Corey’s Story Adventure, In For The Long Haul
July 2, 2009
From Annie: For those of you that have been following the blog with Corey’s Story Adventure, I want you to be able to travel along with us on the path. Creating a story, one that is deep, real and personal is NOT easy! Corey is brave enough to hire me to help him and he is courageous enough to admit what is challenging for him. Remember folks men don’t need help! This courage and openness guarantees that Corey story will be genuine, real and moving and is a story that others will want to hear. I am already convinced of that.
The Balance of Creating Story
But Corey’s inner critic (the Business Man) is hitting him hard. He wants him to produce facts and figures as to the outcome of this. Will this story make money? Is it worth the time, money and effort he is putting into it? A typical businessman’s bottom line. I just breathe and stay with him while he let’s the businessman do his thing. Producing a story is a fine art, it’s the balance between product and process. Boy can that be a difficult balance to achieve! It’s pretty much like walking a tightrope!
But Corey is doing great! And I am certain of his success. I trust the inner instinct that is directing him and I know that this instinct knows the way even when Corey feels lost. That’s the rope that we rely on in the creative process. Or maybe it’s the net itself.
When we let this instinct lead the way, it knows what to do. I’ve never ever seen it otherwise. So I will guide, urge, listen, encourage and follow Corey’s instincts. In addition to that, I will also kick some (you know what) when I need to, hold his hand and stand by him for the long haul. As Corey knows well, this is all necessary for the creative journey. So let’s here from our story creator, Mr Corey Blake himself:
From Corey: Just got off a call with Annie Hart. She’s so patient with me. This was a rough week. So many obligations I had trouble making time for my story. I did pick it up and read it to myself once the other day and today before my call with Annie, I put it on its feet and read it aloud with some wonderful new performance epiphanies. My challenge for the weekend is to perform a 10 minute reading at my buddies house in Florida where a bunch of us are getting together. I have to record it, too!
On my call with Annie we discovered a few juicy bits. The businessman in me is constantly questioning the value of this investment. Working with a story consultant is not cheap and he wants to ensure that at some point we will generate revenue from speaking opportunities or from leads generated for the business through the performance.
The other side of me, the dreamer/believer is addicted to growth and recognizes that personal growth always translates to business growth for me. He has more faith than the businessman who wants raw data – numbers. Then there is my performer who would die for some stage time again!
Annie and I also focused on my audience. The more I can narrow down my audience, the more urgent I will feel about reaching them. We discussed a couple of people in my life that I am worried about. One is Annie Wersching. Annie is a brilliant actress and a dynamite person. She starred last season on the TV show 24 and I’m worried that she is not focusing on the business of her career nearly enough. How do I know? I don’t. I’m making an assumption based on the amateur appearance of her website. It’s a place where she shows off what she’s done, but she doesn’t connect with her audience. It says “hobbyist” not hot Hollywood Powerhouse, which she could be.
In my own career, when I was scared of the business side of my work, I avoided it and eventually that bit me hard in the ass!. I was relying on people to make their own decisions about my work. I was letting the media do the talking. I was letting my agents do the selling. I was hoping for the best. When I hit bottom, none of them cared and it crushed me. In building my businesses, I’ve never relied on others again when it comes to communicating our brands and I don’t want to see others fall into the pit of despair I found myself at the bottom of for years.
Another friend of mine is Malina Moye. Brilliant musician. She’s on fire right now. Her branding is excellent, but like Annie W., her website makes her look smaller than she is. Makes people question her professionalism. It’s hard to read and hard to navigate and that plays into people’s perception of her talent. When they see a sloppy site, they assume the creator is equally sloppy in their work and then the creator is left fighting a negative impression, which requires ten times as much energy (and money) to sway. An ineffective identity costs a brand a fortune because of the dollars that have to be allocated to marketing to fight the initial impression. We’ve done it. Trust me. It’s a mess.
As artists, our voice and our standards of excellence can not only exhibit themselves in our work, they also have to shine through our branding and through how we communicate with our fans – through active participation in how they feel about us as people. Leaving that up to chance will most likely be devastating.
Malina and Annie W. are both part of the primary demographic for my performance. They are experts in their craft, but they are not experts at communicating their brand to their fans. My assumption is that they are leaving that job to someone else who is doing it poorly and that is costing them dearly, even if they don’t know it yet because times are good.
My goal with this performance is to wake people up to protecting their future as dreamers, whether they are the Annie Werschings and Malina Moyes of the world, corporate successes who want more meaning in their lives, or college students who want to elevate their expertise to the level of artistry and could use a road map. I take people who are scared of attacking the business of their career or of their art, and lead them by the hand. I empower them to another way that leads to more joy, more authenticity, and ultimately greater success. That’s my goal with this performance.
Shit. This is gonna be hard!
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