I Have Discovered The Secret

We've been pushing very hard to promote the show. The more followers we have, the more we can get brand deals and paid advertising and the show can start paying for itself. And I've spent many hand-wringing hours looking for someone who can show us the way. We've worked on our branding, our tags (so that people can find us in searches), we're collaborating - we've been doing everything "they" say you need to do to find your audience, but the experts left one tiny point out. You also need to pay to advertise.

There's this idea that abounds that if you just work hard enough and you just collaborate enough with other creators and you engage with your followers that the audience will follow. Well, yes, and I have to say that we have some wonderful people who always share our content with their friends and we're incredibly grateful. But you also need to advertise and I think that's the dirty little secret that no one wants to admit. Social media is supposed to be free and there's supposed to be this democratic system where anyone with a smartphone and a dream can become the next big thing. I'm not going to say that doesn't happen, but there is a LOT of noise out there and a lot of competition for peoples' attention. If you want to be heard above the din on social media, you need to pay. Otherwise you just won't show up in peoples' feeds, no matter how much they may love you. I can't tell you how many times we've had people ask us if we're still producing our show, when they're not only subscribed, but fans. It makes me crazy! Yes, we do this twice a week! So I tried a little experiment yesterday and paid to boost our current episode on YouTube and guess what? MANY more views than normal.

This is a business. I totally get it. You have to invest in your business and I have no problem with that. I just wish "the experts" would have told us a lot sooner that we should be investing heavily in advertising. No one wants to admit it - YouTube is free, right? But there it is. I'm actually glad I figured it out, but I will admit that I feel slightly stupid that I didn't figure out something this obvious a lot sooner! 

Take my money!

Can I Be Something Besides A Tortoise?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. Specifically, I've been thinking this in connection to (no surprise) our show. We've already determined that one needs to spend money on promotion and we're really okay with that. All businesses need to promote and advertise. Why should we be any different? But there are many ways in which one can spend that money and that's where it becomes interesting and a little troubling.

Brands and anyone who might invest in you and your show want to see that you have large numbers of followers on whatever your chosen platform. Whether YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat or something else, they want to see that thousands of people will see their product if you're using or promoting it. Makes perfect sense. So we all do whatever we can do entice people to follow us. Obviously making great content helps, but getting that content in front of lots and lots of eyes is even better. But there is a less savory way of developing a following and that is to purchase it outright. Some creators buy views or subscribers from a number of online services that promise the boost they're hoping for. Suddenly someone who typically gets 100 views on an episode or tweet or photo is getting thousands or lots of new subscribers. Sounds great, right? Well, it's great until YouTube (or whichever platform) catches on and suspends your channel/page/account. I'm too afraid of that happening to buy views or subscribers, but I have to admit it pains me when I see folks benefiting from doing just that, while we toil, trying to raise our profile the old fashioned way. I wonder whether or not I'm an idiot and if my moral compass is just a little too strict? I'm not going to buy followers or views, but I definitely see why others do.

So we plod pokily along to the finish line. We'll be able to cross it with our heads held high, knowing that we did the right thing. But isn't there some legal, ethical way to speed things up at least a little?! Maybe we don't want to be hares, but can't we be - I don't know - roadrunners or something? I'd like to reap benefits while I'm still young enough to know what I'm reaping!

I Need That Aaron Spelling Magic

And by magic I mean money.

I'm wearing my producer hat today and trying to channel my inner Aaron Spelling in order to raise money to promote the show.

We're fortunate in the sense that our show is very inexpensive to produce. Our largest ongoing expenses are liquor and food. Often I'll make a dress for a particular episode, but that almost always comes in under $20. Occasionally we'll travel for an episode or invest in equipment (like the green screen stands we bought a couple of weeks ago and are loving - worth every penny), but by and large the production costs are low. However, we've come to realize that having the most fun, creative, informative show possible doesn't mean a whole lot of people don't know about it.

Our society loves to tout the idea that, if you work really hard and get people to watch and like your show, it will magically grow from all of the sharing on social media. One person will tell two friends, who will tell two friends, and so on and so on, like that old shampoo commercial. However, this is total hogwash.

We have wonderful, engaged fans who DO share the show, leave us sweet comments and approach us when they see us out and about. We couldn't be more grateful for them and their support. But it's not their responsibility to promote our show and even the ones who share every episode are only reaching the people who see their posts or tweets. It's not like Beyonce is sharing our show (yet). We need to cast the net a lot wider and that means advertising. Which means money.

Depending on which experts you believe, the average person needs to see your ad between seven and twenty times to take action. That means an ad placed only once, or even five times, is a waste of money. And Facebook will happily let you boost your posts or page for as little as $1 a day, but they also tell you up front that for $1 a day you're just not going to reach that many people. No, if you want to be a player, you need to invest.

I get it and I'm a believer. I have a very long capitalist streak within me and I understand what needs to be done. The trick is raising the money in a way that doesn't bother me. I want to avoid crowdfunding, both because I see a backlash against it lately and because I have issues with anyone feeling invested in our project. I don't want to feel I need to report back. That leaves merchandise sales and advertising. And you need high numbers of viewers to see ad revenue, which puts us into a Catch-22: we need to spend money to make money. So that leaves merchandise sales. We have some great ideas for products to add to our merch store. Those will also take capital to produce. It's all a gamble, which is the case for every producer who ever lived, so I'm in good company. So I'll continue boosting our episodes on Facebook and trying to figure out the rest but, in the meantime, I could use a visit from the spirit of Mr. Spelling with tips for producerly fiscal success!