EP 148: Bruce Wawrzyniak – Founder of Now Hear This Agency on You Booked It podcast!
Facebook @NowHearThisInc
EP 148: Bruce Wawrzyniak
[00:00:00] Dane Reis: [00:00:00] you booked it episode 148. Okay, let’s get started. I am excited to introduce my guest today, Bruce Wawrzyniak. Are you ready for this, Bruce? All right, Bruce is the founder of now here this an agency that currently has clients across the country from Hollywood to Las Vegas, to Chicago, to Atlanta, to Tampa.
[00:00:29] Bruce has gotten clients it’s booked into notable performance opportunities in may sure. Markets throughout the U S and has also been successful with media placements across all. Mediums. He is also a national speaker and the author of a four volume ebook series that provides tips for entertainers on and off the stage.
[00:00:48] And he is the host of the now here, this entertainment podcast, which I had the pleasure of being a guest on, which has gotten listeners from more than 100. 50 countries around the world and has released a new episode on time every week for more than six and a half years, having just passed the 350 episode, Mark Bruce, that is a quick intro of who you are and what you’ve done, but why don’t you tell us a little bit more about yourself, fill in the gaps and a little bit, but more about what you do as a profession shuttle in the entertainment industry.
[00:01:25]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:01:25] well, Dan, thanks for having me on the show first and foremost, and I get pretty excited. I get very passionate about what I do. So when I start to go on a little too long here, feel free to ring the bell or reel me in somehow because I just really love the work that I’m blessed to be able to do. And the people that I’m able to work with.
[00:01:45] And when you look at my website, You’re going to see management, promotion and booking, and some people get that. Some people say, what does that mean? And then you hear me talk about it. And it sounds like, well, it’s a whole lot more than management promotion and booking, but you know, really I’m here for whatever the client needs needs.
[00:02:02] And what does that mean? It’s whether I’m working with someone who is. 18 years old and just starting out, or whether I’m working with I’m on who is a veteran of the business and has been at it for who knows how many years they’re in their fifties. I have a client that’s in her early seventies. And so I’m really doing, like I said, whatever they need, but kind of under that management promotion booking umbrella, I like to kind of sometimes use examples that.
[00:02:31] To me come out of communications, which is media relations, public relations, marketing, the web social media. But the services that I provide really varies from one client to the next I’ll have some people that will call me their manager. I’ll have some people that will call me their publicist. Yeah. It really doesn’t matter what the title is.
[00:02:49] It’s more about the work that I do for them and just really trying to help them. Get further in their career because I see so many people that are trying to do everything by themselves. And invariably something is going to slip. Something is going to be the, not up to where they’d like it to be. And I like to think that that’s one of the things that I do is.
[00:03:09] Not only polished those things for them, but give them that peace of mind knowing that, okay, I don’t have to do these things. Cause now I have Bruce in my corner and he can take care of those things for me. So that’s kind of the 75 words or less
[00:03:24] Dane Reis: [00:03:24] Yeah, Yeah,
[00:03:24]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:03:24] but, uh, it’s, you know, it’s, I like the job that I have Dane also because.
[00:03:29]It’s not the same thing every day of the week. And it’s really kind of come full circle for me. Cause there was a point in my career when I was freelancing for a full service agency. And I didn’t like that. I wasn’t just working for one company for one organization. It didn’t like having different accounts to work on.
[00:03:48]And I eventually went to an organization where that’s all I was doing. Right. It was just that company. And now that in mind, you I’ve had it. I don’t hear this for more than 15 years. And I love that with my business. I do have such diversity in terms of clients and what they’re doing and the work that I’m doing for them.
[00:04:05]Dane Reis: [00:04:05] that is so cool. And I really loved that you highlight that maybe I’m a manager for you or what you, what you would define as a manager, what you might define as a publicist, but really your, just there for whatever the client’s needs are. And you’re right. We all have slightly different needs depending on what part of this industry.
[00:04:24] We’re. In and what our ultimate goal is, and that you cater everything to that. I think that’s great.
[00:04:30]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:04:30] Yeah, there’s a young lady that I just recently pitched to and I just really kind of stumbled across her online by accident. And when you first look on the surface, you say, well, this girl doesn’t look like she needs any help. She looks like she’s doing really well for herself, but that’s kind of where I start peeling back the layers.
[00:04:47] And I say, well, in her case, I think she could be doing more. And so it is a case of, you know, okay, can she use a better website? Yes, she can. And she admitted it when we talked. And I said, that is one of the services that now here, this provides, but. For your listeners, Dane, I don’t want people to say, Oh, he has a web company.
[00:05:04] No, it’s one of the services that now here, this will provide, but in this young lady’s case, I said, it’s something that we can do for you. Cause you could stand to have a new website, however you’re doing this. And I think you could really be exploiting that this way and you’re doing this over here, but I think you should really be partnering up with an organization like this.
[00:05:22] And so some of the people that I talked to, I kind of envisioned. What they’re doing now and where that should be taking them. And then I kind of hear those pain points where they say, I just don’t have the time to do it, you know, or I just don’t know who to even begin to talk to, to try to make that happen.
[00:05:36] And so that’s where I bring in my experience and all the great contexts that I have and say, well, that’s what I’m endeavoring to try to do for you. If we can work together.
[00:05:45]Dane Reis: [00:05:45] , so good. And let’s move on and dig into this first section here. And Bruce, look, I am a sucker for a good quote. What is your favorite quote? You’d like to share with everyone?
[00:06:00]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:06:00] This is one that I’ve actually hung onto for many, many, many years. I’m going to say. Probably from my teenage years and it’s just stuck with me my whole life. And I still really take this to heart. And the quote is that it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.
[00:06:20]Dane Reis: [00:06:20] Yes, so true. And can you expand on how that has worked its way into your entire career and your business?
[00:06:29]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:06:29] Yeah. So what I love about. Running now here, this is that I’m always talking about my clients when I’m working for them. I’m talking about them. I’m not talking about myself. So when you think of that quote, it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice. I’m not making it about me. It is nice to be important, but that’s not what I’m doing too.
[00:06:51] Me. My business is about promoting these clients that I’m with and letting other people know how quote unquote important they are, but really more how talented they are and why they should be given whatever opportunity it is that we’re talking to them about. So that’s something that I really kind of have.
[00:07:08] As one of the foundations of now hear this, that what I do is all about the client. And in fact, Dane, that is why the least favorite part of my business is pitching a potential new client because that’s the one time that I do have to talk all about Bruce and all about what now here, this can do for you.
[00:07:28] And that’s why when I get the business, it’s like, great. I don’t have to talk about me anymore. And I don’t have to talk about the company. Now I’m going to be talking about you all the time in all my dealings on your behalf.
[00:07:40]Dane Reis: [00:07:40] Yeah, that’s so good. And by doing that in the nature of your industry or your business really lends itself to that, of course, where you don’t have to do so much self promotion all the time. Right. Uh, but. It also just comes back 10 fold. Doesn’t it? Because you’re doing good work for people consistently that inevitably your name comes up when your clients talk about how they’re landing different media outlets or getting booked here or there
[00:08:08] Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:08:08] Exactly. And so when I challenged myself to post on the company’s social media, I like when I can post about something that was done for a client, I think it’s kind of part of the business it’s accepted that. Of course, when you publish a weekly blog, you’re going to post on your social media about it.
[00:08:25] When you publish a podcast episode, you’re going to post on your social media about it. But I would rather on the other days, be talking about. Things that now here, this has done for its clients, as opposed to look at Bruce over here doing this, look at Bruce over here, because that kind of what all of a sudden contradict what I’m out there telling people that it’s not about me.
[00:08:45] It’s about the clients. What the company is doing for them. So I like that I can carry that through it. It’s almost a little game you can play with yourself and say, well, well, then get more results for the clients. And you’ll have more social media posts that you can put up about them instead of about yourself.
[00:09:02] Dane Reis: [00:09:02] Yeah, for sure. And let’s get into this next section here. And Bruce, of course you are an entertainment professional, I’m an entertainment professional. And I think that you would agree that this industry can be one of the most subjective, brutally, honest and personally emotional industries in existence.
[00:09:23] And you know, you know, as well as I. That in order to create and have a successful career in this industry, like your having now takes a lot of dedication and hard work. And while yeah, there’s an outrageous amount of fun and excitement doing what we do. There are also our fair share of obstacles, challenges, and failures.
[00:09:43] We are going to experience and we’re going to have to move forward through. So tell us, what is one key challenge, obstacle or failure you’ve experienced in your career? And how did you come out the other side better because of it?
[00:09:56]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:09:56] I have to, if that’s all right, because I can make them both brief. So one of them was, there was a point in the company’s existence when I was going through a change with the. Agreements that I have clients sign with now hear this. And so it was kind of right in that period when I wasn’t going to use the one anymore, that I was no longer happy with and it wasn’t really doing what I needed it to do, but yet the attorney hadn’t given me the new one.
[00:10:27] And so I took on a new client and I think I did two and a half months of work for this girl. And not only did she not pay, but she. More or less disappeared. And when I told her I’m going to have to read it for this to my attorney, she said, well here, my attorney, you can, you can have your attorney talk to them.
[00:10:45] Yeah. And you know, P S the, the email address she’s giving me for her attorney is someone’s Gmail, which you say, okay, none of this is professional at all. And I finally had to just eat, you know, eat it and decide I’m going to cut my losses here. And just, I don’t want to say several times. Cause like I said, she had essentially disappeared on me, but the lesson that I learned there was always, always, always, always, always have a client sign, an agreement.
[00:11:10] Before you start doing a single day’s work for them. I don’t care how nice they seem, you know, who referred them, what the situation, what the scenario is around their circumstances of having I’m to in the first place, you have to get them to sign the agreement. And even if it comes to where, okay, we can say that renewals can be done by email, but you have to have that initial agreement in writing and not just say, Hey, my attorney’s working on it right now, but when it’s finished, you know, then I’ll get you to sign it because I learned the hard way with that.
[00:11:38]Dane Reis: [00:11:38] , absolutely. And yeah. Contracts, man. That’s such an important thing , for everyone to pay attention to, regardless if it’s your business and you are needing to send out the agreements and the contracts, or you’re the one that was handed a contract from a company or anything, you need to read them, you need to pay attention to them.
[00:11:59]They, they’re not funny part of what we have to do, but they are necessary and you have to make it a habit to always get agreements. In place both
[00:12:09] Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:12:09] how so the other story was that I had a client, a singer songwriter, and we went to Nashville and I had her booked to perform four nights in a row. And on the fourth night, we got to the venue where she was booked to perform. And we walked in and for the first time I encountered the dreaded double booking.
[00:12:29]And so when they told me that someone else was booked and I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened. My client actually reads a sigh of relief and said, that’s okay, Bruce, I’m tired. It’s been a busy week. You know, I had her, you know, you know, we were going to meet her things during the day and she just wanted to go back and do some songwriting and relax and say, okay, you know, you know, trip over.
[00:12:50] And I wasn’t going to have it because I thought, you know, we didn’t come all the way to Nashville to just kind of nod and smile and say, okay, you know, well, I guess it happens. And so she and I actually. I don’t want to overstate it, but battled a little bit because she just thought no, like let’s just not make a big deal out of it and let’s just leave.
[00:13:08] And I really wanted to get her one more opportunity because I thought, you know, here you are in Nashville and. We just got to try to make the best of this. And so in talking with the venue and then talking with the Booker, they said, you know, well, we may be able to come up with something, let me, let’s kind of scratch our heads and figure out something.
[00:13:26] And some of my clients said, you know, I really don’t want to do it. Like I wish he would just let it go. And so the Booker and the venue representatives were talking things over my client, went to the ladies room and in the meantime, The organizers came to me and said, okay, well she can do it. She can play, but she’s going to have to wait until nine 30.
[00:13:47] And I said, that’s fine. She’ll do it without even asking her. So she comes back and she says, I’m going to do it. And I said, great, because you’re on at nine 30. And she said, what? And I said, yeah, you know, you know, this is what has taken place. She said, well, okay. I’ve, I’ve decided I’ll do it. I, you know, it’s my wishes, but I let, let let’s just go forward.
[00:14:05] And I said, okay. And so. The happy ending to the story is that persistence paid off because when she finished, she was coming off stage and I could hear her voice. I was over, you know, staffing, her merch, table, newsletter, signup, and all that kind of thing, gathering up, you know, I was taking pictures and shooting video and I hear her saying, well, there’s my manager over there.
[00:14:26] You can talk to him. So I come over and introduce myself and it turned out that. You know, short of a record label, probably the, the next biggest person in the music industry that you would want to approach as an artist is a publisher. And so this was a publisher who had just heard her perform and said, you know, I think your client is terrific.
[00:14:44] And I’d really like to talk to you more so on the ride home, she said, do you know, I relented and ended up giving in and saying, That I’ll that all that I’ll do it that’ll go on at nine 30. And I said no. And she said, it’s because you always tell me, you never know who might be in the crowd. She said, and I thought to myself, he always says that, and now we’re in Nashville.
[00:15:05] And I just have to believe that maybe somebody is somebody important is here. And that was, that was the happy ending. Was that somebody important? Was there.
[00:15:14] Dane Reis: [00:15:14] Wow, that is such a good story. And so lucky that she had you in her corner, pushing her on and being like, this is not just not being a pushover with, with the situation. That was just a bit unfortunate. Right? The double booking that’s so good. So good. And let’s move on to a time that I like to call your spotlight moment.
[00:15:38] That one moment in time you realized. Yes, I am going to be in the entertainment industry for a living, or maybe it was, yes, this is what I need to be doing in the entertainment industry. Tell us about that.
[00:15:55] Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:15:55] Yeah, I love this question because it takes me back to the roots of now hear this and how, and when and why the company was formed, which was. That I had just moved to the Tampa area and the organization that I mentioned before that I was working for full time. They had an event coming up and they needed a national Anthem singer.
[00:16:18] And every Sunday I’m going to church and I’m hearing this girl saying whose voice I just thought was terrific. And so finally, one Sunday, after, before I walked out of church, I just approached her and told her as much. Oh, thank you very much. It’s very nice. And I said, do you ever sing outside of church?
[00:16:33] And I was really just saying it more from, you know, I’d love to hear you sing contemporary stuff and come and see you somewhere else. And so she said that she did. And eventually, you know, I said, well, you know, let me know, you know, where, and when you’re going to be someplace, because I love listening to you sing in church, but I’d love to hear you saying something else.
[00:16:49] So the more this started to happen, I eventually started to speak up and say, well, I’ve been doing it my whole professional career marketing, public relations, promotional type of work. And I’d love to help you out in some way and right away. She kind of backed off and said, Oh, you know, thank you. But my dad helps me.
[00:17:07]And I said, what, you know, I’m just making myself available. You know, if you change your mind, I’d love to help. Cause I think more people need to hear you. And eventually it turned out that the dad was realtor and you know, it’d be, kind of becomes one of those. Hey, what does the dad know as a realtor about the entertainment business?
[00:17:23] The Oh, this Bruce Guy is volunteering to help us, you know, why are you telling them, why are you telling them no. Why are you pushing them away? So, I mean, I really was doing it out of the goodness of it, my heart. And because I thought this girl was talented, more people needed to hear her, but darn it. If I didn’t start getting all kinds of results for her.
[00:17:40] And that was that spotlight moment. That was when I took a step back and said, you’re spending a lot of time helping this girl, but guess what? You’re getting results. And this is something that I noticed I was really drawn to in terms of the work, in terms of the entertainment industry. And I thought I need to do more than just volunteer to help this one girl, I need to make this a business.
[00:18:03] And so that was it. That was my moment when I realized this is what I want to do. And I want now here this to be a company that’s incorporated and is a viable business and not just Bruce in his spare time, helping out a girl at church because he thinks she sounds good.
[00:18:21]Dane Reis: [00:18:21] Wow, that’s so good. And just organically kind of came about. I really liked that.
[00:18:26]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:18:26] Yeah, because when you’re in the moment, when you’re in the trenches and you’re just kind of doing these things and getting them done, it’s like, okay, thanks. You’re welcome. You know, I’ll obviously come and watch you, you know, get her booked at fairs and festivals and things like that, you know, or a newspaper article written.
[00:18:39] And you’re just kind of proud of it. And you don’t really take that opportunity to step back and say, hold on a second. I think I have something here. So it really was as you called it a spotlight moment for me when I thought, okay, This is a thing, as the saying goes,
[00:18:54]Dane Reis: [00:18:54] Yeah, so good. And I want to piggyback on that real quick and talk about your number one, booked it moment. Walk us through that day. What was going on in your life? And what about that moment? Makes it your favorite book moment.
[00:19:12]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:19:12] I could actually say a few, but I’ll spare the listeners and just say one, but there was a client of mine that. We were really, really doing well. We were really having a lot of success and a contact of mine from the job that I was mentioning that. I stayed in touch with this guy, uh, just to let them know that, Hey, I’m not working there anymore.
[00:19:33] I’ve got my own business now, and this is what I’m doing. And so he would just kind of tell me, you know, you know, what he’s doing and what his company does, and some of the opportunities that he might have. And he was based in Oklahoma city. So he told me that we are. His, his company, they did a video production. He said, you know, we are actually shooting, live the rodeo Opry in Oklahoma city and we’re televising it.
[00:19:58] And he said, you know, if your star client that you talk about a lot, if she ever wants to come out here and perform, he said, you know, I’m obviously in tight with the rodeo Opry. And he said, you know, we can, we can probably help you, you know, get connected and try to get her book there. I said, well, that’s, that’s pretty exciting.
[00:20:12] That sounds really interesting. And so of course, I looked it up online. I watched some videos to see what the show looked like and see what it was about. And then I really kind of started letting the wheels turn Dane, you know, to see, well, we’re not going to go all the way to Oklahoma city just to do this rodeo opera show and come all the way back to Florida.
[00:20:29] So what else is there? So I went back to him and kind of laid this out and he said, well, You know, he said, my son is really doing the video production business right now. He said I’m with a TV station, um, as, as my full time thing. So he said, you know, maybe we can figure something out free here. And so I slowly started to wiggle my way in there and see that, okay, I’ve drilled down enough.
[00:20:51] And I see that you have a daytime magazine show, so to speak. And I thought, you know, if we can get her booked for an interview and perform on this show in the morning, And then play at the rodeo opera as well. And I thought, I just need to find one more something though, to really make this a trip that packs a lot of results into a short amount of time again, so that we’re not going to fly there and just do one thing and come all the way back.
[00:21:17] And lo and behold with really nobody’s help at all. I ended up getting her booked at Toby Keith’s, which was a huge, huge place they’re in Oklahoma city. And I remember that it was a payday that we were not used to seeing. And I just, I was so amazed at the success that I had, I was having. And I was so proud of this short trip that I was putting together for us, where she is able to be on TV on Friday morning.
[00:21:44] And mind you, they’re also going to make sure that, you know, we also got. Copies of the footage of her appearance on the show. They even let her film a second original song because she only had time for one song on the show, but they said, well, that’s okay. You know, once, once we’re done with the show, we’ll, we’ll do your favor and we’ll.
[00:22:02]You know, we’ll roll so that you can perform a second song, just so that you have something from a TV station to
[00:22:06] Dane Reis: [00:22:06] Oh, wow.
[00:22:08] Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:22:08] able to do that Friday morning play at Toby Keith’s on Friday night. And then on Saturday night, she, uh, performed at the rodeo opera. You know, they had rehearsal during the day, which I don’t mind telling you.
[00:22:18] I actually had tears in my eyes during rehearsal, just because I kind of felt like this was our big moment that she’d arrived in, you know, here was this sold out. Rodeo Opry on Saturday night that she played too televised. And I was just so proud to be in that moment, you know, and, and see everything that we were accomplishing.
[00:22:37] I’ll give myself some credit there.
[00:22:39]Dane Reis: [00:22:39] yeah, that is brilliant. And I, I love how you capitalized on that entire situation. It wasn’t, you’re like, yeah, we got the one gig almost guaranteed to get that gig, but what else can, what else can be there? What else can we do? And you have to think outside the box. And I think that’s amazing.
[00:22:55]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:22:55] Yeah, thank you. It was, it was not easy. Um, but at the same time, you know, you get there. And I remember one time that she and I were going on a trip and we literally sat down on the plane and I handed her, her itinerary right there on the plane. And that was the first that she saw of everything that we were going to be doing on that trip and went, wow.
[00:23:13]Oh my gosh. Thank you. You know, because she saw that. What you just said that I felt, you know, we really need to maximize the time, so let’s see how much we can fit into the amount of time that we have.
[00:23:24]Dane Reis: [00:23:24] Aw, so good. And let’s take a moment to talk about the present. What projects are you working on now? What are you looking forward to? And it’s a weird time, right? We’re a bits, this global pandemic. How do you see the entertainment industry moving forward in the next couple of years?
[00:23:43]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:23:43] Yeah. So right now I’m excited. I’m finishing up a course. I’m going to launch, you know, nowadays, as, as you mentioned in this, what I call covert era, everybody wants to sit at home and get interviewed and everybody thinks, well, this is easy. I just sit at home and get myself some interviews and I can just promote from my couch and heart of that is true.
[00:24:06]But to me, Getting the interview, getting the booking is only half of the work after that. There’s so much that you can and should do to maximize those interviews. And so that’s what my course is going to teach people is okay, you got the interview. But now there’s so much to do in preparation for it and tips for during the interview.
[00:24:31] So I’m going to launch that course. Uh, I also, as you mentioned, during the intro and really happy to have just hit the quote unquote milestone of 350 episodes of my podcast and your audience should know how kind you were, that you actually sent me the guest for that interview, which was cliff gold mocker.
[00:24:48] And. So it was great to have a Grammy recognized songwriter for my quote unquote milestone 350th episode, and, you know, going forward the entertainment industry, what I’m really seeing more and more is I really think that the industry will very much slant towards content creators. I think there’s going to be a lot more attention given to people who have shown their creativity.
[00:25:17] In this COVID era that someone who, I’m sorry to say it, but someone who is a tick talk star or someone who is a YouTube star or someone who these people who have built up a following because of the content they’re creating by sitting at home. And being creative. And I really think that we’re going to see, I would also, I should say love to see opportunities given to the Dane races and the Bruce Wars and the ex of the world who are doing what we do to where someone recognizes and says, this person is solid.
[00:25:50] They do a great show. They’re reliable, they’re consistent. They deliver good value. They deliver good content. Let’s give them a shot at. Insert opportunity here that maybe you wouldn’t be on the radar for previously, but now I think people are paying more attention to what content creators are doing. And so there’s always, thankfully there’s always going to be a demand for the traditional type of entertainment that we’re used to, but I think everyone has done such a noteworthy job of taking a step back.
[00:26:26] And reevaluating and saying what is possible. And they’re seeing a lot different things that can take place that they didn’t see before. And as I’m saying, I think a lot of that is going to be, you know, you know, what we should try and it’s going to be with a content creator.
[00:26:44]Dane Reis: [00:26:44] Yeah, very cool insight on that. Thank you. , and also let me know about that course when it drops, I would like to check it out and see what’s going on.
[00:26:54] Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:26:54] Thank you. I will.
[00:26:55] Dane Reis: [00:26:55] Yeah, and it is time to move on to one of my favorite sections in the interview. I call it the grease lightning round. Hi, I am going to ask you a handful of questions.
[00:27:08] I want you to answer them as quickly and concisely as possible one after another. Are you ready?
[00:27:14]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:27:14] I am.
[00:27:15] Dane Reis: [00:27:15] All right. First question. What was the one thing holding you back from committing to a career as an entertainer?
[00:27:21]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:27:21] It was having that full time job that I was juggling that gave me the opportunity to say they need an Anthem singer. Let me talk to the girl from church. And then as I’m volunteering and helping her that full time job is getting in the way as I realize more and more. I’ve got something here that I need to develop.
[00:27:37]Dane Reis: [00:27:37] Yeah. Second question. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
[00:27:43]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:27:43] Two words be seen, which is the exact opposite of out of sight. Out of mind, I worked for somebody who would fly halfway across the world to sit in a meeting for three hours, and then he would fly all the way back to the U S just because he realized that if you’re not there, people are gonna forget about you or your brand, your business, your company, whatever.
[00:28:05]Dane Reis: [00:28:05] Yeah, such good advice. And we can apply that to our websites, to our social media, to any of the content that we put out there and to realize that we also kind of need to be purposeful with that content that we’re putting out there.
[00:28:18] Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:28:18] Well, Well, and similarly, a lot of people are getting. Fatigue when it comes to video conferencing. And so I think more and more people are saying, I’ll sit this one out, but the more video conferences that you sit out, whether it’s a webinar or whether it’s an online meeting, whatever it is, it’s going to come back to out of sight out of mind.
[00:28:39] So I would instruct your audience to keep in mind that if you’re not on the zoom calls or Skype calls or whatever they are. Someone else may get an opportunity because they forgot about John DOE or Jane DOE because he or she wasn’t on the call and haven’t been on the last three calls. So you’re noticeable by your absence.
[00:29:01]Dane Reis: [00:29:01] For sure. And the third question, what is something that is working for you right now? Or if you’d like to go pre COVID, what was working for you before our industry went on? Pause.
[00:29:15]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:29:15] I like to call this cross promote. Cross promote and then cross promote that has worked so well for me, between having a weekly podcast, a weekly blog, a weekly newsletter, one feeds the other. And so when people get my E newsletter. They’re going to read about the latest podcast. And then when they listen to the podcast, they’re going to hear me talk about another podcast interview I did, or they might occasionally hear me refer to a blog.
[00:29:44] And in my blog I will probably refer to a podcast that he did. And so it’s keeping everybody within my brand. It’s keeping everybody within my company and there. Interacting with the different touch points that I have. I have a four volume ebook series. And when you read the tips for on and off the stage for entertainers that I have written in there, I will also site episodes of my podcast, where a guest gave a good piece of advice.
[00:30:10] And I will have a link in the book that you can call over to the podcast and listened to that actual interview. So that all really has worked well for me before, during, and after the pandemic.
[00:30:23]Dane Reis: [00:30:23] Oh, that’s perfect. And so clever and so necessary. It’s also the way to really, truly leverage and amplify what it is that you’re doing. What you’re putting out there.
[00:30:34]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:30:34] Yeah, and I feel that you’re really. If you’re writing a weekly blog or whatever the frequency is, but in my case weekly, if you’re writing a weekly blog and you’re kind of keeping it in a vacuum, then you’re really missing out because you could be doing so much more with it. So if you say, why getting more this or more that, well, maybe if you opened it up and leveraged it the way that I am with these different resources that I’m referring to, you probably would see a lot more interaction.
[00:31:01]Dane Reis: [00:31:01] absolutely. And the fourth question, what is your best resource? Whether that’s a book, a movie, a YouTube video, maybe a podcast or a piece of technology you found is helping your career right now?
[00:31:15]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:31:15] I’m going to give to here again, if it’s all right. One is sort of sort of the, I mentioned before the Florida pod-casters association, we’ve been having monthly meetings for, I don’t even know how many years now, six years maybe. And those are happening online even though. We’re still in the pandemic and can’t get together.
[00:31:33] They’re still having the meetings and just doing it online. This is also the same group that gave birth to pod Fest, multimedia expo, which is an enormous international conference that happens in Orlando every year. There was 2000 people there. At the beginning of March, it was probably the last event of it.
[00:31:50] It’s kind before COVID shut everything down. And so that network has really been and a terrific resource for me. And similarly, uh, the folks at social media examiner. I’m a member of the social media marketing society. They do a lot of great programming. They offer a lot of great education, a lot of good tips.
[00:32:10] They have a Facebook group. Those are really, really key for me also because obviously Florida podcasters and pod Fest, multimedia expo that helps me with the podcast side of things. But when it comes to doing social media for my clients, when it comes to doing social media for my own company, that’s something that I really rely on and it’s great to have.
[00:32:31] A worldwide, I might as well say community online that you can go to and say, Hey, what is up with this new messenger app reconfigure that Facebook has just done, right? Or I’m really struggling with this on Twitter. Has anyone else encountered the same challenge lately? So those are some great resources that I’m constantly tapping into.
[00:32:56]Dane Reis: [00:32:56] yes. So good such great resources for a lot of us to tap into, especially that social media examiner, great website. I’ve used a lot of their, a lot of their tutorials and things like that for loads of stuff throughout my career. and the fifth question, if you had to start your career from scratch, but you still had all the knowledge and experience you’ve collected from your career in this industry, what would you do or not do?
[00:33:23] Would you do anything differently or would you keep it the same?
[00:33:27]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:33:27] There was a friend of mine who had given me some advice that I listened and smiled and nodded politely at the time. And I really should have taken his advice when I was first. Going all in with now here, this, there was another business that I was involved with and. I know mind you, this is a long time ago, so I can’t ever remember, but I know there was a third endeavor that I felt I could successfully juggle at the same time.
[00:33:54] And he told me you can’t do three, three things at once. Something is going to suffer. You got to pick one of them and put everything into that. And I said, well, you know, I’m going to give it a good shot out. You know, I feel pretty good about it and it was not the case. And so. If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone all in with now here, this, and only with now, hear this and not try to do other things that were pulling on my time and my resources and my energy
[00:34:18]Dane Reis: [00:34:18] Oh, there’s so much there. , it’s very easy for us to get ourselves spread too thin. You know, we want to gain experiences in different things. Right. But we have to also be cognizant that we’re still. Properly developing, whatever. The one thing that we’re really trying to do and to focus on that.
[00:34:36] And then if you really master that, then maybe start considering looking elsewhere.
[00:34:42]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:34:42] exactly.
[00:34:43]Dane Reis: [00:34:43] Yes. And the last question, what is the golden nugget knowledge drop you’ve learned from your successful career in this industry? You’d like to leave with our listeners.
[00:34:54]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:34:54] This is the approach that I have always taken with. Now hear this, and I would encourage them. Your audience to adopt this as well, because this has really served me in the entertainment business. And I think that your audience would also benefit from taking this approach. I call it my four P’s approach, which is to be patient polite, professional, but persistent.
[00:35:20]And if you think that through and you think of opportunities that you’re pursuing in the entertainment industry, You can see where sometimes people don’t get back to you as fast as you would like them to. And that’s where the patients comes in. Polite is obviously you don’t want to start off on the wrong foot.
[00:35:39] Professional is not even. Because see people are going to think that sounds redundant with being polite, but I’m talking about professional with everything, and that’s such a hallmark of what now here, this stands for is really wanting to have a first class image for our clients and for everything to be professional so that every interaction.
[00:35:58] With that client is professional, but to be persistent and to not get so caught up in being patient polite and professional, that you just wait and wait, and you say, well, I don’t want to ruffle any feathers. And you know, I know it’s been two and a half weeks, but they’ll get back to me. But no, that’s when you have to be persistent and politely and professionally say to them, we’re really interested in this opportunity.
[00:36:20] And I know that my client will bring value to et cetera, et cetera. So that persistence. It does take some finessing and it does take some years in the business too, to know how to be persistent without risking the opportunity. But that four PS approach is something that I have stood by for many years and will continue to.
[00:36:40]Dane Reis: [00:36:40] yes. I think that is absolutely golden advice. Thank you for that. Everyone just rewind that. Have a listen. And with that, it is time to wrap up this interview. Bruce, give yourself a plug. Where can we find you? How do I listeners connect with you? Is there anything you want to promote?
[00:37:00]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:37:00] Thank you Dane. So now here, this.biz is the company website and of course that’s H E a R. So now here, this dot B Isaid. And then if you go to the store section on there, you will see the eBooks. That Dane and I talked about the four volume ebook series. It gives tips for entertainers running off the stage.
[00:37:21] And of course, certainly on the website, you’ll also see the podcast, which now here, this entertainment, you need that fourth word when you’re looking for the show and that’s available almost anywhere that you listen to podcasts and I’m interviewing guests that are having success in entertainment. And I do it in a way that educates the listeners, but also entertains people who just like good interviews or who know the guest.
[00:37:45]And it’s a weekly show and, uh, gosh, more than six and a half years in, I still really enjoy doing that. And I really hope that people will check it out. And as Dane said, when he brought me in Dane was a guest on the show too. So if you don’t know where to start, start, start with his interview because he brought some gems to that conversation, for sure.
[00:38:05]Dane Reis: [00:38:05] ah, thank you. And for everyone listening out there, I have put the links to everything. Bruce just talked about into the description of this episodes. You can easily connect with him and be sure to share this podcast with your fellow entertainers, coaches, art and entertainment educators, and anyone. You know, You know, aspiring to create a career in the entertainment industry on your book, that we have so much , actionable value.
[00:38:35] Being given by every single guest case in point, Bruce here today with this episode, amazing. And the end today, there are 147 other episodes with amazing guests as well that have unique perspectives on this industry. So be sure to look it up, subscribe and listen, Bruce. Thank you so much for coming on the show today, taking your time to be with me, sharing everything you’ve learned from your journey through this industry.
[00:39:03]Bruce Wawrzyniak: [00:39:03] My pleasure, Dan, thank you so much. I enjoyed it and I appreciate you having me on.
[00:39:07]