I absolutely love the opportunity to get in a room with a performer and dive inside their business with them. I always want them to take something away from a meeting; a new idea, a different way to look at their business, a new revenue stream to look at, a new contact, etc. But, I also try to always take something away myself. Usually this involves trying to get a slightly better understanding of a specific industry (theatre, comedy, variety, etc). Every meeting is an opportunity to learn….for both people.

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I recently sat down with a very unique individual who has exceptional talent on a few different levels. He has a long impressive history as a performer in the dance world and has built 3 or 4 original stage shows from scratch and taken them to a level of real touring. This type of genuine ambition inspires me. He hasn’t yet had a commercial success, but he is a performer living off his craft and he’s living a life full of great stories.

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What can I learn from him? Sitting across the table from him I learned that some people never go away. I mean this in a good way. Performers like him will be in the industry forever. These are usually the people who end up figuring out the right formula at some point, which leads them to great success, and when this happens for him I hope he still wants to have lunch with me. These are the people that you keep in touch with and you help out where you can. You refer these people to other contacts, you go see their latest project and give them your honest thoughts. These are also usually the people who have gained the full respect of other performers in their industry.  They are well connected.

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I took away from that meeting that sometimes meetings are just about the conversation. I have no idea where that relationship will lead (and neither does he I’m sure), but I’m interested to stay in touch and find out.

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If you take a minute during those opportunities you have with industry folks and just try to use the time to chat, ask questions and tell stories. Don’t worry about what this person can do for you or what deal you’d like to close today. Enjoy a conversation and see where it goes.

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- Justin Sudds – Gigsmacked.com

In an earlier post, I started the conversation about what managers are looking for when meeting with potential clients. In that post I identified that choosing new clients is a process and the first step in that process is always to ask the question “is there value to the artist in having a manager?” To recap this quickly:

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The first thing I am trying to assess is whether you paying a manager (usually 15% of your gross income) is worth it for you. If I can’t see a way to increase your gross earnings by at least 15% in a reasonable amount of time, then there is NO VALUE for you in having me as your Manager.

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Some examples of where I can see value for you in working me would be:

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• I think we can increase your pricing by 50% (you’d be surprised how often acts are under-charging for themselves)

• I think you’re playing in the wrong venues and we can take steps towards venues with a higher payout

• I believe that you are missing a niche marketplace in the entertainment world (e.g. corporate gigs, colleges, cruise ships) and I think I can help you tap into it.

• You’re so busy managing your business that it is actually costing you money as you’re focus is being pulled in too many directions.

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If I am able to assess that there is some value for you in having a manager, the next thing I’m trying to determine is whether or not this is a project that fits with where I see my own personal business going. In other words, what is the value for me? Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is a simple money conversation. Money is a factor of course, but value for me is determined by a variety of different factors. Here are a few of the questions that I will be asking myself:

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• Does this project fit with my business’ current short term and long term goals?

• Will this project allow me to expand my network in new and interesting ways for me?

• Will the amount of time I need to put into this project be worth the potential financial rewards within a reasonable amount of time?

• Do I have a list of contacts that could easily be helpful to this project in order to jump start it?

• Does success with this project lead to other projects that will be interesting to me?

• Am I good enough at the things this projects need me to be good at?

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It is important (really important) for performers who are seeking out agents and managers to really understand what the other side is looking for and more importantly, they should be aware of the things that agents and managers are evaluating to determine whether working with you makes sense.

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Spend time trying to find out what motivates the people you’re sitting across from. Ask about their clients. Ask them about projects that have them excited. Ask questions about how they got a particular client a specific gig. It won’t take you long to figure out that person’s motivations and what they like to look for in their clients. Use this information to find someone that is as motivated by your career as you are – don’t you deserve that?

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- Justin Sudds – gigsmacked.com

I recently received a call from a jazz vocalist by the name of Andrea Superstein (www.andreasuperstein.com). Andrea is a Jazz artist in Vancouver who has been successful in driving her business and talent forward. She’s going about things the right way.

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Like a lot of other cities, Vancouver has a lot of venues that are booked by 1 or 2 companies and a handful of entertainment programmers. Andrea has been getting great reviews and great feedback from the venues she’s been playing, but with a lot of the venues she was getting the same story, which goes something like this: “We’d love to book you for a night, you just need to get a hold of (insert booker name here) because he books our calendar for us”. So, you can probably guess, Andrea was looking for advice on how to get attention from a specific booker.

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She’s already been trying for several weeks to reach him via email and voicemail. She’s been persistent and has not had any luck with the traditional approach. So what was my advice?

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“Change your approach.” Stop being persistent and start being clever.

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Idea 1: send him a post card, from Vancouver or with some funny image on the front. On the back, she should hand write a very short note that will make him laugh or at the very least chuckle.

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Idea 2: send him flowers, with a note attached. Again, it needs to be done in a clever way. Her goal isn’t to get angry with him. Andrea’s goal is to get him to help her.

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Idea 3: send him a bottle of wine and place a label on the wine bottle that has her photo, name and again a handwritten note.

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What’s more likely to get a response, the email that is in the same inbox with 150 other people, or the bottle of wine that is sitting on his desk when he gets back from lunch?

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When you run into these daily obstacles and you find yourself frustrated and getting nowhere, take a step back and follow these steps:

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1. Figure out what you’re trying to accomplish. Take away the frustration and anger and ask this simple question in order to clearly state your short-term goals. Be very specific.
2. Ask yourself: “ Am I being persistent or am I being clever?
3. Brainstorm with a friend, colleague (or with us) on alternative methods for trying to accomplish the goal. No idea is stupid, the more outside the box, the better. Every problem has a solution.
4. Shortlist 3 possible solutions you’re willing to commit to doing.
5. Do 1 solution at a time leaving enough time in between for a response.
6. Don’t let anything get in the way of accomplishing your goal.

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Persistence has its place, but only to a point. Being clever is always going to produce better results.

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-       Justin Sudds – Gigsmacked.com

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Have you used a clever solution to achieve something in your career? Please share!

I have 1 fan page that I agreed follow on Facebook. I have received 12 emails inviting me to performances from them in the last 7 days. It passed annoying at 3 emails. By 6 emails I was laughing at the absurdity and feeling sorry for them; at 12 emails I’m writing a blog post about a behavior that can ruin a career. 12 emails in one week to your fan base inviting them to a performance is doing damage to your career. This is an extreme example of being clueless about communication, but I think you get the general point.

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Did I miss the seminar at SXSW where they told performers that the way to get attention from the industry was to email them at least once a day making sure to invite them to every appearance, every YouTube posting and every piece of news?? When did this become a good idea? Wait….It didn’t. Please, if you are one of these people, and some of you might be,  please stop. It is seriously hurting your career.

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You need to respect your mailing list. Usually people have opted to join your mailing list or Facebook fan page because they are genuinely interested in your career. They hope that you move forward with your craft and if you respect that about them and don’t annoy them, they can help you reach your goals. Communication with your fans should not be about impressing them with activity, it should be about genuine and meaningful interactions so your audience can feel that they know you better.

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If you have a great piece of news, tell your audience why it is important to you, not why it should be important to them. If you’ve had a great show, send an email explaining what made it great and offer a couple of photos. If you’re pushing out a new video. Don’t make the video self serving, make it endearing or insightful.

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Your fan base will always be your most valuable asset. Treat it with incredible care. If you’re trying to get industry attention, be more clever, not more persistent. I guarantee clever gets noticed and persistence gets annoying.
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- Justin Sudds – GigSmacked.com

Watching the news this morning while traveling in Toronto, there was a short report about a big buzz happening on Twitter. Some older man working at a transit ticket booth in the middle of the night was fast asleep in his chair. Someone passing by took a snapshot on their phone and posted to Twitter. Viral media ensued.

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This photo is funny and when I saw it, I laughed. The point here is that you simply can’t get away with anything these days. I’m not just talking about celebrities. I mean everyone: drunken photos of your kid’s teacher on Facebook, the road rage that gets posted to YouTube, United airlines breaking a guy’s guitar.

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Social media has changed the game entirely for everyone, but especially entertainers. The era of the asshole ended with YouTube and flip-cams. You no longer have the luxury as a performer of being inappropriate. Just ask Michael Richards. Being in a bad mood publicly, whining about your life, complaining about a heckler, insulting a sound tech, making excuses why you’re late, treating women like crap, trashing a dressing room, etc., are all things that make you look like an asshole. When they are posted to YouTube (and they will be) and fed to all social media channels by a bartender, event manager, audience member or whoever, it does massive damage to your brand and business. Remember Christian Bale and his rant? Don’t you see that guy just a little differently now?

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Nobody is saying you can’t be in a bad mood or irritated, but you need to have an authenticity and a respect for the people around you as an entertainer. They are your life-blood. Make mistakes, but be honest, real and, most importantly, authentic in your reactions to those mistakes.

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There is no longer any room for error with regards to the respect you deliver to everyone you come into contact with as an entertainer.

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Good managers, agents, record label execs, corporate planners, publicists, and other industry professionals all have busy lives and want to enjoy their work. Nobody wants to work with an asshole. Life is too short and fortunately for us, it is now much easier to find out if you’re a prick.

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- Justin Sudds – Gigsmacked.com

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