how does it work?
surf a bit - see what grabs you.
Booking a site with Virtual-Actor is easier than duck soup. Perhaps a poor analogy if you've never had duck soup, but we digress.
The first step -- as with choosing or purchasing anything of long-term value, is to do a bit of research. Check out the V-A.com site, browse our '09 gallery, and view full sites via the prices and testimonials pages. Begin to think about how you'd like to brand yourself -- what "vibe" you should be putting out there in the internet world. Are you the edgy, dark, emotionally driven method type? Are you ethereal and otherwordly? Are you classic, chic, bonkers, bizarre, simplistic, complex? The possibilites are blissfully endless.
Once you figure out the type of "site vibe" you want (also limitless, as all our work is 100% custom), proceed to the Frequenty Asked Questions page if there are inquiries in your noggin, email me (Ashley) at ashley@virtual-actor.com if something else remains that you'd like to chat about, and then take a trek over to the Prices page to see what level of site suites you.
choose your site level
where are you at, career wise?
There are various website "levels" that we offer, depending on how much content you foresee having for you website. The Studio Site, for example, is great for the actor or performer that needs something simple, straightforward, though still chic, personality-showing, and dynamic. Studio sites have all the pages you'll need -- home, resume, bio, contact, etcetera -- include an interactive Flash gallery -- and have room for one reel.
The next step up is the West Village site -- which is a bit of a "larger" website, has more going on design wise (more Flash inclusion, contact forms, music if you'd like) and allows for additional multimedia such as multiple reels / reel clips, audio / voiceover capabilities, and multiple galleries. You also have the option to have your video & audio clips converted to Flash movies, which will match the site design wise -- and have more dynamic user interfaces.
Finally, the Loft and Artistic Business sites are generally for the musician / comedian or theater / film company, respectively.
Look through the levels at the Prices page, and see what sounds like it'll best work for you!
the design phase
all about you, baby.
After you "book" the website via one of the happy green Get it NOW! buttons, you'll be contacted by a Virtual-Actor.com rep to start up a dialouge about your design wishes and choices. You'll also be prompted to register your domain name (i.e. www.memyselfi.com) with our server, GreenTeaHosting.com. To keep costs down for the actors we design for, we offer domain & hosting services exclusively to our clients at bare-bones cost.
Once you've booked and gotten your domain, you'll receive The Site Creation email, which will detail what and how to send in your material for the site's actual design.
You'll send in your stuff when you're ready, and a few weeks later -- the site will be uploaded (and fabulous) for your review.
for he who shirks technology!
Why do you need a website? Oh-ho. With the advent of technology taking over the Breakdowns and essentially everything else (bar codes at commercial casting offices, what's next?!), casting directors, agents, and managers are flopped in their chairs for most of the day staring at a flatscreen Mac. Say your postcard or resume runs across the desk of Kajta Blichfield at NBC, or Mary Jo Slater, or any of the other huge names in casting. You just did something that perks some kind of interest. They Google you.
Having control over the first thing that pops up in a Google search engine is absolutely essential.
As actors, we control very little in our careers -- but with a site, you have absolute reign over the factors and possibilites. Make sure the first thing an agent or manager sees isn't some obcure student film YouTube link from '98, or a Facebook profile. What appears first is a professional, well-branded, thought out website showcasing you at your best. With something to show for yourself other than the generic (and more forgettable) headshot and resume.
We've just branched out to Paolo Mascatelli / Paul Harrison photography (see shot at left) for that very purpose -- PR shots, for those actors who have careers beginning to bloom and need them for publicity purposes, or for those actors who simply wish to appear like they have enough going on to need PR-ready material (half this business is about perception, now, isn't it?) to shoot PR packages for actors. This isn't a neccessity by any means -- but definitely adds jazz to your website, and can be obtained at a ridiculous discount when purchased together. Inquire with Ashley at ashley@virtual-actor.com for pricing (Studio Site with PR Photo Session starts at $400). Paolo Mascatelli / Paul Harrison Photography is based out of both New York and LA.
work it!
Utilize your website to the fullest possible extent! Upload audition tapes to your reel page, send them in to casting directors. Take the horns on your career -- there's so much you can do once you have a place to put it all. Have an archive to put show pictures, have different pages to display different skill or reel clips so you can control what people see -- and direct them to it, instead of giving a YouTube link.
The professionalism of a www.you.com is undeniable. We've had more than several success stories over the last four years with clients who have uploaded audition tapes to send to one coast or another, and being flown out or booking the role.
Our goal -- my goal, as the founder and creator of Virtual-Actor.com -- is to provide all you actory folk (being, ahem, one of you) with a means to market yourself for as low of a cost, high of a quality as it can possibly get.
Hopefully you've enjoyed this How It Works dissertation -- if you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me personally at ashley@virtual-actor.com.
Cheers and leg-breakings (thought never literally),
Ashley