"Do you know why we hired you?"
Steven Samuel, the co-founder of SOHH.com asked me this question a few months after giving me my first job in the media industry.
He told me I was the only person they ever brought to the team that didn't present a resume. Or references. Or a college degree.
To make things even more remarkable, the job was created specifically for me. And SOHH approached your boy about working with them, not the other way around.
It was the first time I landed a gig without looking for it, but not the last. By my count, not including freelancing and consulting, I've been offered 5 jobs this same way. I've taken 2 of them.
My friends in the business who are more used to the "spray your resume and pray" method of finding work think I'm practicing chaos magic when I explain how I land my best jobs. But it's not chaotic, and it's better than magic.
MIXTAPES VS DEMOS
50 Cent stabbed demo tapes in the neck. Lil Wayne finished the job with a gassed rag over the face.
New rappers who want to break into the game, and old heads who want to stay there must now release mixtape albums to create or keep a connection with fans. Just like 50 and Weezy do.
In the same way, I attracted the attention of SOHH, not through a demo tape (resume, cover letter, portfolio, references) but through my mixtape (my living and active web presence).
Steven told me that I was hired because I was out there with my blog killing it on the daily, while others just talked about it.
My blog gave me the advantage of social proof, and it helped SOHH make a decision about recruiting me.
I didn't have to prove I was hot. Every crazy reader comment, every blogger link, every mention in the mainstream media broadcast my swag for me.
REFERRALS 2.0
If you've worked in entertainment for a length of time you know that your best opportunities have come through friends recommending you for positions. Depending on the strength of the thumbs up, and whose thumb it was, you may have experienced the "no resume" fast lane that I have.
That's what I call "Career Referral 1.0." It's where you rely on your network to keep you in the game. Build a bigger network and you'll never see the unemployment line, the thought goes.
Y'see, I'm too laid back to be a power networker, and too cool to frequent industry parties. Thank Rakim that I stumbled on Referral 2.0, which doesn't rely on me keeping a huge Roledex or staying current in the scene.
Here are two tips if you want to do the same:
#1. COLLECT PROJECTS, NOT FOLLOWERS
A friend on Twitter, who works as a production assistant on a television show asked me to "@" her so she could score more followers.
Kids at home, can you guess why this is a waste of her time?
If you want to advance your career using social media, you first need to stop obsessing over followers (and friends, and pageviews, and subscribers). Instead, learn how to build buzz worthy projects online, and let the cool kids spread the word for you.
Bald genius Seth Godin did the math on it and found that creating something that spreads is better than having lots of social media connections.
Other than this blog, I always had other mini-projects going that added shine to my name. If you focus on creating things online that touch the ear of the right people, you don't have to worry about playing the collect-a-follower game.
The obvious question is, who are the "right people"?
#2. PLAY INSIDE BASEBALL
Jay Smooth once told me that he avoids some of the insular hip-hop blogger conversations because his audience doesn't care about it. And Will Smith doesn't have to cuss in his raps to sell records.
Me? I embraced blogging about bloggers blogging because my audience wasn't the web wide world. Instead, I served only The 17.
And my goal was to make The 17 turn to 18, and then 19, and more guest writers for my blog. Inside baseball style blogging attracts other bloggers. And it attracts people in your industry, especially the ones who are open to new ideas.
If you're a costume designer for movies, forget about starting projects that appeal to general film fans. Do stuff that will get the attention of people who make movies.
Instead of a bland movie critic blog, do ultra-meta reviews that focus only on the costumes. Interview the costume designers from new flicks and post it up as podcasts. Or, instead of blogging at all, partner with a techy friend and build something cool that will solve a problem only other costume designers have.
If you focus on being amazing to the small group of people who can make a difference in your career, word about you will multiply and leads to paid projects will drop in your lap. This is the way social proof works.
LET'S HUG IT OUT
Some of the most brilliant and creative people I know are terrible self-promoters. I've seen some of them let their career in the entertainment industry lapse and stall because they reject the Ari Gold method of getting your name out there, by any obnoxious means necessary.
There's another way. I've been living the other way. I let my social proof do the talking and I focus on doing incredible work for my current employer and for myself.
If you're as allergic to networking as I am, I hope you embrace doing cool projects that get the attention of insiders, so your career in this biz can fly.
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Haven't you heard?
I retired this blog 3 years ago, but now I'm back with a new project, Dr. Dre style. Before Andre releases a single from Detox I plan to start a new blog about careering in the entertainment industry, and shut down this one forever.
Like what you read today? Read the new blog, Career Green Light that just launched!
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