People from an advertising background or prior experience with PR firms make good agents for celebrities, but that is not to say that others from regular fields cannot succeed in the same line.
To become an agent for a celebrity, there are a few basic qualifications that definitely boost your chances for success – and also that of your client.
Read through the following essentials that go into the making of a celebrity’s agent and aim to acquire these at the earliest to jump-start your career in the quest for fortune and fame.
Step 1: Obtain a business or marketing degree
To be a successful agent for a celebrity, you need to know how to get things done, negotiate profitable deals and assignments for the client as well as handle business relations in addition to accounting. This is why completing a B.A. degree in business or marketing, with elective courses in PR will hold you in good stead in your future career.
Step 2: Intern/take an assistant’s position with a Professional Agent of a Celebrity
You need to gain experience in matters related to handling a celebrity’s professional assignments and the best way to learn the ropes is to land a job as an assistant to an established professional agent. With such a person you will learn ways to constantly keep the celebrity in the public’s eye, how to source high paying projects the celebrity enjoys working on and best tactics for negotiating lucrative, long term deals for the client.
An entry-level job in the entertainment industry is recommended since it will help you gain the necessary experience for starting off your career as a celebrity agent and also provide an opportunity for you to build industry contacts. These will be invaluable for you when you decide to launch your own agency after gaining sufficient experience.
Step 3: Going into business for yourself
Once you have gained at least a couple of years experience assisting a professional agent to a celebrity, you can evaluate your chances of going into business for yourself by having a business plan, business license, adequate and contingency funding, proper office space in a prime location and essential business promotion kit, such as professionally designed business cards and basic contact information in place. You will also require business insurance.
Step 4: Expanding the scope of your services by getting listed
To continuously remain in the minds of your potential clients, you need to be seen at the places frequently searched by them when looking for an agent. So, get introductions to trade unions in your chosen industry, such as the Screen Actors’ Guild, or the US Directors’ Guild and the Writers’ Guild of America, depending on the kind of celebrity you are targeting for your preferred clientele.
Step 5: Actively recruit clients, starting with minor celebrities and moving on to established ones with necessary industry recognition
As an agent nothing speaks more for your powers of persuasion and ability to obtain best compensation packages for your client than the assignments or endorsements they are linked with that keep them in the public eye. So, network, party, socialize and build contacts with celebrities so you can know the ones looking for new representation, or gain referrals from friends of celebrities.
Work your way up from minor celebrity representation to the bigger stars once you’ve seen how the successful counterparts operate and employ their strategies for furthering your career as an agent for a celebrity!
