Where An SL Modeling Agency Comes From

I was thinking, for the book mind you, about how modeling agencies in SL start and evolve these days and somehow my musings have turned into a blog post also. An amusing one I hope…….. the last thing I’d want to do with one of these is hurt anyone’s feelings, so I’ve purposefully not named any names. It’s hard enough doing all the work to start an agency without someone like me poking you with a stick for the mistakes we all make and, hopefully, learn from. Lord knows I make enough of them myself. How do you think I learned enough to even think about writing a book?

So here goes………….

I think every modeling agency on SL is undergoing some serious stress as they attempt to adapt to a highly competitive market that eats its young regularly. Many people who thought it would be fun to own a modeling agency in SL and become a famous Diva have jumped in with both feet, so the list of new agencies is now endless. I can’t name names here there are far too many. They know who they are………….

Starting an agency goes something like this (the names have been changed to protect the innocent here):

Three friends have a discussion about how much they want to be in business in SL. TOGETHER. They scheme and the idea of a modeling agency emerges from their discussion. Soooooooo they declare themselves in business . They’ve started a modeling agency with a name they spontaneously create out of thin air. Marketing???? We don’t need no steeeenking marketing……… The Friends 123 Model Agency is born.

Then the 3 fast friends decide to figure out their business plan (not having been to business school they are feeling their way in the dark here). They don’t write it down mind you, they roundtable it between them and no one takes any notes.

Friend 1 turns to her best friends forever and says okay we’re a modeling agency now.

Her friends do what friends do. They say:

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy………..

The conversation then goes something like this……

Friend 1: We’ve got a greatttttt name. Now what should we do?

Friend 2 (or lover): Yippppppeeeeeeeeee we’re a modeling agency. Let’s have a fashion show. Let’s start a school. We need to have a magazine too (good luck with the magazine btw). A logo, we need a logo too……….

Friend 1 (the smart one) says: We need some groups too. Those only cost L$100 to start but I’ll take care of those for us. I think 5 or so will do it………….

Friends123 Modeling Agency Mgmt and Staff
Friends123 Modeling Agency
Friends 123 Modeling School
Friends 123 Modeling Magazine Staff
Friends 123 Magazine Readers

I’ll think up the group member’s titles too. Head Cheese, Smelly Cheese, Toe Jam etc. Fun titles for everyone………

Friend 3 is so stunned by all this that not a word is said by s/he. Yet…………

Friend 1: Who knows a designer we can get to sponsor a show for us? Ohhh damn, do we have any models yet? We can’t be the models we are management. We better get some models huh? Let’s try to steal, errrrrrrr, I mean recruit, some good ones first. At the same time we should spam all the modeling groups and hold a dozen casting calls too. We can be mean to everyone who comes ……. unless they suck up to us, of course.

Friend 1 says to Friend 2 (Friend 3 ((the not too bright one)) is still silent mind you): I think you should be in charge of recruiting sponsors. I’m the creative one here…………….I’ll select the models and think up the show themes and direct them.. I am a natural-born killer errrrr leader……..

Friend 3 meanwhile is silently trembling with his/her desire to participate – somehow, some way, or be left behind with the unwashed masses of “not owners”

Friend 2 blinks for the first time……………..but luckily for her Friend 3 (the dupe) steps in as if on cue………..

Friend 3: OOOOOOOO ooooooooooooooo I know someone who is a designer. Can I be in charge of ohhhhh let’s call it vendor relationships (thinking this will yield lots of free stuff – wrongggggggggggg)? Puhhhhhhlease?

Friend 1 looks at Friend 2 and smirks to herself.

Then she winks and says: Absolutely. Do you agree Friend 2?

Friend 2: I sure do. This is a great idea……..

Then to Friend 3, Friend 1 says, “Okay now you are in charge of marketing and sales and promotion and the blog and writing all the note cards, the non-disclosure agreements, and the contracts and getting free stuff for the VIP gift bags. We also need to copyright everything and trademark the name in the US. No big deal…… you can handle that. No sweat right?

One final thing though, just so we stay on the same page, you have to run all your ideas past me and Friend 2 as soon as you get them and we need to approve them together. There are 3 of us so we’ll always have a majority decision. Okay? Great……..then we are agreed

Dooooooooooooooooooooooomed………………..

Duhhhhhh!!!!! I wonder what friend 3 is thinking about now? Hearing that we need a full-sim, We need a cool headquarters. We need groups and logos and freebies. Ohhhhhhhh my……. Let’s build us a unique runway!

Why not build a great agency and do things for the models to gain their good will and enthusiastic support. Why not commit to an event a month and get on that. But that’s hard work…………. and suddenly Friends 1 and 2 aren’t around that much anymore. Maybe Friend 4, who was recruited by Friend 3, will write the business plan for them because the others have countless rehearsals for other agency’s shows to attend saying,

“I have MY modeling career to tend to…………..”

So now the spiral starts, recruited models say to themselves. “What have these guys done for me lately?” What are they up to? What are they doing and why don’t they tell us about it?
At some point the rubber has to meet the road and it’s hard work, very competitive and you need a myriad of skills to succeed in the SL modeling community.

You have to be a:

Manager/Planner
Psychologist
Recruiter
Writer/Editor/Blogger/Event Scripter
Designer/Builder
Marketeer/Sales Manager
Schmoozer
Fashionista/Trendsetter
Techie/Estate Manager with GOD powers
DeeJay
Trainer
Photographer
Stylist
Sorority House Mother
Triage Nurse (becasue there are a lot of wounds, and pain involved in modeling)
Translator (because so many great designers and models don’t speak English)

and a

Vampire (because there’s never enough time to sleep now)

Did I forget that it helps to be, personally, well funded (unless you find a sucker to pay for everything) and own your own sim on a Class 5 Server?

Sooooooooooooooooo things are shaking out a bit. Many of the big designers are tired of the relentless begging for sponsorship that they are being assaulted by. New, maybe even deserving, creators are ignored or dismissed out of hand. Too small for they say, we need NAME designers to make our mark and get others to pay for shows (no one will pay a new agency y’know. You’re lucky to get the clothes much less $Lindens too). Fringe and edge groups aren’t represented except by a rare agency like, Nocturne, Voshie Paine’s agency, there may be others but they don’t come to mind easily. (No offense if you view your agency as edgy or on the fringe feel free to comment)

Agencies fail or evolve, like MIA did when Crowefabulous Sommerfelf and Anita Claven split up. Anita started Metamorphosis which transformed itself into AE which then became IMAGE and IMAGE is now evolving, with its former CEO, Lonali Summers, returning to the helm, minus it's driving force, blackLiquid Tokyoska, as VP and Stylist/Builder, who is off starting the new UNIQUE with Sweetest Sands (who both, instantly, got booted, as models by Lacie Beningborough of Catalyst of Fantasy for having the audacity to start another, competing agency, despite her having fiercely recruited them both not that long ago. Go figure that one out? So much for being a family....... unhhhhh huh sure). Other agencies disappear like Fierce suddenly did. Here today, poooooooof gone tomorrow. They can slowly fade like Timeless seems to have done, or merge, like SLGlam and Infinite are doing now. Some choose to service the modeling community from the tangential, but profitable, role as a support business, like Ewing seems to have done, concentrating on model's training,.Ewing markets itself as an agency but seems to concentrate its efforts on being a good, if expensive, training organization. If I’m misinformed here, feel free to correct me with a comment.

Big well run agencies like AVENUE, Moda, UVogue, Glance, EIMA, Opium, Evane, Modavia, SuperElite, and Maniera, to name the ones that pop to mind easily, meanwhile, are thriving. I think. Sorta kinda thriving. I left Boulevard out on purpose because they are a unique situation and have advantages the others don’t share…………….

So there is my, I hope, amusing view of how an agency gets started in SL these days………..

Hopefully, the founders have fun doing it. Lord knows I have a ball, personally, at TnT and we are doing our best to not make any of the mistakes I described above by taking things methodically and planning first……

I’m just,

Nave