Rough Draft of Article
Here's the first draft of the article for "Orlando Lifestyles" magazine. (They responded to my press release email Monday and offered me a 500 word article in their magazine that has a 100k circulation and an audience with incomes above $100k. Hello!?) The only thing is that I have to write the article! It's due March 20th. I've sent this first version to several people for review. I have no idea if it's good or not. I do know I've spent three hours on it. Impressed? Thank you. It's written as if i was interviewed by someone else. So, i will not recieve writing credit. Otherwise, it would make me sound like I am interviewing myself, which I did. But that's insane so I hope they just don't write an author's name, or make one up. Or put Oprah's name there.
"Yes, Oprah Winfrey wrote an article about me."
BEGIN ARTICLE:
"I just thought there was a better way to get the word out."
Mark Baratelli (markbaratelli.com) gives this as the main reason for creating what he calls a "marketing web" for his entry into the 2006 Orlando Fringe Festival, Improv Cabaret. "Fringe shows usually have a poster, some handbills and word of mouth. I wanted to build the word of mouth before the festival through viral and nontraditional marketing," says Mark. This web includes a blog, podcast and myspace profile, all three relatively new and inexpensive ways for a Fringe show producer to get the word out about his show.
The blog, (improvcabaret.blogspot.com) a fun, weekly-updated site featuring all the ins and outs of putting together a one-man improvised musical show in which Mark makes up all the characters, all the plots and all the songs along with a professional pianist. "I share everything. The triumphs of having really good rehearsals and the complete failures of, maybe, not getting a rehearsal space that week." Not only does he do weekly posts about the process, he records audio versions...in his car? "I have a service that enables me to make recordings over the phone and post them to my blog instantly. So whenever I get the itch to share, I can record an update. And yeah, it usually happens in the car. I hate driving."
Ok, so he has a blog with weekly written and recorded updates. But there's more.
The blog has audio and video clips taped during rehearsals. "The show is hard to explain, so I wanted to show people what it was about, rather than try to describe it." He uses a Mac Powerbook he bought while working for Disney Cruise Line in 2003 and a microphone to do the recording, but has other methods as well. "One day I didn't have my computer with me, so I improvised. I wore an earpiece connected to my phone, hid the phone in my pocket and recorded the entire scene with that service I mentioned earlier. When I got home I went to the blog and there was the audio!"
But there's more. "Once you make audio, you can use it forever and everywhere." Mark turned it into a podcast. You know you've heard the word podcast, but you're probably like most everyone, unfamiliar with the medium. Not Mark. "A podcast is just another way to get audio. You subscribe to a show and get updates automatically. Download itunes and try it out. I know people aren't really up to speed on the whole podcast thing, but some young people are, and a large portion of the SAK audience is high school and college age. I figured if they see me at SAK and like me, they'd find me online with the blog and all and maybe give the podcast a listen." We forgot to mention besides being on the cutting edge of marketing and putting together his own one-man show, he is part of the professional ensemble at the Orlando institution SAK Comedy Lab. (sak.com) "I love SAK. And the younger audience members go online after the shows and try to find information on the performers. I know because they contact me on Myspace (myspace.com/improvcabaret and myspace.com/markbaratelli).
Myspace. You know you've heard the word, but you're probably like most everyone, unfamiliar with the medium. Not Mark. "Myspace is another part of the Improv Cabaret marketing web and the absolute center of everything right now for that young demographic. I have the audio there as well as links to the blog and podcast. Users can place my songs on their myspace pages and then visitors to their page can hear it. Total viral saturation."
The blog, the podcast, the myspace, the saturation...are you keeping up? With all this nontraditional marketing going on, it's surprising Mark pursued traditional outlets as well. "I needed traditional to get the word out beyond the web I'd created. I emailed press releases to newspapers and magazines and placed an ad in a local theater program for their March musical with links to my web. And that show (as I knew it would because I saw the original production in New York City) is selling out most of it's shows. That was a smart investment for me."
Beyond marketing to potential audience members, Mark hopes to reach other improv performers like him. "I definitely want to communicate with the national improv community. As far as I know, there isn't an improv show like this around. There are musical improv shows multiple people in the cast, there are one-man improv shows, but there is no one-man musical improv show.
He admits all this marketing could mean nothing if the show is not top notch. "Beth Marshall, director of the Fringe, said that in a workshop, and I believe it. My first priority is the quality of the show. The marketing, though important, comes second. But to be honest, the marketing is as fun to work on as putting the show together."
Improv Cabaret plays at the Orlando Fringe Festival in the Blue Venue at the Orlando Shakespeare Center on the following dates: 5/20-2:25pm, 5/21-5pm, 5/22-8:25pm, 5/24-6:15pm, 5/25-9:45pm, 5/27-3:45pm, 5/28-12noon
Improv Cabaret
The Podcast
Myspace
Website
"Yes, Oprah Winfrey wrote an article about me."
BEGIN ARTICLE:
"I just thought there was a better way to get the word out."
Mark Baratelli (markbaratelli.com) gives this as the main reason for creating what he calls a "marketing web" for his entry into the 2006 Orlando Fringe Festival, Improv Cabaret. "Fringe shows usually have a poster, some handbills and word of mouth. I wanted to build the word of mouth before the festival through viral and nontraditional marketing," says Mark. This web includes a blog, podcast and myspace profile, all three relatively new and inexpensive ways for a Fringe show producer to get the word out about his show.
The blog, (improvcabaret.blogspot.com) a fun, weekly-updated site featuring all the ins and outs of putting together a one-man improvised musical show in which Mark makes up all the characters, all the plots and all the songs along with a professional pianist. "I share everything. The triumphs of having really good rehearsals and the complete failures of, maybe, not getting a rehearsal space that week." Not only does he do weekly posts about the process, he records audio versions...in his car? "I have a service that enables me to make recordings over the phone and post them to my blog instantly. So whenever I get the itch to share, I can record an update. And yeah, it usually happens in the car. I hate driving."
Ok, so he has a blog with weekly written and recorded updates. But there's more.
The blog has audio and video clips taped during rehearsals. "The show is hard to explain, so I wanted to show people what it was about, rather than try to describe it." He uses a Mac Powerbook he bought while working for Disney Cruise Line in 2003 and a microphone to do the recording, but has other methods as well. "One day I didn't have my computer with me, so I improvised. I wore an earpiece connected to my phone, hid the phone in my pocket and recorded the entire scene with that service I mentioned earlier. When I got home I went to the blog and there was the audio!"
But there's more. "Once you make audio, you can use it forever and everywhere." Mark turned it into a podcast. You know you've heard the word podcast, but you're probably like most everyone, unfamiliar with the medium. Not Mark. "A podcast is just another way to get audio. You subscribe to a show and get updates automatically. Download itunes and try it out. I know people aren't really up to speed on the whole podcast thing, but some young people are, and a large portion of the SAK audience is high school and college age. I figured if they see me at SAK and like me, they'd find me online with the blog and all and maybe give the podcast a listen." We forgot to mention besides being on the cutting edge of marketing and putting together his own one-man show, he is part of the professional ensemble at the Orlando institution SAK Comedy Lab. (sak.com) "I love SAK. And the younger audience members go online after the shows and try to find information on the performers. I know because they contact me on Myspace (myspace.com/improvcabaret and myspace.com/markbaratelli).
Myspace. You know you've heard the word, but you're probably like most everyone, unfamiliar with the medium. Not Mark. "Myspace is another part of the Improv Cabaret marketing web and the absolute center of everything right now for that young demographic. I have the audio there as well as links to the blog and podcast. Users can place my songs on their myspace pages and then visitors to their page can hear it. Total viral saturation."
The blog, the podcast, the myspace, the saturation...are you keeping up? With all this nontraditional marketing going on, it's surprising Mark pursued traditional outlets as well. "I needed traditional to get the word out beyond the web I'd created. I emailed press releases to newspapers and magazines and placed an ad in a local theater program for their March musical with links to my web. And that show (as I knew it would because I saw the original production in New York City) is selling out most of it's shows. That was a smart investment for me."
Beyond marketing to potential audience members, Mark hopes to reach other improv performers like him. "I definitely want to communicate with the national improv community. As far as I know, there isn't an improv show like this around. There are musical improv shows multiple people in the cast, there are one-man improv shows, but there is no one-man musical improv show.
He admits all this marketing could mean nothing if the show is not top notch. "Beth Marshall, director of the Fringe, said that in a workshop, and I believe it. My first priority is the quality of the show. The marketing, though important, comes second. But to be honest, the marketing is as fun to work on as putting the show together."
Improv Cabaret plays at the Orlando Fringe Festival in the Blue Venue at the Orlando Shakespeare Center on the following dates: 5/20-2:25pm, 5/21-5pm, 5/22-8:25pm, 5/24-6:15pm, 5/25-9:45pm, 5/27-3:45pm, 5/28-12noon
Improv Cabaret
The Podcast
Myspace
Website
posted by The Daily City® at
7:45 PM
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