What are your two most burning questions about starting your own business?

2/6/2015

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Marketing? Online Business start-ups? Career Change? Finding the courage to stop working for others and follow your dreams? Post your questions in the comments, I promise to respond...

I'm listening...

xoxoApril

6 Comments

Natasha Brown link

2/8/2015 03:43:55 am

I have really gotten a lot out of your free webinars and wanted to thank you for taking the time to make them for us fellow actor/writer/producers!

Q#1: How do I raise money for my production company / film shorts?
I moved back to New Orleans and have 3 completed scripts I intend to film here.
Afterward, I plan to travel back to NYC for the month of August to film my television pilot (for which I have a trailer and series bible already completed).
Q#2: Marketing?? How do I mostly effectively market these projects? Should this be something I'm doing while creating them?
Q#3: My television series is created/written by/ starring me....if you could personally message me your answer to this one, I feel you might have some very insightful thoughts on where I should go next (I have made the assumption that filming the pilot myself is the way to go, but maybe as an actress/writer it is not necessary?)...

Your kind and truthful words have taught me a LOT - thank you again! I feel it is very generous of you to share with all of us!

April Yvette Thompson link

2/8/2015 03:46:45 am

Hi Natasha: I'm glad my services have been useful. I work hard to address the important stuff. The place to start I believe would be to access the materials I already have that address some of these issues.

Are you on my mailing list? If not, you should sign up right away for the areas that are of interest to you: TheDreamUnLocked.com

In terms of fundraising, this video hits on a number of things you've asked. Click here: http://www.thedreamunlocked.com/blog/financing-your-acting-career-raising-money-for-your-projects

I'll also be discussing start-up production companies and online fundraising in future free webinars, so stay tuned. Beyond that, your questions are very specific and involved and the best way to handle those is in a Strategy Session. There's no way I can effectively answer your questions without the full picture of the work. If you feel like that's the road to go, there's a link for strategy sessions on my website as well. Thanks.

be well,

April Yvette Thompson

Alexandra link

2/10/2015 10:35:28 pm

Hi April, I hope providing background would give a clearer idea or the situation so we could both arrive at a more tailored/"bespoke" exchange.

Q1: I made a career switch. Instead of simply going back to school to "study" acting, I interviewed many Working actors/directors/writers/filmmakers in the industry. All of them say the same thing: the best way to learn and get more jobs is to actually just go out and start working in whatever production I can (as long as they're legitimate), instead of spending large amounts of money for book smarts but not knowing the street smarts. However, you talk a lot about not wasting time just doing small roles in low-budget films or community theaters (not LORT A or B theaters). What is the best way for a fairly new, non-union actor to start a career? (I model part-time and have great headshots and commercial photos. I take master classes and intensive workshops, but find that I still don't have a strong network compared to those who went to NYU/Juilliard/Yale so I'm spending money and still getting no return.

Q2: I have been told I moved to NYC too soon. I am in the US on a visa. I have a standard American accent and there hasn't been one person who wasn't shocked that I grew up in Indonesia. Lawyers have told me that to get the O1 visa for artists (one that Hugh Laurie, Lupita Nyongo, etc. have) to work as an actor in the US, I would need to first go back to my home-country, make it "big" there, and then try the US market. Directors who know that I speak basic Mandarin, Spanish, and French (but inadequate to carry a full conversation) tell me that I should go on an intensive program abroad to one of those languages, then pursue acting once I have competent language skills that can be Profitable. There are certainly many non-acting skills that an actor could work on, but how do I know that those skills are worth the time and money expanding on? How do I know if they count as investing in my acting career, or just wasting time when I could be acting? I also moved from Seattle where the theatre/film community is smaller and therefore more tight-knit -- less roles going around especially for a female actor "of color", few LORT A & B theaters, and only low-budget independent films -- but it was easier for me to get roles there because people in the community knew me, have heard of my work, or have mutual friends/colleagues. Some people say I should go back to Seattle, get more credits (even if they are in small productions), and only move to NYC once I have more credits on my resume. Does it count if credits on a resume are from readings, community theaters, and student films? Have I really moved to NYC too soon?

I really wanted to truly thank you for all the wonderful advice that you give actors - full of love but still pushing our asses! It's so refreshing to have you in a sea of "acting coaches" who make videos private and force actors to pay to watch a video of useless information. I hope you have an audition technique class again soon!

T. Newton dba Push

2/22/2015 11:49:38 pm

My first burning question is how to put the pieces together to bring revenue from all sides. I want to know my fee as a consultant, my fee for a one time finder’s fee and how to retain relationships for continued revenue.

Second question is regarding content pictures/videos/testimonials of my following and clients on my website. What is legal or not? How do I make the content legal to use?

April Yvette Thompson link

3/5/2015 10:13:49 am

Hola Tineta:

You need to organize your businesses according to who your audience is. Is it fellow teachers in your trade or potential gyms or country clubs? You need a website for each and a blog, mailing list sign up for each potential customer base. Then you need to engage each customer base weekly with engaging content to keep them emotionally plugged in to what you're selling.

Your fee should be a flat hourly rate with a limited number of clients on a monthly fee who you consult with weekly via phone or skype. Your fee should depend on the nature of the service you're providing, what's competitive and what the marketplace is currently charging for what you're doing. What do your competitors charge? How are you different? How much value do you provide. If it's only the consulting, then you need to charge lower. Until you're providing tons of free content to folks, you haven't demonstrated your worth to your clients. You need to constantly share free shit, so they get a taste of how valuable you are. It's the new information driven business and marketing. You also need to find out what your audience needs and provide only that. Not what you think they need. That increases your value and helps you validate your rate.

You can post anything you want on your blog as long as you credit the writer and the media outlet and include links back to the original article. Unless the original article says, you can't post stuff without permission from the writer. All utube content is publishable according to UTube's rules.

Hope that's useful, now schedule your 30 min session my dear, so we can get your structure set up! xoxo

April

AprilYvetteThompson.com

Soyini Crenshaw

3/30/2015 03:13:16 pm

Hi April,
I want to know how I can give a persuasive pitch to raise money for my actors arsenal? Thank you

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