Every day people ask me how to develop a winning strategy for their own OnlyFans page, how I started (in hopes they can glean something from my story), and what led to my success. I can honestly chalk it up to a little bit of luck and a whole lot of experience.
After nearly a decade in media, I wanted to apply my skills to a different kind of content and I knew I wanted to build a brand. Boys To Breed was originally, “Boys We Breed,” but I didn’t think it hit the same way. The universe echoed the sentiment, and, soon after accruing around twenty thousand followers, a wrongly placed albeit pretty dick picture in my banner got my profile indefinitely suspended. Luckily, Boys To Breed was still in my mind and I quickly made the shift. But before you even make your OnlyFans, the first thing you’ll need is a good Twitter handle. Don’t make any of these mistakes deciding what it should be…
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First Lesson: Pick something catchy that sticks in your head and the audience’s when choosing a discernible brand name.
I knew I’d made a mistake first registering Boys We Breed as my Twitter handle about a month in. But it stuck enough with the audience that when I returned, my followers came back quickly. I didn’t want anything too generic, that wouldn’t be memorable. But, I did want something that was very straightforward and descriptive of the type of content I was doing. I hazard anyone making an account today to stay away from anything regional, such as handles with cities in them. If you want to last, don’t pick a name that will limit your capacity. As you grow you’re going to have to venture out for collaborations, and tacking a city to your username will slow you down and limit your appeal to potential audiences and talent.
Example: Take any of your favorite creators and add the city they live in onto their names. I’ll try it with you… Since I’m a fan of porn legend Brent Corrigan, I’ll use his: Brent Corrigan LA. Already, I hate it. Why? Because he’s so much bigger than that.
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Another pet peeve includes handles with numbers in them. Don’t choose a username that has numbers. It’ll make it harder for the audience to remember and more difficult to search for. You don’t need anyone to have to remember the right number just to find your page and content—that rule extends to your OnlyFans username and any other social media handles you will be applying for once you start.
Example: This may hit too close to home for some, but have you ever called a family member or friend, maybe even a doctor’s office, and gotten voicemail, only to stumble when leaving a message because you forgot your own phone number? How many of you write down your phone number just in case you have to leave a message? I do. Numbers are difficult to remember! (I don’t even have my parent’s phone numbers memorized.) Don’t do it to your potential subscribers when they need you to end their day on a high note. And, yes, I’m referring to them getting off to your content.
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The last piece of advice I have on picking a handle for your OnlyFans is making it something that can outlast you. Cher, Madonna, Bono, hell, I’ll even throw in Jesus, all go by one universal name and they’re easy to remember. Plus, there can only be one! Choose a name that feels familiar but is still unique. I can’t tell you how many handles I’ve seen with the word “top” and “bottom” in them. Unless your content is extraordinarily different and you can define yourself in a way that sets you apart from every other top and bottom handle, don’t do it. Do a little work by seeking out your favorite accounts and seeing what they do.
Example: There have been a series of bottlenecks when it comes to breaking through to get your content seen. I’d say we’ve come through two or three great waves in the past two years. During COVID we experienced the first. A plethora of creators in NYC were competing to have their content seen—myself included. But I can remember a dozen or so that didn’t experience the growth that I did. I attribute that breakthrough to my selection of a proper handle, branding, and high-quality content. The accounts that failed to break through were not surprisingly accounts that broke my last rule. They were branded as anonymous tops or bottoms, who couldn’t separate themselves from the pack and had doomed themselves with a vague username that was hardly distinguishable from all the other stars that had chosen to water themselves down for mass appeal. Some of those accounts are still sitting at 30 or 40 thousand followers two years later.