Separate Blogs

I have decided to separate the topics here. The Blueprint Blog will offer all updates and tips in relation to the escort business and this blog will remain the same, except that there will no longer be Blueprint tips and updates here. This decision was prompted by the realization that many escort business entrepreneurs that appreciate the business related advice are not into politics or reading about arrests, prosecutions, and police misconduct.

Hiring an Attorney

If you've made the decision to start-up an escort service, when do you need an attorney, if at all?


Simple answer here: You should find a criminal attorney that you are comfortable with before you answer the first telephone call for your new business. I waited until I made the money from the escort business to cover the cost, and there's not any problem with doing it this way. I seriously doubt that you could be on any police agency's radar in the first month of business. You can always correct any legal issue or mistake in your business set-up at this point.

Be prepared to pay for an initial consultation. You would want about an hour of the attorney's time, so expect to spend between $150 and $400 for that consultation. Don't try to be cheap and get it free or for $50 as this will most likely be the attorney that you speak with for the duration of your business if you have a question, a problem that doesn't involve your arrest on charges relating to your business, or just need some solid advice concerning the legally correct way to go about a specific task.

You do want to avoid ever being charged with anything in relation to your escort service, and trust me; this is the way to do so. Here and there you will spend a few hundred dollars, but this shouldn't have much of an effect on your bottom line at all. You don't need the top attorney in town – you simply need an attorney that specializes in criminal law. There are plenty of recent law school graduates walking around that have just passed the bar exam and are eager to offer advice.

I met with an attorney shortly after opening my escort services back in 1992, we had a lengthy relationship, and one in which I could contact him anytime that I had a problem or a question about a situation that could lead to a problem. I just found him in the area yellow pages under the "attorneys – criminal" category. He never gave me bad advice – my arrest had nothing whatsoever to do with anything that I did. His name is John and today he is a circuit court judge, so I won't offer his last name.

Shortly after my arrest in late 2001, we parted ways as I chose to represent myself with the goal of locating an attorney that could take-on a complicated and voluminous organized crime case. John had political aspirations, which made him a lousy candidate to represent me in the criminal case that I faced. I do respect John, so I also won't go into the specifics involved in our parting.

If you are ever arrested in relation to your escort business you will require a different attorney as it's unlikely that the original attorney you chose for occasional advice meets the necessary criteria. How you choose an attorney to represent you in such a criminal case is entirely dependent on the charges and your knowledge of your level of guilt. Realize that you can always have your longtime attorney represent you at first and look at the original indictment or arrest paperwork. An assessment of your chances could then be offered from a legal perspective. Just hold off on paying that attorney any more than an hourly rate at that point.

Next: Choosing an attorney to represent you in an escort business criminal case.

The Escort Business by another name

First I must inform about my recent good mood, and this is related to the escort business…. I am feeling the euphoric effects of a potential vindication as I sought to help an old friend seek his own answers in a malicious pursuit. It's too early to say more; however, the possibility of that vindication becoming a reality is ever-closer. The era of police misconduct being acceptable, of go-to prosecutors and judges, vicious legal pursuits, and of wholly created cases may indeed be history in the metropolitan Orlando area. More soon…

When I posted on the topic of setting up the business several days ago, I stated that I would follow-up on other possible types of businesses an operator could use instead of that often hated term, the escort service. I do know of parties that have done this (still do), though I will leave these parties nameless for the safety of each.

One party offers a print publication that contains ads for any paying advertiser (escort service or independent escorts). The small newspaper is distributed in area resorts. Those that place an ad can also have the publisher answering the telephone lines. This is a publisher and telephone operator service and is priced accordingly. Print publications are not a viable option in most areas though, so we look to the internet and web publishing.

The other party has a website and an internet marketing approach similar to that of the print publisher. Now this is something that anyone skilled in answering escort service lines and website design and promotion can easily do. In this case the customer is the independent escort, and similar to the print publisher scenario, that escort can answer her own telephone number or use a number provided by the answering service. A service could also be the customer.

If I were to seek a license for such a business I would want it categorized as internet publishing, promotion and sales, and telephone answering service. I believe that both categories would be necessary. In both situations – the print publisher and the web publisher – separate fees are charged according to what the client (escort service or independent escort) wants. One could place an ad for a monthly fee and answer their own telephone line. One could also place that ad for the monthly fee and contract with the answering service to answer an assigned number and provide verified client booking information.

In either case it would be immaterial to the publisher/answering service if the call went through or not, and the fee quoted to potential clients or callers is the choice of the independent or the service utilizing the publisher and/or answering service. Of course one would quickly lose the advertisers if there were no contacts provided or if they were unverified or problem-type calls. Contracts should not be longterm, but should be renewable on a monthly basis. Such a business could also charge a one time set-up fee.

This type of business collects fees from 2 directions – a fee for the monthly ad and a fee for caller information provided every time that it is provided. Each service requires its own contract with the independent escort or the escort service.

More escort business tips will be posted in the upcoming weeks.

Setting up a Business

When I wrote Blueprint for an Escort Service, I did so with a presumption that most people know how to open a business in their specific area – not necessarily an escort service, but the initial steps of opening any business. I offered some instructions in the book, including how to get an occupational license. One used to go to "occupational licenses" to get a license, but many areas in the U.S. have renamed it to something tax related, for example: department of revenue; business tax receipts, county tax collector; tax receipts etc…. I don't know why, except that the new naming scheme instills the thought of paying tax and you are paying a tax when you purchase the license. So what used to be self-explanatory now takes a little thought and exploration, but it's the same thing and usually the same people work there and it is in the same location.


I did outline basic steps of opening a business in any state, usually using a corporation or limited liability company, but it can also be done with a "fictitious name" or "assumed name" by filing the Joe Schmoe doing business as "xyz" name with the state. If you do not already know which state office to fill out the form with, it is usually easily found by Googling "open a business in Florida" (substitute your state). In Florida it is the Florida Department of State - Division of Corporations.

Only professions are licensed by the state. Some examples are: attorney; plumber; real estate appraiser; real estate sales; beautician; massage therapist; and accountant. In this situation the professional must pass a state exam of some type and be qualified to operate in the particular profession. Escorts and entertainers are not qualified by any state that I know of, so no need to dwell on a state license. To operate a business of any type, a license is required, mainly so that the local government can collect money from you. Well, it's the truth, and I'm always real on this blog.

There are some areas in the U.S. that make a person jump through hoops and spend a fortune to obtain a license to operate as an escort service. To be an escort and get the appropriate license is not much less trouble and any escort that works as an independent contractor with you will need her own license. For more information on classifications, read Independent Contractor vs. Employee. So for those geographical areas that promote a religious or moral agenda and force one to jump through the hoops in a lame attempt to circumvent the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, well that is good reason to see what other operators in the area do. It is highly unlikely that you will be the only service in a given area, so research it.

In Orlando and Orange County, Florida, the easiest route is to be an entertainment company that sends out entertainers. The same holds true for Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, believe it or not. You will encounter disdain and contempt when requesting a license for an escort company in most areas, but move beyond this and be a big girl or boy. Take control of the situation. If you know that there are 30 companies in your area and each is called an "entertainment service" then don't buck the trend. Just go with it. If you know that each is an "escort service" just get your damn license. Don't whine about people giving you a hard time – these are local government employees – just instruct as to exactly what you want. That means instruct, not ask demurely. Got that?

The escort business can be rough and plenty of people are going to throw interference in your path. The music business, pro wrestling, transportation, and even house cleaning in a heavily competitive area, are not much different. Free enterprise in the U.S. is competitive and often a fight. If you can't make it through the licensing it is unlikely that you would survive anyway.

Before the week is over I'll discuss other potential categories of businesses that could easily fit the method of operation, as discussed in Blueprint, of an escort service.

Defining Escort and Escort Service

What is an Escort Service?

In the course of my research for a second book that's in progress, a situation of great importance, at least in the adult business world, has come to my attention. I believe that what is transpiring can easily be attributed to law enforcement continuously labeling hookers as "escorts" and brothels and in-call operations as "escort services" – it is as I stated it in Memoirs of an Accused Madam – the general population listens to these police agencies and believes what they state, and after it is stated repeatedly on various forums over a length of time, it becomes factual, at least in the mind.

Definition of "escort" from two sources:

Oxford University Press Dictionary & Thesaurus (2002 version):

noun (1) – entourage, attendants, bodyguard, protector, convoy, defender, contingent.
(2) – partner, companion, gigolo, hostess, geisha; informal date; dated beau.

verb (1) – accompany, guide, conduct, lead, usher, guard, protect, safeguard, defend.
(2) – partner, accompany, take out, go out with, attend on.

Cambridge University Press (2009 online version)

noun (social companion) (1) – a person who goes with another person, usually someone of the opposite sex, to a social event. (2) – someone, often a young woman, who is paid to go out to social events with another person: He hired an escort girl to go to dinner with him.

verb (formal) – to go to a social event with someone, especially a person of the opposite sex: Who will be escorting her to the ball?

Nowhere in either definition does this describe "prostitute," as a geisha is not a prostitute. Only in the U.S., thanks to overzealous law enforcement agencies, is "escort" defined as "prostitute." It must be noted that both Oxford and Cambridge are universities in the UK, so one may find "escort" defined as "prostitute" in a recent US dictionary – this is the trend lately, and not the proper English definition.

Definition of "escort service" or "escort agency":

Cambridge states: a business which supplies people who work as escorts.

Oxford online nor my 2002 version list these terms. Merriam-Webster also does not list it, so I'll go with the above stated Cambridge definition.

Now that we've straightened that out I'll get back to the problem at hand. I met two ladies a couple of days ago and each told me they had worked as an "escort" recently; however, both described an incall/brothel situation, and not at all an escort service. According to their stories, the business operator set them up in an apartment, scheduled 15 minute appointments, and sent in men. This could never be described as an "escort service" – it's clearly an incall operation, and if sex was involved, a brothel situation. Neither stated whether sex was involved or not and I didn't ask, as it falls in the category of none of my business. It simply infuriates me that a business operator would present such an operation as an escort service and these ladies had the audacity to refer to themselves as escorts! But then, I'm sure they interpreted it to be exactly that from listening to local law enforcement rhetoric that is now embedded in the minds of the general population.

An escort service sends escort out, and the escort and client go out to dinner, to a club, or tour the area. They do meet in the client's hotel room, but only to take care of business matters as this is not done publicly. An escort service can also operate as an entertainment business. An entertainer can entertain a client in the privacy of his home or hotel, and by "entertain" I mean offer a non-therapeutic body rub, a private dance, or a lingerie show. Certainly there will always be greedy and/or in-need escorts that will accept additional money (in the form of tips) for illegal services, but escorts are paid for time and company, not prostitution services. I have not yet encountered a real escort agency that takes any part of these tips, and few promote this type of service – why would they? While any escort service operator would hope that the ladies are tipped, at the same time none would expect it to be at their expense or for prostitution services.

These days every prostitute in the country is referred to as an escort, from the street hookers to the online hookers found on BigDoggie.net, Backpage, Craigslist, in Village Voice ads, or on The Erotic Review. The ads clearly reflect prostitution services, not escort services. There is a difference in services just as there is a difference in ad content. Skip the inappropriate labels, please.