Milki Mailbag: Advice From Top OFM Agencies
I Asked Top Agency Owners What They Wish They Knew on Day One of OFM
I’m lucky enough to communicate regularly with some of the most performant OFM agencies in the world, and I’m always interested in hearing what other successful people in my line of work are doing. I recently asked some of the people I respect most in the industry what they wish they knew when they got started.
This essay contains my favorite responses. I’m going to quote each person directly, then explain whether I agree or disagree with each particular insight. By the end of this essay, you’ll be armed with some of the most useful information possible on what mistakes to avoid and what will make you successful as you establish and grow your agency.
Tip 1: Choose Your Clients Wisely
“I have free will regarding who I work with. Some of these girls really are dead weight and hold you back.”
This is a very common sentiment among agency owners, although I haven’t experienced it firsthand. Every agency has a story about a creators who doesn’t produce content, stops paying, violates their contract or jumps from agency to agency. “Lazy” creators are apparently such a problem that there are now AI content creation tools that let agencies feed a generative model pictures of a real creator and pump out tons of photorealistic b-roll and thirst traps.
While I agree with the sentiment, I actually think it’s largely the fault of the agencies rather than the models, and there are two easy ways to avoid this issue.
It could be that I’m just extremely lucky, but I suspect many agencies just aren’t doing a great job vetting their clients or have low expectations and practices that don’t properly incentivize effort and performance from their models. If you’re new, take the time to interview and vet clients to determine if they’re worth working with. Don’t feel like you have to sign a model just to have another client on the roster- it’s a waste of your agency’s time and resources. The model is not doing you a favor by signing the contract. You are making her richer than she would ever otherwise be able to do on her own, and sharing the fruits of both of your labor. It is a mutually beneficial exchange.
Agencies somehow forget the word MANAGEMENT in OnlyFans MANAGEMENT. They expect that once a model signs a contract, there will never be any issues again. Clients are just like employees- there are some that require lots of supervision and some that do amazing work on their own, but every now and then there WILL be a problem for you to deal with. Part of your job is to guide your clients and get your clients to do the things THEY need to do to be successful. Talent management necessarily involves dealing with some… let’s be nice and say irrational behavior. A lot of OFM agency owners are young and inexperienced- not just in business, but frankly, with women and their silliness, and this leads to them thinking that the problem is with the model when in reality it’s in their silliness management skills.
Systematize Your Business
“When I started, I didn’t know anything about running a business. I thought I had it all figured out because I got lucky and landed big accounts. In reality, my hair was going grey at 23, and my life could have been 10x easier if I’d put processes in place and hired the right people early on.”
This might sound obvious, but it’s a huge key to success. A lot of guys getting into OFM are young and inexperienced, and have never owned a business before—they just wing it. They build up a solid model, start making five figures a month, and think they’ve cracked the code. They do everything themselves—from recruiting to chatting to video editing—without creating standard operating procedures or systems. Their mindset is that they’ll do it all forever, and even worse, NOBODY CAN DO IT BETTER THAN THEY CAN- which is of course, false. You aren’t the best at everything you do, and you’re probably not the best at anything you do. The more your business depends entirely on you and your work to continue operating, the worse of a business you have built.
When burnout hits in six months, and you end up hating OFM because OFM business operations consist of hundreds of menial, repetitive tasks, your business will crumble and you’ll be fucked. In reality, all you needed to do was document your processes and hire a Filipino VA on Upwork for 5 bucks an hour to do the grunt work. Big numbers can fool you into thinking you’re doing everything right, but as a business owner, your job isn’t to do everything yourself. it’s to grow the business into an efficient, profitable machine.
Sit down for a day and figure out the things that you are actually best at- the intersection of what you enjoy doing that drives the most growth for the company. Then figure out all the mundane, but necessary tasks that take time away from those high-leverage tasks. Then create standard operating procedures for the shit you don’t want to do, and hire people to do it. Yes, you need to learn how to make good hiring decisions. Yes, it will cost money. Guess what- both of those things are true of every successful business ever in the history of capitalism, and if you make the right calls your employees will produce 2, 3, or 10x the value of what you pay them.
Embrace Reinvention at Every Revenue Threshold
“What got you to 50k/month won’t get you to 200k. What got you to 500k/month won’t get you to 1M. Be ready to throw everything you know away and start over at every revenue threshold.”
Strongly agree on this one. When I started OFM, I didn’t even know what chatting was. I got my first model to 60k/month just on PPV sales. Then, when I discovered chatting, I almost immediately broke through the 100k/month mark—albeit with only two chatters working 40 hours a week, whom I trained personally (despite not really knowing what I was doing). Once I hired a chatting agency to hire, train and manage my chat team, we almost immediately started clearing the 200k/month mark.
Milki is likely in the top 1% of agencies by revenue right now, but I know agency owners in the top .1% who clear my annual revenue every month. As a founder, my job is to figure out what they know that I don’t and close that gap. The moment you think you’ve got it all figured out is when you get lapped by those who understand that you need to learn new skills and test new ideas constantly to remain competitive.
Focus on the Basics, Not Just the Platform
“Algorithms change weekly, and platform regulations are in constant flux. If you don’t understand the fundamentals of marketing and try to game the platform, you’re setting yourself up for failure in the long run.”
I agree about 80% on this one. There are significant differences between platforms and extremely performant strategies that do NOT transfer across all social media.
The content that works best on TikTok is not what works best on Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts or X. It’s very difficult to master any given platform as a marketing funnel, and it’s worth taking the time to become an expert in whichever one performs best for your agency.
That said, the fundamentals of marketing and customer psychology do remain the same—even if the platforms themselves change. Lean into the platforms that work best for your agency, but study the fundamental reasons WHY content performs well and what psychological levers you need to pull to great content. Otherwise, if a platform suddenly becomes unfriendly to adult content creators and you’ve put all your eggs in that basket, you can get wrecked overnight.
Seek Mentors
“Find mentors early on, ideally from OF industry leaders.”
One of the reasons I create this content and started Milki’s consulting arm is to fill the gap in education and mentorship in the space. However, I disagree with the idea that mentorship is something you should actively seek out, and here’s why: many new agency owners are young and prone to idol worship, which can lead to getting scammed or misled by their “heroes”. They see the symbols of status- Lambos, Rolexes and pretty girls- and are willing to buy and believe whatever the person who displays those symbols has to offer. We are in the business of tricking horny men into buying content, yet ironically, I see so many men in this business who are tricked into buying coaching programs because they are horny for status. I think Andrew Tate is hilarious, but I don’t use him as a model for behavior, and I certainly wouldn’t buy any products he sells.
My take is that partnerships are more valuable than mentorships in this space, as long as you’re extremely selective about choosing a partner. If you opt to go the partner route, be sure to choose someone who has a different set of skills than you- ideally, that complement your deficiencies. If you’re a great marketer, but don’t have good operational instincts, you should find a COO. If you’re a great manager, but you don’t have technical skills, partner with a CTO. I have an amazing relationship with the owner of the chatting agency Milki uses—we’re constantly exchanging ideas, integrating new technologies, and sharing insights about our domain expertise. Even one strong relationship like that can 10x your business and personal growth, so if you can’t find a mentor, look for a partner.
Understand the Difference: Coaching vs. Consulting
“There’s a huge difference between coaching and consulting. Don’t waste your time or money on coaches.”
I see this trend in many industries: someone starts a business, fools a few people into buying their product, and suddenly considers themselves an expert, selling “coaching” on skills they just learned themselves.
The key difference is that coaching (as scammers offer it) is empty, generalized advice, while consulting (what Milki offers) is a dedicated set of services designed and tailored for your organization and situation. Our consulting focuses on a very narrow range of skills that we’ve spent thousands of hours perfecting—proven skills that have produced millions in revenue for us and our clients in operations management and organic social growth.
For example, if you hire an Instagram marketing “coach” for a month, they’ll gouge your eyes out to give you a boilerplate “this is how I do Instagram” template, add you to their shitty email list, offer a half-hearted weekly check-in call, and do the same thing for a dozen others. On the other hand, if you hire Milki as a CMO-for-hire, we dive into every minute detail of a creator’s persona, develop a unique, tailored content plan, provide training materials and a full production process for your team and the model—and at our highest service tier, even fly in an entire production crew for on-location filming and postproduction. If you’re interested in learning more, check out our agencies page and book a free initial consultation with us.
If you aren’t financially positioned to afford proper consulting, it’s STILL better and just as easy to find free resources like these essays or low-cost subscriptions like Shane Caroll Francis’ Telegram network and guides than it is to hire some shady coach who will take your money and run.
Build a Strong Roster of Quality Creators
“Get more quality creators faster. Relying on a few erratic women for your income—and that of your employees—is a surefire way to create stress.”
I only half-agree with this. Yes, it’s crucial to carefully vet prospective clients, set clear expectations, and only work with models and creators who have high upside. However, if you’re stressed by “erratic women,” you are in the wrong business. Milki often works with demanding, volatile clients because… we’re in talent management for adult content creators—what do you expect? If you’re not 100% confident in your ability to manage female behavior, you probably shouldn’t be in a business where your income is dependent on them.
It’s similar to Hollywood talent managers and agents: if you expect your clients to be normal, rational, well-adjusted people, you’re going to be disappointed. Not a lot of people with stable backgrounds and rock-solid mental health voluntarily get into sex work. When a high-performing client bombs you with emotional outbursts and demands, it’s part of your job to understand their unique psychology, figure out what the actual underlying problem is, calm them down, and get them to perform. If that isn’t a skill you have, you better develop it—or hire something like a client success manager who can handle it for you.
Maximize Revenue from Every Customer
“Non-spenders are not non-customers. You just haven’t figured out how to sell to them yet.”
Love this one. Agencies call the customers who want to chat all day without paying “timewasters.” They assume every subscriber is a mindless simp who will shower the model with cash just for acknowledging that they exist. Sure, you’ll get fans who subscribe and then drop hundreds or even thousands on a creator in the first few days—but they’re a tiny fraction of your customer base. If you’re not actively extracting value from the remaining 90%, you’re failing to monetize your largest customer cohort.
A so-called “timewaster” just needs a different selling tactic. Train your chatters to be salespeople, not just order-takers. If someone has already subscribed to your creator and is actively chatting, you have a qualified, engaged lead- if you can’t sell to them, it’s YOUR FAULT. Yes, many top customers might be undersocialized porn addicts who are predisposed to compulsive spending. Yes, you still have to put the work in to separate them from their money. Some customers want to develop a connection and need thoughtful engagement rather than a hard sell. Some customers need to be held emotionally hostage or guilted into spending. Figure out their spending triggers, or you’re missing out on massive revenue opportunities.
Let's talk about "whales" – the 20% of fans who generate 80% of your revenue. These high-spenders drop thousands on your models, but finding them is completely random right now. What if you could turn that random luck into a repeatable science? Imagine leveraging your model's social media presence to identify THOUSANDS of potential whales, reach them DIRECTLY AT SCALE, and funnel them straight to your OnlyFans pages with conversion rates of 10-30%? This isn't a pipe dream. Our proprietary tool Harpoon does exactly this. During initial testing, Harpoon generated over $35,000 in revenue for a SINGLE MODEL in just one month. We've since enhanced the algorithm to make it even more effective. Why continue with inefficient, scattered marketing when you could be precisely targeting the fans most likely to spend? Visit harpoon or click down below to discover how agencies like yours are revolutionizing their approach to high-value customer acquisition. The whales are out there – Harpoon helps you catch them.
Time Is Your Most Valuable Resource
This is my contribution to the list:
“Time is the most valuable resource you have, and figuring out how to use it optimally is the most valuable skill you will ever learn.”
I worked 60–80 hour weeks throughout my 20s in an extremely unforgiving industry—no holidays, two weeks of vacation, didn’t even have Christmas off. And I loved it! A part of me even misses it now. You SHOULD be working that hard when you’re in your 20s and single. But now that I’m older, I have other priorities outside of work. Admitting that was hard, and I still struggle with feeling guilty or lazy for not dedicating every moment of my life to work.
Working 80-hour weeks when work is the only thing in your life—when you’re single and far from family—is very different from working 80-hour weeks while maintaining familial relationships, a romantic relationship, or especially raising children. The good news is you can start and grow a company while maintaining those priorities if you have systems in place for managing your time.
Often, that means you have to arbitrage time for money. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THIS. If I could go back in time, I would have DRILLED into my head that it’s okay to be comfortable spending money to save time by hiring assistants and other key personnel to take tasks I didn’t need to be doing off my plate. Based on my income and how many hours I work in a year, my time is worth around $1500 an hour. The rule of thumb I use is: if I can hire someone to do the things I don’t want to do for 25% of that or less, simply put, it’s worth the money. As your hourly rate increases, so too should the number of tasks you hire out and delegate so that you can grow your business and focus on the elements of the business you excel at and enjoy.
Now I have completely systematized my schedule, and my family and employees know when I am and am not available for communications. I’m not constantly responding to random messages and emails- I answer them when I allow myself time to do so, and my assistant handles the bulk of my emails. I do everything required to manage my businesses, and I still have time to take care of my health, educate myself, do a few things I enjoy, and spend quality time with the people I love.
