Whether you’re already a master of your craft or you’re still learning, events and workshops are a great way to add some new skills to your repertoire.
Here we’ve rounded up 4 events happening in November for actors:
YouTube is a great tool for learning new things, getting the inside scoop on your industry and finding out what’s going on with your fellow actors.
Whether you yourself have a YouTube channel or not, you should make the most of it. So we’ve rounded up 3 great channels that’ll get you started into your YouTube foray.
1. Backstage
Backstage has over 50k subscribers already – and it’s easy to see why. With a selection of acting tips, insider info from casting directors and one-on-ones with agents, you can spend days going down this rabbit hole of information.
Just keep a notepad and pen at the ready to jot down any great new ideas!
2. Tips on Acting
Run by Amy Jo Berman, who spent 20 years as a casting director and former VP of casting at HBO, she posts videos that answer a whole bunch of questions from the wider acting community.
Her mission is to take the “struggling” out of “struggling actor” – if that sounds good to you, you can find her channel below!
3. Act on This – The TV Actor’s Network
This YouTube channel is run by Ross Grant, a very enthusiastic Brit who has pulled together an online community of TV actors and populates his Vlog with a series of videos on what you need to know about the acting business and how to pay your bills using acting (and just acting!)
A bit of a newer blog, but with over 1k subscribers already, surely one to watch!
Happy watching!
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
We know you’re busy – August is nuts for anyone performing. If you’re not touting your show on the Royal Mile, performing or having a well earnt post-performance beer, the last thing on your mind is probably tweeting, updating your Facebook or even (heaven forbid) posting a blog.
Who has time for any of that?
Well…
You do.
Edinburgh Fringe creates a lot of its own buzz – people are excited to be there, they’re excited to see new shows and they’re wandering around looking for something new. Even those not at the Fringe will be following what’s going on, whether that’s through something like the BBC or through the Instagram and Facebook posts of their mates who are there.
So this is no time for a social media blackout!
You don’t want to be the person that misses a great reviewer because they’ve tweeted something about having a free slot and you’ve missed it, do you?
No.
So listen up.
If anything, you need to be more active than usual. Remember, social media is a key tool in your arsenal for promotion. And that means:
Now we’re not saying every second of your spare time needs to be spent on Twitter or Facebook. Here are some things you can do:
1. Set up some rules on IFTTT – such as “whenever someone mentions you in a Tweet, send them a thank you as a reply”
2. Schedule some Tweets/Facebook posts using Buffer so that you’re never silent (more on how to do this here)
3. Schedule a blog post to drop in the middle of the Fringe, and then go in and add some news images just before it posts. You might want to write something like “Having an awesome time” or “best night ever so far at the Fringe,” or even “Funniest moments of my Fringe so far” – you’re scheduling it, so you’re going to need to get *cough* creative *cough* with the content, but reason images will add authenticity. You can change this where it says ‘Publish Immediately’ on WordPress, click the arrow and select ‘Schedule’.
All of these things will help you be active on Twitter, Facebook or your blog during what’s going to be a very, very busy month!
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
This May, new Data Protection laws will be coming into place, specifically, the Data Protection Act will be replaced by the General Data Protection Regulation.
What’s the difference? The GDPR will have new rules around the storage and handling of personal information and there will be stricter punishments in place for those who fail to comply.
Why the new law? The short answer is because hackers are more easily able to access data from small to medium businesses than they are to hack huge, well-protected corporate networks.
At the moment it’s sufficient to ask someone to tick or even to untick a box in order to consent to the storage of their data.
Under the new laws, consent means active agreement. This means you cannot pre-tick a ‘subscribe me’ button.
Not only this, but companies need to be able to show a clear audit trail of consent, including screen grabs or saved consent forms.
Individuals also have the right to withdraw consent at any time, and it has to be effective and efficient. When someone withdraws consent all of their personal data must be immediately and permanently erased. It is not enough to remove them from the mailing list.
If you are subject to a data breach, you also have to inform the relevant authorities immediately and you must notify all individuals affected within 72 hours of the initial breach.
If you have a newsletter that people subscribe to, or if you send e-mails to a database of people on whatever basis, this concerns you.
And it doesn’t just concern all the new data you might collect. It concerns all the data you currently have.
Any kind of personal data you keep has to follow these rules and you and you alone are responsible for being able to prove that someone has consented to have their data kept on file by you.
This means you can no longer capture e-mails through a competition and then add them into your mailing list, or you cannot auto-subscribe (for example) people that have bought a ticket to your show to your newsletter.
The GDPR applies to all enterprises. So if you run a business from home, or if your blog/website is engaged in “economic activity” i.e. you use it to make money – this applies to you.
It does not apply to people processing personal data in the course of a purely personal or household activity. I.e. if you have your plumber’s email address on file, that’s fine. If you’re sending your plumber an email telling him that you have a new kind of product available for sale, that’s not fine.
For every e-mail address in your system, you need to go back and seek explicit permission from the person to continue to send them whatever communication you are sending them.
If you cannot provide evidence of consent, you cannot send them emails and you must delete their data permanently.
This means you will need to launch a re-permission campaign and bring your entire database up to GDPR standards.
Fines. These are tiered based on the level of non-compliance and the severity of the violation, and they are capped at 4% of an annual turnover of €20million.
Ouch.
Check out our next post on how to run a GDPR compliant re-consent campaign.
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
Social media is a black hole for time.
You can spend hours pouring over the same 10 videos and you barely even notice the clock ticking.
When it comes to running your own social media, however, time is a huge factor. Because the more time you spend on social media, the less time you’re spending actually doing what you do (unless you’re a social media maven. You do you.)
Given that most creatives are time poor, so we’ve pulled together a list of 10 social media tools that will save you time and effort. Meaning you don’t have to spend your life flicking between apps. Yippee!
The best bit is… they’re all free!
Buffer is an awesome scheduling tool that allows you to post Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts at a later date.
With the free version you can link up to 3 accounts and schedule up to 10 pieces of content.
There’s also a handy content inbox where you can follow your favourite blogs (*cough*) and schedule to share their content online with a simple click. You can also link your own blog and re-share old content as well as broadcasting new content.
Audiense figures out when the best time for you to Tweet is. What’s even cooler is that it then links up to Buffer, and gives you a handy schedule.
This means you know all of your planned tweets are getting sent at exactly the best time for people to like, comments and share them.
Not only this, but it lets you search for people to follow (to grow your community) and also tells you who isn’t following you back (meanies.)
Hootsuite is great if you’ve got loads of different accounts and you want to keep them all in one handy place.
It offers the same service as Buffer but also includes a handy reply function – meaning you can keep track of all your conversations, all in one place!
Hootsuite also allows you to target subsets for channels like your Facebook page.
Ever wondered what people say about you online? Googling is so 2014 – you need Social Mention. It’s a eal-time platform that searches across the whole of the social interweb and organising it into a handy list for you. Influence is measured by Strength, Sentiment, Passion and Reach.
Not only this, it gives you a score for positive vs negative sentiment and your overall influence.
Pretty great if you’re trying to manage your brand or someone else’s.
You know that 31 people liked the picture of your breakfast. But do you know how many more likes you when you use Mayfair, instead of Nashville?
Iconosquare delves deeper than your ex into your instagram and analyses your posts, measuring the type of post vs the level of engagement.
If you’re monetising Instagram or even just using it to help build brand/personal awareness, this is one for you.
Now you’re fully armed – fly, my social media mavens, fly! (And let us know if you think we’ve missed anything.)
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com
Penguin in the Room spoke to top life coach Carole Ann Rice for top tips for your road to success in 2015. We will be following some of these too.
Carole’s top tips for 2015 are:
1. Be “responsibly selfish”
We often put our needs last on the list but now its time to carve out space for YOU to relax, take up new hobbies, eat well and invest in your wellbeing and development.
2. Have Goals
When we feel we are working towards something life takes on a new dynamic. Find some top tips on goal setting here.
3. Stop Controlling
There are very few things we can truly control – other people, our future, the now. Learn to live in the more, after all it’s all we have.
4. Act ‘as if’
Act confident, in demand and successful and people will buy into it and treat you that way.
5. Celebrate the day
Stop saving your best dress, shirt, earrings, perfume for special days. Seize the day and loo and feel your best and lavish yourself with all your best stuff right here and right now.
6. Don’t put life on hold
Happiness and feeling great is not something outside of you or over there. We often think “I’ll be happy when…” but happiness is something you ‘be’ not wait to become. What if you had everything within you right this minute to be happy and complete?
7. Learn to ‘let go’
Life delivers knocks, blows and setbacks to all of us and it is our ability to “let go” of negative experiences which dictates our happiness and wellbeing. Make peace with your past and move on.
8. Don’t sweat the small stuff
Declutter your life of extraneous, tiresome or useless things. That includes your home, thoughts and community.
9. Look for silver linings
We are hard wired to go to the negative, to be vigilant and expect the worst to happen. Try to train your brain to see the positive and look on the bright side. As yourself “What’s the best that could happen?”
10. Smile
You can find Carole Ann Rice at Real Coaching: www.realcoachingco.com
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is some penguins with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact us any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to the website: www.penguinintheroom.com
Casting Director and Penguin in the Room client Shakyra Dowling visited the penguin pool this week to answer some casting and online marketing related questions.
Follow Shakyra on twitter @ShakyraDowling
Whats the biggest misconception about casting directors?
Probably that we are scary people! We want actors to do well, we only bring you in because we think you are PERFECT for the job.
What are you up to at the moment?
Casting 2 feature films – one British Independent and the other a Danish/US co-production
Top casting tips for actors?
– Always learn the sides sent to you.
– Find out who is going to be at the meeting and check them out on IMDB.
– If you can watch some of their previous work on VOD then do so.
You are on twitter and Facebook, do you post castings?
Twitter – especially for those hard to find role!
Do you think it’s important for actors to be aware of their online presence?
Yes, producers always want to know how much publicity they can get out via their cast. So if you have a large following, they are impressed.
Do you chat to actors on twitter?
Sometimes, usually ones I know personally or have cast in the past.
Do you think actors should be on youtube?
If they have a body of work online (trailers for films, online ads, shorts) then its good to have it all in one place on a youtube channel. Showreels should be on spotlight or vimeo as they are more industry tools.
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact me any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com
So most of us are on Facebook but a lot of people ask me if they should be on there as an actor? Yes! Facebook is another great way to promote yourselves and network and there will be people on Facebook that aren’t on twitter, LinkedIn etc so don’t miss out on connecting with them. So the next question I get asked is what are the commons mistakes you should avoid? Well, I am glad you ask because here are my top 5 No No’s for Actors on Facebook…
1. Personal profiles – make sure your personal profile (profile through which you add and accept friends) is not visible in google search and update your privacy settings, you don’t want Directors seeing photos of the last hen night you went on do you! Create a page (which people can like) to be the public face of your acting brand. (You can create a personal acting profile but you are only allowed one profile on Facebook so Facebook could shut this profile down at any time)
2. Fan page – Facebook pages are often called fan pages and this makes actors feel insecure about having a page as they assume they have no fans and get caught up in the amount of likes they have. However, it is not about securing fans it’s about making connections and promoting your news – think quality not quantity – if 10 people are engaging with your page regularly that’s much better than 1000 people who never read or like anything you post.
3. Headers – Facebook’s new look timeline has header images (the long thin image across the top) and this is a great opportunity to promote yourselves. Please resist the urge to have a picture of a nice view or a stock theatre image and use this space to display a screen/theatre shot of yourself. Let prospective employers see you in action! You can even put a current production poster there to promote where your followers can see you next.
4. Twitter messages on Facebook – we all like to feel special and if I see that you have clearly posted a tweet on Facebook eg. the post contains hashtags and @tags, I don’t feel special. Your Facebook followers want to feel like you are posting interesting news for them on Facebook and not just posting any old thing because its easier. So, do not link your Facebook account to Twitter and remove twitter language before posting on Facebook. Also, it’s a good idea to post some messages on Facebook that don’t go on twitter and vice versa – make it interesting for people who follow you on both social media channels.
5. News – by all means promote yourself but don’t be a broken record. We do want to hear your news but not just a stream of you related information. Break things up with interesting articles, links etc that are useful for your followers.
So enjoy yourselves on Facebook and I hope you make some wonderful connections out of it! If you are on twitter you can also check out my Top 5 No No’s for Actors on Twitter too.
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact me any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com
Image from: http://www.stockfreeimages.com
As the Christmas party season is upon us I thought we could touch on that dreaded word …”networking”. I mean it does sound pretty scary, it has the word net in it so immediately images come to mind of being a tuna, alongside a lot of other tuna in a huge net, struggling to break free to get back to swimmingly along and having a lovely old time. Maybe that’s just me… Anyway, networking doesn’t have to be a scary thing, after all its just chatting.
Top Chat tips
– Smile – however silly it sounds the first step is smile! If you look approachable and friendly people are more likely to want to chat. A smile can be an instant ice breaker.
– Get ready for the launch! Don’t launch into the conversation with what you do and your recent accolades as it can be a real conversation killer. It’s important to promote yourself but pick the right moment.
– Opening Gambit – It’s always good to open with a question (after “Hello” of course): “How do you know the host?”, “How have you been?”, “Have you been to a [insert company name] event before”. If you want to be a bit more adventurous you can even go for “I love your shoes, where did you get them?” and “Have you tried the finger food? It’s delicious and apparently its only from Iceland”.
– Connect – If you want to build a connection with the person, a good tip is to try to make the conversation all about them, initially. Show a real interest in what they do/say and they will always appreciate and reciprocate. When they ask you what you do, it’s your chance to promote yourself.
Party tips
– Business cards – so you have ace’d the chatting and now the conversation is coming to an end so you say “it was lovely to meet you, here’s my card” and hand over a beautifully designed business card with all of your details. ALWAYS bring business cards to events and ALWAYS and keep them within easy reach, so you don’t have to start rummaging through your handbag/manbag. Try and swap business cards so you have their details too.
– Alcohol – I know its a party but if you are there for business you shouldn’t be drinking like its a party! Having a drink in your hand is a sociable thing and can also give you an excuse to get out of dragging situations “I’m just going to get another”. However, try and make your drink last and if you can’t sip it, resort to water in between glasses. We all know we can say things we normally wouldn’t dream of, when we’ve had a few! Make sure this doesn’t happen with business contacts, no matter how friendly you may be! A silly remark can scar or even end a business relationship!
So go forth and chat! After all, the arts industries are all about who you know – so go out and meet them at a Christmas party!
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
Contact me any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.comorFacebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com
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