So far, we have looked at how to GET a job:

Find the Audition
Get the Audition
Audition Brilliantly

We have also looked at basic marketing materials to get a job

photo,
resume,
website,
business card,
email cover letters
websites

We've also looked at the basic different types of auditions:

Group Open Call - (SETC)
Prepared Auditions - (sides with a reader)
TV/Film
Emailed video auditions

Now we will assume that you have done BRILLIANT auditions at SETC (and elsewhere), and we will moving on thanking people for your audition, staying in contact, and more marketing materials -

Thank you cards - go here for information on the assignment: Thank You Card Due
Postcards - go here for information on the assignment: Postcard Update
and Biographies - go here for information on the assignment: Biography

Please bring you Theatre Careers book to class with you via paper, or laptop.

About SendoutCards.com

One resource is sendoutcards.com. Some actors use online resources to send paper cards. It is convenient in that:

You don't have to physically buy cards - you can create and send all online.
You can create a list of contacts, so you don't have to enter the same information every time you send a card
You can easily include photos and other information to create specific types of cards
You can easily create campaigns. Ex: a bi-annual postcard update to all theatres and casting directors your work with to let them know what you have been doing or about a particular show you are in.
You can set cards to go any time you want and plan far in advance. Ex: you could schedule birthday cards to go to business contacts (and family) one week before their birthdays. You can create the whole campaign in January, and cards will be sent throughout the year according to the schedule, with no other work from you.

So, what's the downside? It costs money, more than handwritten cards. Not a whole lot more, but it is an investment.

The online resource I use is sendoutcards.com. Here is an example of a special card I created for a donor from sendoutcards.com

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I learned about sendoutcards from an actor, Marni Penning, who uses it frequently. Here is an email to our class from her about sendoff cards:

______________________________________

From: Marni Penning

The link is https://www.sendoutcards.com/marnipenning. There's a little video on the site that walks you through how you use the site - Here are my first thoughts:

***How do you use it as an actor?
- I keep my headshot ready on the site as a postcard front - I also have a version with a box on the front that I can put new text in: "Currently appearing as Ophelia and Helena in the HAMLET/ALL'S WELL rep at Orlando Shakespeare Theater" or something like that. On the back, I have my handwriting as a font - I can create one postcard update that I can mail merge for a mass mailing, or a single one-off postcard to an Artistic Director or Casting Director after an audition - I type a few lines, push a button, and the postcard is sent without me ever touching it. Postcards cost about 63 cents each to create, and postage is currently 28 cents, I think, for each. Approximately $1 each to create and mail.

- I can also create regular cards that are sent in envelopes - I can put my headshot or a shot from the show on the front, an updated portion of my resume on the inside at the top, and a personalized note on the inside at the bottom - and send it out, again, either as a one-off or a mass mailing, all at the touch of a button. The folded cards are about $1 each to create, and postage is currently 44 cents. Approximately $1.44 each to create and mail.

-If I wanted to, I could create a tri-fold brochure as well, to introduce myself to an Artistic Director, or Casting Director, with multiple photos and marketing text. I think that's an additional 30 cents or so for that style.

****What do you use it for?
- I send thank you cards after auditions, I send mass mailings for my shows, I create and send cards to my parents/sisters/aunts/uncles/fiance, I've done my Christmas cards with them two years in a row - you can also include gift cards or other presents with the cards themselves through the site. I sent my sister and her husband a custom card and brownies for their anniversary. You can also create cards to be sent at a specific date - I could create a mass mailing today and opt to have it sent out a month from now, or I could put together birthday cards for all my cousins and have them sent on their respective birthdays for the rest of the year. Pretty cool.

****What does it cost?
- I recommend starting with the Wholesale Package Plus, which is $298. You get 200 points to start (each postcard is 1 point, and custom postcards - with your picture on it -are 2 points, so this is like getting 100 custom postcards to start). It includes your license to use the system (usually $99), and a custom handwriting font (usually $49). I have an auto-reorder account for $15.50/month that automatically puts 50 points/month into my account. Compare that to a place like Reproductions who would charge you $1.10 each for your postcards, and then, if your headshot changes, you're stuck with a bunch of postcards you will never send. With this service, you could send 100 different postcards, and they would all cost you about 63 cents each, with none left rotting in a drawer. ;)

- For $100 more you can become a Send Out Cards distributor like myself, where you earn a commission for helping people use the service - If you can think of three more people who you know would benefit from a service such as this, the distributorship pays for itself. One can actually turn this into a part-time job - I know friends who make a pretty good living doing it. Me, I only use it for myself mostly.

****What kind of response/feedback have you gotten?
- Really great! People have loved the personal touch of getting a custom card, and the handwriting font is a big hit. It doesn't look like it was printed on a printer - it looks like I actually sat down and wrote it. But my hands don't hurt, and I don't have to write out, in longhand, 100 postcards for a mass mailer. It's cut out my time on that end CONSIDERABLY. I can make a mailing list of just soap operas, and send them a postcard a week if I want. My Christmas cards, both last year and this year, were big hits. When Armistead signed up last year, he booked a job on a soap from his very first mailing. I booked roles as Sarah Palin with my Sarah Palin postcards last year - I ended up creating three or four, which changed as I added more videos to YouTube, and was able to write and mail them the same day. And I love how FAST I can turn around the mailings. I might use a pic from Hamlet on the front of my next mailing, which I would never be able to do if I did hard-copy printed postcards - and I'm sure I would have several left over.

Also, if they sign up through me, I get a commission! ;) My distributor ID is 52818.
Hugs!
Marni
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Marni Penning
http://www.marnipenning.com
http://marniwatch.blogspot.com
"Mark but the Penning of it." --King Lear, Act IV