entertainment industry coach question 602: Do you have any further advice on this topic before i mail them? Should they be personalized?

piecing together my first mass mailing of headshots/bios this weekend, along with brief cover letters. Do you have any further advice on this topic before i mail them? Should they be personalized? Is one envelope better than the other? As far as your mass mailing, I'm not a big believer in them, I prefer targeted work with referrals and research. Since you've already planned your mailing, here's my advice: 1. YES!!! They should absolutely be personalized which means: 2. Know the person's name (and spell it correctly) 3. Know if the person is male or female 4. Know about the company, including their client roster, so you can explain why you're writing to them. 5. Tell a brief something about yourself that brands you the way you want to be marketed, so they will get to know you a bit and want to learn more. 6. Envelopes are really just an obstacle to getting to seeing the picture. They require opening, so don't lick and fasten, that's a pain in the butt (I know from experience working in a casting office) 7. If you are rich, you can buy a colored envelope that goes with your "brand." So if you want to do romantic comedies, perhaps red or pink. If you're branding yourself for horror, black. Your picture should be branding you, so you can always match what you're wearing with the envelope. Do they really care? Maybe on a day they need a smile, or perhaps their unconscious mind will pick up on the difference in color. 8. The most IMPORTANT thing on an envelope is in black marker either "referred by [name]" or "requested." Now don't even think about writing that if it's not true, but if it is, your envelope could be vomit green and it would still get put at the top of the pile. www.theGreenlightCoach.com FIND ME www.twitter.com/GreenlightCoach FOLLOW ME www.TheGreenlightMentorProgram.com JOIN ME For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visitwww.TheGreenlightCoachBlog.com To stay current on The Greenlight Coach's speaking engagements, recommendations, and work success articles, sign up for her free newsletter at the top of the page and get a great bonus 1-hour MP3 on creating powerful business partnerships when you do!

entertainment industry question 524: Would you be open to meeting for a cup of coffee and see if we have any personal or professional synergy?

For all of my loyal readers/ seminar attendees, you know I couldn't resist this one! The romantic comedy writer in me had to post on it, because what if, like in the movies, I met this guy for coffee, we hit it off, and lived happily ever after? Then I'd have a great example for my networking seminar when we get to the "story part" about how a guy asked me out in my blog and the rest is history. I will have to "check him out."

He also asked about cover letters. Well, you want to stand out in your cover letters, which clearly he knows how to do. However let this be a lesson to the rest of you that once it's been done, the originality wears off, so no more suiters asking me out in my blog ;-) The bar has now been raised, you'll have to be creative.

Anyway, enough about my dating life. Let''s discuss cover letters. The best thing your cover letter can have, is a referral in the first line. A referral automatically gets noticed, either by the person to whom it's being sent who knows your mutual acquaintance, or by an assistant who may or may not recognize the name, but who doesn't want to take the chance of not passing it along if the mutual acquaintance is important to his/her boss.

Secondly, as I mentioned above, you want to stand out. Most people write a boiler plate cover letter listing why they are right for the job or why they deserve a meeting. My clients have had exceptional results with instead of listing their outstanding traits, telling a brief, to-the-point story that incorporates their outstanding traits. This is far more interesting to the reader, makes you stand out, and also gives insight to your personality. Again this story should be brief because you want your cover letter to be one page.

Finally, after giving your recipient the information needed to contact you, write that YOU will be following up in a week (or give the date for a week from when you send it) for his/her response (if you're asking for a meeting or mentorship) or to be sure they received your letter/resume/package (if it's for a job).

Keep in mind that I am an entertainment industry coach, so we are a little looser in the Biz. Corporate cover letters may be a little more formal, but that's not my area of expertise, though having worked corporate, I would much prefer a cover letter like the above mentioned to a cold formulaic letter that tells me the same thing about the person writing it as the last ten letters I read.

www.theGreenlightCoach.com FIND ME

www.twitter.com/GreenlightCoach FOLLOW ME

www.TheGreenlightMentorProgram.com JOIN ME

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visitwww.TheGreenlightCoachBlog.com

To stay current on The Greenlight Coach's speaking engagements, recommendations, and work success articles, sign up for her free newsletter at the top of the page and get a great bonus 1-hour MP3 on creating powerful business partnerships when you do!

entertainment industry coach Question 451: Do I have to send a cover letter with a resume?

Unless it's someone who knows you really well and says, "hey, send me over your resume," then YES you must have a cover letter. And more than that, the cover letter should make you stand out from the rest of the pile.

Preferably, you want to have a referral name that will be recognized automatically getting yours pulled from the pile. But if you don't, there is a art to crafting a cover letter that stands out.

Otherwise, you're just one of hundreds of people sending in your cold resume with a standard cover letter. Odds are the amount of time you're putting into sending these is not paying off in the same way that spending less time on focused work would.

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visitwww.TheGreenlightCoachBlog.com

To stay current on The Greenlight Coach's speaking engagements, recommendations, and work success articles, sign up for her free newsletter at the top of the page and get a great bonus 1-hour MP3 on creating powerful business partnerships when you do!

question 202: How important is a cover letter?

A cover letter is extremely important because it's your first introduction to someone. I have a feeling this was asked because I brought it up in question 199, about making your resume stand out. So, to remind you of what I pointed out, a cover letter is best sent with a referral from someone. A name that your recipient recognizes, gets noticed.

A standard cover letter, will not stand out either. The point of a cover letter is to give the recipient some insight about you. Therefore, tell them:

1. Who you are

2. What you want

3. Why your special

4. How to reach you

5. How you plan to follow up

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visit www.thegreenlightcoachblog.com