Modeling & Acting 101 - A Model/Actor's Diary

Category: Agency Open Calls For: New/Inexperienced Male & Female Models Aspiring models with zero experience, when you get asked by a modeling agency, "What modeling experience do you have?" it is perfectly acceptable to tell the truth: that you currently don't have experience. Remember, previous modeling experience isn't mandatory to be considered for agency representation (unless they say so on the website). So don't feel pressured to lie or make something up to try and make yourself look better to an agency. When answering this question, let them know you have no experience but then go on to mention that you're eager to learn the industry and what it takes to become a great model. Saying you're inexperienced might sound negative but if you follow it up with that bit of positivity and show them your enthusiasm about getting into modeling, it will work in your favor.

I often get many comments and emails from people wondering about modeling and the whole "age" issue. I've done a couple of posts about the subject but can certainly understand that readers still feel pretty intimidated about the thought of even trying to get into the modeling world after a certain age. While the industry as a whole hasn't been exactly welcoming to "older models," I firmly believe that anyone at any age can do modeling. It just depends on their goals and where they realistically fit in. I know Maria would agree with me--after all, she is one of the prime examples of a model that has enjoyed a lot of success in her career. Oh, did I mention that she's also over 40?! Maria is a working, professional model from the Netherlands. Want to know how she managed to overcome the age obstacle and remain as an in demand model in Europe?  Below is her story in her own words: ____________________ How to model after growing up... I start...

As you know, I aim to provide my blog readers with insider information about all things related to modeling. However, I'm not an expert in all categories. I don't normally have guest writers/contributors on my blog but when it comes to subjects I don't feel I have enough experience to write about, I will reach out to the best.  The following is a guest post written by Margaret Colebeck. It is the second in a 2-part blog post series about the pros and cons of promotional modeling. Margaret is a Marketing Associate, Model Coordinator, and trade show modeling expert for Vantage Advertising. Also known as Models4tradeshows.com , Vantage Advertising is a nationwide event staffing company that hires trade show models and promotional models for events throughout the United States and Canada. I've asked Margaret to write a handful of posts related solely to working within the promotional modeling field. Please note that I do not work for Margaret or Vantage...

As you know, I aim to provide my blog readers with insider information about all things related to modeling. However, I'm not an expert in all categories. I don't normally have guest writers/contributors on my blog but when it comes to subjects I don't feel I have enough experience to write about, I will reach out to the best.  The following is a guest post written by Margaret Colebeck. Margaret is a Marketing Associate, Model Coordinator, and trade show modeling expert for Vantage Advertising. Also known as Models4tradeshows.com , Vantage Advertising is a nationwide event staffing company that hires trade show models and promotional models for events throughout the United States and Canada. I've asked Margaret to write a handful of posts related solely to working within the promotional modeling field. Please note that I do not work for Margaret or Vantage Advertising. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about promo modeling, please visit the site lin...

I'm glad I have friends all across the country! My buddy, Paul, who lives in Indiana, happened to be driving and came across a billboard with a face he thought looked familiar. So he took a picture with his phone and emailed it to me to find out if it was, in fact, me. It was! Here's the picture he took: This image is from a stock photography shoot I did years ago with a local photographer (I've certainly never attended Kaplan College and as you know, my name is not Willette, haha). How funny that it's now turned up on a billboard in Indiana after all this time! Appearing on a billboard has been on my to-do-list of modeling goals and now I can officially check it off as an accomplishment. My new goal? To make sure it isn't the last billboard I appear on!

If you haven't noticed already, there are new polls related to my upcoming webinar. As always, your input is what will help me be successful with this project so please make sure to vote on these new questions so I can start figuring out a good date and time frame to host the event. Every vote counts! Now that I know what topic will be addressed, I can start putting together an outline of what I'll be talking about, as well as creating a Powerpoint presentation to be able to show during the webinar. I may also look into doing a live screen type of feature, where the webinar attendees will be able to see what is happening on my screen in real time. I'm thinking this would be nifty to have if I want to show people how to navigate an agency website or something. I got some pretty good news, too: remember in my last webinar update how I was told the webcam feature for the GoToMeeting Webinar product wouldn't be launching for another couple of months? Well, I got a c...

(This post does not pertain to baby modeling. For info on that type of modeling, please visit my post: Baby Modeling Tips ) I realize that the majority of my posts are targeted towards teens and adult models. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten about the kid models out there! When it comes to helping parents of aspiring child models, I could easily tell them to refer to my previous posts about taking snapshots and submitting to agencies but I figured it might be challenging/confusing for parents to try and apply that info to their kids when the posts specifically talk about adults and have snapshot examples of older models. So to make sure I don't leave anybody out, I decided to do this particular post to guide newbie parents through the process of submitting their kids to agencies. There are a few factors that remain the same for submitting photos of your child to agencies that older models also follow, however: Most (not all) agencies prefer/request non-prof...