How Engage’s Booking Freedom Helps Talent Grow Their Audience

  • By Declan McManus
  •  Feb 21, 2020

How Engage’s Booking Freedom Helps Talent Grow Their Audience

 

Freedom would not be a word used to describe the traditional talent booking system. The current system is controlled by large speakers’ bureaus and dominant agencies that aim to control and capitalize upon talent. Oftentimes these groups do not have talents’ best interests in mind and will even list talent they do not represent or have a relationship with. On top of that, these organizations commonly enforce binding contracts and long-term exclusivity agreements that work to limit talent’s freedom and autonomy. 

 

At Engage, we never want to limit our talent. We believe that granting talent the freedom to interact with their audiences whenever and however they want will foster more successful events and meaningful interactions in the long run. This is why we never enforce binding long-term contracts or exclusivity agreements. We want to have a great relationship with our talent, so we worked to create a flexible and adaptable platform that adjusts to talent’s unique needs. Our belief is that talent will continue to work with us because we are transparent, creative, and our platform makes the process so much easier.

 

Below are 5 ways Engage gives talent the freedom to grow their audience:

 

1.             No Binding Contracts or Exclusivity Agreements

 

         We believe talent is more happy and successful when they only do appearances that they want to do. This is why we give our talent the full liberty to review client requests and request or deny them immediately through the platform. Clients are asked to include their own contract with the date, location, length of speech, and preferred payment plan for travel expenses. Providing this information upfront eliminates the guesswork and gives talent more authority over their schedule and growing their audience. Talent can approve, deny, chat, or negotiate on an event with the click of a button. It’s all entirely up to them.

 

2.              Easy, Transparent Communication

 

        Communication is a key element in giving talent complete booking freedom. Communication builds trust, so we do not list any talent on the site unless they or their agent personally sign up. Rather than communicating through an agent or third-party, consumers and talent can communicate directly through the Engage platform. This protects talent’s privacy and allows for efficient communication so that talent can quickly address logistical and pricing concerns. We believe that better communication leads to more successful events and increased audience engagement. Our direct communication puts both the talent and the consumer at ease, and makes sorting out logistics much easier.

 

 

3.              Talent Keeps 100% of Revenue from Their Appearances

 

        Pricing transparency is another key element of booking freedom. While agents and speaker’s bureaus can take a cut of 25-30% out of talent’s agreed rates, Engage’s pricing structure allows talent to keep 100% of the revenue from their appearances and events. We do this by charging consumers a flat fee of 15% on top of talent’s agreed rate. We felt that it was wrong for middle-men and agents to take such a large chunk out of what talent was rightfully earning. By giving talent 100% of their revenue, they are able to focus on connecting with their fans and growing their audiences. Bookers save money as well because 15% is much less than the upcharge they are getting from speakers bureaus. Engage helps the talent keep more money and still provides a cheaper, more secure method for the booker.

 

4.              Streamlined Connection with Social Media

 

        Unlike out-of-date speaker’s bureau websites, Engage’s digital platform easily connects with talent’s social media accounts. As most people today find out about events and appearances through social media, we built social media integration into Engage’s platform. The best way to reach fans is through authentic and engaging social media posts, so Engage provides talent with event graphics as well as suggested social copy and video scripts. Our social media promotion is another way that Engage helps talent grow their audience and focus on having genuine interactions with fans. We will also never limit talent on what they can and cannot post on social media. 

 

5.               Events Beyond the Keynote Speech

 

        Why should talent appearances be limited to speeches? At Engage, we help talent build out customized experiences and pop-ups from cooking with celebrity chefs to playing golf with world-class athletes. Complete booking freedom also means that we allow talent and consumers to curate events that are interactive, unique, and memorable. These experiences can intersect multiple arenas and interests and empower talent to interact with fans in new and exciting ways. 

 


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