How to recruit models for your agency

October 3, 2026 · By the Outrify team

There are several ways to find models. Only one lets you choose who you contact, when, and how many: direct outreach. It's what puts you in control of your agency's growth. Here's how to set it up, step by step.

The ways to find models

• Word of mouth: effective once you have satisfied models, but impossible to steer when you're starting out.
• Ads and posts: you wait for models to come to you. It takes an audience, and you don't choose who shows up.
• Direct outreach: you identify the profiles you're interested in and you write to them. You control the volume, the target and the pace.

When you're starting out, direct outreach is often the only option that depends on you alone.

The 6-step method

1. Define your target profile

Be specific: type of content, audience size, language, country, activity level. And one rule with no exceptions: adults only.

The clearer your target, the more personalized your messages can be, and the more qualified your replies.

2. Write down your rejection criteria

What you don't want matters as much as what you want: profiles already working with an agency, countries you don't cover, inactive accounts. These criteria save you dozens of useless conversations.

3. Build your prospect list

Find the profiles that match, check them, and keep track of who has already been contacted so you never write to the same person twice. Only keep the information you need, and remove from your lists anyone who doesn't want to be contacted again.

4. Write a short, personalized first message

A good first message fits in a few lines: a specific reference to the person's profile, what you offer in one sentence, and a simple question that makes them want to reply. Avoid the copy-paste message sent to everyone: it's spotted immediately and lowers your reply rate.

5. Qualify within the conversation

When a model replies, your goal isn't to sign her right away. It's to understand where she stands, what she expects, and whether you're heading in the same direction. Good qualification avoids collaborations that end after two weeks. And if the person isn't interested, respect her answer: you don't follow up with someone who said no.

6. Suggest a call

A live conversation builds the trust that messages alone can't. That's where you show concretely what your agency brings.

What can be automated, and what shouldn't be

Steps 1 to 4 are repetitive: searching, sorting, checking, sending. That's where most of your time goes, and it's exactly what a tool can do for you. Steps 5 and 6, the conversation and the call, must stay human. That's where the model decides whether she trusts you.

With Outrify, you write your target and rejection criteria once. The app analyzes each profile through three filters (targeting, profile and stats, gray zone for borderline cases), decides whether to contact, skip or wait, then sends a message tailored to the profile, at a limited pace every day. You only take over the conversations worth your time.

To set your volume without putting your account at risk, read outreach without getting restricted.

Read next

• Why you're stuck after your first model
• OFM prospecting: the real problems
• Running an OFM agency solo