Growing up in Washington, DC, I often watched my grandmother cook meals using a slow cooker. She would place raw meat along with various spices in a large crockpot early in the day to slowly and thoroughly cook meats or a meal. The smell and aroma of the slow cooking released the most incredible aromas that you could almost taste the spicy, simmering meal. While that process works well for making dinner, the process can also be related to running a voiceover business. A good talent spiced with training and marketing can become a great success. But unlike my Grandmother’s meals, a voiceover talent must check and recheck their business to make sure it’s developing correctly and meeting success goals.
Success in voiceovers is not a “set it and let it go” action. As a talent, I recently took the time to review my presence on and offline. Occasional reviews, which I’ve written about and still recommend, helps keep me on track toward my business goals. Anyone interested in being successful in business must take time to do a review. A strong business plan that includes online marketing and interacting must be frequently reviewed. There is no such thing as set and go in voiceovers. Don’t set and forget your business process, perform frequent reviews to keep your voiceover business ‘cooking’ along for the best long-term success.
Let Others Get You Started
We can’t always see what is right in front of us hence the thought of missing the forest for the trees. The best way to start an in-depth review of your voiceover business is to ask other voiceover associates what they think of your web presence and business plan. Also, ask your coaches or a quality voiceover demo producer to listen to your demos to make sure your sound is current and reflects the modern times.
Note and make the corrections that you can afford and are within your budget. For example, you may not be ready for a new demo, but you may want to make sure that your auditions reflect a current sound and a voice that is marketable.
Once others comment on the external, it’s time for you to review the internal: your recording space. Consider the age of your computer, back-up drives, and other items. Note items that are nearing the end of their life span and start to save for equipment upgrades. Such expenses should be a line item in your budget but if not, make it a priority. You don’t want your computer to die on you in the middle of a session. It’s better to update your recording space items early than when it’s too late. It always takes longer than planned to get back to business as usual.
One Consistent Web-presence
Review your social media pages and make sure your imagery, logo, and other information are all consistent. Don’t forget to check online texts as well as link accuracy for your social media sites.
Ingenious Promotion
Many businesses mail holiday cards around the end of the year. Instead, send your clients and contacts casual greetings around New Year’s or Valentine’s Day. Moreover, what could endear you more to your clients as to them receiving a small sweet treat on Valentine’s Day? Give thought to sending Christmas in July cards. Look for ways to make your clients think of you throughout the year.
Make Your Business Public
Commit to reaching out to groups and causes that you have never touched before. As a voice talent, your voice opportunities are endless. As you go about your dealings, remind your dentist, doctor, church members, gym buddies, etc., of your availability to help with any qualifying voice projects they may have. But what about events at the local public schools and local play? Dust off and revamp your voiceover elevator speech to reach those new audiences. Make your elevator speech customer focused.
Voice acting in the 21centry is nothing like it has been in the past. Keep your business moving forward; check your progress often. Remember, in the voiceover business, there’s no “set it and forget it.”
As always, break a lip!