One of the biggest things I hear from my career coaching clients is, "I know I should be using social media for my career, but…" And then they sigh, roll their eyes, scrunch up their faces, and make a noise like they would rather eat a worm than learn how to do what they just said they know they should be doing.
I've had side jobs helping businesses connect with their customers through social media. And actors can use those same business strategies to connect with our customers - industry decision-makers. The benefit of social media for actors is that - once you know what you're doing - it allows you to skip the gatekeepers and middlemen (like agents and assistants) and instantly connect with decision-makers in ways you can't anywhere else. To help you get there, I'm now offering Social Media Coaching for actors. Whether you've been hiding in a proverbial technological cave or just need some help tweaking your personal online presence to make it work professionally, I'll teach you how to use social media to advance your acting career - without becoming one of those people who never looks up from their phone.
And because you're a blog reader, you get a big ol' free sample. If you like it, share it on Facebook and Twitter (where else?) and then schedule a session!
Wouldn't it be great if there was a coffee shop where you could 1) bump into hundreds of casting directors, writers, directors, producers, show runners, agents, and managers, 2) magically know all of their names, and 3) walk up to any of them, introduce yourself, and start chatting with zero awkwardness?
Well there is. It's called Twitter.
We're not going to get into basic Twitter how-to stuff here - It's easy to find online and/or we can cover it in coaching - but I promise if you're tech-savvy enough to be reading this blog post, you can handle Twitter. Right now, I want to give you the most bang for your blog-reading buck by focusing on three Twitter business strategies you can steal to boost your career mojo:
- Build a Pro Profile - Your Twitter handle should be as close to your professional name as possible. Your profile picture should look like you. It doesn't have to be a headshot (mine is a Muppet), but it should make it easy to identify you. Similarly, your description should make it clear you're an actor, include a link to your website (or IMDb page, ActorsAccess profile, etc.), and give some sense of your personality, kind of like a mini-pitch.
- Find Your People - Go to your trusty Contacts and Targets lists, then enter a name in Twitter's search bar (or just start Googling.) You'll be amazed at who you find on Twitter, including casting directors, producers, show runners, directors… Lots of shows even have a Twitter account just for their writers' rooms. You can follow them, add them to a list, or both. Next - because great people know great people - look at who they follow, and you'll find a whole new treasure trove of decision-makers. Before you know it, your feed will be filled with the momentary musings of the biggest movers and shakers in the business.
- Engage - The biggest mistake actors make on Twitter is promoting themselves instead of building relationships. If you have something to announce, by all means announce it; but most of your tweets should be about engagement. (In business, it's called the '80/20 rule'; 80% engagement, 20% promotion.) What is engagement? If promotion is like shouting from a rooftop, engagement is like chatting at a cocktail party. On Twitter, engagement means replying to and retweeting people in your feed, participating in events like hashtag chats, and initiating conversations about something other than you. For example, here's a Tweet I sent congratulating a casting director I know on several of his shows being picked up for additional seasons:
Shortly after sending it, I got a notification that he 'favorited' it. So instead of spending time and money on a postcard that would take days to arrive and might never get seen, I spent five seconds and zero money and got instant confirmation that my message was seen and appreciated.
Are you starting to see why social media is worth learning about?
And that it's crazy to miss out on what social media can do for your career because you haven't gotten around to learning how to use it?
And that booking a social media coaching session means you can stop feeling bad about it and start bragging about what a modern, tech-savvy actor you are?
Good!