Quick Tip #33

Category: Email/Communications
For: Male & Female Models

When submitting to a casting, sometimes a person's specific name isn't available for you to use. For example, the casting may only contain the name of the company instead of their first and/or last name. Or they may reply back to your email and not end their message with their name. The email address itself may not even contain a person's name. But if it does, do not assume that is the name of the person sending you the email. Oftentimes, clients (including photographers) have assistants or other people using their account to correspond with models, which is not uncommon.

What you want to avoid is using the wrong person's name when writing your reply message. When submitting to a casting via email, if you don't have a name to refer to, simply start your message with a salutation and then move on with writing the rest of your email (i.e. Hello, my name is ....). It isn't necessary to address your submission email using the name of the company (i.e. Hello, Amazing Photography, Inc.). It is their email after all so they know you're writing directly to them. While "To Whom It May Concern" is formal, it really isn't necessary but if it makes you feel better, feel free to use this salutation in your email...it won't count against you or anything.

Wait for their reply back and then if you see a name mentioned, you'll know that it's okay to address your follow-up email using that person's name.