The X-Factor Reference Fashion Manual

On a daily basis fashion models send model agencies a nice inquiry letter on a sheet of paper asking for a chance to model. Scribbled on the paper are things like the model's height, weight, hair color, the fact that they are very pretty and have a terrific personality.  Boy, you can sure tell a lot about a model from a white sheet of paper with writing on it.  Don't you think a powerful model photograph would show what a person's fashion model potential is?  Hopeful models who do this could save a lot of time and postage by just taking the envelope to the waste can instead of the post office.  Without a fashion model type photo, you are going nowhere in the model business very fast!

You have to have a really great picture of yourself to get started in fashion modeling. You noticed I said great pictures.   Good won't cut it here.  Snapshots, wedding pictures, senior pictures and Wal-Mart photos won't do the job.  When you get model color headshots done, you need to be thinking real fashion and glamour.  That's what clients want to see, and just like school, you always get the best grades when you give the teacher what they want!

Ninety percent of all models fall flat on their face because they don't take the time to get that really great fashion model photograph taken by a real fashion model photographer.  Becoming a model without a great model photograph is like trying to drive a new Corvette  without an engine.  Sure the body looks great and the car has real class, but it's not going anywhere!  The same will go for you without a great fashion model photograph.  You may have that great classic look and personality, but if it never goes anywhere, you will just be another ordinary person with a dream.  Most people, even some clients, don't have good imaginations. You have to show them what you are really made of and keep reminding them you have true fashion modeling ability. Even that isn't enough sometimes.

Snapshots are fine for simple model evaluations, but don't plan to get too many jobs from your Christmas pictures with you and a pet under the tree. Clients have to be impressed.  If you don't succeed in doing this, you won't succeed in getting any modeling jobs either.  Most people it seems don't want to spend a dime on getting great model pictures so they can get work as a model.  It really does take money to make money.  If you don't have great pictures in a business that demands great model photographs, you hardly have a chance to be a real success. It seems most people want you to believe everything is going to be handed to you as a model.  How many times have you heard, "if they want you to spend money they must be a scam!"   

Consider this.  In Hollywood to even get an Oscar nomination, you have to put up $30,000 with the Academy Awards to even be considered.  This doesn't mean you actually get a nomination, let alone actually win an Academy Award!  OK that's the acting business.  Still actors and actresses must have their glossies to send out to get parts plus their audition tapes and they aren't free. Carpenters need hammers and saws and who do you think buys them? Doctors need their stethoscopes and all kinds of instruments to work on patients.  Who buys theirs?  Dentists need their drills, auto mechanics need wrenches and photographers must have their cameras. Who buys all their stuff they need to work and get work?  As a model you need the tools to be a model and this includes a great model photograph, a professional fashion portfolio, and a fashion model composite card!

How often you send photos to the client list will also determine how much you will work.  Some people send their pictures out only once and if they get none or only one model contact out of 100 mailings, they give up. Don't give up.  It means your fashion model photograph isn't working for you and you need to get a better one.  A better, more marketable photo is the key to being a successful model.  Don't stop until you have it!

When you show your model look to a client with a fashion photograph, you have to plan to do that many times before you can really become a successful model.  Did you know that on the average, you have to show a client your look as a model with a fashion photograph 6 times before you get you first job?  Sure some models are lucky enough to break through the very first time they show their pictures to a client. If you are an average model, you have to plan on sending out your terrific model photograph several times before you start seeing the print modeling opportunities start rolling in.  

It's a simple model marketing plan. Get great pictures, send them out to clients often and start getting your model tools like a fashion model portfolio
together so you can prove you are a serious professional model.