It's becoming a recurring mistake on message boards, in e-mail invitations, at our Meetups, and during our seminars.
Performers are working... but they are afraid to tell anyone about it or they are incredibly timid in their approach.
| Wait? - What? - Performers Afraid? - Timid? |
Yup!
We read this recently on a message board:
"Hate to do this
(shameless self-promotion lol)
but I'm doing another play
in North Hollywood..."
We got this once in an e-mail:
"Hey guys, I'm performing at Caroline's next Saturday
and I know it's summer
and you'll probably
be at The Hamptons...
again I hate to bother you...
so if you can't come on Saturday, 'maybe' you can make another show."
At our recent Meetup:
"Um, I don't know if any of you would
want to come so I didn't bring the flyers,
but my short is going to be at the
LA Shorts Festival the end of the month..."
And this happened during one of our seminars:
"Well I heard you are bugging people
(agents, casting directors, producers, directors, etc.)
if you send them a postcard or e-mail about your show..."
Truth is when you book a gig,
it's your job to promote it!
| Be Your Own Best Publicist! |
No one will know who you are or what you have going on if you don’t speak up! NEVER apologize for it! Does Jennifer Lawrence apologize to Jimmy Fallon when she is plugging her new film? Heck no!
How you promote yourself through the project you are plugging is not only an opportunity to brand your face and name, but also a chance for influencers on your career path to catch wind of your success! By the way, we highly recommend you use MailerLite to promote yourself and your projects (check out these examples from comedian Kristina Hughes, singer-songwriter Nikki Nik and comedian BriGuy).
To get people interested in your initial contact about a project (i.e.- a lead role in an indie feature, a stand-up comedy gig, supporting role in a play, etc.) you should ALWAYS BE UPBEAT AND POSITIVE! ALWAYS!
Don’t apologize and say things like:
“It was a lot of work…”
“I hope it’s going to look ok….”
“I had some great acting moments, but I’m just not sure…”
“The director didn’t really do ‘this’ or ‘do that’…"
Write out what information you are going to include in these e-mails, on your postcards, and any online postings that you are doing. Do yourself a favor and read the content out loud. Is it brief? To the point? Upbeat? Great! If not… then rework it.
If your promotion, be it in an e-mail newsletter, postcard, in-person invite, message board posting, or flyer is passé / negative do you really think that’s going to get Industry professionals, family, friends and fans to support your work?
Probably not.
| What To Say... |
Let's say your name is "Jane Actor" and you just finished filming an Independent film. You might start with something basic that might read like this:
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| In Closing... |
Do you feel good? We hope you feel great… because you are doing your job and you’ve stopped apologizing.
Stay tuned for more PR tips!