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How To Guides

Market Your Act

by John Byrne
July 2005

John Byrne is a showbusiness life coach, the author of several best-selling career guides for performers and writers and a regular broadcaster on TV and radio.

Why you need to market yourself

From Elvis singing to his mom in a make-your-own-record booth, to Ella Fitzgerald entering a talent contest only because her friend had got cold feet at the last minute, the stories of how star names of the past were discovered are legend. Unfortunately in today's marketing-led industry, if you are waiting to be 'discovered' you may be waiting a very long time. Whether you are a solo singer or a band, an actor or a speciality act, these days onus is on YOU to let the world know you are ready willing and able to take your place centre stage.

After all, if you are not prepared to invest in promoting your product, how are you going to persuade anyone else to follow suit?

Fortunately your initial investment in marketing doesn't have to involve a record industry sized budget. With a little financial outlay and a lot of time, creativity and common sense it shouldn't be too difficult to stand out from the crowd.

Here are the elements you need for a basic marketing campaign.

Market Research

Yes, I know you have the ability to entertain anybody in the world - but on a limited budget, 'anybody' is a pretty difficult goal to focus on. So try to identify your target audience:

• What age group are they?
• Where do they go to be entertained?
• Which singers/acts/shows are they already spending money on?

The more you know about the market the more you'll be able to produce an act and marketing materials that hit the mark... and remember, in most cases it's your marketing materials that have to hit the mark before anyone will pay to see you or let you on stage in the first place.

Your Target Market

Once you've done your research you should know who your target market is in general. Your next task - and one that will be ongoing throughout your career - is to make that market specific by compiling extensive mailing lists of potential customers (a fanbase) and also of the people who can bring you to the attention of those customers (journalists, club owners, A&R people etc)
Every time you are gigging, make sure your list knows about it - and make sure you come away from every gig with new names for your list. REMEMBER to get people to sign up for your list (you may want to offer them something like a newsletter, photos or a free track in return). Bombarding people who haven't signed up with promos is spamming and will lose you more fans then you gain.

Promotional Package

Your promotional pack will be most people's first contact with you, so aim for something simple, inexpensive (you'll need lots of them) but not cheap looking. Put some time into compiling a good basic pack and you can mix and match it depending on who you are sending it to.

The Basic elements will probably include:

• A good introductory letter: Okay, you're in showbiz not applying for a bank loan-but your basic letter should be professional, punchy and to the point. Check out our How To section on CV writing for further tips.
• Photo - Whatever else you have in your pack, have one good professionally taken shot portraying the image you want to put across. Please, no 'wedding album/passport' shots - they instantly mark you out as an also-ran.
• Bio - Take a look at the websites or potted bios of some of your favourite performers and try to come up with some promo copy in a similar style. At the beginning of your career you may not have much experience to talk about, but point up your strengths and what makes you special. It's showbiz, so by all means build yourself up... but avoid direct lying. You have to deliver on your promises and lies will always come back to haunt you.
• Demo Discs and Video - Less essential for actors, important for singers and musicians and vital for presenters - but less is more when you are including audio or video in your pack.
  A brief two to three minute reel of highlights, or a small number of your top tracks has far more chance of being looked at or listened to then a half hour of padding. Again, better one quality minute then any amount of muddy recording or visuals.
• Reviews - Include any good reviews you have had in the press or on the air. Yes of course you'll only quote the best bits of the dodgier ones - everyone does, but if you get a really good review including the original text looks a lot more credible. (You should be on the look-out for opportunities to make contacts with the press - especially your local press, to make sure you get those reviews. Don't expect the venue to do your publicity for you).
  If you can get any famous person to say something nice about you, include that in your press pack too. It makes a difference - they don't even have to be in the same line of performance.
  Increasingly promo packs are being sent by electronic means as well as by 'snail mail' - remember to ensure anything you email is virus free and let the recipient know it is upfront. Many professionals won't accept attachments without prior notice, so the old fashioned skills of letter writing still come into their own.

Website

By all means design a spiffy website (or get someone to do it for you) but remember the world's best website is no good if you don't get people to come and look at it.

Paid Advertising/Agents

Using your head should get you enough free publicity to get you started - if you intend to pay for advertising make sure it's a publication or directory with a proven record. The Stage's history speaks for itself, Showcall is one of the first places bookers look for light entertainers, music and variety acts and as an actor you really should be in The Spotlight or you haven't got all the bases covered.

If you're looking for an agent to get you work, remember two things - there are good ones (the majority) and terrible ones (a minority - but, sadly, the ones beginners are more likely to fall prey to). Your main defense against the latter is to be very clear on what you expect an agent to do for you, and to get agreements in writing on any promises made to you and commitments expected from you before you sign to anyone.

Even with a great agent you should be doing your own marketing also - you are the best promotion for your own work.

Make Alliances

If you are working on developing a unique style you have no need to fear others in the same market - in fact, if you come across equally committed and honest acts, there's no reason why you can't cross promote each other - for instance the crowd at a country gig may be up for a rock and roll gig the following week, and vice versa so you can agree to swap fliers and website links.

Keep at it

There are two stages in a performer's career and most careers flip back and forth between the two. Either you are working or you are looking for work - if you focus on your marketing when you are 'resting' it helps avoid the blues and if you realise that while you are working, you are in effect marketing yourself for your next job, it will remind you to jot down any contacts you make to add to your mailing list.

Marketing like performing is an ongoing process of trial and error and the only way you benefit from those trials and errors is to invest what you learn back into your next promotional campaign.

Here are some resources which may be helpful in helping you market yourself.

Mailing lists - There are a number of free online services which let you email subscribed list members. Try services like msn Groups, Yahoo Groups and Google Groups.

Blogs - Blogs, or weblogs (online diaries/journals) are free and easy to set up and very good for building communities, contacts and announcing where people can see you and your work, if used correctly. A blog can be people's first point of contact for you and many performers and entertainers use them to build a fanbase, announce tour dates and sometimes even try out new ideas or material.

Try Blogger for easy to use and immediate blogging. List your blog in free online blog directories to increase traffic to your site and get more readers - and therefore more people to your show.

Here are some good tips for bloggers:

Promoting Your Blog

Blog tips

How to get your blog discovered

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Also check out the chapters on agents in our EXTRActs section:

An Actor's Guide to Getting Work

The Actors' Yearbook

And visit John's showbusiness advice column online for more tips:

Dear John