Model Business ... or being in business as a model
Being a model is really about being a business. You are in the business of promoting yourself and offering services - your modeling services to clients. Those clients may be photographers, companies that want people to do promotion work on their behalf or fashion houses that need models to promote their outfits.
A couple of things to bear in mind... if its a photographer that is paying you to model, are they paying you because you just look pretty and sexy and they would like you in their portfolio or are they paying you because they can make money from the photos? If it is because you are pretty and sexy... well that is not really being a professional model... I'm sorry if I upset some of you, but that's the truth. To be a professional model, you need to be able to work on projects and come back with tear sheets to show to potential clients... "this is me being a teacher... this is me modeling swimwear for xxxxx... this is me advertising xxxx" This will show clients that you have a range of styles and looks that can represent what they are looking for. On the other hand, if you are really pretty and sexy, there is a market out there for you and you need to target this area.... this is where the calendar shoot or poster market is and can be quite lucrative... you have seen the posters in all sorts of places, a pretty girl with a bikini on holding a welding torch in a workshop.
Deciding on what type of modeling you want to do will largely dictate how you will structure your business and market yourself. Before that though, lets get an idea of what is involved.
Like any business, its about a product. That product is you! So, you need to take care of you. You need to look after every aspect of yourself, your look, your health, your skin, your hair, your clothes to maintaining a professional marketable image. You are the only thing you sell, so it has to be absolutely the best you can do.
How do you market yourself?
Well, to start in business being a model you need a portfolio and a business card, or in the modeling world, a Composition Card. Your portfolio is your shop window, your Comp card is your business card. Remember, these images are your only way of promoting yourself, so they have to be 110% all WOW! pictures.... anything taken on a mobile phone, web cam or next door neighbour with an expensive camera will not do... you have to invest time and money in getting your portfolio and comp cards right. If you think of it in terms of every photo in your portfolio should be good enough for the cover of Vogue magazine... you get the idea.
You also need to do the boring business things as well, like keep accounts and records, issue invoices, maintain business contacts - in fact anything any other business does!
It is highly unlikely that you will earn enough money from modeling for it to be your only source of income, so you are going to have to work twice as hard keeping a day job going and running your modeling business at weekends or in the evenings. While it may seem glamorous and well paid, the reality of it is a little different. If you are good at the business and good as a model, after some time, things will start to come together and you can make a success of it.... but it is not something that happens overnight for 99.9% of models.
How does it work?
Well, lets assume you are not represented by an agency, you have got your portfolio and comp cards and someone has booked you for a shoot to model swimwear. First thing to establish is who is paying you and what are the terms. Sometimes, the Client (this could be the photographer or the swimwear manufacturer) will pay your traveling expenses and send you a ticket for the train, plane whatever. Other times, you will have to get yourself to the studio or location. If you have to pay for yourself, these are expenses and you need to keep the receipts. OK, so for this shoot, you have to get there yourself - so you take the train and a taxi. Make a note of how much it cost and keep the receipts.
Next - how long is the shoot going to last and are you being paid "by the hour" or "all in" Being paid by the hour is exactly what it states, if you work 4 hours and you charge 50 per hour, you will invoice the client for 200. (these figures are just that, I have not assumed any currency and the amounts are just made up) If the shoot lasts 5 hours... can you invoice for 5 hours? You need to check the contract.
"All In" or "Inclusive" is a fixed price for doing the shoot - if you have quoted 200 for four hours and it takes five, you still only charge 200.
Makeup Artist - is there one being paid for by the client or are you taking one with you? If there is one being supplied by the client, then there is nothing further you need to do, if you are taking one, you need to get a price from the MUA for the shoot. He or She will give you an invoice on the day that you will need to pay (more expenses), as you are fairly new, they will probably want paying on the day as well. Don't expect to get paid on the day though, 30 days or longer is the norm.
So, you have got to the shoot, paid the MUA and have issued and invoice to the client for a four hours shoot. How much money have you actually made after expenses?
It works like this:-
Income from the shoot 200 less your expenses (Train - 25, Taxi - 10, MUA - 50 ) so actually you have made 200-25-10-50 which equals 115, you made 115 for the shoot, well almost! Remember the portfolio and comp cards, they cost you something to have done so you have to take this off your first job as well. Also, you haven't paid Tax on your earnings, so you have to put a percentage aside to pay to the Tax collection agency. You can now see that being a model is not all glamour and jet setting round the world!
Now this is a fairly simple scenario, as it will differ in various countries so I have kept it simple. It is also slightly different if you are being represented by an agency. The agency will produce your marketing material and find you work... they will then invoice the client for your time and you will receive a percentage of this in due course from the agency. The percentage you get will all depend on which agency and the type of modeling you do.
It is unlikely that any manufactures of clothing will come to you directly. In the main, they would go out to a model agency and say find me a model that fits xxxxxxx criteria... the agency would first look through their own books of models they have and present those suitable to the client. I don't know of any models that have become successful on their own and not been handled by an agency. That is to say, it can't or has not happened. There are small independent manufacturers of niche clothing that do use independent models, but this tends to be in a very limited market area of specialist clothing (fetish items or exotic underwear for example) where a model can become "known" or famous for modeling their range of items.
