The Touring Performer - January 2021 Edition

I can spend every evening like this!

 Last January, I wrote a post about how I was preparing to put thousands upon thousands of miles on my car. I was giving tips about surviving the incoming touring season which typically lasts from February to May.

In fact, over the last decade, I've written similar posts. These are as much to remind me about how to survive my schedule as it is to share with others how I manage it.

Not this year.

This year's workflow is very different.

1. I don't even know most shows are happening - The David changes the passwords on the pre-recorded shows on Sunday. Everyone who has a show booked that week gets the new password for the link, and they have access for seven days, He turns the links "on" and "off" as needed.

2. I have to edit particular intros or outros. - The David sends me images or video clips for specific venues. I edit them into the pre-existing packaged show, upload the altered show into Vimeo and The David sends the link to the particular venue.

"I think she's frozen!"

3. I have a new show or shows coming on-line, so I have to record, edit, and upload new material - I head upstairs to the studio, record the necessary material, come downstairs to the kitchen table, load the footage into my computer, edit it, compose the set, put a copy on my external drive, upload the content into Vimeo, and interact with it like step 1 or step 2.

4. I have a festival coming up where they want pre-recorded sets - I follow step three, organize the information, and send the sets to a dropbox. 

5. I have live/virtual shows - The night before the show, I go upstairs to my studio, check to make sure the background I've got on the frame is the background I want to use, make sure I have my video camera charged because I record me performing for the computer and then I edit the recorded live zoom show and upload it into Vimeo. The school then has access to the recording of me live/virtual telling to them for seven days.

I have a hate/love relationship with Live/Virtual

There are so many things that can go wrong with this set-up!

1. The internet on one end or the other gives up because of Gremlins.

2. The internet slows down because of Gremlins

3. The connection is bad because of Gremlins.

4. People randomly unmute themselves because of people.

5. The sound goes wonky because of Gremlins.

6. The people in their little boxes forget that you can see them and they do something.....because of people.

7. The children in their little boxes totally know they can see you so they do something....because of children.

8. You are totally distracted by the people in the boxes and you lose your concentration.

9. You are totally distracted by yourself looking back at you and you lose your concentration.

10. Your neighbor decides to cut down the tree in his backyard in the middle of your set because of neighbors.

11. Some random dog decides now is the time to express his displeasure at the clouds because of nature.

We are not a quiet bunch!

12. Your son and husband start having a great, loving, loud, silly conversation in the kitchen and you have to leave the set, and remind them you are performing live. They are covered with chagrin because they didn't know they were that loud...family.

13. Pets. Let's just leave it at that.

The Bottom Line?

It is just as exhausting.

I'd rather not have to do it.

I am enjoying it. 

Live Zoom is Exhausting!

Yes, I do see the appeal of live telling. The kids can see each other and me and they can interact. There are some things that make it tricky, like when they decide to unmute themselves when they are supposed to be joining me or doing call and response. I love to hear the voices, but they come in at all different speeds and at different times depending on what's happening on their computer.

It makes a cacophony of sounds that I must stop and wait for because kids who either didn't or couldn't unmute also hear it at different times. The pauses are odd and the rhythm of the story gets wonky. Still, it is kind of fun to watch the kids grooving out to storytelling.

They are at home, so nobody is making them sit still. Some kids go full Charleston Boogie. Some kids don't respond at all other than to stare at me unmoving. 

I've watched twins fight over the best viewing spot to see the screen while I'm telling. I watched one little girl act out each and every story enthusiastically a second after the narration.

People who are really into stories are the most fascinating, distracting, amazing things to watch. I'm enjoying a show while I'm presenting a show!

There are some wonderful things about this brave new touring world.

This is the easiest touring schedule I've ever had.

I fill up my car about once a month instead of two times a day.

As for the grueling commute...There are about a dozen stairs I have to climb. Think about my FiftyThree-year-old knees!

Yeah, I don't feel sorry for me either.

I have never toured so extensively and to so many countries and still managed to sleep in my own bed every single night! 

I actually like The David. I'm glad we get to spend time together!

I am enjoying this as much as I can while I can!

Happy Commuting.

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

This is a Tigon - Hybrid Tiger Lion mix

I live with my business manager. That means that someone else is living inside of my head when it comes to business. 

I read him the opening paragraphs of this blog, and he pointed out to me that I am...what is the word...antiquated.

He disagrees that's what he said, but that is an apt description of what I had written - oh, and I've erased it so you will never know how right he was. Trust me. He was very right.

I think of storytelling in a very specific way. I love the way I think about it, and I love the way I have always done it. 

I would never have called myself the "old guard" in a million years. And yet, I think I have been living in the past million years.

Why do I say that? Well, I was thinking about storytelling - this business I love - as becoming a hybrid of some kind. Like the Tigon or the Liger, but that is not what has happened.

The David pointed out that we are evolving.

"Take Netflix," he said, "When it began, you rented DVDs and sent them back without a fee - they were competing with the big name in the industry - Blockbuster! Now, you stream their content, and Blockbuster, which had a very successful but static business model, died almost immediately."

"That's true," I said.

"Think of Disneyplus," he continued. "You used to buy their videos one at a time, now, you can watch them all in one place. Technology is evolving everything. It is also evolving storytelling."

hmmm

I can't say I like this idea, but I can see that it is/has happened. We, as storytellers, are evolving. Some of us are doing it kicking and screaming, and as my friend, Caroline Welkin is like to say of me, "whinging". 

Evolving???

I don't want to evolve! Can't this new nonsense wait until I am very old and very dead? Who has time for all of this evolving?

What does it even mean???

I think it means Rachel Hedman has been so far ahead of the game that we can't even see her dust. Luckily, she has been dropping breadcrumbs. Check her out.

The David is still complaining about my use of the antiquated. He came into the bedroom as I was typing this. I read him my new opening, and he once again objected. 

Then he said, "Well if you are going to be that way about it, I'm going to get all Meta on you."

"Go for it."

"The modality of storytelling has always changed. The first humans probably used the rocks and sticks to sing or share the first stories. They used rock walls to "write" the first stories. They switched to word of mouth for generations before moving to the printed word. Now, you are virtual. You have always been evolving. This isn't new."

I informed him I was going to write that down and he abruptly left the bedroom muttering something about going back to his desk before he got into more trouble for trying to be helpful.

Now I really feel like a dinosaur.

That doesn't mean I'm not trying to face this strange new world.

I have learned a great deal about virtual performance which is why I am pretty dang sure I know next to nothing about it. 

Here are some things I think I know. 

1. Virtual performance is never going away - 

The number of venues that could never afford to transport, house, and feed me that are suddenly able to afford a show is astounding. I have been able to work with venues all over the world that I could never have managed to visit! Post COVID, I imagine that will still be true. Not only that, I have tons of shows available online that will still be there after the pandemic ends, and we intend to keep marketing them.

2. The Pre-recorded shows are doing well -

One of my favorite business ideas is "making money in your sleep". For some kinds of artists, this is tricky. We do our best, but it is not so easy. Selling merch is the only way we do that in the storytelling world. As an author, passive income happens when people buy your books. For the first time, my business has a "storytelling" angle for passive income. Basically, we turn shows "off" and "on" with a password. It requires very little effort on The David, and the shows run for a week. Every single school can decide how they use that material over the course of the week.

3. Live Virtual is not as fundamentally odd to some schools

Since some school districts had already had distance learning as part of their set-up, virtual storytelling is not as odd to them as it was to most of us. I am hearing about teaching artists who are engaging with this format, as well as many other types of performers. Some of you have become masters of this work, playing with cameras and getting effects you could not do without the video. I have created several one-woman shows and hour-long stories that are specifically designed for a camera. It is the first deep character work I've done in years!

4. Despite the vaccine, there is a good chance we won't be able to be in person until the fall.

I think it is reasonable to expect that we won't be in schools until the fall of 2021. So, start planning your summer virtual programs right now.

5. Work and work-flow has changed, and it may not go back to the way it was - I blame Zoom

For all of my storytelling life, arranging shows was pretty standard. Venue calls, they talk to The David, they arrange a time and sometimes a theme, and then we are golden. Now? Now people are realizing that the virtual landscape offers all sorts of options that a single live human being cannot accomplish. The end result is that after an initial phone call, The David is finding himself in Zoom meetings arranging more and more elaborate types of performance schedules for school districts! We just booked nine "live" shows over the course of five months for all different times for multiple aged audiences that will take place at times ranging from 10 am to 7:30 at night! Everyone in the district will have the option of watching any of the shows they'd like, and all of them will be publicized like a tour. The more school districts, library systems, and venues start thinking about what can be done without me having to move from place to place, the more ambitious they are becoming! Brave new world indeed!

6. I am still torn about live virtual shows, but it doesn't matter because I'm doing them

7. Some platforms are terrible, but you just deal

8. We are going to have to really watch the schedule to make sure I don't burn myself out. 

Without needing to factor in travel time, you can work every single day and be in different places from Maine to Nevada on the same day! I had a looney day a few weeks ago where I was in Connecticut in the morning, Scotland in the afternoon and California in the evening. That's cool, but that doesn't mean the work isn't still tiring.

Speaking of tiring...

9. It isn't less exhausting to perform for a camera. I'd actually go so far as to say it is more intense.

I find pre-recorded stories hard because I need to focus on nobody, but I can always stop and go back. Live virtual is even harder because there is a live audience! I have to watch myself to make sure I am actually in the little box and not performing outside of it, but I also need to focus on the audience...the real one, not the glorious imaginary one that absolutely loves me!

10. Staring at a green light when I am performing live is annoying. 

We have all felt that. I am always tempted to look at the participants when I'm performing live, even knowing that if I do that, then I am looking at nobody!

11. With little kids, it is better to be able to see them...I think. I love watching them participate in their homes. I think they would do it whether I can see them or not, but it is cute to see them. I watched parents who had turned on the computer and left, come back into the room to play with the stories. Of course, the very fact I can tell you that means I wasn't looking at the green dot which means that at times the kids thought I was looking down at...who knows?

This virtual world is wild and strange...but I don't think it is going anywhere. 

Then again, I could be wrong. Maybe once we can do in-person storytelling the outside world will eschew virtual telling, but I doubt it.

I, for one, hope I can still sneak away to Ireland for stories on a Saturday afternoon.

I, for one, hope that ASST keeps its platform rolling so that people who could never get to a storytelling event can keep coming to share with us. Maybe they will choose us over television...it could happen!

Peking Duck

Virtual storytelling has brought stories to more places than we ever have in the flesh, and it has expanded our audience. 

So, we evolve. 

The nonavian dinosaurs walked the earth for 165 million years

The avian dinosaurs are still with us...and some of them are absolutely delicious.

I guess it is time to adapt even though it might get me roasted and served with delicious sauces...

Happy Virtual Telling!

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

What do you mean I can't go on tour? : Rethinking A Lifestyle!

Worth every second of down time

For my entire adult life, aside from a few years when I was either gestating, giving birth to or using my body to feed and nurture developing human beings, I have been on tour. 

I visit my home for periods of time, but most of the time I am engaging in the rough and ready life of hotel rooms, staying with friends, thousands of strangers, new places, language barriers, avoiding gluten, and generally being a public-facing introvert. Ambivert. Donna Marie Todd assures me I am an ambivert. 

I have been home for four months. That's right - FOUR MONTHS, and I'm not recovering from anything or distracted with babies.

At first, this was not my main concern, because Houston, we have a problem.

My brain went into shock mode for a couple of weeks -

What is going on?

How am I going to make a living?

How long is this going to last?

Luckily, I live with my business manager. Did I say "luckily"? It has its moments...especially since I am doing it full time now.

The David and I

Within two weeks, we'd moved into action mode -

- Find a virtual pathway

- How much performing do I have to do live? Can I pre-record shows?

- Is there a model where we can capitalize on this new situation so we can survive

- What is the next step?

Within a month we not only had a new business plan but a new model that was working well.

We were able to make headway on the money we'd lost when COVID stopped our season.

We started thinking about how our new model translated into the Fall.

We made plans, and begin to carry them out on a massive scale.

- National contact list - go!

- How does this software work?

- Do we need more technology?

- How do we price this?

We made plans about supporting our community - 

- Artists Standing Strong Together!

- Donating to causes we believe in from Food Banks, to Arts Councils, to Storyteller Relief Funds

- Contributing to artists whenever possible

Then something odd happened.

I was suddenly at the end of the planning and whirlwind prep. I looked up into a sea of days with nothing too much to accomplish.

If I wasn't doing anything, it had nothing to do with procrastination. I really didn't have anything to do.

I like procrastination. It means you have duties you are ignoring. What happens when you really don't have anything to do? What does that even mean?

Yes, I could rehearse or write, but I don't actually have any "real" deadlines. 

NO DEADLINES!!! 

HOW DO YOU SURVIVE WITHOUT DEADLINES???

I am not a self-regulator. I rely on my touring schedule to help me remember what day it is! 

I started freaking out a little. A type-A personality without a feeling of impending doom in the pit of my stomach because I've agreed to something that is slightly out of my wheelhouse is a dangerous thing. How can anybody live like that???

No. I was very freaked.

Then, The David took me in hand and told me that it was not healthy for me to be so unfocused.

That's when it happened.

I bought a planner. 

I haven't had one since The David took over my touring schedule almost two decades ago. 

I started writing in it almost immediately. 

I suddenly realized that counter to what I thought, I am really busy. I mean, really really busy!

Apparently, I have board meetings, group meetings, artist meetings, work meetings, programs to write and develop, and things that I need to accomplish.

There is so much more to my life than just touring!

Who knew? 

With my days spread before me like an uninked sea, it occurred to me that this would be a good time to start some good, achievable habits.

I've always had Non-fiction Thursday, but, I thought, what if I expanded this out so that I accomplished different things every single day?

So, I have a new way forward.

Monday - Check-In. This is when I will call people, spend the day on social media. maybe watch some storytelling. maybe work on my projects, maybe not! Ha

Tuesday - Recordings! - If there is something to record from intros to story sets to new stories, or education modules - this is the day I will get that done!

Wednesday - Free Day! Clean the House! Possibly do some reading for fun. Date Night!

Thursday - Non-Fiction Thursday. Blogging, admin, the stuff I won't do unless I'm forced.

Friday - My new day! Fiction Fridays! woohoo! I get to work on fiction all day! That's it! Just fiction!!!!

Saturday - 3 - 5 in Liz Weir's Barn I need that. Otherwise, work on projects Family Game Night!

Sunday - Work in the garden, sit outside, make sure you enjoy the outside...that's all I'm sayin'

I am looking forward to my new schedule. 

I better be.

I doubt I'll be touring again for the next year!

Keep your spirits up!

Wash your hands!

Wear a mask!

Social Distance!

Choose your life! 

You've got to live it anyway, you might as well live it on your own terms!

Happy Not-Touring - 

Other Parts of Life - There Are Wonderful Things Afoot!

There are so many pretty amazing things going on in our world. In North Carolina, it is feeling more and more like summer!




My garden is doing its thing.




My cats are still a little nutty










My daughter is still drawing on herself.



My son sill wears a black overcoat on sweltering days.




Some of you might not know this, but I moonlight as a professor at Hogwarts on the Hill.

I am Professor Melinda Menagerie and I teach Care of Magical Creatures.

This morning I got an email from the Headmistress. They have decided that this year's classes are going to happen no matter what.

Each professor will prepare a packet for the students. The parents will come by Platform 9 ¾  to pick it up on the day in question, and the classes will be available on a private channel.

I live with 2 visual artists and one of them specializes in 3-dimensional digital art.

You know what that means, right?

This year we are totally studying dragons! I'm going to be in videos with dragons! I am going to hold a little dragon!

I get to pick up a dragon egg! No, wait! Maybe we'll make dragon eggs as one of our crafts!







I don't usually do crafts. Never a good time to start!

Actually, I picked up something that I'm pretty sure looks like a dragon egg!



Okay, it is an emu egg, but it will serve!









Hey! Maybe I could make dragon eggs and put little plastic dragons inside so that when the kids get them home, they could use their wands to pacify the eggs, then crack them open and there would be little plastic dragons inside of them.

That could be fun. We would definitely get to work on our wand forms.

That means I could be making dragon eggs this summer!

So many things to do. So many things to do.

I am also going to transfer more stories to video for the fall.

We touring artists are going to be disease vectors, so I doubt our presence will be welcome even if schools do open.

I'm also going to be doing some virtual residencies.

So much planning!

Libraries are still booking shows.

The David is still sending out marketing emails.

Oh, that reminds me - If you want to take a workshop with Sue O'Halloran and the David about this brave new world of virtual storytelling and the marketing thereof, you can sign up now.

Right Now.

The David

Overnight, the world of in-person storytelling, keynote speaking, workshop facilitation and the like disappeared. In this 90-minute webinar, Sue O’Halloran and David Klibanow will offer guidelines on adapting to and prospering in this “new normal” of virtual presentations.

Quality production, entertaining, relevant content, efficient business systems and effective marketing all still matter, but they have morphed into a different medium with its own formulas for success.

A year from now, will you be looking back on all you’ve created and the explosion of new people you’ve reached? Or will you be feeling even more isolated, wishing you had ventured into this new world of virtual opportunity?

There are lots of wonderful things happening. The world has not ended. I am going to get on my bike when I am done writing this on non-fiction Thursday.

Tomorrow is going to be for recording.

Saturday I will be Zooming with London.

Sunday I have set aside for the writing group with incredible women who make me a better writer and a better person.

This is my new anthem...except the part about the trumpet. Substitute telling stories and we are good.





Happy Remembering There Are Other Things!

When Murphy Strikes: The Aftermath

source

This has not been a stellar week in the world of storytelling for me. I find myself wondering how children taste if you have the right recipe.

I also wonder about the administrators at some of these schools.

In the last two days, I've been hit by all of the things that make me question whether or not I am the best person to be in schools.

I have no patience.
I am annoyed when administration treats art experiences like a babysitting service.
I am disgusted when teachers spend time surfing the net on their phones during the set and then get upset with their kids when they don't pay attention.
I am annoyed when they leave two special teachers in the room and everyone else leaves, thus encouraging the handful of really defiant kids all over the room to show their worst behavior without there being anybody there who really knows the best way to deal with them.
I hate having to enforce discipline from the stage because nobody is doing it and the kids around the disruptor are having trouble paying attention.
I really hate having to call out a kid who has Pokemon cards or a phone.
I hate seeing the preschoolers file into a show for 3 - 5th graders because they are going to sit and stare at me without a clue in the world about what is happening.

As I said, it has been a rough couple of days.

When things like this happen to me while I'm performing, I stop having fun. The only thing that saves the shows at this point is all of the training I've had over the years. I can get through a story and the kids enjoy it, but they are not getting the best of me, and my attitude by the end is hanging on by the skin of my proverbial teeth.

What happens when Murphy comes to visit me?


My usual fall back position after I leave a show where my body is in a knot because of the circumstances is to decide I was the biggest problem. Somehow, if I had just done SOMETHING different, that would have saved the whole thing. Placing it in my court makes me feel like there is something I can do to deal with the situation better the next time it happens and I start strategizing.

Despite my utter disgust at myself for not giving what I felt was the best possible experience to this school, the kids left saying...

You should be a comedian!
You are really funny!
I loved those stories!

When I'm this disappointed in the overall show, it is hard for me to hear those things. I am too annoyed at myself at not having done a better job at...SOMETHING.

source

First, I reach into my glove box and get a small piece of emergency chocolate. You can put what you want in your glovebox, I try to keep something decadent in there that I wouldn't normally eat. I take a small piece. This prevents me from pulling into the next drive-thru I see and ordering a shake or some other thing I will instantly regret the second I've swilled it down.

Next, I call The David. 

I yell, complain, and generally pout out loud as I drive. He listens and talks me down off of whatever ledge I might be standing on at the moment. Then, he talks to me. He uses his "Baby, be calm" voice.

He tells me about his phone calls, meetings, contracts, politics he has seen, whatever thing the cats have been up to, and any news of our college-aged children he has been saving. He will even tell me dad jokes. 


Whenever I am no longer homicidal, we get off the phone. I put on a playlist and drive home.









When I get here,  I curate my little library.














I get on facebook and waste some time.



I play a couple of games.










I make myself some lovely tea.



















This time of year I make a nice fire....even if it is sixty degrees outside.











And, if it is non-fiction Thursday, which it is, I have to try to write a blog post about something.




So, tomorrow I have another show. No matter how it goes, tomorrow is Friday, so there is that.

Oh, and for those of my friends who are worried that I am cracking, I had amazing shows last weekend and a practically sold out show at the Carolina Theatre last weekend.

It isn't that I am fighting some huge uphill battle and debating the merits of my career.

No, I'm just having a few days when every audience I've seen makes me think I'm doing something wrong.

I think that it is important for artists to have these moments because they remind us that we are on a journey, not at a destination. We are not bulletproof, and we are often defined by the last audience we see!

So, tea, fire, and pampering tonight. Tomorrow? Kindergarten and first grade audiences...at least, that's what they booked. Who knows what it will be when I get there.

Murphy is with me this week. He's a pain, but he doesn't ever stay long.

Enjoy the journey...even the potholes. All of them teach us something.

Happy Telling -

Gearing Up For A New Season: Fall Is Coming

Summer Days Are Dwindling!

Do you know what your marketing cycles are?

We have two big ones.
Summer for the fall and winter
Winter for the spring and summer

When do you start marketing for a season?
August and January are our big push months

How long does it take to reap that market?
After the cycle starts, most of the booking happens in the next three to four weeks for established markets.

How do you reach the people you'd like to contact you?

Email
Phone
Showcases
Most of it is word of mouth or familiarity


No, I am not going to write another long marketing series!

source

It is just that these questions come up with us every fall. No matter how long we've been at this, the amount of effort expended to make the season profitable doesn't get any less.

If anything, it gets more intense as people try to bargain for specific dates, parts of the year, or blocks of time.

My job in all of this is to design the workshops The David claims I can teach and put together presentations and key notes for organizations he swears I can address.



The leaves change. The world moves. Business waits for nobody. We just hired a firm to redesign our outdated website.

This year is going to be tricky because I have to edit a novel for a February deadline while I flit all over the country.

I tell myself that there are worse problems to have and then I take a deep breath and try not to freak myself out about how much is on the plate.

Meanwhile, I try to do all of the things that are difficult when I am traveling:

I sleep,

Relax,

Baking got way more interesting since I went Gluten Free

Eat healthy,

Write,

Cook,

Bake,

Play with the cats,

Not stress out over politics,

Deal with the Empty Nest,

and gear up for the year ahead.

Self Care is a huge part of this time of year. Be well and be safe.


In closing, I would like to say a sad farewell to a woman who had so much more to give us....


The Storytelling World lost Dianne de Las Casas. She was only forty-seven.  If you knew her and want to support the family, here is a way to do it.

Dianne was a bright light in the storytelling world as well as being a prolific writer. She taught workshops on marketing, storytelling, and writing, and she touched the lives of many hundreds of thousands of children and adults.

Dianne, you are missed.




All of us have so much to give.

Give all you can.

Have a happy and healthy Fall.

Branding: Do You Have A Logo?

My first logo

This is the second post in my series on Marketing.

1. Marketing 101: Part 1 - Questions.
2. Branding: Do you Have a Logo?
3. Is Your Business Card Working?
4. The Brochure
5. The Press Kit
6. Cohesion: Why Does It Matter?
7. Conclusion








I learned to write cursive in the third grade. I loved it. I watched as the elegant letters I'd always seen my mother make, come flowing out of my pen.

Words and how we use them have always fascinated me. Writing words and letters in interesting ways has been a passion of mine since I was little.

I am an unabashed logophile.

I started playing with different ways to express my initials somewhere around fourth grade, and within weeks of graduating from college, I put together the logo you see at the top of the post.

I put that logo on everything. I included a little graphic of it under my name when I applied for showcases or grants. For many years it was on everything I sent to anyone.

Now, some of you who have known me for a long time are staring at that thing and saying, "If you used this everywhere, how come I've never seen it?"

This brings up a good question. Do itinerate performers actually need a logo?

This short article by a company that generates logos doesn't think so.

"...ask yourself, do I really need a logo for my business?

Here’s how to tell…

Think about what a logo’s primary job is: to help customers distinguish between products on a shelf, or to tell one service apart from a competitors. For example, take a look at this glass of cola. Can you tell what kind it is?"

The image is a glass of brown liquid with ice. There is no way to tell what it is unless it had a logo.


So, I thought I'd go that way. A few images.

Who made this cap?

Who made this cap?

 What is in these bowls?



Is one of these pairs of shoes a knockoff? Maybe.











Obviously, branding matters when you have a shelf full of similar or possibly the exact same something, and you are trying to distinguish what is what.

Advertisers also use logos in order to subtly influence our brains for preferential treatment. They spend years telling us that their brand is different from other brands because they use 'better', 'stronger', more 'durable', 'tastier', 'organic', blah-de-blah-de-blah than their competitors.

We, as performers are not shoes, hats, or generic bowls of goo. Does having a logo make any difference in the world?

I would argue that while nobody is going to mistake me for Sherry Norfolk...

this is not me.

there is still a place for logos in our business.

The logo can be used to give your marketing materials a more professional look. Though nobody is going to look at a graphic and say, 'hey, that means that this is storyteller is more durable than that other one!' having a logo can make your marketing look fancier.

So, where could you find my logo?

I put it on my stationary. This is the same paper I used for my contracts, invoices, communication, and handwritten notes.

The little bit of writing you see on the left side of the page is something I said offhand once when someone was asking me a question about the veracity of my tales. It got a laugh, so I decided to keep it.

"Every story I tell is true...except for the parts I make up."

That little phrase has been used for so many introductions and bios that it is way more associated with me than the logo.

What is nice about the logo, however, is that it can be put on anything that is part of my work product. It gives my marketing cohesion.

One of the things I will talk about over the next few posts is having your marketing materials support each other.



Eight or nine years ago, The David and I decided to redo the marketing material. I had designed my business card and logo, but we chucked the works and rebranded the whole thing. We sent our old stuff to one of them slick marketing groups, told them what we were looking for, and they designed a brand new logo for me.

Simpler. Cleaner. I hated it at first.

This new logo arrived with mock-ups of all sorts of interesting things and a new look for the company. We redid the business cards, the stationary, and got new marketing toys. We even got a color scheme.

So, here are some of the things that changed after we put our marketing materials in the hands of people who actually know how to create stuff for marketing....

Stationary with contact info on the bottom

My new stationary doesn't have that little phrase on the side, but at the bottom, in that gorgeous purplish-red color is all of the contact information for the business.

We use this for contracts, invoices, letters, and anything else you would need for correspondence from the company.

There is a new addition to the stationary...that little frog. Don't forget him, he's everywhere.











The business card is less wordy, laid out in an easy to read manner, and my manager's name is  listed as the contact, not mine! Not only that...if you flip that sucker over....











My tagline is on the back, and there I am in technicolor so that it would be impossible for you to confuse me with Sherry Norfolk.

So, here is the thing about the logo. 

1. It isn't likely anyone is going to associate you with a particular logo since so much of our business is word of mouth, watching people on Youtube, or listening to CDs, mp3s, or finding us on the radio.

2. At some point, if you are working this as a business, it will be necessary for you to produce materials for marketing, legally binding agreements, or correspondence, so having a logo gives you something to put on all of that stuff.

3. If you don't want to create a logo, you don't need to do so. You are a unique performer, and there is no chance someone is going to distinguish you from someone else because you have a puppet theater emblazoned on your jacket. 

So, do you need a logo? Nope. Not a bit of it. Lots of people don't have them. You can have lovely marketing materials without using them. 

In our business, your name is far more important than your logo. Your name is your brand. All of this other stuff, well, that's just frosting on your cake.

Logophiles Unite!

Happy Marketing.