THE MAGIC BULLET
This is my #1 pro tip… it works better than anything else.
Yet why is it so few people use it?
It’s a fear that many of us have – but few are willing to actually admit to. A fear of being “visible”… a fear of being a public persona.
Here I help figure out why you might fear visibility – and how you can overcome your fears.
Perhaps as creatives, our deepest fear is that when we really reclaim our power and succeed, we have to face the knowledge that we have always been powerful to change all along and that we could have changed a year or five or 10 years ago.
Maybe you fear putting something out there because too many people might see it and criticize your work. Or you think that you’re not really worthy of success. Or that you’ll eventually fall flat on your face.
People always ask me if I’ve got a magic bullet. I do. Here it comes…
It’s the one thing that you can do to make sure your treatment is the one that gets picked. I generally reserve it for my favorite clients. When I share it with you, you’ll maybe understand why people are reticent about doing it, but you know what? You should just do it. It started off with a regular client. He wanted to pitch a Middle Eastern airline. It was a nice big fat job – a huge budget – gorgeous. And he said, “look, I really, really want to get this one”. And I go, “okay, well here’s what I recommend you do.”
I will send you a script for a two minute web camera video. We were on Skype. I said, “all you have to do is do exactly what I’m doing here. Flip, open your phone, or flip up your laptop and say ‘Hi. Wanted to thank you for setting this my way. I’ve got some thoughts. Just wanted to share them with you while it’s fresh’ and then look away to your laptop, your notes, and just read verbatim the script that I’ve written for you.” It doesn’t matter if your performance is off, they think you’re reading off your notes. It doesn’t matter. They’re not judging you on your performance. You don’t have to worry about how it’s lit. Just read the script to camera because they’ll watch because someone cared enough to speak directly to them.
Do you think they’re going to read a two or three 3000 word treatments? If you do, you’re smoking crack. That’s why when I write, I write in blocks. I write with headlines, I write with subheads, but that’s for another post. The thing is, if you really want to nail a job, let the client see your face. Let the client hear your enthusiasm. Let the client know that you thought and solve their problems for them and tell them succinctly. You don’t have to do the whole thing, just two minutes. So that’s the key. That’s the magic bullet. Record a two minute video. Attach it with your treatment and send it to the agency and send it to the client and that will get you across the line. People like people like doing business with people they like, they want to see your face.
That’s the trick to help you punch through that resistance and nail your next job!
