{"id":13902,"date":"2010-06-02T18:14:05","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T15:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/model.world\/directory\/?p=13902"},"modified":"2025-03-15T16:52:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T13:52:50","slug":"the-internet-and-mainstream-modeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/the-internet-and-mainstream-modeling\/","title":{"rendered":"The Internet and Mainstream Modeling"},"content":{"rendered":"

The beginning of the 21st century brought the first major\u00a0change in the way agencies had done business in nearly 30 years.
\nThe old ways remain, and are still relied upon for many purposes,\u00a0but the Internet has fundamentally changed the way models,\u00a0agencies and clients communicate with each other. It has also\u00a0made information about modeling widely available to aspiring\u00a0models, although that is sometimes a mixed blessing.
\nLocating Agencies and Models
\n<\/strong>Search engines and model industry reference sites on the\u00a0Internet enable models and clients to find agencies suitable for\u00a0them. Tools like that should be used by models to find out who to\u00a0submit applications to and, just as important, who not to. Sites\u00a0and URLs on the Internet change constantly. As of this writing\u00a0some useful sources of information about agencies include:\u00a0www.rasource.com, www.modelnetwork.com,\u00a0www.workbook.com, www.lebook.com, www.models.com<\/p>\n

Locating Support Personnel<\/strong>
\nModel agencies aren\u2019t the only things of interest to models.\u00a0If you are trying to put together a photo shoot and need crew
\nmembers (photographers, stylists, makeup artists, hair stylists) to\u00a0work with you (paid or unpaid) you can advertise for them on\u00a0sites devoted to modeling and the support specialties. Many\u00a0\u201cmodeling sites\u201d don\u2019t deal much with fashion and commercial\u00a0modeling, but a few do: www.makeupartistchat.com and\u00a0www.beautytech.com<\/p>\n

Model Agency Communications<\/strong>
\nClients want models; agencies need to get information to\u00a0them. The traditional way is to send over a stack of portfolios or
\ncomposite cards and let the client choose who they want to see.\u00a0That\u2019s a burden on the models to have the cards printed, and on\u00a0the agencies (or the models, if their agency passes on expenses) to\u00a0pay for sending things to the client. For clients outside of the city,\u00a0cards may have to be sent overnight, which can get expensive.\u00a0For their part, clients may want to send reference pictures to an\u00a0agency so the agent can see what an ad will look like, or what\u00a0kind of person the casting director wants to see.
\nMost clients are now accepting the Internet as a means for\u00a0getting initial screening information. They may get a package on
\nModelwire, an email with pictures or URLs to model\u2019s online\u00a0comp cards, or simply look at models on the agency website to
\nmake their choices. For clients in remote cities it\u2019s not unusual\u00a0for a job to be cast entirely off the Internet, and it\u2019s becoming
\nmore common even in the major market cities.\u00a0After the casting is done, clients can use email to send\u00a0contracts, call sheets, releases and support information to the\u00a0agency for review and signature if needed. The fax machine is\u00a0still used, but email is easier and better quality.
\nAlthough few agencies prefer it, many will accept email\u00a0submissions from aspiring models, which can greatly reduce the
\ntime and cost of a model bringing himself to the attention of the\u00a0agency. Models can also get releases, contracts, call sheets, shoot\u00a0instructions and scripts for upcoming jobs through email.<\/p>\n

Model\u2019s Personal Sites<\/strong>
\nMany models have personal sites on the Internet, either on\u00a0their own domains or as pages on a model exposure site. They
\ncan be very useful for communicating with agencies or other\u00a0professionals. Rather than include information and pictures in an\u00a0email, you can simply include the URL for your website and let\u00a0the other person click on it.\u00a0There are pressures on models to produce the wrong kind of\u00a0personal site. Model listing services want you to use their format,\u00a0which may be cluttered or include lots of things inappropriate to\u00a0professional communications. Models see (or are sent) ads from\u00a0web site designers, all of whom want to produce something for a\u00a0price, and most of whom want to make it look like something that
\neither justifies their price or showcases their skills. Models can\u00a0get self-indulgent in what they put on the site. All of that is bad.\u00a0A model may choose to have a personal site with lots of bells and\u00a0whistles, but that\u2019s not what she should use in professional\u00a0communications. It\u2019s like a resume, or your application letter to\u00a0an agency. Keep it simple!
\nThe best choice is your own domain. It isn\u2019t all that\u00a0expensive; some places will let you buy a domain and host a small
\nsite with email for less than $50 a year. They also often have\u00a0simple website design tools to help you produce the pages. If you\u00a0absolutely have to save money and go to one of the freebie site\u00a0companies (such as Yahoo, MSN, or worst of all, myspace.com)\u00a0make sure your correspondent does not have to become a member\u00a0of the site, join anything or use passwords to see your page. If\u00a0they do, most professional clients will just go away.
\nThe first page of the site should contain your name, location,\u00a0stats, contact information and a small number of pictures. You
\nmight choose to have one large (400-500 pixels high or so)\u00a0headshot on the first page, but all other pictures should be\u00a0thumbnails that a viewer can click on to bring up a larger image.\u00a0That saves kilobytes; kilobytes equate to time, and professionals\u00a0want a site that loads very quickly even in this broadband age.\u00a0Site layout should be simple, clean and attractive. Do not\u00a0clutter it up with complex graphics or lots of different fonts.\u00a0Keep animation to a minimum. Zero animation is best. If you\u00a0want to have a more complex site and fancy animation, do it on\u00a0another page that a viewer can choose or not, while still first\u00a0seeing everything they need to make choices about you. Do not\u00a0include music. No pop-ups or advertising on your page! Keep it\u00a0clean. Professionals don\u2019t want to have to spend their time\u00a0closing popup ads or looking for the mute button.
\nDo not include an excess of biographical data. Professional\u00a0modeling experience, if you have it, should be briefly described.
\nNothing else.
\nYour contact information on the site should not include your\u00a0telephone number or home address. Don\u2019t ask the viewer to
\ncontact an agent or manager unless you have a mainstream, brick\u00a0and mortar agency that handles all your bookings. Experienced\u00a0models with multiple agencies often have personal websites with\u00a0additional pictures on them, but no contact data. That allows\u00a0their agencies to refer clients to the site to the additional pictures\u00a0without running the risk of the client doing something stupid with\u00a0the contact information.<\/p>\n

Model-Related Web Sites<\/strong>
\nIn days gone by models had few good places to get advice \u00a0from. The best choice was a good agency, but agents tend to be
\nstingy with advice to models they don\u2019t represent. They have to\u00a0be: so many models, so little time.
\nThe next best source was the books on modeling. Many\u00a0books don\u2019t deal much with the kinds of modeling a reader should\u00a0be doing; they may not deal with the model\u2019s particular situation\u00a0or, if they do, the model may not recognize it. Times change, and\u00a0books get outdated. And not all of them are written by people\u00a0who really understand the industry.
\nAfter that, the choices got pretty dismal. The next-to-worst\u00a0source is the model\u2019s friends and family. Few of them understand\u00a0the realities and complexities of the business. Even those who\u00a0have been models have personal experiences which may have\u00a0little relevance to an aspiring model\u2019s situation. If a person could\u00a0arrange to talk to advertising and publishing industry\u00a0professionals it would help, but even they have very limited\u00a0insight into anything but their own experience with the business.
\nThe worst possible source of information is people who have\u00a0something to sell you. They may be honorable, knowledgeable
\npeople (although a too-high percentage is not). But they are\u00a0motivated to tell you what you want to hear or what will get you\u00a0to buy from them. These people include modeling schools,\u00a0photographers, \u201cmodel managers\u201d and vendors of other modeling-related services.
\nTimes change, and information sources have changed with\u00a0them. The Internet has provided us with countless sources of
\ninformation. These include advice sites by governmental and\u00a0private watchdog agencies which tend to be concerned with
\ntelling you how to avoid scams. Neither of these gives in-depth\u00a0advice and both over-simplify the problem and proposed
\nsolutions:<\/p>\n

The Federal Trade Commisson:
\nhttp:\/\/www.consumer.ftc.gov\/articles\/0071-look-out-modelingscams<\/p>\n

Better Business Bureau:
\nhttp:\/\/www.bbb.org\/council\/migration\/consumertips\/
\n2010\/07\/bbb-advises-caution-when-dealing-withtalentmodeling-
\nagencies\/
\nhttp:\/\/www.bbb.org\/vancouver-island\/migration\/bbbwarnings\/
\n2010\/09\/a-model-scam\/<\/p>\n

Reference sources to find out if an agency is licensed:
\nIn California: https:\/\/www.dir.ca.gov\/databases\/dlselr\/talag.html
\nIn Florida: http:\/\/www.filminflorida.com\/ela\/tma.asp
\nGeneral Modeling Advice and Resource Sites:
\nwww.modelresource.com
\nwww.americamodels.com\/resourcesfr.htmlwww.fashionbook.com\/home.http:\/\/e-model.net\/
\nwww.models.com<\/p>\n

Finally, there are modeling forums. Literally hundreds of\u00a0these exist, but the vast majority have no value for mainstream
\nprofessional models. Virtually all are nude\/glamour oriented, and\u00a0the participants mostly have neither knowledge of nor interest in\u00a0how fashion and commercial modeling works. There are few\u00a0exceptions.:
\nForum advice must be carefully evaluated. Forums are like\u00a0any other community: the residents form friendships and cliques;\u00a0many have been members for years. Some will support anything\u00a0another of their friends say. Others will argue with anything said\u00a0by someone they don\u2019t like. Some people on the forum say things\u00a0they think you will want to hear; some pick fights just for sport.
\nPeople give advice whether they know what they are talking about\u00a0or not, and on most forums there is little control over who says\u00a0what. The best approach to a forum is study, respect and caution.\u00a0Read the forum\u2019s rules and FAQs. Read the last hundred or so\u00a0posts to see what kinds of questions are asked, who answers, and\u00a0how credible their answers are. Then make your first post on the\u00a0forum, introducing yourself and letting people know your areas of\u00a0interest and experience. There is nothing wrong with being\u00a0ignorant of the industry \u2013 the forum is there to fix that. Just don\u2019t\u00a0pretend to knowledge and expertise you don\u2019t have. The longtime\u00a0members of Internet forums have a well-developed BS\u00a0sensors, and do not treat poseurs kindly.\u00a0Be prepared for evaluations of you or your work that seem\u00a0harsh. Some people will never say anything bad to another, and\u00a0nice posts are common (and usually meaningless). The posts\u00a0which tell the truth are often not what you want to hear, and it\u2019s\u00a0tempting to lash out at the person telling it. Forum participants\u00a0are not always kind or politically correct in their phrasing. Try to\u00a0get past the tone of the response and see what information of\u00a0value may be in it.
\nIf you participate on a forum with respect for its customs and\u00a0members, and are careful to take advice with a grain of salt, you\u00a0can learn a great deal about the modeling industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The beginning of the 21st century brought the first major\u00a0change in the way agencies had done business in nearly 30 years. The old ways remain, and are still relied upon for many purposes,\u00a0but the Internet has fundamentally changed the way models,\u00a0agencies and clients communicate with each other. It has also\u00a0made information about modeling widely available […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":13915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2166],"tags":[2341,2345,2343,2342,2347,2346,2210,2344],"class_list":["post-13902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guide","tag-commercial-modeling","tag-experienced-models","tag-locating-agencies-and-models","tag-locating-support-personnel","tag-model-managers","tag-model-related-web-sites","tag-modeling-industry","tag-models-personal-sites"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13902","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=13902"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13916,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13902\/revisions\/13916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}