How can Working with a Talent Agent help Content Creators?
More and more we are seeing bloggers and influencers work with talent agents to help them negotiate and secure brand partnerships. Tune in to learn what the benefits of working with an agent are, how to find an agent and so much more—from the founders behind Shine Talent Group, Emily Ward + Jess Hunichen.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
"We can come in and take things off of your plate, which allows you to double down with what you actually got into this for. So double down on the content, double down on building relationships with your audience, on building that connection, building the community around it. Because what's going to happen through that is you're going to see a huge increase in brands coming directly to you; because your content is better."
Discussed in this episode...
What does an agent do for an influencer?
Somewhat like a sports talent management agency, which represents athletes and finds like-minded companies to sponsor them, and then broker that sponsorship deal. A talent agency sits between the talent (influencers) and the brands.
An agency or talent agent can help with all or some of the following:
- Pitching brands for collaboration
- Rate negotiation
- Project management - making sure everything is on schedule for the partnership and the right information is shared at the right time.
- PR and strategy - help navigating tricky topics or things that come up that an influencer may be expected to comment on.
At the end of the day, it is still the influencer's brand! Everyone involved should understand that they need to protect their brand, and made sure that they choose collaborations that are really well aligned. Because otherwise, they risk losing the trust of their audience. So with all negotiations, the influencer has the final say.
So a talent agency can actually help me with PR?
Absolutely! It's all good when everything is going perfectly. You can, of course, manage everything yourself. However, when the slightest thing goes off track (which happens every day) it's hard to be in the weeds of a situation, but also be creative on the other side. It's extremely challenging to advocate for yourself, advocate for your value, to push for what you're worth. But then on the other side, to come in and just be a pleasure to work with.
Something that women especially can face that is challenging, is if you want to negotiate for yourself, then you're demanding. It completely changes the dynamic when you have an agent going in. When someone else can advocate really strongly (still in a kind way) then the talent can come in and enjoy the actual partnership. It can completely change how the talent is perceived and positively impact future partnerships.
A few more things we discuss:
- How to reach out to an agency about representation
- How an agency can help you stay in your zone of genius
- What to look for in a talent agency
- What "level" do you have to reach to be able to work with an agency?
- Some of the trends they are seeing for 2022
You don't want to miss this episode!
Resources Mentioned
More about Shine Talent Group:
Emily Ward & Jess Hunichen are well-known influencer marketing experts and co-founders of Shine Talent Group, the leading influencer talent management agency. They've been featured in outlets such as WWD, Business Insider, and The Daily Front Row. Shine Talent Group represents 90+ notable influencers & social talent between its LA and Toronto offices. It has worked with brands such as Amazon, REVOLVE, Unilever and L'Oréal on influencer campaigns, leveraging their company's robust talent roster.
