The Marketing Secret No One Tells You

Patrick Garr asked me an interesting question,

“What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your journey from artist to entrepreneur?”

In looking at my own journey, interviewing dozens of Changemakers, examining exactly what we do for our clients and customers, and articulating our mission of helping the artist become a healthy CEO, I've articulate these three P's to help you book more work:

• Person

• Process

• Product

No matter what you do, you must examine the experience of working with you from the shoes of your collaborators!

While we can continue to improve your business, brand, website, email, and social media, it’s very interesting that no one ever flat out told me the best kind of marketing. I came to this epiphany on my own. So today... I want to pass it on to you.

No matter what you're selling, this form of marketing is pretty much free and has been proven to be the most effective.

Are you ready?

Word-of-Mouth Marketing

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Word-of-Mouth Marketing 〰️

No form of slick self-promotion or fancy advertising can beat good ol' fashioned word-of-mouth! The best kind of marketing is other people talking about how great you are. 

Word-of-mouth marketing is the secret cornerstone of 99.99% of successful small businesses.

Let's explore how you can apply it to your career.

1. Create an exceptional experience.

The key is to provide an exceptional experience. While you want your work product to be exceptional, be sure that the process and the personnel are also extraordinary!

Make sure you don't just meet expectations, but surprise and delight people! This is where you need to think like a small business or entrepreneur.

The first step is to get feedback! I would even say test our your ideas and offerings with a smaller audience. Try on making your work exclusive while you make it exceptional. Everyone loves to be among the first or select few to experience something special and new. People are usually very happy to share their opinions, too... it makes them feel special. (I know this isn't always the case with actors and casting directors... but try your coaches!)

For individuals, this may mean additional training. For bigger brands, it might mean a bit more polishing in the packaging. In the performing arts, this is why we have developmental labs, out-of-town tryouts and previews!

Before you invest in expensive photos, videos, business cards, postcards or a website... recognize that you may not need all the fancy marketing stuff at first. Remember this post and idea. Your goal is to make sure your work will be successful in the bigger marketplace. If people aren't raving, gather ways to improve and keep on refining until you're pretty much always creating glowing reviews. 

You'll know you're ready for the larger market when you're getting unsolicited recommendations, referrals and rave reviews. 

2. Become discoverable.

Check your Google results. When someone refers you to their friend or colleague, that's likely where they'll go to learn more about you.

Obviously, having a website would be ideal, but at the very least, make sure your YouTube, IMDb, and Wikipedia are up-to-date. Facebook and LinkedIn also show up very high in search results.

If possible, make all of your social profiles public. This way, it's much easier for prospective clients/customers/employers to find and contact you.

3. Seek Out + Feature reviews.

Think about the last purchase or hiring decisions you made. Perhaps you made your decision based on a critic's words in print or online? Perhaps you read reviews on Amazon or Yelp? 

Sometimes word-of-mouth marketing doesn't come from friends! When someone discovers you online, see if you can get them to more easily "convert" by creating a gallery of praise from others! Curate your glowing reviews, press and testimonials on your website—that's likely where people will find you and make the decision to hire or contact you.

If you're not yet getting praise from traditional press and blogs, you can start collecting reviews on your LinkedIn profile or Facebook page! All you have to do is ask. The worst answer you'll get is silence or a no. 

4. Ask Audience to Share!

If you're starting out, it's totally fine (and almost expected) that you ask people to help spread the word. People are usually very happy to help you find your way or promote your brand... especially if you're really good!

Again, all you have to ask. Start asking more questions like...

• "If you like this [concert/album/video/session], would you please share it with your friends?

• "Would you feel comfortable recommending me to ____________?"