Audrey Hepburn Becoming a social media influencer. Talk about cold hard competition! I was recently asked, how does someone become a social media influencer and model. Let me 1st say, I offer pinup classes on posing and facial expressions, as well as classes covering the biz side of the pinup industry. I also offer Artist Development classes, and have for 2 years. All the pinup classes I've been offering are super informative and inexpensive. The 1st thing you can't be doing is posting images without crediting your stylist and photographer! That's a huge, no no, in modeling, period! It shows direct lack of professionalism and extremely noticeable to professionals. ALWAYS credit the images you do NOT own the copyrights to! You must be prepared for competition, and your competitors know how to act professional, because they are already professionals, who've worked hard in this industry and in their fields, years now. You must already have a huge social media presence and following. This usually takes several years, and years of daily work promoting and gaining new fans, as well as keeping the ones you already have gained. Yes, years. I've yet to see someone waltz up and gain 100k followers, 300k or a million, overnight. So, plan to invest a few years, and once you have gained tons of followers, you still have to keep working to keep them, the work never ends to maintain your fan base. With most social media influencers, they are sponsoring and advertising a product, possibly a beauty related service, so beauty plays a factor. However no matter how beautiful you may be, how many photographers you've worked with, or modeling gigs you've landed, times you've been published, etc., will only be a small requirement to qualify. You must know the biz side of the industry your modeling in, you must know a lot about promotion and advertising. That's how you begin to build your brand and fan base to begin with, lots and lots of marketing knowledge and experience promoting. You can't build a fan base to the tune of hundreds of thousands, by modeling here and there, modeling as a hobby, modeling part time. In my opinion and experience, you need to be active in modeling, build resources and connections that take years, and literally spend time, pretty much every single day, promoting. When you approach and contact the companies you see using social media influencers, it will be almost pointless unless you already have 100k or more followers. This can be on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook. Theres just really no way around that, because all the models they are already paying have hundreds of thousands, or at least 100k. So any models they would even consider, must already have tons of fans. What you've done in your modeling, people you've worked with, magazines you've been in, etc., is what will directly aid you in building your brand and social media following. But there basically no point in even trying to land a position as a social media influencer, no matter what the company is, until you have at least tens of thousands, I say 100k. We see these ads all day on social media, with a beautiful gal promoting a product. No clue who the model is, never heard of her, never saw her in movies, on tv, on magazine covers, and the images used to advertise are usually cell phone looking images. So, it may appear easy and simple to be them, but I guarantee you they have a huge following, that took years and or so much time to build, before becoming a model and social media influencer. Once you have done that, then you qualify to compete with others, for those positions as a social media influencer. There are gals who could easily land the position because they have already spent years building their brand, so they know about marketing and have the proof in numbers and stats. Plenty of them don't know how easy it would be for them, because they are already qualified. Then there are those that haven't researched or contacted a single company, and assume wrongfully they'll have no problem landing a position. If becoming a social media influencer and model is a goal for you, plan to spend years modeling and building up your fan base and brand! Years of daily or weekly promotion, and a long term plan to achieve your goals. As long as you're qualified, then your competition won't matter too much. But people who already have a huge social media presence, aren't your competitors UNLESS you are 1st qualified to compete! There's basically and really no quick fix, no way to become popular on social media overnight, unless you either work with someone major in your industry, or land a major movie role, cover of Vogue, etc. If you work with someone who's already a heavy hitter, already has a huge social media following, or it's a major company or major magazine, then your following will increase fast. You still must plan to work to keep them, either way! Based upon researching heavily and by 1st hand experience as a social media influencer and model, if you aren't modeling, acting, dancing, singing or performing often, do not have a social media fan base with tens of thousands of more followers, I say drop the idea of becoming a social media influencer. You have to be active, promoting and advertising on a regular basis, without fail, to 1st build your brand. Companies looking for models to be their social media influencer, have an endless amount of gals already qualified, waiting to be chosen. Beauty is just an essential part of the equation. If you have no knowledge on marketing, no knowledge on how to conduct biz in a professional manner, to begin with, good luck building a solid brand and working with top professionals in your industry. Gotta learn the basics, reseach and spend a tremendous amount of time and money too, often, NOT here and there. If someone in fact, handed you 100k followers overnight, then what? Are you realistically prepared to maintain that huge fan base, are you prepared and knowledgeable on how to, as well as gain even more fans? Whether building your brand and fan base seems easy or difficult, make no mistake, it takes time, and often several years!! If you're dipping in and out of pinup for fun, a few times a year, or it's a once a month deal, if you haven't learned the biz side, haven't learned anything about marketing, aren't working with high quality producing people who are making big moves, being a social media influencer isn't for you. If you have little to no clue on how to build your brand and fan base, no company will hire you to sponsor their business or products. I rarely think about my competitors. I focus on myself, my career, my goals and my success already achieved, after years of very hard work. But I'm totally and fully aware of my competitors, and that there is an endless amount of successful, established, experienced and skilled professional pinups, all over the globe. Reseach and you'll find that, although it looks so simple and the images used for advertising aren't always professional quality, it's not easy to land the positions available, as a social media influencer. It has become a real career. Major stars are the ones really racking it in, and are sought out by companies. Obviously major stars and performers, almost all have millions of followers. Lastly. It takes every individual model, a different length of time to develope, and create a solid pinup look. Those that already live a vintage lifestyle, can and do dress that way already, are the ones who usually develop their overall look, the fastest. They've been doing their hair and makeup in vintage styles for years, they have vintage and pinup wardrobe already, because that's what they wear daily. Once pinup becomes a career, or you set goals within pinup, a solid pinup look is ESSENTIAL! That's also a major aspect of competition. You must know what looks flatter you, what styles and themes, within pinup, that flatter you! Can't smile with confidence, look uncomfortable?, Cheesecake pinup isn't for you, etc. Choosing wardrobe that flatters your body type, and wardrobe testing, alllll a major part of developing a solid pinup look. I've seen gals do shoot after shoot, and never develop essential skills to compete. I've seen gals do shoot after shoot and never improve and failing at the goals they've set. Once you set goals, you must invest time and money. Money alone won't ensure success, development or enable you to compete with professionals. Skills in your styling, choosing the proper wardrobe, researching and training, and YEARS or repeating all the above. Years people. Pinup Talk host Dianna Prince Las Vegas Marilyn Monroe
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