The best way to sustain a career as a professional model is to have a strong portfolio
. Your portfolio is a showcase of your work and is what will grab the attention of new clients. Naturally, the more comprehensive your portfolio is, the more jobs you will get offered. There are a number of accessible ways to make a stronger and more comprehensive portfolio:
Test Shoots
A great way to begin a portfolio is with some test shoot pictures. Your agent might set up a free test shoot, although this is the exception rather than the rule. Any good test shoot should provide enough pictures to get your portfolio started and guarantee you at least a decent headshot and full-length body shot.
Stock Photography
Stock photography jobs can be a very helpful way to contribute work to a portfolio. Depending on the photographer, you may or may not get paid for doing stock photography jobs, but you will receive copies of the prints to use in your portfolio. The photographer owns the picture rights and may sell them to a variety of buyers who wish to use the images to promote their own services or products.
Tear Sheets
Tear sheets are pictures that you have retained from shoots that you have done, such as magazine adverts or catalogue pages. Literally, you will "tear" the pictures out of the magazine or catalogue and put them into your portfolio. Tear sheets can be really helpful as they show potential clients that you are an active model, i.e. you are currently working. This can be very beneficial as clients generally prefer to work with models that have experience.
Using these methods will undoubtedly contribute to making your portfolio stronger, and ultimately equip you with the means to consistently find modeling work in the future.