For some actors that have been in the business for several years, and have started to find various connections to representation and casting directors, it sometimes slowly pulls you away from the traditional methods of marketing yourself. Yes, those connections are like gold, and need to be maintained and developed – but not at the sacrifice of the core marketing efforts.
My point is this; ever wonder why it sometimes seems like someone relatively new (less than 18 months) seems to have a lot of opportunity coming their direction? Consider that it might be because they are creating a marketing avalanche because they don’t have any connections to develop. So every day, they are sending out headshots and babysitting casting websites to find opportunities.
Also, consider that the resume of someone new is pretty blank. Why could that possibly be a good thing? If they are sending a professional headshot but an empty resume, a casting director may open it and wonder if they have just found someone who is going to skyrocket through the industry – no one has seen them yet, so this might be an undiscovered talent.
While it is counter-intuitive, believe-it-or-not I have actually REMOVED some great credits from my own resume and secured auditions with LESS! Even better, when I auditioned, the casting directors were prepared for someone who may be slightly less-than-a-pro at auditioning since I barely left anything on my resume. Since I had years of experience, I was able to deliver a professional audition way above their expectations because my resume was ‘tweaked’. Crazy, huh? I know, what a business!
Regardless of your marketing strategies, create a marketing avalanche! What is it? It is an overwhelming effort made daily, weekly, and monthly to make sure that that you are getting your materials into someone’s hands.
I recommend sending out 2-3 headshots DAILY. Yes, daily. Why? Because then you know that every single day you are landing on someone’s desk. That means that someone has to make a decision about you, good or bad, and either throw away your materials (par for the course) or keep it because you hit them at the right moment.
Make sure you are hitting someone’s desk every day, and with a marketing avalanche like that, you can be certain that even if your phone isn’t ringing, it isn’t for a lack of effort.
May your phone ring till it breaks.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jason C Small
Business Development Manager
Actor Artist Design, a division of Great Young Minds, LLC
*Jason has worked as an actor in New York City for seven years appearing on All My Children, As The World Turns (3 years as “Lou”), Guiding Light, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Good Morning America, at Radio City Music Hall, in the New York Fringe Festival, and in many more productions. He has more than 15 independent films to his credit, and has managed an acting studio for a celebrity in NYC, and served as Marketing Director for one of the top casting websites in the New York market. Jason owns and operates Great Young Minds, LLC, a graphic and web design company servicing the entertainment industry, with offices in New York City.
