Hi Bon,

I asked around and apparently this happens all the time. I get that these people are just doing their jobs and trying to sell me something, but I also know that no friend would be giving out my number to some sales guy, so my question is: How did they get my number?

Ah, yes. The cold calls from the CD workshop people. I remember them well. At first, I was very frustrated when the number printed on my resumé, which I assumed would only be used by agents and casting directors when I was being considered for WORK opportunities, started being used by sales reps. But then I guess I got used to it and handled it in the same way I handle calls from telemarketers for magazines and carpet cleaning services. “Not interested.” Click!

As for how these folks got your number, well, it’s simple: You have a phone number? Someone’s gonna get it. And sell it. And pass it around. Same with email addresses. And particularly when the seller of your number and your email address, can verify that you are a member of a particular demographic or customer base, your contact information becomes that much more valuable to the buyers looking for targeted marketing lists.

But these companies aren’t always buying actors’ contact information from those who collect and resell information. Sometimes they’re putting out casting notices in order to have you mail your headshot to them, then getting your contact info off your resumé and using that info to pitch you actor services of all kinds! Backstage did an exposé a few years ago in which they created a headshot and resumé for a non-actor staff member and submitted it per a casting notice on which the mailing address was a suite away from a CD workshop facility. Well, wouldn’t you know it! Within weeks, the non-acting BSW staffer began getting pitch calls for workshops, with the line “a friend referred you.”

Sometimes, agents will have side deals with some of these workshop facilities. They’ll allow the workshop folks to come by and pick up unsolicited headshots that have been mailed over by actors seeking representation. Then the workshop facility personnel start calling. And how can you prevent that from happening? I mean, you aren’t going to stop submitting your headshot to agencies when you’re looking for representation, right? And how can you know which groups are in cahoots with which agencies? It’s not like anyone advertises this stuff!

Of course, there’s also the old-fashioned method of collecting contact information. People who work for these workshop facilities, acting studios, demo reel editing companies — pretty much any actor-related service provider might do this — will attend shows and ask for industry kits, saying they’re “producers,” and then they’ll grab the actors’ phone numbers right off their resumés and add them to their own lists. More work involved that way, but it happens.

Outside of never sharing your contact information, ever, there’s really no way to prevent this sort of thing from happening. So, rather than worrying too much about how this happens, just be ready with your response when it does. My philosophy is: If someone is providing a really great service, actors are going to hear about it and buy it, use it, attend it (whatever) just through word-of-mouth and more traditional means of advertising. So, anyone who is picking up the phone to sell something, or sending unwanted emails to someone who never opted in on a mailing list for such a thing is probably not getting enough business on the merits of his or her service.

That means — to me anyway — that I already know everything I need to know about a company that cold calls or blasts emails. “No thank you,” is the best answer they’re going to get out of me, if they’re not a company whose reputation has already secured them a great spot on my radar.

Heck, I thought going into casting would keep cold calls about entertainment industry services from coming, but sure enough every time I put out a breakdown, I get a few calls and emails from companies that offer competing or support services for casting directors. They want me to list my breakdown at their website. They want me to force actors to use their service in order for me to be able to view and share the session videos. They want my business (even if it costs me nothing to use their service) because then they can use my name when selling the cost-based part of their service to actors. Nope. No thanks. I’m covered.

And, as an actor, if you’re covered (meaning, you’re happy with your current acting class, demo reel editor, or CD Workshop facility of choice), it’s as simple as a, “No thanks,” for you too.

As for the time-sensitive answer they’re usually pushing, that’s just so you’ll commit to checking them out before you’ve had a chance to Google their company, ask around about their reputation, or do any sort of homework. They figure they’re more likely to sell you their services if you walk through the door and see all of the photos of famous people on the walls and read the glowing testimonials they plaster in their brochures. Don’t fall for it. Take your time. Check ’em out. Do your research. Talk with fellow actors who can share first-hand experiences. And then decide whether you want to take the meeting.

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000889.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.