{"id":13874,"date":"2010-06-02T13:03:41","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T10:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/model.world\/directory\/?p=13874"},"modified":"2025-03-15T16:52:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T13:52:50","slug":"self-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/self-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Self Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more<\/em>
\nI have of it.<\/em>
\n— Thomas Jefferson<\/em><\/p>\n

For mainstream modeling the best way to get work is to have\u00a0an agency find it for you. But if there are no good agencies where\u00a0you live, or you haven\u2019t been successful at getting represented, it\u00a0is often possible to find a substantial amount of work on your\u00a0own. Some models even make a living at it.<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/strong>
\nIf you are 5\u20196\u201d tall or look like the girl next door you aren\u2019t\u00a0going to be an editorial fashion model, no matter how much you
\nmight want it. You need to understand what kind of model you\u00a0look like, and where models like you can find work. If you are
\nthe edgy editorial type, you probably need to be in New York. If\u00a0you are 5\u20198\u201d tall and have classic, all-American good looks you\u00a0may be able to model in any substantial city in America. Once\u00a0you have decided on the kind of model you are, you need to tailor\u00a0your marketing plan and materials to portray you that way, and be\u00a0in a location where that kind of model is used.
\nYou have to present yourself as a professional. Do the same\u00a0things an agency model would: fine tune your appearance and get\u00a0a good composite card printed in the style of the market you\u00a0intend to go after. A commercial-print style comp isn’t a good\u00a0choice if you want to be hired by a designer for a runway show;\u00a0edgy editorial doesn’t work for Campbell’s soup. Depending on\u00a0your look and type, you may want to make up more than one\u00a0comp.\u00a0If the culture of your city requires commercial print models\u00a0to have a portfolio (New York, for instance, does not), or if you\u00a0are targeting fashion jobs, you may need to have a good portfolio\u00a0done as well.<\/p>\n

Finding People Who Hire Models<\/strong>
\nIn a smallish city there aren’t all that many potential clients —\u00a0it’s literally possible to contact all of them. In a city like New
\nYork or Los Angeles you can’t do that, but you can make targeted\u00a0submissions.\u00a0In larger markets advertising agencies usually do not do\u00a0casting themselves (although a very small number still do). In\u00a0smaller cities it\u2019s less likely that there will be intermediaries like\u00a0casting directors, so the ad agencies may be the ones to approach\u00a0for a job. Usually in commercial print work the ad agencies\u00a0aren\u2019t interested in maintaining a list of models (that\u2019s what\u00a0agencies are for) and don\u2019t want to see models except those that\u00a0are suited for whatever ad they are working on at the time.\u00a0Companies who do fashion-related advertising (such as large\u00a0retail stores) may be interested in seeing fashion model\u00a0independents, since they repeatedly use the same kinds of model\u00a0in their ads.\u00a0So you have to find people who actually hire models (small\u00a0clients) — or client surrogates, like casting directors, who often\u00a0keep models on file. Casting directors are listed in publications\u00a0like The Ross Reports, or in Backstage, Variety and similar\u00a0publications. In reading those listings you need to be careful to
\nidentify the type of casting director, since many of them\u00a0specialize in a particular kind of production.\u00a0In major market cities, commercial and fashion\u00a0photographers are very often the people who make the original\u00a0casting choices (although the ad agency or client may make the\u00a0ultimate decisions). Commercial photographers may not be in the\u00a0\u201cconsumer\u201d reference publications like the Yellow Pages. They\u00a0often are found only in professional reference sources like Le\u00a0Book or The Workbook, or in business-to-business yellow pages.\u00a0Some magazines also take direct submissions from models.\u00a0Models can get into Maxim and Stuff, for instance, by direct\u00a0submission. Find the magazines you are interested in, read the\u00a0masthead of the magazine, and send pictures to whoever seems to\u00a0be the one who hires models. Typically that would be a photo\u00a0editor.\u00a0In smaller markets it often is a matter of personal\u00a0relationships with the clients. Look on television and in the
\nnewspaper and local magazines, find out who actually hires\u00a0models, and find a way to meet them.\u00a0Models looking to pose for artists may find them associated\u00a0with university art departments, or local art galleries may have\u00a0leads. Many photography schools also hire models for life\u00a0drawing classes and student projects. It\u2019s common for college\u00a0students to take these jobs, but they are usually open to nonstudents\u00a0as well.\u00a0Models who want to do fashion work can get jobsd (although
\nusually low- or unpaid) through their local malls. It\u2019s common\u00a0for a mall to have a \u201cteen board\u201d or \u201cfashion board\u201d that will put\u00a0on local fashion shows.<\/p>\n

Finding Jobs<\/strong>
\nIf you have gotten the attention of casting directors,\u00a0commercial or fashion photographers or other people who cast for
\nadvertising, they may call you when a job comes up that you are\u00a0suited for. Maintaining the relationships (without being a pest)\u00a0makes that likely to happen. But a lot of jobs will come from\u00a0people you have never heard of.\u00a0Some are advertised in normal consumer media like\u00a0newspapers (classified ads), although that is uncommon these\u00a0days. More often the jobs will be found on specialized Internet\u00a0sites.\u00a0Some opportunities are listed in the professional press (such\u00a0as Backstage) or their websites (such as www.backstage.com).\u00a0Others are listed in \u201conline Yellow-pages\u201d sites like Craig\u2019s List\u00a0(www.craigslist.com) \u2013 which also contains a high percentage of\u00a0worthless \u201cjobs\u201d. There are also subscription websites that list\u00a0casting notices for actors and models, although these tend not to\u00a0be reliable and often just republish castings found from other\u00a0sources. Those jobs also tend to be very low- or un-paid. Use of\u00a0search engines such as Google (www.google.com) can likely\u00a0locate a source of casting notices near you, if there is one.\u00a0In some cities such as Los Angeles and New York there are\u00a0services which specialize in taking casting breakdowns and\u00a0publishing them to agencies. Normally these contain excellent\u00a0jobs (often the best jobs), but they are heavily oriented towards\u00a0acting, and have relatively little print modeling work in them.\u00a0Since the early 1970s the predominant such company has been\u00a0Breakdown Services, which used to fax breakdowns to agencies.
\nNow distribution is done on the Internet. You can find them at\u00a0www.breakdownservices.com.
\nA little after the turn of the 21st century a different company,\u00a0Casting Networks, Inc., took on a similar role in Los Angeles, and\u00a0it has since expanded to New York and San Francisco. You can\u00a0find them at www.lacasting.com, www.nycasting.com. Like\u00a0Breakdown Services, the castings are heavily oriented towards\u00a0acting and other entertainment fields, although there sometimes\u00a0are print modeling jobs listed in them.\u00a0Breakdown Services has strictly limited distribution of their\u00a0data to talent agencies and other organizations qualified to receive\u00a0them, and often have controls put in place to make sure others\u00a0who get the information are found out if they use it. It has been\u00a0commonplace for actors and models to get under-the-table access\u00a0to this kind of information, but there are penalties for getting\u00a0caught disseminating it without authorization.\u00a0Casting Networks follows a somewhat different business\u00a0model. They recognize, as Breakdown Services long has, that\u00a0many clients and casting directors do not want to deal with the\u00a0huge number of questionable responses they get from\u00a0unrepresented models and actors. They allowed casting directors\u00a0to limit distribution only to qualified agencies, to agencies and\u00a0represented talent, or to general distribution. Breakdown Services\u00a0has now set up a similar service: Actor\u2019s Access, at
\nwww.actorsaccess.com.\u00a0Both companies also offer actors (and to a small extent,\u00a0models) an online listing service. These have the advantage over\u00a0other online listing sites that casting directors and agencies are\u00a0familiar with them, know how to use them, and they add\u00a0legitimacy to the talent shown there.\u00a0There is a final source of jobs on the Internet:
\nprofessionally-oriented modeling sites like www.models.com,\u00a0www.onemodelplace.com and www.modelmayhem.com have\u00a0forums where jobs can be posted by members. www.models.com\u00a0also has general discussion forums that are read by agents and\u00a0clients. Models who make positive, constructive contributions on\u00a0the forum can sometimes be given work as a result; models who\u00a0behave badly can find they lose jobs and representation. It\u2019s a\u00a0resource that must be used judiciously.<\/p>\n

Pricing Your Services<\/strong>
\nOne of the hardest things a new, unrepresented model has to\u00a0deal with is price. Someone is interested in hiring her. How
\nmuch should she charge?\u00a0Agencies deal with this question every day, and even they\u00a0have trouble with it. There isn\u2019t a clear-cut answer to what a job\u00a0should pay in many cases. Here are some considerations used in\u00a0determining what to ask for:
\n\u201cMarket Rates\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0The \u201cstandard\u201d rate for commercial modeling varies by city,\u00a0but it can be expected to be anywhere from $100-$250 an hour for\u00a0commercial print and fashion print work. In cities with only one\u00a0real modeling agency rates are normally higher than when there\u00a0are several good agencies for a client to choose from. There may\u00a0be an additional \u201cbonus\u201d for usage rights, depending on how the\u00a0pictures will be used. The \u201cbonus\u201d often can be larger than the\u00a0hourly rate for widely distributed consumer advertising.\u00a0Promotional modeling may pay $10-$30 an hour for\u00a0unrepresented models. Artists modeling rates are similar.\u00a0Children generally get half the adult rate for modeling.\u00a0A self-marketing model should know \u201cstandard\u201d rates, but\u00a0also recognize that if the client is deliberately seeking only\u00a0unrepresented models for the project, it\u2019s very likely they don\u2019t\u00a0intend to pay agency-standard rates. The \u201cstandard\u201d may have to\u00a0be cut in half or even less. On the other hand, if you are\u00a0competing with agency models for the job, normal market rates\u00a0apply, and it\u2019s unlikely that a client will hire you simply because\u00a0you are cheaper than other applicants.<\/p>\n

The Client<\/strong>
\nThe single most important factor in what a job pays is who is\u00a0paying for it. An international pharmaceutical company or highprofile\u00a0cosmetics company is likely to pay \u201cmarket rates\u201d (or\u00a0more). Frank\u2019s T-Shirt Shop isn\u2019t. If Mandy\u2019s Bridal Boutique\u00a0wants to use a picture in a local magazine she may want to pay\u00a0you $100, where a major manufacturer may pay thousands of\u00a0dollars for a more widely distributed shot of you in their dress.<\/p>\n

The Budget<\/strong>
\nExperienced clients on most commercial jobs have a rate\u00a0they expect to pay. If you ask, they will tell you. Normally there
\nis little negotiating room in that budget, unless you have an\u00a0unusually strong bargaining position for some reason.<\/p>\n

Advertising or Editorial?<\/strong>
\nAdvertising pays more than editorial. \u201cEditorial rates\u201d are\u00a0typically $100-$250 per day for large publications, and may be
\nless or even zero for smaller ones. High prestige fashion\u00a0magazines pay less than general interest magazines, because they
\nassume a tearsheet from them is of great value to the model. For\u00a0non-fashion models appearing in their editorials that may not be\u00a0true, but their rates still won\u2019t change.<\/p>\n

Experienced or Not?<\/strong>
\nGenerally commercial print jobs pay a new model on her first\u00a0professional shoot the same rate as the veteran of a hundred paid\u00a0jobs. Small, inexperienced clients will use a model\u2019s\u00a0inexperience as a bargaining chip, but the larger clients will not.
\nInexperienced models are less likely to win the job, but if you win\u00a0it, you don\u2019t suffer in your paycheck.\u00a0Fashion jobs are different. Clients are accustomed to paying\u00a0a model a sliding scale depending on experience and market\u00a0acceptance. When starting out you are at the bottom of the scale.\u00a0Even so, if you get picked up for a national campaign by a\u00a0household name designer, you ought to make a very hefty\u00a0paycheck even if you\u2019ve never modeled before.<\/p>\n

Exclusivity Clause<\/strong>
\n(Note: This is NOT the same as an exclusivity agreement\u00a0between a model and a model agency.)\u00a0Some jobs require an \u201cexclusivity clause\u201d which keeps you\u00a0from working for a competitive product for the period stated.\u00a0These may be specific to a narrow product type (\u201cophthalmic\u00a0pharmaceuticals\u201d) or quite broad (\u201coffice products\u201d). Because\u00a0these clauses keep you from making money advertising for any of\u00a0those things, they pay very well. It\u2019s not unusual for a narrowly\u00a0written exclusivity agreement to pay over $1,000 for a year, and a\u00a0broadly worded one (\u201cno pharmaceuticals\u201d) can pay $20,000 a\u00a0year or more.<\/p>\n

Should You Take a Low Paid or Unpaid Job?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s tempting for new models to take any offered job regardless\u00a0of pay. Modeling jobs offer experience, networking opportunities\u00a0and tearsheets that are valuable later in your career. But:
\n1. Not all networking (or \u201cexposure\u201d) is equal. Working with\u00a0marginal players and one-time clients on jobs that pay little
\nor nothing may do no good at all to raise your value to other\u00a0clients, and may only \u201cexpose\u201d you to more opportunities
\nfor similar low- to no-paying work. Make sure the people\u00a0you are dealing with actually have professional experience
\nand standing.
\n2. Not all tearsheets are good. Jobs for Internet advertising,\u00a0except possibly for major corporations, have no value as
\ntearsheets. Small, cheesy ads for small, cheesy companies\u00a0aren\u2019t something you would want to put on your card or in
\nyour book either. \u201cWill this present me well?\u201d is a question\u00a0you need to ask yourself before accepting unpaid or low
\npaid jobs.
\n3. Conflicts. If you take a job for one client you may\u00a0disqualify yourself from working for a later client. Doing\u00a0an ad for the local Mary Kay distributor could cost you a\u00a0high-paying job with Revlon \u2013 but it probably won\u2019t if you\u00a0are in Topeka. Consider likely conflicts before accepting\u00a0work.<\/p>\n

Getting Paid<\/strong>
\nA model without an agency has to do his own billing,\u00a0bookkeeping and collections; he may not get paid for weeks or
\nmonths after he does a job. He may ask that he get paid at the\u00a0end of the job. But that puts a burden on the client that many may\u00a0find unacceptable, and it could cost a model jobs. The model\u00a0needs to use the documents and procedures that agencies use to\u00a0get models paid. To do that he has to create forms such as a\u00a0voucher (a sample is in the Appendix) and invoices.\u00a0Sometimes it\u2019s worse than that. If a client refuses to pay, the\u00a0model has to collect. He doesn\u2019t have the clout that an agency\u00a0does, and may not get the respect from an accounts payable\u00a0department that a lawyer or agent would. At worst, that may\u00a0mean the model has to learn skills like filing and pursuing a case\u00a0in Small Claims court.
\nAlthough an agency may send models to jobs based solely on\u00a0telephone calls, a self-marketing model would be wise to have
\neverything in writing before the job begins:
\n1. What is the nature of the job?
\n2. Who is the client?
\n3. Where and when is he to report?
\n4. How long will the job last, and what happens (overtime?)\u00a0if it goes beyond that?
\n5. What is the session fee?
\n6. What is the usage and duration, and what fee is being paid\u00a0for it?
\n7. When is payment due?
\nIf all of those things are in writing before a job, the model\u00a0stands a good chance of being able to collect if things start to go
\nwrong.\u00a0One thing a self-marketing model needs that an agency\u00a0model does not: a fax machine to send and receive those
\ndocuments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. — Thomas Jefferson For mainstream modeling the best way to get work is to have\u00a0an agency find it for you. But if there are no good agencies where\u00a0you live, or you haven\u2019t been successful at getting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":13875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2166],"tags":[2253,2256,2255,2257,2252,2254,2250,2251,2258,2249,844],"class_list":["post-13874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guide","tag-agency-model","tag-casting-directors","tag-casting-themselves","tag-commercial-or-fashion-photographers","tag-editorial-fashion-model","tag-finding-people-who-hire-models","tag-good-choice","tag-mainstream-modeling","tag-pricing-your-services","tag-self-marketing","tag-television"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13874"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13876,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13874\/revisions\/13876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}