So You Got Great Headshots… Now What? A fabulous shot alone is not enough for you to work as an actor. It is extremely important to get your name and face out there so you can get the attention of casting directors, stage agents, and sales agents. This is where effective marketing comes into play. Here are 10 marketing ideas that will help you go from struggling artist to successful actor.
1. No matter how talented you are, you need to constantly educate yourself to improve your acting skills and stay on top of your game. Training doesn’t stop once you’re chosen for your first part. It’s a good idea to attend acting classes and acting workshops regularly to give yourself an edge over the competition and improve your resume.
2. Create a resume detailing your work experience and any relevant skills you have. Print your resume on an 8×10 sheet of paper to fit on the back of your photograph. Staple or glue all four corners of the resume to the back of your headshot. Resume formats vary depending on whether you’re applying for a role on film, stage, or television, so consult a book on the acting industry to determine how you should format your resume.
3. One of the biggest complaints casting directors and agents have about portraits is when the audition caller looks nothing like the person in the photo. Make sure your shots are an accurate representation of you and are not overly photoshopped. 8×10 color digital prints are the current industry standard.
4. Actor websites are a simple and effective marketing tool. You can display a variety of headshots, as well as your resume, demo reel, and current projects on your website. Use your full name in your website URL because it looks professional and helps build your brand as an actor. Avoid getting a URL that looks like: thehottestactorinla.com because it looks unprofessional and will make it harder for people to remember. Make sure your email address also contains your full name. No one will take you seriously if you have a cheesy, generic email address.
5. Get a casting website. Casting directors and agents search profiles and headshots on sites like LA Casting to find suitable actors, so make sure you have a strong presence on one of these sites. When casting directors search LA Casting, hundreds of thumbnails with photos come up. The only way you’ll get called to auditions or get noticed by agents is if the shots you show at LA Casting are spectacular. It’s a good idea to include about six photos on your LA Casting site to show your versatility.
6. At a minimum, you should get commercial and theatrical headshots, but it is recommended to get headshots with a few different looks to display on your casting website and actor’s website. Theatrical shots are submitted for television, film and stage roles. In your theatrical shots, you want to look professional and speak with your eyes. Business face photos are submitted for local and national commercials, print ads, and voice work. In your business photos, you should have a big smile and appear confident and approachable.
7. Get business cards with pictures of your face, contact information, and website URLs printed on them. Take your business cards with you so you don’t have to carry your photos with you everywhere you go.
8. Create postcards that show your current photo or another photo of you with a different look. You can send these postcards to follow up with casting directors and agents, letting them know what you’re currently working on or thanking them for coming to your meeting. Avoid mailing postcards more than every three months unless your contact information has changed or you are inviting someone to a production.
9. Don’t spend hundreds of dollars on professional headshots, just to get cheap prints. If you want to be taken seriously and present yourself at your best, you need quality lab prints. Ask your portrait photographer for recommendations on where to print your photos.
10. As you start getting acting jobs, make sure you get copies of all the work you do. Choose three to five minutes of your best work to transfer to a performance demo DVD or demo reel. Give your real demo as a promotional tool.
