Agency red flags
Three questions before signing. With anyone.
This page compares no one and names no agency. It gives you what you need to judge for yourself — including judging me.
“How do I get out of the contract?”
Commitment length, notice period, exit terms. A serious agency answers in one sentence, with a document to back it up.
Red flag: a long commitment with no clear way out, exit penalties, or an answer that talks around the question.
“Who owns my accounts and my content?”
Your accounts, your logins, your content must remain yours. An agency works with you, not instead of you.
Red flag: an agency that demands ownership of your accounts, your passwords with no framework, or rights to your content after the contract ends.
“How much do you take, and on what exactly?”
The percentage, what it is calculated on (gross or net, which platforms), and all of it in writing before you sign.
Red flag: vague answers, an “it depends” with no follow-up, or numbers that change between the conversation and the contract.
And a few more signals
- Pressure to sign fast (“the offer expires tonight”): a decision like this deserves time.
- “Guaranteed” income: nobody can guarantee a number. Anyone who does is lying to you from the very first conversation.
- Disrespecting your content boundaries, even “just once”, even “as a test”: that is a no.
If one day I fail this test myself, don’t sign with me either. It is as simple as that.
— Samuel