Creative Career Coach Dallas Travers has helped thousands of actors to increase their auditions, produce their own projects, secure representation and book roles in film and television. Her award winning book, The Tao of Show Business: How to Pursue Your Dream Without Losing Your Mind won first prize in the “How To” category at the 2009 Hollywood Book Festival.

Whether you’re an emerging actor looking for a solid career plan or you’ve been acting for years and need a new strategy, I want to share what I feel is the most important principle you can apply to achieve acting success.  This simple rule will help you discover how to increase your auditions, build stronger relationships, manage your time effectively, and finally have a measurable, manageable plan to take your career to the next level.

I’m so excited to share with you my favorite marketing tip!  It’s called The Rule of Seven and it will completely change the way you market your acting career.

I work with an actor named Becky who has been pursuing an acting career for three years.  Currently, she’s got a handful of indie film credits on her resume as well as a couple of co-starring roles on television.  Becky has worked with a couple of ineffective agents and cultivated a handful of relationships, but she can’t seem to figure out why her big break eludes her.

There is a simple reason why Becky is not where she wants to be.  She hasn’t been consistent in any of her marketing or relationship-building attempts.   She’s tried dozens of things at one time or another and met a handful of people, but never followed up and never developed a solid marketing strategy.  Becky is a dabbler.

I can relate to Becky.  During the first few years of my business, I was so eager to get the word out and to become successful that I was willing to try anything.  And I did try just about everything.  I would advertise here and there, but never really see immediate results.  So, I’d change my strategy and try something else.  I would join a networking organization, but not meet the right people right away.  So, I’d quit and move on to another networking organization.  I was all over the place.

The trouble was I was touching the surface of a lot of different avenues without ever really taking consistent and persistent action toward the success I yearned for.   I, too, was a dabbler.

In order to truly become successful and enjoy your journey to acting success without going broke or crazy, you must do less more often. You must target fewer people more frequently in order to see real results.  You must focus on fewer projects more regularly so you can finish what you start.

Rule number one for every actor and creative entrepreneur is this– DO LESS STUFF MORE OFTEN.  Release the pressure of needing to do everything and replace it with a few specific and consistent actions.  Send out consistent and specific ships on a regular basis so you can garner accurate and measurable results.

Successful advertisers understand an essential rule in marketing called The Rule of Seven.  Basically, the average consumer won’t absorb an advertiser’s message until they’ve received it seven to a dozen times over the course of a few months.  This is why Coca Cola spends over 85% of their money on advertising and why you often see the same Geico commercial three times in one hour.  That’s just the rule of seven working its magic on you.

Bed Bath and Beyond masters The Rule of Seven.  Boy, if I had a dollar for every one of those blue 20% off coupons I’ve received!  Even though I often roll my eyes when I retrieve the mail and see yet another coupon, I’ll be honest with you, every time I need to buy some house wares, curtains, fans etc., I remember those coupons and happily make my way over to Bed Bath and Beyond.  Though I don’t use every coupon, (I mean, really, who could?), I think of Bed Bath and Beyond first when I need something.  Pssst… guys, if the Bed Bath and Beyond analogy doesn’t work for you… how about Guitar Center?

If you want to become known in this business, stop trying to meet everyone and focus on a specific short list of target people and market to them consistently.  That’s how you become remembered. That’s The Rule of Seven.  Embrace it.  It’ll make your marketing easy and even enjoyable.

I met an actor named Josh who had been trying to break into the commercial world for over two years.  Josh had done his research and created a large list of commercial agents and casting directors along with a list of commercial advertising agencies.  After his research was complete, Josh mailed a very handsome marketing package to all 260 people on his list.

Then, he waited.  And he waited.  Nine months later, Josh still lacked a single response and he was feeling really down.  The trouble is that Josh did only one touch.  He spent a lot of money mailing off one package to an enormous list of people and did nothing more.  Josh assumed that the quality of his marketing package outweighed the quantity of his marketing touches.  Josh was wrong.

So, I shared the Rule of Seven with Josh. I explained that marketing is a process rather than a single event.  If Josh really wanted to see results, he had to trim his target list and market to the same people consistently for months.  One beautiful marketing package to 265 people will not have the same impact as seven simple marketing touches.

Josh took my advice and ran with it.  He cut his target list in half and devised a simple marketing plan to touch his target list twice per month.  Josh mailed postcards, made phone calls, faxed, emailed, and had a lot of fun.  Guess what… he also produced great results.  In less than six months, Josh signed with a great agent, met with two advertising execs, and booked his first national commercial.  Pretty cool, huh?

I discovered a whole new meaning to doing less more often while writing my book. The thought of writing a book is a huge undertaking.  Just thinking about all of the work and the time it was going to take to complete a book  created a huge amount of resistance.  It was really hard for me to take the project on because I was looking at it as a whole.  From there, I decided I would break it into chunks.

Rather than think about writing a whole book, I just thought about writing for a few minutes at a time.  I promised myself that four days a week, I would write for 20 minutes.  Now, 20 minutes seems like no time at all, but 20 minutes allowed me to begin writing.  And the toughest part was just beginning.  I set the goal of 20 minutes because who can say no to 20 minutes, right?  It’s really easy to lose track of time and not have room for, say, 60 minutes, but really, who can say no to 20 minutes?  So, off I went.   Some days I would write for 20 minutes.  But most of the time those 20 minutes would turn into 40 minutes, which would turn into an hour and a half, which would quickly become an entire afternoon.  That’s how I got my book done.  I wrote my little book in 20 minute increments.

I finished my book because I was willing to do less more often.  Rather than commit to writing an entire chapter a day or commit to writing every single day, I committed to just 20 minutes four days a week.  I took consistent and persistent measurable action in order to get where I wanted to go.  That’s doing less more often.

You see, it’s easier to take action on a simple goal such as writing a page rather than carving out an entire day to pound out some hard work.  The same is true when it comes to sending out your ships and managing your acting business.  It’s easier to send out five postcards each day rather than 150 in one sitting.  It’s easier to self-submit each morning for five minutes rather than once a week for an hour.

One of the toughest things about working for yourself (which, by the way, you are doing when you pursue a career in acting) is time management.  Boy, oh boy, there are millions of things you could do or should do or would do if you had the time to manage it all.  Let’s face it, as you are building your career, you need a day job, you need time for your craft, and you need a life.  Do not allow yourself to become overwhelmed by the to-do list.  This is your career.  You aren’t going anywhere.  So trust that taking specific action each and every day will get you where you want to be.  I am not suggesting that you slack off and trust in the acting Gods, but I am suggesting that success awaits you if you are willing to show u p on a consistent and persistent basis.  You must, must, must treat your career like any successful CEO.  Show up for yourself everyday and take inspired action.

Honestly, how often have you purchased concert tickets and not attended the show?  How often have you no-showed on a hair appointment or job interview?  How often have you just decided not to show up for a date or skipped out on lunch plans with a friend?  Huh, how often?  I’m not sure why, but for some crazy reason it is often easier for most people to keep these appointments than to keep the appointments you set with yourself.  Trust me, I get it.  As I sat in a deserted restaurant, quarantined from the things I love most in order to finish this very book, I got it!  It’s called resistance and it cannot be in charge of your life.

Your job is to take specific consistent action toward your long-term vision as well as your short-term goals.  The toughest part about finishing a project is beginning it, so create the space to begin everyday.  Set some office hours and commit to working on your business every single day.  Don’t be crazy.  Begin by committing to twenty minutes of business work each day.  Schedule the time and decide what specific tasks you will work on.  I have found that it’s easier to commit to a time frame rather than to a specific result, so break your work into twenty-minute intervals.  Don’t worry, you can work longer if you choose, but it’s easier to commit to just twenty minutes than to find a few hours to block off each day.  How can you say no to twenty short minutes?

Break your office hours into small segments that are easier to say yes to than to resist.   I urge you to create a work schedule and mark your commitment in your calendar.  Clock in and clock out.  Track your progress. The hardest part is starting.  Start small so you can finish big.

Next week Dallas shows us how Doing Less More Often can increase our auditions and help us land the right agent.

You can purchase Dallas’ book The Tao of Show Business: How to Pursue Your Dream Without Losing Your Mind here and be sure to visit Thriving Artist Circle to learn more about her coaching programs.