Put An End To The Entertainment Dream
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 […]
Simple Press List
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 […]
Simple Press Release
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 […]
Invisible Leadership in Entertainment
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 […]
Get Detailed in Entertainment UX
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 […]
Messier, Please
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 […]
Entertainment Popularity as a Tool
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 […]
Zoltar’s Timeline
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 […]
Discounts Hurt Entertainment
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 […]
Entertainers are bringing brooms to car wrecks
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 […]
Lock In
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 […]
Don’t “Sit Back, Relax and Enjoy The Show”
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, […]