Agent or Manager??

Acting Career FAQ - Agent or Manager?
by
Bob Fraser
I recently got an email asking me if I could "... explain the difference between an agent and a
manager - and which would be better for me to sign with ... to get my career going?"
Here's my answer:
Neither an agent or a manager can help you "get a
career going."
The concept that a powerful man or woman can step in and help you skip all the hard work involved in starting an acting career - is a fairy tale. Neither agents nor managers can "do it FOR you." There is no short-cut to the top of show business (or even to the middle for that matter). If it could be done this way, then agents and managers would simply pick a few actors out of the thousands of headshots they get every week, and turn them into stars. But it cannot be done this way - which is why agents are so unresponsive to unsolicited headshot mailings.
The good ones are pros and they're not going to waste their valuable time trying to accomplish what they know cannot be done.
Now, here are the differences:
Their businesses are similar - but not the same. One sells a product. The agent is a sales person for the product known as YOU. Sales people (agents) judge how well their business is going by how much money they make. A really good sales professional likes to make lots of money.
If your product is not saleable (one that people aren't ready to buy yet) then a sales person won't make a lot of money selling it (you). Not surprisingly, agents are coldly business-like about this part. Until you've managed to start your career yourself (making money as an actor) don't expect any really good sales people to be very interested.

Managers are just what the word implies. The manage things. Mailings, bookings, transportation, job offers, promotion - the day to day business of YOU. (But keep
in mind that in most markets, they are precluded, by law, from seeking work for you.)
The top managers are usually the top managers because they manage very successful careers.
The big boys (and girls) in the management game, are just like agents when it comes to money. They want to manage a 'going concern' and they spend a lot of their time looking for the next big thing.
Think about that.
Professional managers and agents make a boatload of money when they sign on with a Vin Diesel or J-Lo - isn't it reasonable to assume that they are looking
all the time. In fact, they hire people to look. Believe me, If you have what they want - if you are a going concern, with a name that you've made for yourself - they know their managing skills will take you to a whole new level (making lots of money) and they get a big chunk of a lot - then, believe me, they will seek you out.
Bottom line?
As long as you continue to believe that your main job is looking for someone else to help you "build" your career for you - you won't be spending enough time doing the crucial things you need to do yourself to build your own career. So concentrating on finding an agent or manager is a bad tactic - which generally results in frustration, wasted years and, ultimately, failure to achieve what you want. If you don't focus on doing your part (getting started)
it's unlikely that you will ever build your business into something big enough to be noticed by a good agent or a good manager.
In other words, by all means keep looking for a sales staff, and a management team - but don't neglect your business while you're doing it.