DOES ANYONE KNOW NOTM??

Hi, im wondering if anyone has heard of the National Online Talent Management (NOTM)? im thinking of becoming one of their clients but you have to pay $150 up front for them to send you available jobs/auditions for tv ads short film etc. every week for about 12 months. Just wondering if this is unusual or dodgy? cause i have little experience in this area.

A friend of mine signed up with NOTM last yeat - paid them the money and has never heard from them again.

I once overhead one of the actors from Zeal Theatre say that he had gotten rid of his agent. He said that he was quite often getting auditions for parts that he was being typecast into, or parts that he 'looked right for'. So he fired his agent, and started marketing himself. He said he was never happier (despite some obvious difficulties with marketing yourself) working this way. Perhaps there is a myth that having an agent is the only way to go? (Of course, Zeal actors are pretty good and have lots of previous experience, so for emerging artists it might not help). Just wondering what other experienced performers think? The Prompt Copy Networking emerging theatre professionals www.thepromptcopy.com Sticky Apple Legs http://stickyapplelegs.artsblogs.com

http://www.notm.com.au/ Strictly speaking, no upfront fee required. You may join for nothing and get.... well.... But download their powerpoint presentation and you get the blurb on "Service Pack 1". Yours for $150: "Online introductory training course" "Online marketing material" "1 year audition and job notification service" or "Service Pack 2" for $750 all of the above plus lifetime notification photographic portfolio professional makeover creation and distribution of show reel acting and or modeling advanced course updates with acting courses and get.... well.... $150 for a year's newsletter subscription and a few course notes might be value in some peoples' books, depending on the quality of content. Some people might even think $750 reasonable for a lifetime newsletter subscription (however long that is), photos, makeover, showreel, acting course (wonder if that's online too?) Note that while there's plenty said elsewhere in the presentation and on the site about the vast fortunes to be made in the entertainment industry ($25 - $5,000/hr) none of the paid service packs say anything explicit about actually representing you and getting you work. But they do mention somewhere that they'll only charge 10% commission - take that BMA! Mind you, collect enough $150 and $750 fees and you can probably afford to forgoe the extra 10% - or perhaps any commission at all. Buyer beware. Cheers Grant

Yeah, or you could sign up for my ezine for FREE and get roughly the same amount of info... Minus the show reels etc... Maybe in the future I could offer that... Interesting - I took a look at their site, but couldn't find any info on WHO they actually are. No bios, nothing... Very vague. :nono: The Prompt Copy Networking emerging theatre professionals www.thepromptcopy.com Sticky Apple Legs http://stickyapplelegs.artsblogs.com

thanks everyone, deep down i thought it was dodge cause the guy i talked to was more enthusiatic on getting his hands on my money than actually telling me about the jobs i could get afterwards. their website is very vague and doesnt really say anything.

have you had any experience with notm?

I suggest having a fish around business.gov.au after finding these guys on my career and seeing their website i found them to be a strange to say the least. After doing an ABN check it looks like NOTM's abn has been registered and reregistered a few times. Not to mention the fact there has been two partners with vary dissimilar names. Further to that they arent PTY Ltd. Now okay yes this isnt a big deal but i'd imagine if they are out to pay good money people decent money they can afford $900 and get themselves a good shelf company.

There's a few loopholes here: Reregistering doesn't say much - I have had to change my business name twice, I unregistered for GST (after stupidly signing up for it), and it looks like I will have to reregister my company soon to make sure it is legitimately a NFP. Since when is it a crime to have two partners with dissimilar names? In the days of hyphenation and not taking on your husband's name, why in the world would a company have to have similar names in partners? (Of course, I know nothing of the company or who the partners are purporting themselves to be) And $900 is a lot of money in the arts. I can't afford to register as a Pty Ltd company, and I know most people would rather spend the money on other things. Just because they're not Pty Ltd, does not make them a dodgy business. It just means all they can afford is a business name. Smaller companies do this because a registered company (like a Pty Ltd) also requires a lot more administration requirements, like having a board of directors, an annual report, AGMs, etc. I am the sole person who runs my company, with two volunteers - should I shell out $900 to create a whole load of paperwork for myself, given that I am losing money on my company anyway? Business models depend on all sorts of things, especially in the arts. (Again, I know nothing of this company, so if I'm wrong...) The Prompt Copy Networking emerging theatre professionals www.thepromptcopy.com Sticky Apple Legs http://stickyapplelegs.artsblogs.com

don't do it, I know 5 people that have stupidly spent their money only to be left wondering and waiting for the "real jobs" that just never seem to eventuate!!

as far as company setup they look fine to me National Online Talent Management Address: Suite 8 98 University Drive Robina QLD 4226 ABN: 11087600246 Employment Agents License # : 6726 Phone: 07 56575008 Email: notm@notm.com.au

personally i think u should look into where they are from and then look up the address and ask them to give you the names and phone numbers of a couple of satisfyed coustomers right there and then... if they stall or they say I'll get back to you be warned they may be using their friends and relatives.

.To everyone that is complaining about notm and making terrible comments,i would like to say that you are lying and you are a friend of a different agency who is competiting with notm.I have signed up with notm 2 months ago and have paid for a service pack and a 1 week later i got a call for a commercial job and now i have been doing commercials as well as photo shoots for magazines.So to everyone reading all this,do not believe the bad comments because it is a load of rubbish.NOTM is a fantastic casting and modelling agency and you will not go wrong with them.

So why have I never heard from them again after paying my money 18 months ago?