Temp Jobs? Waiting Tables (clich?d - I know)? Bartending at night? Personal Training? It's the eternal question for all of us who have entered the crazy foray into this wonderful world we call the entertainment industry. The simple, unfortunate fact is that the vast majority of actors need some form of alternate/main income to allow us to continue doing that which we so love - act. The latest SAG (Screen Actors Guild) stats that I saw states that its average member's annual income is under $12,480. That's not exactly enough to live on, especially if you are pursuing your dream in New York, or LA. I'm not sure $12,000 will even cover parking in New York. The problem essentially lies in the cold fact that we need to be available for auditions with very little notice. You are usually only given a 1 day notice before an audition, and sometimes it's only hours. I remember a commercial audition I had for Toyota. My agent called me at 4:00pm and asked if I could be in West LA by 6:00pm; and could I have my family be there with me? Well, when you are talking about a national commercial for Toyota for all members of your family, you don't say no. The vast majority of employers are not going to put up with you taking time off on a day's notice, much less a couple hours. So what jobs can you hold that seem to work out (for the most part - as there are times when you WILL be unavailable) for the acting profession?- Waiting Tables: The proverbial job of the aspiring actor. Allows you to work most nights, or fairly easily switch shifts so you can attend auditions.- Bartender: Along the same flexible lines as waiting tables. Majority of work is at night, leaving days free to audition. Of course, those times you might want to be sleeping as well.- Temp Work: Usually you can get temp jobs that only last for a day or two, but the downside is a very unstable stream of income as you could go days or even weeks without being called by the temp agency.- Personal T rainer: Nice, in that you can set your own hours, but you are still in the situation of having to build a client list, and are somewhat handcuffed by when THEY want to train. And auditions could be scheduled anytime from 10:00am to 8:00pm. If you lose your clients, you lose your income.- Outside Sales Rep: This is what I did when I was living in LA. I had been with the company for several years, and not only did I have a number of weeks of banked vacation, but I set my own schedule of what stores I made sales calls to. So when auditions came up, I simply called on the stores as close as possible to the audition location, worked my normal day, had my change of clothes in my truck, went to the audition on my 'lunch', and then back to my sales calls. Although I will admit that some Outside Sales positions don't offer this amount of freedom.- Reciever/Stocker: Many companies such as Lowes and Walmart do their restocking of product shelves at night, this, again, would leave days open for auditions.- Security Guard (Swing Shift): Days open for auditions.- Content Writer: Websites like 'about.com' and others pay for their content. The process is rather involved, but you could go to their website and find out the details. - Self-employed: You could always start you own side business doing something you know or have a skill at: setting tile, handyman, yard work, selling Avon, web design, etc.; anything that will allow you to set your own hours.And to put my money where my mouth is, now that I am living in Northern Nevada and an on-air host for a home shopping network, I am still adding to my income as an Independent Distributor for a company called Send Out Cards (which is another option) which is of two-fold advantage to me as an actor. First is that it allows be to add to my income with just a few hours of work per week. Of course, I am teaming Send Out Cards with my blogging and article writing to even increase this revenue stream. But even better is that, by its very nature, Send Out Cards allows me to mail headshot postcards (hence, my blog, thepostcardingactor.com) to casting directors updating them of my work for only $ .89 per postcard (and that is including the cost of postage - how much did your postcards cost you?). The look of those postcards is only limited by my imagination, and everything is done online. They print it, stamp it, and mail it. AND they have an iPhone app. Good Times!
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