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Volume 5
Issue 17 Jill Place, Publisher
jill@actingintuitive.com
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BYE, BYE Classes . . . HELLO
BRANDact
What is Branding?
The Holiday Gratitude Articles
Hi [[FirstName]]
 HAPPY
NEW YEAR! I can't believe that 2007 has
flown by this fast! Or that I've published this eZine
for five wonderful years now. As well as written
for Now Casting
for almost four . . . and had my own
column for nine soulful months. What a
celebration!
When we all celebrate 2008 tomorrow,
I'm going to be doing some celebrating of my
own. About positive changes I'm making. In my
life and in my work.
First, I've
got some sad but also
wonderful news. I'VE STOPPED TEACHING CLASSES! After almost ten
years of nonstop coaching, I've decided to give it a rest and
go in a different direction. Yes, I'll still be
doing privates, branding, career consults and SUCCESSact
Intuitive Sessions.
But I've also decided to spend more
time writing. Very soon, I'll have a shopping
cart up on my website with lots of goodies, including Great Acting Coach eBooks.
AND an expanded BRANDact Branding for
Actors workbook that combines
step-by-step instructions for easy, affordable do-it-yourself
branding. With additional information on choosing the
right photographer and launching a marketing campaign.
As well as an updated Aligning
your BRAND workbook
that combines proven acting
marketing strategies with spiritual tools for
success.
Today I'm sending
you
an expanded celebratory eZine that includes
the two holiday articles on gratitude published by
Now Casting. PLUS the introductory article on branding
from 7 Steps to BRANDact You.
Since all these articles make for a very
lengthy eZine, you'll
have to click on the l~inks below to
read the gratitude
articles on the web in their
entirety.
And I have an
additional surprise for you!
In two weeks, I'm going to send you an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
with Larry Silverberg, author of The Sanford Meisner
Approach Workbooks
Oh, and do me . . . and
yourself . . . a favor. Go here to read some great things
actors have to say about Act Intuitive.
[NOTE:
Some words in this e Zine have been disguised to
avoid triggering sp^m filters.]
Start the New Year Right!
Grab
BRANDact Branding for Actors
for only $100 until January
15th
Once actors name and
claim their talent, their careers soar. Actors who have taken
my BRANDact workshops have gone on to star in
award-winning Indies, BBC miniseries and TV episodics.
I stopped doing workshops early this
year. And for a long
time offered my individual branding package for the workshop
price . . . $100. But I
just can't do that anymore! Because branding
can be an intense and lengthy personal process. And it may take a
few hours on the phone or in person
for us to arrive at a branding
statement. In the workshop, it took a whole day.
So,
unfortunately, I MUST raise the cost for
this career-making process to $197 beginning January 16th.
But right now you can get it for $100 FOR A LIMITED
TIME
ONLY!
You don't have to
begin right away. As long as you call me
at 323-225-9850 or e-mail me at
jill@actingintuitive.com and pay the $100 fee by January
15th. Once I get payment by credit card or check, I'll
e-mail you the complete version of "7 Steps to BRANDact
You" to get the process started. You can finish it
whenever you want . . . there's no time limit. So call
or e-mail me today! Or go here to
find out more.
Or if you'd
like to do the home branding course instead, you can get
the entire BRANDact do-it-yourself acting success system for
$39. Go here to get it now at the pre-internet price.
Also, check out
the other things I do . . .
intuitive sessions and individual acting coaching.
Top
What is
Branding?
Branding is the biggest buzzword in business today. Branding, as my friend
and branding guru Kim Castle defines it, is the process of creating precise and
pinpointed communication of your product, the value it stands
for and the feeling your customer gets from it so that you can
make an indelible mark or impression. Since
you are the product if you're an actor, your brand is a very
personal reflection of you and your particular talents. In the
book, Brand Yourself, Andrusia and Haskins
make the case for personal branding with this quote:
Branding is such a powerful tool in selling
a product that it makes perfect sense that we as
individuals should brand ourselves - thereby creating a
strong, positive sense of ourselves (the product) and our
services that is different and better than what our peers have
to offer (the competition) - for the greatest
possible career success.
Why
bother to brand yourself? Well . . . I don't know the actual
statistics . . . but there must be tens of thousands of acting
hopefuls that flood into LA every year. There are more than
120,000 Screen Actor's Guild members alone. So how can you
stand out from all that competition?
If you
don't create your own brand, most likely someone else will
create theirs and steal your show. Your TV series, guest star
turn or movie lead! When you brand yourself, you create a
consistent approach to your acting. And how you present
yourself professionally. You'll become a powerful force
instead of just another player. You'll stand apart.
When I was acting, I saw myself as a dramatic actor.
After all, I had done all that Method training,
been at the Actor's Studio and was even a Method teacher.
I wanted to do Brecht. But my forte was
comedy. I auditioned for drama after drama and never got cast.
One
day, I had an epiphany. A friend of mine who was Andy
Kaufman's head writer auditioned me for a one-line part in
Andy's first TV special. He said to me, "you can't say
anything without being funny!" Then it hit me. I was going
about this all wrong! I did the special. And changed the way I
saw my career. I began to market myself as a comedienne. And
got work.
So when I became an acting coach, I didn't
change that comedy brand. After all, Jill Place didn't change.
Only her profession did. And now people from all facets of
the Industry complement me on my Acting Intuitive headshot . . . the one
above. Everyone says, "I was drawn to your photo because you
look funny and fun and like someone I'd like to work with."
And that's exactly how I want to brand myself. Because it
matches not only what I do well, but who I truly am.
Most
actors, however, have no idea how to sell themselves. Or even
what to sell. Part of the reason is that we work from a place
of powerlessness, a place that Kim calls
"Please-want-me-ville". We keep putting ourselves on the
audition block. But very seldom get sold. We also tend to
define ourselves by what we think everyone in the business
wants. Or what our agent wants.
But
what if we approached our acting careers knowing who we are,
what we want and how to show that to the world instead? Part
of branding is getting into our power and leaving
"Please-want-me-ville" behind forever.
I actually wear two career hats. I coach acting part-time.
And the rest of the time I'm an alternative medicine
practitioner, medical intuitive and nutritionist. I'll soon be
premiering a weight loss program called Get Lighter online. So
a while ago I spent $600 on a Get Lighter logo. We worked for
months trying to come up with one I liked, finally settling on
one that was OK but didn't knock my socks off.
Then I took Kim
Castle's wonderful Brand U workshop. As a matter of fact, I
just signed up to do it again so that I can brand my other
company. You can find out more about Kim's workshops and
branding services at
www.whybrandu.com.
Branding is a process that helps you bring what's
inside out. That Get Lighter logo didn't work because I
thought I could create it from the outside in. In other words,
that cute little logo really had no meaning because it wasn't
a reflection of a bigger idea. Until I did the branding
process, I didn't know deep down what Get Lighter was really
about and what I wanted it to do for people. After spending a
grueling but rewarding day answering questions, doing guided
imagery and probing my soul, I was able to write a branding
statement that reflected my character and personality as well
as telling the world who I was, what I could do and what it
could count on from me.
As a
result, I now know what Get Lighter means to me. Developing
that branding statement also enabled my graphic artist to
create a killer Get Lighter logo that beautifully symbolized
the program concept. He did it about five minutes. And it cost
me a whole lot less.
Top
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The
Gratitude Articles
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Gratitude, Schmatitude . . . and a gobble
too!
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. And it's not only
because I love turkey and stuffing. With Thanksgiving looming,
thoughts go to gratitude. Because, after all, a huge tradition
was born when a bunch of people gathered together to give
thanks.
I often
talk about gratitude in my columns. Because it's the best way
to instantly change your attitude. So that you can shift your
consciousness. And attract to you what you desire. If you're
not grateful, you're much more likely to focus instead on the
negative . . . on what you don't want. For example, if you're
always worried about not having any money, you definitely
won't have any. On the other hand, if you're grateful for what
little you have and expect more, you'll attract it. Remember
the old adage that like attracts like.
And,
let's face it, in a profession rife with rejection, you need
all the help you can get! Marci Shimoff, author of Chicken
Soup for the Woman's Soul, says, "gratitude is absolutely
the way to bring more into your life." More auditions, more
bookings and more success.
Giving
thanks for what you already have is probably the easiest
success strategy I know. And the most necessary. Wallace
Wattles in the prosperity classic, The Science of Getting
Rich, warns, "many people who order their lives rightly
in all other ways are kept in poverty by their lack of
gratitude." So here are several ways to show your gratitude at
Thanksgiving. And all year round.
First
of all, make a gratitude
list. Sit down with a blank sheet of paper, a
pad or your journal and just write out everything you're
grateful for. The Secret suggests that you start each sentence
in your list with "I am so happy and grateful now that . . . "
When you do that, you also place what you want in the present.
You're manifesting it today, not in the future.
And
don't only list big gratitudes. List the little things you
take for granted. For example, I just saw Will Smith's
tour-de-force performance in The Pursuit of Happyness last
night. It reminded me that we need to be thankful for the
roofs over our heads. Because some people don't have them. And
the legs that move our bodies. Because others don't have those
either.
Be
thankful for sunny days. Or chunky peanut butter. Or e-mail.
Or easy instruction manuals. Or your dog's drool. Or the
labybug that perches on your nose. The more you give thanks
for everything little thing around you, the more you create
that positive attitude of gratitude.
So
whenever you're feeling blue or discouraged about your booking
ratio, take out your list and read through it. And don't
forget to add from it from time to time. Because there are
always endless things to be grateful for.
I also like to
carry some sort of object that's a
kind of "gratitude totem". I have a rock
tucked into my purse that says "Leap . . . and the net will
appear." A glass Buddha head . . . a thoughtful gift from a
dear friend . . . is in there too. Whatever object you choose,
stick your gratitude totem in your pocket or purse and, every
time you happen upon it, say thank you for something new.
At this time of year, I love to luxuriate under my faux
fur duvet. I'm so grateful for this safe shelter that it
actually reminds me to say thanks for all the warmth in my
life. Like me, you might consider saying your gratitudes before you get
out of bed in the morning. I also like human
potential guru James Ray's idea of saying "thank you" with
every footfall beginning with when your feet first hit the
floor. So by the time you've done your morning business,
you've said thanks thousands of times.
Ray also cautions that gratitude shouldn't be a rote
exercise. Instead, remember all
the emotion and awe associated with it . . . like doing a
sensory exercise. My cat's purr and fur are
always a wonder to my ears and fingers. And I've experienced
them millions of times. My heart also flutters when I see a
butterfly in my garden. And I've seen millions of those too.
That joy that arrives with gratitude should be a snap for
emotion-conjuring actors.
If all this list-making and perpetual praising is just
too much for you, however, you can also find gratitude on the
internet! As a matter of fact, www.gogratitude.com is a 42-day
experiment in gratitude in which about 200,000 people
worldwide have participated. Simply sign up on the website and
every morning you'll receive an e-mail that'll take you
further down the gratitude path. Or, if you'd like your
gratitude with a side of chuckle, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NeMC1Fl3J0 for the Gratitude Dance. This little video
has been copied to numerous sites, sent to me by at least a
dozen friends and viewed 150,000 times since it was put up on
YouTube 2 months ago. Even the Beastie Boys have a song called
Gratitude. A song that boasts that gratitude will set you
free. Ya think?
If you do, jump on the gratitude bandwagon. At the very
least, it'll get you smiling through the after-Thanksgiving
sales grateful for that parking space and $1.99 cashmere
sweater. Remember . . . the day is called Thanks . . . giving.
Gratitude,
Schmatitude . . . Holiday 2007, part two!
I had
just finished my Thanksgiving article on gratitude and sent it
off to Now Casting. I then pointed my vintage black Z
due south to Long Beach for an appointment. Coming back, tons
of holiday getaway traffic kept me creeping for an hour. I was
finally almost home. Then my car stopped dead in the middle of
the freeway!
My
heroes instantly appeared out of the blackness. "We'll move
your car to the side", they said, "release your brake!". Too
addled to do anything else, I complied. Cars came to a halt as
our little ragtag band of car, confused me and my two saviors
limped to the right shoulder. And, as rapidly as they
appeared, they were gone.
A
heartbeat later, my car was illuminated by two bright beacons.
A Highway Patrolman was at my door, motioning me to roll down
my window. "No way," I said, "the window is dead, dead, dead .
. . like the car!" He laughed. When's the last time a Highway
Patrolman laughed at YOUR jokes?
Either
out of duty. Or the rarity of someone making light of a
harrowing situation. He stayed behind me for the HOUR it took
the tow truck to get to me. I realized while sitting there
that my two heroes had risked their lives to push me to the
side. And found out later that not only could I have gotten a
ticket. But that it was unusual for a freeway cop to stand
guard all that time. Perhaps it was because I made him laugh.
But
perhaps it is because I also live my life in a state of
gratitude. Instead of an instantly negative,
raining-gloom-and-doom, eat-some-worms reaction to this
inevitable bad stuff that happens to all of us, I go for the
golden. Sitting there, I was so thankful for those guys who
pushed me to the side. And the cop who watched over me.
Miracles like this happen to me every day.
If
you're an actor, you're into miracles. And that "making-it"
dream. So it's so important that you maintain a positive
attitude not only in your auditions. But in the rest of your
life. It's vital that you find the good in every situation.
Because once the gloom-and-doom descends, it's really
difficult to dig out of that pit.
The
holiday season is a great time to redirect gloom-and-doom into
gratitude. Because it's the time when most people are into
giving and random acts of kindness. Yet it's also a time of
grueling gift-seeking, decking halls, perpetual partying
hearty and ceaseless traffic tie-ups. A stressful time that
can wear rosy thoughts thin. On top of all that ambiguity,
we're hopefully (if the Writer's Strike is settled) teetering
on the brink of pilot season, a very busy ShowBiz time.
So how
can you use the momentum of the season to get more of this
most powerful of positive universal laws into your life? Well,
the first thing I'd do is notice all those negative messages
around you. Either from others. Or those percolating in your
own head. And how you use them to sabotage yourself. When I
was a college student, the Chairman of the UCLA Theatre Arts
Department told me I'd never be an actress, then amended his
opinion a couple of years later by saying I'd never be a lead
actress. Even with a lot of applause from people I trusted,
like Uta Hagen, and respectable Off-Broadway credits, I
believed my own bad press. And gave up acting for six years.
I
couldn't return to acting until I realized that it wasn't his
opinion that mattered. It was mine. And that I alone had the
power to turn all that negativity around. So when I returned,
I was particularly vigilant of all the good things that
happened around me, no matter how miniscule. The
receptionist's smile in a Casting Director's office. A kind
word from my coach. Even something as small as getting to an
audition on time through thick traffic.
I also
began to rewrite some of that icky old scripting that made me
give up acting. I was able to catch thoughts like "I'll never
be a lead actress", "I'm just not good enough" or "I'm too
fat" and rescript them on the spot. They turned into pearls of
well-being like "I've never done anything BUT leads" (I
didn't), "Shelley Winters told me I was fantastically
talented" (she did!) and "I'm a character actress; Shelley
isn't thin either!" (she wasn't).
I think
I was able to do this because I had made one false start and
wasn't about to make another. My renewed vision kept the
gratitude going. As Abraham channelers, Esther and Jerry
Hicks, say in Ask and It Is Given, "you do not
announce your inability to accomplish your journey. You accept
the distance between your starting place and where you desire
to be - and you continue to move in the direction of your
destination. You understand what is required-and you do it."
So if
there's some icky stuff you need to clear up before pilot
season comes roaring in in a few short weeks, start by being
grateful for your talent, your teachers, sites like Now
Casting, your job that keeps you going and your spiritual
practices that lift you up. Acknowledge and validate all that
you have. Realize how blessed you are and show appreciation
for all that you see. And do it every moment of every day.
Positive thoughts lead to positive emotions. Positive
emotions promote positive behaviors. Positive behaviors create
positive outcomes. Try it next time you audition. Just be
grateful for getting the audition. And being allowed to read.
And the fact that there's no one who's got your unique talents
anywhere else in the Universe. See how great you feel. And how
infectious that can be. Then see what a little gratitude can
do!
Next
Issue: Aligned Prosperity from the Aligning your BRAND Workbook
And, by
the way, DON'T LEAVE JUST
BECAUSE THIS eZINE COMES SCRAMBLED! Try
as I might, the program I use to publish it just doesn't suit
every type of e-mail. Acting
Magic is also
available online on my home page,
www.actingintuitive.com.
Simply use
the l~ink to the left of my picture right under
the opt-in form. Thanks in advance for your
diligence!
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Jill Place,
The Acting Intuitive 1309 Montecito
Drive Los Angeles, CA
90031 (323)
225-9850
Copyright © 2007 Jill
Place, the Acting Intuitive, All Rights
Reserved.
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