Be In A Magazine!*

Happy Halloween Everyone!  I hope all is well in your neck of the woods and for our friends over on the East Coast try to stay dry and warm during these trying times - our thoughts are with you.  For anyone reading this blog, if you have yet to reach out to help our friends on the East Coast there is absolutely still time to help:  Text RED CROSS to 90999 or click  http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations.  Just make sure you come back to this blog after you donate so you can read today's installment!

I've been receiving a lot of questions as of late regarding whether these new "magazines" which focus on pageant girls or "child couture" are truly career building opportunities.  I very well may ruffle some feathers with this statement, but my job is to ensure that my clients receive the best career advice and strategy possible - so the simple answer to this question is; "HELL NO!!"  Magazines such as Supermodels Unlimited or ANY Pageant based magazine or ANY "Child Model" magazine are geared toward praying off of pageant moms and stage moms who will do anything to see their daughter's photo in a magazine.  Just think about this for a minute and figure it out for yourself - YOU are paying for your daughter's photo to be in the magazine - regardless of whether the publishers tell you that your $500 or $750 or $1500 payment is going toward the photographer, or the hair and make up or for ad space in the magazine, YOU are still the one paying for the spot in the publication.  Use some common sense here.  The circulation of these "publications" is generally going to be low and limited to other pageant parents.  Think about who your target market is for getting your child's name (and photo) out there in the entertainment industry.  Do you want to market your child to other stage moms or do you want to reach agents, producers, directors and casting professionals?  Yeah, that's right, Option B.

Another point for why you should steer clear of these fake opportunities - because everyone in the industry KNOWS that these are fake opportunities.  You cannot put Supermodels Unlimited,  Child Model Magazine or anything similar, on your resume!  Should you drop that into a resume and send it to a casting director, they will know that you are gullible and desperate and it does not bode well for your child's career prospects.

One of my well known clients was actually given a complimentary spread in one of these "fake magazines" and I, as her representation, politely told them NO THANK YOU.  My reasoning was because, even though it was FREE to the very successful child star, it connects her with their graft, makes it look like she endorses them and perhaps even credits them for some of her success.  The truth is, that client's entire name recognition and success strategy came from my recommendations and her mother moved on all of them.  To allow a fake magazine to claim responsibility for her success would have been disingenuous at best - and fraudulent at worst!

So should you desire for your child to be featured in a magazine, steer clear of these newer publications that require you to buy space in the magazine, purchase a certain number of copies for distribution, or pay for any part of the shoot.  Reputable publications do not require any of these things and in some situations they will actually pay YOU for your story.  If you would like more advice on how to get published, become one of my amazing Action Takers and sign up for one of my upcoming events!  I love helping my clients receive press and it is ALWAYS exciting to see one of my success stories in print!

I hope you found this post helpful!  Be sure to comment and spread the word about this blog!  Post the link to your Facebook wall, tweet and yell it from the rooftops how much you adore my great advice!

Until next time,

Heather Ryan
The Ultimate Talent Mentor