You Don’t Have to Be Young, Tall, Beautiful and Skinny to Be a Model

By Aaron Marcus

(Excerpts taken from his book – How to Become a Successful Commercial Model)

Have you ever dreamed of seeing yourself in a magazine ad, on a billboard, in a catalogue on a poster, but thought you are too old, not tall enough or your body is not perfect enough?

Most people don’t have the looks or stats for fashion modeling, nor do they live in a fashion market (NY, L.A., Miami). Women are generally between 5’9 – 6’0 tall and have 34/24/34 size measurements. And, fashion models need to have had real success by age 21 or it will be almost impossible to work in this field . If you don’t fit the fashion arena, but still want to model, and want to do this on a part – time basis, then here is some great news.

There is an entire division of modeling that unlike fashion modeling has no height, weight or age restrictions. All types of people are needed. Men, women, children and even babies are needed.  Models are needed to believably portray the mom, student, doctor, lawyer, nurse, teacher, banker, real estate agent, athlete, child, librarian, the list goes on and on. This is Commercial Modeling.

Commercial models are the “real” and beautiful looking people seen in virtually every non – fashion ad. These publications can vary from Gap catalogs to Readers Digest.

The best part is that along with paying up to $250/hour (in New York only), most commercial models work on a part-time basis. Even if you live in a small market, chances are, commercial models are hired for jobs. Commercial models take a few hours off from their jobs, or leave school early, go to the photographer’s studio for the shoot, and go back to work/school before the end of the day.

Commercial Modeling is a Business

Most people do not realize that commercial modeling is like any other kind of business. Before entering this or any industry, you must do your homework. You must learn about the types of photos that will get you the most work. You must understand what agents do, how to find legitimate representation and how to avoid the scams. The people who have done their research and have gotten the needed information will have the greatest chance for success.

So, if you only thought that modeling was a fantasy for you, think again. You could be seeing yourself or your child in a great magazine ad very soon.

Aaron Marcus is America’s Premier Acting and Commercial Modeling Career Coach. He has been a full-time actor and commercial model for over 26 year, and has been booked, 1.185 times to date. He is also the author of How to Become a Successful Commercial Model, now in its 5^th edition, has given over 500 acting/commercial modeling workshops in 4 countries, offers online private coaching sessions, and is the founder of  www.howtomodel.com. You can receive free acting and modeling information every week  when you register on his site. Join Aaron at:

www.facebook.com/howtomodel, and follow him at www.twitter.com/aaronrmarcus