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How to Start Your First Social Media Campaign

Starting a social media campaign can totally freak you out if you are just trying to wing it, especially if this is your first campaign. There is a reason the experts say you need a plan of action, because it’s important to follow certain steps when creating your first campaign. Without one, your campaign will flop, and you will have wasted precious time and money getting little results.

A plan of action involves setting goals and taking actionable steps. Once these are set, implement tips and tricks of the trade that can help you reach your goals. Keep reading to find out what tips and tricks can help you in starting your first social media campaign.

 

Choosing the Best Platform(s)

Each social media platform has qualities that set them apart from one another. Pick the top three or four platforms that are best to get your message across. Then learn how to tweak each one.

This first step may be the most time consuming. Learning to understand each platform takes research and patience. If you are struggling with certain platforms, consider hiring a social media expert who knows the ins and outs already.

For example, Facebook has certain days and times that are best for posting. They also have advertising in messenger, creating offers, promoting events and a strong connection to Instagram. On Instagram, share your best photos and stories to attract more followers.

Twitter and Snap Chat have equally fantastic qualities. It is your job to know which platform will help you reach the audience you want to reach and provide you with the tools you want to use.

This part of your social media campaign also includes analyzing each platform to decide the best type of content to share. What is your message? What do your fans want to see? Are they more interested in live videos or photos? Now is the time to examine your followers, your message, and your platforms.

 

Incentives for Sharing

Everybody loves contests, sweepstakes and giveaways. Even if you are giving a one-page document filled with positive quotes related to your business, people will sign up to receive it if it is free.

Provide your audience and target audience with something special. Let them know it is available only to those who sign up, enter or join. Make them feel as if they are members of an exclusive club, like they have something their friends don’t.

No matter what incentive you use, make sure people know it is for their benefit. It is about them, to help them in some way. After all, that is your goal.

Along with the previous step, before you begin incentivizing, you must know which types of platforms are best for each message.

 

The Necessity of Hashtags | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

The Necessity of Hashtags

Hashtags help get you found in searches. Even if you don’t quite understand everything about hashtags at first, use them anyway.

Two or three hashtags in your post are more likely to get you noticed than if you use one, or none. Your hashtags should tell the customer how they will benefit, not you. #youcanbedebtfree is much better than #buymybookondebt.

Again, this step can take some time and it’s important to be patient. Hashtag research can be time consuming, yet you’d be surprised how much more engagement it can bring to your posts. Ensuring your hashtags are relevant is a necessity.

Use hashtags the right way and use them often.

 

Power of Photos

A bad photo will get you nowhere these days. A good photo can go viral. Getting a social media campaign to go viral is like winning the lottery.

You accomplish many goals all at once. Your message is shared with thousands of people, who quickly join your group. You can even capture email addresses which then allows you to market directly to subscribers in a newsletter.

And you can do all of this with the right image. There are plenty of free websites, such as Pixabay or Flickr, that allow you to use photos for free. There are also premium services that let you purchase photos, usually for less than a dollar, to use in your campaign. Canva is one resource.

These days, you can create and generate your own graphic designs using such resources. However, keep in mind that your message should be consistent to you – and that’s what your followers want to see; you.

 

Social Media Campaign | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

Learn from Your Competition

It’s okay to spy on your competition. It is even okay to take one of their ideas and make it ten times better. In every industry there are people who are doing it right. Find the ones in your industry and learn from them.

You do not want to copy everything your competition is doing. You will only be seen as a copycat if you do. Instead, you want to take the competition’s strategy, improve it and work it. Then you are seen as viable competition with the best. To do this, you need to create a very detailed social media plan to explore how you will make this idea unique, intriguing, and your own.

There are specific processes and steps to take with a social media campaign. Use your competition’s successes and mistakes as a guide.

 

Evaluate Your Social Media Campaign Along the Way

Each social media platform provides its users with metrics and analytic options, so you can evaluate your progress. You can also evaluate which parts of your social media campaign are successful and which are failures. You can determine which target audience likes certain posts, allowing you to retarget them using similar strategies.

If you don’t evaluate your campaign, you won’t truly know if it was successful. Even on social media, numbers are everything. The analytics tell you what the numbers are, so you can make future decisions on social media strategies.

Also keep in mind that there are many aspects to evaluate. Engagement is one. Following is another. Having a following is important, but are they an engaged fan base or are they completely passive?

 

Social Engagement | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

Post and Repost

Attention spans are limited on all social media platforms. Because of this, you can repost your message several times in the same day.

People on Twitter at noon each day, may be on Facebook in the evenings. People who post on Instagram may not ever visit Twitter or Facebook.

To get the message to all social media users, you must post once and then repost as well. Schedule your message to be posted based on the best engagement times of each platform. Of course, you want to switch it up so your following doesn’t get annoyed.

For example, set Twitter posts to retweet from your site every few hours. This way you are reaching more Twitter users, but without the need to create a new post each time.

 

Don’t Give Up

You are going to make mistakes. Even the best social media campaigners make mistakes. Societal influence, breaking news reports, and just life in general can get in our way sometimes. Your online promotions can be affected by anything, stuff that is completely out of your control.

What you do with those mistakes will determine how successful you will be later.

If you are persistent in trying to get your campaigns on social media perfected, you will be successful. Don’t listen to those who tell you it’s too hard or a waste of time. You have seen what a social media campaign can do for businesses.

And no, social media campaigns are not just for the ones who are good using online tactics. They are for everyone. They are for you.

Don’t give up on your dream to create a successful social media campaign that totally rocks your business. It will happen.

How to Find the Perfect New York Talent Agency

It’s no surprise that some of the best talent agencies are in New York, along with some of the best talent. That’s one of the reasons you are interested in signing with an agent there. From Off Broadway to Broadway to Films, your New York talent agency knows all the ins and outs, all the connections, and all the jobs that are right for you.

But you don’t want to sign with just any agent. You need the perfect New York talent agency for you and your unique talents. You need that one agent that stands out from the crowd and knows exactly how to make you successful.

Below are some questions to help you find the perfect New York talent agency to work with.

 

What’s Your Goal?

Do you want to become an international music or film star? Or, do you want to sing Opera at the Met? A good New York talent agent cannot help you until you know what it is you are seeking.

Setting personal and professional goals for your career is essential in achieving success. Short-term goals will help you reach milestones and keep you motivated along the way. Because as you know, big time success does not happen overnight.

Short-term goals are realistic events you would like to see happen in your near future. For example, getting auditions and interviews with important players in the industry. Or, completing a class that enhances your talents.

Long-term goals, on the other hand, are what you would consider the big picture. These are what you want to happen after all your short-term goals are met. Long-term goals may include landing a coveted role in a movie, performing a concert for an audience of 10,000, or modeling for the cover of major magazines.

 

To Boutique or Not to Boutique?

The perfect New York talent agency may not be a one stop shop agency. Instead, it may be a boutique agency that only focuses on promoting certain talents. This can include only focusing on entertainment booking, or only focusing on modeling contracts. Boutique agencies become the crème de la crème in their specialty areas. This shows in the premium prices they charge.

Most of the time, they are worth the cost. If you are an actor who wants to work on major films, boutique agencies will help you get there. They do so by getting you the best classes, the best head shots, the best resume.

Other talent agencies include the Majors and the Minors. The Major agencies are like one stop shops for their clients. If you are a triple threat like J-Lo who is bound for stardom, this type of agency will be eager to add you to their list of clients. If you can sing, dance, act and model, a larger agency can focus on getting you jobs in each of these areas.

These are the big dogs in the industry. The household name kind of agencies.

But unless your career rises to the top like J-Lo’s did, you may not be with the agency for many years. If they are getting you the auditions but you are not getting the jobs, and making money, they will have to decide whether to keep you or not.

Minor New York talent agencies are just a step down from the Majors. They represent the not-so-well-known talents who have enormous potential, but not enough recognition, yet.

Boutique agencies in New York may be small, but this allows them to focus on every aspect of getting your career to the level you want it to be.

 

Build Your Resume

New York talent agencies are like others around the world in that they expect you to hone your craft and be a working client while they try to get you the big break you deserve. Do not just sit at home and wait for your agent to call.

Instead, build your resume. If you are a musician, find jobs where you can practice performing and get paid to do so. If you are a model, don’t just wait for the cover of Vogue, model for department stores, local magazines, stock photos and even social media. You need a following, as well as a resume.

Build your resume so you can have an outstanding portfolio.

 

A Good New York Talent Agency Can Get You Jobs All Over the World

New York has thousands of jobs in your industry, waiting to be filled.

But just because your agent is in New York, doesn’t mean they can only get you work in New York. A good New York talent agency will be able to book jobs for you around the world.

They will have the connections and the networking skills to book you gigs everywhere and anywhere. Not only that, but they will be upfront and honest about the connections they have. If the agency you are talking to is hesitant to answer such questions regarding their connections, it may be a red flag.

These agencies will also have the networking skills to go out and network on your behalf to find you the jobs you are looking for.

How to Find the Perfect New York Talent Agency to Work With | Alliance Talent by Jason Swartz

 

Do They Have a Good Reputation?

Remember Saul, from Breaking Bad? This is not the type of person you want representing you. Even in New York, there are esteemed talent agencies and there are low-down agencies. No matter what the agency promises you, if their reputation is bad and they are well-known for doing bad things, do not sign. These agencies are not one to care about their talent representation, and this can be dangerous.

You deserve better than to take the first agent that comes along. Discover if they have the clout, the connections and the know how to get you the great gigs. And if you have been in the industry for even a brief period, you will have likely been told which talent agency is great, and the ones that aren’t.

The sought-after agencies will be licensed and have their own ridiculously good portfolio.

 

Are They into You?

Some agencies are happy to sign you and add you to the list of other clients they represent. You become a number, not a talent. This could be a good sign they aren’t that into you. They simply want their list of clients to be longer than the other agency’s list.

Choose the New York agency that will make you a priority. They pick jobs carefully and in a strategic manner, so your career is moving upward.

Choose the one who wants to grow with you and who wants to invest in each stage of your career.

You will find the perfect New York talent agency. Do your homework and start choosing the agencies you feel can get you to the top.

How to Become a Social Media Influencer

You may be a social media influencer and not even know it. You may already have that drive, that passion and innate ability to change others with a great message. And you have been keeping this talent hidden, just waiting for the right moment to be revealed.

Well, this may be your moment. It’s time to find out if your influence potential is real. There are exact steps you can take to fulfill your dreams of being a social media influencer.

These steps will help you build your influence, build your brand, and they can help you reach your goal.

 

Become an Expert on Social Media Outlets

To be an influencer online, you must know everything there is to know about every single social media platform. This takes research and a lot of patience, especially since each platform is constantly adding updates and making changes.

From opening an account, creating pages, and acquiring friends or followers, you must be a professional in each step. Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram are a few of the sites to help you become an influencer.

But they each have different methods of helping you do your job, including engaging audiences and analyzing your statistics.

 

Find Your Niche

You are an expert. But you are not an expert in everything. As an influencer, you must find a niche. You need to narrow down your expertise until you find the perfect space for you to shine. For instance, if you have a lot of knowledge in finance, you can be a great influencer in teaching people how to create a budget.

You can’t, however, be an influencer in the broad category of finances. Keeping your influence on a specific area will help you become the go-to expert. Otherwise, you will be fighting for attention with all the other want-to-be influencers.

Becoming a Social Media Influencer | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

Build Credibility

Social media influencers are trusted by their followers. To get to this level of influence, you must spend many hours helping your followers.

You provide your expertise and your followers benefit from your knowledge. Providing advice and information that does exactly what you say it can will help you build credibility. The more credible you become, the more social media followers you will gain.

 

Build an Audience

At first, you will be able to influence a few hundred people. This is great, except that if you want to be a major influencer, you will need thousands of followers.

This does not happen overnight.

However, there are many strategies you can implement, tricks of the trade, such as boosted posts and advertising, that can extend your reach.

 

Research

Staying up-to-date on trends in your niche is what will keep you a major player in the social media influencing business.

Researching your niche means listening to podcast interviews in your spare time, attending conferences, reading articles and connecting with other influencers. Read books on your subject, take a class and do whatever else it takes to stay informed.

It is your job to use the information you gather and report it to your followers and future followers.

How to be an Influencer on Social Media | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

Budgeting

Yes, it takes money to become a big time social media influencer. Setting a budget and sticking to it is very important. It’s too easy to overspend when trying new ways to build your influence. Social media platforms provide creative ways to reach out to potential fans.

If you do not know how to budget to use the tools on social media, you can blow your budget in just a few days.

Educate yourself on the best process to market yourself. Know if you want clicks or conversions, targeted audiences or random. Know how many days you want to run an ad and how much you can spend on each day.

Once you learn how to budget and craft a plan on how to spend your money on social media, you will begin to see amazing growth.

Putting in money now will allow you to get a return of that money later with social media monetization.

 

Implement Viral Tactics

To become an even bigger social media influencer, bigger than you ever imagined, it helps to have a video that goes viral.

Viral marketing takes a post and spreads it throughout the virtual networks, gaining you new followers in record time.

Once you get the hang of viral marketing, you can reach larger audiences while decreasing your marketing costs. It helps you get new leads, increase your credibility, and occasionally, get you noticed by major media outlets.

 

Analyze Data

If you can’t analyze your social media data, you can’t become a successful social media influencer. It is key you learn to look at your data and figure out how to use that data to your advantage.

You don’t have to guess what your followers like and dislike about your posts since you have the data right in front of you. This data makes it extremely easy to identify impressions or how many people viewed your posts. You can monitor your engagements and create strategies to build up fanbase engagement.

Social media data analytics can tell you how many people like what you are sharing and just the opposite, how many are not being reached.

You can use this data to capitalize on the positive and improve the negative. Data like this is free, an amazing asset to a social media influencer.

 

Create a Social Media Influencer Strategy

A successful social media influencer takes all the above steps and creates a plan, a strategy, that builds upon your success. You must know the right days and times to post on each social media platform you use.

A good strategy involves choosing the right audience for the information you want to share. Then you will determine how you want to share your information. Do you want to post a video, write content, go live or just use photos and quotes to get your message across?

On top of all that, know search engine optimization to get all your information to the top, to be seen first.

You can reach your influencer goals. Conquer these steps and start living your dream.

7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know an Entertainment Agent Can Do for You

An entertainment agent does a lot to help their clients’ rise to the top. No matter what type of entertainment industry you are in, an agent plays a valuable role. When you need gigs, your entertainment agent books you gigs.

When you need to meet with the press, go on tour, or even simply have a photo shoot, your agent makes sure it happens.

What you may not know are the numerous other jobs your agent performs on your behalf. These are the jobs that may not be as glamorous but are still necessary for your success.

 

Roles of an Entertainment Agent

Below are seven duties your entertainment agent performs, even if they don’t get the credit or payment.

  • Creating and packaging deals
  • Accountant duties
  • Team manager and liason
  • Counselor duties
  • Diffusing potential issues
  • Collaborating with others and networking for you
  • Working as an influencer

These are seven duties and tasks that your agent will do for you on a daily basis to ensure that you can meet your goals.

 

The Packager

Entertainment agents are known to pair artists to get you the best deal possible. For example, if a movie studio is looking for a director and an actor, and an entertainment agent represents both, he or she may create a combination deal.

Meaning, they will offer the studio an actor and a director together, but not as individual artists. They allow the studio to hire one, but not without the other, and they usually do this while at the same time getting more money for both of you.

Or, if you are a musician, your agent could pair you with other musicians to perform at a gig. Two incredible musicians are always better than one. Agents can convince venues, promoters and everyone else in the industry which package deal will create the best performance for the fans.

They will also make sure the package brings in more money for everyone involved.

 

What an Entertainment Agent Can Do for You | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

The Accountant

Ask any entertainment agent and they will tell you that at some point, they have acted as an artist’s accountant. Maybe not the tax preparation kind of accountant, but the kind that writes checks on behalf of the artist.

Or, the kind of accountant who deals with a performer’s accounts payable and receivables. The kind that balances checkbooks, pays staff, makes debt payments, and holds on to all records and receipts so you are prepared at tax time.

 

The Team Builder

Entertainment agents do their best to make sure everyone in your posse is getting along and working together cohesively.

This means they act as a liaison between everyone on your staff, solving problems and keeping your relationship agreeable to avoid dissention before performances.

Entertainment agents may even implement specific activities to help you strengthen the bond between you. Writing sessions, acting classes, and even fun vacations may be the well thought out plans of your agent.

 

The Counselor

Who listens to you when you are having troubles with members of your group? Your entertainment agent. Who do you lean on when you have had a rough day and nobody on your staff seems to care and your family is a thousand miles away? Your entertainment agent.

Not many performers have time to seek cognitive behavioral therapy or support groups each week. So, you confide in your agent. They know you the best. And they have your best interest at heart. Your agent, on many occasions, will provide you with confidentiality, allowing you to express yourself.

 

Different Roles of Your Agent | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

The Diffuser

Trouble happens. Sometimes you create your own trouble, sometimes it just finds you. Either way, your entertainment agent is the one who puts out the fires, calms volatile situations and cleans up anything that could be slightly damaging to your career.

For example, you spend a wild night on the town after an opening night. You let everyone take photos of you. The media is going to have a field day reporting your partying ways. Your talent agent knows exactly how to handle this situation so that your career and reputation stay on a positive course.

 

The Collaborator

Working with other stars in your industry is a terrific way to boost your career. If you are an up and coming country musician and you get to open for Luke Bryan, his fans will notice. If you are a rising rapper and you are seen with Lil Wayne, people will take interest.

Your entertainment agent knows the right collaborations to increase your popularity and they know how to make those collaborations happen.

They know the agents of the more famous artists. They may even be representing some of those more famous artists. If this is the case, it will be a lot easier for them to match you with the right performer, at the right event, at the right time.

 

The Influencer

Entertainment agents must have knowledge on how to influence hundreds of thousands of people. They have strategies to implement that get you noticed and get you new fans. These strategies are used on social media as well as in other forms of media.

They work with reporters to get you the right publicity, and with magazines to get you the cover, the center and anywhere in between. They work with charities to help you promote your cause.

Social media may be the best use of an entertainment agent’s influence. It is hear you can gain thousands of fans in one day, with little to no money. Agents know which photos to post, which content to share and which videos to stream.

If you look at the celebrities with the most online influence, you will see that everything they share online is perfectly timed. This is most likely because their entertainment agent is doing his or her job. They even find ways to make you even more money by influencing big brands to use you in online ad campaigns.

Entertainment agents do not get paid for each of these duties. They do them because they want you to be successful.

If you are successful, they are successful. Good entertainment agents have a passion for their work and when asked, they are likely to tell you they enjoy it so much it doesn’t even feel like a job. That’s the one you want on your side.

How Can a Social Media Marketing Manager Benefit You?

A social media marketing manager has super powers. Maybe not the ones you see on a movie screen, but they know exactly how to succeed when it comes to making you look like a star. That is their goal, to make you a tremendous success. Social media marketing is becoming an absolutely essential part of business, and without it, your brand and talent may be wasted. To garner the full potential of it, hire a social media expert.

They overcome daily challenges for you, so you don’t have to sweat the small stuff. You may not even hear about these challenges because your social media marketing manager wants to help you stay focused on your goals of reaching the top of your industry’s ladder.

What are some of these challenges?

 

Challenges Destroyed by Your Social Media Marketing Manager

You have fans. You even have super fans. But you need more. You need more people to grow your reach and your influence. The more followers you have, the more potential for growth in fame and fortune.

They make sure your posts and content are of the right quality for your image as well as monitoring the activity of your fans to figure out what they want from you. They even analyze feedback from your fans to determine if certain strategies need improvement.

Social media marketing managers take care of the people who aren’t your fans but follow you anyway. The ones that are looking for opportunities to call you out or make you look like a poser. You know the ones.

These experts spend many hours using smart techniques to grow your fanbase. So, when you see your fanbase growing and your posts being shared more often, that’s because your social media manager is working hard.

These social media experts understand the digital world, and they seamlessly tackle these everyday challenges. Here are 6 more benefits of hiring a social media marketing manager.

Benefits of a Social Media Marketing Manager | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

Introduce You Globally

Depending on your status, you may have fans from your neighborhood, your State and even the region in which you live. If you are more well-known, you could have fans from across the nation. But what about the millions of future fans from around the World?

Your manager is eager to introduce you globally. They want to share your work with people who don’t even speak your language. Now you can start visualizing yourself getting out of car in a foreign nation and being welcomed by fans you can’t even understand.

You just know they want to buy what you are selling. All thanks to your social media marketing manager.

 

Return on Investment

Your social media return on investment (ROI) answers your question of, “What am I getting for the money I spent?” ROI tells you if you are underpaying, overpaying or giving out bonuses based on the tasks your social media marketing manager is completing and how those tasks are benefiting you.

You put the money in and you have every right to expect your marketing manager to give you what you pay for and a whole lot more.

 

Keeping Up with the Jones’ and Their Platforms

To be competitive in your industry, you must be constantly researching everything a social media platform can offer. You want to know each time Facebook adds a new revenue stream, such as marketing through Messenger.

You want to know each improvement Instagram and Twitter provide for users. Platforms are wowing us daily with new and creative ways to become successful on social media.

You may not have the time to keep up-to-date on each platform’s improvements. But your manager does. They stay on top of changes and quickly update your profiles, so you are keeping up with everyone else, and even passing your competition.

Not only do they do all of this, but they fully understand the monetization strategies on each site to help you generate as much income as possible.

Social Media Profiles | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

Plan for Promotion

“Winging it” with promotions rarely works. Sometimes it can even backfire because your fans get confused and instead of buying, they back away.

Social media marketing managers develop strategic plans for promotional activities. They schedule specific dates to post specific content. And they make it seem so natural your fans think you are winging it. Everything from content development to engaging with fans is planned, however, so that you benefit.

Marketing strategies must be clever and attractive to meet your goals.

 

They Have Skills

Social media marketing managers have spent years learning the tricks of the social media trade. They have skills we only wish we had when it comes to marketing products or services.

They use their skills to build your brand. Some of these skills include outreach and building a buzz around the launch of something new. Other skills include writing and editing. They can analyze data that goes beyond which gender and age group is viewing your posts.

They are also are organizers. Your managers are experts for a reason; they prioritize, utilize resources and communicate well. Your social media experts do all of this under pressure and with a positive attitude to help grow your image, brand, name, and success.

 

They Are Flexible

Everything exciting that happens to you in your life does not take place between 8:00am and 5:00pm. You are on a great journey and some days are boring and “normal”, while other days feel like you are spinning out of control.

You may get word that you have been chosen for a new gig at midnight. Does that mean your social media marketing manager is going to learn about it the next day and will use this information to promote you later in the day? No! Your marketing manager is flexible so he or she can post your exciting news as soon as it happens.

Your fans don’t want to wait to hear your good news and your expert knows this. That’s why they make themselves accessible to you and your great news, any time of day or night.

Social media marketing managers know the best time to post on each outlet. And even if it is midnight on a Tuesday, that’s when they post for you.

They take your great looking social media sites and turn them into revenue producing, content driving machine that attracts fans from around the world. This is your time be rewarded with benefits of social media.

How to Get a Booking Agent in 2018

This can be the year you get the gigs you want, meet the people you want to meet and realize your dreams. In order to do all this, you need to know how to get a booking agent.

Not just any old agent, but one who can match your needs and who understands just how important you are to your industry.

You need someone to represent you. Someone who gets you and wants to help you reach success. They need to be on your side and eager to prove your talents are worthy.

If you are thinking this booking agent sounds amazing, you are right. If you are thinking you could never score a talent agent like this, you are wrong. You have everything it takes to score the greatest agent.

Below are specific actions you can take to land the agent you deserve. After today, you’ll know exactly how to get a booking agent.

 

How to Get a Booking Agent

Getting agents to help promote you and your brand is an essential part of jump-starting your career. With so many options available, this can seem like a daunting task. Here’s how to get a booking agent this year:

  1. Build your fan base
  2. Build your character and create your brand from it
  3. Always keep learning your skill and the industry
  4. Learn essential social media skills, or hire someone to do so
  5. Get into the industry

These first initial steps show you how to get a booking agent to help further your career.

Fan base of an Artist | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

1. Build Your Fan Base

You can be very talented, but you won’t get a booking agent if you have no fan base. It’s important to have some sort of following for an agent to take notice. You need to be selling tickets to your shows. These tickets should go to devoted fans, not family and friends.

The number of followers you have will give your representative an indication of how much money can be made.

To build your fan base, work with a social media manager to get the word out to the millions on the major platforms. The number of fans you have online can positively impact a booking agent’s decision to work with you.

 

2. Build Positive Character

Focusing on your craft is important. Focusing on your character can increase your chances of getting a booking agent to work with you.

Your brand, whether individual or as a group, has character. It can be good character or bad. That is up to you. Having good character, you will learn, may not always take you to the top on the easiest path. It will, however, help you stay at the top once you get there.

Many artists make the mistake of spending all their free time partying, usually with the wrong people and at the wrong places. What you do in your spare time and who you do it with will eventually become part of your character.

All agents want to work with good people first, good people with talent second.

You have influence. To build positive character, use your influence for good. Volunteer, promote charities, show good will towards others. And don’t do all of this for promotion. Do it because it feels good.

That rewarding feeling you get when you help someone will shine through in your work. And that will get the attention of a good booking agent.

 

3. Keep Learning

You can never be smart enough or talented enough. There is always room for improvement, new knowledge, or expansion of talents.

There are many opportunities out there for you to continue learning. The more you have to offer, the more agents will take notice.

Take classes to improve your talents. Learn a new instrument, or two. Learn about the masters in this industry. What did they do to make it to the top?

You can even become educated on the life of a booking agent. Knowing what they need, how they need it and why they need it can be extremely beneficial. You will also have a better understanding of the systems and processes of this part of your industry.

How to Get a Booking Agent: Radio City Music Hall | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

 

4. Social Media Skills

It will totally help you if you can prove you are a social media ninja. From the very first day you enter this industry, you should be taking advantage of the many social media benefits.

Social media is the number one way to advertise and grow your fanbase. It can grow quickly and for very little money, usually no cost. Booking agents like to see you have a following, even if it’s small at first. They want to feel as if you can get people, a.k.a. buyers, to the event.

Booking agents want to feel confident in choosing you to perform. The feedback you receive on social media can help them gain this confidence.

By now you should have at a minimum, a Facebook page where you post live and pre-recorded videos, interact daily with fans, like and share posts of other people, and share a little bit of content with followers.

You should also be posting pictures, videos and messages on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and even Pinterest. Posting a tutorial that teaches your followers a new technique, or give them an article on a day in the life of YOU. Sometimes, working with a social media specialist is the best way to do this since you’re time is incredibly valuable and you may not have the time to do this yourself.

 

5. Be the Intern

There is no better way to learn the industry than to work in the industry. Assist booking agents by completing tasks that will help them put together a great show, even if you are not performing in the show.

Help them before, during and even after an event. The more the booking agent sees you and gets to know you, the more they are likely to think of you when planning their next event.

When you assist them, don’t set out to find every chance for self-promotion. This will leave a negative memory of you in the mind of the agent. Work hard, show up on time and pay attention to what they teach you.

Booking agents are looking for great performers, just like you. Being more than a performer will get you recognized. Be a self-promoter who seizes opportunities. Don’t just wait for the gigs to come along, go find the jobs. If you can’t find the jobs, create them for yourself.

Showing agents you have the skills to get yourself recognized in a crowded field will make them eager to work with you. Booking agents want to assist you in your career. They don’t want to have to do all the work to get you to the top.

Now that you know how to get a booking agent, you can start booking the gigs of your dreams. Show them your talents, and agents will be happy to help you get on stage.

5 Ways to Earn Ancillary Income with a Social Media Specialist

You have a primary product to sell. Your primary product may be yourself. It may also be artwork, music, ebooks, or some other awesome product you have created. You may not know this, but while you are making money selling your primary product, a social media specialist could be making you ancillary income on social media.

Ancillary income is simply the way you make money on something other than your primary product or service. Major celebrities understand that their name and talent are a primary product that offers services of acting, music, writing, etc.

While they are being hired for their talents, they can also be making a side income by promoting brands on social media. For example, Justin Timberlake has no problem making money from his acting and musical talents. Those are his primary talents.

He also makes ancillary income. Like the time he promoted MasterCard using videos showing him surprising people, in person, changing their lives for good. And no one can forget the YouTube videos of J.T. and Christopher Walken promoting the Bai brand drink, originally aired during the Super Bowl.

While you may not have Timberlake status, yet, you can still benefit from similar strategies to earn additional revenue. Social media specialists can help you implement the following social media management strategies and many more.

 

Facebook Offers

Facebook is the Mac Daddy of social media outlets. With its billions of users, a social media specialist can increase your revenue with just few strategical moves.

Promoting Facebook offers for ancillary income is a smart way to get your name out there, get the products you are selling noticed and make some extra money. Your social media specialist can help you throughout the entire process.

The process includes setting up a killer Facebook profile that is attractive and makes a viewer connect with your message. Once they connect, your specialist will have marketing techniques established to hook the viewers and turn them into buyers.

They can do this by sharing content with your followers, setting up an ecommerce store and using affiliate links.

Another strategy a social media specialist can implement is starting a Facebook group for your fans. Meaning, the people who want to hear about your latest favorite products, services or information. A Facebook group is an engaged audience willing to follow through with your recommendations.

 

Using Twitter to Make Ancillary Income | Alliance Talent by Jason Swartz

 

Brand Advertising on Twitter

There are ways to advertise on Twitter that can easily earn ancillary income for your business or brand. Your social media specialist will be a master of all three. The first advertising strategy they may use is to simply grow your following.

The more Twitter followers you have, the more influence you have. The more followers you have, the more people who may take your advice and purchase what you are selling.

A second way to earn ancillary income on Twitter is for your social media specialist run a campaign to drive traffic to your own website or ecommerce shop. The more people they can get there, the more potential sales you can make.

Finally, your social media specialist can do things to capture leads, which can be like driving traffic.

 

Sponsored Posts on Instagram

Anyone can be a star and realize enormous success on Instagram. Your social media specialist can help you with sponsored posts and promotions. The first step will be to increase your Instagram following. The more followers you have, the more businesses will want to partner with you.

The best way to build a following these days may be to find a niche product, service or topic. Going too broad may become an obstacle. Your specialist will be able to keep you niched down and in your lane when it comes to posting, hash tagging and sharing amazing photos.

You can even post videos on Instagram now. But those can’t compare to the video traffic you can get with YouTube.

 

How to Make Ancillary Income With a Social Media Specialist | Alliance Talent by Jason Swartz

 

Video Marketing on YouTube

A social media specialist can help you create your very own YouTube Channel. Yes, that’s right. You can have your own channel. From here they can help you set up your Brand account. While you are out creating amazing videos to post, your specialist can be giving your account style and pizazz.

They will be setting up SEO tactics to maximize your reach, making it easy to get your video shared and re-shared.

The more subscribers you attract, the more marketing techniques you can implement. Other brands may want to post ads on your site. Or, they may hire you to promote their product or service.

You will also be able to promote your own products or services.

 

Snapcash Using Snapchat

Snapchat takes the “sense of urgency” theory and turns it into cash in your pockets. Your social media specialist will know exactly how to turn a few seconds into a lot of dollars.

In just a brief period, they will turn a coupon or discount campaign into Snapcash. They can also create a rushed eagerness to purchase that product you just showed them. Once the campaigns are set up by your social media specialist, you will be able to realize quick results.

Of course, there are many other techniques used by social media specialists to provide you with ancillary income.

Affiliate marketing works extremely well for ancillary income and can be done in a variety of ways on each social media outlet.

You can even promote products through affiliate marketing through your own blog. The social media specialist will help you create the right content, insert appropriate affiliate links and earn extra money for your brand.

They will make your affiliate links related to your brand because you are, after all, the expert. The social media specialist is just helping you tell the world about your expertise.

Being on social media is a must for anyone, celebrity or not, who wants to see improved results and increased revenue.

The best way to reach this level of social media monetization success is to work with a social media specialist.

The Importance of Booking Concerts for Your Music Career

Booking concerts can be the money makers for your career and a concert can mean many different things to different artists. There are concerts for all types of musicians and each venue holds a special place in your climb to the top.

At each stage of your music career, you will need to be booking concerts. You need to understand the value of every type of concert and take advantage of the benefits they offer. Even when you become a mega-star musician, concerts need to be a part of your career. Having someone to represent you as an artist is one way to take complete control over booking concerts.

Not only can you make money, but booking concerts can boost your career in many other ways.

Keep reading to find out the distinct types of concerts and the importance of booking each type to make your music career successful.

 

Booking Concerts at Dive Bars

You may be just starting out in the music business. A concert for your band may be at that local, seedy, back alley dive bar. You charge a cover fee and make a few hundred dollars each night. You even sell your CD’s and merchandise created in your basement.

This type of concert is awesome! Enjoy it while you can.

You don’t have the pressures of the big time just yet, but you may be on the brink of reaching success. It’s in these local dives that talent reps can find you. It’s where you start building your loyal fanbase.

Treat these fans well and they will help you grow. They have friends just waiting to be your fan. Even if just a few people show up for your concerts at first, rock it out like you are on stage with your music idol.

 

Booking Concerts at Local Spot in Town to Start Off Music Career | Alliance Talent by Jason Swartz

 

County Fair Concerts

Your name is out there. Your fanbase is growing. So much so that you have been invited to perform at the County Fair. This is huge! This is an opportunity to showcase your talents to all the naysayers in the area, and attract new fans, and music scouts.

Plus, you will make a lot more money than just the few hundred you made at the back alley dive last week. And you can sell even more of your handmade merchandise, bringing in even more cash.

Research your favorite musicians. Many of them will tell you they paid their dues by performing at County Fairs. Some may call them rodeos, others may call them street shows or local festivals. The point is, all famous musicians started by booking concerts at small gigs.

The ones that become big time talent are the ones that said yes to every opportunity to show off their skills.

 

Music Festival Concerts

You have been paying your dues and it is working. Your entertainment booking agent gets you in to play at a music festival, with other recognized bands. You are psyched, and you should be. This is your chance to impress thousands of fans, even if they are not yours just yet.

You can also impress other, more famous, bands. If they like your performance, they may ask you to go on tour with them or at least open for them occasionally.

If you are a hip hop artist and Wiz Khalifa is performing at the same festival, this means his representatives will be there too. Give the performance of a lifetime, wow the fans, and the right game changers will notice.

And best of all, you will make more money at a music festival than you have made in all your career so far. Sure, you must share that money with other bands, but a small percentage of a million is better than a hundred percent of nothing.

Your merchandise will be in much bigger demand. Festival goers love supporting the up and coming bands. You can expand from tee shirts to cups, mugs, caps, lighters and other products with your brand.

The recognition you will receive is priceless. It could be a stepping stone for booking concerts at even bigger venues, like international festivals and stadiums.

 

Booking Stadium Concerts | Alliance Talent by Jason Swartz

 

Stadium Concerts

Performing at a stadium means you scored the agents, representative, or tour managers and are building your posse. This is so cool. You are still on the rise but are still in shock that you have made it this far. Let me just say, you are a star.

Stadium shows mean thousands of people. A concert like this is going to make you rich. At stadium concerts, your mass marketed merchandise will sell out and make you just as much money, if not more, than the percentage of the tickets.

Yes, you have more employees now, but your staff is taking you to levels you dreamed about while playing in your mama’s kitchen to her and all her friends.

Stadium concerts show the world and big-time record labels that you are worth it. They take notice and getting signed to a label becomes easier and easier. When booking concerts in stadiums, the more seats you fill, the more you convince a big label to take a chance on you.

To them, more seats filled equals more money for them. It’s a business. And booking concerts at this level are evidence that you have what it takes.

 

Specialty Concerts

Another performance, and one of the most important concerts of your life, will not take place in front of thousands of people. It will take place in a Music Label’s boardroom. This type of concert is not given often, but can be the difference between a contract or a rejection.

Specialty Concerts will come in many forms. For some it will be at the Grand Ole Opry. For others it’s at a VIP party for a multi-millionaire. You may even be asked to perform at weddings, house parties or birthday parties for the super-rich. For others, it may just be famous bars in famous locations owned by famous people.

Whatever the location, booking concerts is important for your career, at every stage of your career. It can even lead you back to where it all began, performing a concert in your hometown. Only now, you are the hero your town has needed for a while.

How to Create the Perfect Social Media Plan & Strategy

You see other celebrities killing it on social media. It seems like every time they post a video or a picture, thousands of fans share their post and buy what they are selling. They’re social media plan seems flawless. They are making millions with the use of social media and you can too.

Your fans are hungry for more insight into your life. They want to relate to you. The little bit of interaction you are giving them through your social media outlets has made them long for more.

It is desire like this that can help your celebrity status go from fans asking to get a picture with you to fans wanting to take you home with them, or at least a piece of you home with them. You want the fans that cry when they see you out of pure excitement. You can accomplish this.

These are the fans that become loyal, lifelong supporters. Even as you move from fan to favorite memory, your followers will support you and anything you are selling.

To make this happen, though, you need the perfect social media strategy.

Working with a social media manager is preferred above you trying to find time in your busy schedule. As a celebrity, you have many responsibilities. Your schedule is booked out many months ahead. A social media manager can take over your online platforms, create a perfect social media plan, and build them into an empire.

Social media is an essential part of branding, allowing you to create, build, and engage a fan base. However, if you aren’t ready to share your social media tasks, follow this social media plan to help build your brand.

 

Decide on the Results You Want

What are your goals and objectives for posting on your social media outlets? Some celebrities want to grow their fanbase. Other celebrities want to find an extra source of income with social media monetization. And still others want a platform to promote charities special to them.

Set both short term and long-term goals for each of the social media platforms you run. Short term goals may include increasing your number of followers by 1000. A long-term goal may be to raise one million dollars for charity.

Objectives may include making people aware of important causes or to provide fans with more information on the projects you have coming up.

 

Decide with Outlets to Use

Many celebrities use multiple outlets. Your fans are most likely on at least three social media outlets. These could be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

It is important for your celebrity status to connect with fans on as many platforms as you can. This is where a social media manager can help but if you don’t have one, it may be beneficial to dedicate one day each week to a specific platform.

For example, Monday is for Facebook, Tuesday for Twitter and so on. Creating a social media plan includes determining which platforms are best for you, and your brand.

Each platform provides guidelines as to when the best posting day and time is for their outlet to receive the most visibility.

 

Social Media Platforms | Alliance Talent by Jason Swartz

Connect and Engage

Posting to these platforms is essential, but the biggest part of your social media plan is engagement. Don’t just be a poster who jumps on social media long enough to share a photo and then jumps off that platform until the following week. Stick around for a while and engage with your fans. Check out what they are posting and like it.

Or, even better, share what they are posting. You will totally make their day and give them something to talk about for a long time to come. Responding to your fans or showing an interest in their posts creates a connection with them. They will remain loyal to you for a long time for this simple action.

 

Brain Storm Plans to Make Money Using Social Media

Even if you are not interested in making money using social media now, it is part of a good social media plan. If you don’t want to keep the money, give it to charity. But you are sitting on a goldmine. As a celebrity, you have the potential to earn twice what you do anywhere else.

Start with small ideas, maybe a new product you created, and start brainstorming ways you could promote it through social media. You may want to run an ad or create a contest where the winner gets a freebie.

Your selling campaign needs to be completely organized from start to finish to avoid any issues.

 

How to Create the Perfect Social Media Plan | Alliance Talent by Jason Swartz

Analyze Progress of Your Social Media Plan and Audience

One thing that is being used by many super stars on social media is the analytical tool offered on each platform. This tool tells you who is searching for information on you. Once you know this, you can target your ads specifically to them. Yet another important part of your social media plan, because it allows you to successfully grow.

You can also see which posts your fans love and which ones you never want to repeat, or even admit to having in the first place. Knowing what works and doesn’t work within your fanbase helps you provide them with the exact item they want.

You may think your fans want a t-shirt with your brand. You run an ad and get very few sales. Next you may run an ad selling downloads of your latest project and your fans may go crazy, buying millions of dollars’ worth, making you even more of a celebrity.

 

Create Content in Many Forms

Posting a photo is easy. Posting a video is harder but will likely get more shares and likes. It will also attract new fans. Content should be a huge part of your social media plan.

You must create content in a variety of online forms. Video, content, photos, and audible downloads. Your fans want to see your creative side in all things you do. And since some people prefer photos to videos, while others prefer content to photos, you need to create a variety that pleases them all.

 

Know your competition

Who said it’s no fun spying on your competition? You need to do this to know what their fans like and dislike. You may even have an overlap in fanbase, so you want to be on top of trends whenever possible.

By checking out their posts can help you know what to post.

If possible, collaborate with your competition. Your fans with go nuts and you can double your fanbase.

Creating the perfect social media plan and strategy takes time and focus. But when you use a strategy, you and your fans will feel like winners.

Benefits of Using a Talent Manager for Booking Talent

Whether you are looking to book a writer, speaker, musician, comedian or actor, using the services of a talent manager can prove to be very beneficial.

There are many steps involved in putting together an event. Booking talent is the most important. Knowing what to do with the talent they book is equally important. You can’t book Beyoncé and then have her sit in the VIP section all night.

No, you put her on stage and let her do her thing, which is electrify the crowd with her performance.

Everything from picking the right opening act and venue to managing crises along the way, must be done by a skilled talent manager.

Pick the Right Opening Act

Planning a live performance involves lining up the live act, as well as the opening act. The opening act can be just as important when attracting fans to the show. If you are putting on a concert, you can charge more money per ticket when the opening act is popular among fans.

A talent manager that chooses the wrong opening act will not last very long in the business. If a talent manager is trying to put on a hip hop festival and allows bluegrass or Christian instrumental musicians to open, it could be a disaster.

Talent managers know what the fans are expecting and how to give it to them. They know how to create the perfect show that will attract crowds who want to purchase merchandise and concessions on top of tickets.

Benefits of Utilizing a Talent Manager When Booking Talent | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

Think on Their Feet When Things Go Wrong

Things go wrong. There will always be something during the course of a project that causes you stress. Whether it’s making sure celebrity perks are in place, transportation arrives on time or technology has crashed. Any minor mishap can feel overwhelming if you are not one who can handle such crises.

It can rain on the day of your outdoor festival. Lighting fixtures break, sound machines have technical difficulties and talent gets ill. Handling problems is something your talent manager needs to be able to handle.

Talent managers are experts in handling unexpected errors. They have backup plans already in place, keeping the flow of a project moving in the right direction.

Your talent manager is quite capable of handling all the needs, wants and complaints when booking talent.

Know All the Good Venues

Good venues do not always mean the largest building that holds the most fans. Sometimes a band can make more money playing to a smaller group of fans in an intimate environment. Sometimes movie openings need to happen in a star’s hometown. Or sometimes writers have a favorite book store to hold the first signing.

Talent managers know how to coordinate the best events at the right locations. They are experts in all the places available for showcasing talent. They are on a first name basis with the owners of these buildings and can negotiate the best costs for the venue and the artists.

Scout, pitch and sign

If you sit around and wait for talent to show up on your doorstep, you could miss out on exceptional people waiting to share their creativity with the world. You could miss out on making a lot of money on the next best bad, or author, or any other talent.

Because talent managers know who they are looking for, they know where to scout for new talent. They know the local dives, the larger venues and even the stadiums to visit to connect with artists. They know who to speak with for referrals.

Once talent managers find the artist they are seeking, they throw out a pitch. Their pitch is polished, filled with all the best reasons to partner. They make the event, venue and perks sound irresistible.

Their natural passion, energy and excitement to make artists feel they must be a part of this event. They show the talent how everyone will benefit from being a part of it. Artists find themselves having difficulty restraining their own excitement.

They close the deal quickly, locking in talent. Getting artists to sign contracts is a specialty of talent representation managers.

Booking Talent | Alliance Talent International by Jason Swartz

Organize Tour Schedule

Without a talent manager creating the schedule for the artists, you may feel like you are on a tornado rather than a tour. Bouncing across the globe from one performance to the next can be exhausting. Talent managers can organize a tour so that it benefits everyone, especially the artists.

They can ensure a touring schedule makes sense for every person involved.

Rather than go from Los Angeles to New York to Chicago to Philly, your talent manager will organize them in an order that allows the most rest and least travel in between sets. Meaning, the tour will start in Los Angeles, then Chicago, Philadelphia and finally, New York.

Talent managers will also organize meetings with the media before and after events, so the talent’s time is maximized for efficiency. They also effectively promote your concert as well.

Leaving one city for the next is not as simple as just showing up and performing. The talent agent works ahead of schedule to secure and confirm everything needed is in place prior to arrival.

When You Look Good, They Look Good

Talent managers do not get paid unless you get paid. They make more money when you make more money. It’s true, their success is based on your success. So, you don’t have to worry about getting scammed or being used.

Their reputation is on the line. Building trust is something good talent managers do well. They go the extra mile to make you feel secure in your partnership.

Talent managers want to be touted as the best in the industry. Therefore, they will work hard to find the venue that matches your needs when it comes to booking talent. They will pitch the best artists and provide organized scheduling that fits the needs of everyone involved.

Your talent manager can seek out the best talent to make your event successful.