Tag Archive for: marketing

The 80/20 Rule: AKA The Pareto Principle

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You may have come to one of my live programs and heard me speak of the 80/20 rule.  I thought this brief explanation might help you continue to shape your 2014 so that you have the BEST take on how to spend your resources (time, energy and money) in support of your dreams and goals.

The 80/20 Rule is one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management. It is also called the “Pareto Principle” after its founder, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Pareto noticed that people in his society seemed to dParetoivide naturally into what he called the “vital few”, the top 20 percent in terms of money and influence, and the “trivial many”, the bottom 80 percent.

He later discovered that in economics, virtually all activity was subject to this principle as well. For example, this principle says that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results, 20 percent of your customers will account for 80 percent of your sales, 20 percent of your products or services will account for 80 percent of your profits, 20 percent of your tasks will account for 80 percent of the value of what you do, and so on. This means that if you have a list of ten items to do, two of those items will turn out to be worth five or ten times or more than the other eight items put together.

Number of Tasks versus Importance of Tasks

Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.

 Often, one item on a list of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together. This task is invariably the one that you should do first.

Focus on Activities – Accomplishments will Come

The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and rewards for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous. For this reason, you must adamantly refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have tasks in the top 20 percent left to be done.

Before you begin work, always ask yourself, “Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?”

The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you will be naturally motivated to continue. A part of your mind loves to be busy working on significant tasks that can really make a difference. Your job is to feed this part of your mind continually.

Getting Motivated

Just thinking about starting and finishing an important task motivates you and helps you to overcome procrastination. Time management is really life management, personal management. It is really taking control of the sequence of events. Time management is having control over what you do next. And you are always free to choose the task that you will do next. Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and work.

Effective, productive actors discipline themselves to start on the most important task that is before them.  As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average actor and are much happier as a result. This should be your way of working as well.

I wish you much success in your journey.  May it be fun, fruitful, and always spent engaging on the things that lead you to your greatest dreams and desires!  Lisa

7 Ways to Make Cover Note Writing More Fun and Easy

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As much as we want the reader of our cover note/letter to “get us” and call us in for an audition or possible representation, for many actors writing the cover note/letter is a chore.  Here’s 7 ways to put some joy into your fingertips.

1. Take a few minutes to write about what’s on your mind first. When you sit down to write, clear away anything that’s floating around in your head by writing about it. Is your acting class a drag, your next door neighbor cute, your mailman creepy, your coffee delicious? Not only does writing about these things help get them out of your head, but you easily and naturally get into the flow of writing.

2. Write from a picture that inspires you. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Take any picture that relates to your goals and dreams and use it as your inspiration. Meryl Streep your favorite actress?  A beautiful house on the beach where you’d like to be?  Someone walking the red carpet? What about the picture of the actual industry professionals are writing to?  Google images is a wonderful resource…find them, then either print them out or have them on your computer screen as you begin your note/letter.

3. Use a writing prompt. In grade school, teachers used written exercises to get students writing. You can easily create a prompt by imagining you’re in the office of the person you are writing to and that they are asking about YOU and what you offer.  Then write your answers as you would speak them out loud. One of my favorites is, “Tell me a little bit about yourself.” You could also respond to the prompt of “Who else in the industry knows your work?” Just respond to the prompt, and see what comes of it. Like using a picture, this technique opens another door in your mind that allows you to think differently, and perhaps see options that weren’t there before to include in your note.

4. Just get it out. Remember that the first draft of anything written is NOT going to be perfect, so have fun with it! There’s no reason to struggle over your exact phrasing or sequence when you’re just going to go back over it and edit anyway. Stop critiquing your work so much, focus on getting the idea out, and play with the words

5. Try emulating an actor you admire. Think about why you like his/her work and then model what they might say in a note.  Does he/she write and speak beautifully?  Does he/she entertain when being interviewed on Letterman? Many actors have authored books and articles and post on the internet and have a great way with words.  By pinpointing the things that you like you are able to bring these elements into your own writing.

6. Write out your plan first. It’s easier to outline what you’re going to write about rather than the actual writing of it.  Are you going to write a quick note with bullet points of recent projects?  Are you introducing yourself with a letter that includes reviews and bio information?  How much is too much and how much is not enough? By planning first, you get more excited about the task, spurring the birth of more ideas. It also helps if you remember WHY you’re writing in the first place.  What’s the ultimate outcome you want to produce?  What exact ACTion on the reader’s part do you want them to take?

7. Reward yourself. This is a huge one! After writing out your plan, decide when and how to reward yourself. For example, after writing 6 cover notes/letters you can go out and get yourself a treat (whatever it is that makes you happy). Not only does this serve as inspiration to get those notes finished, but by rewarding your own successes you are establishing an invaluable system that can only generate more success!

Take these tips and try them out for yourself. See which ones work for you, and toss out the ones that don’t. And remember, when you’re frustrated or things aren’t flowing, let yourself laugh, and breathe.

I’d love to hear from some of you any tip, tricks, or techniques that you use to accomplish the “task” of cover note/letter writing.  Please share them with the rest of our community by posting a comment!  To your success, Lisa

Why Social Media is Nothing Without Creativity

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As an actor (or just a “regular” person), gone are the days when you had 500 friends on Facebook and 75 of them clicked a link you posted or made a comment.  Now, you’d be lucky to get five.  Huuummmm…

The landscape of social media has drastically changed in the past three years.  Actor websites that began as powerful platforms to spread information about your latest acting credit, show, or “what’s happening” in your career has turned into the “norm” and congested with too much information that not everyone is interested in. There’s your family (always interested), real-life friends (sometimes interested), industry professionals you WANT to see what’s going on (maybe interested) and your audience, if you have one yet, (perhaps interested if they know you exist).

And now even social media has transformed from an efficient and inexpensive way to use the power of word of mouth, to a virtual mess of a garage sale.  How to sort through it all and TARGET market?

I still think social media is awesome.  Just take it slow and step by step.  AND FOCUS!

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others are completely free services that you can sign up for and use to create a community of passionate fans and eyes on EXACTLY what you are doing when you’re doing it.  But what people — actors, especially — need to do when using social media is to ACT outside the box, and create content that’s worthy of sharing.

Consider how other “regular” businesses used to their names in front of audiences before the internet, before TV, before radio — it was PURE word-of-mouth interaction, a.k.a. real people talking.

How can you do this too?  Combine your word-of-mouth marketing  with social media. Ever go to a live networking event like “Showbiz Thursdays” (formerly First Thursdays) and then let your social media friends and network know about it?  It’s the ability to let hundreds of people at a one time know what you’re up to.

Have you seen an amazing B’way show lately?  How about the latest big movie that everyone ELSE is talking about?  What did you like about it, or not?  If it’s “trending”, it usually makes it something worth talking about. And getting people talking is of course the name of the game.  Forget about what you ate for breakfast, posting pics of random cute animals and giving your opinion on politics or religion…yeah, two areas that are NOT related directly to the services you provide as an actor. (OK, that’s just MY opinion!)  Really, just STOP that!

Real people talking about you in person AND in the social media universe, getting those “eyes” on you is the intended outcome.  Not THAT’s a marketing strategy.

The unique thing about our community is that we are passionate about the arts, entertainment and about sharing. Creating this kind of presence where people pay attention doesn’t happen over night either.  Building trust and a highly-engaged community can take years.  Remember, slow and steady wins this race.

Sit back for a moment and take a look at your career. How can you create a conversation about what you uniquely offer that blends an offline live experience with an online one?  How can you encourage your community  to spread your message for you and have fun while doing it?  Think about the power of combining word-of-mouth communication and also getting new followers or “likes”.  Think about offering something of yourself that other people will want to participate in again and again.

I wish you all the very best this life has to offer, online and off!  To your success, Lisa

10 Simple Ways to Earn and Save MORE Money

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In case you thought I was going to include winning lottery numbers in this post, I’m not! (aaawwwww!)  The answers I have for you all take work, discipline and good old fashioned ACTion!

I love sharing ways to end the “starving artist” conversation.  So if you want more money, take a good look at these 10 simple (not easy) actions that you can take today that will, in the end, make AND keep money in your pocket.

1. Reduce the number of opportunities you pursue. Focus, focus, focus.  What are your goals? The more opportunities you’ve got, the more likely you are to make mistakes with investing your time (time is money, right?)  If you can’t give ONE opportunity the attention it deserves, you’ll lose money in the end.  This is usually the case pursuing unpaid “opportunities”.

2. Increase the percentage of time you spend marketing yourself.  Let go of the “little” stuff that occupies your mind and efforts.  Reduce the time you spend on paperwork, trade some “craft” time for “marketing” time, and give up other busywork you’re seemingly always involved with. Use the extra time to get yourself in front of as many people possible that can hire you via direct mail, email, social media and in-person networking. Read more

7 Common Actor Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

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What practices are surefire ways to ruin opportunities? Read this so you can avoid them at all costs.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this or some variation of it: “I tried doing X. It doesn’t work.” While it may be true that one approach may not work for a particular person or situation, it’s been my experience that the ACTion is less often to blame than the implementation of it. In fact, many actors make mistake after mistake based on their limited knowledge (hey, they don’t really teach this stuff in acting school) about how marketing really works. Always consider we are in a “supply side” market place…many, many, many more actors than are ever possibly needed at any one time.

Here’s a quick review of 7 of the most common ones and how to avoid making them.

1. Aiming at everyone. No one can be all things to all people; if you try, you’ll end up being nothing to no one.  Actors paint themselves into a corner because of a misplaced fear that by narrowing their focus or targeting less people, instead of carefully selecting who they market to, that they’ll be missing opportunities. But aiming at everyone is an oxymoron; the best “traditional” marketers understand that by narrowing their target audience they can increase the intensity of their brand’s appeal, creating interest more quickly. You’re better off being the first choice of 10 percent of the “other side of the casting table” than being one of 10 options for everyone.

2. Betting on rationality. This mistake is terribly dangerous. Choosing actors to cast in to projects or represent is often a left-brain effort, where rational thinking doesn’t often take place (hey, you’re talented…isn’t that enough? Nope.)  Most folks in this business often choose based on other things like emotion and that influences decisions that sometime baffle us.  Don’t try to figure this one out and don’t try to convince industry why they should work with you; connect with them instead. They’re depending on their gut more than you realize.

3. Advertising your aspirations. We all aspire to make a film that’s No. 1 at the box office, win a Tony, make a great deal of money, and become a household name. I’m not saying not to HAVE the aspirations, but outside of your business planning and support system, advertising your aspirations only invites people to continue to wonder when you will achieve them, making you sometimes doubt yourself.  Very few actors fully achieve any of these, let alone all of them. Aspirations are, by definition, promises that can’t be fully kept. Don’t announce them, just try to live by them—use them within the “mental game” of your business and rally your troops. But outside of your inner circle, don’t put them on external loudspeaker.

4.  Seeking approval by committee. If you can’t agree with your family on what type of pie to serve at Thanksgiving, how can you expect a roomful of “creatives” (cd’s, et al) to agree on something as subjective talent? Everyone’s taste is unique, and the fewer people involved in the creative approval chain, the better. If you try to please everyone, you’ll end up with a gooey mess that nobody wants to eat. The best committee is a committee of one. You!  Make choices, stick to your guns and remember, if you only try to please yourself, at least one person is always happy.

6.  Starving the budget. An anemic marketing budget may save bucks but it will cost you business and gigs in the long run. If you don’t have a healthy cash flow, with a reasonable percentage allocated to marketing, you’re not a real business and will be OUT of business sooner rather than later.  Notice I said a marketing budget, not money for more acting classes.  Yes, you have to invest in keeping the skill set competitive, but if you’re not marketing regularly and have the financial resources to do so on-goingly, you’re SOL (pardon my abbreviation). Find the best way to save and then spend the money. Also, keep in mind that sometimes investing in your own education to learn about how best to market is included in this (hint, hint).

7.  Anticipating industry will act very quickly. When was the last time you leapt out of your seat to do exactly as an ad instructed? Marketing doesn’t work that way, and as consumers we all understand that. Yet when you mail out our headshots, do a show, meet an industry guest at a seminar/class/workshop, we somehow expect to see immediate results. It takes time to seed a message, and credibility grows through consistency. Plan your efforts well, and stick with them. As obvious as it sounds, every time you start over, you’re starting over.  Consistency is KEY.

8.  Chickening out. Plans are terrific, but plans are just words on paper. Even though I’m a GREAT supporter of having a business plan, it’s amazing how much time and money actors spend on getting their acts together.  Often when it comes to “pulling the trigger” on a plan of action, many succumb to stage fright when it’s time for the curtain to rise. It’s easy to come up with reasons NOT to do something, surrendering to fear of the unknown. But just as writers aren’t writers unless they write and actors aren’t actors unless the act, marketers aren’t marketers unless they market. Not everything you do will work, but with each mistake you’ll be learning and growing. The key here is to ACT OUTSIDE THE BOX.

There you go. 7 tips that can save you time, money, and a lot of frustration as you learn from the mistakes of others, including me. Now you’re free to make new mistakes of your own (when you do, I’d love to hear about them).

To Your Success, Lisa Gold

Post Card Set-Up – What you NEED to know that the USPS won’t tell you!

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When I’m asked what I recommend actors use as their best and most effective marketing follow up tool, the postcard is the simple answer. And yet still the majority of actors don’t use them! Why? Did you HEAR they’re not effective, read, or looked at with any real “notice” given? Sure, anything anyone says that takes the WORK out of what you have to do will be easier than doing it, so HEAR this now:

YOU MUST POSTCARD, often, all of your contacts, to create on-going relationships. How often? Read more

Box Office Friday

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The MechanicOK folks, this isn’t the biggest weekend for movies, but hey, The Mechanic is finally here!  I’ve been hearing about this movie and it’s stars for the past few months but wasn’t really EAGERLY awaiting it’s release.  Why not?  I’ll explain.

Its got amazing star power (Jason Statham, Donald Sutherland, Tony Goldwyn), a neat plot line (an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets with detachment gets personal when his close friend is murdered) and has had some wonderful marketing and now is opening with wide distribution.  So how come I’m not going to see it? Read more