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

Notice the title of this latest post in the mini blog series is "Quality & Content Creation"? That's because even though it's important to post often and keep creating content, it's also vital to think about what you're posting and what you're trying to communicate to followers. Because this mini blog post series is focused on branding and modeling, it only makes sense that I’ll be talking about creating quality content related to…yep, you guessed it: modeling! But what does that mean? PROFESSIONAL IMAGES Photo of one of the magazines I had an editorial feature in. Digital tearsheet of one of the romance novel covers I've been on. What better way to promote your brand as a model than by sharing the fruit of your labors? Posting images from your latest shoots, tearsheets of published work and other pictures related to your career are the best way to show people, including potential clients, what you’ve done and what you can do. ...

People are always in search of the next new thing. Updated content and info is what many online users crave. The fact that smartphones have grown to become as attached to us as a body part makes it that much more crucial to stay on top of your efforts to enforce your brand. The best way to go about this? By posting and posting often. But remember, there’s also quality of the content you’re putting out into the universe. Let’s tackle the “posting and posting often” part first. This is one area where people who are really serious and dedicated to realizing their goals for modeling separate them from the people who want the results but aren’t willing to put forth the work it takes to get there. Unless you’ve got money at your disposal to hire a social media manager and PR team or have a modeling agency getting you castings and bookings fairly often, chances are you’re going to be solely responsible for whatever end results get generated. And you’re going to have to hustle consta...

You've got a name and you know what you want to do with your modeling career. You've got the ball rolling on this whole "branding" thing. Now what? In Part 2 of this mini blog series , I briefly mentioned applying your brand name across your social media platforms. Unless you hate technology or have been living under a rock somewhere, chances are you have a few or all of the most current social media profiles. But there is method to the madness and it involves a bit more strategy than just posting a bunch of selfies randomly. First off, let's talk about specific social media sites. There's so many out there but I'm only going to touch on the basic ones to start you out, especially if you're diving into all this for the first time: Twitter: it's short and sweet and easy to update followers with on a regular basis with little effort. Instagram: it's a visual-based site, which makes it perfect for models to showcase their day-to-da...

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose / by any other name would smell as sweet.” One of the many famous quotes from Shakespeares's play, "Romeo & Juliet" is not only beautifully poetic, it also relates to the subject of this second installment in my mini blog series about branding as it relates to modeling. When trying to figure out where to start, deciding what name you'll use for your modeling career is a great jumping off point. The name you choose as a model to brand yourself with is important but not to the point where you should over analyze. Each person will have his/her own reasons for the name they choose to brand themselves with. In my case, I use "Dania Denise." "Denise" is my middle name. I own and operate several businesses that are unrelated to the entertainment field and don't want to "cross-brand" or overlap so I use my legal last name for those businesses and my middle name in association with m...

An article from the site Entrepreneur.com defines the word " Branding " as follows: The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products. It goes on further to break down this concept: Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from that of your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be. I agree 100% with the statement/definition above. Of course we normally think of branding when it comes to actual companies and products but you may be surprised to know that this concept also applies to modeling. How so? The definition of branding doesn't apply literally in all aspects when it comes to modeling. For example, you don't have to create a logo for yourself as a model. You can and it'd probably be pretty...

  If you haven't already, I would recommend reading my blog post about Commercial/Print modeling   (Understanding Commercial/Print Modeling)   in order to better understand/apply the info in the following post. Commercial/print is a category all its own--and with good reason. Often misunderstood, this type of modeling is one of the most popular and in demand because it targets the largest demographic out there: the every day consumer. Those interested in getting into this category of modeling may have some new territory to conquer since commercial/print isn't like fashion and runway. Because print models are not representing a designer's collection (like fashion/runway/editorial) that means they're not going to be wearing some else's clothes to showcase. Print models are all about representing the average consumer and that means dressing casually or for a certain occasion. There are wardrobe stylists that may be onset with supplemental wardrobe and...

If you haven't already, I would recommend reading my blog post about Commercial/Print modeling (Understanding Commercial/Print Modeling) in order to better understand/apply the info in the following post. Commercial/print is a category all its own--and with good reason. Often misunderstood, this type of modeling is one of the most popular and in demand because it targets the largest demographic out there: the every day consumer. Those interested in getting into this category of modeling may have some new territory to conquer since commercial/print isn't like fashion and runway. Because print models are not representing a designer's collection (like fashion/runway/editorial) that means they're not going to be wearing some else's clothes to showcase. Print models are all about representing the average consumer and that means dressing casually or for a certain occasion. There are wardrobe stylists that may be onset with supplemental wardrobe and in thos...