Part 2: The Virtual Storyteller - You Need A Cunning Plan

This post is about marketing. I just thought I'd get that out of the way.

I am sure some of you think I am jumping the gun here:

"How on earth can marketing be number two on this list???" You demand. 

"I thought this series was about doing virtual storytelling! Where is all the info about cameras and stuff! Why are you starting here?"

There is a good reason why we are starting here.

We are not actually talking about the marketing piece itself, we are talking about the plan for the marketing: These are two different things.

For the last however many years you have been a storyteller/performer, your job has been pretty straightforward...

1. I will show up at your event.

2. I will do a live show of a certain length

3. You will pay me for this experience

4. I will put the money in the bank

5. Lather rinse repeat

You probably have some idea how to market that.

Contact schools

Contact libraries

Contact venues

Contact senior centers 

Contact hospitals

Contact park services

etc, etc, etc

If you never got to the marketing, or you had issues with it, click here to read the long, in-depth series I did on marketing!

Traditionally, our marketing is like this, "Hey, I am a storyteller/puppeteer/singer/poet (you get the drift),  and I would like to come and tell/sing/perform for your clientele.

What they expect is some form of this:

  

Yes, lots of touching, gathering, shouting, laughing, moving about, and generally having a fabulous, loud, communal time.

There is no way on the Flat Earth that you could sell something like this to any venue in the world right now. 

So, what can you sell? What is going to be the new marketing strategy?

Well, in our current circumstances there are some options:

1. - You can do "live" virtual.

2. - You can go pre-recorded

3. - You can do a mix of both of the above

4. - You could offer in-person shows with some very strict guidelines to protect the health and well being of the audience, the venue, and yourself

Each of those things has its own challenges. So, you need to decide what you want to do.

Do I want to do all pre-recorded?

Am I more comfortable with Live virtual?

Do I want to mix the two?

Am I determined to do in-person gigs?

Will I do it all?

I'll wait while you answer those questions.

Okay, now you have the beginnings of a plan.

What are you going to offer?

Performances?

Residencies?

Workshops?

Q&A events?

Hour length performances?

New material?

Old material?

What are you going to do?

At each stage of this questioning phase, stop and imagine how that affects the market that you want to tap. Each and every decision you make will impact the changes you are about to make. It will also decide how you are going to make them.

For example:

I knew I wanted to do performances

I want most of them to be pre-recorded

I will do live zoom, but it is not my preference

I will not be doing any in person shows anywhere until at least May of 2021. I will reassess at that point

Having made those decisions, I had to decide what I was going to offer, and could I either tap a market or create one.

I committed to marketing to my traditional markets and offering them a version of the normalcy that we all crave.

That was my hook. See, we can still share stories just as we always have. It will look a little different, but we will get that warm, happy, fun experience that we have come to know and love.

If that is what we were going to offer, then I had to figure out how to make that happen.

Up Next:

The Learning Curve

The other posts in this series

Part 1: The Virtual Storyteller - The Philosophy of Plenty - Don't Let People Talk You Out Of It!

Part 2: The Virtual Storyteller - You Need A Cunning Plan

Part 3 - The Virtual Storyteller - Getting Equipped

Part 4: Lighting the Virtual Storyteller

Part 5: The Virtual Storyteller - Performing For The Camera

Part 6: The Virtual Storyteller - I'm a Teller Not a Film Editor!

Part 7: The Virtual Storyteller - How Do You Market This???

Part 8: The Virtual Storyteller - The Internet Gods Are Not Always Kind

Part 9: The Virtual Storyteller - We Are An Evolving Business

Gear, Gear, and More Gear - Preparing For Virtual Work In The Fall!

I have been part of touring theatre companies.

Ah yes, I certainly have. 

I spent two summers of high school building, painting, maintaining, and producing props with a cast. I helped construct backdrops and frames.

I was part of erecting those frames, putting up backdrops, and breaking the whole thing down, stowing them, and preparing for the next travel show.

I also did traveling theatre at university.

I even did a couple of shows after graduating. I looked around at the life of being in a small, traveling theatre company and said, "You know, this is not how I want to live my life."

So, I bid adieu to that part of my life and moved on to other things.

Storytelling is light on the gear.

I don't have puppets, a set, props, or costumes.

I don't have backdrops or lights, or anything like that to cart from place to place.

In fact, I have my mat - which is made from recycled coca-cola bottles that I bought in Australia, and my sound system when needed.

That was in the before time.

I have been performing in a little nook in my living room. It took me months to figure out how to light it so I didn't have crazy shadows and I could be seen.

That required lighting that I did not have.

Ultimately, I figured it out.

The David was polite enough about the situation as the summer went on, and then he started making these comments.

TD: "Have you considered a backdrop?

Me: "No."

TD: "You should think about it."

A few weeks later.

TD: "Have you looked at backdrops?"

Me: "No."

TD: I thought you would have looked at some backdrops."

A few days later

TD: "Backdrops?"

Me: Oh, yeah. I'm going to order some."

Every single day after that.

TD: "Backdrops?"

Me: "I'm doing it!"

It took me a lot of searching to find backdrops I liked. I finally settled on these two from an outfit called GladsBuy.

Bookcase from GladsBuy

Brick Wall from GladsBuy

These are not virtual backgrounds, they are actual backdrops made from vinyl. They have grommets in the top of them to hang on a frame. I've used them on a couple of occasions already, and they look great.

After buying these things, I related the whole annoying process to my daughter. She sat down, pulled out a pen, and designed a backdrop for me that incorporated the themes of my business.

I ordered that one from BackdropSource.

without lighting

with bright lighting

Then, a friend of mine who was watching all of this play out online, called me and offered to make me a custom backdrop. I said yes. So, I went from having no backdrops to having three and one on the way in a matter of days.

Well, if you have a backdrop, you have to have something on which to hang it.

Luckily, I know all about backdrops.

So, more gear.

I headed to efavormart, and ordered a frame for my new backdrops.

I put it together a couple of days ago.

It is lightweight, designed to be put together and taken apart. It takes less than five minutes to put it up or stow it. It comes in its own little pouch and fits in a closet. What more could I ask for?

Oh, I know what I could ask for.

I have to figure out how to light this new situation without huge shadows on the canvas.

Sigh.

Well, it isn't like I'm going anywhere...

Happy discovering!