If you spend the next 20 days creating content based on the prompts I spell out below, I GUARANTEE you will get you more engagement with your existing fans, attract new ones, and learn a ton of valuable things that will serve you way longer than the 20 days you put into it.

While these ideas will work great as blog posts on your website, the topics can also be adapted and work as videos, a podcast, Facebook posts, or even tweets potentially. Choose whatever format you prefer and just put them out into the world.

Trust me, it will work.

Here are the topics…

Day 1: Introduce Yourself

To kick things off write an intro post that explains who you are and what you’re about to do. Tell people up front that you’re going to be putting out a new piece of content each day for the next 20 days and (this is important) give them an easy way to follow along with the journey.

Offer them the chance to sign up to an email list to get each day’s post or to connect with you on a social channel where you’ll be posting the content each day.

Day 2: Why I Became A Comic

Write a post that tells more of your story – explain why you chose to become a comic in the first place. Be open and honest about your background and how you got to where you are – even if you just started out. You might not think it will be interesting to people, but trust me, if you’re honest about how and why you became a comic it will be more interesting than you think.

Day 3: Share A Controversial Or Strong Opinion

It doesn’t matter what it’s about – just pick something you feel very passionately about and write up an explanation of your opinion on that matter and why you feel that way. It doesn’t have to be controversial, but it will work better and get more noticed if it’s something that not everybody will agree with.

Day 4: Admit Something You’ve Never Admitted Before

Dig into your personal life or background and share a story about something you’ve never publicly shared before. It can be something that happened to you, it can be something you’ve learned, something you believe, or something that people would be surprised to know about you.

When you write it up, don’t forget to tell people that this is something you’ve never shared before – it will instantly make it more compelling in their eyes.

Day 5: Interview Somebody Interesting

Find somebody interesting – it doesn’t have to be somebody famous or somebody you know – to interview and share that interview with your audience. Ideally, you will interview a person who is relevant to your niche or the type of subjects you cover in your comedy and in a perfect world that person would also have some social following of their own who they could promote your finished interview to in order to get you more attention for it.

You also want to really think about the questions you plan to ask and try to make them as unique and interesting as possible – don’t just ask the basic who are you and what do you do stuff.

Day 6: Explain How To Do Something

I’m sure there’s something you’re an expert on – figure out what that is and write something up teaching other people how to do it. This is a way to ensure that you provide value to people in your content and it can be the kind of content that builds value over time.

Day 7: Live Blog Something

Pick a TV show, sports event, or some other thing that lots of people are interested in and live blog it while you watch it. If you don’t want to do that, you can also live blog an experience – maybe it’s a live blog of a Spotify playlist, or a live blog detailing a trip to a museum.

The point is to document in real-time (or close to it) an experience that other people can relate to.

Day 8: Share Your Best/Worst/Craziest Comedy Experience

If you’ve spent any time in comedy, I’m sure you’ve got some interesting stories. Pick one of them and share it with people – but write it as if you’re talking to people who don’t have any idea how the comedy world works. Remember, you want your content to resonate with potential fans, not just other comics so don’t make your post too inside-baseballish.

Day 9: Share Five Amazing Videos On An Obscure/Random Subject

YouTube is your friend. Go on a deep dive about some random subject you find interesting, collect five incredible videos around that theme, and then share them with an amusing writeup of your thoughts about each one.

Day 10: Tell A Story From Your Childhood

Speaking of stories that everybody has to tell, think about your best childhood story and share it with the world.

Day 11: Rank/Review Some Local Establishments

Assuming you perform locally often (or want to), pick some of your local establishments and review them. You can play this straight – The 5 Best Date Night Restaurants In Your Town – or you can have more fun with it and do something like The 5 Worst Places In Town To Be Drunk.

The idea is to come up with something that will resonate with people who live in your area and that they’ll be likely to be interested in and share with others.

Day 12: Do A Late Night Monologue

This is a writing exercise, but also may interest your audience. Pretend you were on the writing staff for a late night TV show and write a series of monologue jokes based on that day’s news. As an added bonus, you can probably repurpose those jokes as individual tweets as well.

Day 13: Create A List Of The Best People To Follow On Twitter

If you don’t use Twitter, you can do this on another social platform, but the basic idea is to write something with recommendations of a lot of people that others should follow and explain why.

Once you’ve posted this, you want to tag the people you featured and make sure they know you did so – most likely, some of them will share the post with their own followers and get you more exposure.

Day 14 – Let Friends/Followers Interview You

Source questions from people you know like your friends or followers and answer those questions in a post. Another way to do this is to choose one person and let them ask you the questions – for example, you could let your Mom interview you. Or, you could do something like let your first ex-girlfriend interview you.

There’s a lot of different ways to do this and make it compelling – plus, it’s easy because all you have to do is answer their questions.

Day 15: Write An Onion-Type Parody Article

This is also kind of like a writing exercise, but it’s worth trying to see how you like it. Create an Onion-inspired parody article about something relating to your niche or interests.

Just be sure to explain in the intro to the post or the title what you’re doing. For example, you could title it something like “If I Wrote For The Onion, This Is What I’d Do.”

Day 16: Share The Weird News Of The Week

This is similar to the post you did where you shared a series of interesting YouTube videos, but instead of that this time base it around weird news stories. There are lots of ways to find this stuff – check out Fark.com for starters – but the point is to pick a few crazy stories and write up your observations about them.

Ideally, these stories would be connected in some way – for example, The 5 Worst Criminals Of The Week – but they don’t have to be. It could also be something like “5 News Stories That Made Me Lose Faith In Humanity This Week.”

Day 17: Share Your Inspiration

Write up a tribute to a person or people who inspire your comedy or yourself. Think about who that person is and what it is about them that you find inspiring and share that with your audience.

And if the person you choose is alive and uses social media, tag them in your post on social media and let them know about what you wrote. You can even frame the post in a way that thanks them. For example, if you’re writing about Steve Martin you could title it, “Thanks, Steve Martin” or “How Steve Martin Inspired Me To Become A Comedian.”

You never know what could come of it.

Day 18: Write An “Open Letter”

Have you ever seen how sometimes publications will feature an “open letter” from somebody written to a particular person or brand? Do that yourself. Pick a public entity that you have a strong feeling about and write them an open letter explaining your position or asking them to take a particular action.

Ideally, this would be something that other people might agree with you about and they could potentially rally behind your expression of the idea or request for the company. For example, Time Warner Cable sucks and lots of people think so – “An Open Letter To Time Warner Cable” might get some interesting support.

Day 19: Talk About Something Nostalgic

The Internet LOVES nostalgia. Figure out something or a series of things that you used to love and write up something interesting about them. It could be a remembrance of them, or even some thoughts about why you miss them.

For example, “I Feel Bad That Today’s Students Won’t Know What It Was Like To Go To High School Without The Internet” or “10 Things Only 80’s Babies Can Truly Understand.”

Day 20: Write A “What I’ve Learned” Post

You can borrow the Esquire magazine What I’ve Learned column format and share a list of things you’ve learned in your life. Or, as an alternate, you can share a list of things you’ve learned from posting content for the past 20 days as part of this plan.

If you stuck with it and made it to this point, you’ve likely learned a lot and I know I’d love to hear about it and share it with others. Good luck!

Comics spend a LOT of time using social platforms, but I’ve found most have some basic misconceptions about how social platforms actually work.

Here’s a few things you might incorrectly assume and what to do about it to get more out of your social media efforts.

1. You think your followers see your posts.

I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you.

The good news is that just because you don’t see a lot of interaction on your Facebook and Twitter posts, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s because they’re not good. The bad news is that not nearly as many people are seeing your posts as you think.

Most Facebook and Twitter posts only get seen by 10% or less of the people that are theoretically following you due to Facebook’s news feed algorithms and Twitter’s lack of an algorithm. As a result, you don’t have nearly the exposure you think you do.

This means your follower count is an overrated metric and you shouldn’t be so concerned about it – more on that in a minute.

2. You think your followers are the only ones who can see your posts.

There are a lot of ways to get people who don’t follow you to see your posts including using hashtags and tagging other pages on Facebook. This is another reason why your obsession with your follower count is unnecessary – you’re not limited to only being seen by those who follow you.

It’s also why it’s important to use hashtags and tag other accounts in order to expose your posts to the most possible people.

3. You think social platforms have made websites and email lists pointless.

Despite all the hype you hear about Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, the best way to ensure your audience actually sees what you want them to see is to get them to subscribe to your email list. Only a small percentage of your social followers will actually see your updates, while a decent email list will have an open rate of closer to 50% or higher.

And having a website is crucial as well because it gives you a platform where you can control how you present yourself and gives you a way to be found in Google searches. Also, depending solely on social platforms is risky because you never know when they’re going to change the way they work or collapse completely (see: MySpace). Having a website ensures your content won’t disappear some day.

4. You think people share content because it’s good.

There are a lot of reasons why people share things on social media and the content being “good” tends to be pretty low on that list. Just take a look at the things your friends are sharing, and I’m sure you’ll find that to be true.

While it’s important to put good stuff out into the world, it’s also worth recognizing that’s not the only reason things get shared. People share things that surprise them, things that make a statement about something they believe in (or disagree with), things that provide value, and things that emotionally connect with them.

Most importantly, they share things that say something about them – what somebody shares is an expression of themselves as much as it’s a reflection of the content itself.

5. You think you shouldn’t repeat posts.

This ties back into the first item on this list – most people don’t see your posts. So, as a result, it’s fine to repeat those posts at different times and it’s actually a good strategy to do so.

Repeating posts will get your work seen by more people and it’s unlikely to annoy your followers since most of them won’t see the repeats in their feed anyway. Repurposing quality social posts is a key strategy that can impact the success you have on social platforms without requiring much more effort on your part.

This can also be done with old social media posts and you can read exactly how to do that here.

6. You think Facebook ads are a waste of money.

They’re not. Trust me. They actually might be the single most valuable feature Facebook offers and one of the least used by comics.

Here’s an example of what’s possible with even a small Facebook ads budget.

7. You think the goal is to go “viral.”

Forget about going viral – it’s probably not going to happen. And even if it did, it’s not going to get you anywhere near the benefits you think it will.

You should focus your social efforts on the long term as opposed to worrying about short term success. Use social platforms to find the specific audience you want to connect with (your target should never be “everybody”) and focus your efforts on them.

If your work happens to go viral, that just means that you’re reaching a lot of people that likely aren’t going to fit what you’re trying to do anyway, so all those views/listens/visits are ultimately meaningless. Building a relationship with the right 1,000 people will serve you better than getting something seen by the wrong 100,000 people.

8. You think social platforms are broadcast platforms.

Most people use social platforms to distribute their content to other people. But social media’s real strength is the ability it gives you to connect with other people.

The “social” part is more important than the “media” part.

It’s easy to get caught up in your follower count and desire to promote your creations, but don’t forget that social media also enables you to follow and interact with just about anybody in the world. That’s an incredible opportunity and one you should take advantage of.

Use social media to interact with people, to engage with potential fans, to develop relationships with people you admire, to network, and to connect. You’ll get way more value out of that approach than you do by using social media as a megaphone to scream about your own stuff.

READ THIS NEXT: How to hire a great social media consultant.

Kicking off with a discussion about a corporate comedian’s website and how you can benefit from putting yourself in the mindset of your audience, we go on to talk about everything from Twitter bios to how best to sell your show or abilities to venues and bookers. Josh also breaks down what he’s learning from his newest project – A Person You Should Know – and explains how you can benefit from creating content that can be accessed by different audiences in different ways.

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As a result, the best ways to get the most out of the platform are also constantly in flux. But the good news is that means there’s always new opportunities being created for you to benefit from Facebook’s evolution.

Here’s a few tricks I’ve recently discovered that will help your Facebook posts reach more people and help you get more out of the time you spend on the platform.

1. Get Involved In Groups

As you’ve hopefully realized by now, most people that follow you on Facebook or like your fan page don’t actually see the stuff you post.

Because of Facebook’s news feed algorithm, only about 10% of the people who are connected to you will actually see your posts in their news feed.

That leads to a lot of frustration, but there’s another way to increase the percentage of people you can reach on the platform.

Facebook Groups are becoming an increasingly powerful resource you can use to connect with your own fans as well as to discover and engage with new potential fans.

Unlike Facebook profiles and fan pages, Groups essentially treat everybody equal – they allow anybody to post (though there are typically group moderators) and they function much more like communities than the broadcast mechanism of fan pages and profiles.

However, Facebook still pushes relevant posts from within a group into group members’ news feeds and gives them notifications when a new post has been made (depending on a user’s settings). As a result, I’ve found that often times I can get a lot more interaction and engagement with posts made within groups (such as those I make in our Connected Comedians group) than posts made from pages.

But the real benefit of groups isn’t starting your own (unless you already have a huge fanbase), but rather finding existing groups relevant to your niche and becoming an active community member in them. There are existing groups on just about every subject you can imagine within Facebook, and while the quality of them may vary, many are excellent.

You can learn how to search for groups here, but I’d highly recommend finding some that are relevant to what you do and getting involved in them – not just to promote your own stuff, but rather to build relationships with people who have shared interests.

2. Post More Often

The conventional wisdom used to be you shouldn’t post on Facebook more than a couple times a day at most because the platform’s news feed algorithm would penalize you for doing so. Well, things have changed.

Now, it seems like you’re rewarded for posting more often and using the platform much more like Twitter in terms of volume of posts. Of course, you still need to maintain a high quality of posts and get engagement on them – don’t just post crap for the sake of posting – but the more good stuff you post, the more success you’ll see.

If you look at the volume of posts being made by some of the biggest pages on Facebook, you’ll be surprised to see how frequently they post. For example, sites like Buzzfeed and Funny or Die post almost 200 times each week!

Of course, they’ve got a lot more content to share than you probably do, but the point is if you double your current amount of posts, you’ll probably see an increase in the number of people your content reaches – again, as long as what you post is good.

3. Write Longer Descriptions On Your Posts

Facebook recently tweaked its algorithms to take into account how much time people spend reading/engaging with your individual posts. The longer somebody looks at your post before scrolling down their feed, the more Facebook theoretically believes that people enjoyed your post.

It’s worth keeping this in mind as you construct your posts. For example, rather than just post an image with no description, add a clever caption that’s a couple sentences long so people will read it and increase their time spent with the post.

The other hidden advantage of using lengthier descriptions is that Facebook only includes an initial excerpt of the longer description in people’s news feed. If the person is intrigued by what you wrote, they will click the “Read More” button to expand the post.

This counts as a click on the post and shows Facebook engagement on your post, which in turn suggests it’s a good post, which in turn leads to Facebook to show it to more people.

Essentially, getting people to click that Read More button in your description is similar to getting them to Like, Share or Comment on your post – it helps it get seen by more people.

There are lots of easy ways to include long descriptions. For example, if you share a link to an article you can just cut and paste a sample paragraph or two from the article into your description. This is also effective because if it’s an interesting excerpt, it increases the chances somebody will click the link as well.

4. Set Up Pages To Watch

If you have a Fan Page on Facebook (and you should), then go to your Insights tab and scroll down to the bottom of the page to select other Pages To Watch. This is a cool feature that allows you to track the activity of other Facebook fan pages – it lets you see how often they post each week, how many new fans they’re getting, and even lets you see their most successful posts of the week.

This can be a valuable learning tool as you can see what other people are doing and what’s working (or not) for them. You can use it to track other comics whose Facebook success you admire, or the activity of comedy club pages or sites like Funny or Die who you may want to emulate.

Here’s a look at how to set up pages to watch.

5. Use A Call To Action On Your Page

Here’s a simple thing that will take you two seconds to set up and help you out. If you haven’t noticed yet, Facebook has a feature on your fan page called a Call to Action button that lives on your fan page cover photo.

Essentially, it’s a button that allows you to plug a link to some action you’d like people to take when they visit your page. You can set it up to drive to anything you want people to do – sign up for your email list, watch one of your videos, visit your website, etc.

Here’s a breakdown of how to set it up – it’s not going to get you a million new fans overnight, but it will help drive more people to take whatever action you want them to take on your page.

READ THIS NEXT: How I Got More Facebook Fans And Website Traffic For A Comedian

While just about every comic at this point has at least occasionally participated in the popular Comedy Central show’s hashtag wars game, the reality is there are a lot of other ways you can use hashtags on various social media platforms to further your career.

Here’s a breakdown of five simple things you should keep in mind when you use hashtags that will hopefully help you see some new opportunities for how you can use them to attract new fans, better promote your creations, and get more from your social media efforts.

1. Use Hashtags You Think People Will Search For Or Follow

The most common mistake people make when it comes to hashtags is they don’t necessarily understand how a hashtag can actually get their post in front of more people.

While everybody understands that posting about trending topics will get your tweets in front of a larger audience, that’s not the only way to leverage a hashtag to get in front of an audience.

When you’re going to use a hashtag on a post, you want to think about what kinds of hashtags other people are likely to search for and use those. That’s the key to getting additional exposure for your tweets beyond your usual followers.

Typically, the types of hashtags that people will search for revolve around broad topics tied to specific niche interests, professions, or specific things like sports teams, TV shows, etc. So those will also be the best ones for you to use.

For example, let’s say you tweet a joke about parenting. Using #parenting will likely serve you better than something like #funny because it’s more likely that people are following the parenting hashtag than the funny one – and also because somebody who does search the parenting hashtag is more likely to enjoy your post than somebody who searches for funny because that’s a much broader interest.

It’s worth experimenting with different hashtags to see which ones work best for you on different types of posts, but the key is to try to use hashtags that people search for because those will get you the most value.

If you want some help finding hashtags that are frequently used, here’s a tool you may want to check out.

2. Don’t Just Use Comedy-Related Hashtags

Just because you’re posting something funny, that doesn’t mean your hashtag has to be comedy-related. In fact, in most cases you’ll be better served to focus your hashtags on the topics your comedy is about as opposed to the fact that it’s comedy.

This ties back to my first point in that if you think about who is searching for comedy-related hashtags, it’s most likely other comedians. By comparison, the people searching for non-comedy hashtags are more likely to be potential fans who are interested in whatever topics you’re talking about.

3. More Hashtags = More Attention On Instagram

As a general rule, the more hashtags you use on an Instagram post, the more attention it will get. Using hashtags on Instagram is one of the best ways to get discovered on the platform so don’t be afraid to use a lot of them.

Also, since Instagram has no character limit the way Twitter does, you can really load up on the hashtags. It might seem a little obnoxious, but it works – as long as you use relevant hashtags.

Another tip is that you can post your Instagram hashtags as a comment on your post as opposed to in the original post caption. This can be a little cleaner because your comment will essentially be hidden once you get a few other comments on the post and you’ll still get the value of using the hashtags because hashtags register in Instagram’s search function whether they’re in a comment or caption.

4. Create A Unique Hashtag For Your Content

In addition to using hashtags that people search for, you can also create your own unique hashtag as a way to connect some of your content together over time. Specifically, by creating a hashtag that’s unique to your stuff, it gives people who discover one piece of your content and easy way to click the hashtag and see other related content.

For example, let’s say you do a series of YouTube videos that feature you ranting about your latest dating experience. Whenever you share an episode or anything related to the series on social media you could use a custom hashtag such as #MyCrazyDates.

This way, when somebody comes across one of your episodes for the first time and likes it, they can click that hashtag and easily see the rest of the series without having to switch platforms, Google it, or track it down elsewhere.

Creating a unique hashtag for your content is a great way to tie things together and make it easy for people who like what they see to quickly discover more of it.

This is something I’m currently doing for my Person You Should Know site with the hashtag #APersonYouShouldKnow.

5. Use Hashtags To Find New Fans

Here’s a spin on the advice I’ve given you up to this point. As opposed to using hashtags to help people to discover you and your work, you can use them to help you find new potential fans.

Specifically, you can use Twitter or Instagram’s search functionality to search hashtags relevant to the content you create and find other people who are posting using those hashtags. It’s an easy way to identify people who are interested in what you’re interested in and a great way to find communities that you can become a part of.

That doesn’t mean you should immediately tweet links promoting your stuff to those people, but rather look for conversations around those hashtags that you can jump in to and add value. Use hashtag searches as a way to find people you can have genuine interactions with that can start to build a relationship.

For example, if you’re blogging then you may want to search for #blogchat where you’ll find a community of other bloggers who are discussing their challenges and suggestions. It’s easy to become a part of that community by joining that conversation in an authentic way.

More Social Media Advice…

If you found this helpful, I’ve got a LOT more social media advice for you in my Connected Comedy VIP Members Program.

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Connected Comedy VIP member Rick March is a corporate comedian who recently reached out and asked what advice I’d have for him to improve his website. Following are my suggestions to Rick, which in most cases are applicable to any comic interested in getting corporate bookings and also is relevant to non-corporate comedians hoping to improve their websites as well.

Clarify Your Branding

The first thing that jumps out at me on your site is that it’s confusing what exactly the site represents. Is it a company site or your personal site?

There’s a lot of mixed messaging going on and that’s a big issue – especially when you’re trying to get companies to trust you enough to book you.

Clarity and transparency builds trust, confusion creates doubt.

The domain and header say Best Corporate Comedy which makes it sound like a company site, but surfing around the site makes it feel like the “company” is really just you – and that occasionally you bring in other comics as needed for particular gigs.

I could be wrong, but I assume your core business is not a booking agency, but rather this site is about getting yourself booked and occasionally including other comics as needed.

I think it’s important to think through whether you want your site to convey that you’re a booking company or revolve around getting yourself booked. Whichever you choose, focus the messaging consistently around that concept.

Assuming this is more about getting bookings for yourself than others, then the site should represent that. You want people to know Rick March, you want them to book you, and then secondary would be references to your ability to do group shows, etc.

Keep in mind that people like to know who they’re getting into business with – they want to know the person, not the company. The more they feel like they know who you are, the more likely they are to trust you, and as a result the more likely they are to book you – or hire you to book others for them.

The other thing that happens when a person tries to make their “company” seem like it’s bigger than just them is it can come off as a little sketchy. People pick up on when an individual is trying to make it seem like their company is more than it is and it leads them to question the transaction.

On the flipside, complete transparency will increase their trust in who they’re dealing with and that you’ll deliver on what you promise.

I’m going to make one other assumption here. I’m guessing some of this (the domain name for example) is being driven by an SEO (search engine optimization) strategy – you assume that certain keywords will help you get found in Google search by potential clients.

That’s ok, though in general SEO is a little overrated and likely won’t help you as much as you think it might in this case, but it’s still important to understand that even if you get somebody to the site via search, you are then going to have to build enough trust for them to convert to a potential customer.

So even if you keep the generic domain name as opposed to something like RickMarch.com, I’d still recommend having the site emphasize who you are as opposed to it feeling like a company site.

Every Word Counts

Little things make big differences when it comes to websites. In your case, there are several words used for different sections of the site that are a little misleading, confusing, or could be improved.

For example, your navigation menu has a page titled “Custom Comedy,” but it’s not clear what that actually is. In looking at the page, I think what you mean is that you have different kinds of shows you can do and/or that you can customize material to match the type of company that hires you. But I’m not sure people will get that from the Custom Comedy name.

Instead, you might want to call that page something like “Show Options,” “Choose Your Show,” or even “How It Works.” Try to think about it from the perspective of somebody who knows nothing about how the comedy business works and use the kinds of phrases they would have in their head.

I’d also recommend you have a paragraph at the top of that page that introduces the broader idea that clients can choose from several types of shows and get a custom performance to fit their needs. Then, you could lay out the various options.

You also might want to add a breakdown of the different benefits of each type of show and what makes each a good fit for different clients needs.

It’s also a little strange that you have a separate Roasts page in the navigation menu, but also on the Custom Comedy page. I’d recommend either putting all of the various shows you offer in your navigation and having a separate page for each, or moving all the Roast stuff to the page with the other shows.

Another example of word choice is on your Media page where you have a “Highlights” section. That section basically consists of just photos, which aren’t really highlights. If somebody wants to see highlights, they expect to see videos – photos don’t really tell them anything of value about your service other than maybe you’ve performed in front of crowds.

Anticipate (And Answer) People’s Questions

One page that isn’t on your site but would probably be a good addition is a Frequently Asked Questions page.

Again, keep in mind that the visitors to your website are (hopefully) there because they’re considering booking a comic for their corporate event. You want to use your site to provide as much relevant information to them as possible, and a great way to do that is create a simple page that answers all the common questions you anticipate they might have.

Everything from how much does it cost to book a comic, to what kind of material can they expect, to how long a typical show lasts, to a bunch of other common questions you get could easily be answered by you and put on the site. All of that information will build trust and move visitors closer to actually contacting you about a potential booking.

As far as cost goes, you don’t have to list the price you charge specifically, but you can list the factors that go into your rate – length of performance, location, number of comics booked, etc. – and encourage people to contact you for a specific price quote.

Make It Easier For People To Contact You

The number one goal of your site is to get somebody to contact you about a booking, so you want to make it as easy as possible for them to do so.

But if you look at your current site, there’s no email address, no phone number, and the only way people can contact you is by filling out a form on your Contact page.

I’d recommend posting your email and phone number on the site on the home page, About page, and contact page at a minimum. You might want to put it at the bottom of every page for good measure. Again, remember the goal of what you want people to do and make it as easy as possible for them to do so.

You Need To Tell People Where You Work

Here’s a basic thing that’s super important and missing from your site. It doesn’t mention anywhere where you are based or (more importantly) where you are available to work.

If people come to your site, one of the first things they’re going to want to know is if you even work in their city/state, so it’s very important to make that information clear.

It’s fine to say you’ll take on gigs anywhere, but it’s worth pointing out where the core of your business is based. Somebody looking to book a show in Pennsylvania is going to be a lot more likely to contact somebody whose site says they regularly perform in Pennsylvania than somebody whose site doesn’t say where they perform.

On a separate note, I noticed your Twitter account also doesn’t say where you’re based so you should update that as well. You might want to improve your Twitter bio at the same time.

A More Targted Content Strategy

It’s great that you’ve got a blog section of your site and that you occasionally write posts for it, but there’s a simple way you can turn it into a much stronger asset for you.

Again, every decision you make on the site should be geared toward the audience you hope to attract. In this case your audience is people who are potentially interested in booking corporate comedy shows so you want to create content designed to appeal to them or catch their attention.

For example, here’s some ideas of posts that would speak directly to your desired audience and possibly even draw more of them to your site.

• Why Every HR Executive Should Book A Comedy Show To Help Employee Morale

• How A Comedy Show Can Help Drive More Sales

• 5 Ways A Comedy Show Can Change A Company’s Culture

• 10 Things I’ve Learned About Non-Profit Organization From Performing Benefits For Them

• How To Triple Your Fundraising This Year By Booking A Comedian

There’s a million different directions to go, but the idea is to focus the content directly at the audience you want to reach. You can also extend this same content strategy to your email newsletter and give people a reason to subscribe to it because you’re providing valuable insights to them beyond just promotional material.

READ THIS NEXT: The Best Audience For An Unknown Comedian To Connect With

If you’re going to have a long and (hopefully) successful comedy career, you will start all kinds of projects over the years. From the first time you step on an open mic stage, to the development of new material, to launching a website/podcast/web series, to writing a script, to any of another million things you may be inspired to create.

But no matter what your specific project is, there are a few questions to consider when you get started that can help you succeed.

I recently started a new project of my own – a website called A Person You Should Know where I profile one creative and inspiring person each day who I think you should know (thus the name). So, I thought I’d share with you not only five questions to ask yourself about your next project, but also how I answered these questions for my own.

1. How Much Time And Effort Will You Commit To The Project?

I assume if you start a new project you at least have some idea of your goal for the project (if not, you’ve got a bigger problem), so I’ll jump right to this question.

When you start something new, it’s important to consider how much time you are able to commit to developing the project and, equally important, how much you can realistically get done with the time you have available.

There’s no right or wrong answer to this question and you can (and likely will) spend more time than the minimum commitment you make to your project up front, but it’s important to think through what it will take to get the project going and to shape it in a way that fits your available time frame.

For example, it takes a lot of time to write a screenplay so if you only have an hour a week to commit to working on it,  your goal of completing a script in a month is probably not going to happen. It doesn’t mean you have to abandon your screenplay project, it just means you should reassess your time frame. If you can commit to work on it an hour a week, then maybe your goal should be to complete the screenplay in a year for example.

Being honest with yourself about your realistic time commitment is also important when you create a project that makes a promise to your audience. If you can’t commit the time to do a weekly web series, then don’t launch one – make it monthly instead.

Nothing will sink your project quicker than making promises you can’t fulfill – and it’s also a recipe for driving you to quit the project before it has a real chance to succeed.

How I Answered This Question:

In launching my site, I decided I was able to find time to feature a new person once a day, Monday through Friday. This would give me enough time to work ahead and schedule posts and give me the weekends to get most of the following week’s posts done.

It seemed feasible, while at the same time ensuring a steady stream of content and making a promise that the site’s audience could connect with. It’s simple, and people know exactly what they’re going to get – one new person every day.

2. What Is Your Key Success Metric?

No matter what kind of project you launch, you’ll have a lot of different metrics that seem important to you – everything from laughs, to likes, to shares, to subscriptions.

But it’s worth choosing a single most important metric to use as a gauge of the project’s progress. Which metric you choose depends on what you’re doing and what your goals are, but figuring out which metric is most important to you will help you succeed because it allows you to let that metric guide the various decisions you make as you develop your project.

For example, if you decide the key success metric for your blog is to get readers to share your posts, then you’ll want to structure your blog and your blog’s content in a way that leads to more sharing.

If your podcast’s key success metric is your number of subscribers, then you might want to focus on strategies to get more people to subscribe once they listen as opposed to just driving downloads of individual episodes.

How I Answered This Question:

My key success metric for A Person You Should Know is the number of email subscribers I get to the site’s email list, which sends a daily email with each day’s post.

I chose this because it reflects my goal – a direct connection to people who are interested in the content I post on the site.

If somebody signs up to get a daily email from me with that day’s post (and they stick around and don’t unsubscribe), then that speaks volumes about the “success” of the content I post. It also establishes a connection I have to them which can be useful down the road if I ever decide to monetize the site in some way.

While I care about the amount of raw traffic I get to the site, that’s not as important to me as the number of people that subscribe to the email list. That traffic will fluctuate as some posts get passed around, but those email subscribers will be constant – they are the “true fans” of the site and the core audience I’m building and care most about.

Using email subscribers as a key metric is also helpful because it allows me to judge the progress of the site. If lots of people visit the site but don’t subscribe, then I’ve got a problem with the site content.

If they subscribe but then unsubscribe, it tells me I’m not delivering enough to meet their expectations.

A good success metric not only helps you judge progress, but it also helps you identify what’s NOT working. And that can be even more valuable.

3. What Do You Want People To Do When They Discover Your Project?

This question directly relates to your answer to the previous question. You want to optimize your project to give you the best possible chance to achieve your key success metric.

For example, if the key success metric for your podcast is to gain subscribers, then why are you promoting your Twitter account in the podcast more than you ask people to subscribe?

If your key metric is merchandise sales at your show, then what are you doing to make it as likely as possible that people will buy your merch?

Every time a new person discoverers your project, an opportunity is created. You want to do everything possible to capitalize on that opportunity – specifically as relates to your key success metric.

Again, you may have multiple metrics of success, but you will do much better if you focus your promotional efforts around the ONE THING you most want people to do. For more on how best to do that, check out my one-action strategy.

How I Answered This Question:

Because the one thing I want people to do when they discover A Person You Should Know is to subscribe to my email list, you’ll notice the list is prominently featured throughout the site.

A plug to join the list is at the bottom of every post, there’s a subscribe button in the navigation menu, and I recently added a full page welcome screen to first-time visitors that encourages them to join the list to get inspired. [Side Note: I’m using the SumoMe Welcome Mat app to power that feature and it’s been amazing in the first couple days I’ve used it.]

I monitor all of these things and track what percentage of people who visit the site join the email list, how many subscribers are opening the emails, and how many people unsubscribe from the list because they don’t like what they’re getting (I’m happy to say that number is very low at this point).

To give you a sense of how the numbers break down, here’s where I’m at with that email list two weeks after launching the site: 2,288 people have visited the site, 153 people have subscribed to the email list, and only two people have unsubscribed.

I’m happy with the numbers at the moment, but could they better? Maybe. I’ll find out because I have a clear key success metric that I’m tracking and can measure what happens as the site evolves and I test out new techniques to improve the results.

4. What Value Will Your Project Provide And To Who?

No matter what your project is, it won’t succeed unless it provides value to people.

So, it’s important to think about what value your project intends to provide and to whom.

Unlike focusing in on a single key success metric, it’s good to think a little broader for this question. For example, if your project is a standup show, there are a lot of different people it could potentially provide value to including the audience, the booker, the venue, and even the other comedians if you create an opportunity for them to perform as well.

If you launch a web series, that could provide value to viewers, advertisers, actors, filmmakers, your representatives, and even TV development executives at some point. A podcast could provide value to all of those as well as the guests you interview.

Understanding all the potential value your project can provide and to who helps you sort through how to present it to those various constituencies and helps you find and build an audience.

The “value” of your show will be different to the audience than it is to the venue for example, so you’ll want to present your show to those entities in different ways that speak to the value it provides to each of them.

Too often, people start projects and are so focused on the value it will provide to themselves that they miss opportunities to attract others to support the project.

An audience doesn’t care what value something provides to you – they care what value it provides to them. That should be the focus of your pitch to get them to check out what you’ve created.

How I Answered This Question:

I see a lot of audiences that can get value from A Person You Should Know including people who want to be inspired, who want to learn, and who want to become part of a creative community.

The site also provides a service in finding these interesting people and boiling their key ideas down to a very quick, skimmable read each day. If you want to learn from these people, but don’t know how to find them or have time to track them down, this site gives you an easy snapshot to learn from them without a huge commitment.

But, by also providing the links to deeper articles and speeches from each person, the site also provides value to people who want to be able to take a deeper dive with any of these people that catch their eye.

And the site provides value to the people I feature on it by exposing them to new people who may be interested in supporting their efforts.

Essentially, I’ve crafted my project in a way to appeal to multiple audiences with different value propositions. Knowing this influences everything from how I construct the site, to how I promote it, to who I target with that promotion.

5. What Can You Learn From The Initial Feedback

Your project is not going to be perfect when you launch it – far from it. But don’t worry, that’s actually a good thing.

Rather than waiting to figure out every little detail of your project before you unleash it on the world, get the bare minimum you need to launch and put it out into the world.

But the key here is to pay attention to the feedback you get on the project because you will be able to learn a lot from those first few people who experience your new creation.

Don’t overreact to a single compliment or criticism, but actively seek out and pay attention to whatever feedback you get about what you’re doing. Just like a comic will pay attention to what gets laughs on stage, you should examine things like at what point in a video your audience abandons it, or which blog posts are being shared more than others.

Also, look for opportunities to engage with your audience.

Don’t be afraid to message somebody who likes your Facebook page, thank them, and ask them why they joined and what they’re hoping to see. Don’t be afraid to tweet at people and ask them what they’d like to see incorporated into your project, or to thank them for sharing it.

You’ll be surprised what you can learn from the feedback of even just a handful of people and it can have a huge impact on your new project which is ALWAYS a work in progress.

How I Answered The Question:

I’ve been amazed at how much I’ve learned in just the first two weeks of A Person You Should Know. Things that seem obvious now, were not really part of my initial plans.

For example, I was surprised early on when a couple people who discovered the site sent me suggestions of people to feature.

I was initially so focused on my own curation of the people featured, that I didn’t realize how compelling it would be for other people to offer to suggestions. I also realized the suggestions could help form a real sense of community around the site as well as introduce me to other talented people who I might not have otherwise known.

I also hadn’t initially considered the advantages of featuring people who in addition to being talented, often had followings of their own.

Several of the people I have featured already wound up discovering my site as a result and sharing it with their audiences. There’s essentially a built-in promotional loop to the structure of the site, which I hadn’t considered in the initial concept, but seems like an obvious strength of the concept now.

Again, I learned from that and started emailing people I feature to make sure they at least are aware that they were featured – I don’t just rely on them seeing themselves tagged in a tweet.

I don’t actually ask them to share the site with their followers, but I do ask them for suggestions of other people to feature and I’ve gotten some great tips as a result. And, several of the people I’ve featured have become subscribers and helped spread the word as well.

The point is that if you keep your eyes and ears open when you launch a project, you’ll be surprised what you can learn and how that can help the project ultimately succeed.

READ THIS NEXT: Case Study: How To Launch A Short Video Series

Connected Comedy VIP member Justin Matson is a Los Angeles-based comedian who recently started a video web series with his sketch group Casual Mondays and reached out for some advice about how to make it successful.

Here’s how he described it:

“I just launched a daily Vine and Instagram series called Easier Movies and I’m trying to develop a marketing strategy/define my niche.

Every day we post a six-second video on both Vine and Instagram to our @EasierMovies account. We chose those platforms because we felt they worked well with our short, punchy comedic videos that work well as a loop.

We share the videos to our dedicated Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as our affiliated accounts (our sketch group’s Facebook page and all of our individual pages). We also embed the videos on our website.”

After checking out Justin’s series, I think he’s got a shot at something that could be very successful on his hands. There’s a lot about it that he’s doing right – they’re creating content that fits the platforms they’re using to distribute it, they have a clear audience who is likely to enjoy it (movie fans, and more specifically fans of the movie featured in each individual episode), and they seem committed to producing a large volume of content (daily new episodes) with a level of production (short videos) that make that kind of schedule feasible and not overly expensive.

But there are still a few things that are worth considering to help take the series – or any video series for that matter – to the next level. So, here’s my advice for Justin…

Set Your Goals

As with any project, the first thing to do is have a clear sense of what you hope to accomplish with it. Think about what you want to happen if you’re successful – what do you hope it leads to?

In your email to me, you referenced several goals including building a “huge Vine/Instagram following,” strengthening the acting of group members and giving them a large follower count that might help attract the attention of casting directors on other projects, and using it as a launching pad for your own personal standup and TV projects down the road.

Those are valid goals, but here’s how I would define the goals of this project if I were you. I’d have three main goals – these incorporate your stated goals and expand on them a bit.

Goal #1: Create a video series that functions as a calling card to the industry.

Note that this isn’t just tied to a large follower count – it includes the idea that this series can be a showcase for your writing/acting/producing abilities. Just because you don’t have a million followers doesn’t mean the work isn’t good, and it doesn’t mean there’s not value in doing something.

It only takes one follower who happens to have the power to give you a TV series or cast you in a project to make something a success. And a million followers doesn’t guarantee that any new opportunities will come from it.

In some ways you can think of this series like writing a spec script – the time you put into it gives you something to show to a wide variety of people in the industry that demonstrates your abilities.

It’s great to get a big following for something, but you shouldn’t deem something a success or failure solely on your follower/view count. Setting your goal in this way helps you avoid getting discouraged and giving up too soon.

Goal #2: Build something that has intellectual property value.

What you create may have value in a variety of ways that extend way beyond the initial videos themselves. You should keep that in mind as you develop it – just because something starts as a web series, doesn’t mean that’s all it can be.

Your goal should be to create something that becomes an asset – it’s almost as if you’re investing in real estate. Having more followers increases the value of that real estate, but it doesn’t define the only value of that real estate.

For example, as you do more of these episodes you might find other opportunities to expand the series in other ways – maybe they become a TV series pitch (or part of a bigger TV series pitch), or greeting cards, or t-shirts, or a book. Your goal should be to develop Easier Movies as a piece of intellectual property that can provide value in a number of ways.

Even if it’s just a video series to begin with (which it should be), just keep in mind that ultimately you’re building something that could become much more.

Goal #3: Build something that can be monetized.

This is a distant third goal, but it’s worth having as a goal nonetheless. While I don’t recommend trying to monetize anything when you’re first getting started, you want to keep in mind you can find success with a project like this without necessarily having somebody come pay you to do something with it.

You’re building an audience you can one day monetize directly in a variety of ways – advertising, sponsored content, merchandise, etc. You don’t need to figure out how now, but you should keep in mind that potentially monetizing what you’re creating is a goal for the future because that may influence some of your strategy as you grow your audience.

Choose One Brand To Build

Once you’ve got your goals in place, I’d take a moment  to think through exactly what brand you’re trying to build with this series. It sounds like you’ve thought about it some, but it may be a little convoluted because you have several different brands you’re trying to help with this project.

The way I see it, there are a few different potential brands in play here – Easier Movies, your Casual Mondays sketch group, and each of the personal brands of people in the group.

It doesn’t matter which you choose, but I’d strongly recommend choosing ONE brand to primarily associate with this series. The others will benefit regardless, but whatever brand you choose to emphasize should be the one your social accounts are titled and should be the hub for all your activities.

Personally, I’d strongly recommend focusing on the Easier Movies brand – it’s the name of the project and the name that most obviously conveys what this series is about. Because of that, it will be the easiest one to build up (no pun intended).

Obviously, you’d still have the Casual Mondays account and your personal accounts sharing and discussing the series and new videos (you don’t need to hide from it), but all promotion should be to reinforce the Easier Movies brand and social accounts.

It’s tough enough to get people to remember one thing (like “Easier Movies”) without confusing them by referencing other stuff in the posts about the videos. For example, “Check out the new Easier Movies video” is simpler than “Check out the new Easier Movies video by Casual Mondays.”

You want to make it as simple as possible for people to understand what they’re looking at, connect with it, and remember it.

It’s tough to build brands and you only make it tougher on yourself when you try to build multiple brands simultaneously. Pick one and emphasize it consistently.

Choose The Right Platforms

You’re off to a good start in terms of platforms – I think it makes sense to post these videos on Vine, Instagram and Facebook because those platforms should be a great fit for the kind of short videos you’re doing.

But I would recommend adding a couple additional platforms.

First, you should set up an Easier Movies YouTube channel (assuming that’s the brand you go with). Even if you don’t post every video to YouTube individually, it will be helpful for you to have a YouTube presence and you can also upload compilation videos featuring several of your episodes.

Even though you’re making very short videos, YouTube is still the place where most people go to watch video and you should be on there. I’d probably upload each episode there because you also can benefit from YouTube’s search results – especially when you’re making videos about movies that lots of other people are searching for on YouTube.

It’s a little extra effort, but it’s worth the time.

The other platform I’d recommend is buying a web domain specifically for Easier Movies and setting up a website for the series. Again, you don’t have to regularly post a ton of content to it (maybe just embed your YouTube playlist?), but it will help you to have a hub with basic information and an overview of what you’re doing.

You need someplace to send people you meet – especially industry and new fans – that makes it easy for them to get an overview of what Easier Movies is all about.

Plus, it gives you another thing that can be found in search engines and makes you look more professional. It also gives you a place to host an Easier Movies email list signup and you can drive people from all your social platforms there to sign up.

Optimize Your Content

Your content is good and you’ve got a clever concept that’s going to appeal to a specific audience. But there’s a couple things you might want to consider to optimize that content a bit.

I’d recommend focusing on specific movies as opposed to the episodes you’ve posted that have more generic themes. The generic themes confuse the concept a bit – they may be entertaining, but when you’re starting out it’s important to convey a consistent message in what your series is about and I think the generic ones skew that a bit.

Also, the movie-specific ones will be much easier to promote (more on that later) because it’s easy to target those specific audiences as opposed to targeting broader movie fans with the generic episodes.

My other recommendation is to consider doing episodes tied to some new movie releases because you know those movies are going to get a lot of attention each week when they’re released. For example, maybe every Friday or every Monday you do an episode based on a movie that just opened. This would be a way for you to tap into all the conversation online about those movies and get some extra attention for your work.

Promote Your Content

While each episode will be different, here’s four specific strategies I’d recommend for promoting your videos.

Hashtags

I see you’re using hashtags in your posts, but you probably could use them a little better. You want to make sure you use the right relevant hashtags to get your stuff seen.

For example, your Jurassic Park episode should have included Jurassic Park-related hashtags, but also more general film hashtags such as #Movies or #Film and comedy-related hashtags like #Funny #Sketch #Comedy or something like that. You can experiment with them, but you want to use hashtags that people are search for when they’re looking for a specific type of content. Even something like #Dinosaurs or #Trailers might have been worth trying.

Meanwhile, on Facebook you want to use @ tags when referencing movies as opposed to hashtags. When you do that, it will show your post to fans of that movie’s page and dramatically increase your targeted reach as opposed to the hashtag which doesn’t do that.

So rather than using #CitizenKane in your post, you should have tagged the @CitizenKane page to reach those fans.

Facebook Ads

I’m a huge fan of Facebook ads and they will work REALLY WELL for a project like this one. Because what you’re doing has such a specific niche for each episode (fans of the movie referenced in the episode), you’ll be able to target just those people and you’ll get a great reaction.

For example, most Jurassic Park fans will enjoy your episode about Jurassic Park so it will be cheap for you to reach them (because Facebook rewards well-targeted content in ads) and you know the people you reach will likely enjoy your videos.

Plus, video is huge on Facebook right now and pops out in people’s feeds. I’d strongly recommend experimenting with some ads and think you’ll be amazed at how successful they are for you. You never know, but I bet you could get targeted views at around 5 cents per view or less.

But the key is to run the ads only targeting fans of the movie in the episode – go specific and narrow, not broad.

Reach Out To Movie Blogs

Another benefit of the specific niche of your content is it should be easy to find blogs who might share your stuff. There’s a ton of movie blogs out there and you should reach out to them and tell them about what you’re doing.

Besides pitching them your content, you could offer to create some episodes specifically for them – maybe they would agree to post a series of episodes as a list where they could get a big content hit and you would get attention and views for the videos.

For example, you could pitch them the idea of creating a series of episodes about Steven Spielberg films that they could compile into a post titled “5 Spielberg Films In 5 Seconds Each” or something like that.

You can also reach out to popular movie podcasts and see if you can get booked as a guest or start interacting with them online. There are lots of possibilities, but you definitely want to start building relationships with the online movie fan community because they can help you reach a bigger audience.

Build Your Community

As you’re introducing more people to your content and growing your audience, you’ll also want to explore ways to turn that audience into a more active community. Again, you’ve got a great opportunity here since your concept lends itself to lots of interesting ways people could participate and it’s based around something that people naturally love to discuss.

For example, here’s a few things you might want to try:

Ask fans to suggest movies for you to feature in episodes.

Let fans create their own versions of Easier Movies which you feature on your site/channel.

Ask fans to send you Easier Movies scripts that you can then bring to life.

Create a contest where some of your Easier Movies crew create two different episodes based on the same movie and let the viewers vote to determine which one is their favorite – you could then build ongoing rivalry storylines around some of these amongst the people making them.

Offer local fans the chance to appear in one of your episodes.

On Twitter or Facebook, create text-based prompts that allow people to play along, similar to what happens with Hashtag Wars. Maybe something like #EasierMovieTitles?

There are tons of ways you can create opportunities for fans to interact with your series and feel a part of it so you should keep that in mind as you move forward and experiment with some of them.

One other note about this kind of community involvement – the added benefit of doing this is that any time you do an episode that a fan has some involvement with, it’s a safe bet that they’ll share it with their friends and spread the word.

More fan involvement equals more exposure for your series.

One More Important (But Slightly Less Fun) Thing To Consider

Whenever you start a project with a group of people, it’s worth having a quick conversation up front about who exactly owns what it is that you’re building.

You don’t need to formally get lawyers involved, but it’s worth talking it through and putting something in writing amongst yourselves, before things start to (hopefully) take off.

No matter how good your relationship is with the people you work with, issues may come up down the road and you never know what’s going to happen as your project gets more successful and more complicated.

Also, if you’re lucky enough to get industry attention and somebody wants to do something with what you’ve created, the first thing they’re going to want to know is who owns Easier Movies and who makes the decisions on its future.

For example, what happens if somebody wants to turn it into a TV series but only wants to use two of the group members on air? Or, what happens if somebody wants to buy the concept but not use any of the group members on air?

I have no idea if you guys have had a conversation about this or not at this point, but my strong recommendation would be that you get on the same page with everybody involved so it’s clear who “owns” Easier Movies and whatever everybody’s participation entitles them to in it.

It may seem like an unnecessary conversation to have at this point, but making sure you’re on the same page when you start something will make it infinitely easier to succeed later on down the road.

And I know this because I’ve seen first hand what can happen when a bunch of talented people start working on a project and then suddenly the whole world gets interested in them – it can get real complicated, real fast.

Good luck with the series – I’ll be watching and can’t wait to see where it goes!

READ THIS NEXT: How To Decide Where To Post Your Comedy Videos

My article on 40 Ideas For Comedians To Think About was one of the most successful (and easiest) posts I’ve ever written and it simply featured a bunch of repurposed tweets I had posted over the past few years on my Connected Comedy Twitter account.

This wasn’t just a bit of luck – it was the result of a simple process you can use to turn your old social media posts into great content for your website.

Here’s how I did it and how you can do it too.

Step 1: Study Your Old Social Media Posts

The first thing you need to do is a little research.

Go back through your old social media posts on whichever platforms you use frequently – Twitter and Facebook of course, but you could do the same with old YouTube videos, Instagram posts, or anywhere else you spend time sharing content.

Twitter makes this easy to do because you can download an archive of all of your tweets (which is a good idea regardless of whether or not you decided to do something with them – it’s worth having a copy of your “work” that you can access in case the platform disappears some day).

It’s a little trickier with Facebook because you have to scroll back through your timeline manually, but it can still be done relatively easily.

As you review your old social media posts, pay special attention to the ones that were the most successful and start a list of what they were so you can easily find them again. Most likely, you’ll start to see some similarities and connections between the posts that clicked with your followers.

That leads me to the next step…

Step 2: Figure Out A Connection Between Your Best Posts

As you start to see what your most successful posts have in common, think about how you can create a single thruline that connects them all.

This connection will become the core concept of the new post you’re going to create for your website, utilizing your old social posts.

Sure, you could just gather them up into a post titled something like “My 20 Best Tweets,” but ultimately this will work better if you drill down more into something specific they have in common.

It’s ok if not every great post you have fits into the category – you don’t have to include it then.

In my case, I share a lot of links to interesting articles on my Twitter account, but I decided to focus my website article only on tweets that included advice I’ve given to comedians. Specifically, I focused on some of the “big ideas” I’ve tweeted about over the years and chose that as my framework.

There are countless ways to connect your old social posts to a single theme that appeals to a specific audience. It depends on what kinds of stuff you post obviously, but here’s a few ideas to get you thinking about how to frame your own post:

• 20 Crazy Experiences I’ve Had In New York Restaurants

• 20 Times The Chicago Cubs Made Me Say Something I Regret

• The 20 Worst Responses I’ve Gotten To @Midnight Hashtag Wars Tweets

• 20 Things That Seemed Like A Huge Deal In 2009 That Don’t Matter Any More

• 20 Photos That Prove Hipsters Need To Be Stopped

• 20 Ways To Handle Awkward Dating Situations

The connection between the social posts you choose to repurpose will ultimately lead to the headline of your post and have a huge impact on how successful it becomes, so give it some thought.

Step 3: Write The Post

Once you’ve got some of your best old social posts pulled together and you’ve figured out a good thread to connect them all, it’s time to write the post.

You can showcase them as a blog post like I did which is probably the ideal scenario, but if you don’t have a blog or don’t want to do that then you can try a different approach. You could upload them as images in a photo gallery for example or potentially even turn them into a slideshow video and upload it to YouTube.

But personally, I’d recommend using them as a blog post like I did.

The title of your post should reflect the connection between the posts you’re repurposing, but also should suggest an audience that will most likely be interested in them and hint at the value that audience will get from reading the post.

In my case, I titled my post 40 Ideas For Comedians To Think About because it reflects what the tweets have in common, speaks to the audience I thought would be interested in it (comedians), and hints at the value in reading the post (essentially saying, if you’re a comedian you should think about these things).

You’ll also notice I chose to include a large number of posts in the article – you don’t need to include 40 things for this to work and I didn’t have a specific number in mind when I set out to do this, but there definitely is benefit to including a large number of items.

It suggests there’s more value to the post than your typical Top 10 list, and increases the likelihood people will find something that resonates. There’s no magic number – I actually have about 35 more tweets I considered for the post, but will likely use those in a later post – but I’d recommend you incorporate at least 10 posts into your new article.

As far as the actual writing of the post goes, you’ll notice I chose to transcribe the tweets and make it seem as if it was new content, written specifically for this post. Rather than post screenshots of the original tweets or embed them in the post, I wanted this to come across as fresh content. It’s more impressive (and easier) to read it as a regular article than it would be to show I was just repurposing tweets.

You want your content to feel new, even if it’s not. There are some exceptions to that (for example if you’re doing something that’s purposefully nostalgic), but in general it’s a good rule to follow.

And for what it’s worth, I don’t think any of my readers realized I had previously tweeted what was in that article – even if they had read much of it before while following me on Twitter over the years. And even if they did realize it, it’s still helpful to give it to them all in one place for easy reference.

While I didn’t make it clear the post’s content was repurposed tweets, I did reference several of my social accounts in the introduction to my post. That’s because I want people to be aware of my social accounts since this content is the kind of thing that I post.

If they stumbled across the article and liked what they saw, I wanted them to be aware of my social accounts because they’d probably like what I post there as well.

Step 4: Promote Your New Post

Once you’ve published your post, the next step is to get it seen.

In addition to the usual promotional channels – your social media accounts, email list (hopefully!), and telling every friend and family member you have to check it out, you should look for ways to expand your reach.

Because you will have created a piece of content that has a built-in niche (that connection that you found between all the social posts you chose is essentially a niche), you can look to promote it in places where people interested in that niche hang out.

Using the examples of post titles I listed above, here’s some examples of where else you could promote that content.

• 20 Crazy Experiences I’ve Had In New York Restaurants – Send the link to New York food blogs.

• 20 Times The Chicago Cubs Made Me Say Something I Regret – Use Cubs hashtags on Twitter or send it to Cubs blogs and fan sites.

• The 20 Worst Responses I’ve Gotten To @Midnight Hashtag Wars Tweets – Tweet a link to the @Midnight account and see if they’ll share it.

• 20 Things That Seemed Like A Huge Deal In 2009 That Don’t Matter Any More – Find retro/nostalgia blogs and send it to them.

• 20 Photos That Prove Hipsters Need To Be Stopped – Promote it with an image and use relevant hashtags on Instagram and Tumblr.

• 20 Ways To Handle Awkward Dating Situations – Offer to contribute the column as a guest post on a relationship/dating blog.

And all of these could be easily promoted using Facebook ads, which would be incredibly effective and inexpensive with this kind of content. Here’s an example of how I’ve done that in the past.

Step 5: Repeat

While creating your repurposed content article and promoting it will take a little time and effort, it’s really not that difficult.

Again, most of the hard work (creating the material in the first place) has already been done by you on your social accounts!

This is just a way to take some of the work you’ve put in over the years and get a LOT more benefit from it. Plus, ideally you’re using old social posts you already know people enjoyed because you’re choosing some of your best stuff which means there’s a high likelihood people will enjoy this post even more.

And the real beauty of this strategy is that after you’ve created the article, promoted it, and reaped the rewards from it – you can do it all again!

This is a repeatable strategy you can use as often as you’d like, assuming you’re posting enough good content to your social platforms to pull from. Once you get this first repurposed post out of the way, go back into your archive and find some more stuff that can be repurposed and find other connections you can make.

Will this automatically reach millions of people? No. But, it definitely will work and it will get you a lot more attention for content that is otherwise just lost in the ether.

And if nothing else, it justifies all that time you’re spending tweeting away when you should be writing.

Good luck and if you give this a shot, send me a link to your post and I’ll be happy to share it with my Connected Comedy followers.

More Social Media Advice…

If you found this helpful, I’ve got a LOT more social media advice for you in my Connected Comedy VIP Members Program.

Join here to get instant access to 100+ of my most valuable articles.

Just like a good Twitter bio, a pinned tweet can be a great way to get more out of your activity on the platform.

A pinned tweet is simple to set up and allows you to take any tweet you’ve posted and “pin it” to the top of your Twitter profile page so it will be the first thing people see when they check out your profile. Unfortunately, pinned tweets only apply to people viewing your profile on a desktop computer (as opposed to on mobile), but they still present great opportunities – if you know what to do with them.

I’ve got some suggestions for you, but first here’s a quick video that shows how to set up a pinned tweet in case you don’t know.

Now, on to 10 ways you can get value out of using a pinned tweet. You can change your pinned tweet as often as you like, so feel free to try out several of these techniques and change it up as you have different things you want accomplish.

1. Plug Your Email List

I’m a huge believer in email lists and a pinned tweet is the perfect way to ensure everybody who checks out your Twitter profile is aware of your list. This is what I’ve chosen to do with the pinned tweet on my Twitter account at the moment and it’s worked well.

Here’s what my pinned tweet looks like:

Want some tips on how to grow your comedy career? Get them here: http://t.co/QIiBOYYSTj

— Connected Comedy (@ConnectComedy) March 25, 2015

2. Link To A Piece Of Content

Do you have a specific piece of content you want to drive attention to? Maybe something you just put out, or something you created a while ago that you’re proud of? You can use your pinned tweet to ensure that anybody who checks out your profile knows it exists.

3. Extend Your Bio

You might only have 140 characters to work with in your Twitter bio, but a pinned tweet essentially gives you another 140 characters to work with if you want to use it to tell people more about yourself. The mindset of people who check out your profile is similar to when people look at your bio – they are considering whether or not to follow you, so it makes sense to use your pinned tweet in a way that will give them a reason to do so.

4. Retweet Somebody Else’s Tweet About You

Another thing you can do with a pinned tweet is think about it as an opportunity to share a testimonial from somebody else about you. Did a notable comic tweet something about how funny you are? Did a booker or venue tweet about an amazing performance of yours? Did a popular website share a link to your video or write a story about you? You can retweet their tweet with a comment and use that as your pinned tweet to make sure more people see it and give yourself additional credibility to people who check out your profile.

5. Post A Question

Interaction is important on Twitter so you may want to use a pinned tweet that’s designed to get people to interact with you. That could take the form of a question that encourages people to reply to the tweet – thus creating an opportunity for you to engage with them and/or learn more about who is looking at your profile.

6. Prompt People To Tag A Friend

This is an offshoot of the question approach – you could ask a question that’s designed to get people to reply and reference a friend in their reply. For example, your pinned tweet could be a question like, “Which of your friends should I follow on Twitter?” which would encourage people to tag their friends’ accounts in their reply.

In doing this, they’re introducing you to other people you might want to connect with on Twitter and those people will see they were mentioned and check out your profile as well. You’re essentially building virality into your tweet.

7. Promote Your Other Social Accounts

If you have other social accounts that are more important to you than Twitter, you can use your pinned tweet to promote them. For example, if your priority is a YouTube web series or a podcast, it makes sense to use your pinned tweet to ensure people know about it or drive them to check it out.

8. Post A Video Welcome

You might be limited to 140 characters in a pinned tweet, but you can do a lot more with an uploaded video. One great way to introduce people to your Twitter account and explain to them why they should follow you is to do it in video form. Just record a clever welcome video, upload it to YouTube or Twitter’s native player, and drop a link to it in your pinned tweet. It’s a great way to be unique and create a compelling first impression.

9. Plug Your Next Show

If you’ve got an upcoming show you want to promote, why not do so in a pinned tweet? You could also offer free tickets or some kind of incentive as well. Again, your pinned tweet is an easy opportunity to get additional exposure for something you want people to see, and in most cases your show promotion could probably use every little bit of help you can get.

10. Recommend Other Comics To Follow

Here’s an interesting idea – reach out to a few other comic friends and collaborate to use all of your pinned tweets to promote each other. For example, your pinned tweet could say something like, “If you like my tweets, you should check out @THISCOMIC @THATCOMIC and @THATOTHERCOMIC.”

Then have each of those comics do something similar with their pinned tweets to promote you. As a result, you all will (hopefully) benefit from whatever attention any of you get to your profiles.

READ THIS NEXT: How To Share and Tag Your Way To More Influential Twitter Followers

But you’ve also probably got a Twitter bio that could use some work.

That’s why I’ve put together the following simple tips to help you make some quick changes to your bio that will help you get more followers and value from your Twitter activity.

1. Understand The Purpose Of Your Twitter Bio

Most people misunderstand the true purpose of your Twitter bio.

It doesn’t exist to tell people a little bit about who you are, it exists to tell people WHY they should follow you.

That’s a subtle, but important difference.

When somebody checks out your Twitter bio they’re doing so because they’ve come across something interesting in one of your tweets or saw your name mentioned in somebody else’s tweet.

They’re looking at your bio specifically because they’re considering whether or not to follow you!

That’s great and it creates a real opportunity to add a follower, so you want to put things in your bio that are designed to convince them to follow you – not just a random joke.

Write your bio in a way that tells people exactly what to expect if they follow you – explain to them who you are, what you do, what the value is to them, the kinds of things you tweet about, and whatever else you think will convince them to hit that Follow button.

Usually, that’s not a joke.

Your Twitter bio to sell yourself – it’s fine to be clever/funny with it, but don’t treat it like just another content tweet. Make sure you give people the key info that will encourage them to follow you.

For example, here’s what my Connected Comedy Twitter bio looks like:

2. Reference What You Want People To Know About

I talk to comics all the time who ask me how to promote their podcast, web series, or other projects and then I go to their Twitter bio and see they haven’t even referenced that project there! Big mistake.

If you have something you want people to know about, make sure you reference it in your bio.

Again, people are checking your Twitter bio because they’re already interested in you on some level so that’s a prime opportunity to let them know about something else you do that you want them to check out.

Also, references to your most important projects helps you stand out because it reveals some specific details about the value you provide and separates you from people with more generic backgrounds (more on that in a bit).

3. Use @ Account Names When Possible

When you reference your projects or other entities in your Twitter bio, use the @ account names whenever possible.

This not only saves you some valuable characters (allowing you to get more across in your limited 140 characters), but also the @ account handles are clickable, so you make it easy for people to click and learn more about that particular project.

Plus, it encourages people to follow your other relevant accounts.

This could work in a lot of different ways. Here’s some examples of how you might use account names in your bio:

“Host of the @MYPODCAST podcast.”

“I’ve performed on @Conan & @JimmyKimmelLive.”

“I host the weekly @MYCOMEDYSHOW.”

“On tour with @THISCOMEDIAN and @THATCOMEDIAN.”

4. Be Specific, Not Generic

In writing your Twitter bio, you want to say things that are as specific as possible to you – look for ways to separate yourself from every other comedian’s bio out there.

It’s good to include basic important details about yourself like mentioning that you’re a comedian, but try to qualify it with some specifics that tell people more about what separates you from every other comedian on Twitter.

For example, rather than just saying “Comedian,” maybe you say “Standup Comedian for 10 years,” or “Political comedian,” or “Comedian obsessed with sports, movies & music.”

Instead of just saying you “tell jokes,” maybe say “I tell jokes that Republicans hate and Liberals love.”

Instead of just saying you’re a “Writer,” maybe say “Writer of things that Dads can relate to.”

It doesn’t really matter what the specifics are, but the more you drill down past the generic terms that anybody can use, the more you’re explaining to potential followers who you are and why they should care.

That will help you find and connect to your niche.

5. Use Your Actual Location

If you only do one thing after reading this article, make it this one – put your actual location in the location section of your bio!

Again, the purpose of your Twitter bio is to give people information about yourself so they can make a decision on whether or not to follow you and the more specific, the better.

Listing your location as things like “Everywhere,” “Your Mom’s House,” or the less-jokey-but-equally-meaningless “The World,” “America,” or “Everywhere” is a complete waste of space.

It doesn’t make you seem clever, it makes you seem like you don’t care (which, if you think about it, doesn’t really encourage anybody to follow you).

Your location should be the city you live in.

Not only does that provide helpful context about who you are, but don’t you want somebody who comes across your bio and is interested in you to know where you’re located in case they want to come see you perform live?

Or, wouldn’t you want somebody to know you’re local in case they are looking to hire a comedian in that town?

Not listing your city as your location does you no good and only prevents some potential opportunities from happening.

More Advice About Twitter…

I’ve got a lot more Twitter tips available to my VIP MEMBERS (join here for instant access) including a look at How To Get More Influential Twitter Followers and 5 Ways To Get More Out Of The Jokes You Post On Twitter among others.

Kicking off with a discussion of why Jordan recently decided to quit doing one of his podcasts and what he learned from the experience, we move on to talk about how comics can learn to commit to a project in a way that lends itself to a logical endpoint – and increases your chances of success before you get there.

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Here’s a few simple things you can do to maximize the results you get from your mailing list, no matter how many subscribers you have…

1. Ask Questions

I recently made a change to my Free Tips Newsletter mailing list and it’s had a remarkable impact.

I used to have it set up so that whenever somebody subscribed to my list they would get a confirmation email that thanked them, told them to expect the first tips soon, and invited them to connect with my various social media accounts.

That email was fine, it worked well, but I decided to experiment with something else – asking a question that was about them more than it was about me.

Now when people subscribe to my list, this is the first email they get:

Hi [NAME],

I just wanted to reach out and say thanks for your interest in Connected Comedy!

To kick things off, I’d love to hear a little about your background, goals and challenges – it’s different for everybody, so the more I know about what you’re looking for the better the advice I’ll be able to give you.

Let me know – thanks!

Josh

The result has been that almost every person that subscribes to my list responds to that email and tells me a bit about themselves and what they’re looking for.

Most people also comment about how surprised they are to see that I actually care who they are and how unexpected it is to get an email like that after subscribing to a mailing list.

This one simple question has changed their entire perception of what my mailing list is about and what to expect from me in general in a positive way.

That’s great, but that’s not all it’s done.

It’s also given me helpful information about my subscribers – who they are, why they subscribed, what they’re looking for, etc. – that allows me to provide them with more value and things they’re more likely to find helpful.

I typically respond with some specific suggestions and it takes what initially was a very passive relationship – somebody who subscribed to a mailing list not knowing what to expect – and turns it into a legitimate personal connection which is WAY more valuable for both parties.

While the people who subscribe to your mailing list most likely won’t be seeking advice the way my subscribers do, you can easily come up with your own relevant question to ask subscribers when they first sign up (or at any point for that matter).

It’s really about starting a conversation with them so you get to know the people that are interested in you enough to join your mailing list and give them a chance to get to know you better.

You might want to ask them how they heard about you, why they subscribed to your list, or even something as simple as who are their favorite comedians.

Anything that can start a conversation with you and that could give you some insight that could help you provide value to them (and you) down the road.

2. Deliver What You Promise

Here’s a simple suggestion that most people don’t follow – make sure you deliver what you promise to people who join your mailing list.

If you tell people you won’t just send them spammy show promotions, then don’t just send them spammy show promotions.

If you promise them no more than one email a month, then don’t send them an email every week.

If you promise them a free album download, then give them the free album download.

Whatever you promise a subscriber at signup, make sure you live up to it. And if you have to change your promise – for example, maybe you planned to send a monthly email but now want it to be weekly – make sure you tell your subscribers.

Be open and transparent with them so they don’t feel tricked.

A successful mailing list is based on trust (as is a career by the way), so you want to make sure people know your word means something.

3. Use Targeting And Segmentation

Hopefully, you’re using a mailing list provider like Aweber (this is my recommendation and here’s why) or Mailchimp to manage your mailing list.

If you are, it will allow you to easily segment your list so that you don’t have to send every email to every person on your list.

You want every email you send to people to be relevant to those people. Don’t send emails promoting your New York show to people that live in Miami – that’s just begging them to unsubscribe.

It’s fine to send some emails to your full list, but use targeting and segmenting of your list to ensure nobody gets things that aren’t relevant to them  in order to retain your subscribers.

And even if you don’t use Aweber or Mailchimp, you should look for ways to segment your list – even if it’s as simple as keeping a spreadsheet to track where your subscribers live or where they were when they joined your list.

4. Make It Interactive And Fun

This is somewhat related to my suggestion that you ask questions to your subscribers. Again, instead of thinking of your mailing list as a one-way communication platform (you blasting out your message to your subscribers), think about it as an opportunity for two-way communication.

It’s easy for your subscribers to hit reply to your email and respond with whatever you prompt them to do, so look for interesting and fun ways to take advantage of that.

There’s no shortage of things you can do to spark interaction – have them suggest topics for your podcast, ask you questions you can answer in future emails, send you bizarre things they’ve found online that you then share on your blog, or any other creative thing you can come up with.

Making your mailing list more interactive will once again show your subscribers you care and are paying attention to them. It will also make your emails more fun and help you use them to build community. You want to get to the point where your subscribers are excited to get an email from you, not just putting up with your emails.

And one of the best ways to get them excited is to make them feel like they’re a part of it.

5. Don’t Worry About Starting Small

No matter how many subscribers you have, you’ll always want more.

But don’t confuse that desire with a false belief that there’s no value to be had from your list unless you have hundreds or thousands of people on it.

Even if you only have a handful of subscribers, you can still get value from a good email list. Remember, email is still the most effective way to get people to actually see what you send them (the percentage of people who see your emails is roughly 10x as many as see your social posts).

Instead of focusing on all the subscribers you don’t have, focus on the opportunity to engage with the ones you do have.

Those people are the beginnings of your fanbase and the more connected they are to you, the more supportive they will be, and the more likely they will spread the word about you.

A lot of this is about perspective.

For example, a comic may have 100 people on their mailing list and never send them any emails other than the occasional show promotion, even though it’s likely that 50+ of those subscribers will see whatever they send.

Meanwhile, that same comic is promoting their new video on Twitter non-stop to 500 followers, but not realizing that only 25 of their followers actually see their posts.

Recognize the opportunity you have in your mailing list and don’t get distracted by the illusion of social media as being a more effective platform for reaching fans – it’s not.

And remember that all things start small, but the ones that provide value eventually get big.

READ THIS NEXT: The Email List Building Challenge

What follows are some ideas that have stuck with me over the years – observations I hope you’ll find inspirational, thought-provoking, and helpful.

The Ideas

1. If you’re not willing to put in the work it takes to succeed, that’s ok. But you also have to be ok with not succeeding.

2. Get somebody to notice you today. Entertain them every day for a year. Repeat tomorrow. That’s how you build a fanbase.

3. If you only keep doing what you usually do, you’ll never know what you’re capable of doing.

4. People love watching videos of comics battling hecklers because they’re more real than most comics’ acts.

5. The things you say no to are just as important to your career as the things you say yes to.

6. Too many comics focus on getting people to LIKE them when they should try to get people to CARE about them.

7. If you hate promoting your comedy, it’s not because you’re an artist. It’s because you don’t believe you provide value to audiences.

8. If you want to get noticed, why are you doing the same things everybody else does?

9. If you’re “too busy” to spend time on your comedy career, that just means your career isn’t a priority for you. Be honest with yourself.

10. You’re most likely going to fail. But understanding that will help you succeed.

11. Ask less and offer more. That’s how you promote yourself.

12. Just because it’s easier than ever to create something doesn’t mean it’s easier to make it good.

13. Waiting doesn’t get you closer to succeeding. Starting does.

14. You’re never stuck. You just think you are.

15. You have to want to succeed more than you’re afraid to fail.

16. What you think is writer’s block is actually just impatience. Be willing to write junk until you get to something good. It’ll come.

17. If you hate self-promotion, then just make better stuff. The better your creation, the less you have to promote it.

18. That thing you think is the end goal is actually just the start of something else.

19. The people already paying attention to you are more important than the people who aren’t. Act accordingly.

20. The way to become a pro is to work like one even when you’re an amateur.

21. You know that story you’re afraid to talk about on stage? That’s the one you should talk about.

22. Start. Finish. Fail. Start. Finish. Fail. Start. Finish. That’s how you succeed.

23. Just being good isn’t enough.

24. You can learn just as much from watching a bad comic as you can a good one.

25. Everybody has the chance to pursue their passion for a living – it’s just that most people choose not to.

26. Just because you think you’re ready to take the next step in your career doesn’t mean that you are. Be patient.

27. It’s not easy to do something that’s truly different. That’s why it’s so valuable.

28. If you can’t find two hours a day to work on your comedy career, then you don’t actually want one.

29. You don’t need to have stage time tonight to further your career today.

30. Excuses are a lot easier to find than solutions.

31. Don’t worry – you don’t have to do what it takes to be a successful comic. There’s plenty of other comics that will.

32. Look at what every other comic is doing and then don’t do that. Do something else.

33. The best way to capitalize on a big break is to be prepared for it. Don’t wait for your break to come to start working.

34. Everybody you make laugh today is meaningless if you don’t have a way to reach them tomorrow.

35. It’s easier than ever for you to get seen and harder than ever for you to get noticed.

36. There are no “rules” when it comes to building a comedy career. There are just things comics convince themselves they can’t do.

37. That thing you’re nervous to talk about is probably the thing you should talk about in your comedy.

38. Most comics seem more interested in getting booked than getting better.

39. Stop worrying about people stealing your jokes. If your material’s that good, then only you can do it.

40. The more time you spend working on things you can control as opposed to things you can’t, the more successful you’ll be.

Click here to get more valuable comedy career tips!

Connected Comedy VIP member Conn Williams is an Australian who recently moved to Boston, started doing standup about a year ago, and told me he’s ultimately interested in “writing for cinema and TV.” He’s been writing (or as he put it, “trying to”) for nearly 10 years and faces a very common problem.

Here’s how he described it:

“I have started a million projects, but rarely do I get anything finished, certainly never to a marketable point. Project ideas I have vary from novels, movies, sitcoms and documentaries.”

As with most things, there’s no one single way to build a comedy writing career, but I do think there are some mindsets and specific things you can do that will help you get to where you want to go. Following are a few suggestions for how I’d recommend approaching a writing career – and while these are directed toward screenwriting, most of them are just as applicable for your budding standup career as well.

1. It Only Matters If You Finish

In describing your writing background, one sentence stood out to me that rings true to most people who initially pursue a comedy career – “I have started a million projects, but rarely do I get anything finished.”

This is something everybody faces in the beginning, but it’s the most important thing you need to change in order to succeed at whatever you want to do.

What you start is meaningless. The only thing that matters is what you finish.

A finished screenplay that’s terrible is more valuable to you than an unfinished screenplay that’s good. Writing is a tough discipline and no matter how talented you are, the chances are you’re never going to be happy with early drafts of your work.

But you can’t let that prevent you from actually finishing that work.

Abandoning projects creates a cycle that prevents you from making progress – you don’t learn as much as you will learn by finishing things and you wind up jumping from project to project without having anything finished to show for all of your time and efforts.

Don’t worry about perfection, make finishing the project you set out to write your first goal. And take satisfaction from accomplishing that goal – even if your work isn’t great, it’s a huge accomplishment just to complete a screenplay or novel.

Again, most people DON’T finish things. So just by getting to the finish line, you already start to separate yourself from the pack of wannabe writers and are closer to becoming a professional writer.

The other amazing thing that happens when you finish something is that it creates momentum to fuel your next work. As you become a writer who finishes what you start, your skills will improve, you’ll become less critical of yourself, and you’ll learn what it takes to actually write for a living.

You never get paid to start things, you get paid to finish them. So the sooner you learn to finish, the better.

2. Read Scripts. Watch Movies. Repeat.

If you’re serious about a writing career, then you need to read as much as you write. Read the kinds of screenplays that you want to write – it’s not enough to just watch movies.

Screenwriting is its own unique form and you’ll learn a lot by seeing how other writers do it. And analyze what you read – break down the way writers handle scenes, characters, and plot structure. You’ll be amazed how much you can learn when you look deeper than just watching a movie.

Speaking of which, it’s especially helpful to read scripts and watch the movies simultaneously – you’ll get a feel for how the writing translates to the screen and vice versa. If you’re writing a movie (or TV show for that matter), remember that you’re ultimately writing “actions” – even if it’s dialogue heavy.

Studying scripts in concert with the final filmed product will help you learn how to do that.

Also, while the above advice is mainly for film or TV narrative writing, the same applies for novels, sketch, or any other kind of writing you’re interested in. Study how others do it and then put your own spin on it.

3. Tap Into The Online Writing Community

The biggest advantage to trying to build a writing career now compared to a decade ago is the incredible volume of resources available to up and coming writers now online to learn more about the craft.

There’s a HUGE community of professional (and hopeful) writers online and an almost infinite number of blogs, message boards, podcasts and more that feature discussions and advice about how to become a better writer.

This is an invaluable resource (if you access it) and I recommend you deeply immerse yourself in that world. You’ll be able to learn tons of valuable lessons (for free) and you also may find yourself developing relationships with other writers in the community who can help you in a variety of ways down the road.

If you want to be a writer, then one of the first things you should do is become a part of the writing community.

Here’s a few specific recommendations of things you might want to check out, though there’s certainly a lot more out there.

The Scriptnotes Podcast

Reddit’s Writing and Screenwriting subreddits

The Writer’s Bloc Podcast

The Creative Spark video series

10 Influential Screenwriting Blogs

4. Produce Something

While it ultimately may take a lot of money and somebody else to fund your movie or TV screenplay, write something small and figure out a way to actually get it made.

Whether it’s a short film, a web series, play, or even a scripted podcast, figure out a way to write something you can turn into a finished, created, “real” product that exists in the world.

You can team up with other producers, filmmakers, and actors – you don’t have to do it all yourself, but it’s important to go through the process of seeing your words come off the page and be brought to life.

Doing this will provide multiple benefits for you. You’ll learn a ton from seeing the difference between writing words on a page and how they’re actually performed and shot – that will ultimately help the quality of your writing in the future.

You’ll also benefit from having the opportunity to see how an audience (even a small one) reacts to one of your creations – that too will help your writing.

Maybe most importantly, you’ll get to have some fun seeing the things that came from your head become real and that will give you some much-needed momentum boost to encourage you to keep writing. There’s something about seeing creations become real that motivates writers to create more.

And finally, if you actually put something out into the world, you never know what new opportunities it may create. Maybe your video will go viral, maybe your web series will develop a following, maybe somebody influential will see it and want to work with you on something else.

5. Take Whatever Work You Can Get In The Industry

In addition to spending a lot of time writing, you’re going to want to find ways to make connections with other people working in the industry because ultimately you’re going to need to get to those people in order to sell your script or get yourself hired to work as a writer.

One of the best ways to do that is to take any jobs you can find that are remotely related to the industry you want to work in. Don’t worry if it’s not necessarily a writing job, if it puts you anywhere near anything that you’d want to be involved in, then go for it.

Working on the crew of a production or getting coffee as an assistant for somebody may seem like a waste of your time, but it’s not. It’s an opportunity to get to know people who are in positions that can ultimately help you and you’ll find yourself surrounded by other people who have similar goals and connections. Do whatever you can to just get in the door at an entertainment company and then figure out the rest from there.

For an industry that’s so huge, the entertainment business is a surprisingly small world – everybody kind of knows everybody – and today’s assistant is tomorrow’s studio head. Take whatever job you can find – even a part time gig where you work for free if you have to – to put yourself into that universe. It will ultimately pay off in a big way down the road.

READ THIS NEXT: Manager Rachel Miller Explains How You Can Build A Writing Career

I recently got to live out a longtime dream of telling my dumb jokes on CONAN.

Any comedian who has achieved some sort of goal or milestone in comedy (big or small) has had another comedian ask them, “How’d you get that?”

The question itself can have a rude connotation. It can be taken as, “How’d YOU get that and not me?” It could also imply that you “got” it, as opposed to having earned it. That being said, I prefer to assume the best intentions behind “How’d you get that?” because I am very aware that comedy is a pursuit which can leave you aimlessly flummoxed, and there is no real guide book (sorry, Judy Carter).

So when Connected Comedy asked if I’d be interested in writing a guest article about the experience, I figured I’d write what I’d want to read about if I was reading this instead of writing it. So I’ll do my best to appease the me that would be reading this.

I have to state, right off the bat, that I am a firm believer in setting realistic career goals that are momentarily just out of reach, then working as hard as possible to get within reach.

I started planning my album months before a label ever talked to me about doing one. In much the same way, I was dead set on doing a late night spot (specifically CONAN) before I knew the circumstances which would lead to that actually happening.

I’m not talking about “The Secret” here, or a magic ability to will dreams into fruition. I’m just talking about stating and then focusing on the thing you want, knowing why you want it, then being prepared for the opportunity when it comes.

Some folks don’t like to hear this, but the one sure-fire way to help yourself reach your comedy goals is to get funnier and hone your craft.

I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but I include it here to point out that it is far and away THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ALWAYS.

I haven’t met a successful/respected comedian yet who wasn’t mostly consumed by the quality of their material. I think that when you first start getting better at comedy, it is easy to get hung up on this notion of a payout timeline. Success in comedy, however you define it, is almost never linear. You can’t expect a consistent return on the time and effort you’ve invested.

All you can do is focus on your act and put yourself in the best position for the things you want.

With that ranting caveat out of the way, I’ll go into specifics…

Not that this is a how-to, but if you’re aspiring to do a late night set you’re going to need to get a good tape at a good show with good audience reaction. The best material can sound like dog shit if there’s no one laughing at it. Even if the booker is great at their job and can tell if someone’s funny regardless, you are making a first impression here.

Different late night bookers prefer different length sets for the initial tape. If you don’t know exactly who’s going to be watching it, six minutes is a pretty safe bet.

As far as the material goes, regardless of your comedic style, the set should reflect who you are and the kind of comedy you do. Also, make sure your opener is bulletproof.

Once you have a tape, the next logical step would be getting it seen by a late night booker. This is obviously where it can get real tricky.

A lot of comedians let the vagueness of all this create a ceiling where they think, “This is the stuff I have to have a manager for.”

Speaking as a comedian who has never signed with any management, you’ll be happy (or depressed) to know that you don’t need a manager to do a late night spot (or a lot of other things). There’s that old showbiz idiom: “Managers get 10% because they do 10% of the work.”

Percentages may change, but that concept is still very true. You are the only one you can count on to care the most about you. So if you don’t have a manager, you’re just going to have to work that much harder and put yourself in the best position you can.

My way of doing that was moving to New York a few years ago. I didn’t even move here because this is one of two industry hubs, but more so because it is the center of the standup universe, with a ton of shows and really good comedians. I found it to be the best option for my personal progression.There’s a million possible paths, and New York was just what felt right for me.

From being in New York, I ended up doing shows with, and eventually opening for, several great comics who I respect very much. In my pursuit of a late night spot, I asked a multiple late night veteran (who is also an insightful person) for advice on getting late night.

Much to my surprise, mid-conversation, they offered to send a tape to the CONAN booker along with a vouch for me.

This is not something you should ask from anyone directly, and if you are in this situation, realize the weight of a respected comic’s word. Don’t be a fucking idiot and phone it in with someone else’s name on the line. It is a very serious thing and it should be taken very seriously. I had to send two tapes to the comic vouching for me before he would send the tape on to the CONAN booker.

After a few weeks, I got a response from the CONAN booker and the notes process began.

The notes process is just what it sounds like. The booker gives you notes on your set and tells you what they like and don’t like. Mostly what they don’t like, but don’t worry, that means they like you (confusing, I know).

This is why I said earlier that having a six-minute tape was a safe bet, even though just about every late night set is five minutes. The bookers are going to do their job, and your set will be vetted pretty thoroughly.

Luckily, the CONAN booker liked most of my jokes from the initial tape, but I still had to make several changes, replace/cut jokes, and send four more tapes over the course of about four months (which meant filming at least a dozen sets, since making a tape in New York is a nightmare).

I’ve never heard of someone sending one tape and then getting handed their late night debut. My point is: Put as much thought into the set as you can, but then be ready to change it.

It may sound tedious (and will lead to ridiculous emails like, “I agree with your note that the shitting thing after the fart story is a bit much”), but the notes process will most likely force you to produce a much tighter and better five minutes than what you initially had in mind.

After the back-and-forth of getting notes and making new tapes, the final set was agreed upon, and I had to make one more tape to show that it was under five minutes. That’s right: UNDER five.

The last tape of my set that I sent clocked in at about 4:50ish. All of this time and material micromanagement is so that there are no doubts about you going waaay over or under when you tape the set for television. The people at CONAN are not as strict on time when it comes to the actual taping because they know they don’t need to be.

As far as the taping itself: yes, it was a little nerve racking – especially the two-minute wait behind a curtain in anticipation for something you’ve dreamt about a million times. At the same time, I knew I was ready and that I was the good kind of nervous.

Comedy is something where you learn not to get too excited about opportunities, because the bottom can drop out at any time (I’ve almost gotten a ton of stuff).

I’ve gotten used to not getting too hyped about things. However, I have to say, when it comes to doing a late night set: it is impossible to build it up too much in your head. It was way more fun than I could have imagined and only reaffirmed the love for what I do, as well as validate my decision to drop out of high school (jk’ing about that. Stay in school kids).

Finally, what has doing late night done for me?

Well, I don’t really know yet fully since I just recently did it. However, I already know not to expect the moon because I was on TV for five minutes. We should all know that’s not how it works.

Comedy is a lot like chess in that you don’t know where your next steps will leave you, but you have to be ready for multiple outcomes, and then outcomes to those outcomes. At the very least, you have to know how the thing you want can be parlayed into furthering your career.

In my case, I book all of my own roadwork, whether in clubs or independent venues. I knew if I could have a good set on a reputable show, it would help immensely with establishing credibility when booking gigs, and especially with independent venues (the very concept of comedy is a hard sell for them sometimes).

Bitter people will say that doing a late night set doesn’t do a fraction of what it used to. That may be true, but I’m not interested in how things used to be, and am already aware that this is a tough business. The returns, or lack of returns, can’t diminish the experience for me.

I always try to create my own returns anyway.

You can watch Andy’s CONAN set below and connect with him on Twitter.

Unfortunately, most of them aren’t the ones whose answers will ultimately further your career. People tend to focus on questions that are more about end results as opposed to the underlying factors that actually drive success and culminate in the results they want.

To help you think about things a little differently than the average comic, here’s a breakdown of four common questions comedians ask and some questions I think you’d be better served to think about instead.

1. Instead Of Asking How To Book More Gigs, Ask How To Build A Fanbase

Every comic always wants to know how to get bookers and venues to give them more opportunities to perform on their stage and how they can get those same people to pay them more money for their efforts.

That’s a complicated question that has a lot of different possible answers, but there’s one simple answer to it that most comics seem to ignore.

To get booked more, all you have to do is be able to sell tickets. And to sell tickets, you have to have a fanbase.

Every booker is ultimately looking for the same thing – they want to draw a paying crowd to see the show they’re putting on. If you can help them accomplish that by drawing a crowd, they will book you. And even if they didn’t, if you can draw your own crowd than you don’t actually need other people to book you anyway.

So rather than trying to figure out how to get booked more, you’re better served to think about how you can grow your fanbase.

If you spent as much time figuring out how to convert the people that already see you into fans, creating content or finding a niche to attract new potential fans, as you do trying to track down bookers you will wind up being more successful in the long run.

2. Instead Of Asking How To Sell Stuff, Ask How To Get People To Trust You

I get it, the comedy business tends to be heavy on the comedy and light on the business when you’re just getting started.

So as a result, you may be more eager to get people to buy your albums, merch, or whatever else you’ve come up with make a few extra bucks than you are thinking about the bigger picture.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but what is often forgotten is that the key to selling anything is trust. If you can’t figure out how to get people to trust you, they’re never going to buy anything from you.

This isn’t just about people being afraid of being ripped off – it’s about your potential customers trusting that whatever you’ve created will provide them with actual value.

They need to trust that your album will be funny before they purchase it. They need to trust that if they order something from your website that you’ll actually send it to them. And they need to trust that if they buy tickets to see your show, it will be worth their money.

In the rush to monetize your work, don’t forget that every purchase is rooted in trust and it’s important to develop that before you start asking for money. And it’s just as important that when you deliver a product to a customer, it lives up to the promise you’ve made with it.

If it does, you’ll have built even more trust with that person and that will be valuable again further down the road. But if you don’t, then you’ve likely lost their trust and it’s unlikely you’ll ever be able to sell them something again.

3. Instead Of Asking How You Can Get An Agent, Ask How You Can Make Money For An Agent

This one’s a different spin on the question about bookers and it’s equally important. Every comic without a manager or agent desperately wants one and believes it’s the only thing standing between them and fame and fortune.

Unfortunately, that’s usually not true.

But that’s not say that agents can’t be helpful because they certainly can be and there’s nothing wrong with trying to figure out how to get one. But the best way to get one is by asking a different question – the question you should be concerned with is how you can generate money for your representative.

Ultimately, your agent or manager will only make money when you make money – they get a percentage of whatever they help you generate. If they’re charging you a fee as opposed to a percentage, they’re shady and you should run the other direction immediately.

Because of the economics of representation, agents and managers look for comics they believe can actually generate revenue immediately – or at least relatively quickly. Yes, you have to be talented and they have to like your work, but they ALSO have to see a clear path to monetize what you do.

Otherwise, they’re just putting in time, effort, and in some cases their own money, with no realistic return on their investment.

With this in mind, the best way to figure out how to get representation is to figure out how you can present an agent/manager with an opportunity to make money.

Do you have a script they can sell? Do you have acting skills so they can send you on auditions and you can land a role quickly? Do you have a blog that could be turned into a book deal?

The answer to how you to get an agent is really to figure out the answer to how you can make money for one.

4. Instead Of Asking How To Get People To Listen To Your Podcast, Ask How You Find Podcasts To Listen To

Whether you have your own podcast, video series, or blog, the chances are you’re relatively obsessed with getting more people to see your work. That makes sense and it’s a good goal to have.

But rather than thinking about how you can get people to find your creations, think about it from the opposite perspective. Ask yourself how you find new podcasts to listen to and why you watch the web series that you watch?

By inverting the question and thinking about your own behavior as a consumer of content as opposed to a creator of it, you’ll likely stumble across some helpful clues about how and where people discover content like yours.

And if you put those tactics to work on your own projects, you’ll likely be able to find people to consume your creations the same way you have consumed what others have created.

READ THIS NEXT: 5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Try To Make Money Online From Comedy

For the past few years he’s asked comedians he comes across at his various performances to write down a bit of advice for him about the art and business of comedy in his notebooks. Besides being a great learning resource for himself, he’s shared many of the 190+ bits of advice he’s received on Tumblr and Facebook.

Here’s 21 of my favorites…

DOUG STANHOPE

MATT BRAUNGER

GRANT LYON

JEFF ROSS

TODD GLASS

BOB SAGET

MYLES WEBER

JOE LARSON

GREGG WARREN

ANDY KINDLER

BEN ROY

LAMONT FERGUSON

MARC MARON

BRIAN SCOLARO

ADAM GRIFFIN

CHRIS ALPINE

BILL BURR

JAY MOHR

KIRK FOX

CHRIS PORTER

EMO PHILIPS

New to Connected Comedy? Check out my Connected Comedy Members Program to see how else I can help you!

There are a lot of valuable tools out there that are relatively simple to use and can help you find and connect with new potential fans and better promote your creations.

Here’s a quick breakdown of four tools that you probably haven’t used before, but can definitely help you achieve your goals.

1. Facebook’s Power Editor

I’ve talked a lot about how valuable (and cheap) Facebook ads are and the incredible value you can get from using them to promote yourself or your content.

But most comics who run Facebook ads do so without the help of Facebook’s most effective ad-creation tool, the Power Editor.

If you’re running Facebook ads just by clicking “Boost Post” next to a given post or by using Facebook’s standard ads manager, you’re missing out on a lot of options and functionality that will allow you to create more targeted ads that will perform much better for you.

Basically, using the Facebook Power Editor gives you more control and therefore you can create better, more targeted ads, which in turn leads to more success at a lower price point. It also allows you to create “dark posts,” which is another valuable option you can read about here.

I won’t go into a full overview of how the Power Editor works at this point, but here’s a great overview. And it’s worth noting that the Power Editor is free to use and you can only use it in a Chrome browser, so keep that in mind when you decide to give it a try.

2. Twitter’s Advanced Search

Twitter’s search functionality is the most powerful feature Twitter has to offer and yet it’s rarely used by comedians.

There are lots of ways searching Twitter can help you as a comedian such as searching for people who are tweeting about topics relevant to your niche or searching for people who have shared your content or attended a show you were on to connect with them.

Few comics ever really use Twitter’s search functionality and those that do typically only use the search bar at the top of their Twitter feed. But what you probably don’t realize is that there’s another way to search Twitter that gives you a lot more options to drill down into more targeted searches.

By using Twitter’s advanced search, accessible at Twitter.com/search-advanced, you can set all kinds of specific options to drill down deeper into what people are tweeting and when.

Want to see what I tweeted from the Connected Comedy account in September 2012? Here you go.

Want to see every tweet that somebody has tweeted at me that included a question? Here you go.

Want to see every tweet that includes the word “comedians” and a link to something on the New York Times website? Here you go.

I could go on forever, but hopefully you get the point – Twitter’s advanced search can be an incredibly powerful way to find relevant information and people for you to connect with based on your needs.

3. Facebook’s Groups Search

There’s a good chance you’re in a couple Facebook groups already (like my Connected Comedians group, for example?), but have you ever spent any time searching Facebook to find new relevant groups to join?

Facebook groups are a great way to get involved in communities that will be relevant to your interests and can be filled with people who may be interested in whatever your particular comedy niche may be. Beyond the networking benefits of joining a Facebook group with other comedians, the real value is in finding topic-based groups that attract members with shared interests that match the kinds of things you cover in your comedy.

For example, if your comedy revolves around being a father, then you might want to join the 1,100 members of the Dad Bloggers group.

Or if you think fans of Rachel Maddow are likely to enjoy your take on things, then maybe the 25,000 members of this Rachel Maddow Fans group are potential new fans of your comedy.

There’s an insane number of groups on Facebook and you can probably find one for whatever target audience you’re hoping to connect with. And it’s really easy to do.

All you have to do to find Facebook groups is log in to Facebook and type some relevant keywords into the search bar. When you get the initial results click the “Groups” button listed under the “More” drop down menu as you see below:

Once you choose Groups, you’ll see a list of the groups relating to that keyword and you can browse until you find ones that fit your needs. You’ll be amazed at what you find…

4. Twitter’s Native Video Player

Another Twitter feature that gets overlooked is Twitter’s native video player. Launched a few months ago, it allows you to upload videos directly to Twitter and those videos will appear an play in-feed on Twitter.

While you’re probably familiar with Vine (which is owned by Twitter) and may have heard of Periscope (Twitter’s new live-streaming video platform), Twitter’s regular video player can be helpful for when you want to upload a video that’s longer than 6 seconds and isn’t a live-stream, but still have it appear in people’s feeds.

It’s as easy as uploading a photo and worth giving a try the next time you’ve got a video you want to share with your followers. Here’s an overview of exactly how to do it.

Want A Little Extra Help From Me?

If you’re looking to try out any of these tools and are looking for some more specific suggestions about how best to use them to fit your needs, I’d be happy to help. Email me and let me know what you’re looking for.

READ THIS NEXT: 5 Social Media Shifts That Will Impact Comedians

There seems to be a new “must-use” social platform created every day and the pressure to leverage them to attract fans and grow your career can quickly become frustrating.

But the reality is you don’t actually have to use any of these platforms and you certainly don’t need to use all of them. To help you sort out which ones are worth the effort, I’ve put together a breakdown of what I see as the top nine platforms in order of value to a comedian’s career.

While the exact order may vary a bit depending on your specific career goals, this is a general ranking that I think fits for most comics. Whether you’re just starting out or 20 years into the game, these are the places I’d recommend you put your time into – in order from most important to least important.

1. An Email List

Don’t be fooled by the hype around the latest and greatest social platforms – email is still king. It’s the single best way to ensure people who are connected to you will see something you want them to see.

As great as social networks are, the vast majority of your followers on them won’t actually see your posts – you’ll be lucky to reach more than 10% of your followers with any given post and in most cases you’ll only reach about 5%.

By comparison, roughly 50% of your email subscribers (or more depending on the quality of your list), will open and read your email blast. Even a bad email list will still likely get at least 20% of the subscribers to open your emails, which is still a huge improvement over what you get on social networks.

Email lists are also the most valuable social platform because they’re completely in your control – you don’t have to worry about companies like Facebook or Twitter suddenly changing the rules of who sees your content and you also don’t have to worry about users abandoning the platforms entirely, making your connection to your audience on them disappear (see: MySpace).

An email list is without a doubt the most powerful social connection you can build to your fanbase and even the social networks themselves know it.

Have you ever thought about why Twitter and Facebook send so many emails to their users? It’s because they know you’re more likely to see those notifications in your email inbox than on their own platforms.

Recommended Reading: How To Get More People To Join Your Mailing List

2. A Website

The second most valuable platform also may seem a little old school to you. Too many comics believe a Facebook page is good enough and having their own website is an outdated concept, but that’s wrong.

Just like an email list, having your own website is something that you can 100% control forever and it’s not subject to the whims of a company who can block you, delete you, or make things difficult for you with tweaks in their algorithm or a loss of their own user base.

Your own website is also a blank canvas that allows you to create whatever best suits your personal needs and how you want to present yourself. It’s much more flexible than having to fit what you do into the constraints of somebody else’s platform.

There’s a million different easy ways to create a website (WordPress, Tumblr, etc.) and there’s really no excuse at this point not to have one. Plus, a website will get you found in Google search (and help you control what people see of yours when they search for you) and will make you look like a professional.

Not having a website – even if it’s just a simple one – sends a clear message to the world that you’re not serious about your career.

Recommended Reading: How 5 Successful Comedians Used Their Website Before They Were Famous

 3. A Facebook Fan Page

Comics love Twitter, but the reality is that Facebook is a WAY bigger and more valuable platform for you.

Facebook has gotten so big that it practically is the Internet these days, and I’m sure you probably already have a Facebook account. But, if you don’t also have a Facebook fan page for yourself, you’re doing it wrong.

Having a fan page has several advantages including the ability to have an unlimited number of fans connect to you – regular profiles are capped at 5,000 friends, which may not seem like an issue now but will be if you ultimately have the success you want.

Most importantly, Facebook fan pages allow you to run Facebook ads to promote yourself and your content. Here’s a look at some of the amazing things that are possible with Facebook ads and how inexpensive they can be.

You can’t run Facebook ads without a fan page, and not having the ability to run Facebook ads is like taking the single most effective marketing tool out of your arsenal. It’s stupid.

Recommended Reading: 5 Free Ways To Get More People To See Your Facebook Posts

4. Twitter

Even though its value is below Facebook, Twitter can still be a valuable platform for comedians. Comedy content plays well on the platform and if you’ve got the ability to put funny stuff into the world in 140 characters or less, you can find some success and get noticed.

But, the real value in Twitter is often misunderstood. The way to get the most out of Twitter is not by using it as a broadcast medium or an always-on open mic, but rather to use it as a way to connect with other people.

The ability to follow and interact with anybody on the platform is powerful if used in a smart way and Twitter’s search functionality is one of the most overlooked and underused aspects of Twitter. You can use it to find people who are talking about the exact things you’re interested in and become a part of those conversations. Here’s some simple ways to get more out of Twitter that might make you think about the platform in a new way.

Recommended Reading: 5 Ways To Get More Out Of The Jokes You Post On Twitter

5. YouTube

If you’re creating videos, you should post those videos on YouTube (you should also upload those videos to Facebook’s native player as well by the way).

This is because YouTube is not only the biggest video hub on the Internet, but it’s also the second biggest search engine of any kind. Not uploading your videos to YouTube is the equivalent of telling Google that you don’t want to be found in their search results.

YouTube is the ultimate video platform, a place where you can get discovered, where you can build an audience, and where you can even monetize your work. People are building huge careers off the platform and it’s a must-use for anybody creating videos in my opinion.

Recommended Reading: Building A YouTube Audience

6. Vine

It’s appropriate that my sixth most valuable platform for comedians is a social network built on 6-second videos. Vine, which is owned by Twitter, has built a large user base and has a huge audience for funny content.

Comedy on Vine certainly has its own unique form and language, but if you can crack what works on the platform you can get discovered and build a following relatively quickly. There are also lots of relatively unknown comedians who have managed to monetize their work on Vine thanks to brands looking to reach audiences on the platform.

And the aesthetic of Vine is a lot more forgiving than YouTube, meaning that you don’t necessarily need to spend a lot of money on equipment or have a real professional look to your videos on the platform for them to work. Just shoot something funny with your phone and you should be fine.

Recommended Reading:5 Things You Can Learn From Vine Star King Bach

7. A Podcast

We’re still in the midst of a podcast boom – especially in the comedy world. At this point it may seem like every comedian has a podcast, but the truth is that the vast majority of them have barely any people listening to them.

However, there is still lots of potential value there for comics because the podcast audience continues to grow and there are still opportunities to grow an audience over time through a podcast.

The other hidden value of doing a podcast is that it can help improve your work as a comedian overall – it can help you work through new material, find your voice, or function as practice for future work in radio, writing, or hosting.

It’s not the same as stage time, but it is an opportunity to be on a mic and entertain people. It also can give you an excuse to interview and learn from other people, and if you’re smart enough to design your show in a way that it appeals to a specific niche audience that you’re trying to reach (as opposed to being just another inside baseball show featuring comics talking about comedy), it can help you attract and develop an audience that pays off in other ways down the road.

There’s definitely value in doing a podcast, but it’s important to remember that a podcast is a long term play and not a short term one. Whatever value you get from doing a podcast is likely to come years down the road and you have to be willing to put in the significant time and effort it takes to get there.

Recommended Reading: Stand Up Invades Podcasting

8. Instagram

Instagram is a great social platform and it’s growing very fast – it might surprise you to find out that it’s already bigger than Twitter.

There’s definitely value to reaching the Instagram audience and if you’re doing anything with your comedy that’s image-driven, I’d probable rank it a little higher for you.

But, for most comics, Instagram is significantly less valuable as a platform than the other options I’ve listed above. It’s just that what Instagram is about doesn’t really lend itself very well to what most comics are looking to put out into the world.

Also, as a promotional platform, it’s very limiting since you can’t incorporate links anywhere on the platform except for in your account bio. It can be helpful with the right kind of content and the ability to dip into certain hashtags and attract attention for your content that way can be useful, but overall at the moment it’s far from a must-use platform for comedians.

Recommended Reading: 4 Things You Can Learn From Social Media Stars

9. Snapchat

Snapchat is growing…fast. It’s already hugely popular with teenagers, is seeing lots of engagement from users, and its Stories feature enables you to string together content in a way you can’t on other platforms.

However, the platform still has a lot of issues that limit its value to comedians.

Since the content you post there is only available for 24 hours at most you lose the value of building a library of archived content, discovery on the platform is pretty terrible (you essentially have to know a person’s username to find them), you don’t get to see how many people are actually following you (only how many actually view a piece of content), and there’s no simple way for your fans to share your content with their friends.

So, at this point, Snapchat is far from a must-use platform for comics, but it’s growing so rapidly that it’s still worth being on this list and keeping an eye on as it evolves.

More Advice About Social Media…

I’ve got a lot more social media tips available to my VIP MEMBERS (join here for instant access) including How To Get More Influential Followers On Twitter and 7 Reasons The Stuff You Post On Social Media Should Also Be On Your Website among others.

We also discuss the shift from the physical comedy “circuit” to the online comedy “circuit”, how creating ephemeral versus evergreen content are two different skill sets, and question if the speed and lack of scarcity online is lowering the standard of comedic material.

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Have a question you’d like us to answer on the next episode? Submit it now through this form.

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group.

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Links from this episode:

Scott Aukerman
The Flop House
This Week In Tech
Gary Vaynerchuk
The 10,000 Hour Rule – Malcolm Gladwell
Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast
The Comedian’s Comedian Podcast
5 Things You Can Learn From Kyle Kinane
Become A Connected Comedy Member

Recently, there’s been a boom in stunts by comedians that are designed specifically to manipulate the media to their own advantage and it’s becoming almost an art form in its own right.

Here’s a breakdown of some recent high profile examples and an explanation of how you can learn from what these comedians have done and create your own media stunt to gain attention for yourself, even if it’s just within your own local community.

1. Work With A “Celebrity”

The most recent example of media manipulation is the stunt Funny or Die pulled off with Dennis Quaid. In case you haven’t seen it, Funny or Die shot a video with Quaid throwing a temper tantrum on the set, but “leaked” a snippet of the video online at first without any apparent connection to Funny or Die.

Predictably, the media jumped on it, creating a wave of stories about Quaid’s tirade. Then, a few days later when Funny or Die released their actual video, they incorporated all the media coverage and revealed that it was all an elaborate prank. Those same media outlets then had to follow up with another wave of stories explaining that the now-infamous Quaid video was actually an FOD stunt.

You can see what happened here:

Essentially, Funny or Die figured out a way to get a wave of media coverage (two waves, actually) around a comedy video that otherwise would have probably just been like any other celebrity video they released.

But you don’t need access to a celebrity like Dennis Quaid to apply this strategy to your own creation. The underlying principle can work for you as well.

For example, on a local level you can reach out to a person or organization who is known within your own community and do something similar with them. For example, maybe a local politician, restaurant owner, or college athlete would be willing to participate in a clever video concept you develop.

You could then bake into your concept the idea of anonymously “leaking” a portion of the video online before releasing the full version and a reveal of the stunt later.

Obviously, you have to be smart about how you do it and it requires good concept and execution, but that’s always true of anything that works. The point is, this is a model that can be adapted and scaled down to incorporate any person or place that is known within the community of people you’re trying to reach.

2. Do Your Research

It’s amazing how quickly John Oliver’s HBO series has become must-see viewing. His extended takes on particular subjects each week wind up featured all across the Internet, despite rarely incorporating any celebrities and consisting mostly of him just sitting behind a desk and dissecting a particular topic.

But some of his best segments have been his takedowns of organizations like this one about the Miss America pageant:

While the bit is fueled by smart writing, it’s also built on a foundation of research that anybody could have done – including things as simple as noticing typos on the organization’s website.

This is something that’s easy for comedians at all levels to replicate if they’re willing to put in the time to research a particular topic. Nothing’s stopping you from choosing a target – either on a national or local level – and digging in to find some interesting tidbits about it that you can exploit in your comedy.

If you think about it, there’s no shortage of potential targets you could research and likely find out some interesting facts about – and most importantly, all of these would likely be of interest to people in your area that you want to know you exist.

For example, you could explore what actually goes on at your local DMV, or you could research the social media activities of a local school’s faculty, or you could look into the backgrounds of your local TV news anchors.

The possibilities are endless and so are the opportunities because if you dig up some interesting stuff, that’s going to be compelling to not only a local audience but likely your local media as well. If you do the work most of them aren’t willing to do, you can also reap the benefits.

3. Do The Unexpected

In addition to messing with the media as an outsider, there’s a whole other batch of opportunities at your disposal if you’re invited to appear on a media outlet.

If you get interviewed by a publication or get to appear on a radio or TV show, you’ll get more out of the experience by doing something unexpected. Something that will get you noticed and remembered. You don’t want to appear as just another comedian on these shows, you want to stand out.

A perfect example of somebody that does this is TJ Miller. His outrageous morning TV show appearances have become semi-legendary, and each one not only gets him noticed in whatever town he’s visiting, but also spreads throughout the Internet getting him even more attention.

They’ve become so notable that even Conan O’Brien talked to him about them here:

While you don’t necessarily have to do what Miller does, you should look for ways that you can do media-worthy things the next time you appear in a media outlet.

4. Pull A Prank

There’s no shortage of prank videos on YouTube and we’re increasingly seeing them work their way into TV comedy as well. Certainly, the Jackass guys built an empire on the back of pranks (at least in part), but Jimmy Kimmel has recently cornered the market on prank videos.

But in addition to the prank videos he’s done that he’s involved with or appears in on camera, he’s also pulled some stunts where it wasn’t obvious that he was involved at first.

Here’s an article detailing some of those anonymous stunts that Kimmel has pulled over the past few years. Each time, he wound up getting more attention from the media after revealing he was behind the prank than he would have if he had just been open about it in the first place.

While Kimmel has a nightly national audience that he can use to make those reveals, that doesn’t mean you can’t do something similar. If you can manage to pull off the illusion of a video that catches on, you then have the opportunity to follow up and reveal that you were the mastermind behind the stunt.

Again, any media that picks up on the initial viral video thinking it’s real is likely to share it with their audience again when it’s revealed it was a stunt – and in the process you’ll get credit and attention for it. Another potential benefit of masterminding pranks like this is that it might also create new opportunities for you – like writing for a show like Kimmel’s perhaps.

It shows that you’re capable of creating compelling content even if you’re not necessarily the one performing it.

5. Team Up

Did you see the recent story about how Will Ferrell and Kristin Wiig were secretly developing a parody of a Lifetime movie with a plan to just air the movie on Lifetime at some point without ever promoting it?

The idea was to create a surreal (and kind of brilliant) stunt that certainly would have surprised people and attracted a lot of attention in the media, but unfortunately news about the project leaked and they decided to scrap it.

While it’s unlikely you’re going to be able to partner with a TV network to pull something off on that scale, you can look for companies or media outlets you can team up with to do something similar on a smaller level. Remember, just about every company has marketing needs and is looking for creative ways to get people’s attention. Use that to your advantage and see if you can find an interesting partner to team up with to create something that will give both of you attention.

Another example of this is what happened with Nathan Fielder’s Dumb Starbucks stunt on his show Nathan For You. You can see him talk about it here:

But there’s lots of ways you can scale this down and try similar media-attracting stunts in simple ways.

For example, if you write roast jokes you could approach a bar and offer to work as a bartender who roasts patrons while serving them drinks on a particular night. It could become a gimmick that gets them (and you) some attention and could make for an interesting story for local media to cover.

Or you could approach an Uber driver and offer to go along with him on all of his rides and perform free comedy for the passengers. Again, it’s a silly stunt, but the kind of thing that you could easily see local (or national) journalists writing about and getting attention for you and the driver.

The point isn’t that you necessarily try any of the specific examples in this article, but rather to make you aware that there’s a lot of interesting stunts you can probably create that will get you a lot more media attention than just sending a reporter your press kit.

READ THIS NEXT: 5 Social Media Shifts That Will Impact Comedians

Here’s a breakdown of 10 general philosophies and guidelines that will help you get the results you want from the time you spend creating content and promoting yourself online.

1. Content Is Marketing

I talk a lot about the value of creating “content” and when I do I’m referring to content in the broadest form – that includes blog posts, videos, pictures, tweets, status updates, podcasts, standup material, etc.

But that value is not just limited to your own original content – I’m a big believer in the value or curating content as well. Here’s a post about curating that’s worth checking out.

The reason I’m such a believer in the importance of content creation is because it’s free marketing for you and your career.

Every single piece of content you create brings with it an opportunity for you to get found.

Each piece of content can be found through Google searches, can be shared and passed around by people on social media, and can introduce you to new fans at literally no cost. It’s an extremely powerful tool.

Plus, you can use content to target the exact audience you want to reach. For example, if you think parents, or sports fans, or fans of a certain comedian are likely to enjoy your work, then you can create content that is going to attract and appeal to those people and introduce them to your world.

But the thing to remember is that the more content you create, the more opportunities you have to attract fans.

2. Engagement Matters

As important as content is, engaging with your fans (and potential fans) may be even more important. Your content is the hook that draws people into your world, and your engagement with those people is the way you turn them into actual fans and get them to stick around.

One of the biggest misconceptions about social media (especially Twitter and Facebook) is that they’re mediums you primarily use to promote yourself and your stuff. That’s not true, but that’s what most comics do and why most comics don’t get any real results from social media.

Think about your own experience as a follower of somebody else on social media – I’m guessing you hate people who only promote themselves and you feel a genuine connection to people who interact with you and care about you, even if you’ve never met them face-to-face before.

Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms work best when you use them to engage with people. They’re connection tools, not promotional tools.

You want to use social tools to talk with people as opposed to talking at people. That’s a subtle, but important difference.

3. Be Personal. Be Informal. Be Available. Be Real.

Most comedians’ instinct is to position themselves as bigger and more successful than they are when they’re showcasing themselves on their website and social media channels. That’s a mistake.

Just be real.

People want to connect to other people and they want to relate to them – the more you’re willing to put yourself out there and be honest, the more people will connect to you. Real is always better than fake – in videos, in blog posts, on stage, in everything.

I also think it’s worth noting that this represents something of a generational shift. Back in the day, before technology like YouTube allowed literally everybody in the world to reach everybody else in the world, the average audience member assumed that the people who had broadcast power were better than them. They gave you the benefit of the doubt because they assumed if you were able to get to the point where you were given the chance to reach an audience, that you had some talent.

But now, when anybody can reach everybody, that has shifted and audiences are much more skeptical. Now, if they see you pretending to be bigger than you are, they resent it. You no longer have the benefit of the doubt.

But the flipside of that is that if you are real and allow fans to see you for where you’re really at in your career, those same people will rally behind you, support you, and want to help be a part of your journey to success. They will become invested in you.

A great example of this is the success of the YouTube musical group Karmin which I’ve written about here. You can learn a lot from how they broke on YouTube by being honest about where they were at in their career.

This idea also extends to your writing and your content. For example, your bio may be written in third person but is there anybody that actually believes you didn’t write it yourself? And, more importantly, does it really invite a would-be fan to connect with who you are or does it put them off because it makes it seem like you want them to know the “professional” you as opposed to the person that you are?

You want to make it easy for people to feel like they know you and can interact with you. Because the closer they feel to you, the more vested they become in your success.

On a side note, it’s fine to have a third-person “professional” bio that you may send to people who need it for their corporate gig brochures, etc. But, if you’re hoping to use your website to connect with fans then you want it to be as informal and friendly as possible.

4. The Quickest Path To Success Runs Through A Niche

It’s going to take time to build your fanbase even if you do everything right – that’s just something you need to understand going into it.

However, one way that you can give yourself a huge head start is to figure out a niche that you can appeal to.

Based on your material, life, interests, experience, and goals, you should try to figure out what kind of niche audience you might appeal to because it’s extremely hard to build a fanbase by just being another comic who is generally funny.

If you can focus on a niche – similar to the way Chris Hardwick has done with his Nerdist empire – you will find that all your marketing and content-related decisions become a whole lot easier.

When you have a niche that you’re targeting, you know exactly where to find potential fans because you can identify where else they gather – online or offline. It also allows people to rally around their shared interest in what you’re interested in, as opposed to solely trying to win them over with your jokes.

And of course, if they have a shared worldview to yours, they are more likely to enjoy your comedy in the first place.

There’s a couple other relevant articles about the importance of niche that you may want to check out including these lessons you can learn from Chris Hardwick and this guide to help you find your own niche.

5. Pay Attention To What You Engage With

One of the best ways to learn what works with people is to pay attention to what works when you’re the consumer. Start to think about what ads you click on, what websites catch your eye, what headlines get you to click, and what content you actually share with people.

When you start to think about what gets you to click something, or to take an action, you’ll be able to apply those same things to your own creations. It’s a great way to learn.

6. What People Share Is Not The Same As What They Click

You’ll create content for different purposes, but one broad thing to remember is that people share different kinds of content than they view. For example, porn sites get the most traffic on the web, but when was the last time somebody posted a link to a porn site on their Facebook wall?

People share things that are cute, funny, relatable, etc. But here’s another secret – people usually share things because it allows them to say something they want to say without actually saying it themselves.

People share things to show their support for a specific opinion or rallying cause. Sometimes, they will even share things they disagree with, just because sharing it gives them a chance to express their opinion about it. This is why strong viewpoints are always helpful in content.

This is something to keep in mind as you develop content – you want to use your expertise (in comedy and whatever else you may be knowledgable about) to express things that other people may believe but are not necessarily capable of saying as clearly (or in as entertaining a way) as you are.

7. Figure Out How To Provide Value

One of the most important overall questions for you to think about is how you can provide value to your fans. This goes beyond just being funny. Think about ways you can provide as much value as possible to your desired audience, whether it’s with your own content or not.

For example, on Connected Comedy I provide value to my audience by posting free articles with advice that can help them with their careers. On JoshSpector.com, I provide value to my readers by scouring the web to give them interesting videos to see and links to other cool stuff on the web. The “value” I provide is that I save them the time of having to look for cool stuff.

There’s no one way to provide value to your fans, and you’ll likely come up with multiple ways to do it.

A great way to get started is to combine your ability to be funny with a certain expertise you may have. The way you do this will be different for everybody, but in general the more value you provide, the more you get in return and the easier it is to grow an audience.

8. What’s In It For Your Audience?

With everything you do, try to think about what’s in it for your audience first. It’s too easy to fall into the trap of thinking about what you want them to do for you, but you’ll have more success if you think in terms of what you can do for them.

I had a conversation with a big-name headlining comic once and he was frustrated with having to post on social media all the time.

“It feels like I have to work for my fans,” he said. “Like I’m working for them!”

He was disgusted by that concept, but that’s exactly correct (and why he does a bad job at social media).

Your fans are your employer. Not the bookers, not the clubs, not the Hollywood execs, the fans. Because if you have enough fans…none of those other people matter.

9. Experiment Often

Because all of this is so personal, it will take you some time to experiment and find what works best for you. It’s important to understand that before you go into it, because too many people get frustrated quickly and give up.

Comics understand it could take 10+ years to get good on stage, but too often assume they’ll be social media experts after 10 minutes. They’re wrong.

By experimenting with different types of content and different ways to use social media, you’ll start to hone in on what works for you and see results.

Another thing about experimentation is to understand the best thing about failing online – when you fail, nobody really sees what you did anyway. Here’s a post that touches on that which is worth checking out.

10. Have A Goal

It’s very important to have a clear goal for what you’re hoping to get out of your activity online because that will ultimately influence everything you do.

For example, is the goal to attract new fans? Is the goal to attract new corporate gigs? Is the goal to create new properties/brands that can lead to new opportunities for books, TV, etc.?

Most likely you’ll want to do multiple of these things which is what will ultimately happen in success, but it’s worth thinking about what one goal is most important to you and letting that dictate your strategy.

11. Recognize The Opportunities You Have

If somebody would have approached comedians 20 years ago and offered them the opportunity to have their own TV show, radio show, or magazine with no cost, comics would have freaked out at what an amazing opportunity that is.

But that’s exactly the opportunity you have now and most comics are too lazy to actually take advantage of it.

Don’t get distracted by the “digital” aspects of all this. Just think about what you’d ultimately want to create and use these digital tools to reach the masses.

READ THIS NEXT: A Business Plan For Comedians

On a recent episode of The Comedian’s Comedian podcast, he was interviewed by Stuart Goldsmith in what was one of the best discussions about the art of comedy that I’ve heard on any podcast anywhere. I recommend listening to the full episode here, but you can also read some of the highlights of what Kinane had to say below.

1. Comedy Isn’t Easy And Your Comedy Shouldn’t Be For Everybody

At around the 5-minute mark, Kinane shares his take on the current comedy boom and points out that open mics are filled with people trying all kinds of bizarre stuff, wrongly assuming that somehow standup is easy to do.

“There’s more people now than ever in comedy,” he says. “I think people falsely think it’s an easy outlet.”

He goes on to explain why even from when he initially started at open mics, he’s always liked the idea of hearing some groans from people watching his act.

“It shouldn’t be for everybody,” he says. “If it’s for everybody, it can’t really be that great. If everybody likes it, I don’t think they love it.”

2. You Can Wait Until The World Asks You For Something

At around the 14-minute mark, Kinane explains how he’s approached advancing his career and it’s a strategy that flies in the face of what most comedians practice (and what most of the content on this site is, to be perfectly honest).

Basically, he’s chosen not to do anything until people come to him and ask him to do so.

“I never had the self-confidence to be like, ‘Yeah, I got this,'” he says. “I feel like if the world wants you to put it out there, they’ll ask you for it. I never released an album until a label asked me to do it. It’s a much longer way, but at least if I get down that path this way – I know I was asked to be here. I did it the way I wanted to and was asked to go to the next level.”

Kinane admits that his approach is certainly not the only way to succeed and breaks down what he sees as the different ways that comics get ahead in the business.

“There’s people with talent, there’s people with hustle, and there’s people with a mix of both,” he says. “The shorter way [to succeed] is with hustle…but if you don’t have the material to back it up when you get there, you fucked yourself.”

He adds that when he was getting started he didn’t worry about hassling bookers to put him on “good” shows and was content to perform on other shows until the people with the good shows saw him and invited him to do theirs.

“If you’re asking me to do your show, you’re approving of what I’m doing already,” he says.

3. Your Comedy Should Evolve With Your Life

At around the 31-minute mark, Kinane talks about how his comedy has changed as he’s become increasingly successful. He says his biggest goal at the moment is to write “positive comedy,” because it’s more a reflection of his satisfaction with how his career and life have evolved in recent years – and it also helps him stand out from the crowd.

“I realize I’ve got  to separate myself from this pack of sad, bearded white dude comedy,” he says. “I’m trying to make it something that’s more. Something that’s not just jokes. I’m a happy person and it’s disingenuous to go up there [and pretend I’m not].”

Whether positive or not, he stresses the importance of comedians evolving in their act. “I get upset when comedians don’t grow from one thing to the next,” he says.

4. Do More Than Just Make Audiences Laugh

At around the 40-minute mark, Kinane explains how he ultimately found his voice (read more on how to find your voice here) after a string of bad shows at a festival several years ago. Feeling he had blown his big opportunity, he returned to Los Angeles and wound up discovering a new approach to his material.

“I realized…I could do some real weird shit that I think is funny to me, but sounds sad to other people,” he says. “I realized how much more powerful it was for people to understand something as opposed to just laughing at the wording. Laughing at it because you relate is so much different.”

5. Love It Enough To Do It For Free – Forever

At around the 49-minute mark, Kinane talks about how he’s proud of everything he does as a comedian and adds that setting that standard is also a way of “guarding my own happiness.”

He admits to reading comments about himself from critics and other Internet commenters, but manages to not let them affect him too much.

“I read the criticism, but if I don’t think they’re right than I don’t worry about it,” he says.

And finally, he shares some words of wisdom for other comics that are just starting out and hoping to build a successful comedy career.

“Love it enough that you’ll do it for free forever,” he says. “You’re not going to make a living.”

READ THIS NEXT: 5 Things You Can Learn From Jim Norton

Chicago comedian Odinaka Ezeokoli asked in our Facebook group if I could elaborate on what I meant and what a startup business plan for a comedian would look like, so that’s what I’m going to do in this article.

Obviously, every comic has their own unique goals and a comedy career is different than launching a business, so the point isn’t to follow this word for word. But rather, it’s designed to give you a mindset that can help you sort through how grow your career.

Here’s a few basic elements of a startup business plan that I think can point you in the right direction with your career…

1. Figure Out Your Initial Investment

No business starts without some form of initial investment. That investment may not be financial (though some of it usually is), but in order to start anything you need to commit time, effort, resources, or money to the endeavor.

That seems obvious, but many comedians seem to think they should be able to build a comedy career without investing anything other than their time into it – and often times, not even much of that.

Almost every career or business requires a financial investment of some sort – whether it’s college, or hours as an unpaid intern, or attending a trade school, or even simply buying a computer or some type of equipment.

These are all “startup costs” you have to be willing to cover in order to succeed.

When you are building a comedy career you should think through what kind of initial investment you can commit to it – how much time and what kind of resources are you willing to invest in your success?

If the answer is “not much,” can you really expect to succeed?

2. Who’s On Your Board Of Directors?

A typical startup company will have a Board of Directors who help oversee the company. Even small companies that are founder-driven often have at least a couple people on the company’s “Board” – even if those people are just friends of the founder.

But in a startup environment, the members of the Board tend to be people that have something they can bring to the table to help the company succeed. That may include a financial investment in the company, but often times it’s just experience, advice, connections, or other resources that they can contribute to help the company.

I’m not suggesting you have a formal Board of Directors for your personal comedy career, but it is helpful to think about who you can get to be vested in your success. It might be a friend who produces a comedy show, another comedian who happens to own a camera and knows how to produce videos, a relative who understands social media marketing, or a more veteran comic who can mentor you.

Having a virtual “Board” for yourself can be a great asset in helping you move your career forward.

3. Do Market Research

If you opened a pizza restaurant, the first thing you would do (hopefully) is research all the other local pizza places around you. You’d want to know the ins and outs of what they do, why they succeed (or not), and who their customers are.

It’s cheesy (no pun intended), but that kind of knowledge really is power.

But most comedians do very little market research. You don’t have to do formal market research of course, but you should get out there and learn as much as you can about what other comics in your area (and nationally) are doing to build their career. What’s working, what’s not, and where are the opportunities.

You should also extend that to research the industry – if you don’t know every single show that exists in your local area and who the people are that run those shows, then you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage.

Do your homework – it will help.

4. Identify Your Customers

Another part of doing your research is to figure out who the audience is you’re hoping to reach. I’ve written a lot about finding your niche (and talked about it as well), but suffice it to say for now that it’s a huge help to have some idea who you are targeting with your comedy.

In addition to figuring out your niche and where those people can be found, you’ll also want to think about your overall goals and what you need in order to achieve them.

For example, if you’re interested in an acting or writing career, then your “customers” are more likely to be industry executives than general fans. But if you’re focused on a standup career, than growing a fanbase is more important than appealing to industry.

There’s no one way to build a career, but honing in on the customers you want will certainly help you get where you want to go faster.

5. Identify Your Competitive Advantage

If you launching a startup in a competitive field, you need to figure out what kind of advantage you have that will help you succeed. And comedy certainly is a business with plenty of competition.

As relates to your career, you want to think about what your competitive advantage could be – which typically means figuring out what is unique about you.

What makes you different, how do you stand out from the crowd, and what is it about your comedy voice that will grab and keep people’s attention. How will you get people to care?

In addition to that, consider what other competitive advantages you might have – what do you have access to that others may not? That could be resources, people, a location, expertise on a particular subject, or anything you have that most other comics may not.

Recognizing the advantages you have (as opposed to dwelling on your disadvantages) will help you figure out how to move things forward.

6. Reinvest In Your Business

You’ll notice most successful startup companies are quick to reinvest whatever profits they earn in order to grow their business. When they have initial success, they don’t celebrate and blow that revenue, they tend to reinvest it in things that help take their venture to the next level.

Essentially, they double down on their business and you’d be wise to do the same for your career.

As you start to have financial (or other) success, look for ways to reinvest in yourself.

Instead of blowing the money you earn from a big gig on something pointless, maybe use it to fund production of a web series, to build a better website, to pay for Facebook ads that will introduce you to new potential fans, or to cover costs of a tour that might lose money, but will get you in front of new audiences.

Think about how you can use success as a foundation for more success as opposed to trying to “cash out” as quickly as possible.

7. Know Your Exit Strategy

From the moment they launch, most startup companies have a plan of what type of business they’re trying to build and have an “exit strategy.”

For example, they might try to grow quickly and capture the attention of bigger investors who will acquire the company or they might dream of taking the company public. They might envision turning their business into a franchise and allowing other people to open versions of the business they’ve created, or they might set their sights on the business being a secondary revenue stream in addition to whatever else they’re doing with their life.

Put some thought into what your exit strategy will be. Are you hoping to build a “sustainable” business where you can support yourself through a direct relationship with a fanbase or are you more interested in getting “acquired” and hired as a writer or actor?

Knowing where you hope to end up from the beginning will help you get there. And so will a business plan…even if it’s just in your head.

READ THIS NEXT: What Does It Really Mean To Be In The Comedy Business?

We also dive deep into Facebook advertising techniques, custom audiences & remarketing, referral & event tracking in Google Analytics, targeted ads on Reddit, and managing a small pay-per-click budget to promote your content online.

Plus, we answer your questions about about multiple Instagram accounts, photo credits, the future of Vine, capturing e-mails at shows, and replying to and engaging with your fans.

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Have a question you’d like us to answer on the next episode? Submit it now through this form.

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If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes.

Links from this episode:

Academy Unveils “Oscars® Creators”
4 Things You Can Learn From Social Media “Stars”
Zach King
BatDad
The Morning Dump w/ Jordan Cooper
How I Got Facebook Fans And Website Traffic For A Comedian
Justin Matson
IFTTT – If This, Then That

I explained to him that writing was something he could pursue while also maintaining another job to pay the bills, that it didn’t have to be risky, and that I believe you should always follow your passions.

Then he asked a question that revealed what he was really worried about.

“But…how do I know if I’m good?”

It’s a question lots of comedians also struggle with, so I thought I’d share my answer with you.

First, that’s an impossible question to answer because I don’t believer you’re ever “good” or “not good.” Creative careers don’t ever have a single moment where you magically become good – instead you will go through a gradual process of improving and getting better.

Also, comedy is a subjective art – lots of people may think that Dane Cook is good, but lots of others may disagree. Comedy isn’t math – there is no definitive answer.

Since you’ll never really know if you’re good or not, it’s an unproductive question to ask yourself.

That said, if you really want an answer to the question I’ll give you one.

Unless you’ve been working at something for a long time (10,000 hours maybe?), you’re not “good” at it yet. That’s just the way things work.

In my conversation with the would-be writer, I asked him how many scripts he had finished writing and said that if that answer was less than 10, I could pretty much guarantee he wasn’t good yet.

It reminded me of something a literary agent told me years ago. When writers approached him looking for representation, the first thing he would ask them was how many screenplays they had written and if that answer was less than 10, he wouldn’t even read their script.

That’s because he knew if they hadn’t written a lot of scripts yet, they wouldn’t possibly be as good as they would be after they had put in the work to complete 10 scripts. He would tell them to go finish more scripts and then contact him.

While writing (and comedy) require some natural ability, they are also art forms where you will definitely get better as you put more time into your craft. No matter where you start, you’ll be better after writing 10 scripts or performing 100 times than you are after your first script or performance.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint – remember?

With that in mind, I told the would-be writer that rather than trying to figure out whether or not he was “good,” he would be better served to figure out if he was getting better.

He should focus his efforts on writing more screenplays and not worry about judging the quality of his initial work. Instead of trying to figure out if his third screenplay was good, he should concentrate on whether his sixth screenplay was better than his third.

That’s something that creators actually find relatively easy to judge – you might not be able to figure out if your work is good, but you probably have pretty accurate instincts when you compare it to your previous work.

And the more work you do, the better your work will get.

With the “Am I getting better?” mindset in place, I then suggested he think through the time and effort he was prepared to commit to chasing his dream. Again, no matter how talented you are, it takes a lot of time and hard work to build a creative career and I think it’s important to go into it with some idea of what you’re prepared to commit to making it happen.

I suggested he think about how many years he was willing to work on his writing or how many screenplays he was willing to write before seeing any real success. That number could fluctuate and he could always extend it, but setting an initial time frame would alleviate some of the inevitable pressure and frustration that can come with trying to “make it.”

And the question to ask himself during that time frame would be whether he was improving, not whether he was good. (Here’s some other ways to measure your career progress.)

For example, if he decides he’s willing to put in three years of work on his writing, then all he would have to worry about during that time was whether he was getting better. He would know he had decided to put in three years with no promise of anything coming out of it, and he could just focus on doing the work during that time.

It’s almost like going to college – you do it with the hope and assumption that something good will come of it, but you have no guarantee and you don’t expect to suddenly be qualified a year into the experience. You understand the benefits won’t come until you graduate…or later. Or, unfortunately, they might not come at all.

That’s just how it works.

At the end of the time frame you’ve set for yourself to get better, you can assess where you’re at and figure out if you’re still passionate about what you’re doing or if you feel like you’re making enough progress to continue. That will still be a tough decision for you at that time, but at least it will be one that hasn’t been hanging over your head on a daily basis until that point.

It also gives you a point where you can walk away knowing that you gave it a good shot and that you left on your own terms – or that you’re continuing to pursue your dream because you’ve seen enough progress in your career or your talent to warrant that you push on.

READ THIS NEXT: 4 Things Comedians Should Know About Agents

But first, a little backstory.

In my “day job” as the head of digital media for The Academy, I had the opportunity to put together a pretty unique stunt called the Oscars Creators as part of this year’s social campaign for the show. It was an initiative through which we invited seven talented social media artists from different platforms including Vine, Instagram, and Tumblr to come to Hollywood and share their perspective on all the Oscars activity.

It turned out to be a great program, and you can see some of the highlights here:

But it also gave me an opportunity to learn from these talented creators, see how they work, how they’ve built massive followings on social media, and learn how they created opportunities for themselves. While the Creators weren’t comedians (though some of their work is comedic) and each had different skill sets – filmmakers, photographers, artists, etc. – I noticed they all had some things in common that a lot of comics could learn from.

Here’s a breakdown of what I learned and how you can apply it to your own career…

 1. Be Professional

Every one of the Creators acted like a true professional. They showed up on time, ready to do their work, and they were reliable. In order for the Creators program to work, we had to give them access to very exclusive stuff like rehearsals and show talent and they had to work within parameters that included tight time windows and restrictions on what could or could not be revealed to the public before the show.

But I quickly learned that each of these Creators was trustworthy and dependable – they took their opportunities seriously and were always very professional. Even though they were doing fun (and sometimes silly) stuff like photographing a turtle or waking up on the red carpet, they treated their work like it was important (and it was).

I have no doubt that their professionalism is one of the reasons they have all been so successful – I know it made me want to work with them again and recommend them to others. Too often, comics don’t act as professionals and it definitely holds a lot of them back from succeeding.

2. Value Your Community

Another thing I noticed among all of the Creators was the degree to which they valued their community of fellow social media creators. To my surprise, several of them already knew each other from crossing paths prior to this Oscars project and they were all interested in getting to know each other and finding ways to work together.

They inherently understood the value of being part of a creative community – from both an inspirational and promotional standpoint. They wanted to connect, collaborate, and to find ways to work with each other. They clearly understood the value of connecting with each other and the ways that a community can help all of its members.

This reminded me of what I see as one of the biggest missed opportunities in the comedy world – not enough comics take advantage of their comedy community. Whether it be the community in your city, your local club, or other comedians you connect with online, there are opportunities to help each other, learn from each other, and get closer to accomplishing your goals together.

Too often, comics approach their career as a lone wolf and that only makes things harder. These Creators clearly have the opposite approach and I have no doubt it’s helped them grow their followings.

3. Have A Vision

While each of the Creators we worked with had their own unique talent, I was impressed with how clearly each of them had a vision for what they wanted to do. They knew their own art and were able to articulate their talent and how they approach their work.

For example, if a photographer was interested mainly in shooting portraits, he would decline opportunities to shoot landscapes or other stuff. It wasn’t that he couldn’t shoot landscapes or even that he didn’t ever shoot landscapes, it was that he chose to focus on what he was really passionate about doing.

And not only did they have preferences and a vision, but they had a commitment to what they were doing – in some cases even down to little things that the average follower might not ever even notice. For example, one Creator had a set pattern for the images he would post on Instagram – insisting that the colors in one image lead to the colors of the next image.

They were not artists making random decisions, they were talented creatives who each had a specific process for how they liked to work and their own vision for what they wanted to accomplish with their creations.

In the comedy world, too often comedians don’t really have any vision for what they’re trying to do or what they want to say. They just want to make people laugh. That’s fine, but ultimately I think you will be helped by honing in on having a message you’re trying to convey and a process through which you hope to do that.

And it’s a reminder that just because you have the opportunity to do something, it doesn’t mean that it’s the best use of your skills for your ultimate goals. Choose wisely with how you spend your time.

4. Set A High Standard For Yourself

Each one of the Creators I dealt with set a high standard of quality for their work. They didn’t just post every little thing they made, they cared a lot about putting out work they were proud of.

Every photo or video they released had to live up to a quality standard that they had set for themselves. And if they made some stuff that didn’t turn out quite as good as they had hoped, they wouldn’t post it.

When it comes to comedians, I often see them setting low standards for what they post online and reserving their quality control only for things they deem to be more important like the stage. But every thing you put out into the world is representative of you and the level of your work so it’s worth taking that into account before you click publish.

I’m all for experimenting, and I don’t think you should be afraid to try new things, but at the same time you want to use social media to share work that you’re proud of and avoid falling into the trap of posting things just for the sake of posting them.

Just because you have the ability to publish whatever you want, doesn’t mean that you should.

READ THIS NEXT: 7 Reasons The Stuff You Post On Social Media Should Also Be On Your Website

It’s a great conversation and you can listen to the full episode here or read up on some of the highlights below.

1. Aggressively Pursue Opportunities Because You Never Know Where They Might Come From

At around the 29-minute mark, Daniels talks about how she landed her first job out of college – an amazing opportunity to become Lorne Michaels’ assistant on Saturday Night Live. She did it by being extremely aggressive in tracking down any opportunities she could find, which led to a surprising bit of luck.

“There was nobody I didn’t ask to try to get an introduction to somebody in the television business, because I didn’t really have any connections,” Daniels says. “There was no stone unturned, nobody I wouldn’t harass.”

She goes on to explain that she was in a restaurant in New York and overheard two people having a conversation about a television production. She approached them, apologized for interrupting, explained that she was looking to break into the business and asked if there was any chance they needed a production assistant.

They didn’t have any open positions, but eventually she got connected to somebody who worked in TV news for a “general meeting.” She bombed that meeting because she wasn’t really thinking of it as an interview – it was clear to the person meeting with her that she was interested in entertainment TV and not news. That taught her another lesson:

“You have to treat every meeting like it could be a potential interview,” she says.

But Daniels got a little lucky – the guy she was meeting with picked up on her enthusiasm for entertainment and happened to know that Lorne Michaels was looking for an assistant. He offered to pass along her resume, which led to an interview with Lorne and ultimately she got the job and an incredible launching pad for her career.

2. Attention To Detail Pays Off

At around the 35-minute mark, Daniels talks about what she learned from her time working with Lorne Michaels on Saturday Night Live, and later on movies like Wayne’s World.

“My biggest takeaway from Lorne was that attention to detail is important,” she says.

She goes on to explain how Lorne would make a million changes to sketches on Saturday Night Live and often times they seemed to be extremely minor – he’d suggest a character wear a different kind of hat, he’d slightly reposition a camera angle, he’d make tons of tweaks that might seem too small to impact anything. But in the end, they made a huge difference.

“All of his changes would enhance the sketch,” she says. “The sketch was ALWAYS better.”

3. Be Loyal

At around the 40-minute mark, Daniels shares another major lesson she learned from Lorne Michaels – the importance of being loyal to the people you work with and who work for you. She describes him as being “extremely loyal” to the people that work for him and “very respectful” of them and their work.

She credits that for a lot of the success and stability of his projects. “He’s created a work family,” she says.

4. Look To Create Things That Aren’t Already Being Done

At around the 68-minute mark, Daniels talks about how she decides what kinds of shows she wants to develop for a network. While most people obviously won’t have the opportunity to determine a network’s programming, it’s helpful advice that can be applied to anything you create – and also might come in handy if at some point you do try to pitch a network a television show.

“Something I think about a lot is, what is a point of view that is not reflected on television already?” says Daniels.

She goes on to explain that she will rarely ever consider something like a cop show because that’s been done already and is done all the time. She looks for unique, new ideas, and concepts that aren’t already being done by others.

5. Follow Your Passion And Work Hard

At around the 95-minute mark, Daniels sums up her advice for anybody hoping to have a career in entertainment or break into the industry.

“Follow your passion. Go for it. Go for what you want,” she says. “It’s hard work, it’s work to break in. Have a work ethic. Bring ideas to the table that are your ideas in whatever environment you’re in. If you want to act, start acting – make videos, become a Vine star, get yourself out there on YouTube. If you want to write, start writing – write a lot of spec scripts, write different kinds of spec scripts, don’t be precious about it. Do what you want to do and know that hard work comes with it.”

READ THIS NEXT: 5 Things You Can Learn From Saturday Night Live’s Youngest Writer

Plus, we take questions involving marketing a humor book, connecting with comedy bookers by providing value and repurposing your online content for multiple platforms.

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Have a question you’d like us to answer on the next episode? Submit it now through this form.

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group.

If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes.

Links from this episode:

Ben Rosenfeld
Russian Optimism
The Morning Dump w/ Jordan Cooper
One Is Greater Than Zero
@CuriousBigDaddy on Twitter
Medium
@CrankyRicky on Twitter
Why Your Obsession With Getting Booked Is Actually Hurting Your Career
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook – Gary Vaynerchuk
The #AskGaryVee Show
Gary Vaynerchuk on Twitter
How To Pitch Your Content To Other Websites

There’s no one size fits all answer to that question, but there are definitely some strategies that can increase the chances other sites will share your stuff with their audiences. Here’s an overview of some things you’ll want to keep in mind and some tactics you can try…

You Have To Make Something Good

This should go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway because it’s really the most important thing. If you don’t create something good in the first place, it doesn’t matter how many strategies you use because nobody is going to share something that’s not good with their audience.

Making something good is a prerequisite – it’s not optional.

Now, assuming you’ve created something good, let’s move on to how you can approach websites to get them to share your stuff…

Go After The Right Audience

The first thing you need to do is identify the right targets. Think about what your content is about and which audiences are most likely to enjoy it, then find sites that cater to those audiences.

For example, if your video is about being a parent, then find popular parenting blogs. Or if your podcast is about life in Chicago, then reach out to local blogs about Chicago.

If you do a funny show about life in Chicago, don’t bother pitching it to a national comedy blog because the majority of their audience isn’t going to care about what’s happening in Chicago.

The more the audience of the websites you target matches the topic of your content, the more likely they will be to share your stuff.

Understand What’s Actually Best For You

It’s easy to get confused about what your actual goal is when you approach a website to share your newest creation. Most people tend to focus on that single piece of content and getting it featured on other sites – but that’s short term thinking.

You’re always better served thinking about the long term. In this case, that means what you really want is to develop a relationship with other sites that can last beyond just the single posting of that single piece of content.

There’s lots of different ways to build relationships and I’ll go into some of them later in this article, but for now just recognize that what ultimately will benefit you most is a relationship with these sites and not just a one-off favor.

Become A Part Of Their Community

Rather than just Googling some sites and blind-emailing them to ask that they share your stuff, you’ll be better served to become a part of their communities first.

Comment on their posts, share their articles on social media, interact with them on Twitter or Facebook – all BEFORE you ever actually pitch them your own content.

Doing this will get them familiar with you and who you are so that when you eventually reach out to them, they will already recognize you as a fan and active member of their community. They’ll be predisposed to think better of you and more likely to help you out.

The other benefit of this is that you wind up learning more about the sites you hope to pitch, you’ll understand their community, what kind of content they share and how best to position what you’ve created to fit their interests.

Offer To Help THEM Instead Of Asking Them To Help YOU

This may seem counterintuitive, but it works – and it’s also helpful for people who are uncomfortable promoting themselves.

Instead of emailing the people who run a website and asking them to share your new content, offer to create some content for them for free. You can let them know you’re a fan of their site and that you’d be willing to write some guest posts or make some videos for them if they’re interested.

Every website struggles to churn out content on a constant basis and many of them will be open to having somebody else contribute content for them (again, as long as it’s good).

And remember, what you’re really after is exposure to their audience – it shouldn’t matter whether the video you make lives on your YouTube channel or theirs, or whether the post you write lives on your website or theirs. As long as you get credit for it and a link where people can learn more about who you are, it’s valuable.

The other thing this does is start to form a relationship for you with the site which goes back to the initial goal of thinking bigger than just exposure for a single piece of content you created.

Offer To Give THEM Attention Instead Of Asking For Attention

Here’s another trick that almost always works. Instead of asking them to write about you and share your content, ask the people that run the website if you can interview them and tell your audience about them and their site.

No matter how small your own audience may be, just about anybody will be flattered that you want to interview them and will likely say yes.

Remember – they want attention for their creations every bit as much as you want attention for yours.

When they agree to be interviewed, this does a couple things. It starts a relationship for you with them that can potentially make them more likely to feature your content on their site down the road. And when you post the interview with them on your website or YouTube channel, they will most likely share a link to it with their audience.

So basically, you’ve managed to get them to drive their audience into your world without even having to ask them to.

The other great thing about this strategy is that you can easily scale it. For example, if you want a bunch of punk music blogs to tell their audiences about you then you could set up a series of Punk Music Blogger interviews and reach out to all those blogs to interview them.

It gives you an easy excuse to reach out and build relationships with all of them, with each then likely linking to your interview with them.

Ask Like A Real Person

Whether you choose to try any of the above strategies or just want to simply reach out and ask a site to share a single thing you’ve created, make sure that you ask like a regular person and not try to be overly formal.

Just email the person that runs the site, tell them you’re a fan of their site (which you should be since you hopefully have been reading it for a while before you reach out), explain who you are, and send them the content you think they (and, more importantly, their audience) will like.

Don’t try to make yourself sound like some kind of comedy superstar, don’t pretend to be a publicist, don’t act like your video is going viral when it isn’t, just be a regular person.

Or at least as close to a regular person as you’re capable of being.

And if they actually post it? Don’t forget to say thanks and share the link on all your social channels.

Good luck!

READ THIS NEXT: 5 Free Ways To Get More People To See Your Facebook Posts

In a recent appearance on The Champs podcast, he talked about how he got started on Vine, what he did before Vine that helped prepare him for success, and even broke down how he makes money from 6-second videos.

You can listen to the full episode here, or read up on some of the highlights below.

1. Overnight Success Is A Long Time In The Making

There’s a misconception that when stars emerge on a new platform like Vine that those people became instant sensations. But usually, those people have actually been developing their skills long before those platforms even formed.

At around the 7-minute mark, King Bach reveals that was the case for him. His original plan was “to be the biggest movie star ever created,” so he had gone to film school, experimented with YouTube videos, and put in a lot of time learning how to act and perform comedy.

One specific experience that turned out to be perfect training for his Vine work in retrospect was a college sketch group he was a part of called “30 in 60.” The concept was that they performed 30 sketches in 60 minutes, which basically taught him how to create quick jokes and premises.

2. You Have To Create Your Own Opportunities

At around the 29-minute mark, King Bach explains what led him to start putting content online in the first place – he saw YouTube as a place where he could get seen.

“I did it to show directors, producers, and casting directors that I could act because I couldn’t get any auditions,” he says.

3. Don’t Quit, But Be Willing To Adapt

At around the 49-minute mark, King Bach talks about how he made the transition from YouTube to Vine. He only joined Vine in May of last year, but had been posting videos to YouTube since 2008.

The transition was prompted by a realization – he was getting about 10,000 views max on his YouTube videos and spending as much as $3,000 per video he produced.

But on Vine, he realized he could just shoot the videos with his phone bringing his costs down and increasing the volume he was able to produce.

4. You Can Make A Living From Vine…

At around the 41-minute mark, he breaks down some of the economics of how he’s monetizing his Vine account. He says he’s able to make a good living off Vine primarily by incorporating product placement into his videos.

But he points out that the key is to not make it feel like an ad. “I don’t make it look like an ad – I just put a hashtag on it,” he says.

Since there’s no traditional advertising on Vine, King Bach doesn’t get paid anything for just getting views on his videos, though he is able to collect advertising money from when they get illegally uploaded to YouTube on other people’s channels where ads do run against them.

5. …But It Takes A Big Audience To Do So

At around the 46-minute mark, King Bach shares some of the economics of his Vine videos and reveals that he’s making a lot more than just “a living” from them. He says he’s getting paid between $30,000-$60,000 for each 6-second video that includes a brand or product placement in it.

Those are big numbers, but keep in mind he’s got more than 10 million followers at this point. He says that agencies started contacting him with opportunities once he had 3 million followers, but at this point he mostly deals directly with the brands themselves when it comes to product placement.

READ THIS NEXT: How To Decide Where To Post Your Comedy Videos

In addition, Jordan shares what he’s learned the past year doing three different weekly podcasts, developing content as a proof of concept for something bigger, and we answer listener-submitted questions on reaching college markets without NACA, press releases & getting coverage for yourself and the prospects of “making it” just doing live stand-up performances.

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Have a question you’d like us to answer on the next episode? Submit it now through this form.

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group.

If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes.

Links from this episode:

Google Analytics – Web Analytics & Reporting

Blenderhead Podcast

Tech Douchebags – 5by5

Internet Outrage Machine – 5by5

Transmission – Goodstuff FM

Tony Deyo – YouTube

How Do You Bend An iPhone?

Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator

Comedian asks: ‘Do you want to laugh at the crippled girl?’

What I Learned From The Book Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Help A Reporter Out

PewDiePie – YouTube

The 20 Most Popular Connected Comedy Articles Of 2014

Below is a breakdown of the 20 most-read posts on the site last year with some brief excerpts of each.

And if that’s not enough to keep you busy, go ahead and check out what were my most popular posts in 2012 and 2011.

20. Case Study: How I Got Facebook Fans And Website Traffic For A Comedian

In determining who to target, you always want to go as specific as possible – the more specific you get, the better the ad will perform. Also, you want to think about what the content is about as opposed to what you (or your website) are about.

19. 5 Things You Can Learn From B.J. Novak’s Appearance On The Nerdist Podcast

“That’s what makes the difference,” he said. “One guy after another kills on stage, but with most of them you don’t feel like you need to know who they are.”

18. 5 Things You Can Learn From Canada’s Biggest Comedy Club Owner

“Don’t hang out with other comics,” he says. “Go to the theater, art galleries, music. [An original voice] doesn’t come from watching comics and imitating them.”

17. 5 Things You Can Learn From Jim Norton

“George Carlin had anger, but look how silly a lot of his delivery was. He let his words talk for him and let the audience come with him…or not. He led them with logic instead of doing the emotional work for them.”

16. 7 Simple Ways To Get More Out Of Twitter

It’s a good idea to post important tweets multiple times during the day/week to ensure that more people see it. Stats have proven you’ll get just as many clicks/interactions the second or third time as you do the first and sometimes more.

15. How To Use A “One-Action” Strategy To Activate Your Audience

What you’ve likely lost sight of in the midst of your hustle is that multitasking is a myth. In reality, people don’t take multiple actions at once, they take one single action at a time.

14. 7 Things You Should Know About The Houston Comedy Scene

The crowds range from extremely diverse to extremely homogenous depending on what side of town you’re on. Houston’s strongest comics tailor their material, with minor tweaks, to work in front of whatever audience they’re performing for that night.

13. 7 Things You Can Learn From Dave Foley Of Kids In The Hall

“The audience has to understand the logic of the joke and if you can’t convey that logic in a concise way, it’s not going to work. You must understand that the people hearing the joke are not in your head – they don’t know your back story to your joke. Their entire universe exists from what you write down and if you don’t have the information in the joke, no one is going to get it.”

12. 5 Things You Can Learn About Comedy Promotion From Steve Hofstetter

“If you do something you wouldn’t have done, because of the money, you’re a sellout. If you take money for doing what you love already, you’re just selling. You’re not selling out,” he says.

11. 5 Things You Can Learn From The Colbert Report’s Head Writer

He explains that a comedy career isn’t like becoming a doctor where you study pre-med, go to medical school and follow a clear path. Because there is no clear path to it, he suggests that you have to be willing to work hard and try everything you can to put yourself into a position where you can get opportunities.

10. The Best Audience For An Unknown Comedian To Connect With

It’s one thing to be funny, it’s another to be interesting. Funny is the minimum, but the way to really connect with people on a more long-term level is for them to become interested in you. There’s no one way to do that, but if you think about it, most comedians that build large, passionate, fanbases have done so with more than just their ability to make people laugh.

9. 5 Things You Can Learn From Adam Carolla On The Solopreneur Hour Podcast

Carolla explains that early on in his career he realized he was not going to be the kind of person who was going to just nail an audition and land a gig. He realized nobody trusted him or thought he was anything special. Taking that into account, he decided early on that if he was going to succeed, he was going to have to create his own vehicle.

8. 7 Things You Can Learn From Manager/Producer Barry Katz

“There’s no way you can’t make money in this business if you get up every morning at six and work till two on your craft and do everything in your power to,” he says. “The only way you can’t make it is if you’re self destructive, doing drugs; if you’re lazy, if you have a sense of entitlement, or if you’re mean or disingenuous.”

7. How 5 Successful Comedians Used Their Websites Before They Got Famous

With a little help from the Internet Archive, I thought I’d go back in time and show you some of the things that today’s biggest comics were doing years ago – when both their fanbases and the Internet audience as a whole was a fraction of what it is today. It’s a good reminder that success online doesn’t happen overnight and that most comics who have made it were putting in work years before you may have realized it.

6. 7 Things You Should Know About The New York Comedy Scene

New York is a very safe place to fail. You can do all manner of crazy stuff here. If it works, everyone thinks you’re wonderful. If it doesn’t, no one cares and it’ll be forgotten about next week. So swing for the fences.

5. 10 Lessons From A Comedian’s First 500 Days In Los Angeles

Sure, open mics are great, especially when you’re starting out, but I think it’s important to make sure you’re getting what you want out of these nightly segments. Think about what you can do with that four-hour stretch rather than just conforming to this idea that “more open mics = better comedian.”

4. 5 Things You Can Learn From Gabriel Iglesias

Early on he also made a conscious decision to maintain a consistent look – in his case it involved shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. He explains that it’s tough enough for people to remember specific comics in general, but comics who constantly change their look only make it harder on themselves.

3. 10 Things You Should Know About The San Francisco Comedy Scene

The audition process starts with the Sunday Showcase at the Punch Line. You purchase a punch card, show up for a year, and then get your chance to do five minutes. If that goes well, you get back up in three to six months, eventually graduating to off-night Cobb’s showcases and an audition if all goes according to plan. If you pass your audition, you’re added to the rotation of openers, which currently numbers around 70.

2. 5 Things You Can Learn From Comedy Central’s Head Of Talent

Larsen explains that advertising sales are ultimately what runs a TV network and that “controversy is not a good thing to sell advertising.” This means if you want to get on TV, being unnecessarily blue or racy will hurt your chances. He also discusses the importance of continuing to create new things even after you get a break or some exposure. He hates having an opportunity spring up for a person, only to have them not prepared to go with new material from the last time they got their shot.

1. Louis CK and Doug Stanhope Discuss Being A Healthy Comedian On A 2005 Message Board

I don’t mean looks, I don’t
 mean weight.  I maintain a pretty good belly.   I just mean getting
 yourself ready, steeling yourself, improving your abilities and 
strengths as a person. Given the odds of making it as a comedian, I am amazed at how little 
effort so many comedians make, while complaining bitterly about their 
lack of breaks.  I mean, you should be thinking like an olympic athlete 
but you think like dorito-eating high school brats, doing nothing and
 expecting everything.

Thanks again for making this a great year for Connected Comedy – can’t wait to see what comes in 2015!

I’ve gained a few new particularly influential followers of my personal Twitter account in the past couple weeks and thought I’d share how that happened. It’s a simple tactic that can be done by anybody and while it doesn’t work 100% of the time, it works often enough to make an impact on your Twitter success.

It’s a ridiculously simple two step process:

Step 1: Every time you come across something interesting, tweet a link to it or reference it in a tweet and recommend it to your followers.

Step 2: Look to see if the person who created it has a Twitter account, and reference their account name in the tweet you post, giving them credit for what they created.

That’s it. I know it seems obvious, but it’s amazing how few people actually do this and it really works.

What winds up happening when you do this is that the person you tagged in the tweet inevitably gets a notification when you’ve mentioned their name and it leads them to check out your tweet and your account.

Because you’ve sent some attention their way, they will likely be appreciative and usually will either favorite your tweet (good for you), reply to your tweet (better for you), retweet it (even better for you), or follow you (the best for you in the long term).

This can be a powerful tool not only because it can attract attention from more people to your tweets, but also because it allows you to target specific influential people who you might want to know that you exist.

For example, if there’s a booker, or journalist, or YouTube star that you want to be aware of you then look for opportunities to share things they’ve created and tag them in the tweets.

Here’s a few examples of tweets I’ve recently posted where I did this and what came of them.

Example 1: Drew Curtis and Fark

After listening to a recent episode of the James Altucher podcast in which he interviewed Fark founder Drew Curtis, I posted the following tweet.

Some great thoughts from @drewcurtis about the Internet, business, & the business of the Internet http://t.co/j8feqn3hwl

— Josh Spector (@jspector) December 22, 2014

Sure enough, Drew Curtis saw the tweet and retweeted it to his 12,000 followers. On top of that, the Fark account (with 25,000 followers!) also retweeted and favorited the tweet. Fark also followed me, which was great considering they only follow about 700 people at this point and hypothetically have the opportunity to share future things I post with a lot of people.

This reminds me of one more suggestion related to this. As a general rule, you’re better off tagging the individual author of an article as opposed to the publication because that person is more likely to see it than the overall publication.

For example, if you share a Buzzfeed article you’ll want to find the Twitter account of the author of that article instead of (or in addition to) just tagging @Buzzfeed.

Example 2: Gary Vaynerchuk

After reading an interesting blog post from Gary Vaynerchuk, I decided to share a link to it and reference Gary in the tweet. Here’s what I posted:

"I collect people." A smart take on business aspirations from @garyvee http://t.co/HrXkf5Q9fZ

— Josh Spector (@jspector) December 10, 2014

Sure enough, Gary wound up seeing that I had mentioned him, replied to my tweet and followed me. He’s following about 7,000 people, but I’m still honored to be in the mix and be followed by a guy with over a million followers and one of the leading voices in the world when it comes to digital marketing.

Example 3: Four Bands

I wrote a simple post on my blog highlighting a few songs from newer bands that I had recently discovered and decided to tag the bands when I shared a link to the post on Twitter. Here’s the tweet:

5 Songs I’ve Been Listening To Lately – @TheHunts @EdTangMusic @AndrewMcMahon @fieldreport http://t.co/gIXG0mEe6O

— Josh Spector (@jspector) November 3, 2014

Sure enough, three of the bands favorited the tweet, one retweeted it, and one of them followed me.

The Point Is…

While these three examples are certainly random and they’re not the kind of thing that is suddenly going to catapult your career, the point is that there are really easy opportunities to get people’s attention and start building connections that can directly add value to whatever you’re trying to do.

The next time you come across something interesting in your travels, take a moment to share it on Twitter and take another moment to tag the person who created it in your tweet. Do that consistently and you’ll be surprised at what can happen.

And if you want to try it out, why not go ahead and tweet this article and tag me?

All the comedian would have to do is cover the costs of a Facebook ad – as much or as little as they wanted to spend – and I’d lend my expertise for free as long as they were ok with me sharing how I did it and the results with other Connected Comedy readers.

I was happy to see there was lots of interest in my offer, and ultimately I chose to work with Chicago comedian Kyle Scanlan who wanted to promote his humor site The Whiskey Journal. (For those of you I didn’t choose, I’m likely to do this again so you’ll have another chance.)

Kyle had $50 to spend on the Facebook ads and didn’t have a specific goal beyond getting more attention for the site, so I decided to split the budget amongst two goals.

I’d spend half of it on an ad designed to get more fans for his site’s Facebook page, and the other half of it to drive traffic to a specific article on the site.

Here’s a breakdown of how I approached it and what happened (Spoiler Alert: It was VERY successful).

Please note that below I focus on the strategy behind running Facebook ads and not the nuts and bolts of how to technically set them up and run them – you can learn about that here.

Ad #1: How To Get More Facebook Fans

The first ad I set up was designed to get new fans for the Whiskey Journal Facebook page.

It can be challenging to get fans for a Facebook page – especially when it’s for a broad site like the Whiskey Journal, where the topics covered are really all over the place.

It was additionally challenging in this case because the name of the site doesn’t really convey what it is, and in fact can be misleading. If somebody sees a site called The Whiskey Journal in their feed, they don’t immediately think it’s a comedy site – they’re more likely to think it has something to do with liquor.

Regardless, we weren’t about to change the site’s name so I turned my attention to how best to play the hand I was dealt.

In creating a Facebook ad strategy, there’s really two key components to consider – who you’re going to target and what you’re going to target them with.

Step 1: Choosing Who To Target

I noticed that the page already had a couple thousand fans which was a great start and something that could be leveraged in the Facebook ad targeting. Also, even though the site’s content is pretty broad, there was still an underlying niche in that its tone was similar to some really popular news parody sites like The Onion.

I also assumed based on the content and its writers, that men might be more likely to enjoy the site than women so I figured I could focus the ad that way as well.

One other thing I always do when I run ads is have them run only in people’s news feed – by default Facebook runs ads in the news feed AND on the right sidebar of pages. But I personally believe that nobody pays attention to the sidebar and those ads are a waste of money, so I uncheck that box to ensure that my ads only run in the news feed itself.

So based on these thoughts, here’s the targeting I came up with for the ad:

This means that the only people who would ever see my ad would be people who I believe are most likely to actually like the page – they would be friends of people who already like the page, they would be men, they would be people who already like or talk about The Onion, and I’d only pay for ads that appeared in their news feed, where’s they’re most likely to notice them.

Step 2: Choosing The Ad Creative

With my targeting in mind, I then thought through what the ad should look like and say.

While you have somewhat limited options, there’s actually a lot you can control including the caption and image that runs with the Page name (which you can’t change when promoting a page).

Keeping my targeting in mind, I wanted to create something with an image that would grab people’s attention (they have to notice your post in order to even have a chance of getting them to like it) and convey something funny, combined with a caption that helped amplify what I thought were the key selling points of my targeting.

Here’s what I came up with:

You’ll notice that the image I chose (one which I found on a post on the site) is a joke in itself. My hope was that people would notice it, get a laugh, and that would encourage them to at least check the page out. And maybe some people might even hit the “Like Page” button thinking they were just liking the image – an honest mistake that could also get us some extra new fans.

I always try to keep captions as simple as possible – less is more.

In this case, I knew that most people seeing this ad will never have heard of The Whiskey Journal before, but I knew that because of my targeting they will be people whose friends already like the page. So, I tried to use that to my advantage – providing some social proof (your friend likes it, so it must be decent) as well as inspiring curiosity (don’t you want to know why your friend likes this thing you’ve never heard of?).

The resulting caption line I came up with – “Your friend thinks we’re funny. Like our page to find out why.” – accomplishes both of those things in as simple a way as possible.

The Results

So, how did it work? It wasn’t the most amazing performance I’ve ever had with an ad, but overall I was pretty happy with the results considering the inherent challenges in the title of the page and promoting a page for a website few people were familiar with.

Here’s the breakdown of how it performed:

$24.89 spent

2,442 people reached (this is the number of people who saw it in their news feed)

54 clicks (that represents a 1.7% clickthru rate)

42 Page Likes (this means it generated 42 new fans for the page)

59 cents cost per new fan

So basically, for $25, I got Kyle 42 new Facebook fans. Ultimately, it’s up to you/him to determine whether or not that was worth the spend, but personally I think that’s a solid, if not spectacular, performance.

Speaking of spectacular…let’s move on to the second ad I ran for Kyle.

Ad #2: How To Get More Website Traffic

The second ad I ran was designed to get people to visit the Whiskey Journal website who had never seen it before. Since I only had a $25 budget to work with, I decided to focus my efforts on a single ad leading to a single piece of content on the site.

Kyle didn’t have any specific post he wanted me to promote, so it was up to me to choose whatever I thought would work best. I surfed around the site looking for a post that I thought was not only funny, but would also appeal to a very specific (and targetable) audience.

I came across this article about Derrick Rose that I thought would be a great fit because it not only was funny and likely to appeal to a very specific (and easily targetable) audience, but it even was somewhat topical and controversial. I could see how it might be the kind of thing that people who are frustrated with Rose would want to share and people who are Rose defenders would want to comment on in disagreement.

Remember, there’s value to content that causes a reaction – even if that reaction isn’t necessarily agreement.

Step 1: Choosing Who To Target

After choosing the content I wanted to promote with the ad, I started to think through the audience I wanted to target with it. Since I chose a piece of content that led itself to a somewhat obvious audience, this was easier than determining the targeting for the more generic ad I previously ran for Facebook fans.

As a side note, it should almost always be easier for you to come up with specific targeting for a specific piece of content than it is for an entire website because each piece of content is usually about one specific thing as opposed to a website which may be more all over the map.

In determining who to target, you always want to go as specific as possible – the more specific you get, the better the ad will perform. Also, you want to think about what the content is about as opposed to what you (or your website) are about.

For example, even though Whiskey Journal is a comedy site, this article is about a sports figure – so instead of targeting comedy fans, I’d do better to target sports fans.

This may seem obvious when you think about it, but it’s a huge mistake that most comedians make when running Facebook ads – they think because they’re doing funny stuff that the only people interested in it will be people who are into comedy. You’ll have more success if you focus on the topic of the content, as opposed to comedy in general.

Another place where a lot of people would go wrong with targeting is they might just target people who like sports and be done with it. But again, you want to go as niche as possible and in this case Derrick Rose is a big enough star that I was able to target people who are specifically fans of his.

I even took it a step further by limiting it to men, and limiting it to people who live in Chicago – figuring that those would be hardcore Bulls fans with strong opinions on Derrick Rose.

Again, my goal was to drill down as specifically as possible to increase the chances that the people who saw my ad would be interested in it.

Here’s the targeting I settled on:

Step 2: Choosing The Ad Creative

The next step was to figure out what I wanted the ad to look like – again keeping in mind who I was targeting and trying to make it as compelling as possible to that audience to drive clicks.

Typically, people just paste in the link to their article and run the ad with whatever image, headline, and description happens to get auto-pulled from the site. That’s a huge mistake and a missed opportunity.

Each of those elements can (and should) be edited to match the people you’re targeting and the goals.

For example, here’s how the link to this article would show up on Facebook by default:

This was ok, but I thought I could do better. Here’s what I created instead:

I changed the headline to something simpler that teased the article and made people curious to see what Rose had said.

It’s a little clickbait-y, but I’m trying to get clicks so that’s not a bad thing. Also, I wrote a short, simple headline that I thought would appeal to people who are frustrated with Rose (they were more likely to enjoy an article parodying him than people who are his fans).

The original headline also kind of functioned as a joke on its own, where my revised headline played more like the setup, with the joke being delivered on the page itself.

I also swapped out the photo with what I thought was a more compelling image I found on Google images. In general, close-up shots of people’s faces perform better than full body shots and I thought the face Rose is making in this image, when combined with the headline, was more attention grabbing than the more generic image of Rose on the court.

These are minor details, but they can make a difference.

Finally, I changed the description and caption to speak to the reader in a conversational tone as opposed to just auto-pulling the first few words of the article. As you can see, that’s a whole different tone and in my opinion makes it much more compelling.

Also, running it as an ad allowed me to add that “Learn More” button which gives an additional call to action to drive clicks. [FYI, I chose the Learn More button from a few pre-set options Facebook provides, it’s not the best language but it was the closest one that fit in this case.]

The Results

This ad wound up performing as good as any ad I’ve ever created. In fact, I’m not sure it’s even possible to have an ad do any better.

Here’s the breakdown of how it performed:

$26 spent

40,043 people reached

4,379 clicks to the website

13.5% clickthru rate (this is insanely high by the way)

1 cent cost per click

That’s right, this ad drove a targeted audience (Derrick Rose fans) to the Whiskey Journal’s Derrick Rose article at a cost of just a penny per click!

The post also generated 65 Likes and 31 shares from the people who saw the ad.

Now, I should mention that not everybody loved the post and some people found it misleading because they clicked expecting it to be a legitimate news story and not an Onion-style parody.

That led to some negative comments on the post pointing out that it was fake, and some other negative comments from people who didn’t get the joke and were mad at the press for ripping Derrick Rose (which is funny in a whole other way).

You can see all the comments on the post here.

But, there were lots of people who did get the joke and found it hilarious – they commented about that, they shared the post, and in some cases left comments calling other commenters dumb for not getting the joke.

Remember – it’s ok if not everybody likes what you do. In fact, they probably shouldn’t.

The “controversy’ of the post actually helped the post do well – remember, even a negative comment counts as engagement in Facebook’s eyes and therefore increases the chances it will show the post to more people.

The goal was to get noticed and to attract some new readers to The Whiskey Journal and this ad did just that.

If 50% of the people that clicked didn’t like what they saw, that doesn’t matter – what matters is the 50% of the people that did like it.

Any Questions?

Ultimately, every ad campaign is different because every person’s goals are different and so is the content they’re trying to promote. But hopefully, this example has helped you see how I think through what to do when I run Facebook ads and you can apply some of that thinking to your own efforts.

I should also add that this was just a small test with a small budget – in general, I always recommend testing different combinations of ads and the more you test, the more you can learn what works best.

These ads worked really well, but could they have been better with different images? With different headlines? With different targeting? Maybe.

That’s why Facebook ads are an ongoing challenge – no matter how great you do, there’s always that chance you could do better.

If you’ve got any questions about any of this or want some advice about promoting your own stuff with Facebook ads, post a comment below or tweet me.

Is that hampering your ability to grow and leverage a fanbase? Definitely.

If you’re trying to build an audience for something these days the chances are that you’re making a lot of requests (or “offers” to use a gentler term) to your existing or potential fans. You ask them to watch your videos, share your social media posts, join your email list, buy tickets to your show, listen to your podcast, and god knows how many other things that will help further your career.

But what you’ve likely lost sight of in the midst of your hustle is that multitasking is a myth. In reality, people don’t take multiple actions at once, they take one single action at a time.

And that’s why I think you’ll find a lot more success – short term and long term – if you focus on a single action that you want people to take in every situation where they encounter you and your work.

What Is A “One Action” Strategy?

My definition of a One Action Strategy is that in any scenario in which people encounter your content, there is a single, specific action that you want them to take.

You may make multiple actions available for them to take (though it’s possible you’ll see better results if you limit their options), but you hone in on the single action you most want them to take and devise a strategy to increase the likelihood that they’ll do so.

You can can have different actions for different scenarios – for example, the “one action” you might want people to take after watching your videos is to subscribe to your YouTube channel, but the action you might want people to take when they see you perform live might be to join your email lists – but focusing on a single “ask” for each situation and developing a strategy designed specifically to match the single action you want people to take will drastically increase your success rate.

That’s because it simplifies the process for people, focuses your own promotional efforts, and matches the way people act – they can only do one thing at a time so why ask them to do more?

Why It Works

The biggest reason why the One Action Strategy works is because it simplifies things for both the audience and yourself.

Your audience won’t get lost in a multitude of asks and you’ll essentially make it easier for them to support you. Also, they won’t feel assaulted with asks (Share my video! Retweet it! Subscribe! Watch another!), which will make them more likely to actually do the one thing you ask them to do.

Also, the mere process of forcing yourself to choose only a single action to ask people to take will lead you to really think through what actions will be most valuable to you. This essentially forces you to act more strategically and protects you from yourself – you’re no longer just throwing stuff at the wall and hoping something sticks. It’s a way to force yourself into setting a clear goal and messaging that goal.

That leads to the other reason why this strategy works – it gives you a clear and simple way to measure success. Once you focus on a single action that you want people to take it becomes very easy to measure the success of both your content and your calls to action.

And as I’ve said before, you can’t improve anything you can’t measure.

How To Choose The Right Action For The Right Situation

Ready to give this One Action Strategy a chance? There’s three things you’ll need to think through in order to figure out what actions you want to ask people to take.

First, you have to know your goals. There’s lots of different actions people can take after seeing your content and all of them provide different kinds of value. So the first thing you want to take is think through your personal goals and then let those guide the actions you want people to take.

For example, if you posted a video of yourself performing standup on YouTube there’s a few different ways you might want to go. If your goal was to get more people to come to your shows, then the action you might want people who watch the video to take could be to email you and get on your guest list. But if your goal is to build a bigger following for your YouTube channel because you plan to post a lot more videos, then the action you might want to encourage could be subscribing to your channel or sharing the video.

There’s no right or wrong action to focus on, it all depends on your goals. You just want to make sure that the action you choose to emphasize will actually benefit the goals you’re pursuing.

The second step to figure out what One Action to emphasize is to understand the value of the action you want people to take.

Not all actions provide the same level of value. For example, somebody buying tickets to your show might be more valuable than them following you on Twitter. But them following you on Twitter might be more valuable than them watching a single video.

The specific values depend on your goals, but you need to recognize that not all actions have equal value and (generally speaking) the more valuable the action is, the tougher it is to get people to take it. So part of what you’ll want to think through when determining what actions you’re going to try to drive is to weigh the relative value of each.

Would you rather sell 10 albums or get 100 people to sign up to your email list? Would you rather somebody subscribe to your podcast or your YouTube channel? Would you rather they tell their friends they saw you perform on Twitter or would you rather they come to your next show?

These relative values will be different based on your individual situation, but it’s worth thinking about them as you decide what actions to emphasize.

The third thing to consider when planning your One Action Strategy is to keep in mind how the medium works where your content lives and to recognize what assets are available to you.

Different mediums (both online and offline) have their own unique strengths and weaknesses that you’ll want to take into account when figuring out what actions you’re going to ask for from your audience.

For example, it might be easier to get people to join your email list after reading something on your blog than it is after they read something on your Facebook page because you can put the signup form right at the bottom of the post. On the flip side, it might be easier for people engaging with your posts on Facebook to tag their friends in the comments than it is for them to share a blog post on your website with them.

YouTube’s annotations make it very easy to get people to subscribe to your channel or drive them to another video you’ve created so that might make you decide to focus your action around those things as opposed to trying to drive Twitter followers from your YouTube videos.

This is not to say that you can only do things that occur naturally in the medium you’re using, but rather that you should be aware of what is “easier” to do on various platforms when plotting your strategy.

And Now, The One Action I Want You To Take…

Since this is a post all about asking your audience to take a single action I figured I should follow my own advice and ask you to do a single thing if you found it helpful. So here’s the action I want you to take – give the One Action Strategy a try with at least one thing that you do regularly (social media posts, videos, live performances, whatever) over the course of the next month and email me to let me know how it works for you.

If you don’t see improved results, I’ll be happy to give you some more tips geared toward your specific goals.

Whether you’re an established comic, or somebody just starting out, here’s 15 things I think are worth taking a moment to appreciate in the next few days.

1. Your Fans

Whether you’ve got thousands of fans or just your Mom hanging on your every word, you should truly appreciate each and every one of the people who care enough to pay attention to what you create. We’re living in a world where there’s never been more competition for a person’s attention, and it’s honestly a miracle when anybody is willing to consistently give you some of theirs.

2. Free Social Media Tools

For all the bitching that people do about social media platforms it’s easy to forget how many incredible tools have been provided to comedians at no cost. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and virtually every other social platform spends millions of dollars to provide you with an opportunity to reach the world and doesn’t charge you a penny to do it.

3. The Opportunity To Learn

Things like YouTube, Netflix and Google have ushered in an era where it’s never been easier to watch comedy, study comedy, and learn from a library of content that’s easier and more inexpensive to access than at any point in history. For virtually no cost, you can access just about any comedic performance that’s ever happened or read articles and learn from the greatest comedic performers of all time. There’s never been a better time to learn from the masters than right now.

4. The Ability To Communicate With Established Comics

Now that just about every working comedian is using social media in one form or another, it’s created opportunities for you to reach out to them and connect with them to build relationships, ask them questions, or just simply compliment their work. Will Louis CK respond to every tweet you send to him? Of course not, but there are opportunities out there to get to successful comics in ways that there never were before.

5. The Opportunity To Make A Living By Making People Laugh

The mere fact that it’s possible to have a comedy career is something to be thankful for if you think about it. It may not be easy to make a living by making people laugh, but it is possible and there are lots of people out there doing it. Even if you’re not one of those people yet, you should appreciate knowing that it can be done – after all, there’s a lot worse ways to make a living.

6. The Chance To Start Over

Online tools allow comedians an opportunity that they rarely think about – the chance to start over. If things aren’t working out for you, you can always delete what you’ve done – take down your videos, take down your social accounts, take down your website, and “re-create” yourself from scratch. If what you’re doing hasn’t been working and you want to start over, you can. Second (or third) chances are worth appreciating.

7. The Comedy Community

Whether you live in a small town, a big city, or are just part of the online comedy community, it’s pretty amazing the way comedians can bond together to support and help each other. Just like any community, comedians have their fair share of jealousy and burned bridges, but overall I’ve found the comedy community to be way more helpful and supportive of its peers than just about any other profession.

8. The End Of The Gatekeeper Era

Do comedy gatekeepers still exist and are they a huge part of the comedy business? Yes. But, it’s also now possible to build a successful career without going through the gatekeepers and that’s a HUGE shift in the industry. There’s more ways than ever to build a successful comedy career these days, and you no longer have to wait for somebody to “discover” you in order to make it happen.

9. The People That Give You Opportunities

No matter where you’re at with your career, you’re likely surrounded by people who give you opportunities. Whether it’s stage time at an open mic, help producing a video, or a guy who shows you how to register your website domain, there are lots of people out there who help create opportunities for you. You should be grateful for everything they do for you – even the things that seem small. Because those small things, and the people that do them, can often lead to much bigger things.

10. The Opportunity To Get Better

Comedy is an art form where the more you do it, the better you will get. There’s no guarantee that you’ll ever get good enough to make it, but it’s a sure thing that your 100th time on stage will be better than your first. Not all things are like that and it’s important to recognize that just having the ability to ensure that the work you put in will result in improvement is a great thing.

11. Every View, Listen, Like, Comment, and Share

Every single time somebody takes the time to engage with something you have created is an incredible experience and one that should be valued. It’s easy to take for granted things like retweets or video views, but those are important actions from people who can really help you grow your career.

12. Your Day Job

Too many comics are too eager to leave their day job too soon. They think that the sooner they can do that, the sooner they will be considered a “real” comedian and that it will free up their time to work more on their comedy.

But often times comedians overlook the value of their day job and the value of what it provides. The financial benefits of a day job, the structure, and the life experiences it can create often times can do more to help your comedy career than hurt it. If you’ve got a decent day job, you might want to take a moment to appreciate it instead of trying to figure out how to leave it before that’s necessary.

13. The Host Of Your Show

If you’re performing on a standup show, the show’s host/MC matters – a lot. Recognize the importance of the comic filling that role and appreciate the role that they have to play in your performance on that stage.

14. Comedy Clubs

Comedy clubs are far from perfect, but they do provide some incredible opportunities for comedians. It’s a brutal business and most clubs are taking on a lot of financial risk to provide you with opportunities – you should be thankful that there are people out there willing to do that. And while there are a lot of club owners that aren’t exactly the best people in the world, there are still lots of them who treat comics well, are passionate about the art form, and do their best to create what everybody wants – a great show.

15. People Who Hate Comedy Clubs

While I think you should appreciate comedy clubs, I also think you should appreciate all the indie promoters and comedy fans who have turned their backs on the clubs. Their efforts have led to a rise in new comedy venues, alternative rooms filled with hardcore comedy fans, and a whole wave of new opportunities for comedians. Plus, the success of these alternative venues has forced comedy clubs to step up their game and improve their own situations to compete.

Now It’s Your Turn…

What do you think comedians should be thankful for? Tell me on Twitter.

READ THIS NEXT: 25 Things Most Comedians Do

In the conversation he shares his thoughts on writing vs. standup comedy, how he comes up with stories, and why he believes emotion is everything.

You can listen to the full episode here, or read up on some of the highlights below.

1. You Have To Be A Superfan First

At around the 9-minute mark, Rich discusses how he got his start in comedy writing and how he believes most people do – by being a superfan first. He points out that for most people who “make things” for a living, it starts with them being obsessive fans.

Rich grew up watching tons of comedy on TV, particularly noting how he would obsessively watch sketch shows like Mr. Show and the Upright Citizens Brigade TV series.

“I was always trying to copy my heroes,” he says.

But his biggest influence was The Simpsons, noting at the 46-minute mark of the podcast that, “Everything I believe about comedy I learned from The Simpsons. In my mind, it’s the most perfect work of art.”

2. You’re Probably Either A Standup Or A Writer – Very Few People Are Both

At around the 17-minute mark, Rich weighs in on the differences between performing standup and writing comedy, and explains why he believes people are rarely good at both.

Calling standup an “extremely hard skill,” he points out that you can be a good standup and not a good writer and vice versa – there isn’t necessarily any overlap in the two comedy art forms.

For himself, he realized early on that he was drawn more to writing than performing so he chose to focus on writing.

“Usually, standups love performing – they can’t wait to get on stage,” he says. “It’s a very different thing than what I do.”

3. Everybody Tells The Same Stories

At around the 23-minute mark, Rich goes into a very interesting explanation of how he actually approaches writing.

“A lot of what I do is taking an old story I love and making it my own with a twist,” he says.

He goes on to explain that some people believe there are really only a couple plots that exist in the world and that every story is a variation on them. He believes there’s more like a dozen plots out there for people to reinvent, but agrees that everybody is pretty much telling the same stories in different ways.

Rich approaches his writing by looking for the emotional core of a story and finding ways to amplify that emotion, which is where the comedy is found.

“I start with a visceral emotion I have felt [in real life],” he says. “If it feels universal, I’ll write about it. I try to write about emotions not in the way they actually occurred, but in the way they felt. It feels much more high stakes than it is.”

For example, a broken heart in a relationship might not actually be the end of the world, but it feels like the end of the world. So he writes about it being the end of the world.

Later in the podcast, Rich adds that once you hone in on the stories you want to tell you can continue to tell them in different ways forever. “Some people write the same story for their whole lives,” he says.

4. Comedy Is Vulnerability

At about the 30-minute mark, Rich talks about how important he believes emotion is to comedy writing – and especially vulnerability.

“At the core of every comedy premise there needs to be some vulnerability, somebody has to be weak,” he says.

He goes on to talk about how challenging it is to incorporate an emotional connection into sketch comedy writing, which is one of the reasons he’s currently adapting one of his books into a sitcom instead of a sketch show.

He points out that audiences have a tendency to write off sketch shows and not allow themselves to become emotionally invested in them because you’re constantly reminded that what you’re watching is fake as a result of the characters constantly changing.

He contrasted that with a sitcom, where viewers get to know the same characters and develop an emotional connection to them relatively easily.

“Every new SNL cast member is hated at first because the audience doesn’t recognize them,” he says. “With a sitcom, by episode two or three you know the character. They always look the same.”

5. It’s Never Too Late

At about the 54-minute mark, Rich offers some words of encouragement to other would-be comedy writers who may be unsure of whether they’re making any progress or if they’ve waited too long to chase their dream.

“It’s never too late,” he says. “But if you don’t love sitting down and writing then you definitely shouldn’t do this because that’s what it is. But if you think you might like it, then you should sit down, write, and find out.”

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Atlanta comedian Jamie Ward asked an interesting question about how to figure out what type of audience had the most potential for him to connect with as a relatively unknown comic.

Here was his specific question followed by my thoughts:

“I’m going to break comedy audiences down in to 3 primary groups:

Comedy nerds: Who know current comedians follow favorites and such.

General comedy audiences: Who somewhat regularly attend clubs but really only remember big names or those from TV or movies.

Casual entertainment audience: Who might attend a club once because there is a deal or they one tickets, they’re open to have a good time, but didn’t necessarily seek out comedy.

So given these three (and if there are things I haven’t thought of I’d be interested) which type of audience is the most potential for an unknown club comic to connect with? I’m not famous, not particularly unique but I do well.

And is there any advice how best to go about maximizing my connection with audiences based on their level of interest in comedy?”

It’s a good question, but I’d probably look at differently.

An audience member’s interest/connection to comedy isn’t as important as their interest/connection to the ideas/topics you discuss in your act. For example, a huge comedy fan who doesn’t have kids is less likely to connect with a comedian whose act revolves around parenting than a casual comedy fan who does have kids.

A person’s connection to comedy is a broad concept, whereas the real opportunities lie in the niches and more narrow topics. You want to figure out ways to identify who in the crowd relates to to subject matter of your comedy and/or find ways to get yourself in front of crowds that have a lot of those people in them.

Another thing I’d say is that if you approach it as how do you get people to be interested in YOU as opposed to just interested in your comedy, that can also help you build a stronger connection to people.

It’s one thing to be funny, it’s another to be interesting.

Funny is the minimum, but the way to really connect with people on a more long-term level is for them to become interested in you. There’s no one way to do that, but if you think about it, most comedians that build large, passionate, fanbases have done so with more than just their ability to make people laugh.

There was a lot of interesting stuff about George Carlin beyond just his jokes – people wanted to hear his take and opinion on things. He made them curious to what he had to say – even if it wasn’t always funny.

Chris Rock is like that as well. He’s funny, and he has a great act, but if he’s being interviewed somewhere, people probably are interested to hear what he has to say because they’re interested in him and his view of the world, not just his comedy.

I’ve said this before, but I think it always helps to think about things from the flipside of your perspective as a comedy creator – take a moment to think about what you respond to as a consumer of comedy.

You see a ton of comedians perform I’m sure – what is it about the ones that resonate with you, the ones that make you want to have a connection with them beyond the first time you see them perform? What is it about the ones that make you want to tell other people about them? What do they do that makes them stand out?

I’m sure you see tons of funny comics that you don’t really feel a need to follow or engage with beyond the moment you see them. But the ones that intrigue you – think about what they have that the others don’t and think about how you can incorporate your version of that into what you do.

One more note about your comment “I’m not particularly unique.” I barely know you and I completely disagree.

First of all, everybody is unique – it’s just that most people don’t understand what’s unique about them or they’re afraid to show it. Most people are wired to try to fit in, which is essentially another way of saying that human nature is designed to hide what’s unique about you.

The trick for a comedian is to do the opposite and share/focus on what’s different about you, not what makes you fit in. I guarantee that every show you do, there’s nobody else on that stage that has similar life experiences to you. You’re completely unique, but if you don’t perceive yourself in that way, how can you expect an audience to?

It’s got to start with you…

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There’s a lot of options out there for uploading your video, but it can be confusing trying to figure out which platforms to use, whether you should upload it to multiple places, and how to give yourself the best shot of capitalizing on all the work you put into it.

To help point you in the right direction, I’ve put together a breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses of several video platforms to help you figure out where to post your latest creations.

The First Thing You Need To Figure Out…

Before I get into the specifics of each platform, I want to stress that there is ultimately no right or wrong place to post your videos. Each platform has different things to offer and that’s why the first thing you’re going to want to do is figure out exactly what your goal is for the videos you create.

Are you trying to grow a fanbase and build a community around a series of videos you plan to produce? Are you trying to get exposure for yourself with a certain audience? Is it a video that’s designed to be shared? Is it topical or does it more evergreen? Are you trying to reach a general audience or is it more geared toward industry? Are you trying to get somebody to sponsor future videos? Are you hoping to monetize your video?

It’s also worth thinking about what action you want people to take once they see your video, assuming they like it. Is it more important to you that they share it or subscribe to your channel? Or join your email list? Hire you as a writer? Or an actor? Or to do standup?

There will obviously be a lot of overlap and it’s likely that your goals will include several of these things, but it’s worth considering what single goal is most important to you when it comes to the videos you post and use that to guide the decision you make about where to post the video.

Once you have a sense of what you’re trying to accomplish with the videos you create it will be much easier for you to figure out the right platforms to use for it. To help you do that, here’s an overview of the pros and cons of different platforms…

Strengths:

YouTube is by far the biggest video platform in the world and it’s also the second largest search engine of any kind, only behind Google (which owns YouTube and therefore also prominently features YouTube videos in its search results).

This means that without a doubt YouTube allows you to reach the largest possible audience. To be honest, I think it would be pretty foolish not to have your videos on YouTube even if you decide to use other platforms as well. Opting not to have your videos on YouTube is the equivalent of telling Google to pretend that you don’t exist – and that’s obviously not a good idea.

YouTube’s enormous audience also means that you have the opportunity to get discovered on YouTube by new people through search results relating to the things you are doing in your videos. In order to maximize this opportunity you’ll want to pay close attention to titles, descriptions, and tags on your videos – that’s a much bigger conversation, but check out the YouTube creators playbook for a crash course in how to get the most out of YouTube.

In addition to YouTube’s reach, another major advantage of the platform is the sense of community that can develop around channels on the site. YouTube’s subscription tools, comments, and interactivity really lends itself to building (and growing) a fan community on the site.

That’s not easy to do, but it can happen and is crucial to success on the platform. There’s a reason just about every “YouTube star” built their fanbase on the back of serious community interaction – it’s a big part of success on the platform.

It’s also easier to monetize your work on YouTube than any other platform. Ultimately, you will need to generate views to make money, but you can easily do so thanks to YouTube’s ad partner program without ever having to go chase down your own sponsors.

Weaknesses:

In some ways YouTube’s biggest strength can also be its biggest weakness. With so many videos being uploaded to the site constantly, it can be difficult to get attention and easy for your stuff to get lost in the shuffle. There’s a lot of competition for eyeballs on the site and you’ve really got to work to stand out.

You also have to be willing to post content regularly and be patient – it takes time to build a following and it’s unlikely that you’re ever going to get featured by YouTube’s editors until after you’ve gained some traction. That means that often times what you’re doing to promote your YouTube video outside of YouTube can be just as important to driving views as what you’re doing on the site.

Strengths:

Funny or Die is probably the king of the comedy sites at the moment and it’s also deeply connected to the comedy industry. The site may live on the Internet, but it’s become a talent factory for TV shows and films.

Arguably the quickest path from Internet comedy to offline comedy is to get on the radar of the Funny or Die team.

This means that exposure on Funny or Die can create opportunities for you without needing a million views of your video first. The site regularly hires comedy writers and actors for its productions – including a ton on a freelance basis – and is constantly trolling for new talent. So having your videos on their site can increase your chances of getting discovered by them. By contrast, it’s unlikely YouTube is ever going to hire you for anything.

Another strength of Funny or Die is that you know every view you get from the site is coming from somebody who is interested in comedy as opposed to YouTube where the majority of people who may come across your video are probably not even looking for comedy – remember, not all views are created equal.

The niche nature of Funny or Die’s audience should (theoretically) increase your chances of converting each viewer into a fan.

Weaknesses:

The huge majority of Funny or Die’s traffic comes from its celebrity videos and whatever they feature on their home page or share on social media. Unlike YouTube, where people tend to get lost surfing around the site, Funny or Die’s audience is much smaller and doesn’t function in that way.

That means that uploading your videos to the site isn’t really about reaching the public as much as it’s about catching the eyes of the site’s editors and producers. In some ways, it’s like uploading an audition tape more so than uploading a video for an audience.

This is a long way of saying that you’re probably not going to get much traction from what you post there, unless somebody who works at Funny or Die sees it and loves it.

Strengths:

No matter how frustrated people may get with Facebook, they certainly don’t stop using it. Facebook has tons of users and its social nature makes it incredibly easy for good videos to spread quickly.

It’s also an easier place for people to connect and follow you if they like your video – as great as YouTube’s subscription functionality is, it’s still only a relatively small group of users who actually subscribe to channels. On Facebook, everybody that sees your video is used to the concept of “Liking” pages and connecting with people.

But perhaps the biggest strength of Facebook as a video platform is that it’s the best way to reach people on Facebook. If you share a YouTube video on Facebook, it will not get pushed into many people’s feeds because Facebook doesn’t really want you using the YouTube player – they’d rather have you use their video player. As a result, they “favor” videos uploaded into their own player and show them in more people’s news feeds.

Based on what I’ve seen, the exact same video uploaded into the Facebook player will reach at least five times as many people as that same videos shared in a YouTube player on Facebook. That’s a huge difference in exposure.

And not only do Facebook videos appear in more people’s feeds, but they appear as auto-play videos which really captures people’s attention in their feeds. If you’re a Facebook user, I’m sure you’ve noticed how many more videos are appearing in your feed and I’m sure most of them catch your eye because of the auto-play. That’s something you’ll want to take advantage of and you can only do that if you upload your video to the Facebook player.

Weaknesses:

The Facebook video platform is amazing for Facebook and it’s really powerful, but…it doesn’t really have any reach outside of Facebook. That means that choosing to only use the Facebook video player is the equivalent of ignoring every other platform, website, and social network, which isn’t a great idea.

I’m a big proponent of using the Facebook player for sharing on Facebook, but it really shouldn’t be the only player you use.

Strengths:

Vine stars are the new YouTube stars. Ok, that’s probably a bit of an exaggeration, but there actually are some similarities.

Vine has blossomed into its own little universe and has created a bunch of its own stars who are now starting to make big bucks as brands chase their huge followings. Also, comedy plays really well on the platform and since it’s basically built on a social platform (and owned by Twitter) it can be relatively easy for your creations to spread and to grow your following.

It’s also still pretty early in the Vine game – at least as compared to sites like YouTube and Facebook – so there’s slightly less competition for attention than there may be on some other platforms.

Vine’s 6-second format favors comedians whose material and approach works well in short bursts, and it can be easy to capitalize on hashtags and trending memes that surface on the platform constantly. Plus, let’s be honest – it’s a lot easier to get somebody to give you 6 seconds of their time to watch your new creation than it is to get them to give you 6 minutes.

Weaknesses:

You can only do so much in 6-second increments. Also, even though Vine has a large and growing audience, it’s still much smaller than a lot of other platforms. It’s more of a niche play – a great tool for a particular type of content, but it definitely has its limits.

Strengths:

The strengths of Instagram are very similar to those of Vine, but Instagram gives you a little more time to work with as its video time limit is 15 seconds. But, a big advantage of Instagram is that it’s also baked into the regular Instagram app so you can benefit from the booming popularity of Instagram in general.

Even though Vine videos often surface on other platforms, it still has its own app and functions in its own separate universe. Instagram videos are much more integrated into the Instagram photos app which means a larger audience for your content and the opportunity to capitalize on your photos as well as your videos in the same place.

Also, since Instagram is owned by Facebook there is some nice synergy and cross-promotional opportunities there as well.

Weaknesses:

In addition to the 15-second time limit, Instagram videos won’t show up in-line if people share them on Twitter (because Facebook and Twitter aren’t the best of friends and don’t always play nice).

It’s not a huge deal, but if you’re somebody who focuses on Twitter a lot as a platform, it’s worth knowing that Vine videos will show up in-stream more prominently than Instagram videos which will just show up as a link on Twitter.

So…Where Should You Post?

While there is no one-size-fits-all answer and it completely depends on your goals and the type of videos you’re producing, here’s what I would recommend you do with your videos in general.

I think you should upload your videos to YouTube no matter what, so that you have a presence there. Even if most of your videos are short Vines, I’d still compile them and upload them there as compilations (or as standalone short videos) to give you a presence on the site.

Then, if you have a Facebook presence, I’d recommend uploading to the Facebook player when you share your videos there because it will be worth the little extra effort it takes to do so.

Beyond that, I think it depends on your own interests, goals, and the time you have available to spend uploading and sharing videos.

But I’d love to hear how you’re  approaching it, so please let me know in the comments on this post. And if there’s another video platform you’d like me to write an overview for and add to this post, let me know that too. Thanks!

You can listen to the full episode here, or read up on some of the highlights below.

1. Sometimes It Helps To Have No Other Options

At around the 7-minute mark, Norton reflects back on how he got his start in comedy and points out that he had essentially abandoned his education and put himself in a position where he had no choice but to succeed at comedy.

“I purposely left myself no safety net,” he says. “It’s got to be standup or it’s going to be nothing.”

He admits that like all comics, he struggled initially and he wonders whether he would have abandoned comedy if he had any other realistic career options at the time.

“I can’t believe I made myself continue to perform, because you bomb a lot (in the beginning),” he says. “If I had a good education, maybe I wouldn’t have stuck with it.”

He goes on to point out that there wasn’t necessarily anything special about him in the early days – noting that, “there’s a million funny people out there,” but that the only difference with him was that he put in the time and effort to learn how to do comedy the right way.

“I worked at it,” he says.

2. Be Honest, Except About How Nervous You Are

At around the 12-minute mark he talks about how he believes comedians should deal with crowds and how you should present yourself on stage.

“The audience likes to think you’re confident, and they don’t know if you’re not unless you show them,” he says. “Act as if.”

But while Norton believes it’s important to convey a certain confidence on stage (even if you’re not), he also explains that honest helps when it comes to other situations on stage.

“I’ll acknowledge if something doesn’t work,” he says. Ultimately, he suggests that you, “Be honest about your surroundings and project confidence.”

3. Don’t Do The Emotional Work For The Audience

At around the 26-minute mark, Norton is asked what part of his act he’s trying to improve at the moment and he explains that he’s trying to do less of the “emotional work” for his audience. He says he admires Colin Quinn because, “What makes Colin great is that he doesn’t do the audience’s emotional work for them.”

What he means by that is that you can do a joke about being angry, without actually being angry in your delivery of that joke on stage.

“You don’t want anger to block your creativity,” he explains.

He also says he’s trying to display a more complete side of himself and make sure he never loses sight of his mission.

“I want to make a point, but that’s not my job – anybody can make a point,” he says. “My job is to be funny.”

4. You Probably Can’t Do What Louis CK Can Do

At around the 33-minute mark, Norton discusses his various experiences working in television and shares his observations about the success and impact of Louis CK’s FX series. While he admires Louis and thinks the control he’s managed to get over his show is great for comedians, he points out that most people don’t realize that the major reason Louis can have that control is because of his diverse skill set as a filmmaker and editor in addition to being a talented comedian, actor and writer.

“There are things Louis does in that show that nobody else can do because of all his skills,” says Norton. “His skills enable him to do that.” He then points out that most comedians are never going to be able to do what Louis does.

5. Lead With Logic…Just Like Carlin Did

At around the 42-minute mark, Norton circles back to further explain his thoughts about not doing the emotional work for the audience. This time he uses George Carlin’s work as an example and points out that, “People respond better if they’re not being preached to.”

He adds, “George Carlin had anger, but look how silly a lot of his delivery was. He let his words talk for him and let the audience come with him…or not. He led them with logic instead of doing the emotional work for them.”

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If you’d like to write a guest post with an overview of your local comedy scene for Connected Comedy, please email me.

1. You Can Drink In A Lot Of Open Mics…But Also Drown In Them

There are over 160 open mics in New York City, and that’s just counting the ones listed on Bad Slava. There are dozens more that aren’t advertized – you just learn about them if you live here. Getting up multiple times every night is easy if you’re willing to pay $3-$5 for five minutes of stage time (common in Manhattan). And you can get up multiple times a night for free with just a little planning.

When you first move to (or start doing comedy in) New York, you won’t get booked much. So by all means: go nuts with mics. It’s a point of pride for most New York comics that they went through that “three or four mics a night” phase for a while. You should do it too. In a month or two, you’ll be like part of the furniture. Perceptions of time are skewed here. People will think you’ve lived in New York for longer than you have.

But doing three or four mics a night for years and years? I think that’s a mistake, simply because of all the OTHER opportunities available in NYC that you cannot seize if you’re mic-ing that much. Three open mics translates to 15 minutes of stage time, and about three hours of waiting around/traveling to and from venues.

What else could you have done with those three hours? That’s what the rest of this list is all about.

2. You Can ALWAYS Make $50 For A Blog Post

New York is the media capital of the world. Alongside the giant brands (the Viacoms, Hearsts, and News Corps of the world), there are literally HUNDREDS of media outlets – many purely web-based – that constantly crave content and are willing to pay for it. Here’s how to do it…

Take any website you read regularly. Have an idea for a story/article/post? Study the tone and typical format of posts on the site, write it, and submit it. Say they can use it for free. If you can write decently and in the style of the outlet you’re pitching, eight times out of ten they’ll run it (or at least an edited version of it).

Congratulations! You’re now in their stable of contributors. You have demonstrated your value, and they will WANT you to pitch them ideas for stories all the time. And if you’re funny, you have a huge advantage over other freelance writers.

I’ve personally done this twice: pitching an advice column to women’s website The Frisky, and a weekly comedy events run-down to The Village Voice’s “Sound of the City” blog.

The going rate for content in this town is about $50 per post. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. It’s not much, but you’ll be amazed what writing regularly online will do, in terms of boosting your Twitter followers, and getting your name out there as a person of ideas who can create cool stuff. Plus, you’re getting paid to write. Isn’t that better than waiting tables?

3. Breaking Into The Comedy Clubs Is Hard

There are just a handful of “A” room comedy clubs (clubs that work hard to curate high quality shows AND regularly pay for spots) in New York City itself. There are so many comics here, and relatively few opportunities to make spot pay doing mainstream club comedy (urban and Latino rooms are an exception, but they are not worlds I know).

So you’re probably not going to get passed at a New York club for many, many years. In fact, it’s probably easier to get on TV than to get passed as a regular at a New York comedy club. Don’t take it personally – it’s just how it is. You have to make your own opportunities to get them to notice you.

4. You Can Get A Show Business Day Job

If you live in New York, you’re fortunate to reside in one of the two American cities where they actually make professional entertainment. TV, film, radio, theater, publishing…every tentacle of the entertainment “squid” has a huge presence here.

We all want the industry to pay attention to us anyway, so why not work for it? You can learn a lot about how the business actually works just by sorting mail for a production company. You probably won’t be paid much less than you would for just a regular entry-level day job. Even interning for one day a week could be invaluable. With all the opportunities flowing through a city like New York, working within the industry puts you in the best position to know about them first, and to seize them in the savviest way.

5. You Can Build An Acting Tool Kit For Your Big Break

If you’re a comedian, you want to be on TV. But chances are, the first few times you appear on camera, it won’t be doing stand up. It’s much more likely you’ll wind up getting small parts in sketches, web series, sitcoms, or commercials. Considering that, comic improvisation and dramatic acting are invaluable skills. They could be the difference in turning a small opportunity into a potentially much bigger break.

This is another great thing about the New York scene – it’s home to the best improv and acting teachers in the world. Use them. You should try to study at UCB purely for the cache, but if all their classes are full, learn with the PIT, Magnet, or the Annoyance.

They’re each subtly different, but all teach broadly the same thing. You can also study acting with JoAnna Beckson, who specializes in training comics (her former students include Colin Quinn, Bill Burr, Dave Attell, and countless others).

After you get that pilot deal, you’ll be very glad you can actually act and improvise collaboratively when the lights turn on.

6. New York Loves Weird Stuff – And The Weirder The Better

New York is a very safe place to fail. You can do all manner of crazy stuff here. If it works, everyone thinks you’re wonderful. If it doesn’t, no one cares and it’ll be forgotten about next week. So swing for the fences.

Here are three of the most popular comedy shows in New York right now:

See You In Hell! – Comedians Doug Smith and Matt Wayne dress up in devil outfits and make comics perform their regular material while enduring a “hellish” challenge: like being blindfolded and tied to chair, or wearing a bear suit and downing whiskey shots. They have showcased the show for Comedy Central executives, and as we speak are shopping the idea around Los Angeles.

First Comes Love – Comedian Kyle Ayers asks Craigslist users to submit homemade porn scripts. They do, and he produces live staged readings of them with comedians learning the parts. It’s a huge hit, and now he asks Craigslist for themed material: Mad Men, There Will Be Blood, Game of Thrones, etc.

Jesus the Barbarian – Alt-comics Nick Naney and Gonzalo Cordova wrote this comic play, cast their weirdo friends in all the parts, and bought a few gallons of stage blood to really make a spectacle. It was a giant hit at alt-comedy mecca The Creek and the Cave. They’re now making a follow-up production, and off-Broadway producers are sniffing around them.

7. There Are So Many “Scenes” And Nothing To Stop You From Trying Them All

In a city the size of New York, there are subcultures within subcultures. There is the alternative stand-up scene, unofficially headquartered at Queens venue The Creek and the Cave. There’s the UCB scene, arguably the most important hub for improv and sketch writing/production in town.

There’s the Village stand up scene, centered on hustling for spots at the B-rooms (basically everywhere BUT the Comedy Cellar – the famous club in the opening credits of Louie) in and around MacDougal Street. There’s the scene at The Stand, an impressive newer club in the Gramercy area.

Then there is the storytelling scene centered on The Moth, which is a huge gateway to prestige media outlets and the worlds of public radio and publishing.  And those are just the communities I know about. You are free to dip your toe into all of them. There is no downside to doing so. You’ll quickly find out what you’re best at, where your sensibilities lie, and the kind of people you like to collaborate with.

That’s my list. What did I miss? What do you think are the most important things to know about the New York comedy scene? Please let me know in the comments, by email, or on Twitter. I love meeting Connected Comedians from around the country, and introducing my city to new performers. If you’re ever in New York, don’t be a stranger. Get in touch.

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It’s a great conversation and you can listen to the full episode here or read up on some of the highlights below.

1. It Helps To Start Outside Of New York Or LA

At around the 19-minute mark, Breslin shares some interesting thoughts on the role of the town in which a comic first starts their comedy career.

“It’s very advantageous to be outside the center of action to develop,” he says, referencing the upside of honing your craft some place other than comedy business hubs like New York or Los Angeles. “Most comedians in New York and LA got great somewhere else first.”

But Breslin also acknowledges that it’s become much more difficult to develop outside the spotlight because of the Internet. “It’s harder now…there’s no such thing as an outsider artist any more,” he says. “Everybody has 7 fans.”

2. A Good Comedy Venue Is About What’s NOT There

Even though it’s unlikely many of you will be buying or building comedy clubs, Breslin’s thoughts about what he tries to do in his clubs are still relevant to anybody trying to produce a good show – or analyze potential venues for shows. At around the 43-minute mark, he says that when you buy a comedy club, “You’re buying what’s NOT there, not what’s there.”

He goes on to explain that you want a venue that has no distractions and as much focus as possible on the stage. He said his early clubs were similar to simple small theaters with all black walls and nothing to distract people from the stage – he even tried to minimize the noise from people making drinks.

3. Most Headliners Sell As Many Tickets As A Dead Person

At around the 60-minute mark, Breslin shares an interesting perspective on the Canadian comedy scene and the inability of most comedy club “headliners” there to actually draw a crowd. He says there is no “star system” in Canada due to the lack of local TV exposure available to comedians and that as a result only 4 or 5 comics can sell out clubs on their own.

He goes on to explain that’s why his clubs rarely give Canadian comedians percentage door deals (they typically receive just a flat fee regardless of ticket sales) and it’s also why most Canadian comedians wind up leaving the country to seek bigger exposure.

While that scenario may be unique to Canada, his thoughts on the struggles of “headliners” to actually draw their own crowd are more universal. “Nobody really draws,” he says. “The club draws. The concept draws.”

He then explains that he previously ran experiments where he would run his comedy club ads with the names of random dead people (non-comedians) as if they were performing at his club to see if it had any impact on the ticket sales for that weekend’s show. He found that it had no impact on ticket sales and that essentially most headliners were selling as many tickets as a dead non-comedian would.

4. You Have To Take People Some Place New

Early on in the podcast Breslin says that he believes a comedian’s role is to tell the truth, but at around the 89-minute mark he elaborates on what he believes young comics should focus on. “Originality, finding and having your own voice,” he says.

He explains that there’s no shortage of funny comics out there, but when he’s analyzing acts he comes back to the same question: “Who has 10 minutes that takes me to a place I’ve never been before? Do you have anything to say?”

5. Don’t Just Hang Out With Other Comics In Comedy Clubs

I’ve written before about why it’s a good idea to hang out in comedy clubs, but Breslin warns that you shouldn’t spend all your time there. At around the 91-minute mark, he stresses the importance of exposing yourself to other forms of art and a set of influences that have nothing to do with comedy.

“Don’t hang out with other comics,” he says. “Go to the theater, art galleries, music. [An original voice] doesn’t come from watching comics and imitating them.”

READ THIS NEXT: 7 Things You Can Learn From Manager/Producer Barry Katz

On the “nichiest” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper and Josh Spector talk about narrowing the focus of your career towards a target audience, concentrating on that one thing that’s unique and different about you, how consumers have become fragmented and are gravitating to niches over broad media, how advertisers are putting more effort in reaching engaged audiences rather than large ones, and why ‘artisanal’ e-mail newsletters may be the next big wave of building and cultivating a fan base.

In addition, Jordan discusses the strategic plans of his podcast over the past two years, how it shows the power of placing yourself in the position to get opportunities, the importance of putting as much effort into community engagement as you do creating the content, and why setting goals with timeframes can help determine how you’re defining “success” in your comedic endeavors.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

Blenderhead Podcast #39: Never Go Full Cougar
5by5 Broadcasting
1,000 True Fans – Kevin Kelly
Academy Originals – YouTube
Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days
5 Reasons Comedian Newsletters May Become Bigger Than Comedy Podcasts
Media ReDEFined
NextDraft: The Day’s Most Fascinating News
Tab Dump
Just Another Crowd
The Listserve
Tech Douchebags #14: The Overthinker

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

That work doesn’t just involve what happens on stage, but their commitment to building an online presence and using it to put creative content out into the world has also contributed to their success.

With a little help from the Internet Archive, I thought I’d go back in time and show you some of the things that today’s biggest comics were doing years ago – when both their fanbases and the Internet audience as a whole was a fraction of what it is today. It’s a good reminder that success online doesn’t happen overnight and that most comics who have made it were putting in work years before you may have realized it.

Now let’s hop in a comedy time machine and see who was doing what when…

In 2008, Chris Hardwick was posting home theater reviews and joining Twitter.

Shortly after launching his Nerdist blog – and years before he would launch the Nerdist podcast – Chris Hardwick was blogging regularly on his site about all sorts of stuff that had nothing specifically to do with his standup act. He was regularly posting reviews of technology gadgets such as this home theater system review.

He also joined Twitter (as explained in this blog post) because he thought it was “just too damned adorable to ignore any more” and promised to give people “blog updates and who knows what kind of other tweets.” Little did he know the TV series and hashtag wars that it would lead to.

In 2005, Aziz Ansari was making short videos and uploading them in Quicktime to his site.

Aziz didn’t bother waiting around for YouTube to be invented to start posting videos online. As you can see here, he was making short comedy videos about how Wal-Mart put his Dad out of business and uploading them to his site as Quicktime files way back in 2005.

Another fun bit of back-in-the-day Aziz is a look at the bio that was on his website back then. As you’ll see, it’s honest and he didn’t try to make himself seem more successful than he was at the time – something that way too many comics today try to do. He even mocks the fact that he’s writing about himself in the third person, as opposed to pretending somebody else wrote it for him.

In 2002, Gabriel Iglesias was remixing articles for the 5,000 people that visited his website.

A look back at Gabriel’s site from 12 years ago reveals a fun little bit – a public stat counter that shows 5,018 people had visited his site up to that point in total. But that small audience didn’t stop him from still taking the time to occasionally post some content on the site.

For example, he posted this article from the El Paso Times with his own commentary about it incorporated into it.

In 2001, Doug Stanhope was trolling newsgroups and posting road stories.

Stanhope has done an incredible job building a fanbase outside of the traditional comedy club system, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that even 11 years ago he was already using his website to share content with fans and give them a chance to interact with him. For example, you can look back and see a collection of his road stories, or a bunch of examples of him trolling early Internet newsgroups.

In 2001, Louis CK was posting “bad jokes” on his site and trying to figure out his own name.

Louis CK may be the king of standup comedy at the moment, but 11 years ago he was quick to point out on his website that he was a “fellow who does a number of things.” In addition to details about his standup career, his site also featured uploaded videos of the short films he had made, cartoons he had made, and even a Bad Jokes page featuring bad jokes he had written.

Back then Louis wasn’t even quite sure what name he was using for his comedy. As he explained, “You may have noticed that I am refered to on this site sometimes as Louis, and other times as Louie. That is because I am stupid and have not figured out which one I am called yet.”

Why You Should Care About Any Of This…

Besides the fact that looking back at some old websites is a fun bit of nostalgia, I think it’s worth recognizing a couple things that all of these successful comics had in common. First, they had a website – in some cases years before other comics bothered to create one. But on top of that, each of these guys were putting some content on their sites – they were using them as a way to attract and engage fans.

These guys were also pretty open and honest about where they were in their career and who they were – they weren’t trying to pretend they were more successful than they were. They were transparent.

A lot has changed in the years since these guys launched their sites, but the underlying things that they embraced can benefit you just as much today as they did them years ago.

READ THIS NEXT: Why The Most Important Things You Can Learn From Louis CK Have Nothing To Do With His Act

But most importantly for up and coming comics, he explained how he approaches marketing and branding himself in a way that has helped separate him from the rest of the crowd.

You can listen to the full episode here, or read up on some of the highlights below.

1. Be Easy To Remember – And Consistent

At around the 17-minute mark, Iglesias explains that he embraced the nickname “Fluffy” early on because he realized that nobody that saw him was remembering his name. So, he decided to incorporate the nickname Fluffy into his act and into everything he did from a marketing perspective, recognizing that it was more memorable than his name. “It branded me,” he says.

Iglesias’ branding didn’t stop with his nickname. Early on he also made a conscious decision to maintain a consistent look – in his case it involved shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. He explains that it’s tough enough for people to remember specific comics in general, but comics who constantly change their look only make it harder on themselves.

2. If You’re Likeable, Be Likeable

At around the 40-minute mark, Iglesias shares what he calls the best piece of advice he’s ever received. While early on some of his material included profanity, he was advised to take the profanity out of his act because it was interfering with his biggest strength – he was a very likeable guy on stage.

He embraced that likeability factor and even though he has nothing against profanity, removed it from his act and concentrated on ensuring that everything he did played off of the likeability of his persona.

3. You Can Learn A Lot From A “Day Job”

When it comes to marketing and branding, Iglesias clearly knew more than the average comic when he started out- that’s because of his day job.

Around the 46-minute mark, he talks about how early in his career he worked at a Robinsons-May department store. While it may not have been his ideal job, he saw an opportunity to learn things that could help his comedy career. He didn’t work in the marketing department, but he befriended some guys who did and says he learned a ton from them about how to market and brand products.

He then took what he was learning and applied it to his comedy career.

4. Be Willing To Step Backwards To Move Forward

At around the 51-minute mark, Iglesias reveals that a couple years into his career he came to a bit of a crossroads – he had built a strong following among Latino audiences and in certain parts of the country, but was a virtual unknown elsewhere. He could have gone on to have a successful career just focusing on the audience he had, but instead decided that he wanted to push to reach a broader audience.

In order to do that, he had to be willing to abandon the theaters he had been playing and go back to playing smaller venues in front of tiny crowds who didn’t know who he was. And even worse, he discovered that much of the material he had developed didn’t play well with more mainstream crowds so he essentially had to reconstruct his entire act for those crowds.

But ultimately, that decision and his willingness to essentially start over in a mainstream world is what allowed him to improve and reach the level of success he’s at today.

5. You Can Learn From Wrestling

At around the 59-minute mark, Iglesias mentions that some of the most important things he’s learned about showmanship, marketing, and especially merchandising, he actually learned from pro wrestling. He explains that he studies wrestling and recognized how they merchandise their acts as well as how they add rock show elements to their matches.

And just like he did with the Robinsons-May marketing guys, he has adapted what he’s learned into his own comedy career.

READ THIS NEXT: 5 Things You Can Learn From Adam Carolla

A founding member of the comedy troupe Kids In The Hall, Dave Foley has had a long and successful career as a standup comedian, actor, and writer. He recently appeared at a Q&A held at Second City in Chicago where he was interviewed by Katie Rich and shared the following advice for comedians about the challenges of writing and creating comedy.

1. Sometimes The Best Ideas Come When You’re NOT Writing

When it came to writing sketches with Kids In The Hall, Foley explained that typically the group’s most successful ideas came when they weren’t actually trying to write at all, but rather when they were just hanging out together.

“The best ideas come when you’re NOT writing,” he said. “We spent an awful lot of time watching MTV videos and saying stupid things at the TV. And that would end up giving us a great idea for an episode.”

Unfortunately, that process can be hard to quantify as work. “You’re sitting around a computer or you’re sitting around your writing meetings, yet NOTHING comes out of it,” he said. “And all of a sudden at 2 am you fart on a guy’s face and you’re like, ‘That’s hilarious!'”

2. You Have To Develop Instincts To Understand When Something’s Good

Regardless of whether you’re writing standup or sketches, Foley stressed the importance of putting in time and effort in order to get to a point where you develop instincts to understand whether something you’ve created is good or not.

“I know when something’s good…but I’ve honed the craft of it over the years to where I’m more consistent in how I develop things,” Foley said. “Just doing it so many years, it’s like there’s an audience in your head that’s an amalgam of every audience you’ve ever played in front of – and you can just feel it.”

That’s why Foley believes improv and performing is such an important tool for writers.

“Writers who have NEVER performed are missing that tool. And they’re missing that ear, that ability to hear an audience react to things in their head. And a lot of times with sitcoms, you’re dealing with writers who have never been performers so they’ll write a line that on the page seems wonderfully funny, but when you say it out loud you realize that it not only isn’t funny, but it doesn’t even make sense.”

3. Focus On “Tight Writing”

Despite the comedy world’s current love affair with improv, Foley says Kids In The Hall never improvised anything and instead focused writing as tightly as possible.

“We would get together and basically shout out ideas to each other very quickly,” he said. “We would write and hone the sketch from a writing standpoint – we never had an idea and just improvised it. Writing for a TV show, we focused on tight writing.”

This was also motivated by the demands of  the medium.

“If you wrote something that was 3 minutes or under, it was MUCH easier to get in the show. If it was 5 minutes, you had to fight,” he said. “If it was over 5 minutes, you would almost never get it in. So the focus was always to be tight.”

4. Be Willing To Throw Jokes Away

One of the toughest things for all creators is to be willing to “kill your babies,” the process of throwing away material that you may like but may not be quite working for whatever reason. Here’s how Foley handles that:

“I’m not at all precious about anything,” he said. “You pitch a joke and if no one likes it, who cares? It’s something where I go, ‘Alright, I’ve written 1,000 jokes and I will write 1,000 more jokes.’ If you’re funny, it doesn’t matter.”

He continues, “Everything is disposable. And in a scene, you can have a joke that you absolutely LOVE, but if it’s hurting the flow of the scene you have to cut it. You just have to cut great jokes. You have to throw great jokes away if they don’t make the scene better. So you have to just…not love anything.”

5. Overcome Writer’s Block By Distracting Yourself

Despite his success, Foley admits that the act of writing can be more than a little frustrating for him.

“Writing is just the shittiest thing on Earth to spend your time doing, it’s just horrible,” he said. “I don’t understand people who ENJOY writing. I think you have to be some sort of egomaniac to enjoy writing…to just sit back and find your own thoughts interesting.”

But to combat the writing struggle, Foley suggests you find ways to distract yourself.

“Distraction is a great tool,” he said. ” Brain studies have shown that you get moments of insight when you are distracted from the problem you are trying to solve. And it’s good to give yourself that opportunity. For Kids In The Hall, when we had ideas that were going nowhere, we would often just leave and go go-karting for a few hours.

“And usually, while we were just hanging out go-karting, we would come with two or three ideas that were actually usable. It’s just that once you take your mind off it, it actually gives your subconscious a chance to come up with some decent ideas.”

6. Every Idea Is New (And Old)

When asked if he thought everything’s already been done before, Foley shared his perspective on the creation of comedy and the connection between what’s new and what’s been done before.

“The infinite variations in any art form is amazing,” he said. “You have the 12-tone scale which is the basis of all music, yet every day somebody writes a new melody with this limited tool of these same 12 tones.”

He went on to explain that everything can be varied, comparing creations to DNA.

“Nothing is entirely original and new, just as every life form has evolved from something earlier,” he said. “Every idea has evolved from something earlier and everything is seeded by things you’ve seen in the past.”

With that in mind, Foley recommends studying what you love to the point that you totally understand it, then throwing it away.

“For me, it was understanding EVERYTHING about what Monty Python does and with Kids In The Hall we just threw it out,” he said. “We literally went as far as we could structurally from Python, because we loved it so much. So just study the people you love and then just throw them away.”

7. Clarity Is Key To Comedy

As somebody who’s had success in standup, TV, and movies, Foley has a unique perspective on what makes comedy work and for him, it all comes down to a clarity of the material.

“It’s all about understanding HOW to deliver a joke,” he said. “A lot of people think that comedy doesn’t have to be sensible, but I think comedy has to be watchable. Comedy has to make sense. People have to understand the thought process behind the joke for it to be funny and they have to know where it goes off the rails and becomes a joke.

“The audience has to understand the logic of the joke and if you can’t convey that logic in a concise way, it’s not going to work. You must understand that the people hearing the joke are not in your head – they don’t know your back story to your joke. Their entire universe exists from what you write down and if you don’t have the information in the joke, no one is going to get it.”

In the end, he explains that comics have to tackle the same challenge no matter what they do. “You have to find a way to get the information out in a way that doesn’t interfere with the joke.”

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Social media evolves at such a rapid pace that it’s difficult to keep up to date with the latest opportunities, let alone get ahead of them in a manner that allows you to capitalize on them.

For example, the boom in comedy podcasts over the past couple years created incredible, career-altering opportunities for comedians – but mostly for comics who were “early” on the podcast boom. Guys like Marc Maron, Adam Carolla, and others built podcast empires by combining their talents with a good sense of timing – they saw the potential in the format before the rest of the comedy world and capitalized on it.

While predicting the future is certainly a crapshoot, I also felt like I saw the podcast boom coming several years before it exploded. And now, I feel like I’m seeing a similar set of circumstances bubbling up that leads me to believe there’s a new boom coming.

This time around though, I think we’re headed for a boom in comedian email newsletters.

Here’s five reasons why I think comedian newsletters are poised to take off and why I think they have the potential to be even bigger than the podcast boom that’s led just about every comic on the planet to create one.

 1. There’s Booming Interest In Email Newsletters From The Public And Media

Before the rise of comedy podcasts, there was an initial audience developed for non-comedy podcasts. Those early adopters helped establish the medium and the overall growth of the podcast audience helped set the table for the growth of the comedy-specific podcast audience.

The same thing is currently happening with email newsletters of the non-comedy variety. More people are creating them, more people are reading them, and there’s starting to be a lot of media attention given to them. For example, there’s been several recent articles written about the rise of email newsletters including this New York Times column, this Fast Company article about the rise of Tinyletter, and this Atlantic piece about people’s frustration with the social stream.

As referenced in some of those articles, there’s some pretty eye-opening numbers about the size of the email newsletter audience already including that Mailchimp is adding 10,000 new users a day and that 9.3 million people have subscribed to Tinyletter newsletters. These are big numbers that suggest a very large (and growing) audience can be reached through email newsletters these days.

2. Comics Are Uniquely Positioned To Create Better Newsletters Than The Average Person

As with most forms of online content, comedians are better equipped to create compelling newsletters than the average person. Because comics are (theoretically) “professionally” funny, they should be able to write an email newsletter that’s way more entertaining than some “civilian.”

This mirrors what happened with podcasts – there were tons of podcasts out there featuring regular people making snarky comments or jokes about various topics, but when professional comedians and entertainers stormed the medium they wound up rising to the top and raising the overall level of the audience’s expectations.

I think the same thing is likely to happen with email newsletters – at least the ones that are designed to be funny/entertaining.

3. Email Newsletters Offer a Huge Benefit For Comics

One of the reasons comics flocked to podcasts was because it gave them the opportunity to reach a mass audience directly and showcase their talents in a way that provided value for them beyond just that podcast itself. It essentially created a virtual stage that was open to them 24/7.

The same is true for email newsletters.

Every comic (well, at least the smart ones) knows that growing your email list is a vital component to a successful career and one of the most important assets you can have at your disposal. But unfortunately most comics struggle to grow their list – in part because they only use their email list to send out show updates and only ask people to join their email list at their shows (if that).

That approach would be the equivalent of launching a podcast where all you did was talk about your upcoming shows – nobody would subscribe to that.

But creating an email newsletter that actually delivers compelling content gives people a reason to subscribe and in the process delivers comics a direct connection to a lot more people. Those connections can pay dividends in a number of ways down the road, unlike podcasts where you don’t capture an email address from listeners.

In that respect, a successful newsletter would actually be MORE VALUABLE to comics than a successful podcast already is today.

4. Email Newsletters Cost Less And Are Less Complicated Than Podcasts

Let’s be honest: launching a podcast is not the easiest thing in the world for non-technical people. You’ve got to figure out how to record it, get some equipment, figure out how to upload it and get it into iTunes, etc. None of that is impossible and it’s certainly gotten simpler over the past couple years, but it’s still a bit daunting for some people.

Still, most comics these days have put in the time, effort, and money to make it happen.

Comparatively, email newsletters are WAY simpler to produce. There’s little-to-no cost involved, practically no set up, and really no excuse for a comic not to have one.

I think this means that as comedian newsletters build momentum we’ll see a rush to the format that dwarves the rush we saw into podcasts.

5. The Audience For Newsletters Is WAY Bigger Than The Podcast Audience – Or ANY Social Media Audience

One of the things that got lost in the comedy podcast gold rush is how relatively small the potential audience for podcasts actually is. Sure, tons of people listen to podcasts and more are starting to each day, but it’s still just a tiny fraction of the number of people who use email.

The only people who will ever potentially listen to your podcast are people who listen to podcasts already – so basically you’re competing for a fraction of a fraction of an audience. But pretty much everybody uses email, so if you’re able to convert the same fraction of users to subscribers, you’re going to wind up with a lot more people.

Also, email is way more powerful than social media – that’s why social networks are constantly emailing you to tell you what’s happening on their network, because they know that you’re more likely to see something in your email than in your Twitter feed. So again, a successful email newsletter would be a much more valuable tool to a comic than a successful social media following.

Now For The Really Interesting Part…

If the five things I’ve spelled out above have at least made you start to think about the possibilities for a comedy email newsletter boom, here’s the really interesting part – barely any comics are actually producing newsletters at the moment.

You might think that runs counter to my prediction, but I actually think it shows that now is the moment when huge opportunity exists to be one of the early adopters and stake claim before the rest of the comedy world chases after the next big thing. The circumstances are right for some comedians to capitalize on the growing interest in email newsletters and somebody out there is going to become to newsletters what Marc Maron was to podcasts.

The question is, will it be you?

If you’ve got a newsletter (or decide to start one after reading this article), please post a comment below and tell me about it – I’d love to check it out.

READ THIS NEXT: How To Get More People To Join Your Mailing List

If you’d like to write a guest post for Connected Comedy, please email me.

1. Get A Partner

It’s important to have someone to help balance out the LA transition. For me, it was my wife, who has been part of my career since we met in college. She was there the first time I did an open mic, and she’s the first person I turn to when I need help with anything creatively. With her steady full time job and me trying to make connections in a new city, we really succeeded in being able to afford the higher rent, gas, and living expenses.

This partner doesn’t need to be a significant other; it can be a friend you’re sharing an apartment with, a parent supporting your relocation with monetary help, or even a nest egg you’ve saved up for this huge move. Who/whatever it is, make sure it’s reliable and supportive.

2. Have A Side Business

When I first moved to LA, I had no steady income. My comedy career in the Midwest consisted of standup gigs on the weekend and trivia nights I ran at bars on the weekdays. In LA, I knew I would have very little comedy income because of the massive talent pool and almost non-existent comedy club paychecks, so my big plan was to host trivia at bars around LA to stay afloat at first.

I had a slow start with getting bars to sign on, but this side business really helped me match my wife with income after a few months. And, having just a two-hour, late night commitment to these bars each week left my days open to pursue acting auditions, classes, extra work, production jobs, and all kinds of other random “side missions” to the LA game.

Additionally, this particular side business keeps me fresh on crowd work, testing jokes, networking with players on a weekly basis and helps build my brand. Hopefully, this side business will turn into a real business – in my case in the form of a game show pitch. Try to make your side business lucrative for both your wallet and your career goals.

3. Evaluate How You Spend Your Time

As a new comic in LA, I was eager to take my stab at the ever-spreading comedy scene. I wanted to make an impression and do all the best shows I could, and I wanted to mingle at open mics and get to know everybody.

This is a great plan, but LA is seriously MASSIVE when it comes to how many comedians, mics and showcases exist. There are hundreds, seemingly, in every regard. It’s hard to get decent stage time consistently at mics, so I found myself quickly strained to hang out for four hours only to get three minutes in front of the sound guy and two comics waiting to go up after me.

Sure, open mics are great, especially when you’re starting out, but I think it’s important to make sure you’re getting what you want out of these nightly segments. Think about what you can do with that four-hour stretch rather than just conforming to this idea that “more open mics = better comedian.”

Mics are crucial for comics at any level, but evaluating that time is much more important. If you’re not growing in some way, don’t waste your time.

4. Repeat The Good Stuff

Try lots of things and do the best ones over and over again! I started making sketches with some other comedians in a group called Bitsville U.S.A. over the last year or so, and the finished products were exceptional. After seeing the final cut, I knew these were guys that I would like to work with again and again.

I think it’s important to always try new things, but you can’t deny quality if it’s consistent, and you need to embrace those instances whether they be a great acting/writing class, a particular stage around town, or even notes from a new friend on a script you’ve traded. Find people that motivate you in some way and make these people your best friends – both socially and professionally.

5. Embrace New Opportunities

Welcome the possibility of humility, try it all. One time, Central Casting called me up and asked if I could roller skate (documented on my website in my #30DaysLA blog). I couldn’t, but I said I could, because I had two days to prep and knew I could learn it if I tried hard enough.

I did, and I never fell, and I got some great screen time on How I Met Your Mother, and a great commercial spot featuring my face during the Super Bowl last year advertising that episode. NONE of that would have happened if I just politely whispered that I didn’t know how to skate and hung up the phone.

The same thing happened more recently when an agency called and asked if I had teleprompter experience. I didn’t, but I knew there was a free app called “Teleprompter” on my iPad that I could practice with for the weeks leading up to the industrial commercial taping, so I told them I could and made some very easy money for what turned out to be a three-session shoot totaling over $1,000.

Little decisions can really lead to much bigger accomplishments, and I work best under pressure, so I embrace it. Maybe you can, too.

6. Keep Reaching Out To People

On my 500th day in LA, I got a job as an Associate Producer on MTV’s Ridiculousness. I had interviewed for several jobs as a segment producer with the shows Wipeout and Mud, Sweat, and Gears, and I didn’t get either job, even after feeling like I had some of the best interviews of my life.

I was discouraged, and when I’m discouraged, I do this thing where I text everybody in my phone. Something. Anything. Just a “Hey, what’s up” or a quick joke or something and if they respond, I see where that can take me.

Around day 480 (after failing on both those interviews) I randomly text a friend of mine named Rob O’Reilly, who I knew worked on Ridiculousness. I asked if he knew of any jobs opening up, and he did. He asked for a resume, I spruced it up, sent it through, and got an interview later that afternoon.

The next day I had the job, and that next Monday, I started. NONE of that would have happened if I didn’t simply reach out. Always throw stuff out there and see what bounces back.

7. Explore The West Coast

When you get out here, LA is the hub for everything. But, the whole coast is amazing and a must-see experience. And not just the coast. Vegas is close, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Seattle, they’re all out this way and they’re all filled with possible opportunities you could discover in one adventurous weekend.

As a writer or creative person, you need to see some of the areas where your characters are supposedly from. Even if nothing happens from this travel for your career, you’re bound to be inspired in your surroundings

8. Share Other People’s Creations

Your work is super important, but so is the work of your peers. It’s never going to hurt you to promote someone else’s work. Find people who make stuff that appeals to you and reach out to them with a note or a critique or any response to recognize their work. They want to hear it! That’s why they’re posting stuff.

Posting links to content keeps me searching for ways to stay fresh and it really promotes the sense of community that can be lost when moving to a new city. Like a video you saw on Funny or Die? Message the uploader and see how you can be a part of the next one.

9. Buy Someone A Pizza

When my friend Ken Garr has a great comedy club weekend, he has a pizza sent to the booker’s office, thanking them for the good time. As he claims, no one is ever upset to get a free pizza.

When I interviewed for Ridiculousness, I made a connection with one of my now-bosses about his wife being from Chicago. The day after my interview, I had a Chicago-style deep dish pizza sent over from a nearby place called Taste Chicago with my boss’s names on it and the note “some Chicago love from Ryan Budds.”

Even if I didn’t get the job, maybe they’d remember me for the next opening as the “pizza guy.” Fortunately, I did get the job, and maybe it wouldn’t have mattered if I hadn’t sent a pizza but it definitely didn’t hurt. If you have an opportunity coming up, figure out how you can add a pizza (real or figurative) to the situation to better your odds

10. Pay It Forward

Do podcasts! Reply to emails! Let people take out you to lunch! Take the time to embrace all the people that took time to embrace you.

I let a guy named Jared Iverson take me out to lunch because he really enjoyed my last appearance on the On The Page podcast, and now we’re friends. Jared then came to one of my trivia nights and made more friends, including some actors that are appearing in tons of new movies and projects. I love interacting with people that like what I’m doing. As a performer, I’m looking for attention, and until I’m TMZ-status, let’s keep it coming.

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1. Houston Audiences Are Diverse…And Somewhat Segregated

Houston is a port city with an amazing blend of cultures from around the world. With 10 colleges and universities within the Houston metropolitan area, it’s also one of the most educated cities. That said, the crowds range from extremely diverse to extremely homogenous depending on what side of town you’re on.

Houston’s strongest comics tailor their material, with minor tweaks, to work in front of whatever audience they’re performing for that night.

2. Living In Houston Is Affordable

The fair market rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is $872. If you’re willing to live outside the loop or outside the beltway and share an apartment/house, you can find some very good deals. Of course, you will spend more on transportation and give up on convenience if you live outside the beltway and you should know that nearly all of the prominent open mics are inside the 610 loop.

3. You’re Going To Need A Car

In terms of square mileage, Houston is larger than the state of New Jersey. The good news is, the best open mics are literally within a 10-mile radius of each other.

The bad news? Houston’s rail system is virtually non-existent (there is one track that runs from the Medical Center to downtown that is adjacent to exactly ZERO comedy clubs or open mics) and most of the buses shut down by 10 pm. This means to get to any open mic or comedy club, you have to drive yourself or carpool.

4. There Are Only Two Comedy Clubs, And Only One Of Them Cares About You

Within the last five years, Houston’s comedy scene shrank from four comedy clubs to one – the Houston Improv.

Fortunately, the Joke Joint Comedy Showcase (formerly the Comedy Showcase) was resurrected, and in its new incarnation, is really going out of its way to cultivate and feature local talent. It hosts a weekly open mic with a built-in workshop for both budding and experienced comics.

The Joke Joint is also the fastest way for a comic with skills to get host and feature experience. Not to say that the Improv doesn’t feature local talent, but their open mic is only once a month and breaking into their host/feature ranks can be difficult.

5. To Connect To The Open Mic Scene, You’ve Got To Go Online

If you ever want to know where to go for stage time on any particular night in Houston, your first stop should be the Comedy Scene In Houston website. This is critical because open mics tend to have a 2-month half-life in the city, and you don’t want to spend hard earned gas money only to show up to an empty bar.

If you plan on actually performing, a few of the open mics require that you sign up online by either sending an email message or filling out a form online. For example, Rudyards – one of the hottest open mics in town – happens every Monday, but you have to send the email between Thursday and Saturday of the previous week.

Warehouse Live has a Tuesday Open Mic that requires you to fill out an online signup form, but allow you to sign up for the entire month in advance.

For up to the minute updates on open mics,shows, auditions etc, make sure you join the Houston Comics and Houston Stage Time Facebook groups.

6. There’s Not Much Industry In Houston

While Houston is an outstanding training ground for young comics, if you seek to earn TV credits or get work in movies or commercials, this is NOT the place for you. Networks may come here every other year to audition talent for standup specials, but more often than not, you’ll find yourself driving to Austin (2 hours), San Antonio (3 hours), or Dallas (4 hours) to have a crack at spots on the small screen.

In addition, New Orleans (6 hours) has recently become a magnet for TV and film, with several casting agencies drawing talent from across the South for extra work in both TV and film.

7. Independent Promoters And The Rooms They Run Rule The Town

Where major clubs have closed their doors, independent promoters and non-traditional venues have stepped up to fill in the gaps. Carlos Wallace hosts the “Houston Allstars”show at the Houston Improv the 2nd Wednesday of every month. I personally produce/host two shows at Warehouse Live, The Bambou Lounge, and the Joke Joint.

Warehouse Live is stepping into the comedy game big time, with a weekly (Tuesday) open mic hosted by Gabe Bravo and Stephan Brandau, as well as periodically bringing in national headliners including Todd Barry, Chelsea Peretti, and Doug Benson.

Rudyard’s not only has one of the hottest open mics run by Dusti Rhodes, but they also have the monthly “Level Up”showcase produced by Brian Zeolla. Also, Steven Padilla runs the longest running Comedy Open Mic in Houston at St Daines every Thursday, and they also host a contest and periodic showcase. Meanwhile, Chris Oddo books the monthly “20/20/20”show, while The Hard Rock Café, Grooves Nightclub, and a host of other venues allow local comics to flourish.

In addition, MPAC, a performing arts nonprofit headed up by entertainment attorney Jalene Mack, sponsors a festival every year that features industry speakers, showcases, business panel discussions, and workshops as part of the effort to grow the Houston entertainment industry and support local talent.

Want more? You can read about other comedy scenes here.

I went through the list of people I was following to do two things: Determine if everybody I was following was still worth following and categorize every single person I followed into one of a series of Twitter lists based on what they tweeted about.

What I didn’t expect when I decided to do this was how much I would learn from the process. It turned out I learned so much – and so greatly improved my experience using Twitter – that I now think it’s something everybody should do every once in a while.

By the time I was done I was down to following 408 people – that’s right, I discovered that more than 40% of the people I was following on Twitter I didn’t want to follow any more! That’s a pretty big number.

But that’s not all I learned. Here’s why I think you should give it a shot…

1. It Will Change Your Approach To Twitter

A funny thing happens when you look at hundreds of Twitter accounts back-to-back and ask yourself whether you want to keep following each of them. You see trends emerge in how people use the platform and you realize how many people’s tweets just blend together.

For example, I followed a lot of comedians who for the most part did nothing but post jokes. Sure, some of them were funny (and some of them weren’t), but after a while I started to ask myself how many people tweeting random observations about what they ate or their crazy friend did I actually needed to see ? 10? 25? 100?

At some point, they started to blur together and I realized my feed was being crowded with stuff I didn’t really care that much about. My standards started to rise.

Sure, I wanted to see funny stuff in my feed, but it made me realize to justify following somebody who was primarily posting jokes/observations those jokes had to be really good and (even more importantly) really consistent.

I also realized I was way more interested in funny people who shared more than just jokes and observations. It was a way for them to stand out from the crowd and provide me with more value.

Setting aside my own personal interests, I guarantee you if you go through and analyze the people you’re following on Twitter it will definitely make you think twice about what you post on your account and look to find ways to separate yourself from what every other comic is doing.

2. You’ll Realize How Much You’re Missing – And How Much Your Followers Are Missing

As I went through the people I followed I was shocked at how many people I followed that I felt like I hadn’t seen a tweet from them in months. It wasn’t that they weren’t tweeting, it’s just that their tweets didn’t happen to occur at the moments that I was checking my feed and I basically never saw them.

This is partially what inspired me to put everybody I follow into Lists so that I’m more likely to see their posts, but it also served as a reminder that many of my own followers likely aren’t seeing my tweets either. After all, if I was following people whose tweets I wanted to see but missed them, then the chances are the same thing is happening with people who follow me.

This is also a reminder that engaging with the people you follow (or who follow you) can be a good way to remind them to check out your tweets, even if they’ve missed them in their feeds.

3. You’ll Think About Why You Follow People

When you decide to analyze who you’re following it forces you to think about what kinds of people can be the most helpful to you and your goals. For example, think about what you want to learn and what kind of content you want to be exposed to and then make sure that the majority of people you follow fit that mold.

As you break down the people you’re currently following and put them into lists based on interests, you also wind up with an interesting snapshot of exactly how much of various types of info you’re feeding yourself through your Twitter feed. That snapshot will probably surprise you – I know mine did.

Here’s the breakdown of the 7 lists that I used to categorize the people I’m following and how many people I have on each list at the moment:

• Comedy – 97 (this is for comedians and people working in the comedy biz)

• Creative People – 86 (this is a catch-all for interesting/creative/inspiring people I want to keep tabs on)

• People I Know – 63 (this is for friends and people I know “in real life”)

• Sports – 60 (this is for sports journalists, athletes, sports blogs, etc)

• Media Outlets – 57 (this is for publications, websites, etc.)

• Terps – 22 (this is for people who cover Maryland sports)

• Journalists – 20 (this is for individual journalists who cover topics I’m interested in)

These are the numbers I wound up with after shedding a couple hundred other people that I was following and they’re a little more in balance with what I really want to get out of Twitter. But initially, I was shocked to find out how many people I was following related to Sports for example, when that wasn’t really a prime thing I was focused on as relates to Twitter.

But if you don’t look at the big picture of who you’re following, you’ll never really get an accurate sense of what you’re getting out of it.

4. You’ll Be Surprised How Many People You’re Following For No Reason

As somebody who’s pretty dialed in to Twitter on a daily basis I was shocked to see how many people I was following that I had no idea why I ever followed them in the first place. I’m not even talking about accounts that had been abandoned (there were plenty of those too), but rather people who were tweeting every day and I followed them for seemingly no reason at all.

People I didn’t know, wasn’t interested in, and had no memory of why I ever hit the Follow button on their page. I’m sure you’ll find a lot of the same in your feed – it’s worth removing them because they’re not doing anything but distracting you from the people whose tweets you actually want to see.

5. You’ll Find Twitter Becomes Much More Useful To You

It may not seem like following fewer people and arranging them in Twitter lists would make much impact in your Twitter experience, but trust me it will. I always say that if you think Twitter sucks it’s because you follow the wrong people, but it’s also possible that another reason you don’t love Twitter is because you’re following too many people.

Are You Ready To Give It A Shot?

If you decide to follow my lead and review/clean up the people you follow on Twitter I’d love to hear what you learn from doing it. Let me know in the comments or tweet me!

With that in mind, here’s some ideas for how you can maximize the value you get from those 140-character bits of hilarity you’re crafting.

1. Post Your Jokes As Comments On Relevant Articles

When something big happens in the news these days, comics rush to Twitter to share their joke about the topic with whoever happens to follow them on Twitter. That’s fine, but it also misses an opportunity to post that same joke someplace where NEW people might discover you instead of just sharing it with the same people who already know you.

The next time you’ve got something funny to say about something in the news, go find a popular website that’s written an article on the subject and post your joke as a comment on that article.

This will not only expose you to a new audience that you know is interested in the topic your joke (because they’re on the page reading the news your joke is about), but it’s also likely that your joke will stand out from the crowd of comments since (theoretically) what you have to say will be better than what some other random Internet person has to say on the subject since you’re a comedian.

To give you a sense of the potential audience here, the current article at the top of the Huffington Post home page about Obamacare has 1,700+ comments on it already. And that’s just a small fraction of the number of people who are actually reading those comments. Seems like a good place to reach people with your Obamacare joke beyond the couple hundred people already following you on Twitter.

2. Post Your Tweets Multiple Times

Always remember that a small fraction of your followers (typically 10% or less) are actually going to see your tweets because they tend to only see them if they happen to be checking their feeds when you post them. So, one of the easiest ways to get more bang for your tweet buck is to post the same tweet multiple times.

You don’t have to go overboard, but there’s nothing wrong with posting a good tweet a couple times at different times of the day/week to ensure that more people actually see it. You’ll be surprised to see that the second time you post it will likely receive just as much interaction as the first.

3. Build Your Jokes Into Bigger Bits

Twitter can be great as market research. If you post a joke that does well, try to figure out what about it worked and what resonated with people. Then look for ways to build on it – maybe it becomes a bigger bit in your standup act, maybe it becomes the premise of a sketch video, maybe you can build it into a blog post.

Just because something starts as a tweet doesn’t mean it can’t grow into something much more important.

4. Repurpose Your Tweets In Other Mediums

One of the easiest ways to get more out of the jokes you post on Twitter is to repurpose them in other mediums. It’s likely that lots of the jokes you tweet could easily be turned into funny images, or form the basis of videoblog entries on YouTube, or even become part of a podcast or a book.

And remember, each medium brings its own opportunities to introduce yourself and connect to a new audience – even if it’s with some of the same material.

5. Use Them On Your Website

I  covered this in more detail in my post about 7 Reasons The Stuff You Post On Social Media Should Also Be On Your Website so I won’t get into a lot of details here, but I’ll remind you that Twitter is very much about what’s happening right now and therefore your jokes have a very short life-span on the platform. There’s value in collecting and presenting your Twitter jokes in interesting ways on your website that will allow you to get much more out of them over the long run.

I was lucky enough to have some conversations with people who work at Facebook recently and those, combined with some of my own experimentation, have led me to realize a few things that can have a big impact on getting more of your posts into people’s news feeds – even without spending any money on Facebook ads (even though I still think Facebook ads are a great tool).

Here’s what I recommend at the moment…

1. Post More Often

For the past several years Facebook actually used to punish you for posting more than a couple times a day on your fan page. But that recently changed and now there’s no penalty for frequent posting as long as you space out your posts by at least a few minutes (probably better to give it at least a 30-minute gap between posts just to be safe).

This means that chances are the more often you post, the more people will see your stuff (in total).

However, there is one big caveat to this – you still need to make sure you’re posting QUALITY content. Facebook still measures the engagement (Likes/Comments/Shares/Clicks) on every single thing you post and if your fans don’t engage with your posts, they will stop seeing them show up in their news feed.

So don’t just start posting more crap to increase the frequency because that will backfire. You want to find the right balance of quantity and (most importantly) quality posts.

2. Post Multiple Images In A Single Status Update

Because Facebook measures the quality of your posts based on the engagement your fans have with those posts, you want to post things in ways that generate the most possible engagement. One of the best ways I’ve found to do that is to post multiple photos in a single status update. This does a couple things…

First, the multi-photo post stands out in people’s news feeds because it tends to be bigger and there’s multiple thumbnail images that could catch a person’s eye. That makes them more likely to click and engage with the post.

Second, people tend to click through multiple times to view multiple photos in the post. Each of those clicks counts as engagement with the post and what winds up happening is Facebook sees the post as super engaging, which in turn tells its algorithm to show it to more fans, which in turn builds on itself and gets more of your stuff into more people’s feeds.

3. Post Your Videos In Facebook’s Video Player, Not YouTube’s

YouTube is great and you should upload all of your videos to YouTube as a general rule. However, when it comes time to share those videos on Facebook, you’ll be much better served to upload them into Facebook’s video player as well.

A lot of people are confused about Facebook’s video player, but to use it you just upload a video file the same way that you normally would a photo to post on the site.

On average, you’ll find that the same video uploaded into Facebook’s video player will get shown to at least 5 times as many people as the same video would if shared as a YouTube link. If you think about it, the reason behind this is obvious – Facebook would rather you use their video player than YouTube’s, so they’re rewarding people who do so by pushing those videos into more people’s news feeds.

4. Tag Other Fan Pages In Your Posts

This is another HUGE change that most people don’t know about. It used to be that the only people who could ever see your posts were people who were already fans of your page. But that’s not true any more.

Now, Facebook will also put your posts into the news feeds of people who have no connection to your page – but only if you’re talking about things that those people are already fans of.

For example, if you post something about the Spiderman movie and tag the Spiderman page in your post, there’s the potential for fans of Spiderman who don’t have any idea who you are to have that post show up in their news feed.

Obviously, that’s a huge opportunity for you to get exposed to new potential fans and you’d be wise to take advantage of it.

For example, here’s something I posted about Last Comic Standing and tagged the Last Comic Standing page in my post. As a result, 1,500 people who were not fans of Connected Comedy were exposed to that post.

5. Understand That Not All Engagement Is Created Equal

As I mentioned before, engagement with your posts is really the key that unlocks getting your stuff into people’s news feeds. But it’s also important to understand that not all engagement is created equal – Facebook weights different ways that people engage with your post and more highly rewards what they perceive as a bigger form of engagement.

I’m not 100% sure of this, but from conversations I’ve had with people that work for Facebook, I believe they view comments and shares as the most valuable form of engagement with a post, and then view Likes and clicks as secondary engagement metrics.

What this means for you is that you’ll want to frame your posts in a way that they generate the most possible comments and shares as opposed to just chasing Likes and clicks. Of course, those Likes and clicks are still valuable and better than no engagement at all, but the holy grail of engagement is to get people talking and sharing.

One More Thing…

If you found this post helpful, will you please take a moment and tweet about it? Thx!

Comedians post TONS of stuff on social media every day. But they post NOTHING on their websites every day.

If you’re like most comics, the rise of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and a million other social platforms has probably led you to put more content out into the world than ever before. But because you’re primarily posting that content on social platforms and not on your own website, you’re only reaping a tiny fraction of the potential rewards you could be getting from those creations.

Here’s a few reasons why I think you’d benefit from posting much of that social media content on your personal website as well.

1. It Extends The Life Cycle Of Your Content

You know that awesome photo or joke you posted on Twitter or Facebook this afternoon? Well, you’ve only got a few hours at most for people to see it so I hope people happen to be online when you posted it.

Social media – especially platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – is designed to be a very in-the-moment type of experience. It’s real-time, and people consume it by seeing what’s new in their feed at that moment. Think about it – when was the last time you looked at a tweet that somebody had posted a month ago? Or an Instagram pic they uploaded a year ago?

It just doesn’t happen and that means that all of that stuff you’re creating essentially evaporates within 24 hours of when you created it. It’s the equivalent of telling a joke on stage at an open mic, having it kill, and never being able to use it again or have anybody else discover it. It’s a waste.

But posting that same piece of content on your website at least creates an opportunity for it to be discovered later down the road – in fact, it can actually be found forever and repurposed in ways in which you can extend the life cycle and value you get out of it.

2. It Creates An Opportunity For People To Discover You Through Search

Let’s say you created something funny about diet tips. You can post that content on social media and people might like it, they might share it, and you might even get some new people to discover you through it.

But if that same thing goes on your website, it has the potential to be discovered by every single person searching Google for diet tips – forever. As you can imagine, that’s a LOT of people and while there’s certainly no guarantee they’re going to find what you posted, it still is a possibility that some of them will.

Here’s some stats to give you an idea of what’s possible. On Connected Comedy last month, I had 4,976 people visit my site as a result of finding it through 473 different things they had searched for in Google. None of that is paid ads or anything like that – it’s just a matter of me putting content on a website and them discovering it when searching for content about similar subjects.

And similar things can happen on an even less niche-targeted site. On my personal blog, I had 874 people visit my site last month from Google searches for 114 different things.

The point is that by only posting your great piece of content on social media, you’ve drastically decreased the potential audience for your work in the long term.

3. It Creates An Opportunity For Influential People And Sites To Discover You

Do you want a particular person or publication to know you exist? Here’s a simple way to do it – post a link to their website on your website.

Everybody (even big companies or popular people) pays attention on some level to who is linking to them and sending traffic to their site. When you post a link to them, the chances are if at least a couple people click that link then they will see the traffic you sent them and at least check out your site.

Here’s an example – Let’s say you found some article on Huffington Post and decided to share it with people. One way to do it is to share a link through Facebook or Twitter. But if you only do that, HuffPo will have no idea who was sending them the traffic because all they will see in their analytics is that those clicks came from “Twitter” or “Facebook.” (Yes, you can tag them in the links – and you should – but they still won’t know exactly how many clicks you sent them)

But every click to the HuffPo site from your personal website will show that it came from your website and will essentially be “introducing” you to the HuffPo editors, or whoever is monitoring their traffic. Does that mean anything will ultimately come from it? Not necessarily, but at least it gets you on their radar.

4. It Creates An Opportunity To Capture An Email Address Or Promote Something Else

When you share something in a social media post, the only thing the person sees is what’s in that individual post. That means you don’t really have the opportunity to introduce that person to anything else you do or to capitalize on them enjoying what you shared by getting them to join your email list.

But when somebody experiences a piece of content on your website, it’s easy to incorporate plugs for your email list (like you’ll see I do at the bottom of this post) or whatever else you want them to see. Plus, people are way more likely to click around to your other content within your site, than they are with content that lives solely on a social platform.

5. It Allows You To Easily Repurpose Content And Maximize Its Value

Let’s say that each week you tweet jokes about Game of Thrones while you watch it. That’s great, and people who are watching the show and following hashtags may find your stuff. But, those jokes are only living on your Twitter feed they disappear almost as fast as you created them. You’ve limited their value.

Now imagine if after each episode you took those jokes and posted them in a blog post on your site – something like “The 10 Most WTF Moments In Game Of Thrones Last Night.” Suddenly, you’ve created a “new” piece of content that makes more of your existing work and can exist on its own. (Plus, notice how something like that could also be found in Google searches related to Game of Thrones as well)

Now take it a step further. Imagine if at the end of the season you compiled each week’s writeup into an overall season blog post titled “The 100 Most WTF Moments In Game Of Thrones This Season.” Now you’ve got an amazing piece of content that would appeal to a lot of different people and it really hasn’t taken you any additional work to create it!

All you’ve done is repurpose and maximize the value you’re getting out of something you were already doing on social media.

6. It Ensures It Will Always Be There

I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again – most social networks ultimately fail and disappear. Remember all that stuff you posted on MySpace? Well, that wound up being pretty useless in the long run, right?

Just because Facebook and Twitter seem solid today, that doesn’t mean they’re going to be around tomorrow. If they are the sole resting place of your content then you’re risking having that content disappear one day, or at a minimum facing a situation where importing it to whatever the new social network of the moment is will be a nightmare.

But a website you own and control will always be there. And so will the content you put on it.

7. There’s No Reason Not To Do This

If you’re still not convinced that it makes sense to use your website to house content as much as you do your social channels, here’s my final plea – there’s no reason not to try it. The  only potential downside of doing this is that it might take you a couple extra minutes to add that photo, or joke, or whatever to your site in addition to posting it on social.

But that’s really a pretty minor thing considering all the potential value you might be able to get from it.

1. San Francisco Audiences Are Diverse

San Francisco is one of the most diverse cities in the country. About one third of San Francisco residents were born outside the U.S., it’s one of the most educated cities in the country, has the largest gay population in the country, and registered Democrats here outnumber registered Republicans by a 6-to-1 margin.

As a result, San Francisco audiences tend to be young, smart, liberal, and skeptical. There’s a lot going on in “The City.” They want you to prove to them that you’re worth their time.

While well-worn rehashing of racial stereotypes, homophobia, and misogyny are not absent from the scene, they’re a good way to make many audiences uncomfortable.

That being said, it’s a big city. You may end up in front of rooms full of Midwestern tourists on Fisherman’s Wharf, international travelers near the hostels in the Tenderloin, or basements full of hipsters in the Mission.

2. You Probably Can’t Afford to Live In San Francisco

Rents in San Francisco are triple the national average. They’ve risen as much as 10% per month recently. So you’re going to have roommates. You’re going to have lots of roommates.

In the last year especially, rent prices have forced many San Francisco comedians out of the city to cheaper housing across the Bay. While it hasn’t happened much yet, we may see a shift in the center of the independent comedy scene from San Francisco to Oakland in the near future. Oakland may not sound quite as romantic as San Francisco, but there’s nothing sexy about paying $500/month to literally sleep in a closet.

3. Getting Around the City

Since you’ve already spent all your money on rent, the good news is you can get probably get by without a car. BART is the hub of San Francisco’s public transportation system. Its 100+ miles of track connect San Francisco to the Peninsula and East Bay, and by 2016 will extend south to downtown San Jose.

Much of the comedy happening in San Francisco (and Oakland, for that matter) takes place in the BART-accessible neighborhoods of SoMa, the Tenderloin, and the Mission. The rest are a (usually) quick bus-ride away.

4. You’re Going to Spend Some Time at the Laundromat

On most nights, there are three to five open mics within San Francisco (Friday and Saturday being the exceptions) with at least that many also happening in nearby cities. If you’re willing to put in the effort, you can get up 15+ times a week.

The keystone of the open mic scene is the Brainwash Laundromat & Cafe’s Thursday night open mic, run for the last 15 years by Tony Sparks, the “Godfather” of San Francisco Comedy. The Brainwash currently hosts mics and showcases four nights per week, as well as a monthly Saturday show.

5. There Are Two Main Comedy Clubs

There are two comedy clubs in San Francisco, the Punch Line and Cobb’s. Both are owned by Live Nation.

The audition process starts with the Sunday Showcase at the Punch Line. You purchase a punch card, show up for a year, and then get your chance to do five minutes. If that goes well, you get back up in three to six months, eventually graduating to off-night Cobb’s showcases and an audition if all goes according to plan. If you pass your audition, you’re added to the rotation of openers, which currently numbers around 70.

Even if you’re not one of the dozen or so comics performing, Sunday nights at the Punch Line offer some of the best opportunities to meet other locals, as there are generally 50+ comics in attendance every week.

6. There’s A Lot More Independent Rooms

Live Nation may have a chokehold on the clubs, but there are up to a dozen additional shows going on any given night in bars, black boxes, and basements across the city. It takes time and effort to get a new show going. The Business, one of the most successful independent shows in San Francisco (and now with offshoots in New York & Los Angeles) took several years to hit its stride, but now consistently sells out.

Even in a city with as much going on as San Francisco, the audiences are there if you’re willing to put in the work. Current New York comic Jabari Davis’ shows at the late Purple Onion and Stroy Moyd’s ongoing shows at the 500-seat Great Star Theatre are notable examples of recent independent success.

7. You Are Not Alone

San Francisco proper has about 750,000 residents, but the Greater Bay Area contains 10 times that many, as well as four additional comedy clubs. The two East Bay clubs, E One Entertainment & Tommy T’s, as well as the San Jose Improv an hour to the south, pull their hosts from the stables of local comics that produce off-night (usually Wednesday) showcases at each respective club.

Rooster T. Feather’s, also in the San Jose area, books hosts from their weekly Wednesday “New Talent Night” and annual comedy competition. Santa Cruz has at least one show every night of the week. The North Bay has several monthly shows. Sacramento and its four additional comedy clubs is just 90 miles up Interstate 80.

8. You May Hit Your Head

San Francisco is a great place to develop, but there’s no industry here. You still need to move to New York or Los Angeles. Great comics come out of San Francisco all the time (Al Madrigal, W. Kamau Bell, Ali Wong, Moshe Kasher, Emily Heller, Alex Koll, Greg Edwards, and Chris Garcia all within the last couple years for example), but the key is in the leaving.

Once you’re featuring regularly at Cobb’s and the Punchline, there’s nowhere else to go. San Francisco has a low ceiling. Fortunately it’s just a 5-hour drive to Los Angeles, giving Bay Area comics ample opportunity to get comfortable with the LA scene before making the move.

9. It’s Not Quite What It Used to Be

But really, what is? San Francisco has been a hotbed of stand-up since the early 70’s, peaking at 14 full-time comedy clubs during the comedy boom. It now has two. While the annual Comedy Day still draws a few thousand people to Golden Gate Park every fall, it’s well down from the 20,000 that attended at its peak.

The San Francisco Comedy Competition still attracts solid talent locally and from around the country, but in the age of YouTube, is no longer the career-maker it once was. A glance at the list of past finalists reveals some pretty impressive names.

There is new blood however! Now in its 13th year, SF Sketchfest has expanded from its humble 2002 beginnings of six sketch groups in one theater to become a nearly three-week-long festival embracing all things comedy in venues across the city. At least three other local stand-up festivals and celebrations are also planning to debut over the next year.

10. Get To Know BACN

The best way to stay up to date on the happenings of the San Francisco stand up scene is the Bay Area Comedy Network Facebook group. It can be difficult to stay on top of everything within a community the size of San Francisco’s, especially given the fluid nature of comedy rooms. A list of all the shows, open mics, and community news in the Greater Bay Area is posted to the group each day.

Matt Gubser is a San Francisco Bay Area comedian who compiles The Rundown, a daily list of Bay Area stand-up shows and open mics. Follow him on Twitter.

On the “fans are a misnomer” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper and Josh Spector talk about changing your approach of how to make the leap to headlining shows, why clubs and bookers don’t make you a headliner – your fan base does, how the terms ‘opener’, ‘feature’ and ‘headliner’ are antiquated, and why building a community of people that knows, likes and trusts you (even if it’s not for comedy) will ultimately allow you to move up the ladder.

In addition, we debate changing the usage of the word ‘fans’ to ‘connections’, leveraging another comedian’s audience to build yours, periodically testing the affinity of your connections, and producing content as a means to stay visible, maintain top-of-mind, and put yourself in the position to get opportunities.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

Netflix’s Ted Sarandos Reveals His ‘Phase 2’ for Hollywood

Scott Simpson

Talking touring, comedy and religion with comedian Mike Birbiglia

Jurassic Park & The Death of Stop-Motion Animation

Industry Standard w/ Barry Katz

How To Create Value In What You Create

Tech Douchebags

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

Professor Blastoff is a weekly Podcast on the Earwolf Network, hosted by Tig Notaro, Kyle Dunnigan and David Huntsberger, with Aaron Burrell occasionally appearing to assist in the research and conversation, but he is absent from the episode addressed in this article.

Each episode revolves around a theme that the hosts find interesting. Their guests range from other celebs and comics to “regular” people and listeners who have expertise, insight or interest in the topic.

On a recent episode they took on the topic Show Business, and interviewed veteran manager, producer, and podcaster Barry Katz (who also happens to host his own fantastic Industry Standard podcast).

The episode is packed with great advice (Katz comes on at around the 13-minute mark) and you can listen to the full episode here, or read up on some of the highlights below.

1. Beware Of The Fine Print

At about the 21-minute mark, Katz talks about how producers will often approach comics at a performance with a video camera and a release form, offering a good quality tape in exchange for the right to show the performance in a “limited market” or for a “limited time.”

The fine print of these forms (and we’re talking super fine) can often give them rights to air your performance for much longer and in many more markets than initially promised (that’s what happened to Kyle Dunnigan, spawning the anecdote) and if it’s not you’re A+ act, you’ll be stuck with it circulating out there for who knows how long.

Katz’s advice: “Don’t sign anything or get taped, until your material is A+.” Don’t self-destruct.

2. “Lovable And Huggable” Wins The Race

At around the 25-minute mark the group has a conversation in which they analyze what tipped Notaro into becoming America’s Top Comic. Katz explains that, “99% of the time, huggable and lovable wins the race in standup comedy crossing over to TV and film.”

Katz talks about how prior to her brush with cancer, he always found Notaro to be rather stand-offish and felt uncomfortable around her. He even says he wasn‘t sure what to expect when he arrived for the episode.

But as her story of survival spread, it made her image more “huggable and lovable” and the experience has actually made her more of a “light in the room.” Sure, there are cases where less-than-lovable guys like Lewis Black or Denis Leary find success, but on the whole it’s comics that are likable that will cross over into the TV/film mainstream. You have to be likable at some level to get people to follow you from the small clubs, to the big clubs and theaters, and then to TV & film.

3. Consistency, Confidence, Hard Work and Positivity

These quotes say it all:

“There’s no way that anxiety and success go together.”

“If you’re anyone in any kind of career and you’re asking yourself, ‘I wonder if this is for me?’, then it’s not meant to be.”

“If you’re relying on the three clubs in town, you are not going to get great. You are dead, you have no shot at all, but if you go to all the open mic nights and every single opportunity there is…then you will get great. If you want to get great, get out there and get great. Find the opportunities or create them.”

4. There’s No Time Limit

At around the 51-minute mark, Katz talks about a hypothetical conversation with an 18-year-old Louis CK, when he was just starting, where he outlines all the success that he’ll have one day, but with the caveat that it won’t happen for 20 years. It’s a reminder that success doesn’t happen overnight and you shouldn’t expect it to.

That evolves into a bigger discussion and by the 62-minute mark Katz talks about “making it.”

He explains, “The only way you’re going to make it and get where you want to go is to create unique and special ideas and get people talking about them.”

5. In Show Business, Safe Is A Big Thing (especially when auditioning)

At around the 54-minute mark, Katz analyzes Kyle Dunnigan and identifies a quality that Dunnigan possesses to disarm everyone in the room at auditions and instantly make them feel comfortable and safe.

Most comics who get their own shows, do so as unproven entities. If the studio is going to give you a chance (with their money), they need to feel safe with you. They need to feel like you know what you’re doing. Approaching an audition with confidence, as though you’ve already been on the lot for months.

It’s not much of a stretch to extrapolate that concept to any sort of a gig. You’ve got to let them see that you can handle the opportunity and that their trust in your abilities won’t betray them.

6. You CAN Make Money In Comedy

At around the 70-minute mark, Katz offers some encouraging words for comics who may wonder if it’s actually possible to make any money in comedy. It is – if you’re willing to take it seriously.

“There’s no way you can’t make money in this business if you get up every morning at six and work till two on your craft and do everything in your power to,” he says. “The only way you can’t make it is if you’re self destructive, doing drugs; if you’re lazy, if you have a sense of entitlement, or if you’re mean or disingenuous.”

7. Relationships Are Important

Just as “Lovable and Huggable” is important to a crowd, it’s also important when relating to others in the business, including other comics. At around the 71-minute mark, Katz talks about Dane Cook and some mistakes that he made in his relationships with other comics.

While Cook was always respectful to his manager and agents, when it came to other comics he was guarded and seemed to have more of a rogue outlook as opposed to embracing the community of comics around him. It all boils down to respect – just because the club owner will let you go on at a moment’s notice, bumping other comics from the spots they‘ve been waiting on, it doesn’t mean you should.

Dane Cook reached that level, and was able to show up to a club and bump other comics, like Louis CK and Zach Galifianakis, who were just a few steps behind him in breaking, but no less professional and established in the community. Respect your fellow comics and their time.

You never know when they might be able to help you (or hurt you), so don’t be a jerk.

Did you find this podcast summary helpful? You can read more of them here.

I tweeted that sentence recently and it led comedian Dave Grimes to ask me for an example of what the difference between “just creating” and “creating value” would look like for a comedian. I thought that was a great question and one which takes a lot more than 140 characters to answer, so I figured I’d write a blog post on the subject.

All business (including the comedy business) is rooted in an exchange of value between parties. This is why my belief in the importance of creating value is a major underpinning of everything I discuss in the Connected Comedy universe.

But I haven’t talked much about how comedians can best create value in what they do – until now.

The 3 Types Of Value You Can Create

The first thing you need to understand is that there are three different types of value you can create in anything you do – your creations can provide value to yourself, value to your audience, or value to another business.

Some things you create will hopefully create value in a couple of those buckets (and occasionally all three), but they don’t necessarily have to. What you want to avoid is creating things that don’t create value in any of those ways.

Be careful and deliberate to ensure that the things you spend time creating are designed to provide at least one of those three types of value because if they’re not, then you’re “just creating” for the sake of creating and that’s where many comics wind up banging their head against the wall in frustration.

Another thing it’s important to realize is that the more clearly you can understand what type of value you hope to create with the thing you’re creating, the more likely you are to succeed. When you set out to create something, think through what type of value you’re hoping to generate from it and let that guide you in how you bring it into the world – and, just as importantly, let it serve as a metric for the ultimate success of what you’ve created.

Finally, one more broad note about creating value before I get into a more specific breakdown of each type of value. In general, the more unique your creation, the more potential value it has.

That’s just something to keep in the back of your head as you set off to create things that you hope will ultimately create value.

Now I’m going to break down some specifics about the different types of value you can create -these are applicable not only to standup, but to any form your creations may take including videos, podcasts, writing, and much more.

How To Create Value For Yourself

This is probably the simplest of the types of value you can create and also the one that comics are most familiar with (I’m sure there’s a joke about comic selfishness here to make, but I’ll skip it). In the world of standup, here’s just a few of the ways to create value for yourself beyond just the stage.

• Think of the concepts, characters, and bits you create for your act as true intellectual property – things that can be expanded in infinite ways. Things that can get turned into books, movies, web series, merchandise, and a million other things down the road. That doesn’t mean you should be constantly trying to turn every joke into a million dollar property, but it means you should be conscious of the fact that sometimes a joke can be turned into something much bigger – and more valuable.

• There’s value in sharpening your skills. Not all value is monetary value and you shouldn’t always be focused on monetizing your creations. It’s just as valid to see the value in creating something as a means to improving your talent. In the case of standup, you can create value by performing more often regardless of the financial incentive to do so. But, don’t forget that if the value you’re trying to create is an improvement of skills then you’ll want to focus your actions on improving those skills ad not just going through the motions.

• Another way to create value for yourself is to learn something. Put yourself in situations where you can learn from others, where you can experiment, where you can derive value in the form of knowledge and experience. Again, as relates to standup if the value you’re trying to create is knowledge then make sure you’re putting yourself into situations that will be educational and not just repeating the same things you already know.

• Enjoy yourself. Remember – money isn’t the only thing that’s valuable. Finding something that makes you happy and you enjoy is incredibly valuable and it’s ok if you want to do something just for the fun of it. But be honest with yourself – there’s nothing wrong with just doing standup as a hobby because you enjoy it. But if that’s the value you seek from it, act accordingly and don’t bother wasting your time with the parts of the business that doesn’t bring you enjoyment.

How To Create Value For Your Audience

It’s always been interesting to me that despite the fact that the most obvious key component to a comedy career is to provide value to the audience that sees your work, lots of comics don’t really understand how to deliver that value.

• Entertain them. This is the most obvious way to provide value for your audience and pretty much the only one that most comics ever think about. Making people laugh, or giving them an escape from the stresses of their life is obviously a way to create value for them. But it’s far from the only way…

• Educate them. When you can combine entertainment value with educational value – especially about topics that are relevant to the audience you’re speaking with, that creates a lot more value. This can occur in all kinds of ways ranging from corporate speaking to how-to web series videos and podcasts.

• Provide opportunities for them to be part of a community and connect with others who share their world view. This is a HUGE opportunity that most comedians never think about. If you can create ways for your fans to connect with each other and a community of people that you have connected through your creations, that makes what you do way more valuable than if it’s just about them connecting with you.

Along those lines, I can’t recommend highly enough that you go read the book Tribes by Seth Godin.

How To Create Value For Other Businesses

Besides creating value for yourself and the audience in what you do, you’ll want to figure out how you can create value for other businesses as well. Those businesses can include things like venues, bookers, show producers, agents, sponsors, employers, and even huge companies and providers of services like YouTube.

That may seem crazy, but think about it – don’t you think YouTube will be more inclined to help you if you provide more value to them in the videos you upload?

There’s several ways to create value for other businesses including:

• Make them money. This is the obvious one – every business you deal with is going to be looking for you to help them make money. Different businesses will make money off your creations in different ways – ticket sales, advertising against your creations, taking a percentage of the gigs they book you, etc. But they will all be looking for you to provide them with value by creating opportunities for them to turn a profit.

• Be responsible and easy to work with. Even if you can provide a business with a way to make money, you won’t be the only one that can do so. There’s a lot of value to be provided to a business by being professional, dependable, trustworthy and easy to work with. Whether it’s a venue or an agent, they will value you being easy to work with – because a lot of comics are not.

• Contribute your expertise. Most businesses aren’t run by the most creative people in the world and there’s opportunities to provide value to them with your creative skills. Remember, a comedy career is about more than just telling jokes on stage and you have an opportunity to create value for all kinds of businesses with the skills you’ve developed as a comedian – if you’re willing to start thinking about other opportunities.

One Last Thing About Creating Value…

While I hope the ideas I’ve listed above will give you a starting point to consider how you can best create value for yourself and others with your comedy, it’s by no means a definitive list of ways to do so. There are infinite opportunities for comics to create value and you can certainly discover your own…if you’re willing to start thinking about what you do in terms of how it can provide value and to whom.

Louis CK & Doug Stanhope Discuss The Merits Of Being A “Healthy” Comedian In 2005

One of the best things I found was this Alt Standup Comedy Google Group which featured conversations amongst a variety of comedians including such notable names as Louis CK and Doug Stanhope. One particular discussion thread that caught my eye was actually started by CK with the subject, “Are you a healthy comedian?” Here was his opening post:

“I know a lot of you out there have a diet that consists of Hardees and Taco Bell with the occasional frozen buffalo wings heated up in the condo microwave, and that your exercize regimen… doesn’t exist. Personally, one of the reasons I chose standup as a life is because it allowed me to lie on a floor for several hours eating lard and crying, only having to pull myself together for an hour a day or so. But if you want to have any longevity as a comedian, or if you want
 your brain and body to provide you with any consistent creative flow, 
you have to eat somewhat right and do some excercize of some kind.

I started running years ago and though I often fuck up and stop for a
long time, it keeps me alive.  Especially when I’m on the road, I like 
to run every day and explore the towns I’m working in. I try to eat
 shitloads of fruit too. Recently I started jumping rope which feels gay 
and wonderful at the same time.

Does anyone else work out/excercize/take care of themselves?  Or are
you all hoping to die a quick, american junkfood non-movement death?

just curious.

LCK”

This led Stanhope to reply:

“I try to do coke a couple times a month to get my heart rate up though Viagra can really get the ticker running at high speed especially if you are trying to come while you’re extraordinarily drunk. Cialis to a lesser extent but for a longer duration.

Often times on the road I will take very long walks when I wake up and
 don’t know where I am and need to get back to my hotel. Terror can at times be a great replacement for a sauna to help you 
sweat out the toxins. Sushi is very healthy I’ve heard and will help clean out your system 
the longer you leave it sitting around before consumption. Dry heaves
 help keep the abs tight. Carrying a lot of merchandise to a gig is a good workout and doing 
terribly on stage will insure you have to carry them all back home as
well. I also sometimes play darts in between shows.”

Later on in the discussion thread, CK expanded on his thoughts.

“For me, it’s not really about weight loss. Training just makes me sharper and mostly increases my endurance. let me put it to you all this way: Trying to be a standup comedian for 
a living, or beyond that, trying to pursue a life in comedy that has
 longevity and bredth, is crazily hard.

Lots of folks say it takes 15, maybe 20 years to make a great comic.
 Lots of people start out with a lot of talent but by the time they hit
 that many years they’ve given up, become bitter and crusty or have died 
from ill health and depression. Outside of all that, it seems to me that if  you’re trying to do
 something extraordinary, which succeeding as a comedian is, if only by 
virtue of the fact that almost no one pulls it off, then you should get 
yourself into the best possible shape.  

I don’t mean looks, I don’t
 mean weight.  I maintain a pretty good belly.   I just mean getting
 yourself ready, steeling yourself, improving your abilities and 
strengths as a person. Given the odds of making it as a comedian, I am amazed at how little 
effort so many comedians make, while complaining bitterly about their 
lack of breaks.  I mean, you should be thinking like an olympic athlete 
but you think like dorito-eating high school brats, doing nothing and
 expecting everything.  

Of course I’m not talking about YOU, whoever is
 reading this.  I’m talking about YOU, over there.  Yeah.

Every time I run, I reach about fifty points in my run where I want to
 quit.  I reach about 100 points where I am SURE I’m going to quit.  But
 I keep going and when I finish, I’ve just proven to myself that I can
 survive self doubt and exhaustion.  This is an invaluable tool for me 
as a comedian, writer and producer.  Everything I do is  helped by 
exercize.  Even if I can’t spell it right.

One other thing, I NEVER listen to music when I run.  This is my 
reason:  When I get to those points, going up a horrible hill, running straight into a cold wind, I have to reach somewhere inside myself to 
get through it.  If I have an ipod suplying me with “Eye of the Tiger”
or some wonderful Cher song, then that gets me through.  That’s no good 
to me because next time I’m on a stage getting tired, or next time I’m
 shooting number 9 of 20 shows or next time I just want to fucking eat a
 bag of poison because I get sick of my life, I’d rather have whatever 
tool I built inside myself on that hill, then have to listen to cher 
every time.
Does that make any sense?

Now, I’m sure a lot of you young folks are thinking, “Fuck you, CK ,
Doug Stanhope does drugs and he is cool.”  Well, you’re right.  you
 should do drugs.  But this works for me.

thanks

LCK”

And finally, Stanhope’s response:

“Louis,

I concur that poor health leads to sloth and effects your creativity.
Repeating any behavior continually will effect your writing as it gives 
you nothing new to say. I do drugs, yes I do but I only do them socially. Its the fact that I
 talk openly about it that gives the impression that there is a
 frequency. I’ve probably done mushrooms 6 times this year, acid once
 (poor quality), coke maybe 5 or 6 times, and about three xanax a week
to sleep. I dont smoke pot.

So smokes and drink are about my only habits and the cigarettes 
certainly need to go.

I started drinking and smoking the night before Thanksgiving in 1980.
 So this year on my 25th anniversary I plan on doing a 30 full rehab of
 nicotine, alocohol, caffiene as well as good food and exercise. Just 
for the fun of not having fun. I hope to keep the smokes out completely 
afterward.

I’m tired of always being tired.

Thanks for your words.

stanhope”

Again, these are just some fun excerpts from the thread – you can check out more of it here.

Louis CK Explains Why He Stopped Doing College Shows In A 2004 Interview

In a lengthy (and really interesting) interview with a website dedicated to the Vancouver comedy scene called The Comedy Couch, CK explains why he stopped doing college shows.

“Years ago I did a show at UNH in New Hampshire. I don’t do college shows anymore, and this is why. I’m doing a show and I did an old joke of mine where I said, “I read that 80 percent of the people in New York are minorities. Which is funny, because shouldn’t
you not call them minorities when they get to 80 percent? Like you could take a white guy to Africa and he’d be going, ‘Look at all the minorities. I’m the only majority.'” Whatever. So that was the joke.

And I was at UNH, the University of New Hampshire, and when I got to the part where I said 80 percent of the people in New York are minorities, people booed me. Hissed. And I said, “What’s the problem?” And someone just said, “You’re a racist.” And I said, “Why am I racist?” “Because you said minorities.” And I asked the whole audience, “Do you all agree that that makes me a racist because I just mentioned minorities?” And they all said yes.”

Elsewhere in the interview, he’s asked whether he views himself primarily as a comic or a writer and his answer forecasts a bit of his future…

“I don’t really ever choose one over the other. I’ve been doing standup longer, though. I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years now. And I’ve never stopped doing it. TV writing is something I’ve been more visible at because of the shows I’ve worked on and getting an Emmy and stuff. I guess the two things I really want to do more than anything are films and standup.

[Directing or acting?]

Writing and directing. And that’s a harder gig to get. I’ve only done two of those. And standup I can do a lot of, but it doesn’t pay the bills as well because I’ve got a family. So TV’s always been right down the middle. But not I also want to combine standup with television and do my own show, so that’s sort of where I’m headed.”

The Chicago Tribune Describes Louis CK’s Premises As “Over-The-Edge Weird”

In this 1999 profile of CK prior to a standup show he was doing in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune calls him “one of the more bizarre acts around.” Meanwhile, CK explains his approach to comedy at the time in the article:

“If you ask yourself, `Is there anything I can do to get a laugh?’ you can find a lot of things,” he explains. “And usually they’re things that other people have found. “But if you take something that’s never going to work and you go, `Wow, I wonder if there’s any way I can get somebody to laugh at this?’ it’s a great challenge.”

Did you like this post? Please share it on Twitter – thx!

While lots of comics treat Twitter like a virtual open mic, there are lots of strategic ways you can use the platform that will help you a whole lot more in the long run.

Here’s a few simple strategies to help you get the most out of your 140-character outbursts.

1. Stop Chasing Followers And Looking For Shortcuts

Even if I’ve never met you, I know you’re too obsessed with your Twitter follower count. That’s because everybody is (including me – I’ve even written about how to get more Twitter followers).

But while there are things you can do to slowly build a following, there’s no “magic bullet” to get you mass amounts of followers in a hurry, so stop looking for one.

Yes, you can always buy fake followers (as we’ve discussed in the past), but that doesn’t ultimately do you any good. So my first tip is to stop wasting time worrying about how to get more followers and start concentrating on how you can use Twitter more effectively – if you do that, the followers will come eventually and the ones you get will be MUCH more valuable.

2. Reference Other Twitter Accounts In Your Tweets

If you’re on Twitter and somebody mentions you in a tweet, I bet you notice it and check out their account, right? Well, so does everybody else.

That means mentioning people who you want to know that you exist in your tweets is a fantastic way to get them to at least check out your account.

This is true for everything from journalists, to bookers, to venues, to brands, to other comedians. Sure, the more often somebody is mentioned the less likely they are to notice you mentioned them, but you’d be surprised. Even people with huge followings tend to notice when they get mentioned – even if they don’t necessarily reply to you.

Now, this isn’t to suggest you should just randomly reference people in tweets, but rather you should look for genuine and interesting ways to reference the people you want to see you in your tweets. And when you do mention a person, brand, or place in your tweet, you should ALWAYS use their Twitter name so they get a notification about it.

3. Don’t Be Afraid To Post The Same Stuff Multiple Times (Especially Links)

Because Twitter shows every single post from people you follow in your timeline (as opposed to Facebook), it’s very easy for people who follow you to miss your tweets. It tends to be a platform where users dip into their streams a couple times a day and see what they happen to see in that moment – they don’t usually go back very far to see everything they missed.

This means if your followers don’t happen to be checking Twitter when you post your amazing tweet, they’ll probably miss it.

To counter this, it’s a good idea to post important tweets multiple times during the day/week to ensure that more people see it. Stats have proven you’ll get just as many clicks/interactions the second or third time as you do the first and sometimes more.

Don’t go crazy with it, but in general you don’t have to worry about duplicating tweets and scaring away followers because most of your followers won’t see all of your tweets.

4. Use Relevant Searches To Find Stuff To Retweet

Here’s a tactic that I’ve used recently to great effect. Choose a couple of key words/terms that fit the interests of your target audience/followers and regularly do searches on Twitter for those terms. You’ll inevitably find some tweets from people you don’t know (and don’t know you) that are interesting or entertaining. Then go ahead and Retweet those to share with your followers.

This does a couple things:

First, it gives you great targeted content to share that your followers will probably enjoy. Second, it alerts the original tweeter (who clearly has a shared interest with you and your audience) that you exist and does so in a way that positions you as a person who was generous enough to retweet their creation – which basically means they will be predisposed to like you.

The other thing that happens is your followers may wind up further retweeting your retweet. Each time that happens you get a notification and essentially it’s flagging for you more people who are interested in what you’re interested in and may be worth connecting with.

It basically turns into a tip sheet for you, recommending potential new fans/followers.

For example, my audience is comedians so I regularly do searches for “comedians,” “comedian,” and “standup,” and then retweet whatever interesting content I come across. It’s worked very well and most of the people I retweet wind up following me, plus their tweets get a couple extra retweets from other people which then lead me to new people to connect with.

5. Follow People Who RT or Fave You

This might seem obvious, but if somebody takes the time to favorite or retweet something you posted, that means two things – they not only liked your tweet (and hopefully you), but it also indicates they’re the kind of person who actually retweets and favorites stuff (lots of people that use Twitter don’t).

Both of those things are indicators that you want a closer relationship with that potential fan and it’s probably worth following them – especially if they’re not already following you, because it might be that little nudge they need to do so.

On a side note, remember that people who RT or Fave tweets are more valuable followers than people who don’t, because they can help spread the word about you. Not all followers are created equal.

6. Check Out Twitter Analytics

Did you know that Twitter provides you with a breakdown of all the stats on every tweet you post? Just go to Analytics.Twitter.com account to see exactly what’s happening with each of your tweets – it’s a great way to learn what’s working and what’s not over a long period of time.

7. Use Buffer Or Another Service To Schedule Your Tweets

There’s lots of services out there that enable you to schedule your tweets so that they are getting posted throughout the day as opposed to just a bunch at one time and it’s worth it to use them. I personally recommend Buffer, but whatever you choose to use it’s a great asset because it will ensure that more people will ultimately see your stuff and allows you to plan some stuff in advance if you’re too busy to tweet on a regular basis during the week.

Did you find this post helpful? Then please share it on Twitter – thanks!

On the “put your money where your mouth is” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Spector talk about how Facebook’s algorithm changes have dramatically affected page post visibility, why Facebook ads can be the best way to build an initial fan base, how targeting a very small demographic is more effective than broader campaigns, and why you don’t have to spend a ton of money to reach those who’d be most interested in your creative work.

In addition, we go behind the curtain on the success of Ellen’s Oscars selfie and how it’s a perfect example of what happens when the content, context and community are aligned.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

The Ellen Selfie Was TV’s Victory, Not Twitter’s
Old Spice: The Archetype of a Successful Social Media Campaign
Jimmy Kimmel and Tracy Morgan’s Emmy Prank
CC Podcast Episode 54 – Should You Have Multiple Twitter Accounts?
How Facebook Changed Its News Feed Algorithm
What Facebook’s Fan Page Changes Mean For Comedians
The death of Daily Grace shows the importance of the right deal

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

You can listen to the full episode here, or read up on some of the highlights below.

1. Sometimes Writing Jobs Start Out As Receptionist Jobs

At about the 11-minute mark, Moreschi explains how he got his start as a comedy writer. He compares job interviews to first dates, and goes on to note that the first real job he landed wasn’t as a writer – it was as a receptionist on the The Late Show With Craig Kilborn.

But that job wound up leading to bigger opportunities – he found himself getting incorporated into sketches on the show and befriending one of the show’s writers, who then asked Moreschi to join him as a writer on The Tom Green Show.

Interestingly, Moreschi’s story of hanging around in the right place – even if it meant needing to be a receptionist – was very reminiscent of Adam Carolla’s recent riff about the importance of being “the guy they know.”

2. Do Whatever You Can Do

At about the 20-minute mark, Moreschi answers the question he gets asked most often – “How do you do it?” He says that he is asked all the time by wannabe comedy writers how they can have a career like his and that his answer is always the same – “Do whatever you can do.”

He explains that a comedy career isn’t like becoming a doctor where you study pre-med, go to medical school and follow a clear path. Because there is no clear path to it, he suggests that you have to be willing to work hard and try everything you can to put yourself into a position where you can get opportunities.

3. Keep Trying

At about the 24-minute mark, Moreschi talks about how he first landed his job writing for The Colbert Report. People tend to assume that successful comedy writers succeed easily, but that’s certainly not the case.

In this case, Moreschi read a press release initially announcing the launch of The Colbert Report and wrote a writing packet to submit for the show immediately – without even really having any idea of what the show would actually be! He just guessed based on what he had read in the press release.

His submission wound up getting rejected, but he didn’t give up on it. He kept submitting and wound up getting hired eventually – only after he had been rejected five times.

4. It’s Tough To Criticize A Character

At about the 29-minute mark, Moreschi talks about why he thinks The Colbert Report gets so little criticism (relatively speaking) despite the political nature of the show’s content. He explains that the show is “hard to criticize because of the character,” and says that he thinks sometimes it’s tough for people to sort through what the character means, but then also take into account what the writers really mean.

He points out that it’s much harder to deconstruct and criticize a character than it is a person who is essentially being themselves on air – the difference between Colbert and Jon Stewart, who gets much more criticism from people who disagree with his political views.

5. The Real Difference Between The Comedy Of The Daily Show And The Colbert Report

At about the 40-minute mark, Moreschi offers a great description of the difference in the way The Daily Show and Colbert Report approach comedy. He says that The Daily Show is at its best when it’s a reflection of what’s going on in the world, while Colbert is at its best when it puts itself in the middle of what’s going on and embodies it.

Two very different approaches, both done pretty damn well.

Did you find this podcast summary helpful? You can read more of them here.

Have you listened to a podcast episode lately that has helpful information for comedians? If you’d like to write up a summary of it to share on this site, please email me.

But recent changes to how Facebook treats fan pages has made a lot of comics – including me – start to question their value moving forward.

If you’re not familiar with what’s been happening with fan pages, here’s a crash course – basically, Facebook has changed their algorithms in a way that means barely any of the fans of your page will actually see your updates in their news feed unless you’re willing to pay to promote those posts through Facebook ads.

You can read more about the backstory of what’s happened, but I want to share with you some of my still-evolving thoughts about what this may mean for comedians.

It’s A Reminder You Need An Email List

Any time a social network changes its rules and/or you see its users start to flee, it’s a reminder that you need to build connections to your fans that you 100% control. That’s a long-winded way of saying that nothing is more important than getting people to join your email list.

Too many comics believe email is outdated and that getting people to follow them on Facebook or Twitter is good enough. It’s not.

If your main connection to fans depends on somebody else’s social network you risk losing that connection to your own audience whenever that platform fades away (see: MySpace) or when that platform decides to change the rules and force you to pay to reach your own fans (see: Facebook’s recent fan page changes).

Social networks are great, but they’re not a replacement for an email list and/or a website that you 100% control. And when it comes to an building your email list, I suggest you start here.

Facebook Fan Pages Might Not Be Free, But That Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Valuable

Every comic’s initial reaction to the Facebook fan page changes is pretty much anger that you now have to pay to reach your own fans. I understand that, but if you take a step back you might realize that just because you might have to pay to reach people that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth it.

The truth is that Facebook ads – particularly ads targeting fans of your own page – are pretty cheap. Prices vary, but you can reach thousands of people for as little as $5 in some cases. And at least for the moment, most people are still spending a whole lot of time on Facebook, so there’s a whole lot of people you can reach there.

It’s interesting how some comedians will be aghast at the thought of spending money to reach people on Facebook, but won’t think twice about paying money to print up flyers or take out advertisements in newspapers. The honest answer is Facebook ads are still a cost-effective method of promotion to reach fans or potential fans – even if it used to be something you didn’t have to pay for.

Fan Pages Are Still More Powerful Than Personal Profiles

The biggest reason I tell you to have a fan page in addition to (or instead of) a personal Facebook profile is because fan pages are  the only ones that you can promote with Facebook ads. That rule is still in effect, which means that if you want to take advantage of Facebook’s biggest strength (more on that in a moment), you’re going to need to have a fan page to do so.

Facebook Is Still The Best Way To Discover And Reach New Potential Fans

If you know who your potential audience is (and especially if you know your niche), there is no better tool than Facebook to find people likely to enjoy what you do. Thanks to the insane amount of demographic information Facebook has about its users and your ability to hyper-target ads or content to those people, Facebook ads are still the best way to introduce yourself or your content to new potential fans.

And since you can only run those ads through a Facebook fan page, that means that abandoning your fan page is the equivalent to abandoning the most powerful tool that exists to find new targeted potential fans or to promote your projects to your existing fans in a cost-effective way.

By the way, Facebook realizes how powerful the ad system is that they’ve created and that’s (one of) the reasons why they’ve decided to essentially make fan pages a pay-for-play experience. They think it’s worth it – and they’re probably right.

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The Consilience with Pete and Charlie podcast is about the intersection of science and the humanities, hosted by a couple of employees of Georgia Tech.

On a recent episode they interviewed comedian Steve Hofstetter who has made several television appearances, hosted “Four Quotas” on Sirius radio, was an original columnist for CollegeHumor.com, and whose YouTube channel has generated more than 18 million views. You can listen to the full episode here, or read up on some of the highlights below.

1. You Have To Do More Than Just Get A Laugh

At around  the 3-minute mark, Pete asks Hofstetter if he thinks standup comedy contributes to the discourse in the humanities world. Hofstetter responds, “Comedy is the discourse…[it’s] responsible for lifting our consciousness about a lot of important issues. Obviously there’s some silliness too, but that’s not my taste. My taste is comedy that contributes to the discourse, and pulls it further.”

He goes on to break down his vision of a comedian’s role.

“I try to find sacred cows, and flay them. My job is to question the status quo, and to do it in a funny way,” he says. “A lot of comics say, ‘Oh, you just have to get the laugh.’ NO! The laugh is the minimum. A comic who only goes for the laugh is the teacher who teaches to standardized testing. It’s the minimum of your job…I think the idea is that, as a comic, you have the opportunity to do so many other things. You have the opportunity to teach, or to make someone feel good about themselves, or to sell merchandise…I mean, there are a million things you can do with your hour, or your seven minutes, or whatever it is. But some people are just like, ‘Oh I just gotta go up there and get a laugh.’ No. That’s step one. Now that you did that, what else can you do?”

2. Selling Doesn’t Make You A Sell-Out

At around the 21-minute mark, the conversation turns to the business of comedy. Hofstetter owns multiple comedy clubs and books hundreds of college performances each year.

“If you do something you wouldn’t have done, because of the money, you’re a sellout. If you take money for doing what you love already, you’re just selling. You’re not selling out,” he says.

In terms of actually selling, many comedians will promote, promote, promote. Hofstetter suggests that you “don’t promote a product, until you have a product,” and stresses that you should “sell to the right people, sell the right way. You don’t want to trick someone into joining your mailing list, because all that will do is give you one more person to email before they unsubscribe.”

3. Don’t Be A Hack – On Stage Or Off

At around the 25-minute mark, Hofstetter talks about how important it is to be creative in your promotional material.  He points out that comedians are creative all the time – except when it comes to promotion.

“When it comes to promo, people just fall into what has come before them, and they say, ‘This is how it’s done.’ No, that’s how it was done. It can be done however you do it,” he says.

Hofstetter points out that many comics are not funny in their bio – typically leading with something like “Such and Such is from Cleveland, Ohio.” If that’s not important to the act, why would it be the first sentence of your bio?

Instead, he recommends that you lead with your lead.

“We’re problem solvers, we’re creative, and we strive not to be hacks – on stage,” he says. “So many of us are such hacks offstage. So many of us just look at other people’s promo and go, ‘Ok, I’ll do that.’ Aren’t you supposed to be inventive, and pushing the envelope, and new, and different? Why does that stop the moment you put the microphone back in the stand?”

4. Make Mistakes

At around the 31-minute mark Hofstetter talks about the importance of comics being willing to make mistakes. Someone once said of him that he had 1,000 ideas a day, and 999 of them are terrible.

But he realized it’s about finding that one good idea and using it. So what does Hofstetter do when an idea doesn’t turn out well? He just comes up with another one. He said loves making mistakes, because they help him ultimately make fewer of them.

5. The Data Matters – And So Does The Follow Up

At around the 55-minute mark, Hofstetter talks about his process of booking shows – specifically at many non-traditional comedy venues. He built his own box office system because he realized that if he went through other ticketing agents, they got all his fans’ information.

“I do all the work, I promote the show, and then THEY can sell my customers on going to some country music concert the next week,” he said, explaining why he preferred to control that valuable data on who was coming to his shows.

So he built a box office system that is automatic. He’ll use a tablet to check people in, and if they’re checked in they will get an email saying thanks for coming, links to his various social media accounts, and offer a free download of one of his albums. If someone doesn’t check in, they will get an email saying sorry we missed you, with a discount for the next time he’s in town.

In addition, audience members are told through email who was on the lineup the night of the show, which lets someone who forgot the name of a comic they liked go learn more about them. Audience members are also asked to rate the comedians. If the rating is high, that information is saved in their profile, and they will get an invite the next time that comedian is coming through town.

Did you find this podcast summary helpful? You can read more of them here.

On a recent episode of comedian Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic Tank podcast, Comedy Central’s Senior Vice President of Talent and Specials Jonas Larsen stopped by to discuss his perspective on the business.  While the majority of the two-hour podcast was filled with valuable information, here’s a few of the most relevant pieces of information for Connected Comedy readers.

You might never make it on to Comedy Central, but Larsen’s advice can still help you become a better/more successful comedian in general. You can listen to the full episode here.

1. Be Ready To Deliver New Material – And Don’t Make It Controversial

At about the 45-minute mark, Larsen explains that advertising sales are ultimately what runs a TV network and that “controversy is not a good thing to sell advertising.” This means if you want to get on TV, being unnecessarily blue or racy will hurt your chances.

He also discusses the importance of continuing to create new things even after you get a break or some exposure. He hates having an opportunity spring up for a person, only to have them not prepared to go with new material from the last time they got their shot.

He also added that standup in particular is truly the life blood of Comedy Central, and that they feel it properly grooms a lot of the talent they currently have on the network for them to develop – citing Daniel Tosh, Jon Stewart, Amy Schumer, and Anthony Jeselnik as examples of standup comics who have evolved into having their own non-standup shows on the network.

2. Take Social Media Seriously

At around the 66-minute mark, Larsen talks about the importance of social media to comedians and their sometimes conflicted relationship with it. He feels that a lot of young comics don’t want to feel like they’re sell-outs, or selling themselves too hard, but suggests instead that you do a better job of using social media to let people know how they can engage with you, either by shows or by where you’re most socially active.

Larsen says there’s a lot of clutter in comedy, noting that you have to stand out and give people a reason to watch you instead of the other thousands of comics getting on stage.  Even once you get to the point to where you get an hour special, the hard work is only beginning.  Now that people have a clue of who you are, what are you going to do to keep their attention and keep them as fans?

He also stresses the importance of YouTube – pointing out that a lot of people get noticed on there, but it’s up to the comedian to figure out how to use it to their benefit.

Larsen also shares a story about Paul F. Tompkins, who was in a rut and then posted on Facebook, “Hey, if you can get 300 ppl to buy tickets, i’ll come to your town wherever you are.” It worked greatly and he used that momentum to help propel him to where he’s at.

3. You Can Write More Than You Realize

At around the 73-minute mark, Shaffir talks about how he tries to write a new hour every year. He says that while it was scary at first and didn’t think he could do it, it breaks down to about a new 5 minutes a month, and that by the second year it wasn’t as hard to write the new hour.

He said Louis CK told him that if he was all of a sudden not allowed to do any of his old jokes, that he wouldn’t stop being a comedian – he’d just write new stuff.  He used that mindset as motivation to keep his nose to the grindstone and keep working on new material until he came up with 15 minute chunks he was proud of.

4. Don’t Be Afraid To Fail

At around the 78-minute mark, Larsen says sometimes the biggest mistake is being afraid to fail.  He is not a believer in “because something didn’t work, it’ll never work.”  Sometimes your biggest mistakes can become your greatest asset.

He also talks about how young comics shouldn’t limit themselves. Don’t be afraid to try different forms of comedy to see where you feel most comfortable – doing things you’re unfamiliar with can also make you a more well-rounded performer.

5. How To Get Past “No”

At around the 127-minute mark Shaffir talks about hearing “no” so often that it made him work harder, and made him work without standards because he knew he was writing for himself, not TV. Realizing his material would never get him on TV, he focused on becoming a “write a new hour a hour a year and tour, that’s how you’ll get known” guy, he was happier and more effective by writing for himself and not people who were never going to like what he did.

Larsen added that, “We’re wrong sometimes,” and cautioned comics not to let rejection keep you from working to get where you want to be. He said Comedy Central is always looking for fresh talent, and you need to know “your voice” if you are going to be in a position to show you belong.

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You can read more podcast summaries here.

On the “you won’t believe what happens next” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome Josh Spector back to talk about his new curation project, the business model of content aggregators, strategies on growing visitors for a website from scratch, using Facebook ads to build an initial audience, and how small web projects can be a form of artistic output.

In addition, we discuss the recipe for developing a successful Twitter account, personality-driven media versus topic-based content, and whether or not there’s value in having separate social media profiles for different audiences, niches, projects or otherwise.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

This Was A Thing
Upworthy
Viral Nova
@HistoryInPics on Twitter
George Takei on Facebook
I Fucking Love Science on Facebook
HostGator Sucks!
How to Build a Successful Twitter Account: The Hip Hop Golden Age Way
@HipHopGoldenAge on Twitter
Alex Barnett
Louis CK’s Comedy Academy
Comedy Central’s @midnight
Joe Rogan
@DadBoner on Twitter
5 Things You Can Learn From Adam Carolla On The Solopreneur Hour Podcast

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

Check out a few of the highlights of what he had to say below and listen to the full episode here.

1. What You Can Learn From The Harvard Lampoon

At around the 20-minute mark, Novak discusses what he learned from working at the legendary Harvard Lampoon when he was in college. He explains that what he really took from it was some lessons in authenticity and style.

Specifically, he talks about the Lampoon’s ethos of not caring and explains that for the people that worked there it was more about impressing each other than their audience.

That style bled over into shows such as The Simpsons, which were staffed by many former Lampoon writers and carried a similar tone – an attitude that “We don’t care if you get it or not.” As Novak explained, “There’s an aspirational intelligence” to what the Lampoon does.

2. You Have To Want To Be Good And Be Willing To Work At It

Around the 31-minute mark, Novak and host Chris Hardwick discuss their shared experiences on the open mic circuit as younger comics. Hardwick, who found himself doing open mics after his initial success as an MTV host had fizzled out, explains that it only made him work harder and notes that he was willing to do open mics and build up a new career for himself. He didn’t let any ego he may have had based on former success prevent him from putting in the work he needed on the open mic circuit.

For his part, Novak explains that he also was driven to be good and took it very seriously. He used to write notecards evaluating his performance each night, but hid them because he was self-conscious about what other comics might say about his serious approach to his comedy.

3. The Upside Of The Los Angeles Comedy Scene

Around the 36-minute mark, Novak shares his take on the differences between the Los Angeles and New York comedy scenes. While people often assume that New York is a better pure standup scene and LA is negatively impacted by the industry influence, Novak actually believes the opposite.

He points out that most comedians will ultimately want to entertain everybody and that the LA market is more focused on that than New York, where it’s easy to get distracted and “obsess over the 10 people in the room.”

4. Look For Things That Can Make An Impact

Around the 69-minute mark Novak explains his philosophy on how he chooses what he wants to work on – whether it be writing, acting, or performing. He looks for projects that can make an impact and points out that almost all movies and TV shows have no impact on people – they get produced, they come out, people watch them, and then they get forgotten.

He said his biggest fear is working on things that will have no impact on anybody. Instead, he tries to work on projects that don’t go to waste and that matter. “I want to have an impact,” he said.

5. You Have To Be Personal

Around the 73-minute mark Novak talks about what he thinks comics should strive to do when  they perform – be personal and get noticed. He talks about how you need to be personal so that nobody can forget seeing you.

“That’s what makes the difference,” he said. “One guy after another kills on stage, but with most of them you don’t feel like you need to know who they are.”

It’s a good reminder that just making people laugh usually isn’t enough to make it in this business.

Have you listened to a podcast episode lately that has helpful information for comedians? If you’d like to write up a summary of it to share on this site, please email me.

The Open Mic Life podcast is an Australian podcast about starting out in standup comedy hosted by open mic’ers Doug Gordon and Dilruk Jayasinha and featuring an interview with a different guest each week.

Sometimes they interview fellow open mic’ers with only a couple years experience, and sometimes they book some actual headliners with 10+ years of experience. In December 2013, they had 20+ year comedy veteran Gerard McCulloch on for a conversation that focused largely on the art of writing comedy. Below are some of the highlights of what McCulloch had to say, and you can also listen to the full episode here.

1. Don’t Throw Anything Away

The first bit of advice comes early. At about the 6-minute mark, the three talk about what to do with jokes that aren’t working. The first thing you can try is asking for advice! Don’t be too proud to take your joke to someone else and see if they can help you unlock the funny. If you find yourself unable to even communicate the thought of the joke to your friend, maybe that joke wasn’t meant to be in your act. Maybe it would make a better YouTube video, or sketch. Maybe it could be a blog post. Explore the possibility of exporting your thought to other mediums.

2. Learn The Mechanics

Around the 22-minute mark comes a specific tool for the crafting of a joke, called the “Pull back, and reveal.” This is where a comedian sets up a situation and then gives away a detail that sheds new light on the scene and flips it in an unexpected way.

McCulloch points out that the first stage a comedian goes through is to get onstage and just say, “Here’s this thing that happened. Isn’t this funny?” But urges you to instead take that same thought and consider how to write it so you come at it from a different direction.

Once you learn several of these mechanics, you can apply them to all your jokes. Which of these cookie cutter techniques will best serve the thought you’re trying to convey? This approach ties in nicely to the episode’s next bit of advice…

3. Analyze Your Sets

At about the 32-minute mark McCulloch shares his method for analyzing his sets. He uses a tick system – after the show he puts one, two, or three marks by each joke depending on how they did. If a joke doesn’t go well, it gets a slash, and eventually gets dropped altogether.

4. Identify Holes In Your Act

At the 38-minute mark, McCulloch discusses how his background in economics leads him to consider his act in an analytical sense. If there are events that happen regularly, say a Super Bowl, or the Olympics, he might write 5-10 minutes on the subject, and just keep it in his back pocket since he knows that event will come around again.

Even though these events may be temporary, they are also recurring. Besides, the more things you have material on, the better you’ll be able to handle anything that comes up.

In November 2013, Adam Carolla was a guest on the show and talked about everything from how he’s approached his career to the mistakes he thinks most comedians make. Below are a few key takeaways from the episode, and you can listen to the full episode here.

1. Everything Adam Has Done, He’s Had To Do Himself

At the start of the episode O’Neal points out that one of the reasons he felt Carolla would be a great fit for his show is because he’s an example of a comedian who has pretty much had to do everything himself in his career. Lots of comedians have to make their own breaks, but Carolla has definitely taken it even further building a podcast empire pretty much on his own.

2. Recognize That You’re Not Special

At around the 12:30 mark of the episode, Carolla explains that early on in his career he realized he was not going to be the kind of person who was going to just nail an audition and land a gig. He realized nobody trusted him or thought he was anything special. Taking that into account, he decided early on that if he was going to succeed, he was going to have to create his own vehicle.

3. It’s Not What You Think That Matters

At around the 16:30 mark of the episode, Carolla gives comics some blunt advice: “Stop thinking you’re special.” He then points out that it doesn’t matter if you think you’re special, it’s what the guy on the other side of the desk things that actually matters.

It’s a great point and one I think too many comics forget – while it’s important to have confidence in your abilities, it’s also important to realize that just because you think you’re great that doesn’t mean anybody else does.

4. Go For What You Know

Around the 24-minute mark, Carolla talks about how important it is to focus on what you really know when you’re starting out and trying to develop material. He points out that one of his earliest characters was Mr. Birchum, a character who was a woodworking teacher because it was based on a world he knew very well since he had worked as a carpenter.

5. Be The Guy They Know

Around the 37-minute mark, Carolla shares his advice for getting gigs or opportunities in general. He breaks it down and explains that he believes the best way to get gigs is by “just showing up.” He points out that so much of what he’s done – from radio gigs to working as a boxing trainer – has come as a result of him putting himself in the places where that stuff was happening and hanging around until people got to know him and an opportunity came up.

He mentions that just hanging around in the space where things are happening that you want to be a part of can be up to 80% of what gets you an opportunity. Simply put, “Be the guy they know.”

It’s solid advice and is one of the reasons why you need to hang out in comedy clubs as much as you perform in them.

Have you listened to a podcast episode lately that has helpful information for comedians? If you’d like to write up a summary of it to share on this site, please email me.

On the “disingenuously edited” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome Phil Farda, Travis Denley and Dave Stuck onto the show to debate the purpose and goals of having a podcast, people’s listenership habits, editing a podcast versus releasing it “live-to-tape”, setting expectations and respecting your podcast audience, building a community around your content, and constructively reviewing your work.

In addition, we discuss setting realistic career goals, performing at churches, the difference between club work and private events, how offline referrals are important even in this age of social media, knowing your fair value in negotiating pay for services and learning how to say “no”.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

The Comic Club Podcast

CC Podcast #51: Booking A Comedy Tour

CC Podcast #12: Forget That It’s Even A Website

Zoom H4N Handy Portable Digital Recorder

Levelator

CC Podcast #31: You Have To Care

Green Room Radio

The Todd Barry Podcast

Comedy Central NY

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On the “new year’s resolutions” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer review our career progress over the past year and set goals for 2014.

In the process, we discuss how to make yourself more sellable to talent representation & the industry as a whole, putting together a “product” for corporate speaking, cultivating deeper relationships with your small community of supporters, and how success can come through simply not quitting.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

The Message Of You – Judy Carter [Amazon]
J-L Cauvin
APCA – Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

There’s no magic formula for getting yourself discovered by people who are likely to enjoy what you do, but there are several things you can do to increase the chances that somebody will find out about you. Here’s a few of them…

1. Create Something People Will Share

Lots of comics post all kinds of content online (blog posts, videos, photos, status updates, podcasts, etc.), but a lot fewer comics actually think about whether or not what they’re posting is something that people will want to share. There’s a difference between what somebody likes and what they share (see: the popularity of porn online vs. the amount of porn in your Facebook feed). The more shareable the content is that you create, the more likely it is to be shared and the more likely it is that potential fans will discover you.

2. Create Something People Are Searching For

Another way to get discovered is by creating content that people are searching for in Google. I’ll spare you the lengthy dissertation on SEO (search engine optimization), but if you’re curious how it all works you can learn about it here. But in its simplest form, think about how you can create content that addresses the kind of questions that people are likely to ask Google and you can wind up getting people driven to your content for free.

3. Contribute To Relevant Communities

Instead of always trying to get people to come to your website or listen to your podcast, you might want to try instead contributing to the other places on the web where those communities already exist. Appearing on other people’s podcasts, writing guest blogs for a popular site, being active on message boards, or even posting good comments on other websites can be an effective way of getting yourself noticed. Think about it – a Huffington Post article will attract thousands of views and if you leave a really great comment on it, that’s thousands of people that will be introduced to you at no cost to you.

4. Advertise Yourself

If you do have a little money to spend, you can get yourself noticed by the right people using Facebook ads. A couple years ago I used Facebook ads to initially grow my Connected Comedy audience (and detailed exactly how I did it here) and it continues to be an incredibly effective way to attract new fans.

5. Do Something Newsworthy

Another shortcut to getting exposure is to do something that will catch the attention of the media. This doesn’t mean just sending a press release to somebody about your upcoming show that nobody’s likely to care about, but rather think about what kind of noteworthy stunt you could pull off that would create a great story that media would love to write about.

6. Capitalize On The Attention You Already Get

Sometimes comics spend so much time trying to figure out how to get found by new people that they forget they haven’t even fully captialized on the people that currently see them. For example, if you perform for 50 people, that’s 50 opportunities to get an email address or convert a fan. How many contacts do you have in your personal email address book and how many of them even know that you do comedy? How many of the contacts in your phone actually know what you’re doing? I’m sure there’s people you have contact info for that you could reach out to and re-introduce to what you do with comedy.

7. Cross Promote With Peers

One of the greatest things about comedy is that there’s a true network of your peers that you can work with to help introduce each other to new potential fans. Look for opportunities to cross promote yourself with other comics’ fans – it’s a great way to get introduced to new potential fans.

8. Keep Showing Up

No matter what content you create and what you do to promote it, you shouldn’t expect to attract a ton of new fans immediately. Building a fanbase is a long term project and you will only be able to succeed if you keep showing up – keep producing content, keep experimenting, and keep trying to find new ways to introduce yourself to new potential fans. None of the suggestions listed above will be effective if you’re not willing to keep doing things consistently over a long period of time.

On the “hitting the road” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper and Josh Homer welcome Matt Ward on to the show to discuss how to book a do-it-yourself comedy tour, performing outside of the established comedy club circuit, identifying goals on why you should even go on tour, and how the process is nearly exactly the same as what bands and musical acts have been doing for years.

In addition, we discuss how to properly route a tour, the economics of bar entertainment, why you should brand your tour, the pay-what-you-want merchandise business model, and how touring generally helps you in building relationships, growing a fan base, and rapidly develops your stand-up act.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

Knox Comedy Live
How To Book Your Own Comedy Tour
Book Your Own Fuckin’ Life
Musician’s Guide To Touring & Promotion
Neil Hamburger
Carmen Morales
Cape Fear Comedy Festival

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Waiting for somebody to give them an opportunity. Waiting to have the time or resources available to put into getting better. Waiting to get picked.

But waiting doesn’t get you closer to succeeding. Starting does.

If you feel like you’re guilty of doing a little too much waiting, here’s a few things you might want to think about to start figuring things out and advancing your career.

Don’t Expect To Get It Right The First Time

The first thing you need to do is break from the mindset that you need to get something right the first time you do it. Whether it’s the first time you tell a joke, write a blog post, record a podcast, ask people to join your email list, or just about anything else you try to do, the chances are you will not get it right the first time you do it.

You’ll fail. And that’s fine.

It’s easy to paralyze yourself by thinking you need to do something right the first time you do it. Instead, accept the idea the idea that things probably won’t go as planned initially but recognize that the sooner you have a first time, the closer you are to getting something right.

Action Is ALWAYS Better Than Inaction

One of the best career tactics you can employ is to focus on being active as much as possible and to avoid being inactive. You want to be somebody who constantly does things, tries things, and pushes forward as opposed to somebody who forever plans and dreams without actually doing much of anything.

It can feel scary and risky to take action sometimes, but action is always better for your career than inaction. Even a step in the wrong direction can teach you lessons that ultimately help you move forward. If you stand still, you’ll never get anywhere.

Learn From Your Mistakes

Once you’ve broken from the false premise that you need to succeed the first time you do something and once you’ve embraced the importance of action over inaction, the next thing to do is focus on learning from your mistakes.

There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes…unless you keep making the same ones.

When something you try doesn’t work out, analyze the reasons why and make adjustments. You want to experiment and learn as much as you possibly can from your mistakes – that’s how you get better and ultimately how you further your career.

Mistakes are opportunities. Think of them that way and you’ll be well on your way to figuring things out.

Good luck!

On the “three-year anniversary” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome the triumphant return of Josh Spector to the show to discuss comedians’ continuing frustration with the changing nature of the industry, how even the definition of “comedian” is shifting, why Bo Burnham is the wrong example of YouTube success in comedy, and why garnering attention to your content alone means little unless it turns into action.

In addition, we discuss what comedians can learn from the tech startup space, the difference between an ad-based business model and one that’s relationship-based, the importance of truly and continually educating yourself in the medium, dealing with the boredom of putting in the work every day, and why persistence usually ends up winning out in the long run.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

Thoughts About Why J-L Cauvin’s Album Didn’t Sell Better
Connected Comedy Podcast Episode 49: Excuses We Tell Ourselves
Long Tail
1000 True Fans
How Do You Define A Pivot?
Core Competency
Jerry Seinfeld – Howard Stern Show Interview
Connected Comedy Podcast Episode 44: Building A YouTube Audience
The Man Behind @DadBoner
Comedy Central Eliminates Separate Digital Unit
Would You Rather Be The Comedy Store or The Improv?

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

He expressed some thoughts I’m sure a lot of comics share when it comes to the challenge of monetizing their art and in particular when it comes to releasing albums, so I thought I’d share some of my own thoughts on the subject here.

But before I get into the specifics, I’d like to say that I’m a fan of J-L’s, think he’s a great comic with a bright future, and think he’s doing a lot of things right. I’m not criticizing what he’s doing, but rather sharing my take on the things he brought up in an effort to help comics see a different perspective on things.

You should definitely read J-L’s full post, but here’s a few excerpts that caught my eye, along with my thoughts.

View Counts Are Not Fan Counts

“I embarked on a plan to raise my profile and when my name recognition was at its highest (at least relative to my own career) release my best album and hope for the best. So the plan started off with a bang with “Louis CK Tells The Classics” the viral video of my Louis CK impression. I then made subsequent videos (Alt Wolf, Scared Straight) that got spread all around and promoted within the comedy world.”

J-L’s Louis CK video was certainly a hit and got him a lot of attention. But, I have to wonder how much of that attention he actually converted into an ongoing connection to potential fans?

The video has more than 300,000+ views,but I wonder how many of those viewers wound up subscribing to J-L’s email list? I assume not many.

And his YouTube channel still only has 300 subscribers, so it’s not like they connected to him there either.

I also noticed that aside from a mention of his website at the end of the video, there’s no plug or links in the description or anywhere encouraging people to connect with him – either by email subscription (ideally) or some other method such as subscribing to his YouTube channel.

So this means that likely a lot of people who saw and liked the video, never had any idea that his new album existed because he had no way to reach them. He had no “connection” to them. As a result, the success of his video was nothing more than a blip and some missed opportunities.

The video had exposed him to a lot of people, but that exposure is meaningless without a way to reach those people again.

Free Is More Powerful Than You Realize

“Also giving me hope was the fact that my previous album was downloaded 1000 times (granted it was a free download) and received 70+ ratings/reviews on iTunes. So the only barrier to reaching that level (if not beyond) was the price tag on iTunes of $9.99 (or $8.99 on Amazon).  I figured that might create a dip from 1000, but at the same time I thought it might not be as big a dip because I am more well known in October 2013 than I was in February 2012 when Too Big To Fail was released.”

There’s literally been books written (I highly recommend this one) about the impact/value of free so I won’t bore you by getting into all of those details now, but here’s one important thing to understand – the biggest price point hurdle for people to get past is the difference between free and not free.

It might not seem like a big deal for somebody to spend $10, but it is compared to spending nothing, and it was probably a faulty assumption to think there wouldn’t be a huge dropoff between the free album and the one he charged for.

In general, a targeted audience who is interested in what you do will convert about 2% of the time into purchasing a specific product. Obviously that’s a generalization, but it’s a decent rule of thumb to think that 2% of the interested people that you can reach with a product will buy that product. If you buy into that ratio, then in order to sell 1,000 albums J-L would have had to expose his album to 50,000 fans.

I have no idea exactly how many fans were exposed to J-L’s album, but I’m guessing it wasn’t anywhere close to that number and therefore his estimates were off.

Taken a step further, I wonder how many of the 1,000 people who had downloaded his previous album were aware of the new one? Did he have email addresses from that first 1,000? If so, how many bought this one? Those would be really informative metrics to better understand what happened with this new album.

You Have To Sell What People Want To Buy

“This is not me wondering why KMEC is not above Eminem and Pearl Jam on the iTunes chart, but rather how a better product (even if you think I suck at comedy (i.e. idiots), this album sucks least of anything I have produced) with better name recognition and better promotion can fare so much worse all for adding an $8.99/$9.99 price tag?  This year has sort of been an experiment by me – if I offer quality products (blogs, videos, podcast appearances, podcasts, etc.) for free and then ask for people to pay for one comedy thing (the album), then all the free stuff and the effort would pay off with one nice pay day.  But it did not really pan out.”

There’s one huge thing that J-L may have missed in this equation – he’s trying to sell a product that people may not want to buy.

People don’t really buy albums any more – certainly not in the numbers that they used to. Albums are essentially a product people don’t want to pay for – regardless of how much they may like J-L and his comedy, they just don’t value them as being worth their money.

The entire album industry has crumbled  – both comedy and music. So no matter how great J-L’s promotion would have been, he was still going to be fighting an uphill battle to sell people a product that they’re not inclined to buy in the first place.

This Wall Street Journal article has some stats that you might find eye-opening: The 200 best selling comedy albums in 2011 combined sold just 2 million copies total, with the Lonely Island’s album selling the most copies that year with 215,000 sold. That means the average sales for a Top 200 comedy album (not counting the Lonely Island album) was less than 10,000 copies.

And that was two years ago – the numbers are probably worse this year.

So no matter what he would have done, it was going to be an uphill battle trying to sell an album in this climate.

A Failure Doesn’t Mean You’re Not On The Right Path To Success

“All things equal I have had 50,000 unique visitors to my website in 2013, had my podcast listener average increase from 200 to about 400+ people per week, gained over 310,000 YouTube views to name a few metrics, which were huge increases from 2012 and yet by charging $9.99 for an album instead of free, led to a massive drop off in downloads.  I know this sounds like complaining, but it is really more confusion than anything else.  I long ago gave up on getting rich from comedy, but this year has taught me that producing high quality content, building your circle of fans/viewers/listeners means little in increasing your bottom line, if you are truly a do-it-yourself artist.”

It’s great that J-L’s getting more traction to his website, podcast, and YouTube videos and I understand his frustration, but I think there’s a different way to view this. J-L’s been doing comedy for a while and is a veteran performer, but it’s only relatively recently that he’s committed to online content and growing his fanbase in a grassroots way.

And, just like it takes years to get good on stage, it takes years to build a fanbase online.

Most comics understand that it’s going to take the better part of a decade to get any traction with their act, but they seem to expect that building a fanbase online can happen much quicker. It doesn’t.

I understand why he would be frustrated by his album sales, but he really shouldn’t be. He’s making great progress online, getting better at creating and marketing his content, gaining attention, and learning how to convert that attention into fans. But no matter how good he is and how much progress he’s making, it takes time.

Hopefully, this frustration won’t get in the way of the progress he’s making because I really do think he’s on the right track to some pretty good stuff down the line. And the irony is there’s a lot of comedians out there who would be well served to do half of what he’s doing even in “failure.”

On the “procrastination” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer discuss the things that prevent us comedians from taking action, dealing with perfectionism and analysis paralysis, what to do if you don’t feel creative every day, and generally being productive with your mental energy.

In addition, we debate if there’s any reason to pass up on stage time, why open-mics are a place to work on your act and not to entertain other comics, treating your career like it’s a job and not a hobby, the feeling of being overwhelmed with starting something new, and that taking yourself out of your comfort zone is the only way to progress.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

CC Podcast Episode 39 – No One’s Going To Feed You
The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron
Ralphie May at Stand-Up Mastery

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On the “all checks clear” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper and Chelcie Rice welcome Eric Yoder of the Funny Business Entertainment Agency to talk about how a booking agency works behind the scenes, what constitutes a good area/venue for a comedy event, the difference between marketing a monthly show and a full-time club, and in all transparency, how exactly an agency makes money.

In addition, we address the common complaints from comedians about bookers and vice-versa, the caveats of juggling being a comic and running a show/venue, why face time is huge in getting on someone’s radar, the line between persistence and annoyance, and how everything in the business ultimately comes down to trust.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

eBaum’s World
Gilda’s Laugh Fest

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

But while tactics like those can be very effective if you choose to implement them, there’s an overriding guideline you can follow to ensure that anything you do to promote yourself will be more effective. And it’s so simple that it’s just three words you can apply to anything you do to promote yourself.

The secret to successful promotion is to tell your story. [tweet this]

Here’s why…

Stories Are Powerful

There’s a reason why stories have been around for thousands of years and why they get passed on from generation to generation – it’s because they’re incredibly powerful.

Stories take information and add an emotional bent to it that people connect with – in short, a good story makes people care about something.

It might inspire people, might entertain them, might anger them, or might make them feel some other emotion, but ultimately a good story will make somebody feel something. Stories get people’s attention, stick in people’s minds, and impact the people who hear them.

On the flipside, raw information is much more likely to be ignored.

Think about your own tendencies as a consumer – do you tend to be more engaged with stories or just raw information?

And yet, most comics focus their promotional efforts around sharing information as opposed to telling stories.

“I have a show this week,” “Watch my new video,” “Join my email list,” etc. – these are all common examples of comics pushing out information to people as opposed to telling a story that fans (or potential fans) would be more likely to care about.

Everybody has a different story and there’s no single way for you to tell yours, but it’s worth considering how you can incorporate stories into how you promote yourself and your comedy.

The Three Chapters Of Your Story

While your story will certainly be unique to you, there are essentially three “chapters” to it that are universal. No matter how you decide to tell your story to the world, you’ll want to tell it in a way that allows people to connect to all three aspects of it.

Where You’ve Been: People will be interested in your background and they’ll be interested in the experiences that have formed you. Don’t be afraid to let them know how you grew up, where you came from, what inspired you when you were younger, and how you got to where you are.

The more you let people know about your backstory, the more likely they will start to see similarities to their own and the more likely they will be to start to care about your future. The story of Where You’ve Been can function like the first chapter in a story – it’s your way of building interest in the main character (you), and in turn it will make any stories you tell going forward more interesting to people.

For example, how much less interesting would filmmaker Kevin Smith be to fans if they never knew about his background as a guy who was so passionate about making movies that he maxed out his credit cards to make Clerks?

Where You’re At: Comics tend to exaggerate the level they’re at in their career when promoting themselves or their work – that’s a mistake.Don’t be afraid to be honest about where you’re at in your comedy career (even if you just started a week ago) and tell the stories of what you’re actually going through at the moment.

The stories of an open mic comic can be just as interesting as the stories of a headlining comic…if they’re told well. [tweet this]

You know what’s not interesting? The stories of an open mic comic who pretends they’re more than an open mic comic. Look at the experiences you’re having right now as an opportunity to share those stories with people as opposed to thinking you have to wait until you’re rich and famous to have a story to tell. Most people aren’t rich and famous and can’t relate to the stories of people who are – it’s actually much easier for them to relate to stories of people who are struggling to succeed.

What you might see as a challenge is actually an opportunity.

Where You’re Going: Don’t be afraid to share your goals and dreams as part of the story you tell to potential fans. People will be more likely to connect to you (and rally around you) if they know where you’re hoping to go and more importantly, why you want to go there. A great non-comedy example of this is social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk who constantly references that he hopes to someday own the New York Jets.

Does that have anything to do with his business? No, but it’s become a big part of his story. His fans know that’s his dream and that makes him more human.

Your Story Should Influence Everything You Create

Now that you (hopefully) are starting to think through what your story is and how you can tell it to people, the next thing to do is to realize that your story should influence everything you create. Your content – everything from your material on stage, to your tweets, to your videos, to your website, to your blog posts, to anything else you create – should be a reflection of the overall story you’re trying to tell.

That doesn’t mean you can’t sometimes create stuff just for the sake of it being funny, but ultimately you want it all to reflect your personal story. That may seem restrictive at first glance, but it actually should make content creation easier for you because if gives you a focus. If you’ve always wanted to blog but have no idea what to blog about, then why not start by telling your story?

Let the concept of “telling your story” be something that can guide you, help you find your voice and use it as a means to make your promotional efforts more compelling and less spammy.

For example, the next time you’ve got a show to promote take a couple minutes to think about if there’s a way to promote that show in the context of a story as opposed to just telling people to come to it. This is just a random example, but which of these tweets do you think people would be more interested in:

The Info Option: “I’m performing at the Local Comedy Club this Saturday night. Buy tickets here! (with a link to the tickets page)”

The Story Option: “Here’s 3 things I’m going to try for the first time ever on stage this Saturday night (with a link to a blog post on the subject)”

That’s just a random example, but hopefully it helps get across the idea that you can use storytelling to change the way you promote anything and drive more interest, attention, clicks, and most importantly – caring.

One Final Thought…

While a focus on telling your story can be a really helpful tool when it comes to promoting yourself (and creating content for that matter), it’s important to recognize that it won’t work if you’re not a good storyteller. It also won’t work if you try to make up your story – it’s got to be real because people will see through you if you’re trying to create an “image” of yourself that isn’t accurate.

Just like anything, it will take time for you to get a handle on what your story is and how to tell it, but the rewards if you do it right can be huge.

On the “nothing new” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer talk about growing your fanbase without self-promotion through curating content, pushing others as a form of networking and developing relationships with peers, and aiming to build a community that matches your comedic voice.

In addition, we discuss the concept of platforming, using social media more as a telephone and less as a bullhorn, why you shouldn’t be focused on getting people out to shows, the weight of a recommendation and how maintaining a solid reputation is more important than helping your low-talent friends.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

How To Grow Your Fanbase By Not Promoting Yourself
Nashville Stand-Up
Daring Fireball
Jim Romenesko
CC Podcast Episode 34 – Look For The Yes

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On the “finding the game” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome Matt Besser, one of the founding members of Upright Citizens Brigade about his new improv manual just released, the difference between long-form and short-form improv, how “yes, and” has become trite and harmful and clarifying other terminology and concepts in improv and ultimately, making it easier for those in middle America to learn improv.

In addition, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages stand-ups have when doing improv, how “the game” of the scene is closely similar to exploring what makes a joke funny, whether or not it’s possible to make a living touring around the country as an improvisor, and how in show business it’s imperative to have that one undeniably great “thing.”

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual
The Harold
Truth In Comedy
CC Podcast Episode #29 – UCB Butthurt
improv4humans

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

But I’ve got a strategy that can actually help both of these groups  – a way to grow your fanbase without promoting yourself at all.

It turns out one of the best ways to grow your fanbase is to promote others instead of  yourself [tweet this].

Here’s why…

Imagine what would happen if you decided that for a year you were not going to promote anything you did – not your shows, not your album, not videos of your act, not your podcast, nothing. Sure, you’d keep producing those things and performing, but you just wouldn’t actively promote them through your social media channels.

Instead, you would use your feeds solely to share the absolute best creations you could find from other people – the funniest videos, most interesting podcasts, or best stand ups you could find. You would set out to build a reputation for yourself as an incredible resource for great, cool, interesting, and hilarious stuff. To become somebody that other people had to follow because they would view you as a conduit to great things.

This might seem counterintuitive when what you really want is people to become fans of your comedy, but if you tried this and did it successfully, a few things would likely happen…

You Would Inspire Yourself And Learn What’s Truly Great

As you searched for great things to share to establish yourself as a must-follow curator of content, you would also learn a ton in the process. You’d likely expose yourself to inspiring stuff you otherwise might not have found, and you’d start to get a sense of what kinds of things people are drawn to, without being biased by gauging people’s reactions to your own creations. It would give you a sort of meta view on what works and what doesn’t.

Your Social Media Feed Would Become Infinitely Better

I don’t care how great you are at tweeting, making videos, or performing standup – there’s no way your own creations can be as consistently good as a curated list of the best stuff the world has to offer. As a result, your social media feeds will become much stronger (and less cluttered with your own self promotion), which in turn will give people more reason to follow you and tell others about you. Additionally, the sheer volume of content at your disposal will allow your feeds to be much more active than they might be if you were only posting your own stuff.

You Would Build Up Trust And Goodwill From Your Followers

Imagine giving people a year’s worth of great stuff without ever asking them for anything. Think about how that would shape people’s opinions of you as a person and their willingness to support you down the road in whatever you do. Think about how it would separate you from the thousands of other comics out there asking people to come see their shows every weekend.

You Would Build Valuable Connections

Any time you mention somebody on Twitter or share links to somebody’s video or blog post, there’s a good chance that person will notice and be appreciative. Again, imagine doing this for a year and think about how many people you could build relationships with after they noticed you consistently promoting their stuff without ever asking for anything in return. Now think about how those relationships could naturally lead to everything from stage time, to writing opportunities, to countless other things.

You Would Avoid Exposing Yourself Before You’re Ready

The earlier you are in your comedy career, the better a strategy this probably is for you [tweet this!]. That’s because no matter who you are it will take years to “get good,” and while there’s nothing wrong with posting clips of yourself online as you’re finding your way, spending all your time promoting those clips probably isn’t the best use of your social media feeds. By concentrating on using social media in a non-self-promotional way, you’ll likely prevent yourself from making some mistakes early on.

You Would Attract The Audience You Ultimately Want For Yourself

Ideally, the stuff you share with your followers over the course of the year would be targeted toward an audience whose interests match your own comedic voice or niche. So, the following that you build by promoting other people’s stuff and establishing yourself as a great curator of content would also be an audience likely to enjoy your own creations down the road.

You Would Feel Great About Yourself

I understand that promoting yourself can be tough sometimes – you’re making yourself vulnerable to rejection and it’s easy to feel like you’re constantly asking people for favors. But…if you eliminated self promotion from your social media strategy, then suddenly that pressure disappears. You go from feeling conflicted about what you’re posting to genuinely posting things for altruistic reasons. You should feel great about sharing other people’s great stuff and confident you’re truly providing a service to your followers – inspiring them, giving them a laugh, helping save them time.

Now For The One Giant Asterisk…

If you’re still reading this by now you probably think it’s either a great idea or you think I’ve lost my mind. But I want to say there is one big catch when it comes to this strategy – it only works if you curate GREAT stuff. If the stuff you’re sharing isn’t consistently entertaining or if you start just sharing mediocre stuff as favors to friends, this won’t work because people will never associate you with great stuff and want to follow you in the first place.

The whole advantage of not flooding your feeds with your own stuff (regardless of whether or not it’s awesome) is that it frees you up to ensure you only post stuff that’s amazing. Because when promotion isn’t a goal, your only goal becomes giving people things they’ll love.

I’m certainly not saying that’s easy to do and it will take some work on your part, but it’s absolutely do-able. And if you do it, it will work and you’ll attract a much bigger following that you will ultimately be able to convert into fans down the road.

So…are you ready to take a hiatus from promoting yourself and start promoting others instead?

More Stuff To Read About Being A Curator

Here’s a few other posts I’ve written about this topic:

• 5 Reasons You Should Curate As Much As You Create

• How I Got 2 Million People To Visit My Website In 6 Months

• 5 Things You Can Learn From The Success Of Chris Hardwick and Nerdist

If you found this post helpful, please take a moment to share it on Twitter – thanks!

On the “first ever guest scold” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper and Chelcie Rice welcome Leighann Lord on the show to discuss managing content on multiple social networks, focusing on communities and not platforms, experimenting to find out what works and what doesn’t, and having a presence that’s consistent and in it for the long haul.

In addition, we talk about the network effort and the value of uber-fans (no matter how few you might have), how everything you produce or do is a form of marketing, why “I don’t have the time” is a poor excuse, and that ultimately, people are going follow you for *you*, not necessarily only your stand-up work.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

StarTalk Radio Show
SlideShare
HootSuite
Buffer
IFTTT
SoundCloud
CC Podcast Episode 31: You Have To Care
CC Podcast Episode 11: 40,000 Anime Characters Can’t Be Wrong
Royale Watkins

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On the “riding solo” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper welcomes Tim Schmoyer from Video Creators to talk about how comedians can go about building a fan base and developing a niche community on YouTube, why it’s much more than a place to put your stand-up sets, and how personality and establishing a human connection are key for success on the platform.

In addition, we discuss the difference between podcast and YouTube audience demographics, how to discover other creators in your niche, repurposing your material for the new medium, why your webcam or smartphone camera is good enough to get started, titling your videos for reach versus retention and the importance of consistency, consistency, consistency.

[powerpress]

Links from this episode:

The Secret To Building Your YouTube Audience
VidCon
Making YouTube Sustaintable – Jason Calacanis
1000 True Fans
Optimizing Video SEO for Reach vs. Retention
90-9-1 Principle

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

Everybody in the comedy business talks a lot about how important it is to find your comedy “voice” and as a result I get asked all the time by comics for some advice about how they can actually go about doing that.

Every comic’s voice is different and so too will be the process you undertake to find yours, however there are a few broad things you should understand that may help you discover your elusive comedy voice. Here’s a few of them…

1. Your Voice Is Your Attitude And Perspective

For starters, some comics don’t even understand what is meant when people refer to your “voice.” Essentially it means what is the attitude or perspective that runs through all of your material, your performance, your delivery, and ultimately who you are as a comedian. Everything you do should be reflective of a particular outlook on the world, and that outlook is what forms your voice.

2. Your Voice Is Unique

What can you say to the world that nobody else can? What unique viewpoint or message do you have to get across through your comedy that only you can have as a result of the experiences you’ve had in your life? The more unique your voice is, the more likely you are to break through and stand out from every other comedian out there.

3. Your Voice Is Authentic

You can’t fake your voice – it has to be genuine. While a lot of comedians don’t think the audience is very smart, that’s actually a misconception. The vast majority of people can tell when somebody is being authentic to who they are and when their material (or persona) is fraudulent. Don’t try to “create” your voice, try to discover it.

4. Your Voice Will Take Time To Find

There’s no shortcuts to finding your comedy voice – it takes a lot of time, effort, and experimentation. That’s because you not only need a lot of time to generate material and try that material on stage, but you also need enough life experiences to really shape what your voice will become. Be patient. And persistent.

5. Your Voice Will Evolve

Because your comedic voice will reflect your life experiences it will also evolve as your life does. Just like the person you are in your 40’s will be different than the person you are in your 20’s, so too will your comedic voice and that’s ok. Understand going into this that you will never be a finished product and that your voice should change to reflect your changing perspective on life.

For example – when Chris Rock first started out he certainly wasn’t doing material about what it’s like to be living in a rich neighborhood (because he didn’t), but now that’s very much a part of his voice as you can see in this clip.

6. Your Voice Is As Important As Your Jokes

It’s important to be able to write a good joke, but if you can combine that skill with a truly unique voice, then you’re really on to something. There’s a lot of comics out there that have good jokes, are solid performers, and never really make it past a certain point. And the reason for that is usually because they don’t have a distinctive voice that sets them apart from the crowd.

7. Your Voice Needs To Be Consistent

In order for your voice to really connect with people you need for it to be consistent. You can’t have an anti-establishment outlook on the world in one bit and then suddenly be pro-establishment in the next or else your voice will seem disjointed and nobody will be quite sure what to think of you. For example, if your comedic voice is that of a “nerd,” then it’s unlikely that bits about how you were a cool kid in high school are really going to fit your voice. This is another reason why it’s important when considering what your comedic voice is to choose carefully because it will ultimately impact your material and every other decision you make about your career.

8. Your Voice Is What You Stand For

If you think about any successful comedian, you can probably describe in an instant what they stand for – and that description is a reflection of their voice. You know why Doug Stanhope is different than Jerry Seinfeld and why Sam Kinison was different than Richard Pryor. Virtually every comic that succeeds on that level has a clearly defined outlook on the world that shines through their comedy – in short, you know what they stand for on and off the stage.

9. Your Voice Is Vulnerable

In order to find and develop your comedic voice, you have to be willing to be vulnerable. You can’t hide who you really are – in fact, you have to do just the opposite. You have to be willing and able to show the world who you are and be willing to accept that the result of that won’t always feel great. Because…

10. Your Voice Isn’t For Everyone

Just like not everybody is going to like your comedy, not everybody is going to like your voice either. And that’s ok. Actually, it’s better than ok. Don’t worry about trying to appeal to broad audiences – just worry doing what’s genuine to your life and experiences and know that there will be other people who connect to that. And it’s those people that are the ones that actually matter and the ones that will enable you to have a long and successful career. The haters? They’re meaningless.

More Stuff To Read About Finding Your Voice

Here’s a few other posts I’ve written that touch on issues related to finding your voice:

• 4 Reasons To Stop Comparing Yourself To Other Comedians

• How To Stand Out In A Crowd Of 10,000 Comedians

• How To Find Your Comedy Niche

I get asked this all the time by people who have just decided to give comedy a try but have no idea how or where to begin. So, I’ve put together a few quick suggestions for comedy newbies that I think will help you get headed in the right direction no matter what type of comedy you’re pursuing – stand up, writing, acting, etc.

Also, if you’re a veteran comedian who happens to be reading this please take a moment to post a comment with some advice of your own for newcomers – I’d love to make this post as helpful a resource as possible for new comedians and I’m sure you guys can help me do by sharing the lessons you’ve learned over the years.

Here’s my suggestions for things comics should do when they’re first starting out…

1. Be Honest With Yourself About Why You’re Doing This

The chances are you don’t know exactly why you’ve decided to give comedy a try, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth taking a couple minutes to think about it. Are you trying to build a career in comedy or is it just something that you envision more as a hobby for yourself? Are you doing it because you’re passionate about it or because your friends keep telling you to give it a shot?

There’s no right or wrong answer to any of this – but the better sense you have of what you’re trying to get out of comedy before you even start doing it, the easier it will be for you to figure out what to do and to measure your progress along the way.

2. Immerse Yourself In Comedy

If you want to be a good comedian, you better be a good comedy fan first.

Thanks to YouTube, Netflix, podcasts and this list of classic comedy specials there’s never been better access to literally every comedian that’s ever gotten a laugh and one of the first things you should do is immerse yourself in the world to educate yourself. The more comedy you watch (and perhaps more importantly, see in person), the more you will learn about what works, what doesn’t, and what resonates with the type of comedian you’d ultimately like to be.

If you don’t love watching comedy, the chances are you’ll never be a very good comedian.

3. Make Stuff

No matter what type of comedy you want to pursue, it’s critical to start performing and/or making stuff as soon as you can. It will take a long time to find your voice and figure out how to “get good,” so you need to seek out opportunities to learn by doing. You won’t get better at standup by just performing to a mirror, and your great web series idea won’t be great until you start actually filming it (and probably not until you’ve filmed a bunch of them first).

Don’t worry about failing when you start out, just worry about making. Which leads me to my next suggestion…

4. Experiment

In the process of making lots of stuff, don’t be afraid to experiment with different formats and types of comedy in an effort to find out what you ultimately want to concentrate on. As I’ve said before, don’t fail victim to the fear that every comedian must conquer.

5. Broaden Your Definition Of What It Means To Be A Comedian

Even if your passion is stand up comedy, don’t pigeonhole yourself into thinking that’s all you need to do to succeed because that’s a recipe for frustration. Here’s why you need to think bigger if you’re hoping to have a career in comedy.

6. Network

One of the keys to building a successful comedy career is also one of the least talked about – the importance of networking with other people in the business. Every comedian, booker, venue owner, and assorted person you cross paths with in the course of pursuing comedy can potentially be a huge asset to your career down the road. Try to meet and connect with as many people as you can (regardless of the level they’re at in their own career), always be professional, and never be an asshole (easier said than done, I know). Ultimately, the relationships you develop will be almost as important as the talent you develop.

Too many comics think of the comedy business as a lone wolf industry where networking doesn’t really matter as much as it would in the business world, but in actuality networking might matter even more in comedy than it does in traditional business.

7. Be Patient

If you decide to go after a career in comedy get ready to be patient. Know that it’s going to take years (probably at least a decade) to make any kind of real progress financially and there will be tons of frustration along the way – and on top of that, there’s no guarantee that you’ll ever actually “make it.” In fact, the overwhelming odds are that you’ll never be able to make a living from comedy.

I don’t say that to deter you from pursuing it, because there will always be people that succeed and you can certainly be one of those people – but you need to understand going into it what you’re actually taking on. Are you prepared to be patient enough to put in a decade before seeing any real results? Because that’s what comedy is, and that’s the path you’re choosing if you want to be a professional comedian.

More Reading For New Comedians…

Here’s a few more things I’ve written that you might want to read as you get ready to launch your comedy adventure…

• How To Be A Comedian Who Succeeds

• What It Really Means To Be In The Comedy Business

• 10 Things Comedians Wish Somebody Told Them When They Started Comedy

If you’re a veteran comedian and have some suggestions to add to this post for newbies, please post your suggestions in the comments below. Thanks!

On the “low expectation” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome Brent Terhune onto the show to delve into his experience working for the Bob & Tom radio show, writing topical jokes on the day’s news stories, workshopping material on Twitter and the balance between writing for yourself and writing for others.

In addition, we discuss podcasting from a terrestrial radio perspective, why people will find you more through content online than at clubs, how having a part-time job gives you creative freedom, and why it’s always best to not ask for permission, only forgiveness.

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Links from this episode:

The Bob & Tom Show
Xtranormal
The Interweb Podshow
Coast To Coast AM
CC Podcast Episode #34 – Look For The Yes

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On the “self-indulgent” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer provide context on the tone of the last series of shows by sharing their own stories and current career initiatives. We discuss why a national TV credit doesn’t really change anything, being prepared for a bump in visibility, building a proof of concept, creating opportunities for yourself and why you don’t have to be beholden to anyone.

In addition, we debate why comedians tend to shy away from writing for a specific interest group, how creating content keeps yourself in other people’s top-of-mind, why building a personal network can reap rewards in the oddest of ways and ultimately, why the metric of “success” doesn’t have to be mainstream fame.

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Links from this episode:

Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life – Steve Martin [Amazon]
CC Podcast Episode #38 – What Kinds Of Delusion Are You?
CC Podcast Episode #36 – Make Stuff
Louis C.K. Interview – Howard Stern Show 4/3/13
Blenderhead Podcast Episode #39 – Never Go Full Cougar
Josh Comers

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On the “most bubbly ever” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome Ray Harrington on the show to talk about his Amazon & iTunes chart-topping album ‘The Worst Is Over’, what doing the work really looks like, ideas versus execution, putting yourself in the position to get opportunities, why labels distract comics from their goals, and how the most important aspect of your career is a network of people who know, like and trust you.

In addition, we have fun discussing hacky joke structures, catfishing comedians, podcast editing, when the right time is to get business cards, the best and worst merchandise we’ve seen, and why Ray hates Jim Gaffigan, amongst other things.

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Links from this episode:

Comedy Connection – Rhode Island
CC Podcast Episode 35 – Comedy Clubs As Curators
CC Podcast Episode 2 – Fighting For Cripple Rights
CC Podcast Episode 27 – You’re Not Funnier Than Jesus
CC Podcast Episode 14 – Why Do Our Fans Not Get It?
The Lean Startup
Stand-Up! Records
By The Way, In Conversation with Jeff Garlin #13 – Aziz Ansari
This Morning with Richard Not Judy – Lazy Comedy Slags
CC Podcast Episode 40 – Core Of Optimism
The Levelator
Melvin George II
Tribes – Seth Godin [Amazon]

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On the “burning bridges” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome J-L Cauvin on the show to talk about the art of blogging as a comedian, why sharing honest experiences is important, how the expectation of success can ultimately cause your failure, and taking the training wheels off your comedy career to get down to serious work.

In addition, we discuss the comprehensive degradation of live stand-up, how the middle class levels in comedy has crashed over the past few years, why comedians tend to treat online content as a second class, and dealing with the lack of incremental growth in your career.

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Links from this episode:

Louis C.K. Tells The Classics [YouTube]
The Things New Comics Should Be Doing [J-L Cauvin]
The Business Of Comedy – Documentary [Hulu]
CC Podcast Episode 39: No One’s Going To Feed You
How To Fail In Comedy While Really Trying – Feature Work [J-L Cauvin]

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On another “Spectorless” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome Jim Mendrinos on the show to debate the shifting focus and evolution of the stand-up artform, structure versus subject matter, how the new generation of comics naturally will reject the old constructs, and that it’s nearly impossible to judge another person’s art.

In addition, we discuss Jim’s approach of teaching comedy writing, getting ahead at the later stages of your career, how the internet has allowed veterans to reinvent themselves and given access for the first time in the industry to do exactly what it is that you want.

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Links from this episode:

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Comedy Writing [Amazon]
CC Podcast Episode 38: What Kinds Of Delusion Are You?
Living In Exile! [Stay Tuned TV]

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On another “fly on the wall” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer bring Patrick Passafiume on the show for an off-the-cuff conversation about being able to self-assess your talent, staying grounded, giving and getting honest criticism of your act from peers, and learning from failure.

In addition, we discuss the dynamics of a comedy scene, why being made fun of is a rite of passage, stepping up from MC’ing to the feature spot, and weighing the standard of a “solid” set of time.

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Links from this episode:

Like I’m An Idiot Episode 15: Maggie Klaus Explains Stand-Up Comedy
Is Rob Delaney Trying to Keep the Video of Him Bombing on ‘Jimmy Kimmel’ Off the Web?

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On the “fly on the wall” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer bring Mark Feigenbutz on the show for a very leisurely conversation about the internal and external struggles of moving up the comedy ladder, the destructive nature of staying inside your comfort zone, the process of framing material to suit a specific audience, and how it all ultimately comes down to the fear of failure.

In addition, we discuss how badly the television networks are looking for content, why age demographics play a huge role in the industry opportunities you get, and how early success with a great five-minute showcase set can bite you in the ass later on in your career.

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Links from this episode:

CC Podcast Episode 36 – Make Stuff
Kyle Kinane’s Going Nowhere
Interview w/ Patton Oswalt [AV Club]
Impractical Jokers

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

On the “worst pitch session ever” episode of the podcast, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome Dan Pasternack, VP of Development & Production at IFC to discuss how a network scouts talent, the role of podcasts and web series as a development platform, and how to pitch a television executive on a new project.

In addition, Dan shares with us the story of how Portlandia was developed on IFC, the difference between ideas versus execution, the importance of having a distinctive voice, why the biggest disservice to your career is to be seen before you’re ready, and ultimately how in this day and age, it’s the best time ever to be a comedian.

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Links from this episode:

Portlandia
Thunderant
Comedy Bang Bang
Tribes – Seth Godin
Super Deluxe
Ben Stiller’s All-Star Comedy Roundtable
Out There
Maron
Coming Soon: The Spoils of Babylon & The Birthday Boys [IFC Fix]
Diabetes Is No Joke

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

You Can Learn A Lot From Jonah Peretti

Jonah Peretti is a really smart dude. Besides being comedian Chelsea Peretti’s brother, he’s been involved in some of the web’s biggest content success stories including the rise of Huffington Post and most recently with Buzzfeed. He recently gave a talk at something called the Changing Media Summit in which he breaks down what he sees happening on the web and how/why some things spread and others don’t.

It’s about a 30 minute talk, but well worth your time to watch it.

Comedians As Other Comedians – A New Trend?

For whatever reason it seems like lately I’ve seen a bunch of comedians doing stuff online featuring themselves parodying other comedians. For example, as a promotional stunt for the upcoming Marc Maron show on IFC, they put out a web series dubbed Maron In Space which features James Adomian’s excellent Marc Maron impression. Here’s a sample episode:

Maron also inspired another solid parody from the sketch group Family Sandwich, which you can see here.

And Maron’s not the only one inspiring other comedians to flex their parody muscles. New York comedian JL Cauvin recently scored himself a viral hit with this video in which he portrays Louis CK. Check it out below and read up on what’s happened for JL since he launched the video.

The Real Economics Of Kickstarter

I see more and more comics trying to use Kickstarter to raise money for their various projects and while it’s great that they’re trying to find creative ways to fund their stuff and I applaud the effort, I often wonder to what degree some of them understand the actual economics of how Kickstarter works. In case you don’t, here’s a quick crash course.

First, you’re pretty much only going to have a successful Kickstarter campaign if you’ve got an established fanbase or group of people to tap into in the first place. It’s really more of a tool to manage fundraising as opposed to a magical source of funding. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get people who don’t really know about you or care about what you’re doing to contribute to your project, but 99% of the time it’s not going to be total strangers backing what you do.

Aside from that, it’s also important to realize that there are significant fees attached to the money you raise through Kickstarter. The service takes a 5% fee on any money raised and then another 3%-5% goes to Amazon payments which processes the money. So basically, 10% of whatever you raise will go to fees.

Plus, most likely you’ll have to provide rewards for people that are contributing to your campaign and while you completely control that part of the equation and what you offer, in most cases those awards will have some hard costs associated with them as well.

So, I’m not saying that Kickstarter isn’t a great thing because it really can be an amazing tool – but if you’re considering giving it a try you should make sure you’ve taken into account that you might not actually get as much money as you think you’re going to raise through it at the end of the day. Just something to think about…

The 365 Comedians Project

Dan Dion, a photographer who’s made quite a name for himself taking portraits of thousands of comedians over the years, has launched a really cool project where he’s posting a portrait a day through his various social media platforms. You can follow along here, but here’s a few recent ones so you can get a sense of his work.

On the “no solutions” episode of the podcast, Josh Spector, Jordan Cooper, Chelcie Rice and Josh Homer welcome road veteran Dale Jones onto the show to discuss the state of the comedy club business from a comic’s perspective, how clubs can shift with the changing landscape to have more sustainability, why it all can be fruitless without data showing what’s working and what’s not, and if audiences simply don’t trust the “comedy club experience” anymore.

In addition, we talk about the broadening definition of a what a comedy show is, how clubs in middle America can embrace tactics being utilized in Los Angeles and New York by understanding, embracing and being active in their local communities and thinking of themselves more as content companies than performance venues.

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Links from this episode:

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre

5 Signs A Comedy Club Is Struggling [Ward Anderson]

The Stand

Cringe Humor

Bar Rescue Episode 310 – Meat Sauna [Spike TV]

The Creek And The Cave

Laughing Skull Lounge

Chucklefck

The Laugh Factory YouTube Channel

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!

The answer to that question varies depending on who you are and what your goals are, but the underlying principle that who you follow is more important than who follows you is something I believe is universally true – especially if you’re a newer comedian.

Here’s a few reasons why…

You Can Control Who You Follow

You’re always better served to focus on the things you can control than the things you can’t when it comes to your career and this is a perfect example of that. No matter what you do, you’re never ultimately going to be able to control how many people choose to follow you or who those people are.

Sure, there are things you can do to get more followers, but it’s always going to be out of your control.

However, you can 100% control who you choose to follow and the benefit you get from those choices. So, what are some of those benefits? Well…

You Can Learn From Who You Follow

As I mentioned in a tweet the other day, Twitter is only as good as the people you follow on it. If you follow people with relevant expertise, opportunities, and knowledge to share then Twitter can be an incredibly powerful tool for you to learn from.

It really can become a valuable asset in your career development…if you’re following people and publications that have valuable information to offer.

Most people that think Twitter sucks or that it’s just people cracking dumb jokes and sharing photos of their food only think that because they’re following the wrong people. It’s not Twitter’s fault – it’s your own, because you get to choose who you follow. Choose right and Twitter can be a great asset.

You Can Develop Important Relationships

In addition to the ability to learn from people you follow on social media, it also provides you with an incredible opportunity to develop relationships and connections to people who can help your career in a variety of ways.

You might not be able to get a comedy club booker on the phone easily, but there’s a much better chance that you can interact with that booker (or the club) on social media and start to get on their radar that way. The same is true for other comics, journalists, fans, agents, managers, bloggers, and just about anybody else you think could potentially help you in your career down the road.

Now, I’m not suggesting you start spamming people with promotional tweets or bugging them about booking you via Twitter, but rather have genuine interactions with these people. Over time, you can start to develop a relationship with them and get on their radar.

This is another example of why who you follow is more important than who’s following you – because you’ll get more benefit from one solid relationship developed on Twitter than you will from getting 100 random people to follow you.

An Email Subscriber Is Better Than A Follower Anyway

Another reason your time is better spent finding great people to follow as opposed to chasing new followers is because at the end of the day you should be trying to get people to “follow” you by joining your email list instead of just following you on social media anyways.

While most comics obsess about follower counts, they completely ignore a major fact – most of your social media followers never see the stuff you post anyway. It’s fool’s gold.

Between Facebook’s algorithms and the flood of tweets that crowd most people’s Twitter feeds, very few of the followers you’re hoping to get will actually see your posts. By comparison, your email subscribers are MUCH more likely see the emails that you send them. That’s why I talk all the time about how to get people to join your email list.

That Leaves One More Big Question…

So, if I’ve convinced you that who you follow is more important than who follows you, that leads to an inevitable next question – who exactly should you follow?

I’ll answer that in a future post, but in the meantime I’d love to hear in the comments below who you have found very helpful to follow on social media?

On the “don’t be an asshole” episode of the podcast, Josh Spector, Jordan Cooper, and Chelcie Rice welcome Ryan Budds to the show to talk about his move to Los Angeles from Chicago, building relationships and being a jack of all trades in an industry town, why production assistant jobs shouldn’t be “underneath” you and the power of simply just asking people for things you would like to do.

In addition, we continue to discuss Josh Spector’s recent trend of “trolling” questions towards comedians, why lamenting that there’s not enough club work isn’t a solution, how comics have been ingrained to think of the crowd as someone else’s audience, and the difference in mindset between doing work-for-hire and pursuing a career.

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Links from this episode:

CC Podcast Episode 18: When Do You Stop Paying Your Dues?

You Know What Comics Really Hate? The Audience. [Connected Comedy]

5 Ways To Build A Closer Connection To Your Fans [Connected Comedy]

Read This Before You Decide To Sell Your Comedy Album [Connected Comedy]

Comics Have Too Many One-Night Stands [Connected Comedy]

Participate with the community in our Connected Comedy Facebook group or post your questions, suggestions or topics to cover in the future on our Facebook page. We always welcome your comments!