6 tips for your modeling career
Starting a new modeling career can be overwhelming and confusing at times. It can happen that you work hard towards your goal, but you don't get the answers or successes you were hoping for. To prevent this, it is advisable to avoid the following six most common mistakes.
Let's start with the 6 most common mistakes!
1. Expensive photos and courses
It's important not to get yourself into financial trouble just because you're pursuing a modeling career. As a newcomer to the industry, there is no need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to apply to agencies. Agents and modeling agencies understand that you're new to the business and don't necessarily expect professional photos.
Overly retouched images are less suitable for assessing your overall marketability. When agents and scouts consider you as a new model, they analyze your bone structure, body proportions, and whether you might be a good fit for their clients. Therefore, at the beginning of your modeling career, polas are particularly suitable.
Another area where new models often overspend is model training. While modeling courses can be fun and bring you new friends and connections, just attending a modeling course does not automatically make you a model. This requires more experience and a portfolio. Rather concentrate on a strong portfolio in the form of a comp card and a model book.
2. The wrong pictures for your career as a model
Model applications often fail due to ignorance and a bit of naivety. Agents and agencies make decisions based on your images. These do not have to be perfect, but should meet certain criteria. Avoid the following types of images in your model application:
- pictures with friends
- Pictures with excessive makeup
- Images where hats and glasses obscure important information
- Pictures where your figure is hidden by clothes
- Poorly exposed images
- No model portfolio at the casting
- Applications without a comp card
It's important to avoid these mistakes to increase your chances of a successful modeling career. Make sure that your application pictures meet the desired criteria and present yourself professionally with a well-designed sedcard.
3. Communication with model agencies and scouts
How you present yourself in an email or an application by letter tells agents a lot about you and how you will ultimately present yourself to the agency's customers.
Countless pictures are often attached individually to the e-mail, measurements are written incompletely and the whole thing is sent together with a life story. This approach is messy and extremely unprofessional.
Create a professional sedcard. So the agent has all your measurements, pictures and contact information in one document. He can easily forward this document to colleagues, photographers or clients. Here you can create your sedcard.
The first contact with an agent is not the right time to tell him your life story or your problems. Keep your emails and letters short and concise.
4. Too eager for a modeling career
It is important to be motivated and work hard to achieve your goal. However, this should not happen at any price. It is not advisable to harass an agency or agent after you have submitted your application. Also, no reputable agent would want you to take nude photos to get a job or a modeling contract. If an agent, client, or photographer ever tells you they can advance your career if you're willing to pose for nude photos or "more," you should cut contact immediately.
5. Too few applications and castings
As a model, it is extremely important to get in touch with as many modeling agencies and scouts as possible. However, this also applies to photographers and other models. The reason for this is that not all models are suitable for every market and not all markets are suitable for every model. So don't think that just because an agency in Munich doesn't want to represent you, you can't work in other markets like Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne or even in neighboring countries. The Netherlands, France, Austria and Switzerland are very popular with German models.
Photographers are often asked if they can recommend a good model. Anyone who has many contacts here and has always worked reliably and professionally can look forward to jobs that have come about through a strong network and a good reputation.
6. Cancellations are normal
Many people mistakenly believe that today's most successful models were discovered overnight and agencies immediately offered them modeling contracts. In reality, however, this is rarely the case. Many of the most successful models in the industry have worked hard to build their modeling careers. They have worked on their sedcard, their model book, their appearance and their "brand" over time and have constantly developed further.
A prominent example is supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who, according to Forbes Magazine, was rejected by more than 40 agents before finally being signed to Elite Models. Today she earns around 40 million euros a year. This shows that the road to success as a model is often paved with setbacks and rejections. It takes perseverance, perseverance and a willingness to continually work on yourself to be successful.
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