Often, there is so much
administrative work that needs to be done to keep up a healthy dance career
that I find myself thinking,
“ Shouldn’t I be dancing instead of sitting at a
my computer?”
In a perfect world, the answer
would be a big, resounding yes. But in the real
world, most dancers are the stewards of their own career.
We’re our own booking
agents, public relations staff, travel agents, and interns. Most of
us don’t have “management” to rely on, we’re
our own bosses…and that means we also wind up doing all of the
work! For many dancers, this part of
their career is something they don’t bargain for when they were dreaming of
dancing professionally. But doing this
often tedious work is really what
enables us to be successful at what we really want to do, which is dance!
Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of emails from dancers approaching me with marketing
and promotion questions. I decided to do
a series on this blog answering some of
the most frequently-asked questions I
receive, so here’s Part One:
Four Mistakes Dancers Make On The Internet.
1) YOU DON’T
HAVE A WEBSITE
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
you need a professional website.
It’s important for many reasons- it allows
people to see what you look like, read your bio, access dates you’ll be performing
and classes or workshops that you’re teaching, buy your products and services,
and to get a feel for what you do. The
people who visit your site will be able to “see” you, to contact you, and to
take you seriously, realizing that you
truly are an artist and businessperson, not just a dabbler. It doesn’t need to
have all the latest bells and whistles, but it does need to impart the who,
what, where and why of your dance career.
“But I have a Facebook page!” I can hear you cry, “Isn’t that good enough?”
No, it’s not. Not if you’re serious about your career.
Ok, a Facebook page is
better than nothing, but
you still need a website! Your website and your Facebook page should be
linked. If for some insane reason you don’t
have a Facebook account, this brings us to:
2) YOU DON’T
HAVE A PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is awesome in general, but it’s especially
great for connecting with your fans, students, potential students and/or
sponsors or for selling costumes, engaging in spirited discussions, shop talk
and conversations about dance history, and for joining groups that will inform
you about your area of interest. These
interactions are so important for our careers!
If you aren’t actively involved in social media, you’re doing your dance career a serious disservice.
Social medial
equals free marketing!
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram really are
where it’s happening, they’re terrific
promotional tools which can link you to others who share your interests.
I know it sounds trite, but it’s true.
If you don’t have accounts on these top sites, take the time to set one up and learn how to
use them. They’re fun, yes, but they’re also extremely important to you as a professional. Students, fans, show producers, casting
directors and potential clients for private parties look for dancers on social media all the time. You can
get hired, get professional advice,
learn about auditions, acquire students ,new fans and buy costumes via social
media.
If you’ve been holding off on
this, now’s the time to explore it…which brings us to:
3) NOT USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
Many dancers literally shoot themselves in the foot
while using social media.
One common mistake is to set
up a page on (any) social media site,
and then let it die a long, slow death by not doing anything with it. Ok, so you set up a Facebook, Twitter or
Instagram page…and you can’t see the big
deal about it. You’re not so happy with
it because you have like, four followers…. and you’d much rather be playing
Candy Crush Saga or Bubble Witch or whatever the hell is the new addictive time-waster. Right?
You can’t see what’s so great about having a dance-oriented professional
page, cause nothing is happening.
But did you think to yourself
“If I Build It They Will Come?”
Nice fantasy, but that isn’t
how it works! If you’re using social media for marketing, you need to put the necessary time into your
page, or…pun intended…it’s gonna go belly up really quickly.
“But I don’t have the time!”
This is a common complaint
many dancers have.
Make the time- remember, social medial equals free marketing!
Do some posts and interactions with your morning
coffee… you can even set an alarm so you don’t go over ten or fifteen minutes and get sucked into a rabbit hole. “Like”
a few pages or make some comments while you’re waiting for dance class to start… log on from the dentist’s
office, while the baby’s asleep, at a dog park, a show, the airport or in line
at the grocery store …where, I daresay, you’re probably already shimmying up a storm, practicing
as your groceries are being bagged!
In order to get an audience, you have to engage an audience. Like courtship, you
have to woo people to your page. Invite
people to your page(s) and make sure there is something interesting and fun for
them to enjoy…so they will be sure to check back for more updates.
Don’t blast out event promotions non-stop, it will be off-putting
to your followers…though you do need to be
consistent with announcing a gig or a class, cause posting one time isn’t
going to cut the mustard. People visit
many different pages, and their newsfeed is getting updated by the second by all of their friends, as well as all the
pages they like.
That means your event post will come and go in the blink of
an eye, so you definitely have to post multiple times. Just don’t over-do it,
and please, for the love of god, don’t tag people who wouldn’t be interested, or whom you know
won’t be able to come to your show.
Inviting people from other states or countries won’t help your event- cause they will not be
able to attend and will just get annoyed cause you’re being spammy.
Engage with others by
“liking” and commenting on their status posts, be personal and personable! Make sure your social media interactions find
a balance between the fun stuff and hard-core promo or people will start tuning
out. Lots of pictures are always good, in fact, sometimes I’m kinda shocked by how few dancers
post pictures…cause they’re pretty much
like digital calling cards! If you look sparkly and appealing, others will
react favorably. The phrase “Every Picture Tells A Story” comes to mind.
3) OVER-SHARING ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Ok, so I’ve just told you to post a lot of stuff…pictures, event
announcements, videos, etc. But if you
have a fan page or group set up just
for your dancing, please keep it “on
topic”. A really common mistake- and one that makes many
people actually feel embarrassed
for you- is to “overshare” or post TMI ,
the abbreviation for “too much
information”.
If you’re running a dance oriented page,
people don’t need ( or want!) to know
that you’re having your period, fighting
with your significant other, having a
rough day emotionally, fell off the
wagon, or that a relative died…or you
broke a nail.
Your professional page should reflect your professional dance career.
It isn’t a tell-all site, or a place to get
virtual hugs. Use your personal page for
that kind of post…if, indeed you really and truly want to post all your dirty laundry on the internet.
Presumably the reason you made a dance
page on any social media site is
because you are in the midst of having a
dance career. It’s doubtful that you would walk into your
day job and complain about any of this stuff, right? If you want your dancing to be your day job, then you need to
behave professionally when you’re online.
There
are a few exceptions to this rule.
For example, if something went horrendously wrong at a gig, but it turned out
to be a funny story- something that many
dancers can relate to- then go ahead and post away! Similarly, if your
addiction is glitter, buying or making costumes, or something like that- as opposed to some sort of
illegal controlled substance- go ahead and post about it…cause everyone will relate to it! And if
something terrible happened, like your sprained your ankle and need to
cancel some gigs, go ahead and post that.
It will be a way of letting everyone know (all at once)
why you aren’t showing up for a show or shows. And in a tough situation
like this, which again, every dancer can
relate to it, you will probably be
pleasantly surprised at how supportive and generous the dance community can be!
#
Watch for Part Two in this
series, which will help you find your
way in navigating social media sites to their greatest advantage.
Purchase an autographed copy of The Belly
Dance Handbook: A Companion For The Serious Dancer here:
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