The curse of the headshot

Back in the day I was a talent manager and worked with a group of young up and comers.  If you've ever met an out of work actor you'd understand their mentality when it comes to getting headshots.  They never had enough money and always settled for the cheapest photographers.  When they would show me the final proof we would have to sit down and have a talk.  The key is this.  As an actor (a product, a brand)  you yourself aren't able to walk into a casting directors office and just have an audition.  There is an agent and manager who need to submit you first and the casting director has to approve your look.  If your headshots are crap, you likely won't get the audition.  If your headshot's are great and you are what the casting director is looking for you will get an audition.  They never understood that.  I still see to this day young actors with no representation and horrible headshots who think they have a shot.

The bottom line is this, whether you are an actor, a product or brand, you are always selling something.  If you need to get your foot in the door make sure it's memorable.  Remember you have 3 seconds to catch someones eye.

Catch it and keep it!

The truth about Marketing as I see it

A while back I was talking with an entrepreneur who didn't want to spend any time or money on marketing.  He said word of mouth was good enough for him.  He didn't have a website, a blog, or a logo.  He had a twitter and facebook account and generic business cards.  We spoke a couple of times, I explained that being online and having a strong presence is exceptionally important, but what is more important is the visual aid.  People are drawn in by visual stimulation when they are searching for a product or service.  If you have a generic website and your competitor has a visually stimulating website with videos that prospective client is probably going to call your competitor.  Why?  Because to the human eye that business looks real, and real looks profitable, and if you are going to pay someone for something you want it to be real.

I got a call from said Entrepreneur a few months ago and he said he needed our help.  We set him up with a web developer, an amazing production company and we re-branded his image as a team.  His site is up and running and with the help of a few sales people he is already bringing in new, solid business.  Now he can work on his relationship building.

Remember, marketing is a visual aid and the truth is what you see is what you get.