entertainment industry coach question 375: Were you ever on Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan?

Yes, I was. And here's why I'm answering this as a blog question. This blog entry is all about knowing your hook and it can be in your elevator pitch, your bio, your marketing materials, your social media pages... everything. You MUST know your hook AKA your place in the industry.

So here I was (5 years ago) with an English Mastiff who weighed more than me, and all of a sudden at age 7 she decides to become "leash aggressive." Which basically means that she went after other dogs, trucks, skateboards, children, and when she bit a person, I knew I needed help.

At the time, I was living with a Strength Coach who worked with athletes, and as you all know, I'm a career coach. My video hook was:

Two successful coaches who can't coach their dog.

I made a great video tying into this theme. With the hundreds of submissions the show gets, I didn't expect to hear back any time soon. I heard back the day after I sent it in (go USPS!). Why? Because I made their job easy. I gave them their hook and their story. All Caesar had to do was show up for 3 hours and reprogram OUR brains so we could manage our indoor teddy bear/outdoor monster.

It worked, and I was grateful to have 3 more wonderful years with her. Now if only my Saint Bernard could get her act together... oops that's right, it's me not her!

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

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entertainment industry coach question 374: What's the best way to convince people to work low pay upfront & rest deferred for a 3 wk Indie Film shoot?

The best way is to create a win/win, be professional (have legal documents drawn up regarding the deferral pay), and most of all make it fun for them.

No one wants to work for free or for lower than their pay grade, but people will be willing to do it if:

1. They like and want to support the person whose project it is

2. They believe in the material

3. There is an opportunity for them (to work in a new genre, get a scene for their reel that's missing, play with new equipment they've never used before, get a celebrity on their reel, meet new people to network with, etc.)

4. They are being given the opportunity to move up in classification

5. They need to build their credits

The critical thing to remember when people are making sacrifices for your project is to treat them and feed them well!

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 www.TheGreenlightCoach.com and get a great bonus 1-hour MP3 on creating powerful business partnerships when you do!

entertainment industry coach question 373: How do I get an agent?

The exact question read: I have been acting for about 7 years(non-professional). A couple months ago, I auditioned for an agent and did not get it. I was just wondering how to improve my skills so that next time, I will get one.

I've given advice on getting agents before, so you may want to search the archives. However, what I will tell you are there are 3 different aspects to this question:

1. Do you need to improve your audition skills (auditioning is different than acting)?

2. Do you need to improve your interview skills to make you stand out in an agent's office?

3. After 7 years of non-professional acting, is it too soon for you to be pursuing an agent?

All of these questions are what you need to consider before you meet with another agent. The first, an acting coach can help you with, the later two are what I coach on.

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 www.TheGreenlightCoach.com and get a great bonus 1-hour MP3 on creating powerful business partnerships when you do!

entertainment industry coach question 372: Favors Part 2

The second part of the question was from the "opposite side of the table."

Question:

I also want to ask favors from those more successful than me. What is the most polite way to do it? Is it proper to offer some small flat fee for their time, or offer to trade something? Put a time limit on it?

First of all, if you haven't read yesterday's blog with the distinction between favors and business requests, do that first. Again, the answer to this question comes back to are you asking for a favor or is it a business request? Unless someone is a professional coach/mentor, (someone like me who gets paid to teach) you shouldn't have to pay for an advice conversation with someone who is more successful than you. If it's for a project, lots of people do freebies, but you have to create a win/win for them to do it. Why would they want to volunteer their time?

When you write "put a time limit on it," I'm not sure exactly what you mean because you weren't specific about the type of favors you wanted to ask for. When I coach people on getting mentors, I do have them put a time limit on the commitment.

Being "polite" is dependent on the recipient. Some people prefer email, others the phone, still others like to be asked in person over a meal. It depends on who your asking and what you're asking for.

Feel free to be more specific so I can directly answer your question.

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

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

entertainment industry coach question 372: Favors Part 1

Question: As I become more successful, I find more people asking me for favors (I think you call it making requests). One question asked might seem small, but I recognize how much time it adds up to, with 20 people wanting things from me every day.

Answer: First my personal clarification

Requests are defined as:

1 : the act or an instance of asking for something
2 : something asked for

as opposed to:

Favors that are defined as:

1 : friendly regard shown toward another especially by a superior
2 : gracious kindness; also : an act of such kindness

When asking for a favor it implies reciprocity… not with a request.

It is understood in the business world that the reply to a request can be to AGREE, REFUSE or OFFER ANOTHER POSSIBILITY. If you can’t accept “no” as an answer, you’re making a demand NOT a request!

Therefore, you have to determine if you are truly being asked for a favor. If so, should you choose to do the favor, you tell them what they can do for you as a favor in return. Then you can determine whether it's worth it. If not say no.

If it's business, though, then it's a request and you need to set boundaries. You have to decide WIIFY (what's in it for you). 20/day does add up and takes away from the advancement of your career. While saying NO may feel uncomfortable at first, eventually it will be very empowering and and send a message to your subconscious and the people in your life, that while you're an independent contractor, that doesn't mean that you don't have work to do and that you have time to do favors for everyone.

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

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

entertainment industry coach question 371: How do you get to go to the Oscars if you're not nominated?

I assume you're not a star who would be a presenter either. There actually is a way to attend if you aren't invited. You can be a seat filler. Research it for next year.

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

entertainment industry coach question 370: Is it fair for me to get a dog if I'm in the entertainment industry?

You're asking a dog lover so, here's what I'm going to say:

IF you are already working regularly, traveling all over the country/world where it is really impossible to bring a dog along, then no, it is not fair to get a dog.

However, IF you're still building your career, don't put your life on hold. No one knows what the future holds. Get a dog, get two, and when the time comes for you to travel for work, they'll have their routine and you will have people to take care of them.

My dogs, Barkley and Jake agree, giving this blog post 8 paws up!

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

entertainment industry coach question 369: How do I make MONEY in this industry, I'm GREAT at what I do!

I could have asked him what he does, but it doesn't matter. I imagine all of my readers as being great at what you do. You're great at what you do and you want to make money at it. This is the frustration of the dreams we have. You see, I know a lot of people who make a lot of money doing jobs they could care less about, hate in some situations. When I ask them why they don't do something else, they all say the same thing, "I don't know what I want to do."

WE on the other hand, know exactly what we want to do. Some of us since we were young children have know the dream and imagined it in all of it's glory.

How do you make money? You let go of your attachment to your dream, and respect this industry for what it is, a business. When you start strategizing and networking like the CEO of a A-lister's company, combined with the attitude of a passionate, determined artist/craftsman/technician, then you will make money. You may think you're doing this already, but in my experience,I've yet to meet a client (and I've coached over 1000) who had this formula down before they met me.

Because most people don't have this formula down, it takes time to grow your business to the point that you're making good, steady money. Therefore, having supplemental income to keep desperation from creeping in, is essential!!!!

Keep your eye on the dream and your mind on the business.

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

entertainment industry coach question 368: Is it okay to talk biz at a dog park when the person is there for his dog?

It sounds to me like you recognize someone famous who goes to your dog park. I'm making that assumption because you're asking if it's okay to talk to someone about business and how would you know he's in the business unless you talked about it already. So you recognize someone. Instead of just walking up and going straight for the business talk, talk about your dogs, build a relationship. Eventually, you can bridge the gap, because obviously if you recognize him, he knows he's famous and that you know who he is (unless you're the character from Knotting Hill who didn't know who Anna was when she came to the birthday party- okay it's 1:24am and I'm babbling a little... a lot)

The bottom line is, when you bring up business, do it in a professional way where you're asking about something that will help you move forward. Just spewing out fan banter, may cause him to change the time he comes, or change dog park completely. Okay, I'm tired. You get it. If not, write me back and I'll revisit after some sleep.

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

entertainment industry coach question 367: Where are some places in LA where industry people hang out?

The question continues: "I am looking for coffee houses? Bars? Restaurants? Markets? Dog Parks? Parking meters? Etc. I want to network but really don't know where to go. I have post cards that I want to place at strategic locations. Any suggestions would be great."

"Places where people hang out" is a very general question and as my readers know, I am very specific and strategic. First you have to ask yourself, "who is my target market?" Because I can tell you where actors hang out, but if you're an actor, actors don't hire you. So really your question could be, "where do casting directors, producers, directors, and executive producers hang out?" If you're another classification you'd ask the same question based on the people who hire you.

Once you know your target market, then you can research the entertainment organizations, philanthropic organizations, clubs (and I mean sport, nature, parent type clubs not Sunset strip clubs), unions, etc., where they congregate.

As far as leaving postcards around, that's like a needle in a haystack. People who are hiring have so many relationships with people who are inviting them to things. Why would they pick up a postcard of a complete stranger and say, "I think I'll take 3 hours out of my valuable time, to go see this stranger." Not to say it can't happen, but you can spend your money and time in a better way.

Again, you're better off taking those postcards to a networking event and handing them to people once you have a conversation with them and build rapport.

If you want to put a comment in the section, telling me what classification you are, I can be more specific about what organizations you should check out.

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

entertainment industry coach question 366: How do I get a mentor if there are only a few people who do what I do...

"...and I already know as much as they do?"

This was asked on my teleclass this morning and it brings up a very universal issue. When it comes to getting mentors, while it's great to have mentors who are doing what you want to be doing already, if you are in this person's position, at the same level, they're not the type of mentor you need.

In this case you'd be seeking out business advice and guidance from either:

1. The classification of people who hire you (so unless you know everybody who hires your classification, this type is good for you)

or

2. Any parallel classification who gets hired by the same classification as you. For example: If you're an Editor, a parallel classification (ones who also get hired by producers and directors) would be a DP, Production Designer, Actor, Writer, Key Hair & Makeup, etc. Why? Because if they are successful, they can give you advice on what they do. You're all in the same boat, just different classifications.

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