do like half-price bottles on Weds and I would just have a guy buy me bottles to get the booth – he’s happy with the booth, I’d sip out of a bottle, and then cork it and put it in my locker. I have drunk many very expensive bottles for free while relaxing at my house. (In my state you can take alcohol home with you).
Cons: Daytime shifts ruin productivity. You don’t get off dayshift and want to work out or do anything other than eat, fuck, and sleep. You must get all your productive shit done before you go in and also while doing your makeup and getting ready so that takes some time. It does end up a longer day if you try to get all of this in before your shift. And don’t try to bring work to the club. You will get frustrated if you don’t do anything (because you won’t). I would try to “work” or “study” during the afternoon lull and I never did anything of merit. This also takes you away from where you are – and in the club, it is especially important to be present.
Night Shift – There are a variety of types of night shifts, but my most successful ones are working at clubs that don’t close at 2 AM but offer some sort of “after-hours” so from 2-4 or 2-6 AM hopefully with a breakfast buffet. The shifts are LONG – that is the point of the night shift. You should only be working 1 or 2 of these types of shifts a week. I’ll tell you why. The weekends are going to be the easiest and the most draining. If you do weeknights, you will burn yourself out. If you get the after-hours that is extra time to make money for an intoxicated client. To me, this is like “shooting fish in a barrel”.
Nighttime shifts should get there around 5-6 PM see above about local daytime happy hour clients. If you can find one of these and get him to stay that is so great because he probably must be “home” by 9 or 10 PM and then you can start the shift with a heads up when most of the other girls have just gotten there. Also, I use this time to warm up to the space and get a stage rotation out of the way. This sets up my night for success later when I am selling only cabanas or VIPs and I don’t have to worry about the stage rotation.
Ladies in the nighttime do not forget, to treat this like a job. Do not do their drugs, bring your own. Do not get overly intoxicated. They close sales of liquor before after-hours starts in my state so I would have a few hours to sober up before going home. Even though your after-hours on the weekend should be your most lucrative. If you aren’t taking advantage of this and the happy hour time – probably going to end up a lazy, entitled stripper alone at the bar on your phone and not making any money……I digress.
Cabanas are the best and easiest way to make money at night. Memorize the rates and wiggle room so you can judge the client and either take them to the cleaners or give them a “good deal”.
Free one-liner for you: Let’s just get the money out of the way so the fun can start…
You only want to do this shift once or twice per week because you will probably be worthless the next day.
Split Shift: This is my absolute favorite shift. During this shift, you can expect to work 4-6 PM to Midnight (Most split shifts have this rule that you must be clocked out by midnight). This is to prevent competition from the other girls, and they want you to pay a night house fee if you do decide to stay. Trust me you can work a double if you want lol.
But the best part of the split is getting to leave early. It feels like you worked a good shift, but you’re not trashed the entire next day. Also, the clientele is way better and since this post is already long, I have made an entirely other post about WHY SPLIT SHIFT IS MY FAVORITE SHIFT.
If your club doesn’t have a split shift go talk to them and see if they will work with you. Most clubs will accommodate a split shift, especially if you don’t go bragging about it. Keep it quiet, blame another job, childcare, or school, and say you need help with the schedule.
So which shift is right for you? Hard to say. As I mentioned, I think it depends on your schedule and goals. If you do it right, you can work all the shifts per week and get all the clients. Local and out of town. But it depends on how much you want to or need to work.
These are the typical shifts, keep a balance and figure out which one works best for your city or the club you are working at. There are clubs/cities more geared toward nights or days. But whatever you do, pick one and stick with it. That is how you create clients. Give it 90 days.
Love and glitter,
BW
