We recently connected with Mark Andrew Swan and have shared our conversation below.
Mark, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Like many, 2019 was a year of drastic transformation for me. I was in a stable office job after ten years of working my way up through the company. I was making good money and reasonable hours. I was effectively miserable. I disliked my bosses and my work environment. I didn’t believe in the company’s philosophy, nor did I appreciate its penny-pinching or the way it treated its employees. I desperately wanted out but felt stuck, as many do, because of the security the job offered.
Luckily, the money allowed for me to finally go to trade school where I got a certificate in broadcasting. My original idea was to moonlight in the TV and radio world while I kept making good money at my day job. The idea of leaving this soul-sucking office job showed me a light at the end of a decade-long tunnel.
Then, 2019 happened, and we all know what that was like. With the job market essentially dried up, I lost all of my potential radio and TV job connections. My office job was all but dissolved, with management going into crisis mode. My hours were quartered and I was asked to completely change my responsibilities and working hours.
That was enough, I decided. With nothing but uncertainty to look forward to, I decided that I would attempt to freelance, using video and audio production skills I learned in school. I reached out to the many friends I made as a musician to see if anyone needed help with video editing and broadcast production. It was the best gamble I ever made, as I was able to create some incredible Covid-era art for some great entertainers.
With my new freelance schedule, I finally had time to complete a major life goal. I sat down and penned my very first novel, Death and Human Resources. I was able to use my frustrations from my previous corporate life and turn them into the art I had always wanted to make.
I would have never become the person I wanted to be if I hadn’t taken risks. I would still be miserable, overworked, and wanting for a different life.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The “Mark Andrew Swan” brand is a nebulous one as I find myself providing any relevant skills to entertainers who want to use exciting media to promote themselves. I use “Producer” as a blanket term to describe myself because it is too cumbersome to say I do pre-production, script and copywriting, talent-hiring, storyboarding, filming, directing, editing, audio-recording, promotion, special effects, consulting, etc… and in general, I find my professional role as one who fills in holes where they’re needed.
I started my life in media as the lead singer for Denver ska and punk band, The A-OKs where I found myself handling a lot of the social media and promotion. When it comes to promoting independent music, your budget is usually thinner than a shoestring, and so I taught myself how to make interesting and engaging material using little to no money at all. I look back at a lot of my old promo videos and cringe, but I still appreciate that I was able to engage a lot of people without putting an even larger hole in my pocket.
It is through those learned philosophies, and through those experiences as a broke punk kid, that I mold my services to others. I think new and young entertainers are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to breaking into the music and entertainment industries. My hope is to assist people in making quality media for reasonable prices. I believe you can use creativity in lieu of a big budget to make something that catches the attention of audiences.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Always praise quality work, and praise improving work even more. Never scold mistakes, instead use them as enthusiastic learning opportunities. Lead with love for the project, regardless of what it is. Treat every person under your leadership like you want them to replace you some day; that means teach them EVERYTHING you know, encourage them to try out their ideas, and praise them when they solve problems that you can’t.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media is a monster these days. I don’t just mean that it’s big, but it’s scary and it doesn’t want to be your friend.
Social media promotion campaigns actively antagonize new and independent creators. You are a blip in the algorithm, and only the promise of significant capital can make your blip slightly bigger. Paying for ad space on sites like Facebook is paying only for the *potential* for engagement. Sometimes, shelling out a hundred bucks for a week’s worth of that *potential* isn’t worth it at all.
Keeping up on every platform, FB, Elon’s burning Twitter, TikTok, LiveJournal, is exhausting. People will tell you that you have to keep cranking out content to get noticed but A: that isn’t always the case, and B: if it’s crap content made from desperation, it’s not worth making any way.
SM, SEO, SOS, all manner of social media abbreviations are important, if not essential to getting your name out these days, but many folks out there ignore or refuse to plant the seeds of offline, person-to-person engagement. Print flyers and business cards, go to events, HOST events! Meet people face to face, because then you’re more than an easily discarded, digital presence.
Oh yeah, BE AUTHENTIC AND CREATIVE.
Contact Info:
- Website: markandrewswan.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mark_andrew_swan/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-swan-a7b262186
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@markswan5374
- Other: DEATHANDHUMANRESOURCES.COM