How to Become a Model

Modeling is a highly competitive, but potentially very lucrative career route.

While height is often necessary for runway models, it is not so important for fashion and print/editorial models you see in magazines and in print advertising campaigns, billboards, and so forth. Modeling is a difficult career to break into, but it is certainly possible. Here are some possible routes to modeling fame:

Get discovered on one of the talent portfolio web sites: Talent scouts, modeling agencies, photographers, magazines and other industry insiders frequently peruse the member portfolios on modeling sites. Two you should join are ModelMayhem and NewFaces. Make sure your portfolio of images is diverse and appealing; provide relevant biographical and contact information on the portfolio page as well so that agents can contact you. Also, if you don't yet have a professional-grade portfolio, many photographers are willing to "test shoot" or "shoot TFP" -- meaning time-for-print. You give them your time for free and in exchange you receive the prints from the shoot. The photographer gets to build his or her portfolio and you get to do the same.

Get discovered through a major magazine's modeling competition: In the United States, one of the best known competitions is Maxim's Hometown Hotties contest. You can submit your images and biographical information at certain times of the year via the magazine's web site here. In the U.K., the FHM competitions are well-known. As a reminder, submissions to Maxim's contest should appear to be from "normal women" -- not seasoned modeling professionals. You may want to include one or two simple shots, in addition to higher-end photographs, to boost your odds.

Build up your MySpace and YouTube presence: Word-of-mouth online fame is a great way to get offers from agencies, magazines, and companies looking for energetic spokespeople. There are also modeling networking groups you can join on MySpace. I talk in my book as well about how to build a large and loyal online following that will get the attention of a major agency. For example, Tila Tequila is a model and actress who landed her own show on MTV as a result of savvy MySpace marketing maneuvers and a great personality. Her show was one of the highest-rated on MTV at the time as well, showing that a good online following can definitely translate into "offline fame" for a model or actor.

Get lucky: Plain, old-fashioned dumb luck is always worth a try. Spend a week of doing only good deeds and speaking well of others, just to see if you can swing karma in your favor! If that doesn't pan out for you, attend agency open casting calls. Search for NYC modeling agencies and L.A. modeling agencies on Google; choose a few that seem like a good fit based on your look and what sorts of gigs you would like to book. Ask them when the next open call is going to be held and simply show up! Make sure you bring a portfolio and comp card with you to the casting call.

Don't give up: If this is what you really want, join as many modeling portfolio sites as you can and make sure that as many people as possible view your work. Send your comp card and portfolio link to as many agencies as you can and always be on the look out for a new gig. Promotional modeling is another way to get your foot in the door; consider contacting an agency that handles promotional events for a large beverage or entertainment company and see if they have any spots available.