Speaker 1Shut up, and sit down. Welcome to Being On Stage, the only podcast that gives you motivation, inspiration, and confidence to be better on stage. No matter how you entertain, sing, dance, band, comedian, public speaking, MC, drag, burlesque, performance art, or street performer, this is the show for you. Hey, rock stars. Reggie Dawson, your host of the Being On Stage podcast. Welcome back, and thank you for tuning in. I appreciate it. Have you rated and commented and subscribed to this show yet? If you haven't, you should do so. Go into iTunes, hit the subscribe button. While you're there, if you could just drop a comment and a rating, that would be a huge favor that you do for me. So I'd greatly appreciate it. Listen, have you ever sent an email or any type of communication, Facebook message, DM on Instagram? Have you ever sent some type of communication and gotten no response? I mean, radio silence. Maybe you were seeking a booking. Maybe you were reaching out for some assistance. Maybe you were reaching out for a possible collaboration. But you got nothing, like absolutely nothing in return. I think we all have experienced that. And to me, I have like a slight moment of almost embarrassment when I realize they're not going to respond. I feel almost ashamed sometimes of, why? Why did I even reach out? They're not going to respond to me. They don't know me. Who the hell am I? You know, that moment when you have that realization can be very, you know, it can be somewhat humiliating. I mean, the good thing about it is nobody else knows that you're humiliated but you because it's, you know, it's all in your head. But that moment of realization when you know that they're not going to respond, you know that you're not going to get that booking, you know that you're not going to get that connection. It's, you know, it's a little embarrassing, a little heartbreaking, a little disappointing. And it just, you know, it stings a little bit. So before I go any further, listen, my name is Reggie Dawson. I'm a talent coach. This podcast is the Being On Stage podcast. It is all about helping you improve your stage presentation, improve your confidence on stage because that's what I'm about. I'm all about helping you. I want you to succeed on stage just like your audience wants you to succeed on stage. So again, thanks for tuning in. I appreciate it. If you want some more, please head over to Facebook. Join our Facebook group, the Being On Stage group. I made it easy for you. Go to beingonstage.com slash group. We'll see you in there. But before we do that, now listen, I highly encourage you. First of all, I'm a big proponent of, you know, go out and seek the opportunities that you want. You know, an opportunity is not always going to come find you. You sometimes are going to have to go out looking for it. You know, that's part of being a performer. Hell, that's part of being an artist. You know what? That's part of being a human being. You know, sometimes you got to go out and find opportunity. You can't always succeed. You can't sit around on your ass waiting for it to come find you. Opportunity does not always knock on your front door. Sometimes he's camped out in the back corner of your lot. You got to go find him. You know, sometimes he's down the street, but you got to go find opportunity. And that's what sending these emails and these phone calls and these, you know, Facebook messages. That's what it's all about. You know, making those connections to further, I mean, really to further your career and to get better at your craft. Recently, I ended up getting a possible. Volunteer gig at a couple of festivals locally, and the important thing about it, I think, is, you know what? This is what I've waited for. This is what I've wanted. I've sent a couple emails here and there to, you know, different people, and there's a certain there's one particular festival that I really, really, really want to be a part of. And it's, you know, it's important to my daughter. It's important to my family. We go there every year. It's a science festival. I don't know what's going to come of this, but. I sent an email. A couple months ago, about May festivals in October, so it was a little early, and I received nothing, nothing in response, no response. So probably like three weeks ago, middle of August, I guess I sent a follow up email and said, Hey, you know, I realized the last email was, you know, a little far out, but, you know, I wanted to touch base again and see if you had a chance to consider my offer and still no response. So recently I found the event, the festival event on Facebook. Found the event. The event organizers page, and I reached out a third time. Now, normally, normally I will not reach out a third time because to me, that's kind of borderline pestering, you know, almost harassing. So I'm not, I don't really reach out a third time, but it's a different communication method. It's not the same one I've used, so I can use a little tactic that, you know, well, it's a tactic that I've used. It actually helps at least get a response. So you find this, the alternative communication method for me. It was a Facebook message sent to emails. Now I'm going to send a Facebook message and then the Facebook message. I say, you know, Hey, I sent you a couple of emails, but I'm not sure if they went through. Now that's the key that right there gives you permission to send the third email or the third communication as long as it's a different method. So two emails, Facebook message says, Hey, not sure if you got my emails. This is what I'm interested in. This is what I do. So I talked about how I MC and how I engage the crowd and how I'm experienced with festivals and, you know, necessary announcements and mentions that you have to do of sponsors and vendors and like pushing things, filling time, all sorts of stuff like that. So I list the things that I'm good at. I list the things that I want to offer them. And, you know, I also added, Hey, I have some access to some, some, a little more eclectic, you know, entertainment. If you're interested in that as well, which I don't have an agency or anything. I just know people that, that do weird stuff on stage. So I sent this third message and within two hours I got a response that says, you know, I have to run this by the board, but, but you know what, it's a response it's at least an acknowledgement of my reach out and they, you know, they initially were like, no, no, no. And I, I assured them, well, you know, I'm volunteering, I'm not trying to get paid. I'm not trying to take advantage of a charity. I want to volunteer for this is important to me and my family. And so they're taking it up with their board and they're, you know, they're considering it, but. The reason I bring this up is because one, I want you to send the follow-up email. First of all, follow up using the same communication method that you used previously. If it's email, follow up by email. If it's Facebook message, follow up by Facebook message, DM, follow up by DM. But if you need to reach out a third time, and this is for things that you really want guys, like this, isn't just, I'm just going to copy and paste this on a couple of different venues and send it out, which by the way, if you copy and paste your emails, make sure you review it. To change the name, because I made that mistake to copy and pasted one of the email to another, it mentioned the other event dimension, the harvest festival, when I was trying to get the Halloween, the point is review your messages before you send them out to make sure that you have all the accurate information in there. So send the follow-up, send the second email. If you still don't get a response, and this is something you truly, truly want, like this, the science festival, like. I, I want to emcee this science festival. I really and truly want to emcee the science festival. So, you know, I wanted to reach out a third time, find a different way. Do not reach out a third time by email, because here's the thing. One of two things is happening. That email box is either not being monitored or two, it is being monitored. They're truly not interested. And now you're pestering them and ensuring that you will never be a person that they contact. You don't want to pester people that can book you. You don't want to pester event organizers. You don't want to pester promoters. You don't want to pester booking agents. You just reach out your two times, send as much information as you can. If you got to reach out a third, find a different way to do it. So anyways, the one that I did actually land was one that I, and I did solidify it. I'm just waiting to hear the details of how the day is going to play out and the things that they would expect. But the one that I did land is the harvest festival. It's our local local harvest festival. And I reached out to the woman via email a couple of weeks ago, and then I sent a follow up email. I said, just wanted to revisit, Hey, listen, you know, I sent you this email, wanted to revisit. You mentioned that you were interested in, you know, people to get involved in this event. So if you're interested, I'm still interested, kind of like a, if you're interested, I'm interested thing. And, you know, she ended up responding to me and it was just a timing thing of, Hey, you know, I got to run this by the book. I'm interested in this. And I said, well, I'm interested in this. And she said, well, I'm interested in this. But if you do, use a different method. Listen, it's the same thing when you're applying for jobs. You remember there's the old thing, you know, when you submit an application for a job, you follow up with a phone call, you ask to speak to the manager, you let them know your interests. So here's the thing. This is the same thing. Your first contact is like submitting your application. Hi, my name is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I do blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I believe in blah, blah, blah, blah. I'd love to be a part of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I, you know, listen, here's, okay, here we go. Here's what I'll do. I'm going to put together a template, like a template email that you can kind of fill in your stuff and send to, you know, places that you want to get booked. Now it's, it's going to be a loose template. You are going to have to do some thinking. You're going to have to fill in your name. You're going to have to fill in your art. You're going to have to fill in, you know, two or three things that you do on stage and, you know, you're going to have to fill in your contact information. So it's going to be a loose template, but I'll create this template for you. I'll put it on my Facebook group. So go to beingonstage.com slash group. If you want a form or a template that you can use when trying to get bookings, I'll put the first contact and the second contact out there for you. That's what I'll do for free of charge. Join the Facebook group and you get that for free. The being on stage group, but listen, so send the first contact. That's your application. My name is this. This is what I do. Please book me. That's the gist of it. Your second follow-up email is basically saying something along the lines of, and this is the callback you do to the manager. You know, when you're looking for your job. Hi, my name is blah, blah, blah. I submitted an application on this date. I just wanted to let you know, I'm really interested in this position and find out when would be a possibility to interview. Boom, done. You know, that's what you do when you're looking for a job. Same thing here. Send the follow-up email, send the follow-up Facebook message. Hi again, I just wanted to follow up on my previous message that said blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And, you know, I'd really like to sit down and discuss what a night would, you know, what my performance would entail and how this would impact your nightclub and what I could do. Please contact me, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, something like that. Like you're just reiterating the things that you want to do and then you're letting them know, like, listen, I'll talk first. I'll send you whatever you need to send. Here's some videos. Second contact is a great way to send a couple of videos or a sound clip or anything like that. First contact, what you do. Second contact, send them a little bit more information. If you happen to have to reach out a third time, remember the rule. Different communication method. So if you've sent emails, message on Facebook. If you've messaged on Facebook, send an email. If you've DM'd on Instagram, message them on Twitter. It doesn't matter as long as it is a different communication. First line and that third reach out. Always. I sent a couple of messages on blank. Not sure if you received them. This is what I do. This is what I'm interested. Now you post a link. Now you send a link to like a YouTube or a Facebook page. Something that showcases who you are and what you do on stage. Must have videos. Must have pictures. Hey, if you'd like to check out more, here's my YouTube link. Check it out. Let me know what you think. Here's my contact information. Looking forward to working with you. I think we can do great things together. Thank you. Goodbye. Send. That's your third contact. Your third contact is like a, hey, listen, here's a snapshot of it. If you're still not interested, fine. But I tried. I really wanted it. So I tried. So don't be afraid to send multiple contacts. Now I've seen performers and I, hell, I've been the performer that I don't get that response from the initial email. And I'm just like, I guess. They don't want to book me. Why do we do that? You know, we got to reach out again. Sometimes you have to follow up and that's how it's done. If you still don't hear anything, move on. It doesn't. Again, here's the thing. It does not mean that you're not talented. It just means you're not a good match for them. If you don't hear anything after the second or third time, move on. They have your email on file. They have your contact information. And listen, think about a couple episodes back. I talked about being prepared in the times when people. People are desperate or when you get a last minute booking, how to be prepared for it. Listen, they have your contact information. They have a link to what you do or a video or a picture. They know what you're capable of. They could still contact you in a time of desperation and be like, listen, we need you. And then you'll have your opportunity. So just because the opportunity doesn't come from the first or second reach out, it doesn't mean that you're not eventually going to get there. There's been a club where I've sent, God, I've probably messaged them six or seven times over the course of two years trying to get booked and it never happened. And when it finally did happen, I wasn't looking for it. They just reached out randomly and said, Hey, we'd love to have you on this night. We're putting together a whole night around what you do. What for real things like that are just going to manifest, but keep working. If you don't get into one place, you're going to get into the second or the third or the 10th or the 20th that you contact. You will get in. You're going to get in, but you have to stay consistent. You have to stay rehearsed. You have to have current content available for people to view online and they will find you interesting and they will book you. It may not be the first, second or third, but if you keep at it off the stage and in the emails, you will get on stage. It is a scientific fact. Hit me up, ladies and gentlemen, Reggie at beingonstage.com. Thank you so much for tuning in. And keep on shining.
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