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Keeping Yourself
Organized for Effective Marketing
by
Wayne Lee
Sometimes entertainers
become overwhelmed because they must focus their energies on their ‘show’ as
well as on their ‘business.’ Having an organized office allows you to keep
track of the bookings coming in, the clients you have, your accounting,
receipts, and contact numbers, yearly, monthly, and daily schedules, etc.
Many times in my career I would put off phoning agents and potential clients
because I was too lazy to look for their number. Once I realized this was
getting me nowhere, I spent time (two days) organizing the office to have
everything at my fingertips. This allowed me to use my time more wisely and
gave me the incentive to keep the office organized. Following are some
recommendations for getting and staying organized:
·
Have a filing cabinet to file your contracts, promo
packages, taxes, expenses, personal items, client lists, references, client
list, contact information, etc.
·
Have and “In” basket for all of your current
receipts, contracts, new mail, etc. This allows you to keep your current
mail and incoming paper work separate and it gives you a way to file each
item away.
·
Have a phone system that suits your needs. For
example, you may want to have a 1-800 line if you are targeting national and
international clients. Have a separate fax line to ensure you will not tie
up you phone line. Voice messaging is also a must for when you are out of
the office.
·
By having a computer you can keep records of all
your clients, promo information, letters, calendars, pictures, etc. Make
sure you have everything easy to access on your computer. All of your
contracts can be formatted on the computer and they can also be sent out by
e-mail. E-mail is very powerful as it allows you to keep in touch with
clients, potential clients and virtually anyone you need to contact.
There will come a time, if
you haven’t already experienced this, that you should hire someone to work
or help out in the office. This is only natural if you are progressing and
getting busier. I believe that in order for you to focus on your show, and
do what you do best, this is a must. Once you hire someone who can run the
office (full or part-time) you can spend more time working on your routines,
developing products to sell, and other ventures. There are some
entertainers who don’t want to spend the money to hire this help. However,
in the long run, someone who helps you can potentially bring in more money
from more shows and keep your life more organized.
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