ASK AARON - May 1999 Answer
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What are the best ways to find an agent?
Tags: income
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From Andy, NJ
How Much Can A Model Make In A Day?
Dear Andy:
That is a tough question because it can vary so much. In New York City we generally earn $250 an hour. That means we could earn $2,000 for a full-day booking, which is an 8-hour day. In Washington, DC commercial models earn between $125 – $150 an hour. Commercial models living in Los Angeles generally earn $187.50 an hour. Because there is no modeling Union, there are no set fees that we must earn, and the fees vary so much from market to market. Most of the time models are hired on the average of 2 hours per session. Sometimes models are paid bonuses for jobs that run in high exposure formats.
For instance, if a model’s ad is placed on a billboard, poster, side of a bus, point of purchase (those cutout items in stores), on the internet, etc., we are generally paid bonuses. This happens because we could lose other bookings do to conflicts with other products or through overexposure in a market. If someone had a billboard ad for Pepsi, there is almost no chance that any other soft drink will hire that model because they worked for a competitor. A friend of mine earned $50,000 from having his face and hair on a hair coloring box. The ad ran for 3 years. I also know people who have earned less than $1,000 for the year as a model.
The most important thing is that you love doing the work itself, regardless of the money you can earn.
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