Getting Jobs in Entertainment question 892:How many times a year should I do an agent mailing?

Uh Oooooh.... this is one of those questions that make me go.... hmmmm. I feel like I just addressed this recently, but maybe it was in a seminar. Agent mailings are for the most part a big waste of time and money. The reason I say that is because:

1. People don't bother to consider the timing of when they're pursuing an agent and do a mailing willy-nilly like right smack in the middle of pilot or staffing season.

2. People buy a list of addresses, don't check that they're up-to-date, don't personalize the mailing to the agent in the right department, and don't spell check names.

3. People send out resumes, reels, head shots COLD. Do you know how many thousands of people are submitting to agents? It's far more effective to get referrals to agents. The time you spend getting referrals and approaching an agent in a professional way, will be worth it compared to the years of unproductive mailings.

I'm not saying that cold mass mailings don't ever work, I'm simply offering you a more effective use of your time (because it rarely works).

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entertainment industry coach question 634:what is the best way to submit myself to new agents in this day and age of digital media?

The question continued: Email w/ photos and video attachments? Email with link to my website that has everything, or the old fashioned hard copy package?

Different agencies are going to have different preferences. Some agencies are really into "being green" and others are "old fashioned." So the best thing you can do is to make a target list of the agencies you're interested in and call each one to ask how they prefer to be solicited.

If you get someone really nice on the phone, you can tell them your type and ask who the best agent is to submit to. If you get someone not-so-nice, who tells you they're not accepting submissions, say, "thank you and for future knowledge, what does your agency prefer, green or hard copy?"

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