MODELING AGENCY SIGN IS NOT NECESSARY TO BECOME A MODEL

I never thought I would be pursuing modeling. You probably have your own special reasons why you would like to be a model. Modeling was always something weird to me, but my point of view changed.

I started being interested in it when I discovered people like Jay Alvarrez, Neels Visser, and Toni Mahfud. All of them are models, but also much more than that. I love that concept. You can also see musicians like Jaden Smith, A$AP Rocky, Trè Samuels, and my favorite DJ from my country Nobody Listen modeling.

I have been interested in modeling for a while now. I did both direct (freelance) modeling and was also signed by a modeling agency. In this article, I would like to share the best practices to get you where you want in modeling without having to be signed by an agency.

If you searched for this post I assume that you are interested in modeling. You’ve probably read a few articles already. From what I’ve seen, most blog posts suggest you to give it a chance and try to get signed by a modeling agency. Which I don’t think is a bad idea at all. You can try to search for free castings to a modeling agency in your area.

You can also participate in some form of model contest. I recommend you to at least try it. If you won’t be successful that way you can come back to this post. I write this to let people know that working with an agency is the only way you can make it as a model. You will also know how to get jobs and everything you need to know about freelance modeling.

What an agency does is get an offer from a production company to provide models. The models from the agency then book the job and do the photoshoot, etc.

Basically being signed by an agency get’s you jobs. They are also some kind of a guarantee for the models, they are responsible for the quality standards of some sort. An agent is the “middle man” between the model and the company looking for them. Being signed by an agency or having a personal agent gives you a certain advantage. They hook you up with the jobs and you just go to castings and focus on the actual “modeling aspect” of your job.

If you didn’t manage to get signed yet, or if you don’t meet the agency standards for height, etc., don’t lose hope. It is not NECESSARY, to be successful in modeling. It will just take a little more work to get jobs. You will essentially have to be your own agent in this case. If you are willing to put in a little more work, not being represented by an agency will not stop you.

For example, I took my first modeling job independently, without the help of any agency. I found it, got through the casting, and booked the job. It was a serious job, with pretty good money. If I can do it, you can too.

By doing freelance model work you will build up a portfolio and getting accepted by an agency will be easier if you decide to go for it in the future.

Direct Model’s Advantage

It takes a little bit more work to book jobs as an independent model. Fortunately, you have a huge advantage that signed models don’t. It’s way cheaper for brands to hire you directly than work with the agency. This way they skip the additional fees an agency adds to the price of booking a model. It is cheaper to hire you, so companies are likely to be interested in working with you rather than working with someone who is signed. Keep this in mind especially if you will be losing hope.

Build Portfolio First

If you already have a portfolio you can skip this part. If you don’t you have to get at least a few presentable photos of yourself. You need to have something to show to the brands and casting directors, some examples of your look and experience.

You can build it by doing “TFP” which is a special way of collaboration between models, photographers, and stylists. It is completely free. Each person is basically building their portfolio, so it’s a win for everyone.

You can also pay a photographer and stylist and do a proper photoshoot, so you have professional photos for your portfolio. I did this and paid a photographer and those photos got me my first serious modeling job.

Networking

The first thing I will be talking about is something you should not only try. I think you should be doing it constantly and frequently, even if you will get signed by an agency eventually. Whenever you can, you should always be doing some kind of networking. And not only in terms of modeling, if you want to be successful in any field you should always be networking.

Start reaching out to photographers, fashion designers, start-up brands, casting directors, beauty companies, etc. Aim at people or brands with smaller following since they are likely looking for models, but can’t yet afford to pay a modeling agency for it. That is your chance.

You can start simple, just start sending DMs on Instagram or other social media. Not many, but some people could respond to you. If you want to higher the odds try sharing or tagging them first and then messaging them. First get their attention, by doing something they will appreciate and then reach out.

Social media can only take you this far. People can say whatever they want, but the best way of reaching out to people is still by sending a proper email. It makes you look professional. It takes more work than writing a DM on Instagram, but if you will actually sit by the table and write a few emails you will be surprised how easy it actually is. And this extra effort will be worth it.

You can find many fashion industry contacts on Models.com

You can also try to go out to the world of fashion events, fashion weeks, etc., and try networking in person. You will probably never know who will be there and who to look for, but you can give it a shot. Start talking to people, be charismatic, and maybe you will become friends with someone who will help you.

When you plan to meet someone in person don’t forget to bring your comp card with you. So you can give it to them when they ask you for contact information. If you don’t have one or don’t know what it is, go watch this Fresh Pepper video! He even has a pre-made comp card template for you to use for free.

If you know there will be a fashion event in your area, do your homework and find out which company is organizing it. Find out who the casting directors are and reach out to them before the event. Maybe they will be open to working with you. It is possible to make it happen.

Don’t get discouraged when no one will reply to you at first. That’s totally normal in networking, most people don’t reply to you. It happens to everyone, don’t make it a reason to stop your effort. Try to do everything you can to make them respond. Instead of being sad because they didn’t open your email, try to make it more “openable” by writing an interesting subject. Try to make them curious when seeing the subject so they just have to open the email.

Maybe people open your emails but don’t respond. Instead of blaming them, try to do something to avoid them not responding. Keep it short and simple, get straight to the point, and don’t use complicated sentences. It is also important to “make the email about them”. If you want them to do something for you, make it seem like helping you will make things easier for them. Don’t ask people for favors, make them ask you for what you want them to. Ideally, make them offer you what you wanted to ask for in the first place themselves. Make them think it was their idea.

If no one replied to you yet, don’t give up. Here are a few words of motivation one ex-agent told me: “In my experience, finding the right contact is not that hard if you’ve done enough research into what it is you want to achieve exactly, however having all the contacts in one place will just invite people to spam message everyone all at once (and those people are already spammed every day)”

There are many ways you can persuade people to do what you want them to do, but I will not cover them in this article. I will give you a simple trick that will give you a good starting point. First, write the email as you normally would. Then look back at it and try to rewrite it in a way that replaces all the “I”s for “You”s. If you want people to help you with something you have to offer them something in advance. This method will help you keep that mindset.

One last quick tip. You can also casually take them on a coffee or quick meal, most people will appreciate that. When in person you can talk to them and see how it goes.

Casting Websites (and Apps)

The second way you can book modeling jobs without the help of an agency is to go on casting websites and apps. There are plenty of sites where you can find jobs and castings. Here are a few of the good ones.

You can also find jobs on Craigslist and Model Mayhem, but be careful about these websites and the offers on them. Besides the good people who are just looking for a model for a photo shoot, there are also people who can have bad intentions. I am not saying you should not use those websites at all, just please be careful about who you are dealing with.

Stand Out

It doesn’t really matter how exactly, but try to stand out and be different than others as much as you can.

The sentence written above probably sounds a little bit over the top, but that’s how it works. If you want to be noticed among the thousands of other people trying. If you want your networking and applying for jobs to be worth it. Being a true individual and being a unique person is essential. In order to be picked for a job you have to be noticed and in order to be noticed you have to stand out.

Being original is not something you can be thought. In order to stand out you have to find your own “thing”. I believe that everyone has some special trait. They just have to embrace it. Maybe you have some special talents or are good at something not many people are. Maybe you are special in the way you look. In this case and especially in this case, don’t be scared to show it off to the world. Embrace what you are, don’t hide it.

Having an online audience, a big following on Instagram, or a YouTube channel will also help. You can try to make yourself stand out by creating an online community. In general, any sort of additional publicity is welcomed. Get out there, get seen, and take advantage of it if it works.

Basically, if there is anything that could potentially make you more interesting than the others applying to jobs try to get the best out of it.

The Rule No. 1

If you were to take just one thing away from this post please take this one. If things are not going in your favor. Instead of blaming others or some external factors, focus on what is actually in your control and work on improving that. Yes, sometimes people will just ignore you and throw obstacles in your way. Being mad about it won’t solve anything though. Perfect the things you are in charge of and you will be on the best way to success.

Conclusion

Now you know everything you need to get out there and start crushing it as a freelance model. Don’t be scared to work hard for a while, it will pay off if you don’t quit. Try to show up to the jobs even if the date is not perfect for you. Be ready to work anytime at first. I traveled 8 hours across the whole country for my first job. And it was worth it. You will prove to others and to yourself your dedication.

Once you start getting jobs you can either stay independent and keep modeling directly, or you can take advantage of the experience you have and the portfolio you built with freelance work to get signed by an agency.

If you are just starting out it won’t be a bad thing to build your portfolio with freelance work. You can gain photos and experience this way. Then you will have something to build on when your career will start taking off. Start smaller, work with small brands and work your way up through experience and networking.

Bonus tip: Be fun and chill to work with and stay in touch with people you’ve already worked with. You don’t have to always look for something new. If you already know someone you can work with them again and again. Make sure to be nice and charismatic so people want to work with you again.

Note: Bookmark this page in case you would like to get back to it later!

Resources

Here are a few information sources I used for this post. You can check them out for more details and instructions.

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