The Secret to Creating an Image that Sells

Seeking success as a performer or model isn't easy, right? This international runway model and actress knows just how you feel - and she's grateful to teach you her success secrets.

I truly believe that talent always surfaces; but it is up to you to showcase yourself in the proper arena to be recognized by those who can help you achieve your goals and dreams. As talent, you must understand that this business called "show business" is not any different than any other business. However, in this case, you are the product that is being "sold" or "bought," then "packaged" for use in a film, print advertisement, commercial, or fashion magazine layout.

The trick is to become the person whom the people who do the packaging choose to use in their projects. There are several ingredients that help to make this happen: training, image, connections, networking, marketability, and talent. I believe in the adage that "image is everything." Image does not have to mean gorgeous, but it does require that you project the look or style that could be marketed for particular projects.

I remember going on a big audition for a new Black Velvet liquor ad campaign. The advertising agency was looking for a new girl to sign a contract for two years. She had to be a blonde and she had to wear a slinky black-velvet evening dress and look sultry. I showed up at the audition, had my Polaroid taken and the photo attached to my size card, and waited my turn. As I looked the competition over, I thought, we all look like carbon copies of one another.

But, as I waited my turn, I heard "ooo's" and "aaah's" from the photographer and ad agency representatives and clients as they looked at the portfolios of the women who preceded me. They all had numerous published pictures (tear sheets) in their portfolios, while I had only a few test shots and one or two tear sheets in mine. I looked the part. I dressed the part. But. I didn't have the credibility that the others were able to convey. Their portfolios showed more experience by being published in European magazines and print advertisements. They were not any better than me, but they had gone the extra mile to market themselves.

The truth is that in Europe, there are 40 different magazines to work for, and many more advertisements than here in the United States. Thus, the images of women who had taken advantage of those opportunities shone bigger and brighter than mine. That experience taught me an important lesson. I was on a plane to Europe immediately, and I returned with a portfolio of published work that allowed me to compete for and win modeling jobs here in the U.S. I never looked back. But the moral of the modeling-career story remains as relevant today: Go to Europe or Japan to gain the experience, then get your portfolio together and polish the image you will need to make it once you're back in America.

To prepare for your big opportunities, you must define your type, and then begin to project that image in your personal style, your photographs, the way you sound, as well as in your dress and attitude. There is a look, sound, and feel that each of us projects - a certain quality that makes us unique. In all walks of life, you are selling your image - work with what you've got. If you are a "tough guy," be it, sound it, look it. That goes for models as well as actors - play your role to the hilt.

You must look the way you sound and sound the way you look. For example, if you are a very beautiful girl and you sound like a Valley Girl, or you're a gorgeous guy who sounds like one of TV's The Sopranos henchmen, well, you may need to work on your voice so that your speech matches your looks. I have often heard agents say, "I met the most gorgeous girl with all of the right qualities to be a super model, but when I spoke with her, all I kept thinking was, 'She could be great as long as I can keep her from talking.' So I passed."

Of course, along with adopting the role that best suits your natural attributes and talents, you also need to study and hone your skills - be it through private lessons from experienced professionals in modeling and talent schools; auditioning for community fashion or entertainment productions; attending workshops sponsored by such nationally recognized firms as the International Modeling and Talent Association; or gaining acceptance to public and private universities with colleges in the performing arts. Keep your photo portfolio up-to-date, and be sure to find suitable representation for your level of professionalism. Many times an agent or manager will work successfully for you for a period of time, and then your career might stall. Chances are, you have to change agents in order to move on. Keep your networking options open, so the next move will seem inevitable.

When it comes to networking, it pays to be a self-starter. Work your contacts. Don't wait for your agent or manager to perform for you. They are likely to have many other talents on their roster besides you. Send thank-you notes after an audition to the casting director who called you in for the audition. Mail postcards, letting clients and casting agents know of your latest accomplishments. Hand out business cards with your picture on it with a contact number.

By the way, you may notice that all of these promotional ideas project your image. The way in which you pen your thank-you notes and the stationary you use project your image even when your contacts don't physically see you. As I said at the start, "image" is everything.

But it's not the only thing. After all is said and done, my life's work is living the dream and sharing its secrets.

See this article at Pageantry Magazine: It's All in the Packaging

Suzanne Von Schaack has an impressive career with jobs spanning all facets of the fashion world, from model and actor to teacher and spokeswoman. Discovered at a modeling convention in New York by the famed model/agent "Wilhelmina," Suzanne quickly found herself working the runways in the image-making capitals of Paris, Milan, New York, and California, while appearing in magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, L'Official Paris, and Camera 35. In her acting career, Suzanne has hosted TV's "Blind Date" and "Extreme Dating," as well as appearing in several television shows and in the films "Tootsie," "Fashionably LA," "Down N' Dirty," and Woody Allen's "Zelig." Currently, she can be seen costarring with Gary Busey and Don "The Dragon" Wilson in "Soft Target." She shares her knowledge and insights of the fashion industry by teaching at International Model and Talent Association [IMTA] conventions, volunteering with LA's Best Enrichment and After School Program and pregnancy prevention centers, as well as coaching pageant hopefuls, where she recently found success within the Miss California pageant. She lives in Los Angeles with her daughter, Danielle, who is a Hawaiian Tropic Pageant regional winner.

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