What does it take to become a
commercial model?
The jobs for commercial models
are so varied there isn’t a checklist
of requirements anyone can give
you to get started. With that said,
there are some things you can do
that will give you a better chance
to land a job in the industry.
First, remember you are vying to
be the face of a company or a
product so you need to be able
to represent them in person or in
print. You may be called upon to
do a tv commercial or make public
appearances at trade shows. You
may well need to have acting
skills, good interpersonal skills
and the ability to make small talk
with a wide variety of people. In
another job you might have to
make a presentation and answer
questions about the company’s
products. Taking acting classes,
public speaking classes, or just
practicing being a good conversationalist may well give you an
advantage over people who don’t
have those skills.
who is just getting started take
photos and then try to use those
photos to get work. Remember
the old saying “you only have one
chance to make a first impression?” That saying holds true for
your portfolio. Clients will take a
look at your photos from a stack
of maybe a hundred of other
models. You need your photos to
stand out from the others.
Lastly you will need to network.
A large number of commercial
modeling jobs are never advertised. They are found by word of
mouth or booked by the client
through contact with a large
number of small agencies. The
way these jobs are filled is often by contact with someone
you have worked with before or
someone recommending you. It
is hard work and takes attending lots of short notice casting
calls, a lot of disappointment and
working many small jobs that
don’t pay very much. But really,
isn’t everything worth having
worth working for?
Secondly, you will need photos
to sell yourself. One of the biggest mistakes people make when
they begin the trek to commercial
modeling is the lack of a portfolio.
In order to get in front of clients
you need to be able to show
them what you look like. Not
only what you look like, but what
you would look like in a print ad.
Your portfolio needs to contain
photos that show the client what
they are looking for. In order to
get that type of photo you need to
find a photographer who knows
how to create them. Many aspiring models have a friend with a
“nice” camera or a photographer
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