When it comes to your career, choosing between modelling agencies and freelance modelling can be a difficult choice. We will take a look at some of the aspects both of these choices offer you to assist you with your decision.
Safety
Your personal safety is a very important part of your modelling career. A lot of models have been hurt in the past due to unwanted advances. Where safety is concerned agencies wins hands free. They take time to ensure that all potential employers are legitimate and not out harm those in the industry. If you pick the freelance option you will be required to do all of this research yourself.
Legal Aspects
Where the legal side of the industry are concerned the modelling agencies walks away with the award. Agencies have the legal means to protect the people they represent. They can also include specific stipulations in their contracts to ensure that the candidate’s privacy and values are protected. A freelancer does not have this level of legal cover.
Payment
In the payment arena, freelance modelling is the clear winner. Agencies charge commission on every booking made. This means a freelancer gets the full amount for the job done, while an agency applicant will only receive part of it.
Another payment aspect you need to take into consideration is the types of clients modelling agencies draws, a company with a good repute will only hire a freelance candidate that have a good reputation or if they have worked with the company before. In general larger companies prefer to work with agencies; as they have a bigger choice and backup option available. These companies are also willing to pay more for agency candidates.
Exposure
In the area of exposure agencies comes up tops. Even though a client might not book a certain model for a specific job, the client will still view the profile of each application and might use them for a future project. The modelling agencies always promote more than one model per client. In addition to client promotion agencies also have websites where the profiles and portfolios of their applicants can be viewed. Agency models in essence gets better high end jobs and more exposure to well-known brands and photographers.
A freelance model will have to do all the PR work by him/ her. This means spending hours at castings and getting their online portfolios perfect, while the agency candidate can sit back and watch it being done on their behalf.
Choice
When it comes to choice the freelance model is in the lead. Being your own agent means you determine your own career path. This is not the case with modelling agencies. The agency decides what jobs the people they represent should do and in what direction his/her career should move. It is however not a bad thing. Agencies know what they are doing and will not harm a candidate by choosing a specific career path.