Recently in Voice-Over Category
Bonjour! You may think the movie Julie and Julia is only about Julia Child, Julie Powell, Paris, and cooking. While those are reasons enough to watch this excellent and highly enjoyable movie, you may be surprised to learn that the movie also contains 5 lessons that will benefit voiceover artists:
1) Neither Julia Child nor Julie Powell became cooks and writers simply to make money. Both answered an inner calling and pursued their passions. Both women also had additional income to support them when they started their endeavors.
Many people enter the voice-over industry under the mistaken belief that it is an easy way to make money. They view voice-over like a part-time job at a fast food restaurant, where they have no start-up or ongoing costs and need no particular skills in order to make money. Anyone could come in off the street, fill out an application, and begin work.
As I've written numerous times, voice-over is a business. I wouldn't say it follows the 80/20 rule; it's more like the 95/5 rule -- 95% of your time is spent in activities to develop and enhance your delivery and interpretation skills, market your services, and build client relationships that will enable you to obtain the 5% of the jobs where you actually work as a voice talent.
2) Julie didn't give up her day job. I know this item seems like take two of the same script. However, I added this tip to remind you that there's no shame in having a day job. It can actually enable you to pursue your voiceover dreams.
3) When Julie compared herself to her friends, she felt small, insignificant, and depressed. I know of no quicker way to feel bad than to start comparing myself to other people. The cure for these spiraling negative thoughts is to take charge of your thoughts and words, which should inspire you to take positive action.
Whether you show the finished product to anyone or make any money from it is irrelevant. The point is to feed your passion and exercise your creativity on a regular basis. The more you do what you want to do and enjoy it, the more you become the person you want to be. Also, I've had a couple of occasions where I created something for my own enjoyment and skill practice. I loved the process and ended up using the finished piece as a demo from which I landed new clients.
To me, it means that the energy you put out in the world will come back to you in ways you didn't imagine -- and be better than you could ever dream possible!
5) Julie and Julie exemplify Thoreau's famous quote. Henry David Thoreau wrote this gem, which is as true now as it was in his time:
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams
and endeavors to live the life he has imagined,
he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.
May all your voiceover endeavors bring you joie de vivre!
Yet another person called me today because of a desire to get into voiceover. While I have always endeavored to provide assistance to people considering a voice-over career, several things about this exchange left me feeling more irritated than helpful. Therefore, I want to turn my negative thoughts into some tips to help others approach me and other voice talent in more respectful manner.
1) If you must leave someone a voice mail, tell them the purpose of your call in your message.
2) If you leave a message and must leave the phone immediately, state a good time to return the call.
Today's caller left me a message saying she wanted to talk to me. I called her back a mere 13 minutes later and had to leave a message. In my message, I said she could send me an e-mail to cut down on phone tag. (Phone tag is a HUGE time-waster!) As Murphy could have predicted, I was unavailable when she called the second time. Again, she didn't tell me the purpose of her call. I knew at that point she was either trying to sell me something or wanted to quiz me about becoming a voice talent.
3) Get on-line.
After I told her in my voice mail that she could send me an e-mail, she stated in her second voice mail to me that she didn't really care for e-mail. Since the entire voiceover industry is increasingly on-line, you will quickly be left behind if you don't want to communicate through e-mail. When people send me e-mail expressing interest in working in voiceover, I can respond at my leisure -- requiring less time on my part -- while also offering far more details and links to info than I could give to a prospective voice talent over the phone.
4) Do your own research.
Drew is now working for me in my voiceover business, so I asked him to call her back the second time. He also had to leave a message. (Did I mention that phone tag is a waste of time?) Once they finally were on the phone together, he spent 14 minutes patiently answering this newcomer's various questions, like:
- Since LA and NYC are the big spots for voice-over, can you do it anywhere else? What's the market like in Atlanta? (Drew's answer was the same as mine would be -- are you currently working in voiceover, or are you looking to get started?)
- Who's a good agent? (I mentioned agents on my advice page on my web site. Basically, you need to have appropriate training, a well-produced demo, marketable skills, and probably a number of bookings before an agent will even listen to you.)
- Can you make $50,000 a year? (Yes, but most people starting out don't make that much.)
- Is it possible to make $100,000? Did he know anyone who made that much in voiceover? (Yes, anything is possible. Your earnings are based on a wide number of factors, not the least of which is your audition ratio. A voice talent's real jobs are auditioning and self-marketing to generate work and consequently income.)
- What's the phone number for Nancy Wolfson (after Drew said I had been studying with her)? How much does Nancy charge? (If you want to talk with Nancy or any other voiceover teacher, look them up and contact them personally.)
Drew referred the caller to my advice page, but she said it looked more like a blog. Obviously, she had not read that page, any of the 100 or so articles on my blog, or any other of the millions of pages on-line that could have answered the questions she was asking.
5) Request an informational interview.
If you want to have an informational interview with anyone currently doing a particular job, send a courteous request for an appointment that has a pre-defined amount of time of no more than 15 minutes. Calling a person and expecting them to take time from their busy schedule just to talk with you when it's convenient for you shows a total disregard for their time and business. Don't assume that the person you called can stop their current activity to talk to you.
6) Be prepared with questions.
When I talk to newcomers on the phone, I ask first if they have read my advice page and blog and then whether they have specific questions about the info that I have written. I have a business to run; I don't have time to man the information desk.
A friend called as I was writing this entry. She summed up the underlying reason for my irritation over today's events exceptionally well:
Do you want to make money, or do you want to earn it? People who want to make money are out to get rich quick through any means possible and using anyone they can. People who want to earn money are willing to undergo necessary training, proceed methodically, and persistently perform the necessary business aspects such as marketing and accounting to build a career.
A voiceover career definitely falls in the category where you earn money.
My blog is configured so that I moderate the comments. Otherwise, it would be overloaded with spam comments too ridiculous to repost here. As I was approving comments tonight, I saw this legitimate one attached to the entry titled A Plan to break into voice-over. Even though I usually don't provide career advice on an individual basis, I felt inspired to answer this question as its own entry.
Hi Karen, I took Paul Armbruster's Intro to Voiceover class, been through the various levels of classes with Della Cole and also produced a demo. I met with one agent who told me I needed to get rid of my NY State accent, so I sent to two different "accent reduction" coaches and am now at a standstill. I know I need to market myself but should I redo the entire demo or just have one produced with a couple commercials in my "neutral" voice? Your website and blogs are very informational. (BTW, I am now reading Secrets of Voice-Over Success...) Thanks again! D. J.
"Much of your work in a voice-over career is going to be in managing the business aspects of the job, which starts with your good demo. I recommend that you consult only a few trusted advisors in whom you have confidence; otherwise, you can get too much input and spend too much time perfecting your demo and not enough time marketing it."
Hi Karen, I took Paul Armbruster's Intro to Voiceover class, been through the various levels of classes with Della Cole and also produced a demo. I met with one agent who told me I needed to get rid of my NY State accent, so I sent to two different "accent reduction" coaches and am now at a standstill. I know I need to market myself but should I redo the entire demo or just have one produced with a couple commercials in my "neutral" voice? Your website and blogs are very informational. (BTW, I am now reading Secrets of Voice-Over Success...) Thanks again! D. J.
Several things came to mind as I read this question, and none of them is a short -- or even direct -- answer to the question. First, I can't really answer the question about the demo since I haven't heard it, don't know how old it is, and don't critique demos for other voice talent. In the post I just referenced, I concluded with these comments that definitely apply to D. J.'s situation:
"Much of your work in a voice-over career is going to be in managing the business aspects of the job, which starts with your good demo. I recommend that you consult only a few trusted advisors in whom you have confidence; otherwise, you can get too much input and spend too much time perfecting your demo and not enough time marketing it."
Before asking about re-doing her demo, she wrote: I know I need to market myself but... Here again, I don't know how much marketing she has actually done to know whether her current demo is effective. I refer her back to these entries for some ideas and questions to help her analyze her marketing plan and her demo promotion efforts:
Last week, I read an article by C. J. Hayden, author of my favorite and most highly recommended marketing book GET CLIENTS NOW!, titled What's the Missing Ingredient in Your Marketing? that also may be helpful to D. J. or anyone else struggling with their next step.
Reading between the lines of her message, though, I had a sense that D. J. might feel on some level that her efforts are in the category of "not good enough". That's the point that I really wanted to address today.
I actively listen to both radio and TV commercials, and I encourage you to do the same thing. I often hear commercials with females who have a speech pattern that I find especially irritating to hear. It's that flat, back of the throat kind of sound with words ending on a higher pitch -- it's a dialect I call "upspeak". It reminds me of California Valley Girls of the 80s, especially the way they pronounce words ending in -ER.
It seems that many women in the under-25 crowd have adopted this sound as their own. I suspect they are emulating someone they heard on a TV show because I hear that upspeak dialect even when in the mall or at restaurants. I felt that if I didn't sound like those women, I couldn't be marketable for national ads. Also, the majority call of national ads call for younger voices, so I could think that's 2 strikes against me before I start.
The other big trend I hear is in the 25-35 year old age bracket. These women always seem to have that "crinkle" in their voice -- that little trace of gravel on certain key words. I don't know if it's done intentionally to meet specs calling for "quirky" voices or these women speak that way all of the time.
Whether it's the upspeak dialect or the quirky crinkle texture that a producer wants to hear, I would never book that job. I decided to embrace my own speech patterns after my coach Nancy Wolfson gave me these pearls of wisdom:
- You have to trust that you are ENOUGH. After undergoing voiceover training, you deserve to be there -- at the audition, in the session, on the finished product.
- Don't apologize for anything that you bring to the table.
- If you have an agent who is sending scripts to you, your agent thinks you meet the specs.
If you're concerned about an accent, you can do one of 2 things:
- Work with a speech/dialect coach to reduce it
- Embrace it
Option 1 is certainly viable, and you should be unashamed to pursue it. However, there's also no shame in embracing an accent. In fact, you may be able to garner a lot of work in a regional market.
Training, a great demo, and a marketing plan will only take you so far. To achieve your voice-over dreams, you'll need to set aside the self-doubt and know that you are ENOUGH!
Thanks to all of you who read my voiceover blog and write meaningful comments! I'm always pleased to find real comments from aspiring and professional voice talent sprinkled among the inane drivel like this, which is only posted to be a link to a site unrelated to voice-over:
A few days ago I found your blog and have been reading along quietly. I decided I could leave my opening comment. Im not sure exactly what to write except that Ive loved reading it. Nice site. I shall carry on coming back to this site now and again. I have also grabbed the RSS feed for updates.
For knowledge is limited,
whereas imagination embraces the entire world,
stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.
-- Albert Einstein
Web sites depict a small corner of one's imagination, especially when branding yourself as a voice talent. As a voiceover artist and a person, I continue to evolve, gaining knowledge and skills to be of service to clients, family, and friends, as well as those who are interested in becoming voice actors. My web site and changes in my unique selling proposition (USP) reflect the progress in my evolution. I'm reviewing them here with you in hopes that this post will spark your imagination in your own evolution as a voice talent.
After starting my business in 1999, I quickly realized that a web site would be a necessary means of attracting clients. I designed and maintained the first version of my site. Yes, it is quite colorful, but at least I used a consistent font throughout my web site and on all of my printed materials.
Karen Commins' voiceover web site version 1 (circa 2000-2005) -- snapshot from 12/14/2002
As my voice-over business grew, so did the functionality and information that I wanted to include on my web site. I decided an upgrade was order but didn't have the time to personally develop the site. However, its design was still a production of my imagination. When you rolled your mouse over the microphones next to each menu choice, a little ON AIR graphic appeared above the menu option.
Note that I still use that graphic as the little, custom picture that appears on the address line in your web browser. This picture is generated from a file on my site named favicon.ico. The advantage of the favicon.ico is that it helps your site stand out among your clients' many bookmarks. This article provides a good explanation of the favicon.ico and how you can create one for your site.
Karen Commins' voiceover web site version 2 (circa 2005-2009) - snapshot from 10/18/2009
Like you, I've read all kinds of advice about not including a picture of a microphone on my web site. People in creative industries, especially in advertising, consider microphone pictures on voice talent web sites to be tacky and outdated. While I'm sure that's true, no one ever said that they didn't want to hire me because I had a microphone on my site. Of course, I don't know whether it actually drove people away.
One thing that I do know is that you should choose your USP wisely. My original USP was STAR quality voiceovers performed within your budget! The good news is that this USP attracted clients. The bad news for me was that the USP generally attracted clients who were shopping for voice talent solely on the basis of price. As I wrote in a previous entry, I have so much to offer my clients that competing only on price is not an option.
When I moved to my second web site, I changed my USP as well. At times, I used the line on my site: People don't have time to read. That's why you need me.
However, a USP or tag really needs to be a short, memorable phrase. I later promoted myself with the tag Eloquent voice to enlighten and entertain. (I admit it; I love alliteration!) This tag took the focus off of price and emphasized something about my thought process and speech patterns, but does it really describe my voice? Probably not. Does the tag really need to describe my voice?
I thought about the answer to that question during intense coursework spanning over 2 years with my wonderful coach and branding expert Nancy Wolfson at BrainTracksAudio. I concentrated on learning to analyze patterns in advertising copy so that I could provide bookable and consistent interpretations. Through my lessons with Nancy and her delightful associate, acting coach Jeff Freeman, I also learned once again that other people don't hear us or think of us the way we think of ourselves. My voice is only one part of me, and my branding efforts need to encompass the whole person.
Finally, I finished my coursework and was ready to create a new commercial demo. I stopped marketing my previous commercial demo in September 2007, so reaching this point was particularly exciting to me. On 10 April 2009, I was very excited to walk through the doors at Creative Sound Concepts here in Atlanta. Although I had talked with owner Spencer Herzog through the years, I had not had the opportunity to visit his fabulous studio or work with his great team. I was there in April to record my long-anticipated -- and, might I add, AWESOME! -- new commercial demo under Nancy's direction.
My commercial demo was produced by Rick Santizo at Santisound in Los Angeles. Bill Morrell was my gracious and very capable engineer in Atlanta.
As a technical side note, SourceConnect, rather than ISDN, was used to connect both studios. I had unplugged my ISDN line almost 2 years ago due to lack of use. I haven't had any requests for SourceConnect other than in my demo session. However, I may acquire an account as it seems to be an affordable alternative to ISDN, and it is gaining a larger presence.
With my new demo in hand, the next step was to create an image that would match my voice, style, and personality. Nancy recommended that I work with the very talented Jason Sikes, graphic designer and owner of Village Green Studios in Los Angeles.
Nancy played my demo for Jason and discussed her views of my brand. Leaving my branding image to Nancy's and Jason's imaginations allowed these 2 creative geniuses to develop an amazing new image that represents me on multiple levels!
Karen Commins' current voiceover web site -- version 3 now on-line as of 10/18/2009
This new image is better than I could have imagined! I have not met Nancy or Jason in person, so I was thrilled that they proposed this image. Even more gratifying, some friends had the instant reaction of "Oh, that's so YOU!" :)
In the last year, I've contracted my brand and web domains to my name. The best part of this entire process is that now my commercial demo, my web site, my printed materials, my slate on auditions, my salutations, and my USP work in conjunction with each other and allow me to fully promote myself with consistent branding elements:
- My printed materials like note cards and business cards have the same luscious image. With this design, you know that I'm also planning postcard mailings!
- I slate my auditions with "Greetings from Karen Commins".
- My salutations on e-mails, forum posts, cards and letters is "Greetings" rather than "hello", "hi", etc.
- My USP is now A Vacation for Your Ears.
Being a professional voice talent means that I'm opposed to static, whether it's on the airwaves or in my career. And Einstein was right -- imagining something better in my branding efforts has always stimulated greater progress and my continual evolution, not to mention more clients!
Have you read the Health Care Reform legislation that is currently pending in Congress? I haven't read all of the bills. However, I have narrated 5 segments of the various bills as part of the monumental, volunteer effort by professional voice talent to create audio versions of all of the House and Senate bills on health care reform at HearTheBill.org.
In addition to narrating the bills, I have listened to much of them. Anyone can download the various bills and listen to them like an audiobook. The voice talent who donated time, energy, and talent to this project did so without any political agenda. The aim of the site is enable Americans to make informed decisions about the health care proposals.
As I stated in my profile at HearTheBill.org:
As a voice artist, it's always my goal
to create lasting work that means something to people.
Since this bill has lasting impact to every American,
I am thrilled to join with my fellow voice talent
to create this recording and make
the proposed legislation accessible to all citizens.
HearTheBill founders Kathleen (Kat) Keesling and Diane Havens worked incredible hours on this increasingly massive project to build and maintain the web site, coordinate the activities of dozens of voice talent, develop and update the recording style guide, blitz the press and obtain top-tier national coverage, and narrate multiple segments, all while continuing to perform voiceover work in their own busy professional lives. Since the Senate is still working on a compromise bill, I'm sure Kat and Diane will call on the HearTheBill.org volunteers to quickly narrate the new bill once it is available.
If you're a professional voice talent, you can answer that call with me by volunteering to record a segment of the next bill. Not only is the HearTheBill narration important work that serves a vital community need, but the bills are excellent material for a legal demo reel. Think about it -- only a voice artist could start with dry, legislative copy and breathe life into it so that it actually sounds interesting! To apply, just fill out the volunteer application form on the site, and one of the founders will quickly respond to you.
The preparation time needed for these recordings can be significant depending on the number of pages you undertake, as well as the number and type of references to legislation within those pages. The copy is overflowing with abbreviations for other legislation. In order to make my narration sound flowing, I mark my script each time to spell out all of the legal terms according to the Style Guide.
Here's the list of my recordings to date for this project:
- H.R. 3200 (original House bill) page 600, Line 8 - page 616, Line 11 recording section 35
- Chairman's Mark (original Senate bill) Title I Subtitle F recording section 19
- H.R. 3590 Title IV Subtitle C Sections 4203-4207 recording section 67
- H.R. 3962 Division B Subtitle E Sections 1183-1189 recording section 33B
- H.R. 3962 Division B Sections 1303-1310 recording section 40
Since I recently began including my Twitter entries in my blog, I thought you might enjoy reading this interesting article in the Nashville Business Journal. It highlights the success stories of several businesses in using Twitter to build their brand and their business. Voice talent will find some ideas for implementation in your own marketing plan.
Two weeks ago, the following ad appeared on one of the freelance work sites. While it wasn't on a site aimed solely at voiceover talent, it prompted me to write about the time required for audiobook production.
Since I usually work alone in my stunning soundproof studio, I have to consider my total time commitment when submitting a bid on audiobook work. My rule-of-thumb is that each finished hour of audio requires 4 hours of real time to create: 1.5-2 hours to record and 2 hours to edit. While editing, you must consider the overall story flow when determining tracks, as well as editing pauses for dramatic effect.
Hello. I am looking to turn 14000 word e-books into audio and or video format, this will be ongoing work i know it is a simple process to do and can be done free with max and or various softwares, if you have the knowledge and have done this before please reply this will be ongoing work i will pay $40 per e-book converted into audio. If you have a sample of your work please provide it this will help me make my dicission. [sic]
In reading this ad, I'm not clear what kind of work is actually requested. I'm not even sure the ad's author knows what s/he wants. However, 2 things are immediately evident to me:
- a 14,000-word book is about 1.5 hours of finished audio narration
- $40 is entirely too little pay to even consider narrating this e-book
But Paul's article only tells half the story. What about the editing and production aspects of audiobook work?
If the person who wrote the ad above is expecting a voice talent to narrate his e-book, I can easily estimate that I might need 6 hours in my studio to complete the process. If I divide 6 into 40, I get an hourly rate of $6.66. If that rate looks like a devilish number, consider this point: At this moment, the US federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
Do you really want to do voiceover or audiobook work so much that you're willing to make less than minimum wage?
The example Paul used in his blog is a book that would run about 8.33 hours of finished time. I don't think even the world's most accomplished narrator could record an 8-hour book in 10 hours. Not only might the narrator stumble on words, but other influences can stop the recording, like growling stomachs, external noise, and calls of nature. In addition, the vocal chords grow tired after hours of recording. Furthermore, errors like mispronunciations and incorrect inflections are caught during the editing process that must re-recorded and inserted into the edited material. Using my time commitment formula with Paul's sample book, I would actually expect to spend over 33 hours in my studio to complete the assignment!
Establishing rates is always a concern for voice talent and all freelance professionals. Whether you're quoting rates for audiobooks or some other kind of long-form narration, don't be afraid to set a rate that truly compensates you for your time spent on the project.
PS. Speaking of time commitments, I wrote this article on 15 November but haven't made time to record it. I decided I'd rather post it for you now without the accompanying narration than continue to delay its publication.
--WASHINGTON A. ROEBLING
Washington Roebling's name may not be familiar to you. He's not in the voice-over industry. In fact, he has nothing to do with voice-over or entertainment. However, I recently read about him and his monumental accomplishment, and his quote applies to anyone pursuing a big dream, including a career in voice-over.
You see, Washington Roebling was an engineer -- not just any engineer, but the chief engineer behind the famous Brooklyn Bridge. I recently read David McCullough's fascinating and extremely well-researched novel The Great Bridge, which describes the people, risks, relationships, political environment, and long processes involved to build that bridge. It's the sort of sweeping, satisfying book that I would love to narrate, but these historical books are usually about men and therefore narrated by men in the audiobook. But I digress ...
Part of the story that is so remarkable is that Roebling fell seriously ill and wasn't even on-site during much of the construction, yet he pressed on until the Brooklyn Bridge was completed and his dream realized. With his wife's admirable and steadfast assistance, Roebling wrote such an incredible collection of notes and designs that his assistant engineers were able to complete the work to his specifications without his supervision.
The on-line Merriam-Webster dictionary defines vitality as physical or mental vigor especially when highly developed. I can't agree too much with Roebling's assessment that vitality is necessary to accomplish anything of importance, especially a voice-over career. However, I would also add time to the equation.
Many people jump into voiceovers with the expectation that a lucrative and easy career awaits them. Unlike an engineer, they don't study the landscape or make calculations about the best way to proceed. They may give up before achieving the level of success that they seek.
I have often heard that entertainers and sports stars who are considered to be an overnight success usually have been working diligently and learning their profession for 10 years or more. This passage in John Maxwell's book Put Your Dreams to the Test: 10 Questions that Will Help You See It and Seize It better explains that theory:
Drew and I visited New York City for the July 4th holiday, and we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Although I've seen it many times, I could only fully appreciate its immense size, strength, and beauty while actually standing on it.
The construction process took 14 years, which was 2-3 times longer and at a far greater cost than the original estimate. Had Roebling not maintained his vitality and persevered through unimaginable obstacles over long stretches of time, this masterpiece of American architecture would not be standing.
I thought again about the time and energy needed to complete a dream while we watched Macy's July 4th fireworks on the Hudson River. We were treated to a spectacular 30-minute show, but the tremendous planning and coordination, including the actual fireworks manufacture and testing, must have started as soon as the festivities were finished last year, or perhaps even earlier. I created a short video of some highlights from the fireworks and added music from my royalty-free library. I am posting the video here for your viewing pleasure.
I don't bring up my personal obstacles to gain your sympathy but to point out that vitality is needed to sustain the momentum in my voice-over career while time marches on. You may have noticed that even my blog entries lately required an unusual amount of time and energy to complete. Many days, I have to judge my progress on my voice-over dreams based on incremental forward movement. However, like Roebling and his bridge, I continue to focus on my vision of success, counting my blessings and victories as I go along.
What kind of correlation do you notice between time and energy in pursuing your voice-over goals? I'd love to hear from you with comments on the blog!
Ralph seemed more interested in talking about himself than in finding out about us. We quickly learned that Ralph is an artist who paints geometric designs on large canvases. He handed me his business card, which had a picture of one of his paintings and the verbiage to look for Ralph on Google. I was a bit surprised that Ralph reached for his card to take it back from me when we parted company.
I told Ralph that I love art, and I asked him how long it took him to create a painting. He replied, "that's my secret." Perhaps I was just making conversation, but for all Ralph knew, I was thinking of commissioning him to create a painting for me.
As he talked, Ralph told us that he had sold his art in Beverly Hills galleries; maybe he thought we would be impressed. He then segued into a tale of a sale that made me want to bail on that male. (Sometimes I amuse myself.) A buyer at one of these Beverly Hills shows wanted to buy a painting that he had priced at $1200 and asked him to cut his price to $700. After he agreed to the price cut, the buyer wrote a check. It turned out that the buyer was Paris Hilton's mother, and she planned to give the painting to Paris as a present. Ralph said that if he had known the identity of the buyer, he wouldn't have cut the price.
Five marketing lessons were once again made clear to me that evening when listening to Ralph. Did you catch them?
1) In a service-oriented business and in life overall, you can only be of service to others if you listen more than you talk.
Like Ralph, many people find themselves to be a favorite topic. Whether I'm socializing personally or networking as a professional voice talent, I ask questions of the other person. When you find out about another person, you are forming the foundation of a relationship. Talking about yourself just seems a self-centered way to pass the time.
You'll remember that I had expressed interest in Ralph's art. As an artist and presumably an entrepreneur, Ralph should be open to prospective clients coming from any source. We voice talent also need to be aware that the next job could come from someone to whom we haven't marketed. In fact, I have noticed that when I put energy into a focused marketing plan, the next job comes from someone out of the blue. I believe that whatever you put out into the world comes back to you, and usually it's in a way you didn't expect.
2) Be as open and willing to explain your work to someone who expresses interest.
It was odd to hear Ralph tell me that his time was his secret, and that remark alerted me that I shouldn't ask any other questions about his work. Whenever people ask me about voice-over, I am more than happy to answer their questions. I also think it's important to educate people about the time required for a project so that they will better understand my pricing.
In addition, I am a firm believer in self-promotion, especially in an industry like voice-over, with new entrants every day. Most of my voiceover work has come through self-promotion. As I tweeted on Twitter (you can follow me at Twitter.com/KarenCommins) a few days ago, this quote from W. S. Gilbert sums up my view on self-promotion:
your merits you're bound to enhance;
You must stir it and stump it,
and blow your own trumpet,
or trust me, you haven't a chance.
3) When you hand your business card to someone, you shouldn't expect to get it back.
I read a job hunting book once in which the point was made that every good salesperson always has something to leave behind. In some cases, the only thing you can leave is your business card. The whole reason to have business cards is so that someone can remember you. I carry my cards with me almost everywhere I go; you never know when a conversation about voiceover might occur. I admit I don't have them with me when I'm sitting in a lounge chair on a cruise ship. However, I do have them in my cabin and would follow up with anyone if the situation warranted it.
Since Ralph had a card with him, I would think he would be happy if I kept it. If I had his card, I not only would know his last name, but I'd know how to contact him if I decided I wanted one of his paintings. Ralph may have kept his card but lost a potential sale.
While I'm on the topic of business cards, I thought you might like to see a gallery of business cards from voice talent. Clever marketer and fellow voiceover artist Peter O'Connell recently asked voice talents to send him an image file of their business cards. You can see them on his web site. I'm also posting my current business card on this page.
4) Having your own web site and owning your domain name is becoming increasing important in cementing your identity in your prospects' minds.
While I didn't have Ralph's card for long, I had it long enough to see that he didn't have a web site. His card had the instructions search for Ralph on Google. I did a Google search for "Ralph artist". Since I don't even know Ralph's last name, I don't know which of the 7,180,000 results relate to the guy I met on the ship.
Many voice talent use their profile page from one of the voiceover pay-to-play sites as their web site link. Some kind of personal web site is better than Ralph's, but it is not the most effective strategy for your business. If you want people to remember you and come to you when they need voice talent, why would you market yourself as one of thousands of talent all vying for attention at one site?
I also don't recommend using personal web space from your ISP because it includes the ISP domain name, and the long link name can look like voiceover is your hobby. It's worth the money to own your unique domain name and create your web site. Whether on my business card, my e-mail signature, or anything I distribute to potential and current clients, I include only the link to my own site and my Twitter address.
5) When you cut your price, you are the one who bleeds.
I couldn't believe it when Ralph said he cut his price at a Beverly Hills show. Think about it -- he was standing in one of the most affluent areas in the world, yet he caved and sold his work for almost half of his original price! He immediately regretted cutting his price when he realized that his buyer easily could have afforded something even beyond his original price.
I don't fault his buyer or anyone for asking for a price cut. We all ask that question at some point, especially in a situation where we think the price is negotiable.
Since many people assume that voiceover is no more difficult than talking, buyers of voiceover services perceive our prices to be negotiable and typically ask for a price reduction. In responding to such requests, I'm always reminded of Pork's answer in this scene from Gone With the Wind (as transcribed directly from the screenplay of the movie's final shooting script published in 1989):
Pork: Miss Scarlett, ma'am . . . Ah gotter know how much money hav' you got lef'. In gol'?
Scarlett: Ten dollars. Why?
Pork: Dat won' be ernuff.
Scarlett: What in Heaven's name are you talking about?
Pork: Well, Miss Scarlett, Ah seed dat no-'count white trash Wilkerson dat useter be Marse Gerald's overseer here. he's a reg'lah Yankee now an' he was makin' a brag dat his carpetbagger frien's done run de taxes way up sky-high on Tara.
Scarlett: How much more have we go to pay?
Pork: Ah heerd de tax man say t'ree hun'red dollahs.
Scarlett: Three hundred! Might just as well be three million! But we've got to raise it, that's all!
Pork: Yas'm . . . How?
Scarlett: I'll go ask Mr. Ashley.
Pork: He ain' got no t'ree hun'red dollahs, Miss Scarlett.
Scarlett: I can ask him if I want to, can't I?
Pork: Askin' ain' gittin'.
If you feel tempted to compete solely on price, you might want to read another post-vacation story titled Cruising for a competitive advantage.
Will these lessons from Ralph the artist help you in marketing your voice-over business? I look forward to reading your comments on the blog!
Every cruise ship director hires a variety of performers who must amuse and entertain the passengers. The nightly shows during our sailing on the glorious Norwegian Pearl were particularly enjoyable. We heard pianist Nadia Zaitsev perform some incredibly complex arrangements of Bach, Beatles, Gershwin, and Chopin before tackling a truly thrilling rendition of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. Another night, we watched a guy known as Los Gauchos twirl rope with balls at each end with such terrific speed so that it looked like swirling laser beams encircling him. Okay, it sounds like a lame act, but trust me, this guy was mesmerizing. We watched Professor Watson move effortlessly between solos on fiddle, mandolin, and trumpet in successive songs.
With each performer, I first admired their talent. My second thought was about the enormous number of hours that each must have spent in practice of his or her art in order to perform flawlessly before the audience. As voice talent, we also have the responsibility of practicing before we're in front of an audience, whether that audience is face-to-face, as in a studio session, or virtual in an on-line audition.
During our trip, fellow voiceover artist Terry Daniel wrote an article on his blog about the merits of practice. Terry wisely points out that voice talent have a perpetual need to voice copy out-loud in order to find the best technique and interpretation.
When I'm on vacation, I usually do practice voiceover almost every day. I'll read aloud the ingredients of shampoo bottles (great practice for medical narrations), the ship's daily newsletter (practice for travel narrations), and books (practice for audiobook narration and characterizations). However, I admit that I have been lax sometimes about practicing voiceover while at home.
While many people think that voiceover work is simply talking or reading aloud, the ability to read smoothly out-loud is just the starting point in this career. I always encourage newcomers to read everything out-loud in order to bring some reality to their dream.
As a voice talent gets some paid jobs and starts growing a business, it's easy to forego practice for the sake of practice. We may think we get all the voiceover practice that we need in doing auditions. If you view an audition as part of the job of being a voice talent, though, you can see dedicated practice is necessary before undertaking any auditions.
In addition to Terry's article, I read a couple of other things recently that re-affirm to me the necessity of constant voiceover practice. An editorial in the New York Times reminds me that reading aloud is a very different physical experience than reading silently. Also, comprehension can be measured by a person's skill in reading out loud because "...it reveals far more than whether the reader understands the words. It reveals how far into the words -- and the pattern of the words -- the reader really sees."
1) Your muscles become strong.
2) Your muses conspire to help you realize your intentions.
3) Your mind is focused on a single point, which causes manifestation to occur more quickly.
(Hmmm...maybe that should be 4 Ms!)
Anthony further states that by doing, you will BE.
I can think of no better reason to practice voiceover every day. Toward that end, it's my intention to record this and future blog posts as part of my practice sessions.
Do you practice voice-over? I'd love to get your thoughts on this topic, so please leave a comment on the blog.
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