never question your emails to agents again
Raise your hand if you’ve ever been stressed out over writing an email in your acting career…oh all of you too? Whew. Glad we realized we’re not alone on that one. Emails are vital to the working actor’s life these days, and yet it’s another thing that they just don’t teach as part of your acting education in university or class. (Don’t worry, that’s why you have us at Beyond Acting!).
Emails are a double edged sword. They can unlock some of your biggest acting career opportunities, or mark you on an industry black list in 2 seconds. It’s a sneaky combination of business and marketing skills, and lands in that pesky “administrative-style” work category that so many actors dread.
But the truth is, emails aren’t as big, bad, and scary as they might seem. A few simple tips and tricks can turn your emails from yikes to yay! Whether you’re stressing over agency submissions, ongoing communications and requests to your reps, or the dreaded breakup email, we’ve got you covered.
Click here to download the Actor’s Essential Email Templates Guide that accompanies the tips below.
BASIC EMAIL ETIQUETTE FOR ACTORS
Remember, actors, you are the CEO of your own business - your acting career. Do your emails read like they were written by a CEO? If not, then it might be time to dig into some email etiquette. In many cases in the entertainment industry, our email communications are our first impressions with agents, managers, and others. To truly establish yourself as a smart, professional working actor, every detail of your business should be thought through, emails certainly included. Here are four basic guidelines for writing A+ emails, both in and out of the entertainment industry.
BE PROFESSIONAL
The way you speak to your best friend is probably different than how you’d speak to your doctor, right? And you wouldn’t talk to your boss in the same way you would your little brother, would you? It’s important to be aware of the words and tone you use when addressing industry connections via email. Part of being a true professional is understanding respect. Always treat others with the utmost respect and care via email. That includes being aware of how some phrases might come across differently in writing versus in person. While your intentions might be pure, certain phrases could come across in a different, less pleasant way. Be mindful of personal boundaries and respectful of their time. The professional compass will never steer you wrong.
DOUBLE CHECK SPELLING AND GRAMMAR
You want to be seen as a smart actor, right? First impressions matter. Part of being taken seriously is taking your communications seriously. A quick, sloppily written message to a potential rep will make them believe that the rest of your acting career will also be quick and sloppy. It might seem silly, or “unrelated to acting”, but you’d be surprised by the conclusions someone can draw from their first digital impression of you. Double checking your message for errors prior to hitting the send button shows that you pay attention to detail, and take pride in how you present yourself.
INCLUDE ALL IMPORTANT CONTACT INFo
If they can’t contact you back, there’s no point in messaging them in the first place. Another one that might seem like a “no-brainer”, you’ll want to do a quick check to make sure your contact information is included on your resume and as part of your email signature. You don’t typically need to include your address, but at minimum you should have your email address.
DO YOUR RESEARCH
In this day and age, there’s no excuse not to do your due diligence in researching industry connections. There’s a wealth of knowledge freely available online that can give you some insight to the agent’s personality, current roster, casting directors their talent frequently books with, and so on. Know who you’re reaching out to. Take a few minutes to Google them, find a video interview or panel with them, check out social media, etc. Even the tiniest of details can assist you in crafting a more personal, strategic email message.
3 SAVVY EMAIL STRATEGIES FOR ACTORS
Now that you’ve got the basics down, let’s talk strategy. Whether you’re pitching to get new representation, maintaining your relationship with existing rep, or ending an agency relationship, these three email strategies for actors can help you get closer to a ‘yes’ to whatever question you’re asking of them. Nothing is ever guaranteed, but typing strategically always helps.
Keep It Short - Agents are busy human beings. Their work requires a lot of them, and they’re constantly juggling multiple talent, thoughts, jobs, and submissions. Understand that for most agents, they care far more about their existing talent than they do about new talent pitches. Additionally, they will not develop fond feelings towards existing talent if you’re constantly reaching out about trivial issues that waste their time. Being aware of and respectful of their time when communicating with them will give you major bonus points, and make it more likely that you’ll get a reply at all. Remember, it’s a communication, not a diary. If it’s not essential to your message, you can cut it out of the email. Time is money, and agents always need more time. Keep it short and sweet to make it an easier ‘yes’.
Be Strategic With Structure - Ever been reading or working on something for a long period of time and find that your eyes keep glazing over and you can’t remember what you just read? That can easily happen to agents too. They’re reading breakdowns and emails and text messages all day long. Often about similar topics. The chances of their eyes glazing over a big paragraph of text are relatively high. Here are a few tricks from the sales and marketing world to help combat this issue.
The first is to break up those big chunks of text. You’re not writing a college essay. It’s perfectly okay, and actually preferable to put a space between every 2-4 sentences. You can also help important information catch their eyes by utilizing structural organization like bullet points or numbered lists and bolding or italicizing key phrases. These changes in text style help break up the monotony and increase the chances of the contact reading the entire message and retaining it.
Keep Your Eye On the Prize - It can be really easy to “get lost in the sauce” and find yourself trapped in a sea of words without knowing what your true goal is. Before writing and during the editing process, make sure you’re crystal clear about why you are emailing the agent. For example, in your initial pitch submission to a new agent, you’re not looking to get signed right now from that email. Realistically, your actual goal is to catch their attention and get them to like you enough to set a meeting with you.
So as you’re writing and editing, you should be asking yourself, “Does this sentence support my goal of getting a meeting with this agent?”. If not, you might need some adjustments. You also want to stay clear on what the agent wants. While they might be a very nice person, ultimately, you’re seeking to create a business partnership with them. What do they want? Someone who can help them make them money. If they don’t see that potential, it’s not going to happen.
CREATING AND MANAGING AGENT RELATIONSHIPS
Want to go even deeper with emails for actors? Alex Collins and I went live together on the Beyond Acting Instagram to serve up some real talk when it comes to sending emails to folks in the industry. We know just how stressful and overwhelming they can feel sometimes, especially when the next step for your acting career could be on the line!
In our Instagram Live Training, we covered in-depth our best strategies for:
Sending Email Submissions to Pitch for New Representation
Maintaining a Positive Relationship with Your Existing Team
Breaking Up With Your Agent via Email
How To Come Across Like a Pro on Email
Answering Your Questions!
The good news is, we saved it to our profile, so you can tune in and get alllllll the juicy deets, even if you couldn't join us live! Just click here to tune in now. Wondering about that special Actor's Essential Email Templates Guide we talked about? We have that for you too! Click here to go to the download page and get your copy for free! If you use one of the tips or templates, shoot us an email or DM to let us know how it goes! We love to celebrate your wins with you!
