So you want to be a model? You know you have the look. You know you have the charm and you take a helluva good picture. How exactly do you go about getting yourself out there to get “discovered”?

Well, here is how you don’t do it…

You do not sit around the mall or Starbucks waiting for fame to fall into your lap.

A casting director will NOT come through, see you and say… “come with me, I will make you a star”. Actually, someone may come along and say just that, but they certainly will not have the same type of casting in mind as you do.

Don’t get me wrong, there have been ladies who were discovered walking through an airport or sitting in an ice cream shop, but your chances of that happening to YOU are slim. Now, if the planets are in perfect alignment, the moon is glowing a bright neon blue and you are having your best hair day EVER, then it may be worth while to hang out at your local Jerry’s Deli or better yet, buy a couple of lottery tickets (the odds are better).

I recently read a colorful biography about another great beauty discovered by a casting agent. The story I read failed to mention that the casting agent was a friend of the family and the meeting had nothing to do with chance. Out of the blue “discovery” stories make great Hollywood films and sound wonderful in biographies. Once you become a household name, maybe you can create one of your own as well.

While on the topic of things that may not pave your road to fame, here is another, shady and unknown modeling agencies. Shady modeling agencies do pave a road, many times in gold, to their own bank accounts. Use caution when approaching unknown agencies. Make sure that you stay focused and grounded in reality when dealing with them.

There are thousands of businesses that call themselves “modeling agencies”. Many are considered scams. An agency that may be considered a scam is one that accepts EVERY person it finds regardless of look or whether that person can ever be booked for a job. I have heard of casting agents (sales people) going as far as hanging out in local malls and High school lots.

If an agency promises you stardom, travel to exotic countries and thousands a booking… but only AFTER you pay them a high fee for their services, you should run for the exit. Reputable agencies make their money from getting you work, you should not have to pay them to get work.

Unfortunately, what happens many times with questionably agencies is that the models end up shelling out thousands to them for photos, shoots, prints, makeup, hair, stylists this that and the other, without any guarantee that the agency will ever attempt to book them for a job. These businesses should be called a photo or portrait studio since getting you to pay for pictures is their goal.

I have heard dozens of stories like that. Most models are lucky to get one job that pays 100 bucks from the agency after spending 3k for pictures. Another sad fact is that the expensive pictures the agency took may be worthless to market yourself with and usually look like some cheesy glamor shots.

When it comes to agencies just keep in mind that if they believe they can book you everywhere and make millions… then why do they need money from you? Reputable agencies make a fee from the client, not the model.

To protect yourself you must do some research and be very aware of the market your look fits into. This is where those scam agencies hook a naive model by telling them what they want to hear, not what they are right for. If you are 5′3″ and an agency tells you they will get you runway work in Paris, don’t believe them without proof.

As a model, you must know your target market and not be swayed by smooth sales talk. There is no such animal as a 5 foot tall High Fashion Runway model, no matter how gorgeous she is, well, not unless there is some obscure category of midget couture in the show in question. Be skeptical of things that don’t sound quite right and ask many questions. Remember that Kate Moss is considered a short model. Kate Moss is 5′ 7″ and an exception.

Make sure that the modeling you would like to do fits you physically. If it doesn’t, find something that does and target it.

Now, if you are 5′ 3″ it does not mean you can’t model, you just can’t model high fashion on a Paris Runway. Luckily,  high fashion is just a drop in the bucket of all modeling work. There are catalog models, hair models, trade show and promo models, makeup models, character models, fit models, fitness models, shoe models, hand models, eye models and any other body part you can think of. There is also a good amount of work in TV and movies as extras. Those jobs are readily available and filled daily in every city in the US large and small, not just L.A and N.Y.

On any given day there are over 10 thousand modeling jobs that need models in the U.S. If you want any of those jobs, you will have to find them and apply… just like you would with any other kind of job.

You can find work on your own. Many casting calls can be found in newspapers, on job boards, listed on professional directories or client websites. It may be a large task to do daily as there are 100’s of websites you would need to check on a daily basis just to find the modeling jobs that fit you and are in your area.

Another option is a model casting service. A model casting service is a company that specializes in finding casting calls, auditions and requests, matches them to a client (a model) and sends the information to the model so they can apply. A model gives the service her information, her portfolio, and her job specifications. The service then searches every available casting call and resource daily, notifying her of castings that match her criteria.

A casting service is a mix between an agency and a do-it-yourself job search. Modeling.net, ExploreTalent.com and Auditions.com are examples of casting services. There are many others and all offer different levels of service and features. Some act as modeling communities with a focus on networking while others are more of a job board without any extra bells and whistles.

The advantage to using such a service is the time savings. Many busy models may not have the time to check the hundreds of places that offer modeling jobs daily, trying to stay on top of every opportunity may take many hours and you would have to search through countless of castings you have no interest in just to find the few you do.

A casting service does all the leg work for you. Their network and employees spend all day calling photographers, casting directors, and searching casting calls to find work for their members. As a bonus, casting directors browse the online model portfolios when casting for projects.

A casting service is a great option for models who either do not have an agency or do not want to sit around waiting for the agency to find a job for them. The casting service sends the model a list of jobs she requested and then the model submits her portfolio to the jobs she selects. It’s a good way for the model to get herself out there and get all the work she can. The casting service does not take a fee from any jobs the model books.

The way the casting service is paid is with an annual fee for service that is very reasonable. Many models wonder why there is a fee. Well, it is a business that has 100’s of employees making calls to casting agents trying to find work for its members. Those people need to be paid and since they do not act like an agency by taking a commission for the booking, they charge a small service fee, typically less than $1 per day.

Most casting services offer free trials. A model can use the free trial to see if the service offers anything she likes as well as get a chance to put up a portfolio, explore the job boards and interact with others before making a decision on whether the service is a good fit for her or not.