Why I Keep a Short List of Agencies I Actually Want to Work With
Several years into this career, I started keeping a genuine, quite deliberate short list of agencies I actually wanted to work with directly, rather than simply pursuing every single available opportunity that happened to cross my path regardless of genuine fit or alignment.
That shift toward deliberate, thoughtful targeting, rather than broad, undirected pursuit, has genuinely changed how efficiently and effectively I've actually built the agency side of this specific business over time. If you're thinking about your own approach to targeting agency relationships, the Adventure Travel Photographer's Playbook covers how I approach these relationships as part of a complete business strategy.
Why Pursuing Every Available Opportunity Wasn't Actually Working
Before building this list, my approach to agency outreach was genuinely scattershot, pursuing any opportunity that seemed remotely plausible, a strategy that spread my actual time and energy thin across relationships that often weren't a particularly strong fit for my specific work.
That scattershot approach produced real inefficiency, time spent pursuing agencies whose clients and aesthetic simply didn't align well with my own actual portfolio, effort that could have been considerably better spent building deeper relationships with genuinely well-matched agencies instead.
Recognizing that inefficiency pushed me to reconsider the entire approach, eventually leading to the deliberate, short list strategy that's shaped how I've pursued agency relationships for the considerable majority of my career since making that change.
How I Actually Decide Which Agencies Belong on the List
Deciding which agencies actually belong on my short list involves genuinely evaluating fit across several dimensions, the type of clients they typically represent, the aesthetic sensibility they favor, and whether their existing portfolio of photographers suggests real alignment with my own specific creative approach.
That evaluation process has become considerably more rigorous over the years, moving well past a surface-level impression toward genuine research into an agency's actual track record and the kind of photographers they've consistently chosen to work with over time.
Building this more rigorous evaluation has made my short list genuinely more effective, ensuring the limited relationship-building time I actually have available goes toward agencies where real alignment already exists rather than ones I'd have to work considerably harder to fit.
Why a Short List Lets Me Invest More Deeply in Each Relationship
Keeping the list genuinely short, rather than expansive, has let me invest considerably more deeply in each individual relationship, remembering specific contacts, following their work closely, and engaging thoughtfully rather than spreading thin, surface-level attention across dozens of agencies simultaneously.
That depth of investment has produced considerably stronger relationships than the broader, shallower approach I used previously, agencies on my current list know me genuinely well, and that familiarity has translated directly into more consistent, recurring work over time.
I've come to see this depth as the actual point of the short list strategy, not simply narrowing options but genuinely concentrating limited relationship-building resources where they're most likely to produce real, lasting business value.
How I Approach Agencies Not Yet on My List but Worth Pursuing
Beyond the established short list, I maintain a secondary, watch list of agencies that seem genuinely promising but that I haven't yet built a real relationship with, tracking their work and looking for a natural, genuine opportunity to actually make an initial connection.
That watch list has become a genuine pipeline for eventually promoting agencies to the primary short list, giving me a structured way to expand relationships deliberately rather than either standing still or reverting back to the old, scattershot approach.
Maintaining this two-tiered system has let me stay genuinely selective while still leaving real room for growth, ensuring the business continues expanding into new, well-matched agency relationships without sacrificing the depth that the primary short list actually provides.
What I've Learned About Removing an Agency From the List
Not every agency relationship that made it onto my list has actually stayed there permanently, some genuinely drifted in fit over time as either my own work or their client roster evolved in directions that no longer aligned as well as they originally did.
Recognizing when to remove an agency from the active list, rather than continuing to invest in a relationship that's genuinely stopped producing good-fit work, has been an important, if occasionally uncomfortable, discipline to actually maintain consistently over the years.
That willingness to prune the list periodically has kept it genuinely effective, ensuring my limited relationship-building time continues to go toward the agencies actually most aligned with my current work rather than ones I'm maintaining purely out of habit or history.
What I'd Tell a Photographer Pursuing Every Available Agency Opportunity
If you're currently pursuing every available agency opportunity regardless of fit, I'd genuinely encourage you to build your own deliberate short list, evaluating genuine alignment rather than simply chasing every plausible-seeming lead that happens to cross your path.
That shift toward deliberate targeting will likely feel counterintuitive at first, narrowing your focus when it seems like more opportunities should mean more business, but in my own experience, it's produced considerably stronger, more durable relationships than a broader, less focused approach ever did.
Building this kind of focused strategy has made the agency side of my business considerably more efficient and rewarding, concentrating real effort where it's actually most likely to produce lasting, recurring business value over time.
How I Actually Initiate Contact With an Agency New to My List
Once an agency actually makes it onto my list, I've developed a genuine, deliberate approach to initiating that first contact, avoiding a generic cold pitch in favor of a specific, well-researched outreach that clearly demonstrates I actually understand their client roster and creative sensibility already.
That researched, specific approach has produced considerably better initial response rates than the more generic outreach I relied on earlier in my career, agency contacts can genuinely tell the difference between a mass-sent pitch and one that reflects real, deliberate research into their specific work and clients.
Investing this extra time upfront, before ever sending that first message, has made the entire relationship-building process considerably more efficient in the long run, fewer wasted outreach attempts and a considerably stronger first impression with agencies genuinely worth pursuing.
Why I Limit My List to a Genuinely Manageable Number
I've deliberately capped my short list at a genuinely manageable number, small enough that I can actually maintain meaningful, ongoing engagement with every agency on it rather than letting the list quietly grow until it became just as unfocused as my original scattershot approach.
That deliberate cap has required real discipline, resisting the temptation to add every promising new agency I encounter and instead genuinely evaluating whether adding one would actually dilute the depth of attention I can currently give to the agencies already on my list.
Maintaining this discipline has kept the list genuinely effective over many years, preserving the depth of relationship-building that was the entire original point of moving away from a broader, less focused pursuit strategy in the first place.
How I Track Engagement With Each Agency on My List
Beyond simply maintaining the list itself, I track genuine engagement with each agency, when I last reached out, what projects we've actually worked on together, and any specific notes about their preferences or working style that I've picked up along the way.
That tracking system has kept me from letting a genuinely valuable relationship quietly go dormant simply through inattention, prompting a check-in whenever I notice real engagement with a particular agency has slipped further than I'd actually intended it to.
Building this deliberate tracking habit has made the short list considerably more than a static reference document, it's become an active tool that genuinely shapes how I allocate my limited relationship-building time and attention across the agencies I've deliberately chosen to prioritize.
What Happens When an Agency on My List Goes Quiet
Sometimes an agency on my list goes genuinely quiet, no active projects and limited responsiveness to outreach, and I've had to develop a real approach for handling these situations without either giving up too quickly or pursuing considerably more aggressively than actually feels appropriate.
My approach involves a measured, periodic check-in, genuine interest without pressure, giving the relationship real room to naturally resume when their own internal circumstances allow, rather than treating a quiet period as an immediate signal to remove the agency from my list entirely.
That patience has paid off more than once, several agencies that went quiet for extended stretches eventually resumed active collaboration once their own internal situation shifted, relationships that would have been lost entirely if I'd reacted too hastily to the earlier quiet period.
How This Approach Has Changed the Way I Think About Business Development Time
Before adopting the short list approach, I thought of business development time as a genuinely fixed pool to be spread as broadly as possible across every plausible opportunity, an assumption that, in hindsight, undervalued the compounding returns of deeper, more concentrated relationship investment.
Shifting toward the short list forced me to reconsider that assumption entirely, treating business development time as a genuinely finite resource best invested deeply in a smaller number of well-matched relationships rather than spread thin across a considerably larger, less carefully chosen set of contacts.
That reframing has changed how I evaluate new opportunities more broadly, consistently asking whether pursuing something new would come at the expense of the depth I'm currently able to maintain with the agencies already on my carefully curated list.
Why I Review the Entire List at Least Once a Year
Beyond the ongoing tracking of individual relationships, I conduct a genuine, comprehensive review of the entire list at least once a year, stepping back to evaluate whether the overall composition still reflects where my work and creative direction actually stand at that current point in my career.
That annual review has prompted real changes over the years, adding agencies that have become genuinely better aligned as my portfolio has evolved, and removing others that, upon honest reflection, no longer represent the strongest use of my limited relationship-building time and energy.
Treating this review as a genuine, recurring practice rather than a one-time exercise has kept the short list strategy relevant and effective years after I first adopted it, evolving deliberately alongside the broader trajectory of my career rather than staying frozen in an earlier version of my business.
How I Explain This Strategy to Other Photographers Who Feel It's Too Risky
When I share this short list strategy with other photographers, a common concern is that it feels genuinely risky, narrowing focus onto a small number of agencies rather than maximizing the total number of potential opportunities available across the entire, broader market.
I understand that concern, and I try to address it honestly by pointing out that the actual risk isn't in the narrowing itself, it's in narrowing without genuine care, choosing a short list poorly matched to your actual work would carry real risk, but a well-matched one considerably reduces it.
Framing the strategy this way, emphasizing that it's genuinely about the quality of targeting rather than simply the raw quantity of pursuit, has helped a number of hesitant photographers actually feel comfortable trying a version of this approach in their own developing businesses. Most of them report back within a year or two that the resulting relationships feel considerably more stable and rewarding than the broader, less focused approach they'd been using previously, which tends to further reinforce their own confidence in sticking with the more deliberate, targeted strategy going forward.
What I've Learned From Agencies That Told Me Directly Why They Valued the Relationship
A few agency contacts have told me directly, in genuinely candid, unprompted conversations, exactly what they valued most about our specific working relationship, and their honest answers have consistently reinforced the real value of the depth this short list strategy has actually let me build over the years.
They've mentioned things like genuinely knowing exactly what to expect from working with me, trusting deeply that I understand their specific brand and client needs well, and appreciating that I'm truly invested in their long-term success rather than treating each project as merely an isolated, one-off transaction to be completed and forgotten.
Hearing this feedback directly has genuinely confirmed that the depth enabled by a focused short list is exactly what agencies themselves seem to value most highly, considerably more than simply being one of many interchangeable photographers they occasionally work with on a purely ad hoc, transactional basis. That confirmation has made me even more committed to protecting the depth of these relationships going forward, rather than diluting my attention across a broader roster of contacts purely for the sake of appearing more actively pursued or in demand.
What I'd Say to My Younger Self About Adopting This Strategy Sooner
If I could go back and speak to my younger self, still pursuing every plausible agency opportunity out of a genuine fear of missing out on potential business, I'd say plainly that the actual returns from deep, well-matched relationships considerably outweigh the returns from broad, shallow pursuit.
I'd encourage that earlier version of myself to identify a genuine short list considerably sooner, understanding that the discipline required to narrow focus deliberately would pay off in the depth and durability of the resulting relationships, a return that broad, scattershot pursuit simply couldn't ever match.
That earlier hesitation to narrow focus, in hindsight, cost real time and diluted effort that a considerably earlier adoption of this deliberate strategy would likely have avoided, a lesson I now try to pass along directly to newer photographers navigating this exact same early-career decision. I've watched several of them adopt a version of this approach considerably sooner than I did myself, and the difference in how quickly they've built genuinely durable agency relationships has reinforced just how valuable that earlier discipline can actually be when applied consistently from the very start of a career rather than discovered gradually through years of less focused trial and error.
Reflection Questions
- Are you currently pursuing agency relationships fairly broadly, or with genuine, deliberate targeting based on actual, well-considered fit?
- What genuine, specific criteria would actually determine whether a given agency belongs on your own carefully considered short list?
- How might investing considerably more deeply in a smaller number of agency relationships genuinely change the overall quality of the work you actually end up getting?
- Have you ever genuinely recognized that a particular agency relationship had drifted in fit over time and actually needed to be reconsidered carefully?
If you're currently thinking through your own approach to targeting agency relationships, the Adventure Photographer's Playbook covers how I approach these relationships as part of a complete business strategy.
Dalton Johnson is a professional adventure and editorial photographer with over a decade of experience creating images on all seven continents. His client work includes Patagonia, GoPro, Arc'teryx, Four Seasons, Nike, Rivian, Big Agnes, Ford Bronco, and 160+ other brands. He runs Dalton Johnson Media as a full-service studio, from pre-production through post and distribution.
