ONLINE MODELING SCAMS...

So who are ALL of these online MODELING SERVICE boutiques? I find lately that there is one popping up on a daily basis. The funny and strange thing is...they want you to send them money! Sometimes its a monthly fee, and other times its a daily/weekly fee to post your childs photo.

While I find some of these services truly are legit and do help out boutiques in finding online models...I find that others are a PURE RIP OFF... Save yourself the $ and time... do some research on these boutique modeling service companies... ask them for reviews and ask them for a media kit. Do some RESEARCH before you watch your pocket book dwindle down to $0 and your child is left heartbroken. Modeling can be very tough for a little one. If your child is not old enough to stand or walk...your selection will be slim...unless the boutique is looking for infants. Often times models in the age range of 2+ will be chosen.

Often times you can save money by contacting the boutique owner yourself. Have a comp card ready to go to send them. If they are looking for models they will let you know. Join services that are 100% legit.Also...keep in mind its actually a turn off to an owner if you work with 100+ boutiques modeling for them. Its a competition thing.. :) also it can turn some people away and leave a bad taste in their mouth.

Another thing I have been noticing are boutiques who sell you the idea of "YOUR KID WILL BE A MODEL" in such and such magazine, but want to charge you an arm and a leg to send in a photo-JUST TO BE CONSIDERED. This too is a scam. Any boutique who sells their products on the soul face of riding the coat tails of "modeling" is not truly a legit business. Products should be sold or modeled because they truly are great products. NOT because they are selling you on the dream of your child modeling for a magazine or your going to GO PLACES.

Also important...if a modeling site tells you -you can model for such and such MAGAZINE...actually research that magazine. Are they legit? ARE THEY PUBLISHED? Or are they just magazines that are online and are ONLY distributed to their "clients" not actually anyone else outside of that comapny or clients. To be a MODEL...look into offline modeling agencies. They will NOT ask you to pay them money to list your child. THEY WILL BE 100% honest and tell you if they really think your child has what it takes!

HAPPY HUNTING and goodluck in your modeling aspirations. Just remember its a hard world out there.

Want your face on the cover of a magazine?

Are you a CAMERA HOG...always looking for a reason to strike a pose? Think you need flawless looks and a perfect body to be a model? Think again! The single most important asset a professional model needs may be easily acquired: the art of the pose. Knowing how to position yourself in front of a camera.... that's what the art of the pose is all about. Most photographers will help you with some coaching and conversation on the set, however, you as the MODEL need to bring something to the set. Dont look for someone to lead you by the hand on what to do... you as the model should bring your own flair and style to each shoot. Often times the designer will tell you beforehand on what type of photos they are looking for. As  the model it is your job to take what the designer has said and truly think about what you are going to bring to the products provided.

So how do you develop this signature POSE or Look? Look for examples and learn from the best! Study.... study the poses of the greatest supermodels... do tons of RESEARCH. Browse the internet for supermodel phtoos. Study some of their poses, but keep in mind NOT every pose will look best on you. You will need to study your best assets, and learn what profiles work best on you. Not every model looks great doing a head on photo... some do not look great at a side angle shot.

Create a POSE BOOK and choose shots that really draw your eye. Look for angles, attitude, and motion. Try to gather at least 10-15 examples to start, focusing on variety. Remember to use every part of your body. The eyes are the window to the soul...the more you use your eyes, the more you will engage the reader in print media.

When studying and researching poses be sure to look at various media types *advertising, editorial, even paparazzi, yes even those photos are sometimes "intended"*. Select poses to play up your personal strengths. Are you athletic? Smoldering? Double-jointed? Use it-just know that the one adjective you never want attached to your posing is "stiff".  Don't worry if you don't have an extensive range of poses at first: this will be an area you may constantly expand and experiment with, once you've discovered a flow.

When on a shoot be OPEN and FLEXIABLE to the styles they are looking for. Do you research before getting to the shoot. Know the stylist, know the designer and their overall style. If you know they are looking for funky, BRING YOUR FUNK...if they are looking for young and fun, BRING YOUR subtle attitude.

*Money-saving tip: DO NOT PAY to join a modeling agency. If they want you THEY WILL tell you without asking for $$$$.

Think you know...BUT DO YOU :)

So who am I outside of E COUITURE... some ask me what inspired me to do what I do NOW... Let me start by saying I've been doing design since I was verrrrrry LITTLE. I started doodling when I was one and I wrote my very own "story/novel" in third grade. I use to write my own poetry when I was only 10. So its safe to say that I have been CREATING since birth nearly :). DESIGN IS MY ESCAPE and always has been. It is my way to escape the world..and helps me express myself... I am a very emotional and passionate person. Not sure what inspired that but its something that has been in me since way back when!

Let me start also by saying that while some people think things have been "handed" to me...let me say this "I HAVE EARNED everything I have through my hard work, determination, and my drive to succeed." When I was 16 people would ask me "what do you want to be" and I ALWAYS SAID "own my own company!" Never any hessitation in that at all...

Without going down a VERY personal road I will say this... I was brought into this world by TWO GREAT PEOPLE... my mom did however leave me when I WAS VERY YOUNG.  My daddy took care of me from day one and he remains my saving grace! I love him to the core of my being. He raised myself and my brother since day ONE and never left us. He gave up so much to raise us and teach us life's wonderful lessons! I could explain morea bout my parents but that is for MY CLOSE family and friends to know. I was raised also by my WONDERFUL grandmother who is truly my angel. She is why I AM WHO I AM TODAY! Her life story would make anyone cry... but she is one STRONG COOKIE...which is where my drive in life came from,

Anyhoo.

My life has been a challenge since the day I came into this world. Through truly KNOWING what struggle is ..I was DETERMINED to be the BEST person I KNOW HOW TO BE-not what others want or think I need to be like. Seeing what my dad went through for most of his life-has taught me what NOT to do and WHAT TO DO...

Through seeing what he has done with his life and seeing my grandma ...it has given me this 100% workaholic mode that I am now... I truly believe that if your life has NO SET GOALS...WHAT ARE YOU LIVING FOR? I feel that if you want someting you FIGHT FOR IT...you give it ALL you have...for me that has become ECD. It is my BABY! I have given up myself and my life to do what I do and have thrown myself into my work and trying to get ECD off the ground.

When you are brought into this world with every outcome other THAN SUCCESS.... it was my mission in life to PROVE that one can over come the stats. proving against me. I could have easily gone down another path in life...but I WANTED TO SET ANOTHER EXAMPLE...

There are so MANY layers to me... and only a few people know me pretty well. When people tell you YOU CANT DO THAT or YOU CAN REACH THAT GOAL...prove them WRONG, life is what you want it to be. I could have easily said "im a failure, I cant amount to much in life because of where I came from..." BUT THAT IS NOT WHO I AM. I graduated from high school, got 2 1/2 degrees in college, taught myself every design program etc. SO WHO SAY'S YOU CANT ...

Since the day I was born GOD threw me test after test. Some I failed, but many I passed! Determinaton determines SUCCESS. One can have a goal but if you have NO determination or DRIVE you will not get through the tests of life. Some people seam down about their life and when I tell them to STOP and truly look at their life...it really isnt that bad. JUST REMEMBER ONE THING:

YOU CAN BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE...SET YOUR GOALS, FIND YOUR DRIVE....AND ONLY GIVE UP WHEN YOU JUST CANT DO ANYTHING ELSE.

ARE YOU A WEB GEEK....I know I am...

So nearly weekly I am asked for different tips and tricks on getting your business out there. It isnt ROCKET science but I know for some who have not always been in "business" ...it may be hard sometimes to think outside the box!

I remember sitting in my MANY marketing classes thinking to myself...IS THIS realllllllllllllllllllllly neccessary? Is this money im paying for these classes really worth my time!

It is amazing to me how much I actually learned. Seven years of college and majoring in everything has PAID off...WHO KNEW! I feel as though my education is paying off more now then it did when I actually worked in the corporate world. When your allowed to truly express yourself - you will amaze yourself with how much you learn and grow as an individual.

ANYWAY..I am rambling...back to my point!

Starting a business can be VERY TICKY and let me say this TIME CONSUMING. You really have to have the drive to do it. Saying to yourself HEY IM GOING TO START MY COMPANY...will only lead to failure. A good business will make "some" money...a GREAT money will succeeeeeeeeeeed when others do not...a GREAT business is one that will last longer than three years. Many new companies will only last about 1-2 years. WHY? Because they failed to do the basics.

A company is not started just becaused you want to work for yourself. To truly start a company you should take the steps neccessary. What are these?
1. GET A DBA, lic./cert. etc.
2. Sit down and ask yourself WHY do I want to start my own company? So many online boutiques these days are stay at home moms WHICH IS GREAT..it is...BUT it is not a COMPANY until you have become lic./cert. in your state to DO BUSINESS! And you follow the steps to actually start a business.WHY is your starting point...you must know the EXACT reason WHY you want to start a business...because without the WHY you will not succeed. If its because you want to make MONEY...you might as well QUIT while your ahead.... because in your first 1-4 years you will loose more than you will gain. TRUST ME ON THAT. Not only money but TIME ...time away from your personal life, your family, etc.
3. Once you know why...next up is....YOUR BUSINESS PLAN. Without this I call "BIBLE" you will FAIL! Sit down and truly write up your plan. It allows you to see the steps neccessary to get to your GOALS...and not only get to them but ACHIEVE each goal. A COMPANY is not created overnight! It takes tons of HARD WORK!
4. Search out your competition. Who are your biggest rivals...what are their prics...what products do they use... how many of them are out there...what SETS YOU APART from the rest. THIS TIP IS SO IMPORTANT...whoever said OH...WE'RE NOT HERE TO COMPETE ...WE'RE FRIENDS...is LYING! If we were all BFF's then why would we be doing this...YOU might as WELL give your products away for free. Wal Mart DOES NOT approach TARGET and say hey LETS BE BFFs..teach me what you do! just saying... :)))))
5. The biggest TIP I learned was this "DO NOT SELL 10,000 THINGS 10 TIMES...SELL 10 GREAT THINGS 10,000 times" truly think about that and what it means! THIS WILL HELP YOU!
6. Focus in on what items yuo want to sell.. STICK TO IT..sure bring on new things but make them GOOD!
7. Search out compet. pricing...set yours a smigin below... A KEY TIP I CAN SHARE IS THIS: Just because your items are sold cheap...dont think that always helps you! Some people equate "lower prices" for =CHEAP...CHEAP QUALITY, POOR QUALITY..etc. those who want GREAT ITEMS WILL PAY...trust me! Those who want cheap will go and search out CHEAP. NO LOSS TO YOU... great clients are WORTH THE WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will save yourself alot of headache!
8. MARKET YOURSELF...not just your company. Get out there and spread the word about what you do. HAVE BUSINESS CARDS ON HAND AT ALLLLLLLLLLLLL TIMES. You never know who you are going to meet. Sport your own shirt, join groups, social media, do trade shows etc! MIX AND MINGLE~ THATS WHAT YOUR IN BUSINESS FOR RIGHT?

I could go on and ON AND ON.... the main thing I can tell you is DO YOUR RESEARCH-

here are some other good tips:
Search Engines: It is the most important traffic source for you. This can your biggest source of traffic now and ever if you optimized& submitted your site properly. There are thousands of search engines on the web, but in reality you need to set the priority to get submitted to the main ones first: AltaVista, Excite, Yahoo, Hotbot, Lycos, Northern Light, Infoseek, Webcrawler. Then you can use some Free web based submission tools to submit to smaller search engines. See for example INeedHits site

Don’t forget about the directories. Submission to directories almost always have to be done manually. The most important directories out there are: Yahoo, Magellan, DMOZ


Exchange links with other sites. You might not get a huge traffic flow from this, but link popularity is important to your search engines ranking. Read more about this in our article about link popularity.


Publish your ezine: If you are planning to start a newsletter or ezine on your website make sure you register it with ezine libraries. There are plenty of Ezine directories on the Net. Take a look at a few of the more popular ezine directories to get an idea of just how many ezines there are. Submitting your ezine to this directories can help you to get new visitors to your site, interested in what you have to say.
If you don't know what ezine is, Click here to learn more about it.


Write an Article – hundreds of webmasters around the Net are trying to find a good content for their website. If you can share your knowledge with them it can benefit you both. When you wrote an article, submit it to ezine articles directories. Articles can re-printed by webmasters for free if they include author’s info & links. So you’ll get free links pointing to your sites and this links can be very effective, because if you what you wrote is an interesting content then people would want to hear more of what you have to say.