How to become an OnlyFans star: Audrey Aura reveals how to find success

A top OnlyFans star, who makes up to $38k a month, reveals how to succeed on the adult platform. She said it takes skill and hard work before you can make the big bucks.

From an Adelaide mother-daughter duo raking in up to $100,000 per year to Mike and his Banana, South Australians are raking in big bucks on the adults-only app OnlyFans.

Launched in 2016, the platform was inspired by social media influencers and was designed as a way for people to get premium video and photo content from their favourite celebrities.

Now, while it’s not all about sex, OnlyFans has evolved towards a grown-up audience, providing sex workers and adult stars a place to build powerful and lucrative brands, selling their content directly to their audiences.

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Audrey Aura, 24, is a plus-size OnlyFans model who supports her husband and young son, who both have autism.

Before setting up her profile in March 2020 she was working in administration, bringing home an average of $600 per week.

Now, she’s making up to $38,000 a month.

Ms Aura opened up to The Advertiser about her success, said there was a misconception that models simply “take some photos, post them online and somehow make thousands of dollars”.

“That’s definitely not true,” she said.

Ms Aura said she worked 12 to 16 hours per day to get her account off the ground.

“I’ve always had an interest in the industry. There wasn’t really one thing that made me decide, ‘oh, I’m going to get naked on the internet’,” she said.

Audrey Aura is teaching other aspiring OnlyFans models how to find success. Picture: Instagram

“I found it really hard to find solid information on what you actually need to do and what strategies you need to use.”

“Probably only 5 per cent of this job is making the content. The rest is marketing, customer service and sales.”

The 24-year-old, who is in OnlyFans’ top 0.4 per cent of earners, now offers a crash course in OnlyFans success to teach insider secrets to aspiring models.

“The main thing that people don’t realise is that there is no search function on OnlyFans, so we have to do all of our own marketing,” Ms Aura said.

“If we’re not marketing ourselves and bringing attention to our page, we’re not getting subscribers.”

So what are the top tips for finding OnlyFans fame?

AUTHENTICITY MATTERS

“The main thing is just getting yourself out there and marketing yourself without being too sales-y,” she said.

“I see people out there just pushing their OnlyFans really hard on their social media, which disrupts their own personal branding.

Adelaide mum Evie Leana (left) earns up to $10k a month after her daughter inspired her to start her own OnlyFans page. Photo: Instagram/evieleana_

“You don’t walk into a store and want to talk to the salesperson straight away, you want to look around and then, if you’re interested, you’ll look for the sales desk.

“I find that being yourself on social media and pushing your personality forward, if people are interested then they’ll look for profile links.”

ENGAGE WITH YOUR FANS

Ms Aura said while photos may get people in, engaging with subscribers was the real money-maker on the platform.

“The second biggest part is talking to your subscribers. People don’t realise that most of us models on the site only get a small percentage of our income from subscriptions,” she said.

“Most comes from additional services or videos that we provide.

“So you have to chat to people and get to know them, ask what they’re into and provide those services individually which takes a lot of time out of your day.”

Doing it for the fans: The SA stars of OnlyFans: Part 2

Ms Aura says authenticity is key on the site. Picture: Instagram

CONTENT QUALITY MATTERS

When it comes to pictures, Ms Aura said natural lighting and a backlog of “good-quality content” were crucial to build a following.

“A big reason people come to us is that they want that more personalised experience … they’re interested in you as a person, not just what you’re posting,” she said.

“Being personable and chatting to them can make a big difference. People want to get to know you and they’ll stay for you, rather than your content.”

OWN YOUR SEXUALITY

Ms Aura wants to break some of the stigma surrounding the industry, saying she feels empowered by reclaiming her sexuality through the site.

“I think the ‘selling your body’ thing is ridiculous … you could put that against any tradies out there, they’re essentially selling their body through labour,” she said.

“I’ve been sexualised since I was 13, I was an early bloomer – so it’s put it back in my hands, I get to say when and how I’m sexualised and I get to profit off it.

“I look back and I’m like, ‘Why would I let people see that for free?’.”

She also said there was one major myth she wanted to debunk: taxes.

“Of course we pay taxes. We’re registered – I even have to pay GST,” Ms Aura said.