This is something that has been playing on my mind for a while now. And at the begining of this journey I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
I never knew that I could be in a position to even consider management and now that I have considered it here are my thoughts about the subject and my personal experience.
When it comes to management for bloggers generally I have noticed that the blogger will give around 15-25% of their earnings to their management. That's not an issue when you know that they are getting you jobs left right and centre. But it all becomes a bit of a grey area when management wants control of emails/exclusivity.
Again, with exclusivity, I have no problem as long as I am the first point of contact. I am happy to forward emails to management, but to have someone else manage from start to finish is a completely scary thought for me.
As someone who is a total control freak when it comes to my blog I don't think I ever could give complete control to anyone other than myself. I need to know what's going on and I sure as hell need to know what goes on in emails.
I've had people in the past approach me regarding becoming my management. And after reading the contracts I couldn't run fast enough out the office.
I feel like people think bloggers are naive and try to prey on the innocence of people just to get themselves ahead. And frankly I am tired of seeing this happen. Management should be something that will add value to a blogger not the other way round.
A little while ago, someone who occasionally finds work for me cc'd me in an email for me to see that they were bad mouthing me about something that wasn't true. Luckily the brand responded in a completely professional manner and I emailed to confirm that what was said wasn't the case. But this one small thing had me thinking. If this is what I see, I wonder what else has been said in the past to other brands.
I wonder if management could ruin your opportunities because they bad mouth you, or they respond to a brand in an unprofessional manner. When you choose a manager or management team, they are a representative of you. If they do something wrong that represents badly on you and can lead to loss of future contracts. Scary thought isn't it.
I decided to do a little research on the matter and talk to a few agencies who all came back with the same answer. "Half the time the management ruin things for the bloggers". When I asked how so they replied that they were sent rude emails, unrealistic demands and unwillingness to compromise and cooperate.
I've seen management contracts that state you have to pay for their expenses, they will not be subjected to any damage of your reputation from their behalf and even that they don't have to get you any jobs. That's when the nail hit the head for me and I decided at this moment and time management is not something that I wish to pursue.
In an industry so young it hurts me to see that people are trying to take advantage of the unknown and I want to pass the message on that you do not NEED to have management to be successful. If you find management where you can trust their work ethics and have read through the contract with a fine tooth comb then I see no problem in signing with a management.
I have blogger friends who have signed with management and they gain some amazing opportunities and have seen them grow their blog. But they didn't go into the contract blind.
If you take one thing from this blog post it's to read, reread and then read to a parent/ friend/ send to your lawyer and then sign any binding legal documents. Sometimes the lawyer jargon is so hard to understand and you don't realise that there's nothing protecting you in the contract.
These are all my personal experiences. I am in no way telling you what to do, I just want people to go about this subject with a clearer stance on their rights and not to sign a contract that ultimately doesn't have their best interests at heart.
Are you signed with management or had any experience? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this matter.