a.k.a. Google is your friend
I don't know how many times I've said this in my whole life, but I know that I've said this at least a dozen of times over the past few months. "Google is your friend" - there are so many different things you can find answers for if you know how to look for it. Part of it might mean being able to express yourself in the right keywords, but many other times knowing a single keyword and the right bunch of classifiers is plenty enough. Let me break it down for you.
Let's say you are a... hold on, the wheel is spinning... takka takka... an actor (yes my wheel is mainly composed of the word "an actor"), and you're looking for information on... takka takka... how to make a professional reel. Okay, let's start with that:
Only about 17 million hits, that's nothing, just browse through it, you'll find what you're looking for. I kid, I kid, I joke, I joke.
Let's say you want to focus on the quality factor, so let's put the words "professional reel" in quotes:
Okay - 9,030. If you don't sleep for the next 2 weeks, you can go through it all... or... as you glance at it, you see other people's reels that teach you "How to make..." something else entirely. Let's eliminate the youtube stuff, completely, so...
And we're down to 8,320. See what I did there? Minus (-) in front of any word means: skip that. intitle: in front of any word means: must have this word in the title of the page, so -intitle: means: you guessed it - don't want that word in the title. Moving on. Let's get rid of all the stuff they try to sell me on amazon.
That actually didn't help as much as I thought it would, but we're down to 8,270, now, let's replace the how to section with an option, that it either says "how to" or it says "tips" anywhere on the page:
Bingo - 2,960 and I just ran out of screenshot space, but I'll go ahead and add one more thing "actor OR acting" at the very end, which narrows things down to 2,520, and I know that the first few articles will be direct hits for me, and here's what I got:
- How to Create a Demo Reel the Smart Way | Acting Tips from backstage
- Backstage Experts Answer: 13 Tips for Creating Your Demo Reel from backstage again
- REEL DO'S and DON'TS - by tschreiber.org
- Demo Reels NYC - nice keywords they take spot 4 and 5 on the list
- What makes a Reel Great?
- Acting: Demo Reel - a lounge discussion on Stage 32
- Active Acting: Having a acting reel is critical! - I completely agree (Stage 32 again)
- The Facts from Actor Slate - awesome
- The Importance of an acting reel - thank you about.com
- Actor services from Fuentes Films Studios
That's it - first page on Google, and all of the resources I will need to write my blog next week about why it's imperative that you get your reel done NOW! I have my opinions and reasons, which I will state, but meanwhile let me read up on what others have to say.
Knowledge is power and Google is your friend. If you need googling any information regarding your acting career, let me know, I'll be happy to help.
