I emailed my agents one day about headshots, and much to my dismay, they said something that I was clueless about.

I don't want you to make this same mistake with your headshots, so I have to ask--how often are you rotating your headshot edits?

This isn't the same thing as getting new headshots taken.

Let's breakdown the difference.  

Between new headshot shoots, we should be uploading new headshots to our casting sites for our agents to use.

Here's the big fat news I didn't know--my agent asked me to upload new photos every six months at a minimum.

​Ideally, these new uploads will be two at a time, one theatrical and one commercial.

You may throw in slightly more specific looks from time-to-time. For example, wearing a blazer that reads professional, or pulling back your hair and wearing a polo for a sporty vibe.

However, we shouldn't get too specific in our headshot looks. 

Word on the street from a source I trust is, "You'll piss off a director because they'll think you assume they're too stupid to imagine what you look like in scrubs."

So make sure you have enough edits that you can rotate every six months for up to 18 months, namely, six edits: three theatrical and three commercial.

Only give a "vibe" in your headshots while saving the super specific looks for a comp card. 

This doesn't mean you need to get new photos every six months.

Based on the feedback I've received, you only need brand new headshots every 18 months, sooner if your look drastically changes.

Headshots cost MONEY, so we only need to take brand new headshots as often as needed.

If you're asked to change your look for a project, remember to also schedule new headshots during that project shoot so the look is fresh.

You'll most likely have great new hair if production just paid for it.

Make sure to negotiate the cost of those new headshots into your pay.

Here are my suggested estimates to have negotiated:

• Headshot session ($300+)
• Headshot edits ($20 per photo not already included)
• Headshot uploads ($10 per photo for Actors Access)
• Hair and makeup if needed ($40-$100)
• Cosmetic purchases if required ($20-$60)

The easiest way to stay on your headshot rotation A-game is to schedule this into your calendar.

I promise you'll otherwise forget.

I just had mine done this month, so I scheduled a reminder in my calendar to alert me every six months for the next year-and-a-half. 

This will also help you budget for upcoming edits, uploads, or headshot sessions.

Be sure to also ask your agent what type of looks they need from you.

PS--if you love these blog posts, then be sure to become an Actor Boss Insider for weekly tips, tricks, stories, and free beta tests that I don't post here.

I binge watched a show where all of the main characters were famous public figures, always in the spotlight. They worked for a company that built each of their platforms with a very particular set of branding standards. The way they dressed and what they said were all dictated by the company.

Throughout the series, they kept making compromising decisions because doing what they wanted to do "didn't fit their brand," as one character said.

I thought, "Wow. You should've had more say in your branding." Their brands had gotten so far from who they actually were that they were each starting to breakdown under the pressure of living a lie.

That's why it's so important for you to build a personal brand that's true to who you are. In this post, we'll take a deep dive into personal branding.

Even if you do hire a PR firm or brand specialist one day, you need to communicate what you want and simply have them wrap it in a bow. Otherwise, you'll find yourself trapped in someone else's opinion of who you should be.

Simply put, your personal brand is YOU.  But what the heck does that mean?

"Personal branding is becoming increasingly important because ​​modern audiences tend to trust people more than corporations..." - Inc.com

Lucky us! Actors are people. This means we have a distinct advantage to building our brands because they're automatically personal. 

Remember when I said your personal brand is YOU? Let's dig into this idea a little further.

"Personal branding isn't about coming up with a complicated strategy. Rather, it's about knowing who you are and what you stand for, and then finding ways to make that visible." -Forbes.com

​This means we need to become more self-aware.

Essentially, we need to put down who we are on paper, and then decide what aspects of us we want to share with the world. 

Digging into who you are on a deeper level can be tough. Sharing those aspects of yourself can be even tougher.

What if we get rejected?!

Can I tell you a secret?

You WANT people to reject you--in life and in the casting process.

Say what?!

Let me 'splain.

We absolutely 100% cannot make everyone in the world like us--no matter who we are. Ok, maybe if we're Paul Rudd.

But if you happen to NOT be Paul Rudd, then know that there are people out there that totally get you, and it's better to give your energy and attention to them.

How do we apply this to the casting process?

The short answer is that I'm not always a good fit for a role, which means that role wouldn't be worth it to me in the long run anyway.

I have to trust the casting director's gut if they decide I'm not a good fit for the role. I also need to trust my gut if I feel like a role isn't right for me.

I'm not promoting that we should consider ourselves "better" than a role, but rather learn to live with the idea that some roles just aren't meant for us.

The same is true for your fans and followers. You're perfect for some people, and straight up wrong for others. Who wants to hang out with people that don't like them?

So let's boldly be ourselves knowing that we'll have haters no matter what.

This brainstorm consists of the five top questions actors need to ask themselves to kickstart their personal branding. I have a PDF download at the bottom of this post so you can write out your answers if you want.

QUESTION 1: WHAT WORDS DO YOU USE?
You should talk the way you actually talk. Out of all the words in the world, which ones do you actually use? Do you curse, use slang, use modest language, speak properly with 100% correct grammar, or are you grandiloquent? If I started dropping F-bombs, everyone would think an alien had taken over my body. 

QUESTION 2: HOW DO YOU DRESS?
I had to break up with Target clothing recently. Hopefully, this doesn't last, but over the last year or two, I swear I could only find midriff tops and half shirts. That's not my jam. My goodies, not my goodies. Also, I would be freezing all of the time, and if I pay full price for a shirt, I would like an entire shirt, please.

If no one ever paid attention to what you were wearing, what would you wear? Sometimes your day job dictates this, but I mean outside of a mandatory dress code. Do you dress modestly, chic, high fashion, scantily clad, athleisure, or tacky?

Yes, tacky. I went to school with a guy whose family was loaded, but we were in a low-income school district. He dressed in the tackiest outfits he could find as a symbol of his family's wealth not defining him. I had a friend who would wear borderline costumes to school that he found at Goodwill because...that's what he wanted to do.

QUESTION 3: WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO YOU?
I moved to a new city for a bit to try out a different film market, and this particular area had a large market for outdoor recreational activities such as hiking. When I went to Whole Foods to buy groceries, I noticed they had an REI in the same shopping strip.

I think those stores are so cool because they have such a specific brand and vibe to them, but I always walk away thinking, "Eh, that's just not me." It's not that I don't like getting outside, but I'm not outdoorsy enough to invest a lot of money into a ton of outdoor products.

Think about everything that's important to you, no matter how small. How do you feel when I say words like: politics, activism, faith, charity, organic, local, outdoors, cooking, sports, art, decorating, hunting, or books? Now run the topics that are important to you through the filter of the next question.

QUESTION 4: HOW CONTROVERSIAL DO YOU WANT TO BE?
Some topics that are important to you may be very polarizing, like politics. You'll need to make a decision about how you want to share your thoughts based on how controversial you want to be perceived. 

On a scale of one to ten, how controversial do you want to be?

​(Not at all) 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 (Very)

Some topics will create controversy no matter what, but how you talk about these topics is very important. Your tone will play a big part in how controversial you seem to others.

​You can talk about hard topics in an easy-going manner, or you can be highly energetic about anything. Your best bet is to communicate however comes most naturally to you, but don't force a personality into your conversations that you don't actually have.

Also, don't force yourself (or get persuaded) to talk about topics you don't actually care about. Did you know there's actually media training on how to avoid topics when you're getting interviewed?

You may also have fans or followers (or trolls) that try to steer you into topics that are important to them, but not to you. I'm telling you to stay true to what you think is important! You do not need to cater to everyone.  

QUESTION 5: WHAT THREE WORDS DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DESCRIBE YOU WITH?
Notice that I said which three words do you want people to use. You need to compare that to the three words people actually use. You can simply ask, and I breakdown an easy way to do that here in the personal branding section of my Actor Boss Pro course.

Download the printer-friendly worksheet below to write out your answers. Yes, I said write, as in with a pencil. It really does give you more clarity. Plus, you won't be bothered with other distractions on your screen.

If you really need a digital copy, simply take a picture with your phone or scan it with an app once you've finished writing out your answers.

Why are there so many dang casting profiles?! When I first became a professional actor, I primarily had access to 800 Casting and Backstage. Then I received my first SAG-AFTRA voucher for being a featured extra that was cast by Arvold (big thanks to their casting team!).

After being cast by Arvold, I was introduced to Agency Pro. I created my third casting profile at that point. Within the next year, I heard that 800 Casting was out of the running for the casting directors in my region, so I deleted it.

Once I signed with my agency, they required that I have an Actor's Access profile so that they could submit me via Breakdown Services. Check. The next year, Ryan Gosling videos started going viral with him talking about Casting Networks.

Then that whole Casting Networks debacle happened (you know what I'm talking about). If you don't for some reason, every professional actor (seemingly in the world) was told to immediately sign up for a Casting Networks profiles and they better have it done overnight.

Cool. Got it. Never used it, but I got it. Whew! Oh yeah, that reminded me that I needed to go update my resumes on my actual website, too. Do I have a casting profile somewhere else in the world that I forgot about?! I can't remember now. Frick! Yes! IMDb Pro!

The number one thing I hear agents suggest to their talent is always in reference to keeping their casting profiles updated. It seems simple--we book a new job, we update our resumes, we request footage, we upload said footage. 

However, it's easy to forget, especially with all of the casting profile changes and updates I just listed. Also, if you're like me, after a long day of shooting, I just want to veg out on the couch for a day. So what's an actor to do? ​
​

​In this post I want to give you three action points for effortlessly keeping your casting profiles updated. If you use them, they work. If you don't, you'll be like me right now realizing that I implemented this two years ago, didn't update it in my calendar at the new year, and totally forgot to use this system for an entire year.

If you want your acting to be more than a hobby, then you need to start treating it like a business (see Actor Boss Workflow). Businesses do not run on random schedules or flippantly get things done. They schedule the important actions that move the company forward. The same will be true for your acting career.

Look over your calendar. Which day of the week is typically the easiest for you to dedicate to updating your casting profiles? If it's Friday, then pick one Friday for the month and dedicate it to updating your profiles every month.

If you already have a standing date for girls' night the first Friday of every month, then maybe the last Friday of the month works better. Do you know what you always have with you, Actor Boss? Your phone! Start making a habit of scheduling everything into your phone. 

I'm a big fan of color coding my calendar by topic. Make sure you assign Acting it's own label and color. Once you've done that, go schedule a monthly repeating event called Update Casting Profiles.

I'm telling you to name it that for a reason. When our to do list items start with a verb, we're more likely to take action because we've already dictated the action to ourselves. If you just saw Casting Profiles in your calendar, that could mean a lot of things. Get specific by including the word Update to propel your brain into action.

Give yourself at least an hour to comb through all of your sites. It might not take that long, but it always takes me longer than I think it will, and we don't need to feel rushed since this is our calling card! We need to be diligent in this practice. ​

Our phones have a million different alarms, but it's easy to become desensitized to the common alarm sounds and dings. You know how someone's phone makes the classic ding noise and everyone in the room looks at their phones? It's too common of a noise to alert you that you need to do something out of your ordinary daily grind.

Now that you know which day of the month you're going to update your casting profiles, I want you to set a reminder in your phone that makes a different noise. than the rest of your alarms.

This is really important. I actually think you should assign a specific noise to all of your acting events so that it triggers your brain to think about how much you're actually working on your business. Now when you hear that specific noise come from your phone, you'll associate it with an important acting-related tasks.

When you look over your calendar for the week, you'll know Update Casting Profiles is on the agenda, and you'll anticipate that new noise. This will help you mentally prepare for working on your acting business. It will also help you guard that time in your schedule. 

Real fast, are you looking at your calendar to review your week each Sunday? You should be. This one simple practice will keep you more productive and less stressed because you won't be surprised by a forgotten appointment. It will also help you navigate when you can go to in-person auditions. 

Without fail, I always forget about a casting profile I've created somewhere on the interwebs. I've made my list since writing this, and each time I look at it, I always say, "Oh, yeah! I forgot about that one."

Brainstorm every single place you've ever uploaded casting info, even if you didn't pay for it. You'll be shocked at how many out-of-date profiles you may have swimming out there on the internet. People can see those! So let's make life easier, and create a master checklist of sites to update.

Here's my current list:

• Actors Access
• IMDb Pro
• Website
• Casting Networks
• Backstage (Your profile still exists even if you cancel your account!)
• Arvold/Agency Pro
• LinkedIn

What other profiles do you have? Comment and share.

During this process, you'll also realize that you've uploaded footage to one site, but forgot to upload it to the rest of your casting profiles. If you're required to pay for uploads, then get real about which ones you're actually using and whether or not it's worth it. Email your agent and ask which ones are worth it from their point-of-view. 

This practice also reminds me to request footage. That struggle is so real, ain't it? Most people just need a reminder, and a nice email once a month will keep you from feeling too pushy. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and assume that they forgot or that your message went to their spam folder. 

I once emailed a guy every couple of months, then gave up. Six months later, he emailed me apologizing and said that he had the footage ready, but totally forgot because he got busy on other projects. He saw my emails, but never had time to respond, even though he did collect the footage for me. Never get angry, even though I know it's frustrating that your agent doesn't have all of your footage and you need it for submissions.

I know that you think you'll remember to do this each time you book a job (plus remember to write thank you cards and recall all of your casting profile accounts and update your hardcopy resumes), but you really need to stop trying to store need-to-know info in the back of your brain because it's stressing you the crap out!

I can tell you from experience that you won't remember to do this if you don't schedule it and make that list of active profiles. Also, accountability creates success. Gather a few actor friends to do this once per month! 

You can have some serious fun with a monthly acting business meetup so that you and your actor friends can push each other towards success. (Actually, I tried this with a couple of actor friends specifically to mail marketing materials, but that crap did not work like we thought it would. More on that story here.) However, you could still meet to review headshots, resumes, comp cards, social media, submit to student and indie films, etc. If you have more ideas, comment and share.

Remember when you became an actor and suddenly realized there's a lot more to it than just acting? That's why you should become an Actor Boss Insider.

I'll send you an email every Monday with a question, tip, story, or training that helps you move your acting career forward in some way. At least twice a month, those emails will include info that I don't post anywhere else.

Some of those topics you've missed have included:

• Swipe copy to email a casting director if you miss an audition for some crazy reason
• Calendar for one month of Instagram posts
• How to chat with a director on set
  ​
  

I challenge you to try these for one month. Unsubscribe whenever you like.

*Check your inbox for a quick welcome email full of Actor Bossness.*

You just never know who you will interact with online, Actor Boss! You should know that anyone you do interact with on social media is checking out your profile. What will they find? What will they say?

I took an online course one year that included a Facebook group. Every so often, I would scroll the posts to see if I had any valuable answers to offer the other group members. This group, btw, had nothing to do with acting or the film industry. It was focused on starting a business.

One of the members asked for feedback on her idea about starting a screenwriting course. I gave her my two cents about how that could be beneficial for actors that want to produce their own content.

We had a really good convo. Turns out, she's an award winning screenwriter that lives in Los Angeles. Say what?! I did not realize this before we started chatting, nor did I really expect to chat with a screenwriter in this group.

Randomly, she comments back to me, "You have a really great Facebook page." Now there's an award winning screenwriter in Los Angeles that will remember me as that actor from that Facebook group with the awesome Facebook page.

I don't want you to miss this: your social profiles need to leave such a good impression that they inspire someone to comment about how impressed they are by them. Lots of people scroll your feeds or hover over your name to see a preview of your profile, but are they really impacted by what they see? The crazy thing is that it's super simple to leave that kind of impression with just a little planning.

We've already discussed how actors can (and should) color brand themselves for increased recognition, so let's look at the next best way to build our personal branding kit. 

If you want to easily brand your social media, then make all of your banner/profile graphics look the same. You can transfer that design to all of your post graphics as well.

According to Bop Design, "A consistent brand is essential. Humans by nature crave consistency."

This information can help you not only build your audience, but leave an impression that casting directors (or screenwriters) will remember. So let's look specifically at how to create a social banner because it will give you the most visual impact.

Remember, you're creating one design and reusing that same design across all of your social platforms. If your platform doesn't have a banner graphic, you can still use this post to help you brainstorm branded photos or video thumbnail graphics. 

Back in the day, you had to pay a chunk of change for an Adobe program to create cool graphics. I know because I was the Editor-in-Chief of my high school's newspaper. Photoshop was all we had. 

Then PicMonkey came onto the scene. I used the mess outta that, until one day I realized there was no longer a free option. They now only offer a free trial period that requires your credit card. Boooooo.

Canva is without-a-doubt my favorite way to create graphics now-a-days. They've added a paid version called Canva for Work, so they could absolutely pull a PicMonkey at some point and take away all the freebie goodness. For now, though, they're your best option for creating free graphics for social media. 

Not only do they provide correctly sized templates for almost every social platform, they also offer a ton of images and graphics for free. Most paid graphics are only $1. Additionally, you can upload your own photos for free.

I've consistently created free graphics with Canva for a few years now. They also have free training tutorials that are super user friendly. I highly recommend you spend an hour working through those tutorials. You'll be surprised at how much you retain.

Canva has and will most likely continue to update their platform. Therefore, the screenshots in this post may not look up-to-date, but the instructions are still good. If you want to get serious about marketing yourself as an actor, then you need to pay attention to your social media platforms, which means posting better (branded) graphics and videos as part of your social media strategy.

Once you've picked your color palette, it will be easier for you to create graphics. We worked through color branding first for a reason. It's going to impact so much of your branding from this point forward. 

Your background can be a solid color, a pattern, or a photo. Any solid color or  patterns need to be your power color. If you use a photograph, it needs to be one of your headshots.

Canva will have free designs available once you choose your template (i.e. Facebook Cover), but I suggest personalizing your template since a majority of people use the free options. Your banner will look like everyone else's if you don't personalize it in some way. Here's an image of a few free examples:

I do not suggest paying to create social media graphics because there's no direct ROI. You're already making investments that you truly need for your acting career (like headshots) which you can reuse in your social profiles. 

If you start creating products or advertising paid services on your page, then I'd say it's worth buying stock photos because it will make you look more professional, and you'll have the opportunity to make back your money. Until then, use what you've got, and get everything else for free!

I think your headshot needs to make an appearance in your banner if you're not advertising another offer or service. It's okay to have a profile that advertises both your acting and your day job, especially if you offer a service that requires you to book clients.

For example, I have an actor friend that's a manicurist. Her default should be her primary acting headshot, no matter what. Her banner photo could promote her acting featuring a headshot (examples at the bottom of this post) or a video banner featuring her demo reel. It could also be a simple graphic or video inviting her followers to book an appointment with her for a manicure.  

If you don't use your headshot as your background, then be sure to place it in your banner photo elsewhere. Your primary headshot should always be your default photo so that people know they're looking at the right profile. You can use it again in your banner photo or select another headshot edit. Either works, just make sure people can see your face.

Canva offers free photo frames in various shapes (pictured below), and I have banner photo examples at the bottom of this post to show you the difference between using a background photo or a photo in a frame.

If a friend or contact refers someone to your page, or someone sees you on tv, think about how they would find you from their perspective. They'll need to confirm that they've found the right profile within about three seconds or else they'll abandon the search. Our attention spans have gotten that short.

Feature your name somewhere in the banner. It may seem redundant since it's on your profile, but most people with look at your banner first. Let them know they're looking at the right profile!

Canva has a number of free fonts available, including graphic fonts. Remember to update the colors to your branded color palette. Again, I have examples listed at the bottom of this post.

There's also a menu for Shapes. Grab one and add it to your graphic for a more personalized vibe. The more personalized the banner, the better, and don't forget that less is more in the design world. 

I've created three graphics to get your creative juices flowing. The file download is available below the graphic. Feel free to use one of these designs if you like. I've added the instructions for each example, including the terms you need to search for within Canva.  

I challenge you to update your banner profiles today! Remember, you can use the same graphics for each banner, but you'll need to open the appropriate template for each social media platform and remake the banner.

For example, if you create your Facebook banner first, then you'll need to open another template for LinkedIn or Youtube to recreate the banner according to those sizes. Otherwise, you'll have a very pixelated photo. 

Lastly, don't let creating a free Canva account get in your way of doing this. It's free! So what if you need to create another password?! That's small potatoes when you think about all of the great free marketing you can do with your Canva account.

FYI, I am not an affiliate of Canva, nor do I get compensated for this post in any way. I truly find value in the platform and want you to utilize it as well. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.

Branding is actually in Stage 3 of Actor Boss Workflow. If you want to know which stage you're in right now, click here to see.

Remember when you became an actor and suddenly realized there's a lot more to it than just acting? That's why you should become an Actor Boss Insider.

I'll send you an email every Monday with a question, tip, story, or training that helps you move your acting career forward in some way. At least twice a month, those emails will include info that I don't post anywhere else.

Some of those topics have included:

• Swipe copy to email a casting director if you miss an audition for some crazy reason
• Calendar for one month of Instagram posts
• How to chat with a director on set
  ​
  

I challenge you to try these for one month. Unsubscribe whenever you like.

*Check your inbox for a quick welcome email full of Actor Bossness.*

One of the first acting books I read was Audition by Michael Shurtleff. His most popular tip from the book is to always wear the same outfit to the audition and callback because that's how directors remember you.

The specific example he gave was a director asking about "the girl who wore the orange sweater," if I remember correctly. That got me to thinking about how important the color of what I'm wearing is in addition to what I'm actually wearing.

I started only wearing blue because I get a lot of compliments on my blue eyes, so why not make them pop on camera? Then one day, someone from class said they mentioned my name, and another actor friend of ours said, "She always wears blue."

Bada boom, bada bing, baby! That is the power of good personal branding! Personal branding can sound like an overwhelming term, but it's important to learn for the sake of building your career.

Actors must effectively market themselves, and building a brand can increase the success of those marketing efforts. Every successful business ever has strong branding, so why would that be any different for you as an actor? Unless you want your acting to stay a hobby, then you must start thinking of yourself as a business.

You might be thinking, "Wait, I don't have any customers as an actor, so why do I need a brand?" But remember, your fans and followers are your customers. At some point you'll want them to purchase or watch your work.

"Successful branding yields benefits such as increased customer loyalty, an improved image, and a relatable identity. (TSL Marketing)" - via Lucidpress 

One of the easiest ways to kickstart your personal branding as an actor is by choosing your brand colors, which I'll teach you how to do in this post.

Here's what the experts say about brand colors:

• Color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent. (University of Loyola)
• Color creates and instant subconscious judgment. Every color and every shade creates associations and has a personality surrounding it. (Business 2 Community)
• Additional studies have revealed that our brains prefer recognizable brands, which makes color incredibly important when creating a brand identity. (Entrepreneur)
  
  

When I say Starbucks, you think of the color green.

When I say Facebook, you think of the color blue.

When I say Coca Cola, you think of the color red.

On the flip side, those colors may make you think of those businesses. 

You can also use color psychology to your advantage as an actor by making casting directors think about you when they see a certain color. For me it's blue. I never wear red (more on that later).

I have an actor friend that looks great in citrus colors (yellow, red, orange), and I've highly encouraged her to always wear them. That means she could actually associate herself with a color family (citrus) as opposed to just one color. Jewel tones would also be considered a color family. For the sake of getting started, though, there's one color I want you to consider the most.

The first color you need to pick is the most important because it will be your staple color. Like blue for me, this will be the color that you're known for and associated with the most.

Pick the color that makes you look your best, also known as your "power color." I suggest that you always wear your power color, especially to auditions or in your headshots. Why the heck not? It's literally the color that makes you look awesome!

This might to be your favorite color based on that fact. People tend to like colors that make them look good and dislike the colors that make them look bad. This isn't a hard and fast rule that you must use, but it's a good place to start.

What's your favorite color? Do you feel your best when you wear it? Do you feel like it lights up your face? Most importantly, does it make your eyes pop? Your eyes are really what casting directors like to look at anyway.

That's why I pick blues. I have blue eyes and red undertones to my skin, so blues make my eyes pop (especially on camera) and tones down the redness in my skin. Red, however, is my least favorite color. It really enhances splotchiness in my skin and accentuates acne.

Your power color will also be the color you primarily use for your text or graphics on your social media or website. I actually use a variation of blue that's a bit more aqua for all of my graphics. If you can't fit all three of your brand colors onto a graphic, then at least make sure to use your power color.

(continue reading below the break)

I challenge you to try these weekly emails for one month to see if you haven't learned something beneficial to your acting career. I send these every Monday. Unsubscribe whenever you like.

​*Check your inbox for a quick welcome email full of Actor Bossness.*

Neutrals are colors that appear to be without color, creating an amazing backdrop for more pronounced colors. What's your favorite neutral color? Take a look at your clothes or the color of your walls for potential inspiration.

Neutrals include white, gray, black, beige, ivory, taupe. Now look at your favorite color against your favorite neutral. Do they look good together? If not, tweak your neutral color to complement your power color.

Which neutral do you use most in your everyday life?  I actually use navy as my neutral since it's a darker version of my power color, blue. If it was green, I could use hunter green or dark olive.

Your neutral will be the color you typically use as the background of your graphics, logos, social banners, website, and staple pieces in your wardrobe if you're super coordinated.

For example, if your neutral is black, you could wear black pants, jeans, or jackets. That doesn't mean you must always wear your neutral color. Your power color is what's most important and should always be somewhere on your top half so that it shows against your face on camera.

Your neutral color is really there to complement your power color and make it easier to see and notice. Think of your power color as the picture and your neutral color as the frame.

This last color is going to add a little pizzaz. It's optional but great when you need a third color for your graphics, website, or outfits. A pop color is also exactly what it sounds like.

You need to pick a color that "pops" against your neutral and power colors. These tend to be bright, bold colors. Its primary purpose, though, is to drastically contrast your other two colors. Even if you don't have a super bright pop color, think of this color as the one you just add "here and there." 

This color should be used sparingly to highlight key text on your sites or to add visual interest to graphics. You could also use it in the accessories of your wardrobe, such as a necklace or a necktie.

Take color branding as far as you like, but adding this last color will make you look and feel consistent. That consistency is the key to making you more recognizable. 

My current brand colors are aqua blue (power), navy (neutral), and mustard yellow (pop). I used coral instead of yellow initially, but it felt too feminine for me. I don't really like pink. Make sure that the colors you pick are colors you actually like.

If you update your brand colors, make sure you do it everywhere! You also need to buildup a new brand launch on your social media profiles with sneak peeks of what you're changing if you're making drastic changes.

You may also consider letting your audience vote on options. Make sure you only offer options that you actually like. This will make your audience feel like they're part of the process and brand aware before your launch even happens.

If you decide to change your color branding at some point, it's ok to leave old social media graphics with their original branding. It's not a great use of your time to update old posts that most people will never see. It will also allow your new followers to see your brand evolution. 

Just make sure any new branding is cohesive across all of your platforms once you pull the trigger. Your website is where it will matter most concerning your online presence. Your wardrobe is where it will matter most concerning your photos and auditions.

Here's an example of my colors in action:

I want to point out that my power color is blue, but there's not a true blue in my color scheme. However, I consider navy and aqua to be in the blue color family, and I always wear blue shirts. In general, I'm associated with the color blue.

It's ok to bend these rules (i.e. only two colors, monochromatic scheme of one color), but this is a great foundation to get you started. Again, the one color I think you should highly consider incorporating into your branding is your power color.

So what are your colors? Comment and share. Start incorporating it into your wardrobe and online presence this week. It's ok if you have the same power color as another actor. It's probably going to happen, but how you use it will be unique to you.

Here are five free color palettes to help you brainstorm if you're feeling stuck. Feel free to use one of these palettes:

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