Are you the product or the customer?
Is It a Modelling Agency?
There are plenty of legitimate modelling agencies out there, but there are also businesses where the most reliable source of income isn't clients hiring models — it's models paying the agency.
There's an old observation about the gold rush: while thousands of hopeful prospectors headed off dreaming of striking it rich, some of the people making the most reliable money were the ones selling them the shovels.
The modelling industry can sometimes work the same way.
The first question is simple: Where does the money come from?
A genuine agency should make most of its money when its models get paid work. If the conversation quickly turns from “We think we can get you work” to “First we need $1,500 for your portfolio,” it's worth becoming cautious.
Some warning signs:
Compulsory expensive photography. An agency may reasonably suggest that you need better photographs. That's very different from insisting you must use their photographer at a substantial cost.
You can't supply your own photographs. Ask whether they'll accept suitable images from an independent photographer. If the answer is no, ask yourself why.
Everyone gets accepted. If your friend, your mum and possibly your Labrador could all walk through the door and be told they have “an amazing and unique look,” you may have discovered a photography business rather than a selective modelling agency.
Guaranteed work. No legitimate agency can guarantee clients will book you. Agencies can represent, promote and recommend you — ultimately the client decides.
Endless extras. Portfolio shoots become courses, comp cards, website fees and "development packages." Your modelling career hasn't earned $1 yet, but somehow it's already costing thousands.
Lots of models, very little actual modelling. Look through the agency's books. Are its models appearing in genuine campaigns, catalogues, advertising and e-commerce work? Or are most of the images simply more portfolio shoots?
One particularly useful test is to look at the agency's website and ask:
Who is this website trying to attract — companies wanting to hire models, or hopeful people wanting to become models?
A legitimate agency needs models, certainly. But ultimately the agency's customer should be the person wanting to hire talent — not the talent themselves.
During the gold rush, not everybody found gold.
But the shovel salesman got paid either way.
If everyone is making money from your modelling career except you, perhaps it's worth checking whether you're the model — or the gold prospector buying the shovel.