Do you ever find yourself saying, “They should make my life into a TV show”? Or perhaps you might say, “How do I get that gig?” I know I do. As far as I’m concerned, I think my life would be uber interesting for others to watch.

A new era of Entertainment has rolled in. Welcome to the era of the Everyday-Person-Turned-TV-Star.

Scan through the TV guide and you will see shows like American Pickers, Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, Million Dollar Listings, The Rachel Zoe Project (my all time favorite show), Flipping Out, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, The Spin Crowd, and the list goes on and on. So what do all these shows have in common? They are all based on a professional industry and spun into an exciting story giving the viewers a glimpse into the lives of those who might not have ever been known.

It is clear that this type of voyeuristic programming is in high demand. And with a growing number of channels there is also a growing demand for quality programming. We, the audience, also have a growing desire to get a glimpse of the lives of every day people.

I correlate this to the growth of the Social Media phenomenon. Today, we have more access than ever to the lives of strangers and we are eating it up. We are nosier than ever. We want more!! And luckily for us, Hollywood is listening and creating programming we really want to watch.

So, to go back to my original question…

Do you fantasize about being a Documentary Television Star?

If you answered YES, then read on! If you answered no, you probably should still read on because these tips can be applied to achieve your dreams to be something even greater than a celebrity!

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF BEING FOUND ONLINE.
The quick and dirty guide for Professionals to grow your exposure online for Casting Directors and Producers to Find You!

All the info below is taken from experience I have had working as an “acting” Casting Agent. My medium – Social Media.

In January I published a post called Casting in the Social Media Age, in which I proved — yes with metrics (gasp — why Casting Directors and Producers should be using Social Media for Casting Reality and Documentary type Programming. This post is a complement to that and to a recent radio segment on Cathy Brooks’ Social Media Hour, on which I was a guest on with Alec Shankman, the CEO of GotCast.com, an online Social Casting Platform.

So, let’s get started shall we?

Buy Your Domain Name

This is absolutely the most important thing you can do in order to be found. I have written about it before and branding your name is the number one thing you must do. Not only do you want to control your own image, you also don’t want your competitors or enemies posting things that could be detrimental to your career. (We hope people aren’t that vicious, but we like to take all precautions)

In addition, people are squatting domain names as well, and selling them for a higher price, so make sure you go and grab it yourself before someone else does.
If you are not interested in doing it up extravagantly, at the very least you should post a picture and your “keywords” or a tagline that best describes who you are with your contact information.  That will make do for now. It makes it easier for the casting people and it makes you seem more credible. Believe me!

Define Keywords that you will use Specifically to Brand Yourself.

I talk about keywords often because they are super important! As a professional talent “stalker,” and I mean that is the best way possible, I define a list of keywords that I will use to find the types of people I am looking for. This gives me the edge to go “uber deep” and really find the right types of people.

What does “uber deep” mean?  It is a term I use to describe the process in which I perform to find expert on different levels.  This could include a search in forums, on video sharing sites, on obscure membership sites, on blogs, on twitter, on social networks, on podcast networks, and everywhere else that online users may be lurking.  It is the process in which you find your audience.  But the bottom line is that it goes far beyond just a simple google search.

So back to the Keywords.  These keywords should be as specific as possible. There are millions of Real Estate brokers out there, but how many specify in Art Deco Real Estate? If this is you, make sure it is known. You never know if that is what someone is looking for. What are your specialties? Are you a PhD? Are you well versed in Shakespeare? Can you speak 10 languages? Do you know the Morse Code? The more specific the better! And these should be included.

NOTE: These keywords should be your brand! Being the expert in the obscure is that more interesting!

Put these Keywords Everywhere.

By putting these keywords in niche networks you are also increasing your chances of being found. Put them in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Vimeo, and Myspace.

Hold Up – Did she just say Myspace? I sure did. While Myspace may have a lot of bad press these days, it is still the number one place for Music, Models, and others in the arts. So if you fall under that category, don’t let Myspace pass you by.

Now you might be saying, why do I need to put these keywords in my Facebook and Twitter? These are networks that I use personally. The answer is simple, there are millions of people on these networks and when I am casting a project, it is the second place I search. (After blogs and the traditional search engines.) More likely people have a Facebook account than they have a blog. So it makes perfect sense.

I also search Twitter Lists and Bios. So putting it in your bio is very important.

Blog, Blog, Blog

I talk about having a blog often and it is for many reasons. Most importantly it increases your chances of being found on the search engines. It also makes you sound like you know what the heck you are talking about.

As always make sure you are blogging about your chosen keywords.

Join Talent Related and Niche Social Networks

There are thousands of Social Networks and at times that could be intimidating. Join one or two that appeal to you. Even if you aren’t active, it can’t do you any harm to join them. When I am working on a very specific project I go straight to the niche networks because I am more likely to find the right person quicker. As these are highly targeted to specific industries and hobbies, it also allows me to network with those in the know and they can point me in the right direction. It is a great way to spread your wings and it also shows that you are really interested in the topic and not just trying to get your 5 minutes of fame.

The following is a list of Niche Networks that might be of interest to you

General Talent
GotCast.com – GotCast works with many major Hollywood productions to find their talent.  There are hundreds of Casting Calls and high profile auditions listed.
TalentMaven – TalentMaven is the LinkedIn for Actors, Musicians, & Models
VoiceOver Casting – A Site for VoiceOver Talent

Creative Talent
Zooppa- Zooppa is the Youtube for Your User-Generated Ads
Artician- A Creative Network for Art, Graphic Design, and Photography
ILike- A Site for Music and Fans
Event Filmmaker- The Event Filmmaker Social Media Network is an active online community comprised of the most creative and successful event film & video artists in the world.

Modeling/Fashion/Styling
IQONS- IQONS is the world’s largest network of creatives and professionals in fashion. Their members include designers, models, photographers, hair and makeup artists, stylists, bloggers, retailers, PRs, show producers, magazines, and manufacturers.

ModelXpress- all the fashion modeling, and a professional networking tool and community used by models, photographers, agents and industry professional

Science
Epernicus- A networking platform for scientists.
ScienceStage- An online portal for science, advanced teaching and academic research. Includes videos, audio clips and news.

Spiritual/Religious
Xt3 – A Catholic Social Network & Community
LightWorkers- Connecting Lightworks and the spiritually connected
Gaia- Health&Welness, Spirituality and Self Improvement Community

Misc.
VampireFreaks- A site for gothic interests
WiserEarth- A site for Eco-Friendly
GovLoop- A site for the government workers
CratenFire – A site dedicated to hobbies

Experts/Professionals
SelfGrowth- The most complete guide to information about Self Improvement, Personal Growth and Self Help on the Network.  This is a great place to list yourself no matter what career.

Entrepreneurs
Sprouter- A Twitter-like Platform for Entrepreneurs

Food
ChefCommons- Social Network & Community for foodies, chefs, restaurant owners, or anyone with a passion for food, cooking and eating experiences.
FoodCandy- Social network for cooking and food.

Health
MentalHealthSocial – A Social network for those dealing with, caring for, or anyone with mental health problems
PatientsLikeMe – Connect and get support with other patients like yourself

There are many more!  But this should tide you over for a bit.

Get Your Groupies On Board

Think Tila Tequila, the only reason she got so famous is because she grew a huge following around her Myspace page and brought that to the table.  You can do the same!  By having followers, fans, and a community around you and or your work, you have leverage.  Producers are more likely to give you a shot because it is clear that you are likeable.

To build this you have to contribute to the community.  Share, Blog, and Create.  If you are good at what you do and put it out in the right arena, your following will come.  Stick with it!

Get Your Portfolio Out There

If you really want it badly enough you will do everything in your power to show off your skills.  Make a video reel, present your work, upload photos of yourself, and Brand yourself as you want to be known.  The less work the casting director has to do, the happier they are!

Make Your Contact Info Easy To Find!

If you want to be found make sure you have your contact info out there.  I hate nothing more than finding the most interesting blog or blog post only to find that the person doesn’t have the contact info on their site.  Opportunity Lost for the talent.  If you are afraid that you might get spam or anything like that make a special social media account email that will filter all your emails through this and check it semi-regularly. You never know who might be knocking at your door.

For more tips of Casting and Social Media you can listen to the full version of the Radio Segment below!

Cathy Brooks – Social Media Hour with Stephanie Frasco & Alec Shankman

So there you have it!!  I look forward to seeing you on the Tube!!

Related posts:

1. Casting in the Social Media Age
2. How to Brand Yourself As An Expert and Get More Business with Facebook Questions
3. 9 Tips For Building, Branding and Maximizing Your Profile And Exposure on LinkedIn

Just one look at the statistics and it is apparent that LinkedIn must not be ignored, but should be embraced.

• LinkedIn has over 70 million members in over 200 countries.
• A little over half of them are from outside the US
• A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second
• 85% of them are online everyday
• Over 7 million are Business Decision Makers
• There were more than a billion people-searches through the site last year
• 50% of Fortune 100 companies hire through LinkedIn

4 Types of LinkedIn users

According to a great report by Anderson Analytics there are 4 types of LinkedIn users all with their own personalities and way of using the site.

1. “Savvy Networkers” (est. 9 million) are likely to have started using social networking earlier than others, are more tech savvy, and more likely to be active on other SNS sites like Facebook. Savvy Networkers have the most connections (61 on average) and are more likely than other segments to use LinkedIn for a wide variety of purposes other than job searching. Savvy Networkers have the second highest average personal income ($93,500) and may often have the word “Consultant” in their job description.

2. “Senior Executives” (est. 8.4 million) are somewhat less tech savvy and is using LinkedIn to connect to their existing corporate networks. They have power jobs which they are quite content with, and are likely to have been invited by a colleague and then realized how many key contacts were on the site and started building connections (32 on average). Senior Executives have the highest average personal income ($104,000) and have titles such as Owner, Partner, Executive, or Associate.

3. “Late Adopters” (est. 6.6 million) are likely to have received numerous requests from friends and co-workers before deciding to join. They are somewhat less tech savvy and are careful in how they use LinkedIn, tending to connect only to close friends and colleagues and have the fewest number of connections (23 on average). Late Adopters have the lowest average personal income ($88,000) and have titles such as Teacher, Medical Professional, Lawyer, or the word “Account” or “Assistant” in their job description.

4. “Exploring Options” (est. 6.1 million) may be working, but are open and looking for other job options often on CareerBuilder.com, perhaps in part because they have the lowest average personal income ($87,500). They are fairly tech savvy and use SNS for both corporate and personal interests.

With 70 million people on LinkedIn and tons of people actively using LinkedIn your profile needs to stand out.

9 Tips To Maximizing Your Exposure on LinkedIN.

1. HAVE AN SEO KEYWORD HEAVY PROFILE
There are over a billion people searches a year on LinkedIn. This means that most likely they are searching for keywords, different types of people, positions, and brands. Your profile should be rich in the keywords that relate to you. These keywords should be the ones that people want to find you by. They should range from broad to highly specific and targeted. A good place to put these besides your bio is in the “Specialties” category.

Think in terms of SEO here, content is King. The more keywords you have the better chances you have of being found. This goes for an internet search as well as a LinkedIn search. Beyond getting you more visibility on LinkedIN it will also get more click through traffic from the internet.

2. MAKE YOUR HEADLINE POP!
Your headline is the first thing that people may read so you want it to be catchy. For example, Social Media Guru, doesn’t really do the job because there are millions of people out there claiming to be one. Mini-Social Media Mogul on the other hand might grab the attention of more people. Lure them in with your headline and wow them with your expertise. Remember you only have 120 characters to lure them in…so think about it and make it standout!

Another tip – if you want to open yourself up to new ventures and opportunities is to add your email to your headline. As many people do not have the upgraded feature and thus won’t be able to email you through the LinkedIn service. I have seen many profiles do this, and when it comes to outreach on my side, it made my life much easier!

3. BE A BLOGGER!
Now you might be saying, what does a blog have to do with LinkedIn, and I will get to that in the next tip. But for now read on and see why blogging is so important.

Blogging is the key component to building and branding yourself as an expert. It also adds trust.  The more information you give, the more likely someone is to trust you.  I think everyone should have a blog or at the very least own their own domain with their name in it. – StephanieFrasco.com – for example. (That’s me).

Now you might be saying, blogging, ugh how am I supposed to find the time for that. While it might be time consuming, it is very important for your overall success and branding of your name. This could be a microblog or even blog clippings from other blogs relating to your industry and the news around it.

If you absolutely don’t have time to blog, buy your domain name and hire SEOARTICLEWRITINGPROS.com, They are an amazing company that produces great quality, keyword heavy work for very low prices. Like I said before, the blog is crucial.

4. OPTIMIZE THAT BLOG
So here is why that blog is important on LinkedIn. Once you have the blog set up, you can connect it to LinkedIn. Just as NetworkedBlogs autopublishes to facebook, LinkedIn has a similar application that allows you to autopublish to your profile. Everytime you publish a new blog it will be published into Linkedin. (To set it up go here.)

5. ADD OTHER APPLICATIONS TO YOUR BLOG
Like all Social Tools these days LinkedIn has added a lot of new applications to enhance your profile. They are there for a reason…USE THEM! Some of my favorites are:

A. Twitter Connection to LinkedIn
If you have looked at your LinkedIn homepage recently you will see the most recent updates from your connection’s twitter account. They have set this up by using the Twitter App. This is important to do because it means your name will be shown more often on news feeds and if the information is relevant new people will follow you and or the organization. This goes the same for Updating your status.

LinkedIn has recently added the Like & Comment feature Facebook uses as well, which will increase your visibility if people like and comment on your statuses.  (Of course follow me on twitter.)

B. Creative Porfolio
This is essential for anyone in the creative arena of work. Whether you are a designer, photographer, fashion stylist, makeup artist, costume designer, artist, or anyone who has a portfolio to share. Now this application is a joint venture with the Behance network, which if you are a designer or artist you are most likely already on this network, thus you can pull your work directly from there. If you are not already on the Behance network – sign up now!

This will allow people to browse your work and hopefully hire you! It saves time and lost opportunity as LinkedIn users can browse all the necessary aspects of who you are straight from your profile without getting lost in the sea of information out there.

C. My Travel (powered by TripIt.com)
This is a great application for business travelers and public speakers. Often times we have many contacts abroad and this application allows you show your trips planned. Perhaps if it works out you can meet up with contacts and actually build a relationship face to face!

This is also an application based on an online site called TripIt – if you have an account you can easily add your trips from your account or directly from the application on LinkedIn.

D. Google or Slideshare Presentation
Google and Slideshare presentations are a professional way to introduce yourself and your work. Add a presentation to your LinkedIn profile to showcase a recent talk or presentation, display a visual portfolio of your professional accomplishments, introduce yourself to recruiters and professional contacts viewing your profile.

E. Real Estate Pro
This is essential for Real Estate Agents and Brokers in both the commercial and residential spaces.
Real Estate Pro is the easiest way to stay informed about your local real estate and office space marketplace. Use it to find office space listings for lease and property for sale. Follow and connect with active brokers and professionals, track new property listings and see the latest deals in your market.

Real estate professionals: Use Real Estate Pro to feature property listings and promote client transactions on your Linkedin profile. Easily share your work and completed deals with your business connections, track your market, create a following, promote your expertise and develop new business.

Family Shoutout - If you are looking for commercial real estate in the Greater Los Angeles Area, do contact the one and only Bruce Frasco. He is my dad and a life long real estate professional.  Tell him I sent you and he will hook you up!  Frasco – style!  You can also reach him on LinkedIn.

6. BECOME A GROUP LEADER AND ENCOURAGE CONVERSATION
Make an interesting group that is relevant to your industry and invite your contacts. That is the easy part. Encouraging conversation, now that is the harder part. Talk about relevant news, introduce yourself and your company and keep the conversation flowing. By doing this, you and your profile will pop up all over the place. It will pop up in the group, in the email digest, and throughout the site. So even if you aren’t connected to certain group members personally, you are branding their name by sending out messages and discussions in the group.

6a. Join Other Groups that are related to your industry
SIMPLE ENOUGH! But you will also want to contribute relevant and interesting content. Post news, articles, share your blog, etc. Any conversation starting is a good thing!

7. ANSWER QUESTIONS IN THE Q&A SECTION
Being and expert is everything! Answering questions can help you achieve that status. Search for and answer relevant questions that will brand you as an expert. These will be seen by everyone and can be searched by anyone so this is a very important aspect.

TIP: Set up an RSS Feed for LinkedIN Questions, so that you can be notified of the related questions that interest the business or industry you are branding yourself in. This way you don’t have to waste time.

For more on Questions for Facebook See Here

8. TRANSLATE YOUR PROFILE INTO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
LinkedIn now has the option to translate your profile into different languages. This will help you get found by those in different countries. It might be a good idea to translate to a language of the country you do a lot of business in to build your presence there. It is simple to use and will expose you to a whole new audience!

9. USE A VANITY URL
If you haven’t done so already, claim your own LinkedIn vanity URL, to solidify your own professional brand. In a world where everything is searchable…You need to own YOUR search.

You can get your vanity url here

Of course don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn here!

Do you have any tips for LinkedIn? What are they and how do you use LinkedIn?

Related posts:

1. How to Brand Yourself As An Expert and Get More Business with Facebook Questions
2. How To Use Social Media To Land A Hollywood Gig
3. How To Optimize Your Blog On Facebook – Networked Blogs

As a Social Media Professional, the questions I get most is almost always about Facebook and their business.  More specifically,  “How do I Market My Business on Facebook?”  Well, Facebook Questions could be your answer to effectively marketing yourself as an expert in different topics that could drive traffic to your website and business to you and your company.

If you are familiar with LinkedIn question section, then you are already one step ahead.  Facebook Questions work pretty much the same way.

While this is limited – Facebook says that this is intitally rolling out to 3-5 million users, they have plans for a broader roll out down the line.

Not only is this new service a great way to brand yourself and reach a large audience, it is also a great way to reach a relevant audience.  (The most important aspect of Social Media Marketing)  These questions and answers can be tagged with category keywords, too, which will eventually be used to fill up an aggregate “questions” tab on relevant Community Pages on Facebook, meaning more relevant people seeing your answers.

Why is this important?

• There are officially over 500 million users on facebook.  That is a lot of potential traffic.

• Facebook is the number 1 “Social Network” referring source of traffic ALL sites on the web!  According to ReadWriteWeb, Facebook sends nearly 7 out of 10 visits to websites that come from a Social Network.  (Twitter brings 25% and LinkedIN 4%.)
• Eventually when this becomes a mature product questions and answers will be found on google and other search engines increasing visibility and traffic if used correctly.

Cautions
Everything in Questions is PUBLIC and will be shared with everyone!  This refers to both questions and answers.  So if you are a Facebook privacy hater this is probably not for you.

Techcrunch says, “Facebook obviously isn’t going to ask your question to everyone else on Facebook; instead, its system is going to try to analyze a user’s interests to determine who would be best able to answer your question. The service will also show the question to some of your friends, so ideally you’ll receive answers from a healthy mix of friends and experts.”

Who can benefit and use this?

• Anyone with a product or service to sell!

If someone asks a question about the best type of camera to buy, online retailers can answer and give a link to buy.

If someone asks the best place in NY to get a massage, spa owners/marketers could offer a discount and link.

The list goes on and on!

How to Get Started
If you are not on the “chosen” list of 3-5 million users request access here.
To test other facebook apps go here.

Start answering question and asking questions and start building your name!

For all you in the travel industry you can get your start now! I have asked a question which may pertain to you.

After we spend time in Costa Rica, where should our next destination be?
SEE QUESTION HERE!!

Like I say with everything…Get in Early! By doing this you will be positioning yourself as an expert before it gets too crowded.

READ MORE:
Mashable
CNET
Facebook Blog

Related posts:

1. How To Optimize Your Blog On Facebook – Networked Blogs
2. 9 Tips For Building, Branding and Maximizing Your Profile And Exposure on LinkedIn
3. How To Use Social Media To Land A Hollywood Gig

Happy Cyber Monday! As the holidays are coming up quickly, retailers are amping up their promotions.  Next to Black Friday, Cyber Monday is coined as one of the next most popular shopping days of the year.  Cyber Monday is the online version of Black Friday, meaning people are shopping heavily today and they are doing it online.

According to a recent survey over 100 million consumers are expected to be shopping online today.

Although Cyber Monday may be halfway over, online shopping is up 3% this year and I expect that to be slightly higher for this month.  Which means if you aren’t doing anything NOW is the time to REV up your Social Media Retail Plan.

WHAT ARE OTHER RETAILERS DOING?
According to a new study by Deloitte Services, National Retail Federation

• 47 percent of retailers plan to increase social media use for the holidays
• 75 percent will improve their Facebook pages
• 59 percent will boost Twitter use
• 60 percent of consumers will use social media to locate coupons and discounts
• 53 percent will research gift ideas through social media

What can you do?
Here are some easy ideas to accelerate your sales online through the holiday season.

1.  Make sure you have your facebook/twitter page up to date with current products, images, and deals. (Need help?)
With over 50% of consumers researching gift ideas through social media and 60% using social media to locate coupons and discounts, now is the time for you to make your mark!  Your brand needs to be found.

2.  Create an online promotion for twitter, tweet it yourself and submit it to relevant feeds.

• CheapTweet- Designed for medium-to-large e-commerce sites and national brands, our Stores program delivers maximum exposure to eager buyers across all CheapTweet properties
• CouponTweet – Will retweet related sale tweets
• TwtqPon – Allows you to create your own twitter coupon

3.  Submit yourself to different Social Shopping Sites and Coupon Forums where people will be shopping online.  If the key is exposure, make sure you are able to be found.

• CafePress
• Etsy.com
• Zazzle
• Amazon
• Ebay
• FatWallet
• ThisNext

4.  Utilize your own network and email list to notify current customers and encourage pass along and sharing to their networks and friends.

5.  Listen to the conversations out there.
For example I did a summize search on Gift Ideas.  Here is your first lead.

6. Advertise
My choice for Advertising is Facebook.  If you need help with this let me know!!!  It is my forte.

Do you have a B2B product/service to sell?
Tis the season!   You too should be doing some sort of promotion.  You never know what is on people’s Holiday Wish List.  Check out some other tips from Internet Marketing Guru, Jason Clegg here.

Related posts:

1. The Intersections of SEO & SMO – Holiday Shopping in an Online World
2. How To Use Social Media To Land A Hollywood Gig
3. Cee Lo Green – A Lesson In The Value Of A Social Media Fan

A new site that I recommend to all Entrepreneurs is Sprouter, which is something like the Twitter for Entrepreneurs.

Where Twitter asks the question, “What are you doing?” – Sprouter asks entrepreneurs the question “What are you working on?”  Sprouter enables collaboration and networking between Entrepreneurs globally in a real-time format.  It also allows you to expand networks, discover events, start discussions, and follow topics relevant to your business.

While many may argue the need for a site like this that is so similar to twitter, I argue if you get in early, the benefits could be endless.

Benefits of Sprouter

1.  Grow your network before it is over-populated and market yourself as an expert before the next wave of users come in.
In an untapped network, making yourself an expert in your industry is easier as there is less competiton and less noise. Having a presence on a site before it blows up gives you “street cred” and the opportunity to be heard before the noise and spam sets in.

2.  Own Your Own Hashtag

By owning your own hashtag, you are given the authority in that subject.  Although the limit is 12 hashtags per account, owning the keywords that are important to your business will give you influence and will result in a larger following or network.

For exmple, I own the #smo (Social Media Optimization) hashtag on Sprouter.

3.  Follow Topics and Conversations in an Organized Manner
Sprouter is extremely easy to navigate and all content is presented in an organized and clean way.  I particularly like the way replies are set up as it allows you to follow the conversation and see the conversation as it is happening.

4.  Get the User Name You Want
Get in before your username is taken.  As I have mentioned before – owning your search is crucial.

Connect with me on Sprouter – http://www.sprouter.com/frasco

Other Experts & Early Adapters to follow:
Jason Clegg, Web Entrepreneur
Brett Petersel, Events Director at Mashable
Janine Just, PR Entrepreneur
Sarah Prevette, Founder, Sprouter
Erin Bury, Community Manager, Sprouter
Paul Farkas, Socialpreneur
Bill Murphy, Startup Financier
Todd Levy, Emerging Leader

Related posts:

1. How to Brand Yourself As An Expert and Get More Business with Facebook Questions
2. Podcast – Women Entrepreneurs & Where We Are Headed
3. Social Media Holiday Guide to Selling Online