How to Find Your Audience

Acting is always a collaboration.  Last week, I talked about how to Be Brave and Ask for Help.  But, getting a crew and finishing your film is only half the battle.

The reason you create something is to have an audience to watch it.  So, the question is how do you get that audience?

First decision you have to make is where you want to it to show, like film festivals or on the web.  If you decide to post on the interwebs, you have to choose what site to post it on.  I think it's best to focus on one site to drive all your traffic to.  That way all your views show up in one place and they aren't spread amongst a lot of different sites.

But which site is best for your video?  If it's a funny then Funny or Die is the obvious choice.  I've posted a few videos there on my page, www.funnyordie.com/michellecoyle and it has a community of people who watch the videos which can drive up views.  But, remember on Funny or Die people get to vote on your videos, unless you are one of the chosen (and if you don't know if you are, then you aren't.)  Even really funny videos like Sunset Junction: Francophile can get a lot of die ratings.

Of course dealing with obnoxious comments is always something you have to deal with when you post things on the internet.  The only way to fight them is by ignoring them.  I know it's really tempting to scroll down and see what people have said but, trust me, don't.  It's not worth the angst.

So, back to driving traffic to your video.  There is always the usual social media blitz on your Facebook and Twitter pages.  But, you don't want to over-saturate the newfeeds because even your family will get sick of seeing the same video posted over and over again.  Plus, even if every one of your 900 Facebook friends watches the video that still isn't really viral video numbers.

I've had some success in the blogosphere.  I reached out to Topless Robot and TrekMovie and they happily posted my videos and even wrote nice articles about them.   I also follow lots of people who have similar interests as me on Twitter.  I read their blogs, watch their videos, and repost them.  I now have quite a few people who I have developed relationships with on Twitter and we help each other out. 

But, you can't worry about the views you are going to get before you make a movie.  So, the point is to get out there and start creating something.  The audience will come and it's okay if most of your views come from your mom.