Building regulars

Regulars are the whole business

A busy Saturday with strangers is a good night. A quiet Tuesday with three regulars who came because you told them you would be there is a career. Regulars are predictable money, lower risk and the thing that carries you through slow months. Almost every dancer who lasts has learned how to build and keep them.

How a stranger becomes a regular

It usually comes down to three things that have nothing to do with how you look.

You remembered him. His name, what he does, that his kid had a game last week. Keep notes if you need to; plenty of dancers keep a private list on their phone with first names and a detail or two. Nothing identifying about you, just enough to pick up the thread.

He had a good time without being hustled. The customer who gets squeezed for every dollar on night one does not come back. The one who feels like he spent his money and enjoyed it does. Leave him wanting one more dance, not regretting the last one.

He knows when you will be there. This is the piece most dancers skip. A customer who liked you but does not know your schedule comes back on a random night, you are not there, he spends his money on someone else, and that is the end. Tell him your nights before he leaves. Better still, put them somewhere he can check.

Keeping them without giving yourself away

The hard part is being warm and consistent without handing out your personal life. Some lines that hold:

• Your schedule is public. Your phone number is not. Point him to your profile or a work-only account.
• You are glad to see him. You are not available between shifts.
• Gifts are welcome. Gifts do not buy anything beyond what you already offer.
• You never discuss the other customers with him, or him with the others.

If a regular starts asking for more than this, read the piece on regulars who cross the line. The best regulars understand the deal. A few will test it, and a quick, kind, firm answer sorts them.

A schedule they can find

Posting where you will be, consistently, is the single most effective thing you can do for regulars. On VestaModels, your profile carries a "Where to see me" schedule: venue, date, repeating weekly if your shifts repeat. It also appears on the venue page and on your city's Dancers page, so a customer who only remembers the club or the city can still find your nights. There is no messaging and no booking, just the schedule, which is exactly what you want a regular to have.

Give the link once, in person. Then keep it current. A schedule that is wrong is worse than none, because he came and you were not there.