Career Strategies

Yesterday I was on the New York City subway running late to a very important meeting. Whenever I ride the subway I never seem to get a seat but that day I thought would be different.

Just for those of you who may have never ridden the subways in New York during rush hours; the thing you need to know is that you have to be very aggressive. It is kind of like defensive driving.

Anyway, a little old lady got up out of her seat and got off at 86th street. As I moved toward the vacant seat I saw the cutest little girl next to me. She smile, looked at the vacant seat and started to move toward. She must of had super powers because before I knew it this darling little girl had took my seat. No worries, because I would have given it to her anyway. But it was what she said at the end that got to me. She glanced back up at me and said, "You're too slow old man".

I was thrown back by her audacity after all I am only 21 (okay, okay plus or minus twenty years but whose counting) so right away I grabbed the little girl, started slapping the crap out of her then preceded to body slam her on the ground. I threw my hands up victories and shouted to the shocked car of subway riders, "Yeah son, da Bronx is in the house!" I then relaxed back in my newly acquired seat like a King sitting on his throne. Hey, what could I do, I had to represent.

Alright, you got me. I made that up. But he girl did take my seat and she did call me an old man. But the little darling was so cute who could be angry at her. Anyhow, shortly thereafter a woman got on the train and started preaching to the entire subway car. Apparently, we were all going to hell unless we accepted her God. What struck me was the fact that this woman needed a serious makeover. Her hair was a mess and her clothes looked like they were left over from the seventies.

All this brings me to my point. For actors and filmmakers getting your name out there can be challenging. In fact, it is crucial if you want to survive in this business. This is so important that it can make the difference between having food on the table or not.

First things first, not matter what you are selling whether it be yourself, your work or your newly found spirituality, you must DEMONSTRATE VALUE. If you're not communicating what I call "high value" then no one will want your product or service. The woman on the subway may have had the greatest religion in the world but because she was not presenting herself well she demonstrated low value. This can turn people off and create a bad reputation for yourself.

Next you want to stand out and capture people's attention. This can be done through many avenues but one way that works best is through the art of storytelling. If you recall my story about the little girl who took my seat on the subway, yes I was being dramatic, but this was a perfect example of standing out and capturing the market's attention. You can also accomplish this through the manner in which you dress, the way you speak, how you structure your ads and so on and so forth.

Now, I want to present to you three powerful ways to promote yourself. This is the first time I am going to reveal this information so don't say that I have never given you anything. But first let me say this. Most people in this business don't have a plan of attack. We go about things in an unstructured way and when we don't see the results we were looking for we give up and eventually drop out of the industry. Well, you can achieve all of your dreams if you approach things from the proper perspective. You simply need a proven plan to operate from. So let's look at my three surefire ways you can use to market yourself.

CULTIVATE SMALL MEDIA NICHES

In this method you try and capture the attention of a small but powerful niche. Most people try and blanket the entire industry with their image or service which can be very costly and time consuming. Rather, try focusing on those key players who are small in numbers but powerful enough to help get your name out there. This makes use of what I call is "SCALE". If you recall in a previous article I wrote SCALE is anything that exponentially increases your efforts with very little work on your part. With this method you come to a "Tipping Point" where you hit a certain critical mass that causes your name to spread like wildfire.

SATURATE THE MARKET

Here is where you will try and position yourself so that wherever people go or whatever they do they will always be exposed to YOU! Coke-Cola is a perfect example of this because not only do they have billboards, TV commercials, Internet presence and print ads, but even their top marketing executives admitted that they don't know which campaign is the most effective method of marketing. But what they can tell you and agree upon is that if they eliminated just one from the pool they would undoubtedly see a decline in sales. So the saturation approach works for them. This relies more on longevity for true effectiveness. The more and longer people see your name the more sales you will get. It's call frequency of exposure.

THE CAMPAIGN APPROACH

This relies on short bursts of exposure. Let's say you have a big movie coming out. Well, you start putting up movie posters, doing press interviews, sending out trailers and so on. But after the movie has its run you are done. But wait. A couple of months later you gear up for the DVD and cable release. So you start the marketing process over again. This type of marketing relies on generating as much hype as possible in short increments.

So there you have it. I have just given you the basics from which you can develop an extremely effective marketing plan. You may ask which approach is best for you? That is something you will have to determine given your budget, availability, and resources. But with this current information at hand you are far better off then those just going at it with an unstructured approach. A great resource for more marketing tips is http://www.kamiticartssystem.com

Okay, I have to go now. But tell me how well this works for you. Tomorrow, I am riding the subway again. I think this time I will bring some candy so that I can bribe the little girl into giving me a seat. She's quick as heck. To tell you the truth I don't want to piss her off because she may end up kicking MY BUTT.

Later...

Hey, I am so excited today my new website www.roncinetv.com is up and running. It is going to be the place for actors and filmmakers looking for work in the entertainment industry. But I am not hear to promote that. Rather, I want to talk about a cool interview technique I often use. I call it a feedback loop. Here's how it works. First, as I always say during interviews, listen in closely to what they say. Usually, employees will giveaway what I can "pain points" or problems that they are looking for you to solve. These can also be red flags for you depending on how severe they are. Once you come to the end of the interview they'll usually ask if you have any questions. This is your chance to demonstrate that you are the ideal candidate for the position. Simply state back all the pain points or qualifications they are looking for. But make sure you state them as part of YOUR background. Also, now this is real important, be sure to use their own worlds. This makes it seem as if you understand their needs and hearing their words coming from you is a strange type of feedback loop which works on the subconscious mind. For example, if I say something you may doubt if it's true; but if it comes from someone else who confirms my assumptions then it becomes valid. So hearing their words from you confirms their already established train of thought. It also helps to build instant rapport. Well, I have to run. Lots of work to do on my new site. Let me know how this technique works for you. Later...

Here's a mistake I've seen some people make in the interview process. It pertains mostly to freelancers and those working in the film industry. I was once interviewing a young woman for a spot on my production. Right away she started talking about the connections she had which could be of benefit to me. She went further by saying she would like to bring them aboard. In fact she said she would prefer to work with them because they were so-called inexpensive and fast. Now, what could be wrong with that? Well a lot might I say. If you are being interviewed for a job keep in mind that it is YOU that they are interested in and not your friends. Of course there is nothing wrong with wanting to hook your friends up but keep in mind that you don't have the job yet. In fact, your goal in the interview is to sell yourself. Plain and simple. Also, telling them that you want to work with your friends sends the wrong message. In the example I gave, the woman ended up not getting the job. See, on a subconscious level if a hiring manager needs to control costs and head counts, your offer of bringing aboard a team seems like he or she is getting more than what they asked for. They want you, not your entourage. Later when you get the job and have established trust and rapport then and only then may you suggest bringing aboard your friends. But again, the interview process is about you and only you. Take care.

Yo! What's up?

As you can tell I feel kind of good today. I just got back from
a major interview. It was very interesting and I wanted to share
with you a couple of techniques I used.

Now, I consider myself very good in interview situations. In
fact, I used to teach people how to interview. So I am going to
give you some really 21st Century techniques or "technology"
that will land you the job. Keep in mind that what you are about
to read will work going for almost any position in any field.

Most people who go for a job interview somehow or another end up
talking their way out of the job. This is because they talk about
their background i.e., education and job history. This is a
really bad thing and I highly advise against it. It is kind of
like handing the employer a loaded gun so they can shoot you
with it. Face it, they are looking for anything to catch you on
or to disqualify you from the position. Since they have a lot of
candidates to interview their first priority is to trim the pool
down.

"But Ron, they always ask about your background. So what should
I say then?"

That's a really great question. Here's how you
combat that. Before the actual interview make sure you get a
complete breakdown of the job description. Then MEMORIZE IT! Got
it! Okay, now when they ask about your experience (This is
sneaky) read them back their job description using your own
words! Easy right? This way your skills and experience will seem
to match exactly what they are looking for. Let's take this a
step further and inject some Jedi mind trick stuff.

On every interview I use something called "Trance Words". Other
people call them keywords. These are VERY effective and can
really get you in good with the hiring manager. However, it
takes a bit of listening skills to perfect.

At a certain point in the interview the manager is going to talk
about the job responsibilities and challenges. Listen closely
for keywords and phrases that he or she uses often. These are
what I call the Trance Words. I'll explain why I call them that
later.

Once you pick up on those keywords repeat them back to the
manager in nicely constructed sentences. For example, if the
manager says:

"We do a lot of SCHEDULING and BUDGETING here of
movie projects to meet DEADLINES."

Your reply can be: "Sounds interesting and challenging. You know
in my previous position I made sure that projects were completed
within "BUDGETARY" limitations making sure they were on
"SCHEDULE" and met appropriate "DEADLINES."

Alright, what did I do here. Well, I didn't go on about what I
did based on my own unrelated experience. I merely listened
closely to the needs (Trance Words) of the manager and repeated
back to him his MOST IMPORTANT CONCERNS in a very creative
manner. Understand? Let's move on. The reason why I call them
Trance Words is because for the keywords to be really effective
you must repeat them throughout the interview process at least
two times no more than four! This creates a hypnotic trance like
state where the manager forms a subconscious picture of you as an
exact match for the position! This is because he or she hears
their own words feed back to them from you.

Listen, interviews can be very stressful and very competitive.
Techniques or technology like Trance Words can really give you
the edge you need. I even use them in pitch sessions with
studios. But there is no limit to their application. In fact, I
even used them on my girlfriend when we first met. She thought
we had sooooooo much in common. Little did she know. Later...

Here's a secret technique for finding a job in the industry
that has had amazing results! It will give you an advantage
over everyone else looking for work. Trust me on this one as
I have personally used it to find work, locate producers and
get deals. It's the bomb! Here's how it works.

First, go to Google and set up a "Google Alert". This feature
sends you an email every time something happens in the news.
Now, it will ask you to enter keywords for the search. Enter
something that relates to the type of work you are looking
for such as: "casting director", "new production company",
"in production" and so forth.

Save this alert. Now every time a new production company is
formed or a film goes into production you will get an alert
sent directly to you! From there do a little research and
gather the contact's name and address. If it is not included
in the alert you can go to www.imdb.com. It has an entire
database of industry information or you can just do a standard
search through your ISP.

Once you get the contact info send your resume or headshot
right away. Simple as one, two, three! Right? The great thing
about this is that you will be one of the first to receive this
information and ahead of the game. So your resume will be among
the first ones that they see.

But what I really like about Google Alerts is that you can set
up more than just one and enter as many keywords as you like.
I recommend that you keep them specific as possible.

I am sure that if done correctly this technique can help you
not just get a job but make serious contacts as well! Friend,
try it and see for yourself. And if you should need any help please
feel free to email me. Have fun!

First let me say that I am happy to hear that my Blog is one of the best sources of tips for job hunters. I think it is because I give insider tips not part of the common loop thinking. So with that said lets talk about magazines. A good friend of mine just secured a great job out in LA. When she mentioned the computer startup company's name it rang a bell. Well, it turns out that a couple of months earlier I picked up a new computer magazine which had actually listed the company's name. That's when it hit me. Magazines baby! I then started collecting all these magazines from different fields. Turns out many magazines actively promote companies. Whether they have been in business for years or new startups, they are a great source for job hunters. They even include in depth background information on these companies along with important contact names. And there are literally hundreds out magazines out there! That's source material for ya! Just because they are not listed on the job boards doesn't mean that they are not hiring. It's called a preemptive strike! So next time you are at the newsstand pick up a copy of the Hollywood Reporter, Business Weekly, Filmmaker Magazine, Forbes and etc. They are great for leads and practically no one is taking advantage of them! Happy hunting!

Where are all the best jobs? Well, there are not on Monster or CareerBuilder. That's right. If you are looking for the next great high paying position better look some place else. Since most people don't take the time to conduct a really good job search they end up settling for average jobs. But the really great ones sometimes come through word of mouth, news articles and networks. In fact the jobs listed on the job boards are usually traditional corporate factory produced positions. And if you are looking for a rewarding career with a good company you'll need to be selective. In fact doing some research to uncover the hidden job market increases your chances of getting better pay, better work environment and job security. So think about that the next time you are looking in the wanted ads or the job boards. Trying looking where everyone else isn't.