Out of the blue, I received this (since edited) email:
Hungry for a pat on the back, I eagerly clicked on the link to read what turned out to be a very mixed review, mixed (I thought) to the point of mean. Okay, maybe I'm thin-skinned. But I had my revenge: I never shared it, posted it, or told anyone about it. Well, except my husband. Got him back, that reviewer. HA.
But it stuck with me that in this review, the writer did say that our marketing efforts might not be reaching all demographics. And rereading it, maybe he wasn't so mean. Still. I know how to hold a grudge.
So last weekend, for Pete Chatmon and Candice Sanchez McFarlane's upcoming feature doc CLICK HERE, a group of video producers assembled to talk on camera about the challenge of finding an audience online- Tahir Jetter, Tom Wardach, Stephanie Mohorn, Leyla Rosario, Anthony Artis, Candice, Pete and I.
l to r Candice Sanchez McFarlane, Pete Chatmon, Anthony Artis
l to r Tom Wardach, me, Tahir Jetter, Candice half-hidden
At one point, off-camera, I said to Candice: "Well, though it LOOKS in the YouTube analytics like my audience is women over 40, I wonder if it just looks that way because the main actors and I are in that demographic, as are our friends and family and I guess their friends, etc. And, a reviewer once suggested that maybe we aren't reaching all segments of our possible audience."
Candice: "Did you ask him if he had any ideas about how to get to the people you're not reaching?"
I heard a crack in my brain like when a glacier splits. WHAT. It had never even occurred to me to ask 'that reviewer'. But then, there is this 500 pound chip sitting on my shoulder since last October 17 when I read his review. But who's counting. I wrote him that night.
Four days later he wrote me back . He had some ideas and sent a url where he had 'written them down'. The url took me to a blog post (see below), using The Louise Log as a case study for this very problem so many of us are having online. He mentioned the series in the title and both it and me in the the article, hyperlinking to a blog I'd written, etc. etc. It was better PR than I could have organized in my wildest dreams. And he was generous to The Louise Log in the article, very generous. Within 48 hours, his post had been 'viewed' over 800 times.
At the risk of looking like I've gone over the edge with the self-promotion, I have to recommend his post: it's chock full of really good, focused ideas- some that I'd never thought of, some I'd never even heard of. (I'm looking at you, Google Trends.*) But the even bigger lesson for me here is a life lesson. Deal with whatever chips you've got on your shoulder, get a thicker skin and be more open-minded about what might be an opportunity. Make no assumptions.
Here's the link to the post.
* Line stolen outright from Suzy Soro's thigh-slappingly funny Celebrity sTalker.