“I did some research on the other site and other competitive sites and realized that this was an opportunity that I could grasp – to create a better networking site for people in the modeling industry.”

Interview by Mike Sullivan of Sully’s Blog

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This Interview was made possible by our friends at

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Son Le has always been passionate about technology.  While in high school, he ran a pre-Internet bulletin board system where users dialed in with a modem to a host computer.  After the dawn of the Internet, he started an online community called OnlineShowoff for import car owners to interact with each other. Two years later the company was acquired by a major auto industry company.  Following the the sale of his company, Son consulted for Yahoo and became their full-time employee.  An entrepreneur at heart, he left Yahoo after only two years to start two more companies of his own.  Both were subsequently acquired by advertising companies.  Recently, Son left a high paying job to start ModelURL.

ModelURL is an online network tailored for models, photographers and other creative artists in the modeling industry. With the most up-to-date Web 2.0 website, aspiring talents can come together, connect and take advantage of a community developed purely for the modeling world.  The site is complete with the ability to connect to others to form connections, post events, utilize scheduling tools, and interact in forum messaging.  Users can even go mobile using the ModelURL phone application.

MO:
ModelURL.com is really a social network for the model, photograph, and creative arts industry.  I realize you have a technical background so where did the idea for this type of site come from and what influenced you to focus on this industry?

Son:
I was having dinner with a friend who used to be a model and now a wardrobe stylist.  She was mentioning another site that she used frequently but always had issues with the site being down or poorly designed.  Having a technical background, I did some research on the other site and other competitive sites and realized that this was an opportunity that I could grasp – to create a better networking site for people in the modeling industry.

MO:
Who is the primary user of ModelURL.com?   Is it primarily aspiring models, actors and photographers?  What are they looking to gain from the site?

Son:
ModelURL.com targets people who are in the modeling industry. You could be an experienced or an amateur model, photographer, agency, hair stylist, makeup artist, wardrobe stylist, designer or any creative person working in the industry.  Experienced individuals can give advice to those who are just getting started, and those who are just getting started can use the site to network, book castings and get feedback on their work.  We also target agencies and studio owners on our site. So if you’re an agency and you’re not in our directory, you can register to be listed on our site. If you’re a studio owner or company, you can be part of our studio rentals directory.

MO:
How does ModelURL differ from other modeling sites?  How do you assist users to develop their reputation and brand awareness?

Son:
Most other modeling sites are still stuck in the Web 1.0 era where the user interface is not very friendly. We have implemented tools to help our members to network and promote their work. We have Facebook and Twitter integration so our members can cross-promote on other social platforms. What really stands us apart from our competition is the fact that our site is free.  Our competitors charge their members a premium for additional features, however, we’ve bundled all of the paid features that our competitors have into a free account for our users. On top of that, we allow unlimited photo uploads on our site. In this industry, to be noticed you have to showcase your work so we realized that this is very important to our members.  Giving them a limit like our competitors doesn’t allow our members to really display their work.

MO:
The site seems to have quite a following at this point.  What is your current user base and what means have you used to promote and grow the ModelURL.com to date?

Son:
In our last press release that went out a month ago, we announced that we reached over 15k members and we have been growing exponentially.  We use social media to promote our site, host contests, and reach out to people in the industry by forums and blogs.

Most of our growth is attributed by word of mouth. We’ve received a number of members by referrals and people switching to our site from our competitors using our profile import tool. Members can import their existing profile from another site right over to ours without losing any information.

MO:
I realize that you are certified in Microsoft, Cisco and Adobe technologies.  Did you do all the development and coding of the site on your own?

Son:
Yes, all of the development on the site is done by me. I also architected the network and servers that runs ModelURL.

MO:
A press release from July stated that a small fraction of many exclusive features have been implemented on ModelURL.  Can you provide a sneak peek at any new features users might find soon?

Son:
In the near future we will allow our members to create projects and invite other members to collaborate with them on their projects in a private setting.