Answering YOUR Questions: Why I Do This!

I answer questions from The Actors' Connective Toronto about how I became an actor marketing whiz! :)

What questions do YOU have about marketing or your career in general? Let me know, and I'll gladly answer them for you! :)

Ahoy, Mateys!
Jen 

But How Do You Know Ships WORK, Jen?

An EXCELLENT  question!

Rarely are we given the opportunity to measure just one factor of our marketing and its impact on our success--usually, we just see the sum of all parts, and hopefully all those parts are moving us along nicely.

For instance: Here in New York, I'm a working, represented actor. My manager submits me on breakdowns, I have auditions with casting directors, I meet them at workshops, AND I mail to them. Their familiarity with me (and my success with them) is a lovely stew of all those crucial ingredients. 

However, one region that can be used as a 'control' (I'm gonna geek out a bit, here) is Los Angeles.

1.) I have never been to Los Angeles.
2.) My manager is not bicoastal, and does not have the ability to submit to LA breakdowns.
3.) LA Casting Directors have never met me before.
4.) However, I DO mail to a select group of LA CDs. Consistently.

So, how do I know that ships alone can work? Because, dear friends, I have been called in by *2* LA offices for projects for which I couldn't have been submitted; they contacted my manager directly asking for me to come in.

There is only one explanation--from getting my consistent, on-brand, authentic ships, these offices now KNOW me and my type. So much so that *I* popped up in *THEIR* heads as they were poring over their breakdowns, and they Googled me and contacted my rep!

So, guys, your mailings are important. Probably a bigger piece of the puzzle than you'd thought, huh? ;) Throw away your self-sabotaging thoughts of 'oh, these never get opened anyway, who will read them?' Because SOMEONE is. Promise. :) 

Ahoy Mateys!
Jen 

Why are they Called 'Ships'?

Here's the scoop directly from career guru Dallas Travers herself (and it's originally by Chellie Campbell): 

'In the nineteenth century, the merchants in London built grand, tall-masted sailing ships. It would take many months, sometimes years, to build them. Then they would hire a crew, outfit the ship, and store provisions for the long sea voyage. One fine day, the ship would weigh anchor, hoist its sails, and sail out of London harbor, on its way to visit foreign ports, and trade for gold, spices, silks and jewels. The trip would take many months--often years--with no communication lines open to speak with people back home.

Once the ship had sailed, the merchant could do nothing more; only wait for that future day when the ship would return, sailing into London harbor laden with treasure. On that day, the merchant's fortune was made. And that's where the expression, "Waiting for my ship to come in," comes from.

Some people are going down to the dock, waiting for their ship to come in but they haven't sent any out! If you want the fortune, your responsibility each day is to send out some ships. And you had better send out more than one, because stuff happens to ships. One runs aground just outside of the harbor while another sinks in a hurricane. Pirates commandeer a few, the whirlpool gets one, and on the next one, there's a mutiny. Then, of course, there's the one that hits the iceberg.

Once you send the ship out, it's out of your control. You are only in charge of sending it out, not when it comes in.

When you get into the habit of sending ships out on a daily basis, even if you know some ships aren't going to make it back home, you are still confident and optimistic because you know you've got a whole fleet sailing out there.

Send those ships out everyday. Then prepare to unload your treasures.'

Ahoy Mateys!

Jen