The Gentle Art of Artist Management

Everyone wants to be Jerry Maquire, Ari Gold or E right? They want to be a mover-and shaker, a power broker, and needed by powerful entertainers. They need to ask themselves why? Please do not even consider managing someone's career until you can create a list of valid reasons for doing so. "I really like sports, music, or I go to the movies all the time" are not valid answers. "I want to make a lot of money, my cousin is a pretty good football player, and I am friends with the singer in a popular local band"are no reasons to quit your day job.

Please be certain that you are fully committed, knowledgeable, and prepared to work very hard before trying to run someone's career. If you are not you can have a devastating impact on their life and profession.

Some valid reasons are that
1) You are an excellent negotiator.
2) You are creative.
3) You are focused and hard-working.
4) You continually educate yourself on the business of the entertainment industry.
5) You believe in who you are considering managing.
6) I have strong business skills but more importantly I understand the dynamics of the entertainment industry.
7) I believe it is not what I can get out of my clients but how our relationship can be mutually beneficial.
8) I am honest, loyal, and dependable.
9) I will always provide my honest opinion to my client even if it is not one they want to hear.
10) I understand entertainment or sports law or I have experts in the field willing to represent our team.
11) I can handle stress and disappointment and have a support network.



If you feel confident that the profession is one you are truly passionate about and will pursue relentlessly here are some helpful tips that if followed will lead to your success.

1) Select your clients wisely. Don't sign everyone that wants to sign with you. You will find that even some clients that go on to have success are not worth the extra time, drama, and stress they create. Most won't be high-earners for you or ever generate a return worthy of the investment you had to place in them. Selecting clients you believe in, want to work hard for, control their stress and emotions, and have an acceptable amount of drama will enable you to be more successful and enjoy your work. There are agents out there with 50-100 clients but only a handful are consistent earners, even fewer high and consistent earners. The remainder are ones you are hoping will start earning but are mostly time, resources, and energy drains.

2) Make sure you have an excellent contract. Paying an entertainment attorney to create a specific deal for you business is wise and will save you money and time over the years. It will prevent you losing out on money that you have earned because a client has double-crossed you. You'll be able to use a standard agreement for most clients and an edited version of your main agreement for the rest.

3) If you are not an expert in the type of deals you are signing on behalf of your client make sure an attorney who is and has no conflicts (relationships with the other party) has provided feedback and approved any deal you are considering.

4) Have a media kit, booking information, rider, technical rider, stage-plot ready to go. It needs to be reviewed and updated (if necessary) every six months at least.

5) If you are introverted and don't like to network find another profession. You must be networking where ever you are. I don't mean being a phony person and trying to hand out business cards to everyone you cross paths with. Simply start a conversation and see if there is enough of a connection to exchange information, if there is potential to work with someone down-the-road. I have done business or received help from people that I sometimes met 8 years before. When we met there was no potential deals but life and work changes and people can become vital to your success. Have the long-term vision to realize this. Several times I made a contact and it wasn't anything they did for me except make the introduction that I needed later. It is so much easier to gain access and cooperation from someone who knows of you from a mutual connection(s). Most of my opportunities and clients have come this way. However, you have to operate professionally and have a good professional and personal reputation.

6) Never allow your clients emotions or crisis to become your crisis. When dealing with artist and athletes they often worry a lot. Multiple phone calls per day can be normal but they are time drains. Allowing this is a great way for everyone to be less successful. It is a clients right to be updated and having strong mutual communication will lead to success and a positive feeling of cooperation. Provide them updates at least once a week. It is important to maintain the relationship. You won't always have something to update them on. When you do not give them your short and long-term  goals for them, so they know you have a plan for them and are working on their behalf. It is important they have an opportunity to review it, agree, and provide feedback on it. When a client calls you stressing out, telling you they have to do this, are worried about that, or whatever, listen to them. It is best to be a calm and confident voice in the storm they created in their own mind. My experience tells me that is mostly what they are looking for to be reassured they are on the right path and their needs will be met. An artist or athlete can change their goals daily. You need to keep them focused and believing in the vision you created together.

7) Unless disaster has struck and you are in emergency mode there is never a good reason to deviate from your long-term plan. Doing so will lead only to failure, aggravation, and mistrust. You'll be pushed hard to do so. Say you are working the phones for your clients on day, your assistant notifies you they are on the phone and have been emailing you and what to know why you haven't responded to them in the past 30 minutes. You stop working on their behalf to speak with them. They inform you that someone has contacted them and offered them shows, or wants to collaborate, or something else. They are a ball of nervous energy. Make it happen! What should I do? I know we all agreed but change all the work you have been doing so we can accommodate this (even if we will lost money, you can rebook it, and make sure you don't lose any money). Be calm, be confident, refocus them on the big picture. Once you have researched this opportunity(and verified it is legitimate) and see when and if it makes sense to work it into the schedule.

8) Build a personal relationship with your client. Learn about them, their daily life, and who surrounds them. You don't have to have a Vince and E relationship but it is vital that you actually do have an interest and concern for your client. You'll be better able to help them and it will help you retain them as a client longer.

9) Be sincere in all of your dealings. Make as much as you can but never take advantage of anyone. This isn't a garage sale it is a profession. If you burn someone everyone else will know about it and it can limit your opportunities in the future.

10) The best advertisement you can have for your services is to do high-quality work, be honest, and be loyal. If you are your clients will sell your services better then you can. An endorsement from one artist/athlete to another goes further then your sales pitch.

11) Have fun and enjoy yourself! We often want to work around those we admire and activities we love but if not handled the right way you'll lose your love and passion for those things and it isn't worth it.