People sometimes ask me...

People sometimes ask me, “How can I get acting jobs in my metropolitan area?” I tell them, “In lots of ways!” I live in the Washington, D.C. area. There are plenty of jobs for actors, models and voiceover talent. In fact, any city within corporate America has jobs for us in the entertainment field. Every organization needs to promote and advertise their products and services. We are the faces and voices on print work, posters and brochures and for screen work for television, film and websites.

Make sure you have a professional head shot. I do not mean a glamor shot. I mean a head shot that truly captures your brand (more on branding later). Go on Google and look at sites for photographers in your area. Notice that many photographers take adequate or even nice pictures, but just a handful of photographers seem to capture a brand. For example, you can compare other photographers with Joe Henson, the head shot expert from New York. Check out Joe Henson's site and see if you can see the difference between “good” and “expert” results.

A stellar brand head shot of you shows what you are selling and promoting to directors, producers, agents and casting directors. Grab your current head shot right now and look at it. Are you humbly proud of how it looks? Are you thrilled to hand it to entertainment professionals?  When you mail it out, do you expect good feedback and good results?

Your head shot (along with your monologue and voiceover reel) are your business cards in the industry. Work on your headshot now so that it raises your confidence.

I’ll blog about branding, monologues and voiceover reels another day... Until then, stay healthy and focus on your trade. Be disciplined and work on something on a daily basis in your trade to be better for the next day, next audition, next booking.

Shoot for the moon because if you miss you'll be a star!