Agency
How Charles Haynes Built Ziggurat XYZ Into YouTube’s Premier Agency For Expert Creators
With social media platforms providing fertile ground for entertainment content to flourish, Charles Haynes identified an underserved market: expert creators who share deep knowledge and skills. His UK-based talent and media management company, Ziggurat XYZ, now represents YouTube’s leading specialists – from coffee experts and scientists to special effects artists and craftspeople.
From Home Improvement Videos to Industry Innovation
Charles’ path to creator management began unexpectedly through home improvement content. “Eight years ago, people were mainly watching prank content and vlogging. I had just bought a house and was frantically searching on YouTube for how to improve my garden,” he recalls. “That inspired me to think these people need support.”
This observation led him to a realization about an opportunity in the creator economy. “Everyone else seems to be ignoring this area. Why don’t I enjoy my passion and interest and share my expertise with them?” Charles notes.
Since then, Ziggurat has grown its pool of talents to now include category leaders like James Hoffmann, a prominent figure in coffee content, whom Charles describes as “a phenomenal creator” and “the king of his category.”
The company specializes in knowledge-based content creation. “We specifically work with YouTube creators producing factual entertainment,” Charles explains. “That is probably a fancy way of saying that we work with people with niche subject interests. But we’re happy with that. If you add up all the niches, you’re talking about the majority of content on the Internet.”
Comprehensive Creator Support
Ziggurat offers services beyond traditional management, including accounting across multiple countries, creative team support for productions and social media, and commercial activity management. However, Charles emphasizes that these offerings serve a broader purpose.
“It’s like a Chinese food menu. Our clients know that we can do certain things, but underscoring all of them is just an attitude and a purpose to solve problems,” he explains. “We had a client who first started working with us, and their accountant had given them some poor advice, and they didn’t publish for the rest of the year. During our very first conversation together, we helped them understand that it was bad advice. And I think they probably made about $300,000 just correcting that mistake.”
Their problem-solving extends to revenue generation. “We’ve also had a recent client who went through two or three management companies and went six months without selling a single video. And we had a brand deal for him the next time he published,” Charles shares. “It’s problem-solving, not necessarily being, ‘We do this, but not that.'”
The founder describes Ziggurat’s role uniquely: “I sometimes refer to ourselves as a critical friend; or a contrast to your parents, who love and support you but don’t know what YouTube means, where we know what your achievements look like and how important they are.”
This approach requires understanding each creator’s goals. “We want to work with people who clearly understand what they need,” Charles notes. “We would struggle to help creators who don’t know what they need. And, if they’re just looking to sell ad spots and fundamentally happy where they are, they’re not looking for management. They’re looking for an agent.”
Supporting Creative Vision
Ziggurat partners with creators who have clear objectives. “Someone who is struggling to think about all of these different options they’re considering, and they’ve got projects in mind – those are our ideal clients because we want to be part of someone else’s vision,” Charles emphasizes. “We don’t want to bring our vision to a channel. That’s not our job. We’re called managers, but we’re not their boss.”
This shapes their industry position. “I think sometimes talent management companies can forget that we are a service provider. We sit behind the talent and support their vision,” Charles reflects. “It’s the case when an audience is staring at the stage, they don’t see us. We’re off behind the curtain somewhere.”
Building Long-Term Success
The company takes a distinct approach to creator development and puts an emphasis on consistent growth. “YouTube offers such a stable, rewarding, and consistent relationship with your success,” he notes. “Don’t worry about leveling up overnight. What incremental benefits will you see daily? Almost none. But over the years, the compound interest you’ll see is amazing.”
Their client selection reflects this philosophy. “First, we want to be excited and interested in working with them,” Charles shares. “Secondly, it’s someone we feel has longevity in their category or genre. They’re not following trends; they are trendsetters.”
Channel size isn’t their primary concern. “You could be very early on in your journey or much further along, but there’s still potential ahead,” Charles explains. “I always want to be cautious about saying it could be anyone, but we don’t want to limit ourselves.”
Industry Developments and Opportunities
As YouTube content creation matures, new opportunities emerge. “One of the most wonderful things about the industry over the last few years is how it’s matured,” Charles reflects. “Ten to 15 years ago, it felt like the Wild West: contract terms, treatment of talent, the nature of some of the deals that were going on were not always things that everyone was comfortable with.”
But fast forward. “Five years ago, it would have been impossible if we’d wanted half our roster to have published books. And it’s there now,” Charles notes, adding that Ziggurat has also recently expanded its creative services beyond represented clients, describing it as “another sign of a more mature creator industry.”
“I had a rather dull but useful idea in opening up our internal expertise. We have a group of creatives. They help our clients with their production and social media management, and it has only been offered to represented clients until recently,” he explains. “My realization was, ‘I don’t know why we’re limiting it to just our clients.’”
Meeting Current Challenges
Charles identifies brand partnerships as a critical focus for talent management companies. “I continually hear that it is more and more challenging to sell brand deals. And if you are an agent who makes the majority of their business on brand deals alone, then more represented clients means more people who are using their professional connections and the machinery of a business to sell the space,” he explains.
This industry-wide trend has strengthened Ziggurat’s multi-service approach. “One of the reasons we have a diversified range of services is because I do not want to be wholly reliant on ad spots as part of our income or our clients’ income,” Charles notes.
He notes that the creator representation field has transformed since 2020. “Five years ago, most of the time, I reached out to a creator to ask to work with them, but they were unrepresented… I would say that’s almost flipped entirely, and 70% of the time, when I reach out to a creator now, they’re already represented,” Charles observes.
These changes showcase Ziggurat’s distinctive approach to client relationships. “Ultimately, no talent management company owns their talent. They are adults. They can make their own decisions about what they need and who should be providing it,” Charles explains, highlighting their creator-first philosophy.
This commitment to creator autonomy shapes company policy: “We have a policy at Ziggurat where if a talent management company ever emails us trying to speak to one of our clients, we pass it on. If they want to leave, that’s probably better for both of us.”
Making Creative Careers Rewarding
Charles aims to create meaningful industry careers through Ziggurat. “I want to have a company and an agency that provides amazing employment opportunities for people to work in our industry and a place where creators understand there is an agency that offers what they need,” he states.
He prioritizes rewarding creative careers: “I want Ziggurat to be somewhere where staff feel they’re rewarded financially and emotionally in their job,” Charles emphasizes. “Generally speaking, in the creative industries, we’re envious of the money made by lawyers, accountants, or hedge fund managers… I want it so that people with creative jobs can also say, ‘I enjoy my job, and it also pays well.’”
For new creators, Charles offers direct guidance: “YouTube is about providing as much value as cheaply as possible for free on a platform. Understanding the most valuable thing you can provide, whether it’s your expertise, access to equipment, unique weather, or wilderness—whatever it is—that’s your asset.”