entertainment industry coach Question 499: How do I get my dog involved in entertainment?

Well, first you have to decide what area of entertainment your dog is interested in. Most likely his/her first choice will be craft services, but the studios may have a problem with your dog eating on the job. Dogs are supposedly color blind so cinematography is out. Very few dogs have the attention span to edit, though yours may be the exception.

Okay, seriously? Your dog has to be extremely well trained and like babies and toddlers, have an agent. Google pet agencies.

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entertainment industry coach Question 498: How would I research new ways to reach out to my contacts?

This question came from yesterday's blog entry, where I wrote that you should research more tools and methods for reaching out to your contacts. I'm assuming that "anonymous" reaches out the same way that 90% of our industry reaches out: "I'm available (AKA just checking in) calls." Another more passive variation is the "I'm available (AKA just checking in) emails." If you've ever worked on a show/film/commercial before, you'll understand what I'm about to say. If not, listen up. Working people don't have time to get back to people who are just "checking in" and certainly don't want to get back to you if they know you're available and have nothing to offer.

Hence today's question. I reach out to my contacts in a number of ways:

1. My daily blog (to which some have subscribed)

2. A bi-monthly complimentary Ezine, which supplies a great how-to article, recommendations, and a little something about what I'm up to. (Feel free to subscribe above, if you're missing out on it)

3. Social media

4. Being a connector for them

5. Passing along valuable information such as networking opportunities or free movie screenings

The bottom line is, to stay in constant contact with your "list," you have to provide value to them so that they want to constantly hear from you.

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entertainment industry coach Question 497: What does it mean to "build my list"?

This is a marketing term that some entertainment professionals are getting savvy to. If you are familiar with my tools, I have something I refer to as a contact list. This is a list of all of your contacts. I go into more details on it in seminars and such, but what's important for you to know now, is that "building a list" is the same as building your contacts. The only difference in the marketing world is that people are using different tools and methods to stay in contact with their list. If you are someone who has trouble managing your contacts (staying in touch, following up, coming up with reasons to contact them), finding new tools and methods to reach out to your list is definitely something to research.

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entertainment industry coach Question 496: My wife is upset that I travel so much but nothing's being shot here. What do I tell her?

I don't know you or your wife and I'm not a family therapist so I can't tell you what to say. What I can do is give you a couple of talking points and you can see if any of them feel applicable to your situation:

1. People in our industry love what they do and because of tax incentives in other states (or cheaper costs if shooting in another country) are being forced to take work anywhere they can. They don't want to be away from the people they love. It's not even a matter of priority. They're not picking "work over family," they are simply trying to maintain their career longevity by continuing to work, make money to support their families, and keep doing what they love.

2. This is your passion. Talk to the people in your life about living your passion and wanting their support. Find out what their needs are and see how you can make the most of the times when you are home. Use Skype to "see" each other everyday. Go the extra mile (even when you're exhausted) to make the people in your life feel cherished while you're away.

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entertainment industry coach Question 495: How do I know if the emails I'm sending sound too "needy?"

I have no way of knowing that, without seeing what you're writing, knowing to whom you're writing, knowing your relationship to the people to whom you're writing, and understanding your objective.

Did you realize ALL of that goes into an email? Because I only critique emails for my clients, here are a few things you can get feedback on from a partner before sending out an email.

1. Are you asking for something the person can say yes to?

2. Are you asking for work? If so does the person to whom you're asking "know you, like you, and trust you?"

3. Is your language confident, concise, and clear?

4. Does the person giving you feedback think it reads "needy" and if so, why and what changes do they suggest you make?

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entertainment industry coach Question 494:Kathy Griffin had a career before she got her reality show. How would an unknown do it?

This question was stemmed from yesterday's blog about how well Kathy Griffin has branded herself.

Personal branding in our industry is different for all classifications, yet has similarities. The person who asked this is an actress, so I'm going to address actors since they have a very specific and public way to brand themselves.

Use Kathy as a model. If you watch her show, she has branded herself, her friends, and her mother, each in a specific way, the same way characters are created in scripted television. The best way to follow Kathy's lead is to determine where you fit in casting. Assemble a cast of your "friends and/or family" around you who are unique and entertaining and create either a video or photo essay blog and/or YouTube channel. For an example of a photo journalistic story see: www.bethdubber.com (Beth is a photographer, so another example of how personal branding is similar between different classifications).

Once you've started, you have to market it. It's much easier than marketing a headshot because it's actual work that you're proud of.

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entertainment industry coach Question 493: I'm watching Kathy Griffin D List and can't blog because I'm laughing too hard!

I turned on the TV this morning and because my DVR was recording Top Chef last night, I woke up to Kathy Griffin, My Life on the D List. I've never seen it before. She is judging a a toddler pageant, and I am laughing my butt off, which is necessary after my Kettlebell class last night causing my butt to KILL!

So why am I blogging about this? There is a lot to learn from Kathy's brilliant branding. If you look at her IMDB page, she has 64 acting credits. I know her best from Suddenly Susan, where she seemed to hit a peak.

Now we all know that with longevity in an entertainment career there are peaks and valleys. I imagine from 2001-2005 when things slowed, she maintained her writing and her stand-up. Then she jumped on the Reality Show band wagon and made it work! She's starring, writing, and BRANDING herself as D-List, when clearly she's putting out there that she is in fact ready for A-List roles.

It's working. Already in season six, you can see that her acting credits are growing again, and they are A-List, her comedy is HYSTERICAL, and she is a very smart business woman.

Kudos to Kathy's life on the D-List; she's climbing another peak and her business smarts is A-List in my book!

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entertainment industry coach Question 492: when asking questions of filmmakers at screenings, what's a smart way 2 get their contact info to follow up

If you know who's going to be at the Q&A beforehand, do your research and see if you can find their contact info before. If you can't find it or don't know who's going to be there, then DO NOT ask in front of the whole room. Instead, after, if they stay to meet and greet, thank them for answering your question, tell them you plan to implement their advice and then ask if their contact information is listed on their Guild's website because you'd like to follow up with them about your results or to contact them if you have questions in the future. If they say no, (that it's not listed at the Guild), have a notepad ready, perhaps they'll see it and offer up contact information or you may have to ask if it's okay to follow up and ask how they'd like to be contacted.

Be as discreet as possible so people around you don't start asking for the same information, putting the person in an uncomfortable situation.

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entertainment industry coach Question 491: Do you think email is as effective as an actual snailmail letter?

Snail mail is more personal and more effective, AND you know it doesn't disappear into internet ether, or spam filters. That said, a personal email address is better than sending to an agent or production company. Although what you can do if the only address you have is an agent or production company (and a personal email address), send to both, and write in the email, "I sent a hardcopy to your agent (or production company) incase for some reason this email doesn't get through."

When sending to an email address, be sure you have a compelling subject line if the person doesn't know you or vaguely knows you like:

1. Referred by your friend Joe Splicer

2. We met at the Guild mixer last February

3. We worked together on ____________

4. Because I love your work on _____ I'm seeking your advice

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entertainment industry coach Question 490: how do I make the most of a trip to LA?

The question continued: "I'm trying to plan a trip to LA this summer to work on contacts and push the movie my production company made."

Most people plan a trip to LA, by figuring out how many airline points they have, where they're going to stay, and how much they have to save up to eat. Once they arrive, they try and figure out where to meet people.

Before you even consider the logistics of taking a trip LA, create a plan for your trip. Who do you want to meet? What companies do you want to screen your movie for? Have a target list. Once you have your target list, if you realize you have no idea how to get to any of the people or companies on the list, you have a lot more work to do before booking a trip.

If it's not necessary to you to be so specific about who you're meeting, at least research networking events and film festivals. If you can't fill your calendar with at least 5 events in a week, it's time to do more work before booking a trip.

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

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entertainment industry coach Question 489:what do I do when a stranger in my FB friends asks me about help with representation?

This happens a lot. A person whom you don't know either from Facebook (or other social media), someone from your union or acting class, or someone who you do know but don't know his/her work, asks you to connect him/her with an agent.

Now the person who asked this particular question, is referring to an actress who is a FB friend and a complete stranger. So consider this:

There is a difference between recommending, referring, and passing something of interest to you along.

Therefore, here are some options:

1. When you are recommending you are putting your name on the line basically telling the agent that you believe in this person. You can't do that with a stranger.

2. Referring someone is less of a trust issue and more of a relationship situation. You're saying to the agent that you can't speak for the person's work, but as for being a "person" you think very highly of them.

3. Passing along something of interest to you, is seeing a headshot (that you know truly looks like the person) that makes you say, "Wow!" You can pass that along to an agent friend, being clear that you don't personally know the person, but thought it was a great headshot. If the agent agrees, perhaps something will come of it.

4. Do nothing. This is a cold call and poor work practice. Why should you put your reputation on the line?

#4 Ouch! I'm mean! But, in my defense I'm not trying to be mean. I'm trying to demonstrate to readers that this is most likely what's going on in the peoples' heads whom they're sending cold emails to. This way, if they get no responses they'll know why. And if they get 1 or more responses they can feel especially psyched, because clearly something made people go out on a limb for them.

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

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