Guides
Modeling guides on rates, portfolios and getting booked
Practical writing for freelance models and the people who book them: what models actually get paid, how usage rights change a quote, what a release does and does not cover, how to build a portfolio, and how to work without an agency. None of it is legal advice.
Every guide · 01 to 26
Written for the decision in front of you
How much do models get paid, and who decides it
There is no single rate and anyone quoting you one is selling something. What there is: four variables that move the number, and public sources you can check yourself.
How much do print models get paid
The shoot fee is the small number. Usage is the big one, and it is the part most briefs leave undefined until someone wants to run the images as ads.
Model release form, explained clause by clause
A release is permission to use your likeness. It is not a contract about money and it is not a safety document. Knowing which is which prevents most disputes.
How to become a model with no experience
The first decision is not photos, it is category. Commercial, fitness and parts work book people that fashion will never call, and they pay from the first job.
Model rates per hour, per day and per license
An hourly figure answers the wrong question, and a day rate with no usage terms attached is a guess. Four questions turn a guess into a number you can stand behind.
How to become a plus size model
The size floor is real and the height rule is not. What each category books, what belongs in your first twelve images, and the invoices a legitimate route never sends you.
Is Backstage worth it for models
About $200 a year buys the right to apply to casting notices. Worth it for actors. For a model booked by brands directly, run the one-week test first.
Modeling agencies for mature models in the US
Five US agencies with a mature or classic board, what each one says it represents, what commission is legal, and the case for listing yourself as well.
Modeling websites and casting call sites by price
Nine sites, priced from their own pages. The one question that sorts them: do you apply to the work, or does the buyer search for you.
Is Model Scouts legit? ModelScouts, reviewed
A real company selling a real service: $149 of agency exposure, no commission, no guarantee. Whether that is what your kind of work needs is the actual question.
Is Project Casting legit? Reviews and cost
A real job board, priced at $20 a month and charged as $240 a year, with no refunds. Whether that fits the work you want is the question the reviews do not answer.
Is Casting Networks legit? Cost and reviews
A 24-year-old company with a real casting platform, a free tier that cannot submit to anything, and a $299.90 annual price. Whether that fits model work is the question the reviews never answer.
Is IMTA legit? IMTA modeling, reviewed
A real convention since 1987 with real agents in the room. Packages run about $4,000 to $5,000 before travel, and IMTA guarantees nothing.
Barbizon modeling reviews and cost
A real school since 1939, sold through independently owned centers. Reported tuition runs about $2,000 to $2,400, and its own FAQ says it cannot promise a career.
Seattle Talent reviews and what it costs
A real Seattle business since 1999 with an A+ BBB file. It sells workshops, not representation, and complainants report paying from about $500 to $4,900.
Is Nine9 legit? Nine9 talent reviews and cost
A real listing service since 2003, not an agency. Setup is $99 or $199 plus $39.95 a month, stated as non-refundable, and the BBB shows 105 complaints in three years.
Wings Model Management reviews and record
A real Cincinnati management company since 1998 with an A+ BBB file and split reviews. It publishes no prices, and its 2013 contract asked for 20 percent and two years.
Premiere Model Management reviews and record
A real New Smyrna Beach business with an A+ BBB rating and split reviews. It publishes no prices, and no Florida talent agency license is on record.
Is NV Models legit? Costs, reviews and record
A real Cincinnati business since the 1980s with an A+ BBB rating. It also sells training, and reviewers report paying $1,500 to $4,000 before work.
Is ModelManagement.com legit? Cost and reviews
A real Barcelona company with a large casting board. The free plan allows one application, Premium renews automatically, and the refund window closes the moment you use it.
Is Boost Models legit? Reviews and costs
Two unrelated companies use the name. One is a promo staffing agency that charges nothing; the other is a photo studio group whose "agency" page invites you to a portfolio shoot.
Is Explore Talent legit? Cost, reviews and refunds
A real company with a poor record: a D minus from the BBB, a 2018 FTC settlement over sales calls, and prices it never publishes. Here is the refund window and what to do instead.
Is PMTM agency legit? PMTM, reviewed
An accredited Akron agency since 1989 with a clean BBB file and no audition fee. Customers report paying $435 to $800 for coaching before they are marketed.
Is MTM agency legit? The JC MTM agency, reviewed
A real company with a BBB file back to 1998 and a documented tie to the John Casablancas centers. It publishes no prices, and the one recent review reports $2,500.
Is John Casablancas modeling agency legit?
A real, 35-location training business that licenses a famous name. It sells classes, not bookings, and the refund terms decide how much a change of mind costs.
Hire models for photoshoot work, without mis-booking it
Most bad shoots were mis-booked, not mis-shot. Six things in the first email prevent almost all of it, and they take ten minutes to write.
On the site itself
Where the guides stop and the product starts
Everything above is reference. These three pages are the working version of it: the fields you publish, the set of images to publish, and what a review step can and cannot protect you from.
What a model account includes
The fields you publish, what review checks, and what MaxGirls never does.
Model portfolio that brands can search
Twelve images and six fields, and why the data matters as much as the pictures.
Modeling scams and screening
The four scams that cost freelance models the most money, and the tell in each.
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