Even badass professional entertainment peeps dream of doing more sometimes. This blog post is a reminder of micro-triumphs that turn us from future-whatevers to whatevers.
Concept, create, ship : NOW!
When I’m feeling a little draggy or day-dreamy, I try to get something OUT into the world. I don’t go for something completely random, but I go for a very small ( yet complete ) version of the thing I want to do. Come up with it, complete it, and send it to at least one other person.
Whatever the idea, don’t make it great. Make it done in 60 minutes.
Ideas…
fiction author : write a one paragraph story, print 20 copies and post them on lamp posts outside
photographer : snap a pic of something emotionally important with weird lighting and put it on instagram
comedian : tweet a new joke
actor : send a video to a friend of a famous monologue
non-fiction author : find someone on wikipedia and write a one sentence bio of them on fb
video game maker : text a friend the start of a game, their responses let them play the game without you coding. Something like “You wake up in a storage closet at home depot. You have a gun and a cop uniform, but you’re not a cop. Sirens outside and lots of radio chatter. You have to get out of the hardware store and get back home”
painter : smear ketchup on a plate in timelapse and post it on your blog
Even if we only know two press people / bloggers / influencers that like talking about us, it’s time to make a press list. It’ll grow over time, but if we don’t have a garden, we have nowhere to put our bullshit.
It isn’t about having thousands of contacts…
it’s about keeping track of our helpful relationships.
We make a spreadsheet or an air table. Here are the headings…
Real estate name of the periodical or whatever “New York Times”
Website URL for easy ref
Person Name the actual person we talk to. We might have multiple rows for multiple contacts at the same real estate
Job Title It can be helpful to know if someone refers to themself as a journalist, editor, or whatever
Story Type The journalist might write an entertainment column, or might only cover “weird” things or financial things. We don’t want to send press releases to the wrong people.
Email
Phone
Special Submission instructions Some places only want you to submit news items thru their website
Next Follow Up Date Stage/Next Steps doesn’t come in super handy usually, but it can be helpful when in the midst of a big press push
Last Touch Usually not necessary if most stuff is thru email
Last Published a date of last time they told people about us
Published Links it’s easy to forget how many times someone published us and it’s also good to have the links there for easy access for other stuff
Personal Conn. Could be like “I know her thru Jane Cregger”
Notes whatever!
My press list just sits around
Most of the time, my press list gathers dust unless I’m in the middle of some big event or some new offering. I’m not looking at it or editing it. Then, when I have a press release or I just want to jot an email to a person, the list leaps into action.
When a google alert goes off and shows me a new article about my projects, that’s another moment I crack it open.
Send a thank you note to the journalist / influencer
Mark down any notes in the press list
Update info and close it up
It’s really awesome to have even as a dust collector, because I know that I’m not going to sweat it when I want to make an announcement.
We often don’t have enough jelly beans to reach out to the press in an elaborate and complete way. It would be a pity to skip this communication completely. Why? Because often in entertainment, we’re making things for the public good and the press wants to share things for the public good.
Building a press list is something we can do over time really simply. After a little while, we might only have a few press contacts who like getting things from us, but that can be nice if it’s easy to shoot them a scoop.
Just like all other forms of communication (ads, newsletters, websites, etc.); I prefer offering something great. I don’t like selling the offer, i like communicating it clearly.
Make it simple and make it done
This is a simplistic format for a press release… It’s not complete. Some journalists get hundreds of releases per day, so we aren’t going to ask them to read a ton. They can follow up if they need more.
Sometimes longer is better
There are occasions where a journalist will simply copy and paste a press release into a periodical. Having a complete story for them can be helpful in that case, but we can’t please everyone!
The subject line : Simply good
“RELEASE : World’s Smallest Horse Saves Boy”
What is the point? Get there quickly. Start with “RELEASE:” so they’re not guessing.
Greeting : Quick, personal
If you know the reader, that’s great!
“Sandy, Hi! here’s my new passion project. It seemed to me like something Oregonian hikers would want to know. Hope you’re doing great.”
Headline : Maybe repeat the subject line
Simple, meaty description all caps
“NEW WOMEN’S RESTROOM NOW AVAILABLE AT COUNTY TAX OFFICE”
Paragraph 1: WWWWWW
Who, what, when, where, why, whatever, that’s it.
“Trent, OH, Oct 23, 2020 — A bench at Myslegrove Park is being dedicated to four fire-fighters who saved beloved community cat “Snickers”. Angela Tabolt has donated $1200 to honor Mark Rinsly, Barb Conn, Fred Sharp, and Mandy Bar.”
Paragraph 2: Credibility
Here we lay out what proves that this is an important story.
“30 year old Jeff’s Hats has been providing hats to the Tristate area since 1968. It is the hat source of 23 police forces and has made Trenzeville Time Magazine’s “Most hatted town in America.”
It’s a tricky line, but we’re trying to make it factual and not salesy. We don’t say “It’s the best” we say “Ranked #1 by Vogue Magazine”
Paragraph 3: Extra details + quote
“2000 people are expected at the grand picnic celebration. Organizer Alice Jones says, ‘we couldn’t be more proud of what the boys have put together this year, it truly is the realization of a dream!’ Each attendee will get a ketchup filled tote bag.”
This is a chance to add in more info, and a quote is a great way to add some heart without the composer of the press release adding opinion.
Paragraph 4: follow up
“Photos and video are available at {link} contact Tina directly for interviews and more information tina@tina.com 555-555-5555 . Customers can purchase a memorial donut from 7pm to 8pm at 1122 Smith Street. All proceeds go to charity”
We’re writing to people
Press releases are sent to people who have a job to do. They have to quickly evaluate and distribute info to folks. Those folks are depending on them. We can respect what they’re doing, respect who they are, talk to them personally, and help them do their job.
I had never seen this coffee maker before. When I opened the top, I knew that it was not programmed and ready to go for the morning. How did I know? I didn’t need to decode the buttons and lights on the front. There was a wet filter with used grounds inside.
I walked down the hall in a hotel. I passed by several doors and I knew they weren’t for me. They were unmarked, not especially wide, and painted differently.
A man sat next to me on a plane with big headphones, sunglasses, and a hood. I didn’t talk to him.
These clues were invisible to me. I didn’t look at each thing and figure out what they meant. I didn’t notice them at all because they were off limits. It was incredibly obvious by its nature.
Tap into-ition
I love simplistic video games like Journey or The Unfinished Swan because they tell us what to do, not with intrusive direction, but with our own learned impulses. I am blown away by authors who create new words that we just understand immediately. I’m fascinated by performers who don’t seem to do much, but get huge responses from audiences.
The hard way
Our first impulse with getting action from our audience is direct direction. We put a “push” sign on a door instead of removing the handle from it. I love making signs, but they don’t really work for a lot of stuff because they take time to read, they’re demanding, and they’re unnatural. I love telling people what I want, but it can be confrontational, confusing, and boring!
I was told to make the logistics entertaining
When I got into show business, I was told to make things (like asking the sound tech to turn down my mic) part of the show. Make a joke for it. But what if I gave them an invisible signal? If I knew my microphone was going to feedback when I walked in front of the speaker (and it wouldn’t be too loud) I could just walk in front of the speaker a little bit and see if the sound tech notices. I ignore it and let them do their job.
What if a magician, instead of saying “for my next trick, I need a volunteer from the crowd. Please raise your hand and I will choose someone at random.” Instead walked out into the crowd while setting up the trick, reached out her hand to a person in the audience and guided them up to stage without talking about it. She points at the audience member once on stage and the audience cheers for them “Thank you for joining me”
How can we cut the corners and give invisible guidance?
Scot Nery’s Boobietrap was going really well, the bar was making money, the buzz before and after were great, but we didn’t know what happened before the doors. We set up a goPro at the box-office and recorded a night of people walking in. It was amazing to watch. Our box-office people are great! They’re so kind, and fun, and interesting, and communicative. They get the welcoming vibe that we want to project perfectly. They are the beginning of the experience.
One of the fantastic discoveries of watching the video was that, even though everyone got in fine, there was no clear first location for a ticket holder. When you walked up to the door, there was a table and a bouncer and two ticket people. So, folks would wander up, slow down and someone would call them over, or they would just float in the vicinity. That’s not fun.
Since I believe entertainment is about leadership, we had the opportunity to start leading as soon as people saw the door. We put up signage and ropes and stuff to show people what to do. Ticket buyers didn’t have to think so much or feel they were doing it wrong. We tried setting up areas for people who were waiting for friends.
Now that we’ve been away from the show for a little bit, I’ve been thinking about other ways to make the entertainment bleed out further in all directions.
Can we make that entrance more of an adventure with clear paths? Could we make it a puzzle that’s fun? How much more entertaining could we make our ticket buying process online? What fun emails could we send to ticket buyers before the show to get them salivating or excited or curious? What fun emails could we send them after to help them enjoy and appreciate the show even more? What content could we continue to create that expands on the core value of the show experience? What could we do during the show that’s interactive in a different way or connected to something that engages the mind ( a narrative, a game, an activity ).
Here’s a purchase confirmation email that delighted CD Baby customers…
Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.
A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.
Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.
We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved “Bon Voyage!” to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Friday, June 6th.
I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as “Customer of the Year.” We’re all exhausted but can’t wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!
I like entertainment to be messy. Everyone does. Not just because flaws are loveable, it’s more than that.
When something surprising emerges from the natural world, we experience magic. Nature is messy and basic. When a creator makes something sterile, they are hiding the nature of it. When the nature is hidden, the contrast is lost. When the contrast is lost, the magic is lost.
Here’s a video of a mentor Frank Olivier being messy. Looks like he was not prepared to perform a juggling show.
Here’s video (start at 4 minutes) of Mark Collier with his clumsy handling of rope magic. It looks like he doesn’t know what his hands are doing.
This is Marawa being messy. She seems to be forcing her act to work through pure aggression.
The Jovers are a just a clusterfun of awesome
Chris Fairbanks talks for a living, but doesn’t know how…
The elegance of these people is that they have pushed beyond elegance. It’s not natural to be this comfortable, but it celebrates nature and the potential of humanity.
I didn’t prioritize being popular in school. I drew pictures, was a jackass, and programmed computers. I’m glad I did all that stuff, but it might have been strategic to work on popularity a little more.
Popular kids…
Got better grades
Got away with more things
Got cooler jobs (at least at first)
That isn’t the real world…
… I thought. I thought that popularity didn’t matter in the real world. What mattered was putting your nose to the grindstone — working hard, and developing real skills and knowledge.
I was wrong. A little bit. Popularity is a way to get things, and that game hasn’t changed since prom.
It’s not everything
I think quality in entertainment still matters the most. The biggest weakness I see in passionate entertainers is their lack of popularity. If we look at it as a tool instead of a goal we gain power, perspective, and leverage.
If we’re measuring success by popularity, we will never be satisfied. We’re investment bankers who never have enough money. Instead, we can look at how our money helps us invest more.
Popularity positioned correctly is a signal
A sold out show, a best seller book, an art opening with a line outside, a video with lots of views.
If I’m in the audience of something popular, it’s easier to enjoy, it’s easier to share, it’s got a certain guarantee until I have other proof.
It’s dangerous for a builder of entertainment to get hung up on a dream. It’s even more dangerous to get hung up on a singular project as a vehicle to that dream.
I see a lot of people thinking they need to make a perfect video to promote their upcoming youtube channel, then everything will fall into place. I hear people say they need to make a great album and that will be the thing.
This is the dreamer’s timeline.
We’re dreaming and waiting for the single project to save us, to be our destination.
It’s unlikely to work out.
There’s a lot to do. Making a great whatever is hard and…
we won’t know it’s great until people receive it
sometimes we don’t know what we’re working on as it’s developing
holding on to an idea can drag us into endless work for a bad goal
our success often comes from surprising directions
the project can seem big and drag on
our perfectionism can prevent us from shipping
we can burn ourselves out making the thing and not have energy for the other parts of it like distributing, promoting, packaging
I’ve gone thru so many ups and downs in my career by getting excited about something, killing myself working on it, then not getting the dream success. This non-vulnerable approach also prevented me from noticing the success that was there, but unplanned.
Zoltar’s Timeline is way more fun
A fortune teller knows we have success heading our way. He doesn’t tell us what success it is. There are many steps on our timeline, but he doesn’t reveal how many or what they are. While this feels maybe less exciting, it’s also less of everything bad in making entertainment.
Keep the hope alive
By trusting Zoltar, we know that we don’t have to see the success on the horizon. We don’t have to track it or perfect ourselves toward it. We just have to do the next step. We can’t see the hour-hand move.
Move fast, do a lot
We gotta get that great work done now, because there are gonna be a lot more steps. This helps me a lot because my impatience attracts me to the dreamer’s timeline. I want to get to the finish line. With the dreamer’s timeline, the finish line only comes from doing perfect work. On Zoltar’s timeline; the finish line comes when we produce, ship, and persist. Success comes no matter what. It’s right there in the crystal ball.
Our job is to trust Zoltar and make lot’s of great things because there’s more to do than we can ever see. The success is most likely more rewarding than we can plan.
If we lower our rate in front of the client (eg: “I can give you a lower price if you’re in a sticky situation”) we are saying “this is not what my service is worth and I might be worth even less”
The response to “Can you do it for less?” Is “I can do less.”
Yesterday I wrote about determining the value we offer. That’s the most helpful approach to giving a discount. We figure out what value we offer, then set a price based on that value.
If we set a price, then offer a discount, we’re negotiating against ourselves.
We’re not just lowering the perceived value, but the actual value.
Everything’s value is based on an agreement, not on omnipresent rules of the universe. When our prices are set in stone, it gives consumers or clients a chance to understand and appreciate our value. It gives them the comfort of our leadership. It gives them an understanding that nothing is owed. When we feel like we maybe didn’t get the best price, we question the value of the thing we bought endlessly and our experience is diminished. When we know we’re in an expensive car, it feels expensive, it’s rewarding just in the expensivicity of it.
It seems like a gift to give someone a discount, but it’s usually the opposite.
I’ve seen entertainment providers mess this up a lot
State their price, but say they’re willing to do it for less.
Offer a discount code for ticket sales on the front page of their websites.
Put discounts on fliers just because they think it will help get more sales.
Put tickets on groupon.
Offer discounts to compete with services of other companies.
Good discounts Exist
If our margins are so fat that we can give a discount and still make a solid profit on a discounted sale, it may be an opportunity to lower our prices anyhow…
Here are some examples of helpful discounts…
When a potential consumer will save us money on fixed costs. (eg: block bookings, buying in bulk)
When connecting with a group will save us on advertising. Groupon cuts our revenue down to 25%, and the Grouponers are usually sucky customers that won’t come back for full price, but other groups that request a small discount for access to their tribe can be great.
When we change the value of our offering to make it simpler (eg: beta testing, removing commitment / guarantees, lessening work)
When we get something besides money from the client or the situation (eg: we are given a sponsorship package, we are promoted by the client, we get perks that save us money)
Lose customers by avoiding discounts
We lose customers by offering discounts and by not offering discounts. Nothing is for everyone. We gotta pick our strategy carefully. If we want people to appreciate what we do as much as we do, discounts are not the way.
If we want to tread water and struggle in the fog of our value, arbitrary discounts are the way to total success!
I’m writing today about pricing gigs. A client asks our price and we tell them a number. It sucks. The problem starts before this point. I mean problemZZZZ
We are offering a partial solution
We don’t know what we’re offering
We don’t know what the prospect needs
We don’t consider what more can be offered
We don’t position ourselves as experts / guides
We rush to offer a number
When I start talking to performers about this stuff, their eyes often glaze over initially. “I just want to ask for more money.” Well…
This is how to ask for a lot more money.
This is also how to avoid bad negotiations.
The ultimate pricing situation is value-based.
We’ll want to have a conversation with the client and understand what they need and what value we can provide. If I’m doing the same 45 minute puppet show for kids, my prices don’t change randomly. My prices change if it’s not the same…and usually, it’s not the same.
If we can provide less value than we did before, and we can operate on lower fees, we offer a lower price.
Most likely, we were undercharging before, so truly evaluating what we offer that’s special and powerful and valuable to a client can help communicate why we’re bombass.
Understanding value is a muscle built over time.
This isn’t about being sassy and saying “I’m worth it!”, this is about actually understanding what our service is worth and communicating it clearly. When we do this, the burden of “sales” is off our shoulders. Each time we focus on the value we can provide, we get better at noticing more value.
Have a discovery call with the client, find out their whole situation, then offer them a solution with a price. We don’t have to do it all in one call.
I’m non-adversarial with clients
If we’re working collaboratively with a client, we don’t charge a person in a mansion more than a person in a trailer park because they can afford more.
I repeat-
We don’t charge a person in a mansion more than a person in a trailer park because they can afford more.
We probably still charge the mansion dweller more, but it’s for a different reason. That reason: we offer them more value.
I would need to talk to the trailer park person first, but I’m assuming that most likely money is worth more to them than:
Their reputation
Getting a top-level performer
Protecting their carpets
Punctuality
and a million other things…
So, we don’t need to offer them protection for all that stuff.
A more affluent person may value this stuff and if we can offer it to them, we’re offering them more. More is worth more.
Here’s the car wreck
Someone calls me up and says “Can you come sweep up a mess at the corner of Broadway and Oak?” “Yes” “How much is it?” “40 bucks” “OK!”
I’m screwing myself and them. What if it’s a five car pile up?
I’m going to need to get a tow truck to come and move cars. I’m over budget already. It’s gonna take me a long time.
What if I know CPR and the caller’s friend is about to die at the scene? If I ask a few questions, I might find out that I need to rush down there and help in a real way.
What if I know that leaving toxic waste at the scene will result in a $1000 fine and the caller doesn’t know that? If I ask questions and find out that there’s a waste spill, I could add on toxic waste cleanup and make and extra $500 maybe.
According to Ryan on The Office, selling to a new customer is 5x more expensive than a repeat customer. It might even be more expensive than that. It takes a lot of work to sell a ticket to a stranger, or get someone who’s never heard of us to buy our book. Even if our advertising costs us time instead of money, we have costs.
Being good isn’t the only way
Being the best option is a great way to get repeat business, and from an economist perspective, there’s a simple reason.
Consumers make a choice about their costs. This is just an example, please do not trust me as a source for mustard sale news.
I really like Jimmy’s Mustard, but Tommy’s Mustard is on sale for 50% less. I’ve never tried Tommy’s. The way I’ll instantly calculate cost in my head will be something like…
The cost of Jimmy’s is $8
The cost of Tommy’s is $4 + risk of not liking it + the energy of deciding + not knowing what the brand represents
Then, I decide which mustard costs more. If getting a guaranteed flavor blast is worth more to me than $4, I’ll go with Jimmy’s every time. Easy decision.
Amplify the cost of leaving
If I was disappointed with my cell phone company, it would take a lot for me to switch. The last time I got an upgrade, it took 3 hours. I do not want to deal with that at all. It was annoying, I had to negotiate, it was tiring and it took up my day. I know that every phone company is going to be difficult and I don’t know how difficult it will be to switch my service. So, here we have LOCK IN. I am not stuck with my phone service no matter what. Even with a contract, I can pay my way out of it. It is just way more costly for me to leave than to stay.
Here are some ways to lock in an audience
Be the best. Then, every other choice is a demotion
Build a relationship. Then, to get the same quality experience from other entertainment, our audience will need to build a relationship with them.
Connect to a community. If we monopolize a community, then community members need to reject the community to reject us.
Make apparent the cost of leaving. When consumers make these cost analyses, they do so quickly and emotionally from the top of mind. If we can keep our value and cost of leaving on top of their mind, we can make the decision easier for them.
When our egos butt up against conflicting ideas, we are delighted. When we are reminded of our loss of control, we get the goodness of life. This is the only time we get it. When a cat does something to surprise us, when a movie teaches us something new, or when a friend roasts us, we are opened up to reality and we are given the opportunity for joy.
Entertainment creators who are trying to make people feel comfortable are missing the point. It’s not comfortable to have a friend (or a cat) or to watch a good movie.
There’s this phrase that so many people use. “Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.” It might be relaxing, but enjoyment is active.
If a play is relaxing, I will be going to sleep. I guarantee it.
I would rather people say “Sit up and pay attention, because tonight your life will change for the better!”