Hi and welcome back! This post is going to be all about my favourite topic: BRANDING!
Branding is your identity - the foundation of you as an artist and must be solid and clear before we even think about anything else. There’s no point in marketing yourself as an artist if you don’t have a solid and clear understanding of who you are as a performer. Because if you don’t know who you are, how is your audience or a producer or an agent going to know and want to book you?
Branding is going to drive your marketing, your acts/shows, the way you portray yourself online, how you present yourself to a producer or agent – it is everything.
For years I found I was hustling and hounding producers and hammering content away online to not get any leads or gig opportunities. I had no idea what I was doing wrong. I realised I had to do something about this and did some branding workshops with a well-known burlesque artist overseas. One of the exercises was to ask people what they thought of me as a performer (the whole 3 words to describe me) and the responses were so varied and didn’t match at all what I wanted to portray as an artist. Sometimes I’d get gigs and other times I was creating acts to fit shows so I could just get on stage. I felt like I was working harder, not smarter and not towards a certain goal or ideal or clear message.
Here are some simple steps to create a clear performer brand: 1. Audit what you are doing online and creating. Ask yourself questions such as: Do your posts on socials look/feel similar? Do you have a consistent message throughout your content? Do your acts/shows/songs match a theme or concept? Are you posting consistently on your social platforms? How do others see you as a performer? What are your strengths/weaknesses? 2. Create your brand from the ground up Ask yourself these questions: How do you want to be seen as a performer? What words sum you up as a performer? What words/phrases you want your audience (fans/producers/agents) to feel when they think of/see you? What colours that capture the mood/feeling that you want your brand to communicate? What are the things that make you unique, appealing and distinctive as a performer? What key values or beliefs do you want to impart as your performer persona? 3. Put your brand into Writing! Developing a great brand name, tag line and biography—one that is distinctive, memorable, easy to pronounce and appealing—is a critical element in creating a successful performer brand. Names, tag lines and Biographies can help create brand awareness, increase brand fondness and build brand loyalty of your audience (be that producers, colleagues or fans). A biography is meant to create a feel for you as a performer, be a promotional tool for producers, and also create excitement about seeing you on stage too. So, it’s super important to consider carefully what you choose to write. Some name, tag line and bio writing tips: Selecting and perfecting a name needs to: 1. Suggest what kind of performer you are 2. Be unique 3. Don’t make it too difficult or obscure 4. Lots of performers use drinks, cars, flowers, colours in their name. 4. Think of things you like and write them on little scraps of paper, play around with combinations until you find a few you like. 5. Ask friends and colleagues for which combination/name they like best or suits you (your brand) the most. 6. Make sure you research your name and ensure no-one else already has it. 7. If in doubt, try a name generator Tag Line writing: 1. Keep It Simple. 2. Tell a Story 3. Explain Your Offering 4. Communicate with Clarity 5. Describe Who You Are/Feel 6. Make it catchy! 7. Keep It Short and Sweet. 8. Be unique –Google it, make sure it’s not being used already.
I hope this information has been helpful and useful! To find out more information on branding, join my online Facebook group The Profitable Performer or check out my Program on the services page here
What are your unique branding tips? Leave a comment below!
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