“The key to real security is the ability to sign your own paycheck” Oprah Winfrey

Strangely enough I’ve been without a ‘job’ for most of my working life.  Not that I’ve lived off the system…au contraire, if anything I’ve made my own systems and lived on them .  The interesting part is that the most profitable single product that I’ve marketed throughout my life…is ME.

My ‘grown up’ professional life started in the business that is ‘like no business I know’…Show Business.  I put myself through University as a professional actor, singer, and musician.  In fact working as a professional actor took me to four continents and netted me a fairly comfortable living.  But aside from the sheer thrill of it all the REAL lessons lurked beneath the surface and, although I wasn’t completely oblivious to them at the time, these lessons are now paying HUGE dividends in my life

Most actors/musicians are in many respects like new internet marketers; they have this ‘cool thing/ability’ and they can’t wait to tell the world about it.  That’s the good and bad part right there.  The first question we need to address is “Do they (the world) want it?” In the theatre world a show without an audience is called a REHEARSAL.  Yet many shows (some of which I performed in…) often went on with more people on stage than in the audience.  And we all know of websites (maybe intimately…) that are ‘all that and a bag of chips’ that get about 100 hits…a week.

The fact is you need to begin with the starving crowd.  The message is important, but only in a marketing sense if it matters to more people than just YOU.  The thing is most actors, and most marketers begin with their ’stuff’ instead of looking for what it is other people are looking for and then putting stuff together that takes care of that.

If you have that covered you’ll remember the next step is DESIRE.  This usually addresses the ‘No Time/No Money’ issues…which we know are BS anyway.  People ALWAYS make time and find money to do the things that matter to them.  Theatre tickets cost anywhere from $35 to $150 here in Toronto and yet the ‘hot’ shows currently (Sound of Music, Jersey Boys, We Will Rock You) have NO problem filling up seats…and in the middle of a recession when people are losing their jobs.  Desire baby, desire.

Frank Kern is a perfect example in marketing speak.  He doesn’t really sell products, or information really.  He sells, fun and freedom.  That’s the same approach it takes to sell a ‘hit’ show at $100 plus per ticket.  Give people an escape from the humdrum.  Give them a reason to get excited and do something.  That is marketing at it’s core and THAT is why pro athletes, actors and musicians are in such high demand in the marketing world.

Becoming a ‘Household Name’ is a common dream, for actor and marketer alike.  It’s the key to brand recognition and ultimate longevity and success in ‘the business’.

Now the reason I bring this up is because, believe it or not, I still find time to perform even though I’m a single Dad with four kids and run a consulting business…ok so I don’t get a lot of sleep, but I do get a lot done

The thing is, I don’t approach acting the way I used to.  I now think in terms of ‘leverage’.  You see I don’t need to perform to eat anymore like I did for the first ten years of my earning life.  I think much less in terms of the specific job (actors and musicians refer to their shows as ‘jobs’ and ‘gigs’ even though they are self-employed) and much more in terms of what doing that job will mean to me in the long run.

For example, I once did a one man show for next to no cash and a 9 Day rehearsal period (yep, 2 hours of material to memorize in 9 days…eek).  But I didn’t do it for the money.  I did it for the experience, for the ‘credit’ on my resume and, most important of all, the chance to develop some valuable and highly marketable skills.  I’ve taken non-showbiz jobs based on exactly the same criteria…learn>earn.  The key is to always figure out how to best leverage what you have so you can get what you REALLY want in the long run.

This approach may result in walking away from things you’d like to do because they are outside of what you truly want as an outcome, but that focus can take you much farther than the ‘Build it And They Will Come’ school of thought.

First get them to start coming, feed them the vision and then build it.

as I heard Casey Combden say on many an occasion;

“Life is three things:  What do you want?  What does it Cost?  Pay it!”

You may have to pay by listening and learning before you get a chance to show ‘your stuff’.  All I can say is that if you take the time to really find out the needs of your audience you’ll be 100x’a more prepared when you’re opportunity arises.

So go out and find your spotlight

Phil Hughes

www.philhughes.tv

What do you think? Please comment below to tell me.