I think someone asks me how to be a professional cuddler an average once a week.

They’re usually full of curiosity or enthusiasm, and they’re looking to know what they need to do to start off on the right foot.

And if I follow up a few weeks after talking with them, they’ve usually done nothing to make it happen since we’ve chatted.

Why the delay? What’s holding them back when they were interested enough to find and email me?

Usually, they get scared about starting.

It’s not like getting started as a professional cuddler is hard. It’s just that the idea of cuddling as a profession is way outside their comfort zone.

Maybe they realized they have to be okay with the client touching them somehow too and freaked out, or maybe they feel like running a cuddling business is hard.

But to be honest, there are actually very few barriers to starting to cuddle professionally. Our industry isn’t really regulated yet, so you could easily start tomorrow if you wanted to.

I’m not saying that’s necessarily a GOOD thing (I honestly wish there were at least a few barriers for ME to get started years ago, and I’m not the only cuddler around that wishes that for themselves too)

And if you start cuddling tomorrow, that doesn’t mean that you’ll be a good professional cuddler or that people will want to work with you. It literally just means that actually getting started is really simple— probably too simple, in some respects.

The following four steps are what I did to start— but before we get into it, I want to say that a part of me kind of regrets moving this fast. But if you’re in a place where you just need to get started, here’s the answer, oversimplified:

1. Find a free cuddle site for professional cuddlers and register as a Pro.

There are plenty of cuddling sites out there, so pick one to register with as a pro. Yes, ONE. When you’re just getting started, one will be easiest to manage.

Generally, googling “professional cuddling (your city or state)” and choosing whichever platform is at the top is going to be your best bet, since that’s the one most clients will see when they go looking.

Note that different sites have different requirements– some might make you apply before being approved, some might not; some might ask you to provide an ID or use a Facebook login for validation, some might not. You have to decide what you’re comfortable with.

2. Snap a picture or two of yourself for your profile pictures.

These photos are meant to give your clients an idea of who they should expect to see at the door.

I recommend photos for purpose– take new photos where you’re wearing what you would wear while cuddling. This not only helps clients identify you as you look now, it also helps to set expectations about what you’ll be wearing during your sessions.

Selfies totally work for profile pictures. So do shots taken on your phone by a friend. You don’t want to spend too much time or effort on this stage (at this point), you’re just looking to cover your bases.

3. Write your cuddling profile so that you sound interesting, fun, relatable, etc…

Your cuddling profile tells potential clients who you are. This may sound simple, but there’s more to it than just saying you’re nice, kind, soft, sweet, or even cuddly.

One of the biggest things your profile should do is show that you understand why someone would look for a professional cuddler. The more you can show that you understand where a client is coming from, the more likely they are to choose you as their cuddler.

So when you’re writing your cuddling profile, here are some helpful questions to try to answer:

• How do your friends describe you? Your parents, your coworkers, your teachers, other people in your life? (If you don’t know, it can be helpful to ask!)

• What do you do for fun? (When you’re not cuddling, that is.) What subjects interest you? What activities or types of interactions are exciting for you?

• What do you like about other people? It can be as simple as a conversation, eating together– anything that shows you’re interested in relating can help others see why you’d be a good cuddler.

Pro tip: DO NOT talk about sex, drugs, or booze in your profile. That’s a good way to get banned from any site real quick.

4. Wait for your first client to request a session.

Depending on where you sign up, this could take anywhere from a few minutes to a week or two. (If it takes longer, see if you can’t tweak steps 1-3 to get better results.)

Whatever you do, DO NOT rush into your first session.

For the love of whatever is holy, do not do this even if you’re desperate for money— ESPECIALLY if you’re desperate for money! The number of stories I’ve heard from people that needed a quick buck and got burned by bad clients doing this work is too damn high.

Danger and desperation aside, anyone who wants a cuddle session right this instant is probably not a good first session for you. And honestly, I’m also thankful I got into a car accident two days after I officially got listed on a cuddle site (weird flex, I know) and couldn’t cuddle for at least two weeks afterwards. It gave me a built-in time period to re-evaluate and recenter ahead of taking clients.

There’s obviously a lot more to cuddling than just these four steps.

You’ll notice there was no talk of screening clients, for example, or actually running your professional cuddling like a business (which is another story entirely). And I really wish I’d known more about everything else there was to it before I really got into it.

But this is where I started– so if you want to make it happen instead of waiting another week, month, or year, it’s where you can start, too. And if you’re worried about next steps, I’m a good example of how you can always learn as you go.

While training isn’t required to be a professional cuddler, damn has it helped me– even when I thought I was good already. And you can get more value out of things by getting my free PDF workbook “How to Design Your Professional Cuddling Practice.” It has 32 questions I think every professional cuddler should have answers to so they can be confident and professional in how they run their business— and keep clients coming back.