All about "exclusive" representation
Answers
to frequently asked questions
This applies only to
those speakers who ask for us to act as their personal
agent/advocate in every contract negotiation. This is not a
benefit or requirement of membership on
CommissionFreeSpeakers.com
1.
What does "exclusive" representation
mean?
It's like dating someone
seriously and agreeing to have an exclusive (monogamous)
relationship: we both agree to stop seeing other people and
see only each other. Here, we agree to not represent
another speaker with your expertise and you agree to not be
listed with other agencies and bureaus nor accept any
speaking engagements without having Andrea Reynolds
participate. (That would be like accepting a date with
someone else and not telling your partner. Sleazy behavior
after promising to be exclusive, isn't
it?)
Exclusive means you agree to have Andrea Reynolds
handle
ALL your bookings -- even the
little ones and the free ones which, as a professional, you
have likely phased out by now. We urge you to have us
assist you in getting higher fees and better contract terms
with organizations who contact you first, by referring them
to Andrea within the first minute of
contact.
2.
With exclusive representation can I still accept speaking
engagements on my own?
No. That would be a breach
of contract. If you do we would have to stop personally
representing you as a speaker.
3.
With exclusive representation is it OK if I speak for
free?
No. We represent
professional speakers who expect to be paid for their work.
At some time in the future you may wish to speak for free -
for a favorite charity or on a cruise - once or twice in a
year. After booking six paid speaking engagements for you,
we will negotiate/ book one free speech for
you.
4.
With exclusive representation can I be represented by
speaker bureaus also?
No, you would need to
discontinue all other forms of speaker representation but
with Andrea Reynolds. With exclusive representation we are
happy to work in tandem with bureaus who contact us because
they have a speaking engagement for you. But all
negotiation is handled through Andrea
Reynolds.
5.
What do you look for in a speaker you
represent?
We look for speakers who
are
single-niche, how-to specialists, rather than generalists,
exhibiting daring, bravery, courage, tenacity, chutzpah,
nerve, guts, audacity in some aspect of their lives, who
have good platform skills and have had considerable
experience as paid speakers.
6.
Do you represent performers, motivational speakers, and
coaches?
Our expertise is
representing specialists: single niche how-to speakers.
(This is how speakers build a platform.) We will represent
celebrity speakers who give motivational presentations on a
specific passion -- like landmine elimination or greyhound
adoption -- but we find most coaches and motivational
speakers are generalists rather than specialists.
Motivational speakers have multiple, unrelated subjects, or
speak on very broad subjects like "leadership",
"communication", "small business" or "success". If you're a
motivational speaker and have one specific passion, not
several, we will consider representation or you may wish to
try visibility on our directory
and see how
that goes.
7.
Do you represent
beginning
speakers?
We look for
experienced speakers to
represent
exclusively who have been receiving
professional speaking fees consistently for quite some
time. If you can show me you have consistently received
a
minimum $5,000 per engagement -- excluding book sales
and travel and other expenses -- you would qualify for
exclusive representation.
8.
Are book signings considered speaking?
We don't regard book
signings as speaking engagements because the speaker isn't
paid to speak, therefore we don't recommend speakers do
them. Book signings at book stores are geared to promote
books, not the expert. The expert rarely sells more than a
few dozen books - often only 4-6 books - for which they
probably receive only a small percentage of the sale. We
think it makes more sense to get paid to speak, have your
travel expenses paid, and make larger book sales. Don't you
think so too?
9.
Do I have to pay you a commission?
Yes, if you're
not a
member of Commission Free Speakers.com and we negotiate a
paying contract for you. Because we work for you, the
speaker, it is you who pays us a commission.
Contrary to
rumor, we are not a charitable organization. It is our
intention to make a profit to pay our living expenses. Our
commission is schedule is:
25% for speaking fees over
$5,000 to $10,000,
22% for speaking fees over
$10,000 to $20,000,
20% for speaking fees over
$20,000 to $30,000,
18% for speaking fees over
$30,000 to $50,000,
15% for speaking fees over
$50,000 to $100,000.
10% for speaking fees over $100,000.
But if you are a CFS
speaker, and you ask us to negotiate your fees there is
a
flat rate of $200 for this service... you
must contact us right away to act on your behalf. But you
are not required to engage us for this service.
10. Will you help me set my fees?
Yes. You have two options.
You can buy the special report we produced to assist
speakers who may be uncertain about how to set their
fees. Secrets for Setting Your Speaking
Fees is a report available
for purchase from us.
We can also
provide one-on-one consultations by
telephone ($100.00
prepaid
for 30 minutes). We can answer specific
fee-setting questions. Appointments are
recommended.
11.
Must my speaking fee also cover my
expenses?
We urge organizations to
cover these expenses and our commission (if any) is not
charged on these necessary expenses. Incidentally, we
produced a report, 33 Amenities Speakers
Deserve, for meeting planners
who hire you to speak at their event.
12.
Will you give out my fee information to anyone who
asks?
No. We don't give out your
fee or contract terms information to other speakers. With
organizations, we wait to discuss fees until we have
received enough details about the event to warrant fee
discussion. We also check out all inquiries received before
divulging fee information.
13.
Do you charge for setting up my web
page?
All
speakers we represent exclusively are required to
hold membership in
CommissionFreeSpeakers. There are no other obligatory
fees.
14.
What do you mean by an honor system?
Speakers
represented
exclusively by Andrea Reynolds promise
-- are on their honor -- to contact us immediately if they
have been contacted directly by an organization wishing to
hire speakers and turn the engagement over to us to be
negotiated.
Please note: We will automatically stop
representing any speaker who does not honor the terms of
our
Exclusive Agreement. If you feel you cannot
honor our agreement we ask you not to agree to exclusive
representation.
15.
How often must I communicate with Andrea
Reynolds?
At least once a week. All
exclusive speakers agree to notify
Andrea Reynolds of
all speaking events requests -
even for "freebies" - and vacations so that we will know
when a speaker is available -- and not available -- for new
events.
16.
Will you represent a speaker I regard as my
competition?
When acting as a speaker
agent we are concerned about conflicts of interest and
prefer not to represent competing speakers. So we choose to
represent speakers with a single, narrow area of expertise
that no other current speaker has. To represent multiple
speakers with the same expertise would make us a bureau
rather than a speaker agency... and
we don't want to be a bureau. As a speaker agent we
strive to represent our speakers' interests. If you regard
someone as a competing speaker please tell us right away.
We will check with you before accepting a speaker who may
have similar expertise.
17. Is there an upfront fee I must pay?
Yes, if you are not a
client of Andrea Reynolds International. (The only way to
be a client: you must have hired Andrea Reynolds for
a promotional campaign for a minimum of 1
month to 12 months.) For all non-client speakers who
wish to have a web presence on our site there is
a membership fee required.
An additional fee is
required when
a speaker's info, photo, book cover are not provided
electronically and must be scanned, retyped or edited. An
administrative fee of up to
$250.00 may
be charged. To
write your own we produce a helpful electronic
manual, The Speaker's Promotion
Kit, which contains
examples of speaker promotional materials, for
$49.00.
18.
How will you promote me as a speaker?
That's not what agents do.
We actively promote only those speakers who
retain our marketing services
through
Andrea Reynolds International. We utilize methods we
have tested to generate paying assignment opportunities
for you so you don't have to knock on
doors.
Those speakers who
choose not to hire us to position and promote them
understand that we will work only to get meeting
planners to visit the CommissionFreeSpeakers.com
directory. We have no control over who a meeting/event
planner chooses to hire. Not every event will require
someone with your specific expertise.
19.
Will my book's media kit be acceptable in lieu of a speaker
kit?
No. There is a difference
in the content and a difference in purpose between a media
kit and a speaker kit. The following
materials listed on the Membership Application are
required to assess your experience as a professional
speaker and also for your profile on our web site.
No. We need to see a video or hear an audio recording of you speaking live. We do not accept tapes of TV appearances in lieu of platform speaking, nor artificially created presentations. We feel these are contrived and lacking in authenticity, not to mention expensive. Poor quality tapes are quite acceptable... we want to see your presentation style and hear your voice and speech without interviewer prompts.
21. How high must I set my fees?
We urge you to set fees that will generate a good profit for you (and us!). If you set them too low -- and many speakers offer fees lower than organizations are prepared to pay -- you won't generate the respect you deserve and we will have less incentive to promote you. If you set them unrealistically high, you will be disappointed when you are turned down.
But really this is a moot point because we endeavor to get you the best fees and terms we can without causing bad feelings.
22. On the application what do I list in the section "contract terms"?
We want you to list the "perqs" you consider essential and those we can use as "bargaining chips" when negotiating on your behalf. We have a report which gives you dozens of ideas. Give us at least 10.
23. What will be cause for termination of a speaker?
We must terminate our exclusive representation with any speaker who violates the terms of his/her exclusive agreement with Andrea Reynolds by any of the following actions:
1. Attempting to undercut his/her stated fees by negotiating directly with an organization,
2. Offering a speaking engagement to another speaker represented exclusively by us without going through Andrea Reynolds' office,
3. Turning over a booking request for you to another agent or bureau,
4. Discussing, negotiating, confirming a speaking engagement with an organization who found the speaker on www.CommissionFreeSpeakers.com and then contacted the speaker privately,
5. Choosing not to ask meeting planners if they originally saw their speaker listing on CommissionFreeSpeakers.com, and/or choosing not to indicate on their personal web site speaking page that they are represented exclusively by Andrea Reynolds,
6. Refusing to tell contacts you are represented by Andrea Reynolds, in promotional materials, ads and on your web site, etc.
7. Making messages from our private discussions available to non-clients,
8. Not communicating with Andrea Reynolds for long periods at a time, not replying to requests for information, and not advising us you are on extended vacation.
24. Where is the agreement to sign for exclusive representation?
It's not on the web site. We will send it to you after we have received your Speaker Data Sheet/Application and confirmed you would be a good candidate for exclusive representation. Please complete the Data Sheet first. We will then have information about you if we get a request for a speaker on your subject.
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