Welcome to Dealmakers with Alex Segal ✍️, a Substack on the realities of being a talent agent, packed with weekly insights to keep you ahead of the game 🚀.
Having negotiated £40m+ in talent deals 💼 and grown company turnover 5x in 5 years 📈, I am sharing my experiences and knowledge of 17 years representing some of the biggest stars in the UK.
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What should I be asking for in this deal? It’s the question I get asked more than any other.
Acting agents negotiating their first podcast deal. Creator agents doing their first TV contract. Performers representing themselves with no idea where to start.
The problem isn’t what you know. It’s the deal points you don’t know you’ve missed. Miss one small detail and it could become a big problem.
That’s why I’ve created the 👉 Dealmakers Deal Sheets ✨. I’ve used them throughout my entire career and still do every day. Make sure you never miss an important deal point again.
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Welcome to My Talent Agent Toolkit.
I’m revealing my essentials.
These are the actual things I use every day as a talent agent, and they really help me represent some of the country’s biggest stars. I can’t live without them.
So, what are these ideas I’m talking about?
Whenever I hear, read or see a talent agent I respect say something that really resonates with me, I write it down. I’ve been doing that for the last 5 years. It’s mainly the odd line, the odd phrase, the odd reminder, the odd nugget of wisdom that stuck with me long after a conversation has finished.
I have over 100 one-liners written down. I read through them all the time, reminding myself of certain things when I’m making deals, managing talent and building a business.
Some you’ll agree with, some you won’t.
Steal the ones that will make you better.
Let’s go. ↓
My Talent Agent Toolkit
Ideas 11-20:
→ 11. If you have the right client, everyone will call you back. The reality of the business. No matter how good you are as an agent, how talented a dealmaker you are etc, unless you have great clients, you’re going to find it harder to get into the right rooms. If you have top-level clients, people will call you back.
→ 12. Clients leaving is an occupational hazard. It feels personal; sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t, but there isn’t an agent who hasn’t lost a client. The longer you go in this industry, the more people you sign, the more chances of it happening. It’s part of the job. Growing thick skin quickly is crucial.
→ 13. Clients are paid friends. I’ve mentioned this before. Agents and their clients spend a lot of time together. They can get very close. Debatable as to how close is too close. Either way, it’s still a business partnership and an agent/client can never be anything other than paid friends. Your friends, friendly, whatever… but you’re still paid to do a job, and that will always trump friendship in the long run.
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