By: Brenda Kelly

Dear Brenda,

Congratulations on www.Brendakelly.com and all of your success. I am big admirer of yours for years and I wish you luck in the future. I am from Yugoslavia, but I live now in Canada. I was competing in Europe in bodybuilding and I had 1st place on Mediterranean Competition, Balkan and Yugoslavia.

I work as a manager of a gym, personal trainer and fitness model. I have my own website: www.danijelacrevar.com.

I'm writing to ask how to get exposure in the magazines. I sent my photos to the editors of Flex, Oxygen, Max Muscle, Musclemag and Ironman magazine but never got any answer from them. I know that my physique is not everything they look for, but there are so many other models way behind in weight training or competitions and magazines feature them.

I don't know what to do anymore to get there. Every time I send letters to the editors, I hope they will answer but they don't and I get so disappointed. What should I do?

Note: After receiving this letter I saw her featured in Ironman magazine.

Danijela,

Thank you for the nice compliments. Congratulations on your workout pictorial in Ironman Magazine. I have also seen your pics on Bill Dobbins' site. It sounds like your competition career is going very well for sure and you have a beautifully pulled together look.

As far as getting magazines interested in using you for fitness shoots there are more things to consider than you may think.

Tips To Help Get In The Mags

• First of all, it helps tremendously if you live in LA, Florida or an area where there are photographer's who shoot these images and get them published. If a magazine needs models, they are not going to spend money getting one who lives out of town when there are perfectly good ones who live right there.

• Shoot with photographers who get published as much as possible. Anyone can say they submit images to magazines. Whether or not their images are bought is another story. This goes right back to being in the area these photographers work and live themselves.

• Any time you come into an area for a show or trip where there are industry photographer's you should do everything possible to let people know ahead of time so they can hopefully use you then. Contact the photographers and magazines directly through E-mail. A lot of them are listed on Billdobbins.com.

• If you are going to compete at a show, set up a shoot with photographers while they are there or schedule a later date and place. You must approach them. They will not get to talk to all of the competitors so it is up to you. If you do not travel except to shows, it is a must for you to introduce yourself.

• When traveling, remember to bring fitness shoot related clothing to your shows. I am always amazed at the competitors who do not even bring a bikini along with them. No one tells them. Bring: sexy bikinis, high heels, nice work out clothes and I even bring lingerie. Be prepared.

• Realize different projects require different types of fitness physiques. It is a smaller market for a female physique in extreme contest shape than a toned and tight look. Remember one is not better than the other. Just different. If your goal is to remain in at a certain physique level, you should stick with it. If your goal is working more in the mainstream, you may have to find a happy medium. The general public has a harder time relating to women in what they consider extreme shape and this affects the how much the advertisers request such images.
  
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  Just because you are in better shape does not mean your look is more usable to some advertisers. They are trying to appeal to a larger number of people. Our industry is filled with beautiful hard bodies. We all like and appreciate the hard work we put into our physiques. There is a very fine line on what is marketable in certain magazines. Also realize the advertisers fund most of the magazines you want to be involved in. Not the other way around.

• There are types of work for more hard-bodied women. Muscle Elegance is a perfect example of a hard body women's magazine. It remains in a niche. A lot of hard bodied women I know are making a lot of money and working all of the time.
  • Don't forget about websites that promote bodybuilding and fitness. Get your pictures in digital form and approach web companies that feature the type of look and interests you have. Make sure you have the rights to use the images you send. Click here to learn more about writing for Bodybuilding.com.
  • A lot of websites and magazines hold "model searches" and "model or bodybuilder of the month" sections. Submit yourself!

• Stay grounded. Remember what you are trying to accomplish and why. Intention, effort and results are but reflections of each other when put together correctly.

Stay healthy and fit. It is worth it.

Thanks,

Divabrendakelly@aol.com

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