Tips on Marketing Yourself as a Burlesque Performer

Because this year, with new show opportunities, I've had to continuously scout for burlesque performers, I've noticed how poor performers are at selling themselves, particularly in New Zealand. This may have something to do with Kiwis being so self-deprecating, I'm not sure, but regardless, from a producer's perspective, it makes it incredibly difficult to choose performers, and with doing monthly shows, I need a fresh lineup every time.

I can't always get out to all the burlesque shows in town but I need to see a performer's act before I can decide if they are suitable for a show.  Most performers here don't have a website. So I'm reliant on Facebook Like pages. Now, I see a lot of posts on Facebook encouraging/spamming/almost begging to be 'Liked'. It almost seems that performers are using their Like page to gather popularity. I rarely Like these pages because, frankly, they lack any meaningful or engaging content. Worryingly, this is the only medium performers are using to market themselves.

It's fine to gather Likes, but you do need to give people a reason to Like your page, not just to inflate your ego. Venus Starr is an excellent example of how to engage your Likers. She constantly posts new photos of herself and keeps her Likers up to date with her future performances. She also describes her acts in the photos she posts of them, so as a producer, I gain a better idea of what her acts are, what her style of burlesque is.

There's also no point constantly asking people to Like your page (and thus looking a bit desperate and needy) unless you post on it at least twice a week, otherwise your page will drop off people's feeds and you'll become one of the hundreds of pages that people have Liked and never engage with.

So if you're using your Like page as your main marketing material, I have a few tips for you which will help to both grow your fan base, and more crucially, help you book more jobs.

1. As mentioned above, post something interesting on your page at least once a week, if not twice. Engage your Likers. Ask them questions, give them advice, post photos, post links to things that you find interesting or like. Don't just post what you put on your other Like pages or your personal page. Nobody wants to see the same post 4 times in their feed. Also don't post personal status updates on your Like page. You wouldn't use a megaphone to tell everyone you had a ham sandwich for lunch or how much you hate Auckland traffic. You use a megaphone to rally people and inform them. Think of your Like page as a megaphone.

2. Organise your show photos into an album called Show Photos or Burlesque Acts or Performances. Organise them chronologically so your most recent photos appear first. Ensure the photos are labelled with the name of your act and/or a brief description of it, the name and date of the show, and please, please mention the photographer who took the photo. Photographers don't get paid enough for the invaluable work they do at shows, so mentioning them and linking them to their own Like page is the best way you can 'pay' them.

3. Have an album of studio shots. Ensure you don't just have pinup photos or fetish photos. Get some photos of you in your costumes done against a white background. They are the kind of photos that producers want for show poster collages as you can easily be clear cut from them. They also display your costume better under lighting that the photographer can control.

4. Think of a catchy description for the About box that actually says who you are as a performer. 'The Fastest Ass In The West' tells me more about that performer (i.e. she has a sense of humour and is good at shimmying) than 'Classic Burlesque Queen who will tease and titillate'.

5. Film your acts and put links to them on your page! In today's modern world, I'm astounded to hear that this is difficult for people. Even I have a video camera and editing software. Invite me to your show and I'll film and edit your act for $35 (I also accept bottles of whiskey or reciprocal favours. Also, always ask the show's producer for permission to film before inviting me or other videographer).  And, sorry, I don't believe in the excuse of, I don't want to film it and put it on YouTube because someone might plagiarise it. I'd understand more if you said, I don't want my act on YouTube because it's a hive of nasty comments and trolling. But you can make your video Not Listed so only people with the link to it can see it. So when a producer or a prospective private client wants to book you, just email them the link to the video. But make it clear on your Like page, perhaps in the About box, that you do have footage of your acts available on request. And if you haven't got any shows coming up soon, film your act in a dance studio. Any footage is better than none. I can make some sort of a judgement about you and your act from photos but I only put people in shows if I've seen the whole act.

6. Talk about and list your acts in the About box. You don't have to have a name for your act. It does help though. But at least write a couple of sentences that say what the act is about. Refer to the Showreel page on my website for inspiration http://www.misslavida.com/#!showreel

7. Ensure you have your correct contact details easily visible. This especially applies to email addresses. On that subject, get yourself an email address that is your performer name. There's no point creating the mystique of a performer name and a 'character', if your marketing material and contact details contains your real name.


This may all sound like a lot of fiddly work, but I guarantee it will pay off. And this advice doesn't just apply for getting booked in my shows. It's the standard around the burlesque world. Those performers who have their videos, photos etc in order and easily accessible, get booked more than those who don't. For a start, it makes you look more professional and serious about getting work.

2013 - Off With A Bang!

Well, this year has already brought a few surprises. Just when I had decided to concentrate on my comedy career, lots of exciting opportunities to perform in and produce burlesque shows have come my way. I first approached a large theatre venue in Auckland three years ago to do regular shows there and have been in talks with them every 6 months or so since, but with little progression. Finally, my vision is actually being discussed with the top brass. So, hopefully, by June, I'll be hosting a regular, Las Vegas style show, in the perfect venue.

I'm now also performing every 4 weeks or so at Auckland's hottest club, 1885. I don't produce the shows myself, which is great to be honest. I didn't get into burlesque to be a producer. I had to become one so there'd be shows for me to perform in. Finally, 5 years after I started, venues are producing the shows, so I can just turn up, do what I do best, get guaranteed pay and not have to worry about breaking even.

Plans are also afoot to bring over an awesome and very different burlesque show from Australia, which I've wanted to get over to New Zealand for a while. That will be later in the year around September/October time and you're going to love it, especially if you're a fan of a certain cinematic phenomenon from the 1970s.

But the biggest thing I'm doing, which I've been working on for over a year, is my one-woman show, Karl Urban Makes My Lady Parts Tingle, on the 5th and 6th of April at the Musgrove Studio. In a nutshell, it's a comedy show about the incredibly fervent and amorous fans of Karl Urban around the globe and the manifestations of their fandom on the Internet. It has taken a long time to research and put together and has involved me learning the ukelele, getting my singing voice back (I used to have a pretty good singing voice in my teens when I was at stage school, but I let my diaphragmatic control go in my 20s), writing and learning 4000 words of dialogue, and choreographing a routine doing something I've never done in burlesque before. 

The show also features, The Nudey Ukes, a group which I put together mid last year so I could learn how to play the ukelele properly and actually play with other people, rather than at home on my own. So I've also been song writing as well as dialogue writing for the show.

It will initially run at The Musgrove on 5th and 6th of April. Then I plan to put it in a larger theatre in winter, and take it to Wellington and Christchurch after that. I'm confident that there's no other shows out there like it (as my bio says, I pride myself on being different) and I'm also confident that you'll find it very funny. So if you're in Auckland first weekend of April, come check it out. Tickets are $25(+booking fee) and can be purchased here www.maidment.auckland.ac.nz

After that will be the Very Vintage Day Out on Saturday 14 April at Alexandra Park. I will be hosting the Miss Pinup NZ competition. If you love anything to do with vintage - clothes, entertainment, cars, history, you should definitely come along. A full event schedule and ticket details can be found at www.veryvintage.co.nz

And I think that's quite enough from me for the moment!