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. Buy it in our store!

Marketing yourself as an actor can be a little tricky.  Many actors spend all of their time focusing on “me”.   What is my essence?  What roles am I right for?  How do others perceive me?

Well, a key element to successful marketing focuses on your target audience rather than on you.  By clearly defining who you’re speaking to when marketing, your message will become much more compelling and concise.

When I first began writing my book, I wanted to touch everyone who laid eyes on it.  I wanted my dad (who knows nothing about the business) to completely understand the business.  I wanted Clint Eastwood to learn something new.  I wanted everyone in between to gain insight, expertise and motivation from my book.

The trouble was that in trying to speak to the entire population of the world, my message became really watered down.  How can just one book effectively impact everybody?

Well, it can’t.  So, instead of writing a book for everyone, I defined my one, ideal reader.  I created a specific image of just one person whose career would be transformed after reading The Tao of Show Business.  This one reader became my Target Audience and she represented the type of actor I wanted to impact most with my book.  And here she is…

Allison French.  Allison is a 28 year old actress living in Los Angeles.  After graduating from USC with a minor in acting, she made the plunge and began pursuing acting wholeheartedly.  She has trained with some of the industry’s top acting teachers such as Lesly Kahn, Richard Seyd, and Ivanna Chubbuck.

Allison’s resume includes a lot of indie film, commercials, and webisode projects.  She has worked with a handful of sub-par agents who haven’t been very effective thus far.  She feels like she’s spinning her wheels a bit and wants to find simple solutions that break the mold of how an actor is supposed to break in.

Allison is single and loves to hang out with her friends.  She works part time as a waitress and lives in a secure and stylish two bedroom apartment in Studio City.  Her roommate, Vanessa is also an actress.  Vanessa works regularly on television thanks to her agent at Stone Manners Agency.

My student, Candace made huge strides with her marketing after she defined her Target Audience.  If Candace could work with only one person, that person would be Alan Ball, the creator of Six Feet Under and True Blood.

Now, when Candace makes marketing decisions, she speaks to Alan Ball.  Her website, her headshots, her one-sheet, and the rest of her marketing ships all reflect the sensibility of Alan Ball.  Marketing is a breeze now for Candace because she knows exactly who her Target Audience is and how to best communicate with him.

Who is Your Target Audience?

Think about the one person you’d like to work with most.  Who is it?  This person can be real or fictitious, but describe just one person who represents who you’d like to work with most.  You could also describe the one person who you perform for?  Who represents the demographic most drawn to your work?

After you have considered who your Target Audience might be, please describe him or her in detail.

Then, think about how well your marketing materials speak to this person.  What, if anything, do you need to change in order to deliver a more specific and dynamic message to your target audience?