If I was considering repping you.

I’m often asked if I still rep photographers. I don’t.

But there are certain basic boxes you’d need to tick before I would have even considered repping you. And I know this will be the case with most reps out there now.

After your work has passed the rep test (do I like it? Is it consistently on brand? Is it right for my client base?), the following list can make or break the deal with an agent.

If I was considering repping you, I’d want:

• To understand your goals and vision- what you want and where you want to go- so I could see you were focused, ensure we were aligned, and have confidence I could help you get there.
• To see what work you’re making for yourself, and how often you produce it. This would be my main marketing tool and no agent enjoys chasing photographers for personal work.
• To be sure you’re passionate and motivated. This game is not for the faint hearted. There are good times and bad, and I’d want to know you could weather those storms and keep aiming higher even when times are good.
• To know that clients enjoy working with you, and have proof that you can deliver on brief, and some. It’s always a pleasure to rep photographers who go the extra mile.
• To see how well you communicate and collaborate, and to know that you’re a decent human being (sorry, but no one wants to rep an arsehole).
• To make sure you have a good crew you could call upon to help you deliver the best results. And if not, be sure you have the leadership skills and humility to work with the people I recommend to you.
• To know that you’ll carry on marketing and will contribute to and coordinate with my marketing efforts. Twice the marketing effort gets twice the results.
• To be confident you have treatment writing / development skills, or someone good who could help you write them. You’re not expected to be a poet, but having systems in place to deliver a treatment will be a godsend.

And I wouldn’t uncover all of this in a meeting.

I’d probably have heard about you through other people. Assistants, producers, creatives you’ve worked with, and your marketing efforts online and with me. It’s a small world out there and people talk.

If some of the above skills were missing I might have helped you develop them, or provided you with people who could support you, if I believed you had the passion, confidence and motivation.

Or I might have just kept an eye on you, and watched you from the wings. For years.

With this in mind, keep going, one step at a time.

Because only you can do you. And you never know who’s watching.

I’m back from Vietnam and have re-opened my calendar. If you’re a talented commercial photographer and want help to get agent-ready, apply for a free discovery call with me here. We’ll look at where you want to be, and I’ll show you how to get there.