Doesn’t that sound like a dream? My dog is a famous dog model, works hard, and I get rich on my own and receive packages and gifts daily. – Great, I would be there in a heartbeat, but unfortunately, that doesn’t correspond to reality at all! Unfortunately, the work of a dog model looks a little different. So that you know exactly whether this is something for you and your dog and how much work and time is involved, I’ll tell you something about the work of a dog model and how our days go.
No dog model without famous!
So first of all, this is not a hobby club. We approach the matter with a plan, strategy and consistency – this is a full-time job without weekends or holidays! Becoming famous quickly and making money in a relaxed manner is really wishful thinking and that won’t happen here. If you understand this and are ready to roll up your sleeves and get started, then read on.
The simple dog model no longer exists these days – social media is important. No brand will book you as a model if no one knows you. So it’s incredibly important to be active on social media for several reasons.
1. You can show your work and your dog on social media channels. In most cases, you take the photos and videos of your dog yourself. The photos should be taken with a real camera (not a cell phone). High quality and the product/dog should be the focus. Your competition consists of dog moms who drive hours for the perfect photo spot, have €3000 camera equipment and whose dog is perfectly trained to pose in front of the camera and do tricks. How do I know that? – I am one of them!
2. You gain reach, followers, fans and viewers who give your dog a certain status. This reach brings you to the attention of brands who otherwise wouldn’t know you. Reach is like a fire. Once you light it, you have to make sure it keeps burning. Torch everything down!
3. In addition to high-quality content (photos and now also videos), you can also offer your customers your reach. In this way you make yourself more interesting for the customer because your dog is already known and has a fan base, you increase your customer’s reach and thus also the price. For example, I sell a photo series for €600. If I also post on Instagram and write an article, the customer pays three times as much!
Think like a business dog mom
This is a business, it is extremely important that you behave professionally and, above all, reliably. Always work with a cooperation agreement and a contract for your image and video usage rights. Don’t work for free or for products – you’ll never be able to get away from that and there’s no such thing as free for you – because as a „content creator“ you have to register a business and pay taxes!
Your dog should always come first. Don’t force your dog, be patient and don’t overwhelm him. Burberry sometimes has days when nothing works. Well, stupid, but that’s just the way it is. She should be motivated and have fun doing it. That’s the only way it works.
Be honest with your followers and viewers. We only work with companies that produce their products fairly and fairly. When it comes to dog food, I always want to know what’s in it beforehand. If I wouldn’t feed this food to my own dog, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone else – no matter what budget they want to pay me, NO!
It is precisely this behavior that ensures that we are authentic. I didn’t start this to make money, but because I enjoy it. Because I have met many new dog friends with whom I write on Instagram every day and who I also meet in real life to go for walks and take photos. Take a look at this post where I show you what a normal day in our lives as dog models looks like. Because before you take this path, which costs a lot of time and money, you should be very clear about what you are getting yourself into!
Real work of a dog model
You’ll be working for free for the first few months and it won’t be easy! For example, you start on Instagram and TikTok. But YouTube pay the most for commercials in videos, so you add YouTube to that. You notice that your reach is stagnating, then take a look at Pinterest and post all the pictures and videos here and link them to the corresponding content on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Things are slowly getting better, but it’s all very time-consuming.
When the first cooperation requests come in, you will be disappointed because they have no plans to pay you. You are offered free products and they want to “push” you. When you go into the negotiation you will be told that your reach is too small, you don’t have your own website, your photo quality isn’t good enough, blah, blah, bala.
I know this, I’ve been through it all before, and I still did it!
