The Questions to Ask Before You Sign With an Agency

Agencies are not automatically bad. Some sellers earn more with one than without. The difference between a good arrangement and a bad one is almost entirely visible before you sign, if you ask directly.

What exactly do you do, in a list

Not marketing and growth. Which specific tasks, how often. If they cannot name the actual jobs, they have not thought about them, and you will find out later that the answer was chatting to your subscribers and little else.

Who owns the accounts and the audience

This is the question that matters most and the one people forget. If the arrangement ends, do you keep the accounts, the buyer list and the content. Get the answer plainly, and be very cautious if the accounts are created in their name rather than yours.

What is the exit

Notice period, what happens to work in progress, what happens to the money owed. Anything that cannot be ended within a month is worth serious hesitation, because you are agreeing to it based on how things look at the start.

What does the percentage cover

Whether it is on gross or net, and whether costs come off before or after the split, changes the real number enormously. Ask for a worked example on a month you can recognise. A straightforward operation will do that without hesitating.

Can I speak to someone you work with now

The reaction tells you more than the answer. Agencies with happy sellers can produce one quickly. Any reluctance here is worth taking seriously, whatever reason is offered for it.

What do you need from me

If the answer is nothing, be careful. Every real arrangement needs content and availability from you. Nothing means either they have not planned it or they intend to solve it in ways you would not agree to.

Ask all six before money is discussed. The answers arrive faster and more honestly then than they ever will afterwards.