Something very disappointing happened late last week. It was very upsetting even though I was pretty aware of the problem already. I think that seeing so much of it was what probably pushed me over the edge.
There are a variety of sources that I use to find guests for “Now Hear This Entertainment.” While, yes, sometimes people that I know in the entertainment business will get in touch with me and/or I’ll get referrals (including sometimes from guests that I’m just finishing an interview with), for purposes of this week’s blog I’m referring more to websites, press releases, social media, and emails, for example.
Ultimately, I want sources to lead me to a potential guest’s website. And then from there I want to be able to click on social media icons to go look at their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. The latter three destinations help me see what kind of following these folks have, but also provide a source for gathering information on recent developments. (To some extent I will look at their YouTube channel as well.)
If their social media (or heck, their website too, for that matter) hasn’t been touched in a while, I assume that they don’t care (about their career) or they really aren’t that active.
Suffice it to say, this is what let me down late last week.
Some people that I looked at don’t have all three (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). Or, some give the impression that they’re sending you to what you expect to be their Facebook music page, but you end up on their personal page.
I’m still miffed at those who have their Instagram account set to Private. Aren’t you supposed to make it easy for fans and new followers to get behind you and your music rather than make them seem like you need to decide if they’re worthy enough or not?
And the websites?! Wow, forget about it. I saw one that not only wasn’t optimized for mobile (really? In late 2018?) but never got me to where I was trying to go! And then there are the folks whose bio was written maybe a year ago? (I say ‘maybe’ because in some cases it was longer than that.)
If you didn’t see it, earlier this year I rolled out a service where I’m now helping people with these exact scenarios. They’re private, video consultations, so you can benefit from my years of experience while not having to make the investment to go all in with Now Hear This, and, being able to keep it between us that “(sigh) I really need help.” Asking for help isn’t embarrassing. Having a website that has outdated information, typos, broken links, or is missing the essentials is what’s embarrassing.
Keep in mind that if I am having trouble finding what I want on your website and/or social media, I’m not contacting you to book you as a guest on NHTE. And if I’m passing on you and moving on to someone else, who knows how many other opportunities you’re missing out on because others like me are getting frustrated with your website and/or social media too!
Do something about it. Book a session with me. Let’s get your online presence and image cleaned up and get you receiving more inquiries and thus opportunities.
Look at the websites of some of the guests on NHTE (and then link over to their social media accounts). You’ll start to get the picture of where you need to be and will be able to identify what others are doing that you’re not. I and many others like me will thank you for presenting the pertinent and current information we all want to see.
I look forward to seeing you in an online session. Plus, you can also talk about all this in our Facebook group!