Staying Relevant Off the Algorithm
The Case for Burlesque Newsletters
As a burlesque performer and producer, social media is a large part of my job. I even have the happenstance of most of my day job being social-media-centric as well. I have an arsenal of schedulers, editorial calendars, and profiles available to me. And I am so over it. My amazing agency heads at my day job let me use everything for my freelance ventures (Thanks, Alyssa and Selena!) and I STILL find it exhausting to be diversified across social media. Being a burlesque performer has turned into a full time, remote, virtual social media management job, and has honestly put me off from ever interacting on my personal pages at all. I yearn for the day when that is no longer the case for most of us, but in order to get there, were need to start making some moves.
The Tech-Age-Old Problem
Sex workers1, at large, have been facing the loss of platforms left and right for just about as as long as those platforms have existed, but it was certainly ramped up with the passing of SESTA-FOSTA in 2018. The prospect of scrambling to find a new haven when we inevitably get shuffled off yet another platform is exhausting, and quite frankly, I’m fucking done. I know I am not the only one! But many burlesque performers feel like we are stuck. We all know that we will continue to slog our way through various social media bullshit because we need to stay connected. We need to network. We need to promote. How will we get booked and get butts in seats if we aren’t chronically online?
Enter: Newsletters…
Newsletters have gone through various iterations throughout the years, starting as circulated hardcopy sheets and eventually making their way online through emails, blogs, posts, blah blah blah. I’m going to assume you know what a newsletter is, but do you have one? Yes, I am suggesting the archaic marketing technique of newsletters to burlesque performers as a way to stay relevant outside of social media. Here’s why…
No Algorithm
The “algorithms” employed by social media platforms are confusing, ever changing, and tend to be very whorephobic. It doesn’t matter how much content we are churning out if no one is seeing it when we are shadow banned. Plus, after Instagram revealed that hashtags are actually ineffective, it begs the question wether there even is a way to master the algorithm or if it’s all just dumb luck. Newsletters are straight to the source! If someone is interested and signs up for your newsletter, it ends up right in their inbox! No scrolling required.
Flexibility
Sick of needing to post every day to feel relevant? Me. Fucking. Too. The vat of social media appropriate content I have to post is not bottomless. My motivation to come up with captivating captions is finite. I can only spend so much time scrolling and engaging to get my own engagement up. Newsletters only need to come out every once in a while! Not every day! Only want to send out monthly or even quarterly emails? Sweet. That works. Choose a frequency that works for you and pack that puppy full of as much relevant info as makes sense for the frequency you choose.
Copy/Paste/Update Baby!
You don’t need to start from scratch every time. Once you figure out a newsletter format that you like, just duplicate it and update the needed info. If you wanna switch up the format every so often, amazing. You go get em, Tiger!
Weeds Out the Uninterested
If people aren’t interested in your newsletter, they won’t sign up for it or just unsubscribe. Plain and simple. Unlike on most social media where people will sometimes interact with your content just to tell you that they don’t like it.
The Issues…
Newsletters are not a fool proof system. They are a bandaid for a much bigger problem, but I cannot possibly hold all the answers. I’m just a girl (kinda!) There are still some issues you can run into with newsletters that you should be aware of before committing yourself to creating one.
You’ll still need to “be” on social media…
Womp Womp. I know! But social media is considered to be proof of life in this day and age, so you will likely still need to have an account where people can a.) see you exist and 2.) find the link to sign up for your newsletter. Plus, Facebook events still somehow come in clutch for ticket sales sometimes. Don’t ask me how or why. All I know is every producer I know sells more tickets when they make a Facebook event, even if the event gets no interaction whatsoever. BUT! The pressure will be off for posting all the time. Just make sure you list your preferred method of booking contact in your bio if you won’t be responding to DMs and make your link to subscribe very easy to find!
You still need to choose a platform.
There are so many different methods to choose from. It can be very overwhelming, and not all of the platforms will work for everyone. There’s Mailchimp, Mailerlite, Kit, Substack, Hubspot, Patreon, in-website options, and so many more! And they all have pros and cons! You may be tempted to just BCC your whole email list straight from your email inbox to avoid choosing. Don’t do this. Your email will just go straight into everyone’s spam folder. You will need to choose an actual email marketing platform. Here are a few factors to consider:
Cost: most platforms have a free version, but you’ll have limited access to certain features on the free plan and they will try to get you to upgrade. Some only offer a free version! Don’t pay for a service that is bulkier than what you need. Start with free and work from there.
Website 2-in-1: This can mean two different things.
Some website hosts (like Squarespace, GoDaddy, or Wix) have a built in email marketing option that you can use in one convenient place.
Some email marketing platforms have the ability to also be set up to function as a website. Kit and Substack are the only two that I have any experience with, but I am sure there are more. You sometimes need to dig a little in your research to find out whether or not this is a capability the platform has since email and hosting are usually marketed separately.
Number of emails and subscribers supported: There are a lot of services that only let you send a certain number of emails per month or have a certain number of subscribers depending on what “plan” you are on. Pick one that can accommodate your needs.
Email list segmentation: Do you want to be able to segment your subscribers so you can send tailored content to different portions of them? For instance, my Alabastard Newsletter sends to both performers AND the general public that are subscribed to my page, but my casting calls newsletter only goes to performers who have specifically subscribed to receive those. You can also unsubscribe from my Burlshit Blog without missing out on my monthly updates because I segmented it!2
The dreaded spam and promotion folders: some services have more built in protections than others to make sure your emails don’t get shuffled off into a folder. Newsletters directly from your website built in marketing are notorious for ending up in the Promotions folder. Whatever platform you choose, include something about “be sure to add this email to your contacts and star this email so the newsletter ends up in your main inbox” in your welcome email!
Terms and Conditions: Not all email marketing platforms (or website hosts) are burlesque friendly (we can’t escape it! Ahhhhh!) Make sure that the platform you choose allows the type of content you want to send out. Most show promo related content should be fine on most platforms, but if you are wanting to send some of your more saucy shots or material that would usually get flagged on Meta, you may way to opt straight into a Patreon or something similar that explicitly allows adult content.
Monetization: Do you want to have the option to make money off your newsletter? Not every platform has that option. Some have more fees associated with that than others. Additionally, you’ll need to deal with the terms and conditions of whatever payment processor that platform uses.
This seems like a lot. It is a lot. But there is an option out there for you! I promise! Just be sure you fully research the platforms you are considering so you know what their limitations are.
Whatever you decide, start compiling an email list. You don’t even need an active newsletter to start doing this! Use a spread sheet if you need to. That way, when you are ready to press go, you have a foundation of interested fans/colleagues/subscribers to build off of. If you don’t like the platform you initially go with, you can always switch it up later.
Initially, I just used the built in marketing tools on my Squarespace website. That worked well for a while until I started needing to send more show reminders and casting calls. Then they wanted me to pay even more and that was a no. I ended up going with Substack because it has a built in recommendation system, it’s free, it lets me monetize, there is no cap on the number of subscribers, and I can manage my multiple publications (Denver Burlesque Hub and my sex ed podcast in my civilian life) under one account. Plus, if I ever need to get rid of my standalone website, Substack can serve as a website as well. My newsletters don’t have specifically adult content, so Substack itself has no issue with it. However, I did run into issues with Stripe, the payment processor they use, when I went to go monetize. It’s sorted out, but it was a pain in the ass. Just keep that in mind.
But I digress.
Some other ideas…
Newsletters may not be your thing. That’s fine! Or maybe the idea of leaving social media has made you feral and you need more ideas. These, in my opinion, are necessities if you wish to stay bookable outside of social media.
Create a burlesque specific email: You don’t want your booking inquiries getting buried with your personal ones. Create it and check it often! You can even use it to sign up for other performer’s newsletters *wink wink* And no, it does not need to be Gmail or a “professional” one with your own custom domain. Just make sure it has your performer name in it somewhere. And, I repeat, check it often! None of these other options will work if producers can’t reach you.
Make a website: It doesn’t need to be fancy. Think of it as a digital business card. Just a simple about section and how to get ahold of you are enough to get started. Google sites are free to anyone with a gmail account and have lots of templates if you aren’t wanting to commit the money to a swanky site like Squarespace or Wix, or if you don’t want to get frustrated3 trying to set up a Wordpress site. There are also specifically adult content friendly hosting options you can try!4
Go to Local Burlesque Events: If you have the money, show up to local performances and network. I know we are all passing around the same $20 so use your own discretion on if this works with you and your budget5. You can check Denver Burlesque Hub for upcoming shows whenever it strikes your fancy and your wallet.
Give your burlesque friends a different way to contact you: Burlesque as a job blurs a lot of lines between social time and work time. It can be so tempting to be on socials all the time because that’s where your friends are! Give them a different way to contact you! Phone number. WhatsApp. Discord. Slack. Carrier pigeon. Something!
But what do I know! I just work here.
Let’s Fuck Off!
So, I say we give ourselves just a smidge more sanity and make some moves that let us get back to doing the damn thing we love instead of being in (yes, in) our phones all the time. Start a newsletter. Sign up for a newsletter or five or ten. Throw your phone in the river!6 Don’t let social media be the reason you burn out on this wonderful endeavor you started. Burlesque needs all of you because burlesque is resistance. Burlesque is political. Burlesque is refusing to do things the way we are “supposed” to do them. In that spirit, you can also tell me to go fuck myself because you don’t want to make a newsletter! That’s burlesque, baby!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go scroll on my phone for hours.
There is a whole ass debate on whether burlesque is sex work, but here is the bottom line. Whether YOU believe burlesque is sex work or not, it is still policed with many of the same policies and the burlesque community should spend less time trying to differentiate itself from sex work and more time fighting for the rights of sex workers of all types.
Didn’t know you could selectively tell me to shut the fuck up in your inbox? You can manage your subscriptions to my page here.
I am biased. I hate anything that makes me feel stupid and Wordpress makes me feel stupid.
Many website host providers don’t host adult content on their servers and don’t give specific guidelines of what they consider to be adult content. Read all terms and conditions regarding adult content thoroughly. If you are okay keeping your website a little more PG-13 or playing it fast and loose, you can use any of the hosting sites. If that is not your style, consider opting for one of the adult content specific ones.
Maybe I should have put “use your discretion with what works with your budget” earlier, but I already wrote too much and can’t be fucked with editing more.
Not a real recommendation. Please don’t.