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PLAGIARISM STATEMENT - CYBERSTALKING

With so many misconceptions in the modeling industry and a lot of motivation for people to become models, the business is one of the best known for scams, misrepresentation, and fraud.
Many people get in the business to make money off of the ignorance of others, or have shady motives such as using the modeling industry as a way to meet pretty girls. Some do it for the ego.
So, what exactly is a scam? Here is Webster's definition of a scam:
SCAM:
That's a great definition, but did you also know that pretension is a scam, as being pretentious is misleading? There are many in the industry who misrepresent who they are, their qualifications, and who they have worked for. Dropping the names of well-known professionals is a great way of a con artist to make themselves seem more important and legitimate, simply because you are who you associate with.
Ok, we have established what a scam is. We're sure that everyone knows that being the victim of a scam costs time and money. So, how does one avoid model scams?
It's not that difficult. Professional models avoid scams by studying up on the patterns of what they do, simply because everyone is defined by what they do. By knowing what to look for, scams can be identified quickly and safely most of the time. For those times when a scam is not so easy to see, models use a technique that we have developed here at Independent Modeling. Simply put, they CLARIFY and VERIFY.
If you're ever in doubt about anyone, you owe it to yourself to investigate them before you work with them. In practice, it is wise to check out everyone before you meet and work with them. Look out for any dishonesty or any hint of deception, and look deeper if you find it. If they do not respect you and their own professionalism enough to be honest and lie to you, there is no telling just how far they will take it. If they lie to you, they will just as easily rip you off.
Many professional models who we know CLARIFY and VERIFY each and every time they prepare to get involved in business with anyone who they are not familiar with. It's being a smart model, and it is taking professional responsibility.
CLARIFY who they are and what they do. If they want you to work with them, get everything in writing and have them sign off on it. You need to know who you are working with before you work with them, not after you've been harmed, exploited, or ripped off.
VERIFY their references! Talk comes cheap and many people drop names and give references that are false mainly because they are banking on the fact that few will check them.
Again, many models check out people before they work with them each and every time. That's smart. If you feel that you don't have that much time to spend checking people, at least do it every time you feel uneasy or suspicious about them. It's always best to check out people before you make initial contact, too, as they won't know who you are if you never contact them. With the Internet in use by virtually everyone and many people in the industry being sloppy (and, it could be said, unprofessional) by posting their business contacts where everyone can see them, checking them out is not difficult at all. For those professionals who are smart enough to avoid publically listing their business contacts, they can be checked out by using techniques described in our next section, Finding A Photographer.

NEXT TUTORIAL: Finding A Photographer.

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The agency way is no longer the only way of having a professional career as a model. There is no arguing against common-sense and proven business practices. Modern professional models think for themselves, network, and book work both as independent models and by using agencies as one of many sources of jobs. This is the future of the modeling industry.

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