How to build a side hustle making money from pay pigs, by a 'findomme'

• "Ellie Paige" has created a side hustle from men who like to be financially dominated by women.
• She has been moonlighting as a "findomme" since the pandemic struck to increase her savings.

Ellie Paige (not her real name) built a side hustle from "pay pigs" – mostly men who like to be financially dominated – to earn extra money during the pandemic. She stumbled on "findom", or financial domination, on Twitter.

"The findom world bled into the regular Twitter timeline," she said.

Ellie has since been moonlighting off and on as a "findomme" – a dominant woman – but has been posting regularly since June.

She says it is crucial to do your research and know what to expect before getting into this line of work. It is considered by many to be a subset of BDSM and a form of sex work, she says, even though findommes do not typically share sexual content.

Ellie advises pinning a "verification video" of yourself saying your username to your Twitter profile. This is a good way to establish yourself as a real profile.

Some findommes watermark their images they post to deter people who can steal their photos and try to pass them off as their own.

Findommes post a link to their preferred payment method like Paypal or Cash App in their Twitter bio. It's important to use a pseudonym on your profile as well as payment apps to protect your personal information.

It's common practice to have a "tribute fee" and the amount in your bio too so pay pigs can send findommes money before they choose to answer their direct messages. Ellie set her tribute fee at $25.

"It's important to get the money first," she said. "It makes it pretty easy to figure out who is there to waste your time."

Findommes can then post their images on Twitter using hashtags such as paypig and findom.

There are a number of risks to consider before deciding to get involved. Your friends, family or employer could find it and you could also be subjected to online abuse from trolls.

"That's a risk I have to take and I'll cross that bridge if I have to, but you need to be okay with that possibility."

People may not be prepared or comfortable with what findom can really entail, Ellie says, as she has been sent nude pictures, threatening or overly sexual messages.

"Some people have put my face on their phone background and sent it to me," she said. "You need to be comfortable with not knowing how your content is used."

There is also the risk that you do not know who you're speaking to as most of the time pay pigs remain anonymous, while you are on display.

Ellie says it involves a considerable amount of work – typically about four hours a day – coming up with content ideas, setting up shots, taking pictures and communicating with pay pigs.

It is hard to stand out, she says, as there are so many people doing the same, making it a saturated market. That mean you have to constantly put out high quality content to get noticed, in her view.

Pay pigs come and go and do not usually stick around for too long, so it can be difficult to have consistent income. Ellie recently received $300 in a day, verified by Insider through screenshots.

She keeps track of her finances by monitoring payments from her four payment methods to her bank account.

Ellie says people need to have high levels of confidence to be a successful findomme and it helps to be witty, a quick thinker and creative. "I would encourage anyone to do it if they are interested, passionate about it and want to put the time into it."