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June 24, 2007

The Actors Voice, 6/25/07

Hi Everyone!

Here's how tomorrow's The Actors Voice starts out.

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Authenticity vs. Type

Last week, I touched on the whole "authenticity vs. type" dilemma that many actors face. You hear so much about the importance of knowing your primary type and marketing yourself accordingly that you might lose sight of the fact that what we're actually asking that you do is really simple: Know who you are and get on our radar as exactly that essence. That way, when we need your type, we know who to call.

Everything you put out there should "sell" your primary type. When we started Cricket Feet, Inc., five years ago, we created a little "placeholder" logo that didn't really mean anything, just so we would have something. This year, we decided that it was time to hire a graphic designer to create our "real" corporate image. I am so freakin' excited to roll it out next month that I'm beside myself! But coming up with that image required money, time, and research into what our "brand" is. What we did is what I'd advise you do (and try not to wait 'til your fifth anniversary as a business to do it).

Ask yourself, "What am I?" Write your own breakdown. You know how those go, right? They're about 20 words in which a character's essence is described. This is not the time to think about all of the many flavors you can bring to any role. This is the time to get very specific. What is your brand? What are you selling? Once you know the answers to these questions, it becomes rather simple to make sure that your marketing materials fall in line with your business plan, with your mission statement as a provider of a service. I'm talking about getting your website, headshot, resumé, postcards, business cards, even the font that you use on these items all in line with that brand you've decided on.

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Continue reading this column in the morning, along with a Your Turn about whether an ex-agent could blacklist a former client at Showfax.com.

Woo hoo!

As always, THANK YOU for reading!

Cheers,
-Bon.
Live your dreams! If you don't, someone else will.

Posted by bonnie at June 24, 2007 7:27 PM

Comments

Posted by: Mary Carlisle at June 25, 2007 9:50 AM