Model Agency earn money: How much does a Model earn and when?
How can you earn money in a model agency? The possibilities are extremely varied, depending on how far you make it as a model. Basically at the beginning it’s all about building you as a model before you can earn any money at all. This includes the personality, but also your appearance and of course your model portfolio. Only if all these factors are right, if your agency can trust you 100%, if it sends you to its customers, then you can start earning money. Today we wanted to give you a small overview with which areas you can earn money as a model in a big agency like CM Models. The important thing is that modeling gives you a lot of possibilities and freedom, yet you have to motivate yourself and above all show ambition, every day. If you’re at a shooting set, with twelve people from the advertising agency and a photographer who’s not so talkative, you need to be the friendly person who brings energy to the set! You do your job with experience and joy, just like at a fashion show. No one should have to explain to you what you have to do. Your job is to know exactly what you’re doing! This is why the preparation time as a model, which usually takes place during school time, is so important for young talents. Let’s take a look at the different areas where you can earn money as a model.
Fees and Income
Fees and incomes vary extremely between cities. For example, in small towns, or metropolises, between customers, small and new start-ups, against the big international players, just as between countries. You tend to make more money in France than in Greece. All these different factors come together. Of course, your experience and your ability, as well as your appearance and a few other factors that you often cannot influence yourself, such as your height, play a big role. If all this comes together, then the working days are calculated, as well as the journey and the stay and of course also still the subsequent use. The period of use alone is divided into various factors, e.g. territorial use, i.e. in which countries or cities something is broadcast or glued. Just like the various media, from online media to digital ads on social media platforms and of course the classic posters and TV commercials, or of course cinema commercials, but before you get to the well-paid TV jobs, almost all models start with the classic fashion & advertising jobs, between Instagram and online shops.
Photoshootings for Instagram and Onlineshops
One of the first basics you have to learn as a model is how to pose differently for different motifs. Especially for fashion online shops, it is important that on each motif a little new emotion, new stand, new movement can be seen. As a young model, you have to learn exactly these processes. That’s why photo shoots for online shops and Instagram are especially worthwhile, as you have to prove great variety here. The shooting will be very different later on, when you focus on one or two garments and of course only on one single motif. So as soon as you get into this league, you have to show a lot of practice and experience so that the customer can definitely assume that the photo will sit. Especially when large production teams are involved, 10 to 15 people preparing the set, catering, equipment, location and of course much more. Then you only have one day, then the plane takes off. So there is no way to produce anything after that. That’s why you have to slowly fight your way up from the first online shop shootings to the big campaign shootings.
Showrooms and Fashion Shows
A somewhat smaller source of income is then showrooms. Showrooms are little fashion shows. You don’t have a public audience there, just the designer and a few buyers from different boutiques and fashion chains. These buyers look at the new pieces in the collection and then decide whether they want to include a few pieces in their assortment. In such a showroom you present clothes as a model, directly in front of the customer, so that you can get an impression of the cut, material and fit. The designer or the respective sales manager then explains to the customer what is particularly important in the collection, what the special features are and additional details. Meanwhile you as a model present the jeans, or the top, turn and occasionally a customer would also ask you how e.g. teaching material feels on the skin, or how a certain cut fits from the seat. So you can directly give an assessment of how the garment feels from the wearing comfort. That’s exactly what you’re going to get in a showroom! One size bigger is the fashion show. At a fashion show you not only have the designer and the buyer, but also a public audience. These include prominent guests, but also influencers and fashion editors. Here you don’t just introduce individual items of clothing alone with one or two other models, but you are directly on site with a large group of 15 to 20 models. You are all part of a presentation and present the designer’s new collections, most of which will appear on the market in the coming season. At a fashion show or in a showroom, it’s not about putting you in the limelight as a model, but about focusing on the clothes and the designer. You as a model step into the background.
Commercials for Facebook and YouTube
Once you have learnt your first lessons and experience with poses, facial expressions and emotions, you can slowly tackle more challenging projects. This includes, for example, small advertising clips. Nowadays, of course, often for social media, such as Facebook or YouTube. The small advertising clips then show a new hair care product, or a new smartphone. You present the respective product as a model in five to ten seconds. These videos are then played out e.g. as advertisements. Such commercials are much more demanding because you don’t just have to look good anymore, you have to consider many different factors. On the one hand there are video shoots with other people or models with whom you have to interact. So every photo trigger has to be right when it comes to emotions. Some commercials also require a small speaking role. If the production company is planning such a commercial, it always wants a model with experience, or his model agency to 100% confirms that he or she will do the job with flying colors. Speaking roles are much more demanding, since it’s not only the appearance and emotions that decide, but also the language, emphasis and many small details in the facial expressions. If at some point you’re good enough, you might make it into the big commercials that will be shown in cinemas, on TV or in streaming portals.
Lookbook Shootings
Lookbook Shootings are often something special, because you shoot the whole collection directly. Lookbooks are also printed relatively frequently, so as a model you can also look at a printed result. Lookbook shootings are a very important activity for designers because they show the entire collection to the buyers. That means with the look of the shooting stands, or falls a project to certain parts. Therefore, it is very important for fashion designers that the models for Lookbook Shootings are very experienced, or have an absolutely individual look, so that you can do something without the experience.
Commercial for TV and Cinema
One of the greatest earning opportunities for models results from TV and cinema commercials, now of course often played out in streaming portals. These boards are often switched very often. The more you are seen, the more usage rights you have and the more you can earn. If a commercial is then transferred to another country, for example, because the production costs were higher than the simple takeover, you will get more out of it. Of course, TV commercials are extremely demanding, here the teams are not only 10 people but also 50 or 60 people who plan and carry out such a TV commercial. In the end, you and another model might be responsible for creating the perfect picture. While helicopters take off next to you, or any cars explode. Of course, not every commercial is so spectacular, but you see how much responsibility you have in such a project. Especially if you only have 8 hours to shoot and the next day the whole production, the equipment and the team are already apart.
Influencers and Social Media
If you have built up a growing community of your own, your model agency may suggest you for influencer marketing jobs at some point. Many clients of model agencies explicitly ask for bloggers and influencers, because model agencies are interested in a very young target group.Influencer campaigns are very diverse. From posting on Instagram to a short story on Instagram, from event visitors to placing products in YouTube videos. Influencer marketing is so diverse that more and more agencies are rushing into it. We were one of the first to join and have helped many clients promote their brand on the Internet. For many models the job of an influencer is relatively close, because it’s also about photos, media presence and of course dealing with emotions, facial expressions, cameras and sometimes even the red carpet. That’s why as a model you should always think about how intensively you cultivate your own social channels. Especially Instagram should get a lot of attention from models, because you can easily build a community here. More and more customers are looking at the number of followers of individual social media channels. So our insider tip at the end, when you start your modeling career, start from day one also with Instagram! After two or three years this investment will be very profitable for you! That was the typical merit and way to work of a model. In the same way you earn your bread rolls and by following your customers, you can manage to focus your life fully on this job. Not only by follow up customers, but also by returning customers, because especially they distinguish you, because they were satisfied with the job. Satisfied customers means satisfied model agency and therefore the perfect start for you as a model. If you want to apply in our model agency, you will find all information here.
