Hello beautiful people!
Let’s check out our overall web presence.
Due to your good work on your show bible and the deep-dive you’ve been doing to get clear on the look and feel of the networks, production companies, WORLDS in which your most castable characters reside, you’ve probably already done some tweaking of your website! (Or at the very least, put on your to-do list a date with yourself to get your online presence — beyond just your casting profiles and social media identities — in top shape.)
Listen up!
Because getting your website looking and feeling fantastic can be a major undertaking, I’m going to keep it simple by pointing you toward my current favorite actor website. What I love about Josh’s site is that it is SIMPLE.
Have you noticed we tend to overcomplicate things if we’re not mindful not to do so? (Do you like how I just complicated that sentence with its clunky structure? And the double negative? And now I’ve further complicated things by adding questions in a parenthetical aside? Hmm… how’s this?)
Keep it simple.
Today’s work: Do a little brand work on your website. If you’re not your own web designer, make a list of the work that you need done on your website by someone else. Grab the SMFA Hot Sheet about web tips (along with our list of favorite ninja designers). Find others’ websites that turn you on and create a Pinterest board of screengrabs to share with your web guy when it’s time to get going with changes. Ask #SMFAninjas to brag about their websites if they’re over-the-moon thrilled with how they look (and notice how many actors are *meh* about their web presence… damn shame).
If you’re ready to charge on in with a few tweaks, update your blog, your vlog, your news section on your site at the very least. Spruce up that “about me” section (yes, again — see if you can make it even more on-brand than before). Self-Google and write down what’s showing up about you. Further, write down the top three things about you that are NOT showing up in the first page or two of results in a self-Google! Let’s build a strategy for upping your Google presence in your most castable key categories!
Extra credit: Head back to the work we’ve done in which you pulled together the amazing things others have said about you (Remember that?) and create a praise page for your website. If you already have one of these, pull the very best testimonials together into a downloadable one-sheet (PDF) and store it next to the PDF download you supply of your resume! Give buyers a reason to want to learn more about how dang castable you are! I know you already have a fabulous photo gallery featuring your headshots, your on-set stills, your in-character/on-brand slam-dunk bullseye candids, and some really sexy step-and-repeat photos, right? Great! Now let’s add an “as seen on” area (if it’s on-brand for you to do so) where we can — at a glance — see the poster art of some of the top projects you’ve been a part of. Revisit your IMDb “as seen on” list to see if the updates have processed since you put them through ten days ago. Don’t stress if they haven’t; just put another reminder in your calendar for another week from now.
If any of the above doesn’t sit well with you — not due to resistance but because you suspect it just may not be on-brand for you to include in your overall web strategy — good! That means you’re really building a muscle for trusting yourself, trusting that you are enough, and trusting your beloved Bon here when she promises that you’re FINE doing what works for YOU (and when she speaks about herself in the third person… and again complicates things with parenthetical asides for effect).
Jam below about what a healthy web presence feels like to you! It’s gonna be different for everyone (and rightfully so). Have you gotten a sense of what your next-tier pace car, your industry leaders, those booking on your target shows are doing online? We’re never gonna try and replicate what they’re doing! But what common threads can you track? How can you let those threads weave their way into what you’re doing in a way that feels authentically aligned with what sort of web presence you wanna have?
’til tomorrow… stay ninja!
