You may think that having attractive girls pose for pictures is a pretty cliché thing to do to make money, but not when it’s a part of a large entrepreneurial networking project. Jesse Barack, 21, and Daniel Forberg, 26 teamed up and created the Zoomass calendar for their company, Popular Campus entertainment, a student run talent agency and production company. Their first project, the calendar, became much more than an opportunity to photograph girls.

“I was trying to think of interesting ideas to work with a lot of different people,” said Barack. “I thought, why not do a calendar and sell it.”

This young entrepreneurial pair from The University of Massachusetts Amherst held a photo competition for the 12 models featured in their calendar. They sent out ads in Facebook and MySpace to get contestants. They also had some other, more traditional methods.

“I got a flier under my door,” said cover model Erica Cohen, “I went online and checked it out and it looked really interesting. Then I got paid. It was definitely a plus.”

To pay for the models, Barack persuaded sponsors to buy ad space on the monthly pages. And some companies could buy the photograph itself — Barack put product placement plugs inside the purchased photos. One model did a yoga pose for a yoga studio’s ad in a photo that also featured the studio’s logo.

“If there is a logo, it’s up in every dorm room and it’s entered the customer’s living space,” said Barack. “And that month completely revolves around the business.”

The calendar has been flying off the shelves with the help of the models showing up at events to help hawk them. They’ve had to order more.

“We are printing in bulk because now we selling our calendars wholesale to businesses to sell themselves,” Barack said.

Popular Campus Entertainment made a mark with their Zoomass calendar, but now these young entrepreneurs are using what they learned to go to the next level with a new film production company called Films Royale. During this period of uncertainty in the job market, Barack and Forberg decided to go off on their own and launch a business.

“For me, it was an opportunity to make money,” said Forberg, “but networking was high on the list.”

“This has become more than a fun project,” added Barack. “It began as a networking opportunity and it evolved a lot more than I thought. The most important part about this whole thing was learning so much about running a business, about advertising, money managing and accounting, costumer relations, and working with real employees.”

So be sure to get your 2010 Zoomass calendar available now. And stick around for the 2011 men’s calendar.

“Our new business will help students enhance themselves,” said Barack. “We would help them get (talent) auditions and get bands a place to play. We would help them through the steps to get real representation and market themselves. Its going to launch in the summer of 2010.”

Alexandra Smolen is a Blast correspondent while also a graduate from Emerson College. She majored in Broadcast Journalism.