Creator economy expert & marketing professional Chris Alexander is pioneering a new agency model with his venture, prscnt. After managing talent at G&B Digital, Chris launched prscnt to leverage automation tools better and reduce overhead costs.

“I felt that there was a lot of busy work as a talent manager that often goes into your day-to-day that takes away from your time being focused on what’s important, which is maintaining your needs, building relationships with brand partners that want to work with your clients,” the Orange County entrepreneur says. “I felt that my experience and understanding of the available tools and different AI and automation software could be leveraged much more efficiently to take some of that busy work off people’s plates.”

prscnt uses cost-effective automation to charge more reasonable fees than the standard 10-30%. Fee structures are tailored per client, with negotiations based on the specifics of each venture, including premium content channels, e-commerce, podcasts, book deals, and more. With a tech-driven approach, the agency balances profitability with fairness, ensuring creators don’t feel exploited. Initiatives include a self-service platform for sourcing brand deals, plus free tools like content calendars. 

At the core of prscnt’s philosophy is the idea of being “prescient” – having knowledge of events before they happen. “Knowing things that are going to happen before they do is important for me to stay on top of and ahead of trends,” Chris explains. “It’s important for us to be involved in those aspects of our creators’ lives…being aware of how we can support those with new and emerging technologies.”

The marketing expert aims to build a platform where other managers can join under a franchise-like model, paying just enough to cover systems overhead rather than the 50-85% top agencies typically take. “I’m not here to profit off of anybody’s surplus labor,” he states. “It’s important for me not to have anyone feel like they’re treated unfairly.”

Empowering Creators with Self-Service Tools

In addition to offering full-service talent management, prscnt empowers creators with self-service tools through their platform. “We’re here to offer those services to talent,” Chris explains. “One thing I will say is once this platform is built out, I would like to have a self-service aspect to this. So that talent that maybe are growing and don’t necessarily need a full-time manager like myself, they can to some extent source their own brand deals, manage their own brands.”

A key focus is streamlining and automating tedious administrative tasks that too often bog down talent managers. “I’m really trying to smooth out those rough edges and make sure that things not just communicate with each other in an efficient manner, but also in an automatic manner,” Chris states. “Doing things programmatically so that one thing automatically leads to another.”

The prscnt founder envisions a seamless workflow where data-driven tools identify top opportunities. Everything from outreach to campaign management to legal will flow together automatically with minimal human intervention. “It’s important for me to make sure that we are removing as much guesswork as possible from the process,” Chris says.

The platform will also host a wealth of educational resources for creators. “The type of content that’s going to be on there is everything from how to figure out your niche and set up your profile, how to create content and [use] different creator tools and best practices for each platform, to the business side of things – how to pitch yourself out to brands, what brands and marketing agencies expect to see from a content creator, and how to position yourself to grow your business best,” Chris explains.

All the way down to “the business formation LLC side of things,” the goal is equipping creators with the full scope of knowledge needed to monetize their brands. This self-service offering, alongside prscnt’s talent management, promises a powerful toolkit for navigating the creator economy.

Balancing Profitability and Putting People First

While prscnt aims to be a profitable business, Chris is adamant about not losing sight of the core mission of putting people over profits. “It’s very easy to be profitable given what we currently charge for things in terms of content and deliverables when your overhead doesn’t rely on a lot of human labor,” the seasoned marketer states.

The lean, remote-friendly model allows prscnt to avoid hefty office and staffing costs that drain many agencies. “Our overhead is quite low, especially considering everyone’s remote in this business for the most part. So you don’t really need to pay for an office or all that kind of insane overhead. It’s a huge waste of money.”

This efficient cost structure means prscnt can maintain healthy margins while prioritizing fairness for creators in fee negotiations. “You’d be surprised at how cost-effective it actually is to use some of these tools, and they’re not as expensive as you think,” Chris notes.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all model, Chris tailors creators’ agreements case-by-case to ensure an equitable split. “It’s a little more work to be like, well, okay, well, this is going to be 10%. This is going to be 5%. It’s just a little bit more involved. But I think the satisfaction is worth it.”

This approach has already resonated with prscnt’s first major client, influencer Ivan “Ramen King” McCombs. As Chris shares, “I know that went a long way for him to know that I was. It wasn’t about the money. It’s about doing good work, representing him well, and being fair.”

By balancing profitability with fairness and automation with a personal touch, prscnt is carving a more sustainable path for creator economy partnerships. According to Chris, the satisfaction of prioritizing people over profits is well worth the extra effort.

Exciting Initiatives on the Horizon

When asked about upcoming projects he’s most excited for, Chris points to finally having the prscnt platform fully built out. “I’m honestly most excited about having the platform fully built so that I can start to bring on other managers and work with some other people,” he shares.

While going solo as a one-man operation hasn’t been lonely, thanks to his network of independent manager friends, Chris looks forward to the collaborative energy of having an in-house team again. “I definitely enjoyed the collaborative experience of having other people at the agency who I could bounce ideas off of.”

Another initiative in the works is collecting with other indie firms to expand their collective reach and resources. As Chris explains, “We are looking to collectivize some of these independent firms in order to broaden our reach with each other’s talent. There are a few other collectives like that already. But I think having access to my tool base and skill set will help.”

On a more immediate horizon, Chris says prscnt will soon be rolling out free tools and templates for creators, whether or not they’re signed to the agency. “We’re going to be offering some fun and free tools to people…like a content calendar template, for people to use and track their deals and take ownership of their business,” the creator economy expert reveals.

From the big picture of building the platform to tactical free resources, Chris and prscnt have plenty of exciting initiatives to empower creators and talent managers alike.