Negotiating With Your Agent

Many people will tell you that the only time you pay your agent is after getting a booking. We have always been told that paying any other fees to an agent is not how legitimate agents run their business. That is NOT ALWAYS TRUE. The one exception to the rule is if you decide to have your photos and possibly you acting and or voice over reel on their web site. Then we, the talent will pay for that service.

Having cleared that up, now I want to share with you a negotiation I recently had with an agent around her web site fee. This does not always work, but is worth a try. I have been with this particular agency for many years. I use to book a lot of jobs with the agent. For a variety of reasons, some of which I don’t quite understand, I have not booked a job with her for at least 3-4 years. I looked at her web site recently and noticed that the 3 photos I had on the site were not my latest or strongest photos. Perhaps this was one of the reasons for the lack of work. So, I contacted the agent, told her that I wanted to update the photos. I was informed that there is a fee to upload every new photo. I had mixed feelings about paying for uploading the photos. On one hand, I think that adding the new photos will give me my best chance for getting a booking. On the other hand, I have not gotten anything with this agent for so many years, and I was not sure if the lack of work was due to the photos.

So, I decided to negotiate. I mentioned to her that since it has been so long since we last worked together, I asked that she upload the new shots and deduct the uploading fee from my first booking. She said OK to this request.

Sometimes this negotiation works, and sometimes it does not, but it is certainly worth asking. I figured the worst she could say was no, and then I would have to decide if it was worth the investment.

So, whenever you are not sure about something, you can always try asking. I made sure that I never blamed the agent for my lack of bookings with her. I just stated facts, and made sure the request was done in a respectful way.

I will have to let you know if the new photos brings in more work with this agent in the future.

About the Author: Aaron Marcus

Aaron Marcus has been a full-time actor and commercial model for over 33 years. His new book, How to Become a Successful Actor and Model is an Amazon Best Seller. Aaron has given his seminar: "Book the Job" over 700 times spanning 3 continents. He also offers online workshops. Aaron saves 5 days each month to give private on-line coaching sessions.