I got 15 minutes of fame today!
Well, more like 3-5 minutes.
I don’t believe I’ve declared it here before, but I’m a big fan of podcasts. My 30 minute subway commute is always made happier by humor, news, stories, and cool commentary, so I load up my queue with the internet’s best. One of my guilty pleasure podcasts is a weekly a cappella show called Mouth Off.
Mouth Off is hosted by Dave and Christopher, two hilarious (humble but clearly very talented) and knowledgable guys who I feel I basically know because they a) really let their personalities shine through their work and b) remind me of some of my artistic friends. Their show presents a brilliant mix of personal views, critiques on the current state of a cappella music, and enthusiasm for the amazing friendships and creative products that can come of an artistic team (a music group & behind-the-scenes engineers in this case), that as a consumer of their show I find I really want to engage with them.
So I wrote them an email! The guys frequently read from their Listener Mailbag, and I decided to send in a note. I’d spent a few weeks addicted to the new album from my amazingly talented friend Ms. Emily Peal, and I had a feeling the guys would enjoy her sound. So I wrote in, linked to Emily, and mentioned a few clips that might be of interest. Sure enough, just a few weeks later they read my email on the show AND played some of Emily’s clips AND included her on the shownotes on their site, MouthOffShow.com. Nice guys! Ultimately, I hope some brilliant a cappella group covers her songs because they’re beautiful, and that kind of artistic interpretation would surely help to grow her following. If nothing else, though, it was fun to share a tip with some friends (or pseudo-friends, as this case may be), which was reason enough to send in the email.
BUT THERE’S MORE.
When they finished reading my email on air the guys mentioned that I had a “fancy” signature and spelled out my name and website. This website. My arts marketing blog that has nothing to do with a cappella music or podcasts whatsoever! And my Twitter handle (they’re @MouthOffShow)! Because I spoke up. The opportunity to share something was enough — the opportunity for a personal promotion to result never occurred to me!
So my brief anecdote today is that simple: Speak up. Say hello. Share something just because you want to spread some good around. Especially where arts content is concerned — word of mouth is our ultimate marketing tool and the ultimate way to connect with other human beings. And, as I learned from Dave and Christopher, make sure to keep your name attached (and maybe a link or two), because you never know who’s going to take notice and mouth off about you!
