Levi Strauss, the guy behind the popularization of blue jeans, became one of the wealthiest people in the world during the great American gold rush.
However, he never discovered a single nugget of gold. More on this in a bit, because it’s incredibly important to your acting career.
There’s a second great gold rush underway right now, except that this one is taking place in the entertainment industry and it has nothing to do with shiny metal. Yet, there are some incredible similarities between this gold rush (involving actors) and the original one.
During this first gold rush, everyone with a dream and a few bucks in their pocket headed west in the hopes of striking it rich.
With a pick axe and a shovel, they went to work, drilling holes and trenches across what we now know as the Hollywood Hills, among other places.
Most found that prospecting for gold was not an easy way to strike it rich and soon quit, broke and with broken dreams. A few of them however, made it big time!
They were not the ones swinging a pick axe. They were the ones selling those pick axes, shovels, wheel barrels and everything else the prospectors needed to dig for gold.
The same thing is happening in the new Hollywood gold rush. This time around it’s us actors that are the prospectors.
Here’s how you can make it big time, as actor in the modern gold rush…
During the first gold rush, it wasn’t the prospectors (which in this analogy is us the actors) that made it big. It was the guys supplying the prospectors with the tools they needed to do their jobs.
It was guys like Levi Strauss. He saw the opportunity in the marketplace and delivered what the workers needed. The prospectors needed clothing that was tough and could take the abuse that came with swinging an axe and shovel for 12 hours a day.
His jeans came with metal rivets at the stress points rather than thread, making them much tougher.
Going back to your acting career, think of how you can differentiate yourself and create a market for what you have to offer (your acting skills).
Levi jeans became the go to brand for gold prospectors. For whom do you want to be the go to brand?
Do you want to specialize in comedy, drama, dramedy? Whatever you decide on, it doesn’t have to be what you stick with for the rest of your career. You will over time, branch out and take on roles in different categories, but it’s important that you first define your career and make it synonymous with one category.
Levi is no longer simply a jeans company either. They have everything from jeans to shoes, and even accessories like earrings, necklaces, and men’s wallets.
As an actor, you have to build your category and become the go to person in that category before adding on to it with other roles.
Rather than going after anything and everything that comes your way, pick one thing, get really good at it, build a market around it and then branch out into other thing.
The prospectors of the original gold rush, were not simply looking for anything and everything either. They were after gold specifically which required, specialized tools, digging in specific locations, etc.
Your acting career is no different.
There are certain “tools” you need to have in your prospector’s pack too.
However, if during the original gold rush it wasn’t the prospectors that made it big time, that begs the question: should you be a prospector (actor) now?
If you have been around Boost My Star for any length of time, you know by now that the actors that we look up to, are not simply actors.
They are entertainers first.
Here’s where things get incredibly interesting. Just like prospectors during the Great American gold rush were a dime a dozen, actors come a dime a dozen today. Walk down Sunset, toss a ball in the air and chances are that it will land on an actor, and bounce off 3 others before hitting the ground.
So, the industry doesn’t need more actors. They need actors that can bring an audience.
This makes the tools in your prospector’s pack incredibly important. Rather than shovels, and pick axes, you should have Social Media and YouTube in your pack.
Build your platform, I can actually help you get the ball rolling with this. Here are the details on that.
Once you do, you will see that an entire new land of opportunity awaits you in the industry because, while the industry is saturated with actors…
What they can’t get enough of is content!
That’s why I constantly preach about starting a vlog, a podcast, and chronicling your journey on social media.
Just doing this is taking people from completely unknown to having audiences larger than Prime Time shows, on their YouTube episodes and Instagram stories.
At no other time in history has this been possible for literally anyone on earth.
Actors are vastly underusing or simply misusing this opportunity. Social media is effective when you share the journey, the struggles, and your triumphs. It’s not simply for duck faces and cocktail selfies.
Remember the industry doesn’t want or need more “actors.” Just like during the gold rush, there were plenty to go around.
What Levi Strauss did was give the gold rush of his time something it desperately needed. By doing that, he built an empire that has lasted well over 100 years.
Your acting career can have the same kind of longevity and impact. Charlie Chaplin lives on in the hearts and screens of millions, to this day.
If you want your career to have this kind of an impact, give the industry what it wants. Here’s how I can help you.
I chose to help in this way because it’s truly the most effective way.
Not only does it help you get the ball rolling on social media, it also puts control back in your hands in terms of how the industry sees you. What they use as a way to measure your credibility and reputation has been out of reach, but if you use this, the power to shape your destiny is back in your hands.
The question that remains is, will you choose to wield it?
Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email.
I read every one that comes in and I’m always happy to help in any way I can because my goal is to…
See you at the top,
Scott