The Story Of Shelly's Modeling Agency

          
Vance Harris CEO of Shelly's Modeling Agencies



Here is our story of how we got started as an modeling agency. Like many dreams people have in life they all stem from a deep passion in your soul that separates you from others. You see dreams aren't for everyone, their only for the strong minded individual as the dreamer will be faced will all kinds of trials and tribulations that can distract and deter you away from your goal.

Growing up as a kid I knew I was destant for great things. I used to sit in my corner with my kick-back action figures as my mind wondered off into a parallel universe filled with happiness & success. Although Shelly's wasn't quite my main focus, pretty girls were always on my mind. Talking to my male friends was cool but nothing could compare to the excitement that overcame me while conversing with the female species. In elementary school teachers would always ask, what do you want to be when you grow up? My answer was an architect and to be completely honest I wish someone would of told me about the joys of owning your own business.

The first modelling agencies were created in the early 20th century but was never patented, and when I was in high school I had a friend named Tawann who started a blog called The Pretty Girls Club. We used to go to computer lab and neglect our work as he would show me all the new and exciting things the modeling industry had to offer. He asked me if I was interested and I assured him that nothing more in this world, with the exceptions of GOD and family, interests me more than girls and owning my own business. The thought of being able to combine them both on a daily basis was to intriguing to overlook. As summer break approached Tawann being a senior had to say goodbye as he was off to New York to write a screen play called The Rap Game. As he said his goodbyes I asked him about the site and he informed me that he was no longer interested in The Pretty Girls Club, he was looking towards becoming a writer. So he shut down the site and I was devastated. Soon after I thought to myself, I don't need Tawann to help me fulfill my dream I can start my own site and keep the dream alive. After seeing the movie Jerry Mcguire I was inspired with the idea of owning a Modeling Agency. Senior year started and with all the my space accounts our classmates had, and the uniqueness of each individual person, I had the idea to create 1 platform where everyone could showcase their individuality, and so Shelly's Magazine was created (Shelly was my girlfriend at the time). The site took off and I never looked back like a private jet on a one way trip to forever.



Shelly's Model Agencies & Magazine were not that difficult to run. I would simply send all the pretty girls on my space a message about our site and let them know that I can put them and all their friends pictures and comments on my site for the whole school to see (kind of like promoting them). Soon enough all the guys are talking about the site and that made all the other girls wanna be a part of it. It was the cool thing to do. It got to the point that if you weren't on Shelly's you weren't as popular, it was almost as if you didn't even exist. Every day I had a group of different girls with a set of pictures asking to be on the site. It actually became a bit overwhelming, but it was my duty to keep everyone involved. Short or tall, dark or light, not matter your race, I didn't discriminate, everyone was accepted. It made me feel like the Nino Brown of high school popularity when just a month ago I was a nobody. I swore I would never go back, back to being the lonely outcast with no friends, the quiet guy in the corner whom no one takes a second look at.

That's kind of how it is in the real world, it's not what you know it's who you know, and the more people you know the better your chances are of getting ahead in life. If you haven't been anywhere or done something that's interesting, your social status will send you to a corner. So as high school came to an end and I've entered the real world I have to find a way to keep the dream alive. I can't just continue to post pictures and expect to reach out to a broad spectrum and stay relevant. I've got to find a way to expand. So I logged into Twitter and started a account under the name Shelly's. Now I can grow my site with social media and my magazine became more popular around the net. I found out about Internet Marketing and seo. I learned the importance in having your site on the first page of Google to increase targeted traffic. Google AdWords has a keyword tool that tells you how many people search a specific keyword per month. So I typed in my keyword (La Models Agency) and I was so amazed to find that it is searched 368,000 times per month globally. 368,000 divided by 30 (the amount of days in a month) is roughly 12,000 searches a day. That's alot of traffic in one day! Don't forget there are 10 search results per page on Google when you make a search. So lets divide 12,000 by 10 and you get 1,200 people that will potentially visit your site each and every day. Of course you have to be on the first page and if your at the top of the first page you'll get even more targeted traffic therefore that 1,200 will be substantially higher. Shelly's Magazine was indexed by doing a massive amount of SEO. Backlinks, inbound links, tags, and unique content with my keyword strategically placed in my posts. I also added the site to a couple of social bookmarking sites such as reddit and Digg. La Models Agency makes money the same way FB makes money, advertising. Just think of traffic as customers, if you have over a million customers walk into your store every day, your probably going to make some money. Being on the first page of google for your niche is every Internet Marketers dream.

I changed the magazine into an official model agency now Shelly's has agents that work hard to find our clients awesome gigs. I am now able to spend more time with my family and friends, earn a descent income and oh yeah! I'm the boss! No more clocking in and out because your told to. No more waking up a 6 in the morning just to be stuck in traffic for and hour just to get to work by 9. No more deadlines and boring meetings where everything is discussed and nothing is accomplished. Shelly's Modeling Agency has put me on a path of self fulfillment and grace. My daily schedule consists of alot of T.V. dining out, going down town and enjoying the sights as I watch everyone scurrying off to work with a big smile on my face knowing I'm not one of them. Oh yeah I get some work done too. A couple of hours on the site updating posts, reading comments and then it's over to Twitter to tweet about Shelly's right before happy hour.

Fashion Week during Vogue's 2012's release was definitely a stamp on our achievements. What a joy to be the CEO of Shelly's Modeling Agencies, to be able to walk the earth without a care in the world with a confidence and swagger that just might trigger and attract a ton of haters. The happiness I possess as I hold a intelligent conversation while anticipating those beautiful words; so, what do you do? My eyes light up as I take a deep breath and happily answer; I own my own modeling agency. The intrigue on their face is priceless and I sense they are impressed. This is truly my dream job. Owning your own modeling agency can be a very lucrative business but you have to run it right. Having great interpersonal skills will go along way with your clients. As CEO of Shelly's I must keep my eyes and ears glued to the industry. I must be able to promote models and ultimately get them paid gigs. Keep your clients working and that will keep you in business.