It’s a potentially mega-profitable time to be a talent rep!

Like a Twitch star in 2020, everyone is throwing money in our faces to get us on their team.

Almost every management company I’ve spoken to recently has quietly mentioned they have had offers to roll into larger companies.

Hey, I’m not complaining!

But most talent managers are not ready for merger and acquisition conversations, so I’d love to cover some basics here.

And let’s not forget the big week for digital properties leaping into to Hollywood, from the Minecraft trailer premiere to the TikTok series ‘Who tf did I marry?’ announcing a TV adaptation. IP development and exploitation FTW!

Finally, VidCon is sold after a short stint with Paramount. Is this the end of my favorite convention or the beginning?

Let’s get into it.

NEWS:

Wasserman is in the Creator Economy for the Long Haul

Congrats to Long Haul CEO Dan Levitt! You’re now an SVP at Wasserman and you got that golden exit!

It feels like there have been enough creator management M&A congrats to go around recently, and the pace is accelerating: DBA was sold to UTA, Underscore Talent was sold to TheSoul Publishing, and Night bought LFM Management.

Consolidation is hot right now.

So, creator rep reading this newsletter, how do you know when and how to sell?

My hot take: the decision is deeply personal, and there’s no right or wrong answer.

I’ve talked to plenty of managers who are thinking about selling, and they’re obsessed with what multiple on revenue is the right price (often used as a metric to calculate value) and whether they’re ‘doing it right’.

That’s the wrong framing.

Instead, thinking about what you give up and what you get is best.

Are you burned out and miserable? It may be time to sell, even if you think the valuation will double next year.

Do you love your life? Maybe you don’t want to risk that by joining a larger org.

Do you think every exit needs to be a unicorn or you’re a loser? Stop it. If the money offered is meaningful to you, that’s a big deal.

But you should talk to someone with experience to avoid predatory acquisitions: a lawyer, an M&A consultancy like RockWater or Quartermast (tell them I sent you!), or that best friend from high school who went to business school.

And if you need intros, please don’t hesitate to message me on LinkedIn!

‘Who TF Did I Marry?’ Has Torrid Affair With Linear TV

Can you believe it’s only been 7 months since Neesa Teesa uploaded her 50-part watercooler opus onto TikTok, and now it’s going to television?

For industry outsiders or people that suffer from that brain issue from ‘Momento’, ‘Who tf did I marry?’ was uploaded as a series of short-form videos in February by an incredible storyteller explaining her marriage to a total sociopath, which garnered 400m views by March.

Let’s play ‘fantasy talent manager’…would you have made this move?

My hot take: this is how you develop a viral moment.

Let’s face it: most creators that go viral never have a successful follow-up.

For every Rhett & Link, there are hundreds of ‘Damn Daniel’s.

It’s important to expand and de-risk the brand quickly when you have a viral moment.

Hawk Tuah girl is doing a great job too: staying in the press, teaming up with Jake Paul’s media company, and launching a buzzy podcast.

Like anything of value, the best thing you can do as a creator rep is be clear about what you have.

In this case, the story is the asset, and the question of whether Neesa Teesa is a generational talent is still a question mark.

VidCon Sells…Again

It’s official! Paramount is out and Informa is in as the owners of VidCon!

If Informa isn’t on your radar, I was right there with you. I now know they own Toronto Comicon and hundreds of B2B conferences.

In other words, they know how to run events.

So is this the beginning of the end of our ‘creator economy summer camp’?

My hot take: this is absolutely, 100% a good thing.

Paramount didn’t know what to do with VidCon. This year felt a bit mellow and messy.

The stars didn’t come out. The brands didn’t come out. The creator hotel was quieter.

The industry track was great, but the floor felt dead compared to previous years.

Having a company at the helm that lives and breathes conference-style events gives VidCon a fighting chance.

The point is not whether or not insiders get value from the conference.

VidCon is an incredible event to market our industry as a whole.

OPTIMIZATION:

The Power of the Question Mark

If you’ve been following my ‘Grow 1%’ newsletter, you’ve heard this one before.

But as my most referenced edition, I felt it was worth repeating.

One of the most effective growth hacks I’ve used throughout my career is using the ‘?’ as an engagement tool.

A ‘?’ in a video title easily introduces a question where the video promises an answer, which is one of the best ways to earn a click.

A ‘?’ in an Instagram post will give commenters a shortcut to figure out what to write.

A ‘?’ in a response to one of your comments turns a parasocial relationship social and could turn a single comment into a full thread.

Every time you’re talking to your audience, treat it like a date. And what makes for a great conversation on a date: answering questions with statements or learning about each other by passing questions back and forth?

MONETIZATION:

Your Unbranded Content Is Probably Branded

You made a sketch comedy TikTok about a boss and employee arguing on a video conference call that went super viral and gets 50m views.

Congrats! But that won’t make you much money.

But could it?

Every video you make features brands whether you like it or not.

In the sketch, the two characters may be talking on Zoom, the boss is drinking a Starbucks coffee wearing a Nordstrom’s suit while the employee is drinking from a Stanley cup and wearing a button-up from Target.

That’s five brands.

Almost every video you make, if thinking critically, has brands.

So why not let the brands know?

In this case, as a smart creator rep, you should be looking for people on the influencer marketing teams for all five of these brands on LinkedIn, messaging them with a link to the video and tell them their brand was featured, then ask to hop on a call to discuss how this could become a branded series.

That outreach is going to be a heck of a lot more successful than those messages saying, ‘Here is my roster and their links.’

INDUSTRY HIRING:

OpenAI needs a Talent Partnerships manager and if you need to write a cover letter in 17 seconds I have a site you should check out—

Arena Club seeks a Social Media Manager for anyone who loves sports cards and the feel of cold, hard plastic covering them.

Andreessen Horowitz wants Partner 22, Marketing, and Games, to join their team. Great role if you’re looking to literally be a statistic…in this case ‘22’.

MEME ZONE:

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this edition, give it a share and if you get someone to sign up, I’ll send you my ‘10 Rep-Friendly Ways to Monetize Today!’ deck!

Until next time, protect yo rep.