Damn it, Jim! I'm an actor, not a social media guru!
This past week my Twitter follower count crossed the 8000 mark (W00T!). It's truly amazing to have such a big nerdy audience to share my geek references and get entertaining replies in return. I'm proud that my hobbies and my work has garnered such an awesome audience... and although I understand social media more than a lot of people in the entertainment industry, I am not a social media guru.
Every week I get emails and tweets asking me to link to someone's online project, usually a web series or web comic. I don't mind getting emails asking me to check something out, but asking me to link to it puts pressure on me to take action, even if I hardly know the people asking. After getting way too many of these requests, the straw has finally broken the camel's back... and I feel it's important for me to outline that there are really only three instances when I would consider linking to someone's work:
- I have a prominent role in the work as an actor.
- A good friend has sent me a personal request, and I know that they would do the same for me.
- I happened upon something on my own and truly believe in it.
The best way to get me to link to your project is to involve me in it. I have built my audience with my passion, intelligence and hard work, and that audience, whether it be the 3000+ subscribers that read this blog, the 1100+ "Like"rs on Facebook, or the 8000+ followers on Twitter, is something valuable to me that I would never take for granted. So, if you really want to tap into that audience, hire me as an actor... the marketing will follow.