Modeling Advice
Frequently Asked Questions and Articles
By Joe Edelman - The Business of Modeling

What does McDonald's have to do with YOUR modeling portfolio?

Everything!!! Let me explain...

To begin with - let's face it - McDonald's is one of the most successful companies in the world when it comes to brand recognition. Along with Coca Cola, McDonald's has a history spanning more than 30 years of incredibly successful marketing.

Ok, Ok - I know - that still doesn't explain what McDonald's has to do with YOUR portfolio. Follow along here...

If McDonald's were going to create a new advertisement campaign for the Big Mac ® do you think that they would just run down to the nearest Mikky D's and buy a bunch of burgers, go back to the studio and try to make a bunch of cool photos of them? Of course NOT!

Long before they even think about hiring a photographer they would have a bunch of those long brutal corporate meetings in an effort to decide - "What is the message?" , "How do we want to portray the Big Mac?" , "Do we want to try and jump on the health food bandwagon?" , "Would we sell more burgers if we had a pop star sing about them?" , "Better yet... should we show the Big Mac in the pop stars hands or show the pop star eating it?"

After they make these decisions - they will have their advertising agency craft the message in a way that the buying public will understand and enjoy it. They will also have a graphic artist design the ads - all of this - BEFORE they go into the studio to create the photos.

Still with me? Hang in there - we are almost at the end of the story and the moral.

After all of these decisions have been made and the advertising executives at McDonald's have decided that they are confident that they have created an ad campaign that will boost sales they will finally hire a group of food stylists and food photographers who will go into the studio and create and photograph a set of Big Mac's unlike ANY that you or I will ever see in person or get to eat.

What's my point? Here it is...

When we see those photos - we will want a Big Mac.

In this process of creating a modeling portfolio - YOU are the Big Mac!

Your portfolio must be carefully thought out and planned to craft the PERFECT marketing message about you and your potential as a model.

Not to sound like a broken record - but this IS a first impression business. Don't forget - modeling agencies aren't just looking for pretty people. Modeling agencies need attractive people who have the right tools to get hired. Those tools are a top notch portfolio and Comp Card that are carefully crafted to not only show that the model is attractive and in good shape, but is capable of portraying a range of ages, emotions and characters.

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