Category: dance

How to maintain a great signal to noise ratio?

Post author By FraGue
Post date 10. December 2020
No Comments on How to maintain a great signal to noise ratio?

When we talk about marketing, one of the things we should be aware of is our Signal/Noise ratio. The metaphor refers to a technical issue from analog radio broadcasts. When you communicate via radio, you have to listen on the same frequency as the sender is broadcasting and vice versa. If you are slightly off the frequency, you hear the broadcast but with a lot of hisses. If you are far away from the frequency you receive either only hiss, aka noise, or another signal (that you are not looking for).

Let’s grab a Dance Espresso over that topic:

What does Signal/Noise ration mean as a metaphor?

In times of social media, we all broadcast continuously with our posts, likes, shares, tweets, and whatever. If we are smart with our marketing strategy, and if we know our goals and artist identity, we aspire to send a lot of signal, while avoiding to add noise. Signal would be everything that aligns with our purposes, the message we want to spread, and the thing we want to be associated with. Noise is everything that has nothing to do with our signal or even distracts from it.

An example: when we want to spread a message about dancing, choreographing, and traveling the world, everything that is about our dancing and seeing exciting places works as a signal. But posting our daily coffee is a distraction, as are videos from our cats. Those two would be adding noise.

Who defines what noise is?

You do. Only you decide what it is that you want to “broadcast” to the world. It’s not essential what you send out if you only have a private channel and want to connect with friends. But as soon as your social media channels are part of your business, defining and sticking to your signal matters. It’s part of your promise to the world.

How much noise is fine?

Again, that is a question that only you can answer. It depends heavily on what strategy you have to connect with your followers. Noise is everywhere on the frequency spectrum, so it might help you to reach people you might not reach without it. But noise also waters down the value of your broadcast for everyone who is looking for your signal. As a rule of thumb: When you want to be perceived as an expert in your field and it is a niche, keep the noise level low. If you want to reach a broad audience, the noise percentage can be higher. If it’s not possible to differentiate between signal and noise, the noise is too high.

When I released my first book Dance Smart, I dived a little bit more into marketing and therefore stumbled upon this topic. While I am did a pretty good job with my Signal/Noise ratio on the blog, my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Signal/Noise ratios sucked. I gradually improved that over 2020 but I am still not there

Tags marketing, metaphor

business

How brutal honesty improves your artistic growth

Post author By FraGue
Post date 10. December 2020
No Comments on How brutal honesty improves your artistic growth

Brutal honesty sounds like an evil thing. But in reality, it is a state of mind that will calibrate your expectations and help you to plan your next steps more accurate, which will lead to faster growth in your art, business and character.

Unrealistic self-talk is sabotage

Sadly, I know too many people who have an unrealistic image of their capabilities and skills. This issue goes both ways and is rarely a matter of the wrong point of view. We have those who think they are really good or even exceptional at something, while barely scratching the surface. On the other hand, some people don’t trust their skills enough and put themselves down while doing outstanding work.

Both of these extremes are unhealthy for the development of your craft and character. Being able to execute ten footwork steps with two different rhythms does not make one good at footwork. It means you should invest more time into it, to make it out of beginner territory. And doubting your performance abilities, when your dance reaches strangers emotionally is stupid as well. If you can do that, develop it further and be proud that you can have such an impact on stage.

Brutal honesty only hurts in the short-term

When you are honest with yourself and admit weaknesses, you can build a path of action based on a realistic starting point. This will lead to much faster results, than plotting your journey from a moment you did not even reach yet.

You might feel uncomfortable by accepting that you are not as advanced as you are in a particular field. Still, the immediate improvement of your onwards journey, due to realistic expectations, will make up for it and bring you to a much brighter place in the long game.

Also, you decide how harsh or gentle your self-talk is. Honesty is not related to the tone of voice you apply.

photo: Tomas Kirvėla via Scopio

Brutal honesty is not the enemy of affirmations or self-motivation

When you are realistic about your situation, there is nothing wrong in positive self-talk and affirming yourself that you can achieve something. The step from self-delusion to trying to motivate yourself to do better is in knowing your current situation. Affirmations should help yourself to believe you can achieve something, not to cloud your judgment.

Brutal honesty with others

When we talk to others, the case is similar. If we genuinely care about someone, we should not add to their delusion. In the long term, we do them a much bigger favour, if we tell them the truth and help them grow instead of reassuring them in a wrong image of their selves.

Considering we know these people well, we can tune the tone of our words to their emotional state and give nice suggestions instead of harsh critique.

Tags growth

blog business

How to properly research a topic

Post author By FraGue
Post date 6. December 2020
12 Comments on How to properly research a topic

Photo by Linus Strandholm on Scopio

Research is an essential component in most contemporary works of art and also in a lot of jobs that aren’t related to art at all. The opinions what research is and how to research appropriately vary by great lengths. This is my point of view on this topic.

Not all research is equal

Depending on your project, your requirements for research will differ. In a scientific paper, you will need to quote all sources, verify their credibility and do so as well for the sources of your sources, if you want to be taken seriously. When you research for an artistic project like a stage piece, it might be sufficient to find opinions instead of facts, so the need for verification of every source might not be needed.

If your art wanders into the fields of political activism (which is indeed often the case and the premise for the core of this article), you better dig deep and make sure that you are telling the truth or you risk to lose all credibility when it easy to debunk your claims. People tend to not believe people again, once they could find a lie themselves.

Tools of research

Access to information via the internet seems to make research much easier than ever before. This is partially true. It is easier than ever before to find info about every topic, but the quality of that information is not as reliable as it was in a time when putting out information was harder to do.

Nevertheless, our research usually starts online. Google the topic. Make your search specific and not generic. If you consider censorship and filter-bubbles as an issue (you should) do the same search with another search engine (like duckduckgo) that is not based on Google.
Search social networks, discussion forums, community pages and specialized sites for info on the topic. Don’t stop after checking Facebook and Youtube. These two platforms are owned by the biggest corporations that earn money, with your data and preferences. They cater strongly to what they think you want to read. Specific discussion forums and alternative networks that don’t earn money with your data should be your preferred sources online. Examples would be reddit or the social network minds. Which platforms you go to depends on the topics you search for. I already wrote about alternative social media platforms, if you want to dig deeper into that topic.
Check out documentaries about the topic.
During steps 1 – 3, you hopefully picked up some names of experts for your topic. Grab their books from the library if they published something, check their blog, social media and whatever is available. If possible, get in contact and talk or write with them.
If they reference others in their work, repeat the steps above with those people as well. This can be a time-consuming loop until you really get to the point when you find the source of something.

Your resarch should also lead you to the library, not only to your laptop.
Photo by Aleksey Popov on Scopio.

Golden rules

Don’t prefer one opinion over the other, just because it suits your point of view. Check all theories with the same enthusiasm and depth of research, until you debunk or confirm them.
The fewer sources you have, the less reliable your information.
The farther away your sources are from the origin of the information, the less reliable your info.
Spreading false information will hurt your reputation.
So will sharing misleading information.
If you consider your topics to be the target of censorship and your primary sources are platforms that use algorithms to decide what they show you, you are doing it wrong.

In the end, research always comes down to asking the right questions. Only you can know what these questions should. Be honest to yourself and invest enough time to come up with everything important to your project.

Tags activism, business

blog dance espresso

Social media is not the problem

Post author By FraGue
Post date 4. December 2020
1 Comment on Social media is not the problem

Often we tend to feel that social media is keeping us from doing more important or more productive things. But saying social media is the problem is a serious misinterpretation of the case.

If we hang out online instead of doing stuff we want to do – the problem are our priorities. Because we just don’t want it enough. Facebook and friends can be ignored if we really have something to do.

via GIPHY

Recently I made a Dance Espresso about that topic. Bottom-line: we need to be the master of our digital life or we will become it’s slave.

Tags rant

dance espresso

But you are not a pro!

Sometimes people use really stupid things to try and diss each other, like the phrase “but you are not a pro.” It is absolutely beyond me, how anyone could think this is a clever way to diss somebody. Check it out in the new Dance Espresso.

Reasons why “but you are not a pro” is absolutely bonkers

Being a pro is not related to your level on the dance floor but comes down to a lot of other skills too
Not becoming a pro can be a smart decision for a lot of people who want to keep their passion pure and not connected to the need for making money
Dissing somebody for his job choices should not be a thing at all. Don’t we have better stuff to do? I think, we have.

Tags dance espresso, rant

dance espresso

How to give proper feedback and who not to ask

Post author By FraGue
Post date 19. November 2020
No Comments on How to give proper feedback and who not to ask

This is a follow-up to the previous episode of Dance Espresso. Chris Cross and Parrish had good comments about feedback and how to give feedback properly.

If asked, offer valuable feedback

When somebody approaches you and asks for your opinion “It was nice” is not an appropriate answer. At least not, if you care for the person that is asking. If you genuinely care for the person, tell them what you liked, what you disliked, and what you would change. If you are capable of doing so, tell them the reasons for it.

Offering this detailed response, you give them something to work with, which will help them to grow in their craft. There is a particular trend that goes hand in hand with the nonsense called political correctness, where people don’t offer any critique to spare the artist a negative emotional response. While most consider that being nice, it is irresponsible to value the short-term comfort of the artist over long-term growth. If you care, be honest.

Don’t even bother asking the wrong people

Please don’t waste your time, getting feedback from people who do what I mentioned above. You know who in your circle is never giving negative feedback. That is either because they love everything, or are not used to speak their mind to share something real, because they are too worried about your feelings.

Let me ask for feedback

Let me know if you dig Dance Espresso. What would you do different? Where do you see room for improvement? What topics do you want to see next? There is a long list of topics I can cover, but I think running this more like an open exchange, would be much more fun. Feel free to drop a comment or reach out via email or dm.

Tags dance espresso, rant

dance espresso

4 important things to consider when receiving feedback

Post author By FraGue
Post date 17. November 2020
1 Comment on 4 important things to consider when receiving feedback

Photo by Germain Matviuk via Scop.io

As we talked about showing our art to the world, the next inevitable step in the chain is receiving feedback. Sometimes because we ask for it, sometimes because people want to share their thoughts. Getting other people’s thoughts about our work is probably the best way to learn about things and improve what we do. Here are 4 crucial things to understand when listening to feedback, in Dance Espresso episode 4.

Don’t confuse the messenger for the message

We should be able to separate our personal feelings for the persons who feedback from what they are saying. Being likable does not make one’s opinion more valuable or right. More often than not, the most valuable input comes from people who don’t sugarcoat what they have to say. Try to give every opinion the same amount of thought from your side, no matter whose it is. And please, don’t get upset without listening.

Don’t take fighting advice from people who never stood in the arena

Try to get feedback from people who have experience in what you are doing. When we talk about dance, get your input from dancers, choreographers, producers, directors, or dance curators, producers. Everybody is quick to judge art. When applying this feedback, you should be aware of the audience you are creating for. If you want to reach the masses, listening to a lot of amateur feedback will help, but if you want to grow in your work, it might be a better idea to reach out to fellow artists.

Immediate reactions vs. well-considered feedback

The third point also depends on what feedback you are looking for. Today it is prevalent to present something and ask for feedback immediately. This practice gives you the first impression of the people, which can be what you are looking for. If you are doing a piece of work that is intricate and needs time to unfold in the viewer’s mind, giving them time is the better thing to do as the material needs to germinate to have its full impact. The more simple the matter, the less important it is to give people time to think about it.

A business sidenote: when you present a complex issue or solution with many implications, don’t pressure your colleagues into quick feedback without having the time to think it through.

Sort out some feedback

In the end, we are talking about your work. It is about your style, your view of the world, and your way of doing things. When a response makes no sense for you, goes against what you are trying to achieve, or simply is stupid. Please ignore it.

Tags dance espresso, production

blog dance espresso

Why perfect is not the point in art

Post author By FraGue
Post date 13. November 2020
1 Comment on Why perfect is not the point in art

Artwork by FraGue Moser-Kindler with Leonardo.ai in October 2023

Dance Espresso episode 3 is out: this time it is about not showing your work, because it is not yet perfect. But being perfect is not the point.

Art is subjective: it will never be perfect for everyone. On the other hand, it will probably always be perfect for someone.
Not showing your work slows down your creative process
It also breaks the cycle of getting work done: create, publish, receive feedback, repeat.

dance espresso documentation

Make it easy for fans to support you online

Post author By FraGue
Post date 11. November 2020
No Comments on Make it easy for fans to support you online

Photo by Carmen Ramon Cami via Scop.io

In episode #2 of Dance Espresso, I talk about the necessity to make it easy for fans to support our work online. People are eager to support, but they are used to easy means to an end.

How to make it easy for people to support you online?

Have your art and services available online to purchase?
If you teach, have some of your classes online. It’s Covid-safe and you can reach people that live abroad who would not be able to join regular classes.
If you want to accept donations, have Paypal, Ko-Fi, Patreon or something similar (if you prefer, let it be onlyfans.com) set up to receive them.

Tags dance espresso

dance espresso documentation

Dance Espresso episode 1

I launched a new Instagram series called Dance Espresso. It is an ultra-short video format where I present ideas, concepts or methods that should inspire growth in your personal dance, dance business or another artistic journey.

I try to keep every episode as short as possible as it forces me to get straight to the point and practise my skills in communicating clearly. The idea is to give it the vibe of a short chat while grabbing an Espresso at the cafe of your choice.

For now, check out episode 1 below:

Tags dance espresso