Ok, you might be saying to yourself, what?

 Is she nuts? Doesn’t she know that you are supposed to get paid for doing a job and not have to pay yourself?

Well, the answer is yes I do know that and perhaps I am nuts. A lot of people think if you model in SL you will make lots of lindens when in fact you will have to pay lots of lindens for the privilege. Lets look at all the things you have to get when you first start modelling. First, there is your look. No one is going to hire you if you look funky. So you have to invest in quality skins, hair and shapes. And not just 1 of each, although if that’s all you can do at first ok. You need to have different lengths of quality hair in your chosen color and as you get going add to that with quality hair in other colors and styles. Second quality clothes,shoes and accessories are important. We all know the free stuff people get when they start SL. Don’t wear that. Most of it is not good and that’s why it is free. I’ve never seen high quality free stuff. Now, there are good stores that offer a free outfit a month. etc. and that’s fine. I’m talking about all the free stuff noobs run around collecting from all the places in SL devoted to this activity. Don’t wear it. Get as much quality stuff as you can afford. If that’s only 1 outfit you will wear to auditions at first that’s fine. Add to your wardrobe when you can. Some places have hunts. While a lot of stuff in a hunt is junk, there are hunts that have quality clothing and accessories. But, and this is key, you will only get quality stuff in a hunt if it’s a good store. A store that has a good reputation will generally offer something decent in a hunt because their reputation is important to them. They don’t want people coming in saying wow nice store, but they sure gave us garbage that is promptly thrown out. Third, models need good poses and huds for modelling. This can really add up. There are a lot of stores that sell huds and poses. In game, I have whole notecards on it. Try to find poses that are smooth and not all jerky looking.

So now you have a decent look, are working on getting poses and starting to audition. Now what? Well the next 2 expenses are, or can be, really high. Take modelling classes and start working on a portfolio. Modelling classes can be offered for a few thousand for a class or program up to over 10k. Research the program. I recommend you go to www.agencyreport.com. Many modelling programs are listed there and can give you an idea. However, that site isn’t always unbiased so ask around. Ask other models you know and trust. Ask in modelling groups. When it comes to modelling portfolios and pictures generally speaking you get what you pay for. Some photographers only charge 200-300L a picture and are really good while others are really bad. Some photographers charge a lot but are unreliable, sloppy or have too large of an ego to give you what you want. Again ask around. Join flickr and modelling groups there. Look at pictures and find out who did pictures you love. This is an area you may have to save for. You may only be able to buy pictures once in a while if you need to enter a contest at first. You can also start working on your own photography skills if this is something you like.

Let me be frank here, I don’t know anyone who makes large amounts of lindens modelling. For most of us this is just an expensive hobby. Yes, I make lindens doing shows and fashion shoots but often spend more than I make trying to get my look perfect. I’m a modelling addict so this is ok with me. Would I like to make more, of course. Would winning a contest like this help a lot? Of course it would. But I love what I do, and so it’s worth it to me to keep trying and hoping and dreaming.