How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks
How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks, breaks down an actor's journey, one topic at a time. Join award-winning actor, writer and host Robert Peterpaul alongside industry talent and experts as they discuss how to build a successful career as a performer and beyond in the entertainment industry. From inspirational casting stories to practical advice on the craft of acting, tune in to expand your skill set and book that role.
Discover fresh casting calls at castingnetworks.com.
How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks
5 Social Media Hacks to Grow Your Acting Career with Marketing Expert Heidi Dean
Social Media Strategist for actors Heidi Dean unpacks five principles that turn social media into an acting career growth engine. Alongside actor and host Robert Peterpaul, Heidi reveals how creatives can have fun engaging online and make an impact without burning out.
This episode covers:
• How to grow your following on social media
• New Instagram features that can up your networking game.
• How to let social media inspire you and fuel your creative journey.
• Finding balance and maintaining a peaceful relationship with social media + more.
*Heidi Dean is the go-to social media strategist for actors. She's the founder of Marketing4Actors.com and the author of Social Media for Actors: 100 Essential Tips to Grow, Thrive, and Survive Online. She speaks regularly at events for SAG-AFTRA, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, AEA and top acting schools across the country. Her clients include Emmy Award-winners, Broadway performers, series regulars, directors, producers, casting directors, and more. Connect with her @marketing4actors.
This is - How We Role. Discover fresh casting calls at castingnetworks.com.
Follow Host, Actor and Producer Robert Peterpaul (Amazon's Sitting in Bars with Cake, The Art of Kindness podcast) on Instagram @robpeterpaul and learn more at robertpeterpaul.com.
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Hi, I'm Heidi Dean. I'm 5'1. I'm obsessed with kindness and cowboy boots, and this is how we roll.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, I love that so much. These boots are made for walk-in down the social media path, and that's just what we'll do, Heidi. When it comes to working in entertainment, there's a lot of hows, and they all boil down to how we navigate this wild industry. While how we follow our dreams is uncertain, how we roll along the way is in our hands. Welcome to How We Roll, a podcast for actors by casting networks. Hello actors. It's your friend Robert Peter Paul here with another Oh, sorry. I just got a DM. Um it says, uh social media can grow your acting career. Full transparency. I wasn't always on board with this fact. And I felt uncomfortable sharing things like headshots or reels for all the world to see. You know, I mostly shared food pictures. But as you'll hear, my mindset has changed. Speaking to the power of this, we have an ideal guest today. Joining me on the mic is social media strategist for actors, my friend Heidi Dean. Heidi Dean is known as the go-to social media marketing strategist for actors. She's the founder of Marketing4Actors.com and the author of Social Media for Actors, 100 Essential Tips to Grow, Thrive, and Survive. That rhymes online. She speaks regularly at events for Stagafra, the StagAftra Foundation, AEA, and top acting schools and universities across the country. Her client list includes Emmy Award winners, Broadway performers, series regulars, directors, producers, casting directors. I mean the list goes on. Best of all, Heidi is an incredibly kind person who leads with positivity and truly gifts everyone here listening today a treasure trove of knowledge. We discussed the business skills that strengthen your presence like time management, combating burnout and staying inspired, creating a sense of peace and healthy relationships with social media platforms, and so much more. This conversation truly helped me, and I hope it helps you too, friend. Oh, and since we're chatting about social media, I guess I should say, please connect with us online at Casting Networks and at Rob PeterPaul. I'd also love for you to send us your career-related questions. It would be a privilege to find some answers for you. Before we dive in, I want to take a moment to genuinely thank you all for tuning in to How We Roll This Season. The only intention with this podcast has been to inspire you to dream bigger and to empower you with tools that hopefully make those dreams happen. Now here's how we roll with five social media principles to grow your acting career. We're rolling. Heidi, thank you so much for being a guest on How We Roll Today.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_03:You know, I've been such a fan of yours over the years. I just admire the way you are, first of all, so vulnerably you. And second of all, committed to helping us actors market ourselves and get all of our talents and our dreams out there. So thank you for all you do.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, well, thank you. Thank you for having me and following me. And you know how we discovered each other is through some of the things we're gonna talk about today, actually. Um, I mean, I discovered you through your Instagram. I think you were running social media for somebody else, but then I also found you through a few of your creative posts, and I just kind of fell in love with your account. So I'm sure I'm gonna embarrass you a little later on when we talk about your posting and what you do as well.
SPEAKER_03:I'm like numb to embarrassment at this point, just because I embarrass myself probably 27,000 times a second, honestly, Heidi. So I appreciate that. And I have loved getting to connect over the years, and this is long overdue. Everyone, I've already done a long intro complimenting you and your work, and we all know that you are the top social media strategist for actors out there, but you started as an actor yourself, and I thought a fun place to start this conversation would just be to address the fact that you weren't always quite on board with social media, and maybe some people tuning in today can relate to that. So before we dive in, can you please just share a little bit about that? That struggle.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. I I talk about that struggle a lot because uh when I first got on social, I mean, I thought hashtags were silly. I didn't really know the point. I struggled with how to grow, I struggled with what to post, pretty much everything that every actor struggles with. And it wasn't until I really realized how it could actually help your relationships and help you meet people that it just flipped a switch for me. That once I started to see that, that I could literally put myself in circles of people I wanted to know. And at that time, uh I wasn't acting. I was, uh I had a business. And it was just opening up doors and I was meeting people and I was getting my products in stores and all because of the things I could do with my relationships on social media. So for me, it wasn't until I really embraced that it had a reason, a why, an actual purpose, um, and really saw beyond just using it through or using it for playtime that that I did start to embrace it. And this was years ago, years and years ago.
SPEAKER_03:I think that it's all so cool. And I appreciate you sharing that fact. And listeners, we get it. We understand you might be a little apprehensive, but Heidi, why would you say social media overall to kind of like pick some of the layers of that onion back, that digital onion, is such a powerful tool for actors in today's world?
SPEAKER_00:I'd say, well, it's a number of a number of reasons, but I I think it can help grow uh an actor's career. And really what we're gonna talk about, I think today is really five reasons. Um, it can help you grow your relationships, like I mentioned. It can help you grow your discoverability, really get yourself out there. Um, it can help you grow your reputation for better or worse. And it can help you really create and build business skills that a lot of actors don't necessarily have. And it can really grow your creativity, which I know surprises actors a lot because I think a lot of actors think that it's, you know, ugh, social media drains me, it's another job. But I actually think it can fuel your creativity if you let it.
SPEAKER_03:I completely agree. And I've been down that journey, and that's the one I definitely connect with the most because I've also found that in doing silly reels or making content for social media, it's taken a little bit of pressure off of my self-tapes. Heidi, this is the perfect transition to kind of break down these five tangible ways we sort of talked about before coming on here today, that social media can help you expand your acting career. So let's break them down, everybody. Number one, you mentioned it grows your relationships.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, a hundred percent. I mean, I think social media is the best and completely free tool to create, to nurture, to grow relationships as an actor. And I see this really, there's two sides to this. Um, it can help you stay connected to the people you already know, the people that already know, like, and trust you and your work. And it can also expand your circle to meet new people, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so let's just talk about the first one because a lot of actors, I feel like they forget that the people that already know, like, and trust you, that's really the quickest way to book more work because they know you, right? They know you. This is a business of referrals. But what I notice a lot with actors is that the problem is most of them don't have a system for staying in touch. They finish a gig and then they move on to the next thing. And before you know it, you've lost touch with people from a year ago or three years ago or five years ago. And when you lose touch, that means losing work in the future. And that's where I think social media comes in. You need to set up what I call your virtual coffee shop, your virtual coffee dates.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, let's brew the coffee. Can we make it pumpkin spice, maybe? Oh, you got your coffee.
SPEAKER_00:I got my coffee. I almost have my coffee. So instead of waiting for the next audition or waiting to go to, you know, a workshop or a networking event, I have dozens of coffee dates every single week, right from my couch in my yoga pants with my coffee. And I think actors can do the same thing. And really, how you set up these virtual coffee dates, it depends on what platforms you're using. Some are better than others. But I'm guessing a lot of your listeners are on Instagram and that's how I met you. So let's let's talk about something they can do right now on Instagram to have these virtual coffee dates. So, what I like to do is I like to use the favorites feed on Instagram and have these virtual coffee dates with the people who already know, like, and trust me. Okay. Um, I know a lot of people don't even know what the favorites feed is. I just taught a workshop and people are like, what is that?
SPEAKER_03:Is it similar to close friends? Is that is it kind of I don't know the favorites feed? Please enlighten me.
SPEAKER_00:Let me let me okay, everyone take out take out your phone if you can't. Um look at the feed, so where you're seeing other people's posts, and just look at the Instagram logo at the top. There's like a little down arrow. And if you don't have the down arrow, just like tap the Instagram logo. And what you'll be able to do is you'll be able to set up a feed of up to 50 accounts. This can be casting directors, directors, collaborators, even fellow actors that you want to keep in touch with. And what's fantastic is once you add them, you get a feed of just their post. It's very much like what Twitter lists used to be back in the day.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:So you'll just get a feed of their post. And also they're more likely to show up at the top of your feed. And in a world where we can't really control much with algorithms of what we see and when we see it, the favorites feed helps you take back control. This is really have those virtual coffee dates, right? And make it a habit to check that feed and engage, you know, liking, authentically commenting. These are people that know you. Um, reply to their stories. And what you'll start to notice is that you're gonna start to stay top of mind between auditions, between bookings, and you will start attracting more opportunities because you're just gonna be on the brain of more people. Um, I listened to your uh podcast uh with uh Erica Jensen, right? Um thanks for tuning in.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:It was great. So everyone go listen to that after you listen to this one. And um and she that's one thing she was saying is, you know, stay top of mind with the people you know. And this is one way we can actually set up little coffee dates and stay top of mind. Um, and I mean, I know that I might have lost some people there with the instructions, but just rewind and follow the instructions. Um, or it's a recent blog of mine on my blog, Marketing for Actors, the number four. It's I think it's called Grow Your Relationships Using the The Favorites Feed. So just go look at that, and there's like pictures that show you how to do it.
SPEAKER_03:And your blog is an invaluable resource, as is your page. You know, you're you're consistently providing actors so much specific information. Specific information and specificity, I think makes for the best content. So I just appreciate that on another level. And I love this idea. I was doing it as you were talking, everyone, and it it is as simple as it sounds. You can literally just click the Instagram logo at the top and you'll see favorites. And I started removing my family, and I'm like, casting directors coming in hot. Sorry, fam. I think that's incredible advice. You know, while we're on this first subject, you worked as a social media manager for big actors, producers, and casting directors before you started this business, and you kind of witnessed actors maybe making some mistakes firsthand in the DMs.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, definitely.
SPEAKER_03:Well, Heidi, I thought we'd play a fun flash-round game called The Haunted Inbox. Woo!
SPEAKER_02:Okay, let's do it.
SPEAKER_03:Heidi, without naming names, obviously we'll keep this all in the name of kindness. We're going to shine a jack-o'-lantern on what actors should not send to casting producers, directors, etc., on social media and maybe pick up some treats along the way. Are you down? I'm down. Okay. First, what's the most cringeworthy DM you've ever seen an actor send to a casting director that still haunts you to this day?
SPEAKER_00:There were many, actually. It's why I started my blog, because I I I couldn't believe the DMs I was seeing because I was acting as these people, right? So I was managing their accounts, you know, as the producer, as the casting director, as this big actor. And people would DM all the time, just asking for a job, you know, asking, you know, can you can I get seen for this? Um, asking for advice too, um, which a lot of my clients and I was running their social, you know, they're very giving, kind people. They're also very busy people. So if you DM somebody like that, just asking, where do I get started? You know, can you can you give me some advice? Just it's a it's really vague. Get started in what? What part of the business are you and where are you? It's you're taking up their time. And I hate to say it's cringe, but it takes up their time. And time is very important to a lot of people. And you're taking up their time away from their family and you know, things in their life. So yeah, I mean, a lot of it, it's what I call push marketing, like really pushy things where people that would just show up and be asking for an audition. And without any relationship ever being built, the the the temperature of the relationship was ice cold. So that I mean, that's really that was the spookiness over and over and over again. It just felt like Groundhog's Day every time I would sign in to direct messages or to the my tag post when I was running the accounts. The the amount of posts that actors would tag these people in that they were not in at all. These people didn't know them. It it just was a very push marketing, pushy tactic that rarely works unless you have some sort of relationship with this person.
SPEAKER_03:I'm about to do the Macaulay Coke in like face care, hands on my face little screen thing. That actually brings me to my next one, which is what about a paranormal post? So something on the grid that doesn't do actors any favors. Is that what you say would say it is, kind of just tagging casting randomly?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, tagging casting directors in your headshots or, you know, you know, things that like this isn't a casting director that cast you in a project. It's somebody you didn't know. And so I was I always tell everyone, you know, whenever you're gonna do an ask with someone online, ask yourself what is the temperature of the relationship, right? Is it ice cold? Like, have you not established anything at all? Is it warm or is it hot, right? Like the the warmer it is, the more likely they're going to say yes. So that's our job. We can use these virtual coffee dates, actually. We just talked about it with people that we people that we know, but you can actually use them with people you don't know as well, really warming up the temperature of the relationship so that eventually it is warm. They're gonna click over to your page and hopefully your Instagram looks good. Hopefully you've got a link that they can go look in your bio and watch your work, or maybe you're performing on the feed somewhere.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, that's pull marketing instead of a pushy approach of push marketing.
SPEAKER_03:I love that. And we're gonna break a little bit of that down later on, but I think our brains are freakishly connected today because my next one was sort of in that vein. I I wondered if you could share a ghoulishly good example that maybe an actor can send to a quote power player that they don't quite know. Like what what were the ones that you did want to answer because you felt like they were genuine?
SPEAKER_00:A gratitude, uh, you know, a a gratitude comment, a gratitude DM. Um, I I think a lot of the magics aren't in the DMs for, you know, for personal brands. I think the magic is in in the comments. Really, you know, joining, authentically joining their conversations. What are they posting about? Are they posting about their dog? Are they posting about uh their kid that just graduated? Are they posting about their favorite frozen yogurt place? I mean, this is Instagram, right? Yeah. And just authentically joining their conversations. And this goes back to warming, warming that relationship, right? Um, and celebrating them as well, right? Celebrating their achievements. Maybe they just got nominated for something. Maybe their TV show just got renewed that they cast. Well, not making it about you, making it about them and just sending kindness their way and commenting with congratulations. Or I've seen actors again and again, they'll they'll do a story that's a gratitude post, just giving somebody a shout-out. Yeah. Um, you can do the same thing in the DMs, but I feel like if someone you don't know, um, a lot of this magic can happen in the comments, replying to stories, and then eventually, yeah, take it to a take it to a DM.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I love that so much. And, you know, we keep using this coffee metaphor. Think about it. You don't want to drink coffee that's not warmed up. Okay. You don't want you don't want to drink coffee that's not maybe hot, unless it's iced coffee. That's a different story. I think this is such brilliant advice. Thank you for playing the haunted inbox because you answered basically all of them within just maybe me giving three, I think. Before we move on to the next sort of tent poll that we have here today, do you have, I guess, an example you can share briefly of an actor you saw meaningfully grow a relationship because of how they showed up on social media?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I I actually have a bunch, but one of them specifically is one of my students, Johnny, who was um he's in Toronto and he wanted to get representation. And so he actually did the research for all the, you know, repres uh all the agents in his area, right? Um, and he kind of found the ones that were the right fit and he started to engage with them on Instagram, just in a real, real way. And it took about six months, but after six months, he had warmed up this relationship and he reached out about representation and he got signed. I mean, and it happened. And the best part about this story is that the agent told him that he felt like he already knew him from his Instagram. And so warming up that inform that information, warming up that relationship um really helped kind of seal the deal on that. He was talented, obviously. He his, you know, everything was set up on all his, you know, casting profiles, casting networks. Um but, you know, he also, you know, he he he grew this relationship and he was just, you know, it was a warmer, warmer temperature.
SPEAKER_03:The stars aligned and he was discoverable in a sense, which brings us to number two, Heidi. Social media grows your discoverability.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, a hundred percent. I mean, I think it's a it's a beautiful time to be an actor with talents to share because you've been given a virtual stage. It's right in your pocket, right? And thanks to short form video, so YouTube Shorts, TikToks, Instagram reels, it's really never been easier to grab your phone, to open an account and really share your work with the world. And you don't need a lot of money, you don't need a fancy camera. In fact, this might be better than most cameras that you would go out and buy. Um, and I'll acknowledge, yes, you have to learn a few buttons and some, you know, basic video editing right inside the app. But that's where go find me on YouTube, go find me on Instagram. Like Robert said, I have a lot of like mini tutorials that I drop all the time to get past those technical hurdles. But I think the opportunity is incredible to be able to perform and showcase your work and be discovered by not just audiences, but by producers and reps and casting professionals all over the world. And we kind of talked about this before, but I think this isn't just about being seen. It's also a great way to keep your creativity alive between bookings and between acting classes. And there's just so many actors doing this and using social media as their virtual stage. Uh, I'll I'll tell you a couple that are my favorite to follow. Uh Chris Tester, he posts monologues in front of the mic in his casting sweet spot, and he has built a global audience on the case. Cool.
SPEAKER_03:I gotta check him out. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:He is fantastic. Um, you go find him on TikTok, find him on Instagram. The I I used to think posting monologues was kind of cringe because I never saw it done effectively, right? It was always like somebody taking something that didn't belong on social and then putting it there. But he takes the monologues to a whole new level. And you've got to go check him out. I'm gonna check him out.
SPEAKER_03:I think things are cringe until they're not. I think it comes down to what you talk about a lot, which is that it has to authentically come from you and align with who you are and how you wanna be seen out there. So I can't wait to see how Chris makes this monologue magic happen.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, go check him out. Um Rocky Patera is another account I love to follow him. He's amazing. And he's Rocky's road on TikTok for anyone looking him up. So he, if you don't know him, he started writing original musical content just for fun. And uh, his visibility uh got him representation and an audience. And he's so funny. So go watch him.
SPEAKER_03:Really smart.
SPEAKER_00:Smart, using it like a virtual stage and just really funny.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I know his partner. I did a musical with his partner a while back, and they're just such funny, kind people.
SPEAKER_00:So I love to see good people when always, always good kind people. Um who else do I follow? Um Marcella Lens Pope, actually, I just saw her post right before we signed on. She does a lot of impressions and comedy. And let's see.
SPEAKER_03:Well, those are three different examples, which I love. They're all doing something different and providing a consistently niche piece of content then that has then allowed them to be discovered. And I wonder, Heidi, you know, overall, are there certain tangible ways, maybe even secret ones that people that know social media don't know about to get discovered? I mean, like things like sort of there's the alt text that you can fill out that helps you with SEO. What what are some of those ways?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think first of all, you have to use the right features. And I think a lot of actors, they, they don't. You know, they're they're social media changes, Instagram changes, and they're still doing the same things that they did in 2014 or 2015. And that's not gonna get you traction anymore. And one of the biggest things I see on Instagram specifically is that actors tell me they want to grow, but they're not doing reels. I mean, that's the number one way to grow. The head of Instagram has come out and said it all the way, reels and then carousels, but they're just posting selfies. That's not gonna help you grow because one thing that helps us grow is shareable content. And sadly, your selfies aren't super shareable. They're not gonna make me go and want to share that with my best friend, my mom, um, you know, anybody. So you have to use the right features. Also, I see a lot of actors, they're like really obsessed with using Instagram stories. Well, Instagram stories are great for staying connected with your existing followers, they're great for behind the scenes, for day-in-the-life updates and for keeping relationships warm, right? But they're not good for growing. So if you're spending all your time with static feed posts and stories and you want to grow, you're using the wrong features. You're not using the features that are gonna help you. So, you know, I think most actors should use a combination. A balanced strategy uses, you know, all three your feed for your first impression, your stories for connection, and reels for visibility. So that's that's a biggie. I they're just using the wrong, the wrong thing. Also, they're relying on out outdated strategies, like thinking that hashtags are gonna help them grow. I mean, in 2018, I could put some hashtags on a post, I could put them in my stories and I would grow. Like I knew which ones to use, the big ones, the little ones, and it would work, but they just don't work the same way anymore. And Instagram actually recently confirmed what a lot of us already noticed in my world is that you know, hashtags no longer really push your content into feeds like they used to. And what really does now is keywords. So think about on every platform, really, you know, on TikTok, on um Instagram, what are the exact phrases and words that your audience would be typing into the search bar? Think about like um Google search terms or YouTube search terms. And for actors, this is like self-tape tips, funny audition story, um uh New York City actor life, London actor. These are actually keywords that tell Instagram who to show your content to. Okay. So instead of like stuffing your post with, you know, your captions with like tons of hashtags, you want to just naturally weave these keywords into your captions. So you can put them in your captions, you can put them in the text on the screen for your videos. Just weave these keywords so that that Instagram actually knows who it's going to, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it's like a guidebook in a way that you're writing. So it's sort of like the caption and just the keywords, any text you can put out there is almost the new hashtag in a sense. You just don't need the pound.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. Yeah. I mean, just an example, like, you know, if you're doing a video and it's, you know, a day in the life, um, text on the screen, day in the life of a New York City actor, audition edition, right? So now we've got New York City actor, which is a keyword, and we have audition edition, right? So those are keywords and it feels natural, it feels conversational, and it's valuable to your audience. And if you want to throw some hashtags that reinforce that, you know, in the caption, go for it. Throw a couple. New York actor, audition life, uh, acting audition, right? Yeah. With the with the pound sign, of course. Um, but you don't have to put too many. I mean, TikTok is now cracking down on hashtags. You only can use five hashtags on TikTok now. And I think that I think we're gonna see that on Instagram soon, because it's too many hashtags just confuse the algorithm. But if we get really specific about our keywords, then that will make your content more discoverable. So, I mean, it's it's important to show up and share your talents. But if you don't know how to put the videos together, how to do the captions, you know, whether or not you should use hashtags, then you're not quite as discoverable, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Well, then follow Heidi and you can figure out how. I know all these apps too, they want you to spend time on their platforms, right? So it makes sense that they'll actually push your video if you add that text and edit the video within their app versus maybe using another app. Like there's all these sort of tricks that you you tell people uh about that are ever changing, which is why we will probably always need you to be posting this content because you gotta evolve with it. So that that's just a kind of you know, scratching the surface a little bit.
SPEAKER_00:I do have, can I give one more tip that's so important?
SPEAKER_03:Please.
SPEAKER_00:Uh when actors are going online and they're like, oh, I'm gonna sing a song, I'm gonna make a you know, a sketch video, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna share my talents, I'm gonna do a monologue. You do need to think short. And it's very different. You you should not go and do the whole monologue. I mean, obviously, I'm gonna keep saying Instagram, but like over on Instagram, you don't want it over three minutes. You wanna shoot it this way, and watch time is the most important metric on Instagram and anywhere with video. Um, watch time meaning what is the percentage of time that people watch your video? So are you doing a two-minute monologue and we're only watching 20 seconds? That's not very good watch time. Or maybe you decided just to do a 30-second clip and we watched 30 seconds. And actually, we didn't just watch 30 seconds. You trim the edges so that like it ends and it loops back around. So now I actually have like 110% watch time. That tells the algorithm on any video-based platform that people are liking this. This is really good content. So it's much better to do a little short section of a monologue or even take like your big actor reel and like let's put smaller clips out there and post it because you're gonna get better watch time, meaning it's gonna get pushed out more and more people are gonna see your talents and potentially discover you.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, really, really great tip. I'm glad that you shared that because these are the sort of the data points that maybe a lot of us don't know. And I will say too, you mentioned this earlier, but if you're not planning on maybe doing a whole rollout of content on social media, which is maybe it's just not your thing, you mentioned sort of a basic thing, which is that at least have your website linked in your bio, at least have maybe one performance pinned. Have something so that when a casting director goes to check you out, because we all know social media is the first place they go to see how you are to work with, or just as a person, you have to have something there for them, for them to latch on to, right? Otherwise you're kind of doing yourself a disservice. And exactly.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think that goes right into number three, which is that it grows your reputation. I almost said representation, which it can grow as well. We covered that.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, it can grow your reputation. And like I said, for better or worse. Um, this is a business of referrals, right? And people are looking you up, you know, casting, reps, producers, or even other actors. They might be suggesting you for a reading or a project. And sometimes it's for liability, right? They're investing a lot of money in a project and they need to know that you are a Professional, they need to know that you're not a risk. But more often, it's simply to see who you are as a human, as a person. And I think actually Erica talked about this as well in the episode. And we could we could spend an entire episode just talking about like cleaning up your social media. But for today, I'll give everybody a little action step to take. I want you to take out your social, take, you know, open up one of your favorite social networks. And I want you to do kind of a little self-edit and ask yourself, number one, ask yourself, do my posts represent my best self? And when I say best self, I don't mean Instagram perfect. I don't believe in that. But would it would it would you feel good if your agent, manager, or casting director saw them? You know, do your posts reflect the version of you that you'd want in the room? Okay. And if not, archive, delete, take things down because actors do lose jobs all the time because of this. Um, so that's the first audit I want you to do. You know, do my post represent my first, my best self.
SPEAKER_02:I love that.
SPEAKER_00:And then second, do my post tell my story beyond the projects I book.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So do my post tell my story at all beyond the projects I book. Because if the only time you show up is when your hashtag booked and blessed or hashtag booked it, right? We're missing the rest of your story. And actors are so much more than the projects they book. Um, we want to see your acting wins, but we want to see an interest, a hobby, something that shows your personality. Um, from the industry side, casting looks you up because they want to know what you're like beyond the headshot. But also from the follower side, as your career grows and as you grow more of a following, most of your followers will not be actors. So they want to know a little bit more of like how you're just like them. So make sure, even if it's just in your, you know, Instagram stories that you're peeling back the curtain a little bit into something because your online presence, it speaks before you do. So we want to make sure it's saying the right thing.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think that's super smart because even if you look at sort of the high-profile public figures that we all laud and follow, you know, Jennifer Aniston's on Instagram, Reese Witherspoon, a lot of them have come out and said paparazzi culture sort of ended because of social media. It gives them the power and they can actually share glimpses of their life. And it works because they're doing what you just said, which is they're balancing their promotions with giving people little glimpses of just who they are, their family, what they do. I know you do a wonderful exercise with clients called putting the me in your social me dia. How can actors make sure that their social profiles align with who they are as performers? You just gave some great tips on that, but I just feel like it's so hard to figure out who you are and then kind of do it on purpose on social media. What do you talk about when you take people through that exercise specifically?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so we really just lean into obviously you're an actor, but what one other or maybe two other things really light you up? Like what it could be a value, it could be a hobby, and it's a whole series of questions. It could even be um, you know, the fact you're like obsessed with Marvel and maybe you want to be like the next Marvel superhero. Well, guess what? That can actually be something you post about, right? There could be crossover in the story, and sometimes it's it's better that there is, right? So what are you gonna share? That's you know, it maybe it's that you love the outdoors, maybe your happy place is the beach. You know, what is it for you? Maybe it's family, maybe it's your daughter. Like my for me, I'm a business, so it the way it breaks down is a little different. But if I was uh, you know, an actor, it would probably be my daughter to Lula, right? Just sharing our relationship as long as it was okay with her. I know it's okay with her. She always wants to be on my Instagram. Oh, hey, you'll just see her in my stories, but she's always like, Hey, mommy, can I be on your Instagram? I love it. So um, you know, for me, it would probably be my daughter. For some people, it's more of a value. I mean, one of my favorite accounts to follow these days is Ms. Kim Hale. Uh, and you know, she is a dancer, actor, singer. And really, what her account uh revolves around is that journey, but also a value we can all get behind. And that's really the idea that age is just a number, right? She is following her Broadway dreams at 57 to become a dancer and performer. And so I'd say her story is that journey, but it's also all wrapped around this value that we can all understand and that normal people, normal muggles can also get behind this. You don't have to be an artist, right? So for you, what's important to you? It could be kindness, right? I know that's one of yours. It could be kindness. I know you talk a lot about family. So, what is it for you? What's that thing that you're okay with peeling back the curtain? Now, one thing that's really important though is that you set what I call are your nanyas. Those are those topics that if you are on, you know, a late night show, a talk show, that you'd say nanya business. You must, must, must set your nanyas before you post anything on social media. So you have clear boundaries about what you will talk about and what you won't talk about, no matter what anybody says. And this is important if you're just starting out and important if you're a celebrity. So make sure when you're figuring out a way to tell your story that you have clear boundaries on what topics are on limits and off limits.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. My Italian is lighting up, which is most of me, the Italian in me, because Nunya, I think that's amazing in a time where nothing can really be deleted, right?
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03:So if you have that in place beforehand, it'll eliminate maybe the regret you feel when you do share something that maybe wasn't yours to share or that you just looking back maybe felt like you shouldn't have shared. So I think that's an important note. Speaking of sort of a a downside maybe to social media, one of them for me is the comparison game, right? So what's your advice for actors who struggle with comparison online?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, they're probably the same actors that do it in person too, right? Well, that's do it outside the audition room.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's true.
SPEAKER_00:Well, first of all, you you can't compare yourself to anyone on social because you don't know their story. A lot of times people are sharing a highlight reel and they're not sharing the full story. So that is gonna cause us to be upset and compare and despair. Um, so no, number one, it is a highlight reel. Um, number two, just know that we don't know where they are in their journey. Maybe they have been on Instagram for 10 years and you're just starting. So, how are you gonna compare to that person? Um, you know, a a big thing that I've actually a lot of my clients have been doing on platforms like Instagram is actually turning off their likes and their views. And some of my clients have millions of followers and they're doing this because when they do this, they can't see other people's likes either. And that's one of the things that they're comparing and despairing. They can go into their insights and they can do the work of like what post is performing well, what's my audience liking, just with looking at their stats, but with actually hiding the likes, hiding the views. It keeps them from being able to really compare and despair with other things that they see in their feed.
SPEAKER_03:I think that's amazing.
SPEAKER_00:I do think that um actors need to, on a regular basis, uh do kind of an audit of the people that are in their circle. And, you know, anybody that doesn't fit your little algorithm of happiness, as I call it, mute them. You know, mute them if it's somebody in the industry and you don't want to unfollow them, but mute them, unfollow them, but bye, right? Your mental peace is so important as an actor. And if there's anybody that keeps showing up in the feed and they're making you feel less than, um, making you not feel good about yourself, and you find yourself constantly comparing yourself, then that's time to say bye to that person, or at least, like I said, mute them in the post or in or in your stories so that you can just focus on your life and not not theirs.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, it's your side of the street. It's your place to kind of curate your happiness bubble in that sense, unless, you know, the comparison fuels you and energizes you in a good way. If you it's it's very personal. And so I think you're spot on there. I also think we should move on to number four, which is it grows your business skills. So we touched on networking and a few businessy things, but even more so, how do you think actors can utilize social media as a part of their business strategy, Heidi?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I see, you know, actors they spend all their time on the creative side, which is wonderful. You're creatives. But this is show business. And the more you grow on social, the more you have to treat it like part of your business. And one of the biggest mistakes I see actors make is that they have no structures, no systems in place for how they manage their social media. You know, they just hop on whenever and they doom scroll for hours and they're wondering why it's not helping their career. And I got my start in social media management. So without having systems and structures, there was no way I could manage multiple accounts, right? I would have been doom scrolling all day. So let me give you just a couple of tips to do this, because this is a big topic. Um but I think it's it, these the tips I'm gonna give you are really important because I think they're not only gonna help actors uh with their, you know, their social media being a business tool, but they're also gonna help them in real life as well. Um the first thing I would say is turn off push notifications. Every social network is going to encourage you, turn on notifications, turn on notifications. It's their job to do that because they want you on as much as possible. But you do not want your phone buzzing every time someone likes your post. You don't want your phone buzzing every time that casting director posts something. Notifications are designed to steal your attention and you should decide when you're going to engage, not your phone. I would say you're the boss of your social media, it's not the boss of you. So I don't have any notifications on at all for anybody. And it's like the first step to, you know, really having a good relationship and maintaining your mental peace online.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, I couldn't agree more. I'm the same way until my family's like, your phone's always on silent. I'm trying to call you. I'm like, it just brings me peace. Send a letter. I'm here.
SPEAKER_00:Come visit.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, exactly. I think that's great.
SPEAKER_00:So that's the easiest thing you could do today, right? Just turn off your push notifications. The next thing is also really simple. It's just set a schedule when you're gonna manage your social. When are you gonna check comments or direct messages or notifications? And then when are you gonna log off and put your phone aside? I like to pair this like with a daily ritual, like my morning coffee. That's my social media time, is getting up in the morning and checking everything in the morning, and then I put it aside. And doing that, setting these boundaries brings me mental peace. And there are some times I, you know, I work in social media, so I will sign back on later in the day, but I need these pockets of time where I am not on my phone because it will become the boss of me once again.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Another thing, which is super, super basic, but important, is across social media now we have lots of settings that help us track our time. Because I think a lot of people just really have no idea how much time they spend every day on social. And so you can go right into it's always in privacy and settings, and you can like track the numbers, you know, see how much you're really spending on social. And there's even limits where like you can have notifications saying, hey, you've been on too long. And I think for a lot of people, that awareness of like actually how long you've been on is a really important first step because sometimes you just don't realize like you are on hours a day, and you could be like working on so many other things for your acting career, or you could be creating content, right? Maybe you should be diverting the scrolling time into creating content, doing those monologues, putting yourself out there. Um, so just go in and really get an honest assessment of like how much time you're spending.
SPEAKER_03:Um it's illuminating.
SPEAKER_00:And then the last tip I'll give kind of goes back to what we were talking about with like comparing and then people in the comments. One of my favorite, my favorite settings in the world, I talk about it a lot. So if you know this, just go make sure it's all set up. Um, it's called Hidden Words on Instagram. So hidden words, I have a post I just pinned to my Reels tab that shows you how to set it up. And what it does is, you know, as we're sharing more of ourself, like I said, we don't want to just share the actor. We're sharing something else. Well, guess what? When we do that, you know, the online world does have trolls and bullies and haters, you know, oh my, right? So we're gonna start attracting those people. And sometimes they use certain derogatory terms, words, phrases, or emojis over and over again because maybe they don't believe in something we believe in. But what hidden words do is if you go into your privacy settings, look at hidden words, and you can actually set like custom words and phrases. And what Instagram will do is they'll make sure that you never see those comments or direct messages that contain those words. And for me, that that's just a lot of mental peace. Like if you can't afford a social media manager, which a lot of actors can't, you need to have these steps in place to make sure that you can manage it and that you can manage your creativity, your mind, because that's everything you have as an artist.
SPEAKER_03:You know, I think speaking of the favorite feed, this is my favorite chat about business maybe I've ever had, because you put the emphasis on your mental health, which I think, you know, it starts and ends there with everything in life, but especially with business, if you're not in a place of fueling yourself with that positive energy or the things that really, you know, make you sorry and champion you, you're not going to be in any place to make correct business decisions or even maintain this entrepreneurship that is being an actor. So I really appreciate how you kind of took that approach. I think those are really helpful.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's it's all important. And I mean, when you think about what we just talked about too, like these are business skills, time management, boundaries, systems. Yeah. And, you know, if you build them into your social media, you're gonna strengthen them in your real life and your acting career too. So it's it's really, really important. Um, and they all directly affect your mental peace.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And while we're on the business end, we won't have time to unpack this mammoth of a subject right now. So we'll have to already have you back, Heidi, for a million other reasons. But you can actually start a business on social media and make money. So you you can use these platforms as well to earn extra income, even if that's making reels as an actor and you find your niche. There's a a lot of information on that that Heidi has as well that we can maybe discuss on another episode. But we've made it to the last one, number five, social media, it grows your creativity.
unknown:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:This is my favorite one.
SPEAKER_00:I think it's come up actually like three times already. So we've got to be.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, in all of them.
SPEAKER_00:Talked, yeah, really. And um, you know, just think about it. You know, I think it can actually fuel your creativity if you allow it to, right? Um, when you're creating your own content, whether it's sketch, whether it's a voiceover, a monologue, or even like a silly POV, right? Or maybe you're doing an acting challenge or one of those voiceover challenges on Reels or TikTok. That's practice. That's keeping your creative muscles warm between bookings. And it's also a stage, like we talked about before, but it's practice, right? Um, I mean, there's no other tool that I can think of that gives you a free stage, free editing software, free distribution, um, and a free audience. And that's like incredible to me. And I said it before, you're a perfect example of this. Um, I discovered you because of your Instagram. And your posts, they they show your creativity, they show your journey, and it's super inspiring. Oh, I remember your first time flying posts I saw. I think to Wicked. It was so great. It was such a great, wonderful moment for anybody that's flown before, you know that that feeling. You know, I did peer pan back in the days.
SPEAKER_03:So I see it. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:She's I was Wendy. I was Wendy back in the day. But um so, you know, that it was just it was it was awesome. It was just a little moment, but led us into your journey. And that POV you did about the mic tape stuck to the back of your neck, like I spit out my coffee, right? That was brilliant.
SPEAKER_03:It all comes back to coffee. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's you know what it is? It's if you're having fun, I think a lot of the times the people watching are having fun. And so that's something too, I guess, under this number five is it should be fun for you, right? It it really should be fun at the end of the day. I can always tell you're having fun, which is I think why people want to follow you, because we want to be around that energy as well.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I found that I teach something that no actor wants to do. I shouldn't say no actor. Most actors do not want to do social media, right? So the more fun I have, the more they start to like it. You know, the more I put on Yoda ears and make things fly through the air, the more those posts are the posts people really love and remember. And, you know, any actor listening, like, stop thinking of social media as a chore. Think of it as play, think of it as practice. You know, it's actually supposed to be fun. So if you make that switch, everything changes. Um, now when I talk creativity, um, when I talk about this topic, a couple things do come up a lot. One thing is burnout. So staying inspired. And then the other thing is really important. Um, it's really the myth that being creative on social means like you have to create this big web series or like, you know, a 10-part sketch comedy, you know, series. Um, so I'd love to speak to both of these because I think these two things the well, they burn people out, but also they keep people from getting started. Um let's do it. But in terms of burnout um and really staying inspired, um, here's a little trick I use. And remember the favorites feed that we talked about on Instagram. So I don't use mine just for networking. I use mine as like a mini inspiration station for some creators that really inspire me. None of them are in the acting realm at all. One of them's like a vegan runner, and he is like he is so creative. And every time I see his posts, it it makes me want to do more. It makes me want to be more creative and inspire me and push me to be better. And so, you know, in addition to the anyone that you already know in this business, adding them to the favorites feed, adding some of those people that you want to know to the favorites feed to warm up those relationships, add some creators that inspire you. Because let's face it, sometimes what we see in our feeds isn't great. But if I if I had these creators there, then I'm guaranteed when I go to that favorites feed to see something that sparks an idea and really keeps my creative juices flowing. In addition, when I'm looking at my feed, if I see something that does inspire me or I go, oh, I think I can play on this for actors, um, I make it a habit to hit that little save post all the time. And I have a little save post collection. So I hold my finger down on this little save button, and I have a collection called Inspiration Station.
SPEAKER_02:I love that.
SPEAKER_00:And so if I'm ever feeling stuck, I just go to that save folder and I scroll and it always gets me back again.
SPEAKER_03:That's amazing. Everyone, test that out. You know, you reminded me of something I don't think I've shared on here before, but I was in a workshop once with a big casting director, I believe it was, I can't remember the name, and I'm so sorry for that. But they shared something similar in a different app on your phone, which was just called Open Invitations, or I'm gonna call it that. And every time someone in your life says, we should do that one day, we should grab coffee, we should, you know, have a phone call one day, you write it down. And before you know it, you'll have a giant list of people that would love to connect with you, that would love to meet you, of adventures you can have. And similar to what you just described, anytime you're kind of feeling low or burnt out or whatever it is, you can go to that notes app and open that up and see all the opportunities that you really do have. It's just about treating it like a business in the sense of you're writing it down and you're remembering it. And I love those little hacks. I'm gonna definitely do what you just said. I'll make time to do it now.
SPEAKER_00:No do it. Uh, I'll wait, I'll wait. And uh another kind of uh thing to build on what we just said, treating it like a business is um do it with your posting too. Like I have a Google Google Doc that I can like see on my computer right here. Um it's under post and it's called my future post document. And a lot of times we have an idea and we don't write it down, right? We're out and about, we're in the shower. I always write it down. I always actually text it to myself because if I'm on the go, that's the best way to do it. But then it always makes it to my future post document. Now, when I put it there, usually it's not fleshed out. Usually it's, you know, it's just chicken scratch and I have to figure it out. But then once a week I go to that document, I go, ooh, are these any of these ideas that I was excited about? Can I make these happen this week? If we don't write it down, it doesn't happen. And so, especially with content creation, whenever you have an idea, create a Google Doc or a Word document or something on your notes, whatever works for for you and your systems. Um, but write it down because if you don't, that idea is going to be gone. And who knows? It could be, it could be viral, it could be brilliant, it could be amazing. But if you don't remember it, it doesn't exist.
SPEAKER_03:I love that. And sometimes too, as you get more familiar with social media and TikTok and the different platforms, don't be afraid to just do the idea in the moment if you have a second. I know for me, the videos that I spend 10 seconds on are usually the ones that people seem to connect with and like versus the ones and sometimes the ones that I spend a lot of time on do well as well. But when it's just coming from that inspired place to just do it, there's so many easy ways. Like use a trending sound like you mentioned earlier, or practice a warm-up, whatever it is, and just try it. Don't be afraid. And and I wonder, what what would you say to people listening that are still afraid after all this? Maybe they're feeling a little overwhelmed, although you're not scary at all. And I'm sure you're putting all of them at ease. What would you say to those folks? Like, where should they start?
SPEAKER_00:For people that are afraid to put themselves out there or that are nervous to do everything we're saying online. Well, especially when it comes to sharing your talents, like I know a big thing that comes up is like doubt, you know, what if it's not perfect? What if I don't know all the steps? What if no one watches? What if I embarrass myself? I mean, honestly, I know I've had those thoughts. You've probably had those thoughts. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um Throughout this conversation, even a million times a day, I'm like, what am I doing? Am I okay?
SPEAKER_00:So obviously you're not alone. We have these thoughts too. But, you know, putting yourself out there, once you do it, it's really not as scary as it seems. You know, back in my acting days years ago, I never really thought of myself as like a creator, like somebody that would have like done a short film or like, you know, written content or a writer. Um, I was a really good performer. Yeah, give me the song, give me the scene. I I could do that. But now I am known as a content creator, and that kind of blows me away. I mean, I just put myself out there. And I've seen over and over again watching actors who have, who were afraid of to put it who were afraid to put themselves out there, and everything changed. Um, I'll tell a quick story about that.
SPEAKER_03:That was my next question, Heidi. Have you seen actors transform in real life? Because of how they started showing up on social. I mean, again, our brains are just in sync.
SPEAKER_00:Well, a couple of years ago, I interviewed a young actress from the UK, Louise Mae Mosley. And when we first connected, she had 73 followers, I think, on TikTok. And just five months later, she had something like over 350,000. How did this happen? Well, on one of my live streams that I was doing on my YouTube channel, um, I remember the comment she put and she admitted that she had a whole folder of TikTok drafts that she had never posted. And these were videos of her singing and performing actually amazing content. But she was so obsessed with being perfect and scared of what people would think that she never shared it. And I remember on that call, I told her, I just kind of called her out. I said, you know, you're being selfish with your content. You're keeping good, amazing content from us. You know, what's the worst thing that could happen if you just posted one? And the very next day, you can go check out her uh TikTok. The next day she duetted me on TikTok. So you see her with my video, basically, like, you know, saying I dared her to take the leap. Then her next post, she posted a video of her singing in her car, straight from her drafts, and it went viral. It now it has 5.4 million views, um, tons of positive comments, and she kept showing up for herself consistently, sharing her talents. And she's not a 73 followers anymore. She's over a million, right? All because she stopped waiting for perfect and she decided to just post it and put herself out there. And that's what I say to everyone listening: if you're if it's fear, what's the worst thing that can happen? You know, what's the worst thing that can happen? Just just put yourself out there and and and post it because Louise is a perfect example of that. And she's gotten so many opportunities since then because of, you know, because of her TikTok and now her Instagram.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you for sharing that. I think it's all about kind of leaning into the love for what you do versus maybe the fear that you were just talking about, which is really hard and it's always a struggle, and we acknowledge that. But life's short. I mean, just try it. One day, all the people that make you nervous to do whatever you want to do are gonna be gone. So you know what? Just do it.
SPEAKER_00:Just do it. Or they might all be following you because you're so fabulous.
SPEAKER_03:That's that's the happy ending that we're gonna manifest for everybody here today. And I know we have about five minutes left, so I want to do a very quick kind of audience QA flash round. This is in real time from our casting networks team. We polled our audience, and I'm just gonna pluck some questions out at random for us to address here today while we have this social media expert of a lifetime in front of us. Okay. So, one of the first ones we got, this is actually a very interesting question. This is from Amina. Amina Anina. Oh, hey, Amina Anina. She always submits, which is wonderful. Should actors use a separate account for self-tapes only?
SPEAKER_00:Ooh, okay. Interesting. Yeah, so this comes up a lot when people are doing like self-tape May and they have just an account of their self-tapes. I'm a big believer in, you know, if you're doing a challenge like that, that having a separate account might be a good idea, um, if it's very different from the content you're already creating. So this answer is gonna be a little bit different for everybody. But say if we're used to watching you do like sketch comedy, or maybe you talk about your actor's journey, but also maybe part of that is you being a mom and balancing that. And that's like what we've come to know, like, and trust about you and your posting strategy. And then all of a sudden, every day for a month, you're posting a self-tape. There's a disconnect, it's you know, it's not what we originally signed up for, right? So I think if you're doing a challenge kind of thing like that, then yes, a separate account is good. Also, kind of from the producer, casting director side, I work with a lot of casting directors and producers on their social media, actually. I work with a lot of businesses. And one of the big things they tell me to tell actors is just when we they go to their social your social, they want to see obviously you doing your thing, performing, but they also want to see a little bit of you as a human. And is a feed full of self-tapes you as a human? No, it's it's all acting, right? Yeah, so we need to see something else. And also from the producing side, a lot of times they tell me, you know, if they see a feed completely full of self-tapes and this is like your main page, then a little bit of red flags go up because then they start going, wow, that's like a lot of self-tapes. Like, have these aired? Like, you know, do they know that they're not supposed to put things out before things aired, whether you booked it or not? So I think, you know, if it's your main feed, sprinkle them in. There's so many creative ways you can do, like, you know, uh from the audition to the booking with your self-tapes. Those are doing so well right now now on Instagram. Um, or even using a piece of the self-tape um as b-roll and a moment on top of it. Like just uh take eight seconds from a self-tape. Zoom in so it's vertical, right? Take out the sound. We don't need it. Because what we're seeing is you and your element doing your self-taping thing. And then just put some text right in the app, right? Just put text right there. Um, actually, I'll give everyone a little prompt. If there's one piece of advice I could give my fellow actors, it's this dot dot dot. Right? Text on the top. You're like taking down your maybe you're doing a self-tape, right? And then another line of text. Have it pop up. Don't forget to hit record. Right? So now we're seeing you there. Or don't forget to do your full body slate. So, what are these like relatable things that actors understand? We're using B roll from the self-tape. It's not actually the self-tape. We're not hearing it, but we're seeing you do your thing. And now we have a relatable moment that's highly shareable as well.
SPEAKER_03:That's content. That's really good.
SPEAKER_00:So, Amina, think about that too. So, if it's a separate thing for a challenge, oh yes, separate account. Um, but think about different ways you can sprinkle in the idea of creative ways to share your self-tapes into your own feed.
SPEAKER_03:You know what, Heidi and Amina, I'm gonna do that after this and I'll tag you. I love that idea. I think that's amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome, awesome.
SPEAKER_03:So I think we only have time for one more. This is from, and thank you, Amina. I always appreciate you listening and submitting questions really so much. Thank you. Jake underscore s30. Hey, Jake. I know Jake wonders. This is sort of something we touched on before. For but slightly different. Can you post yourself singing something from a musical and tag the show if you'd like? And I guess this is similar with if you do a monologue from a show, a TV show you're into.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Um, and this is where when I talked about being pushy and push marketing, a lot of what I'm seeing is you're just putting something from like you're real, it's just a clip, and you're tagging, I've seen it like 10, 20 random people on it. And we can all see the tags, everyone. So it's pretty spammy, right? But these people aren't specific. It's not like they cast the show that you're doing the scene from, right? It's not, it's not specific. In this case, sometimes actions like this can be savvy, right? You're putting yourself out there. Maybe you're doing a small section from that musical or from that play, and you know that casting director is casting it. You know, that might be a time to actually write a DM, but do it from a gratitude place. Maybe, you know, I love this show, right? And I think, you know, you've done such a great job with casting it. I'm trying out a new piece from it. And hey, if you have a couple minutes, it's on my feed. Like, you know, but we lead with gratitude. We start with a we and then we bring it back to me, right? Make it about them first.
SPEAKER_03:I like that rhymes too.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, it does. But I do think, you know, I don't want actors to be afraid of, you know, putting themselves out there and doing good work and sharing that with people. And I think this is a really specific example where, especially in the theater world, where actually it can get you called in. So um, film at TV is a little bit different when you're auditioning for things that don't exist yet, right? The script doesn't exist versus a musical, you might be wanting to get seen for wicked. Well, hey, sing some Glinda on your feed.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You never know what might happen.
SPEAKER_03:That's true. And I think all of this, like we've been saying before, it does build your confidence. It makes you more comfortable on camera. I know the second I started posting reels, and I was similar to you, I I thought it was weird and I was uncomfortable with it. The second I started doing it and just getting in front of the camera more and more every week, I felt more comfortable on set and filming self-tapes. That's what it's all about. And speaking of leading with gratitude, Heidi, I'm so grateful that you took the time to chat with us today. And I would just appreciate before we head out, if you could end with, I usually ask for a got and a given, which is the best piece of advice you've either got or given in this industry. But if you want to relate it specifically to social media, I wouldn't hate that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, the best piece of advice I've ever gotten is from my mom. Uh, she was a first grade teacher for over 30 years. And with her students, after the Pledge of Allegiance, she would have them take their hands. I don't nobody can see us, right? But take their hands and go what you what you put out comes back to you. And they would move their hands out and back. And it's something my mom taught me. And I remember seeing that moment as a kid too, and it just had like a profound impact on me that, like, yes, what we put out in the world comes right back to us. And think about that with social media. The more kindness and love that you share with the world, the more that's gonna come back to you. So, um, you know, use my mom's advice whenever, you know, you're thinking about posting something, stop and ask yourself, you know, is this really what I want to put out in the world? You know, because what you come put out does come right back to you online.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it's literally science too. There's there's science behind all that kind of stuff. And your mom must be so proud of you as you're a teacher now for all of us in the social media landscape. And I I encourage everybody out there after this, of course, check out everything you mentioned. Make your favorites. I know I'm gonna do that with my favorite feed. Also, go leave a kind comment on someone's page that you admire and encourage them to keep doing what they're doing because social media is not a one-sided place. It's social, and we need a lot more kindness right now. So I love that you brought that up.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Start spreading spreading the love on on social. Do it every day. I do it every single day.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and you're doing a great job at it, amongst many other things. Thank you for all you do to help us actors, Heidi, and thank you all for tuning in. I hope you have a great rest of your day.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. I'll see you on social.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you.
