Guest blog: Making it in the entertainment industry

The entertainment industry is the toughest of nuts to crack.  There are thousands of wannabes in the UK who flock to reality talent show auditions such as The Voice and Britain’s Got Talent looking for a fast track to fame.  This often ends in failure because fulfilling true talent is not about looking for a quick fix – it needs determination, sacrifice, and above all, perseverance.  

If you think you are going to be a household name overnight by just being on TV or being a professional schmoozer, then think again.  The road to fame and glory is one littered with the bodies of those who did not try hard enough and were unsurprisingly not successful. If the world is a worse place without your talent being shared, whether it be your pose or your plectrum skills, your comedy or your crooning then get it out there the RIGHT way with the following considerations: 

DO

• Be clear about what your goals are. Who or what do you want to be? Can you stay true to yourself during the difficult times? It is imperative that you remember what is important to you and what you want to achieve.
• Celebrate your strengths, know your weaknesses. Although we often do not like to admit it, we all have weaknesses.  One of the greatest strengths any one of us can have is to know and be able to work with our individual weaknesses.
• Seize every opportunity.  It is about getting the experience that will ultimately improve your act, NOT about trying to get noticed overnight.   
• Practice.  It does actually make perfect. Always strive to be better than you are – however highly you may rate yourself.  A wise man once said that nothing wilts quicker than laurels that have been rested upon.
• Network.  Another saying that is true to life – it really is who you know in this game.  NEVER tire of meeting new people or shun opportunities to meet new people in your chosen field.  You never know when you might need such connections.
• Fight for it. It is not enough to wait for your ship to come in, you have got to swim out and meet it. Sitting around will get you nowhere.  Use EVERY tool at your disposal and be proactive in your quest to be recognised. Go about realising your dream as if you are the only one fighting for it.

DO NOT

• Party too much. Sounds boring?  Tough.  Enjoy the good times, sure, but do not spend more time in the cellar bar than the studio and when the time comes, make sure you are in the papers for all the right reasons.
• Forget about respect. There is not a single human being on the planet that you have the divine right to look down your nose at.  Push your brand but not by belittling others.  Nobody with a little bit of humility was ever cast in a bad light.
• Trust everybody. Be street smart – not everybody you come across will have your best interests at heart.   Treat trust like a currency, be prudent.
• Deal in half measures. All or nothing. 100% or 0%.  Your call. If you want to succeed you cannot afford to do it with half a heart.  If it does not wear you out sometimes then you are probably not doing it properly.  See it as a marathon, not a sprint. 
• Call it a day. NEVER GIVE UP.  There will be knockbacks but learn from them and go forward with a positive outlook.  Some of our greatest heroes did not achieve their goals until late on in their careers.  The day you give up once and for all is the day you fail your quest.
• Do it for the money. It should firstly be about the love. The day you stop enjoying what you do is the day you should stop doing it. If you are lucky enough to have a talent that you can dedicate your life to – then make the most of it and have fun doing it.

A lot of this you may already practice but it is beneficial to sometimes take a step back. Look at the bigger picture and the way that you are going about your business, as it is all too easy to get tunnel vision. Hopefully these key pointers will help refresh your focus and give you the best chance of succeeding.

– Richard Ney

I run an online community called beOnTheScene.com, which supports creative individuals and performers to showcase their
talent – whether it might be acting, singing, photography, modelling or
comedy. We have a wealth of experience in connecting talented
individuals to the best agents and management available. We work to
support fresh new talent to present themselves to the right people.