Posts Tagged ‘voice over business’

The Value Of The Extra Mile

The extra mile is a mark of excellence!  It discloses your level of dedication, your determination to earn repeat business, and your willingness to do whatever it takes to do it right.  It’s a powerful habit and a point of competitive advantage.  It’s the difference between waiting to hear back on the audition to see if you got the gig or receiving unsolicited referrals from people who believe so much in the quality and professionalism of your work that they will put their reputation on the line just to plug you!

The extra mile is revealed through our everyday actions and requires a defined purpose.  Is your purpose to increase the amount of job leads coming in, to land more gigs, to establish yourself as an expert in the industry, or to gain unsolicited referrals?  Whatever it may be, exploring ways in which you can implement going the extra mile is a critical element to your success in achieving your objective.

How much time and effort do you dedicate to marketing yourself?  Are you networking with other voice over talents, creative directors, and influential people in the industry?  Do you refer others? Do you give others a reason to refer you? When you audition or record the job, do you often give the client a variety in the takes to choose from?  What is your reputation in the industry? Do you have a voice over coach?  Are you staying abreast of the latest trends in the industry?  Have you taken an improv class lately?  Do you contribute articles, share tips, or videos on other voice over sites?  These are just a sampling of questions that may help reveal areas in which you may decide to apply the principle of going the extra mile.

Albert Gray, the author of The Common Denominator of Success, states it well, “The secret of success of every man who has ever been successful, lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.” Going the extra mile will take a bit of extra effort; however, even picking just one area to apply the extra mile will help to set you apart from the rest.  It is a daily habit that leads to success.

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When Business Gets Slow, Are You Covered?

What’s your game plan when business gets slow? Are you COVERED?

Compensation is the direct result of habits and stimulating it requires fostering the specific habits of Organization, Vacation, Evaluation, Relation, Education, and Dedication.

Organization is an ongoing task that is often overlooked until we are completely overwhelmed and forced to deal with the ramifications of clutter and procrastination!

Vacation or simply taking the time to relax, rest, and rejuvenate is just as necessary to productivity as long hours spent in the studio recording, editing, and auditioning.

Evaluation and introspection are imperative in honestly assessing business goals and marketing strategies, uncovering opportunities and areas for improvement.

Relation to audiences and clients is vital to building business, as is effective networking with other voice over talents and creative directors.

Education, coaching, and staying abreast of the latest trends in the industry are all critical components of a successful voice over career. No one is ever too good to keep learning!

Dedication is evident in our attitude, in how we approach our business and how we choose to invest in it through self-improvement and in giving back to others in the industry and community.

So go ahead and get your files, books, and financials in order!  Clean your studio!  The mess has been getting to you anyway.   Get that therapeutic hot stone massage that is so long overdue!  Go away for the weekend and just be! Revisit your goals and brainstorm ways to market yourself.

Update your website.  Reconnect with past clients.  Join your local chamber of commerce.  Update your Facebook Fan Page.  Take that improv class or meet some friends at a comedy club.  It’s okay to laugh and study delivery at the same time!

Subscribe to magazines like Adweek, Brandweek, and Variety.  Become an expert on topics in the industry or interview those who are and create an e-newsletter and blog!

Find a way to add value to what you already offer!  Business slowdowns will occur, but I’ve found it’s much better to be COVERED than to lower my head and feel sorry for myself!

Here’s to your success!

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Can You Take The Stress?

Starting a business is one of the most stressful things you can do. It will affect you mentally, physically and emotionally. You need to be strong to deal with this kind of stress, and you need to have someone to turn to for support.

Are You a Survivor?

There are some people who always seem to make it in the end, regardless of what life throws at them. You need to be the kind of person whose response to things going wrong is to work harder and get it fixed, not someone who cries and goes into hiding.
Many entrepreneurs say that this, more than anything, is the secret of success. You need to be a ‘never say die’ kind of person. You need to be always ready to try again, no matter what gets thrown at you. Remember that it’s not when things start to go wrong that you fail – you haven’t failed until you’ve given up.

Be Prepared to Work Hard

If you’ve been doing a standard nine-to-five job, you’re probably used to a world where it’s someone else’s responsibility if the work doesn’t get done – you work as fast as you can for the hours you’re told to, and if it’s not done on time then it’s the manager’s fault for not hiring enough people. When you work on your own, though, there’s no-one to blame – the buck stops where it starts, with you.

Do you have a Start-up Plan?

A Startup Plan is basically the list of everything that must happen to get the business up and running from the initial idea to scouting locations to securing vendors to getting licenses to stocking the shelves to opening the doors to marketing and advertising to managing growth and on and on.

A Startup Plan is not as detailed as a business plan. It is essentially the “to do” list for starting a business, though it is every bit as important as a business plan because the Startup Plan serves as the blueprint for getting the business up and running.

Trying to launch a business without a Startup Plan is like taking a trip along a curvy, mountain road without a map, driving at high speeds, while wearing a blindfold. You will eventually arrive at some destination, but it’s likely to not be the destination you had in mind and your trip will be anything but smooth.

Create you startup plan with a simple spreadsheet and build out from there. Start by simply listing everything that you can think of that must be done to launch the business. Once you have the list break down each task into individual action items, assign each item to a responsible party and set a target completion date. A task without a deadline will not get done.

You Need to Satisfy The Customer.

When you run a home business, you can’t afford to lose any customers. You need to always be nice to them, trying to meet their needs. You have to remember that you’re the most senior person they can talk to in this organization, and you have to act like it – when there’s no-one other than you to handle complaints, you have to either give in to customers at every opportunity or watch them take their business elsewhere.

Do You Really Love Doing Voice Overs?

If you don’t love what you do, then sooner or later you’re going to want to stop doing it – and when you run a home business, that’s difficult. Besides, you can’t run a home business if you’re always sitting and thinking about how great it’ll be when it’s the weekend. The only way to succeed in home business is to be absolutely sure that you really love what you’re doing. If you can think of another job you’d rather have, then you’re in trouble.

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The Different Types Of Voice Over Work

Here are some of the different types of opportunities available to voice talent today.

Commercial: Contrary to popular belief this form of voice over is mostly for voice actors as it generally requires playing a role of a character. Playing a character does not always mean a funny voice it more often than not means playing a role of what may seem as an everyday person, more importantly a believable character. As much as we still hear many commercials with one announcer reading a script in an in your face “buy now” style, the more affective form and most widely used form of commercial is through creative writing and role playing by the voice actor.

Television Promo: This is one form of voice over that many people believe is easy, my theory is that it only looks easy because the people doing it are so good at their job they make it look easy. Reading a TV Promo script can be one of the most challenging forms of voice over as it requires the voice talent to become part of the pre produced promo. What many seem to forget is that TV Promo voice over’s are also selling a product. Whether it is the Prime Time News, a Drama Series or the Late Night Movie the aim of the VO is to make it a “must see”. There is an art to it and out of the select few who have gone on to be the familiar voices we trust on our television sets there is still only a handful who have mastered the art.

Narration: There are so many possibilities that can fall under the banner of Narration. It could be a documentary, corporate or training video, an audio tour guide at a museum or even interactive training with a new software package. One of the wonderful plusses of this type of voice work is that more often than not the clients are looking for someone who can sound pleasant and real while being engaging and understandable. This is not necessarily an easy feat and I will go into more detail about sounding real a little later. Nonetheless there are so many different possibilities and opportunities for this type of work it can sometimes be a great starting point for people.

Audio Book: This is probably the fastest growing industry in the voice over world and there are many voice professionals making a lucrative career out of reading audio books. There is an art to it of course and it can also be dissected into numerous categories. There are people who specialize in reading character driven fiction and there are those who read information driven non fiction and each is an art in itself.

Podcast: Believe it or not many of the podcasts you tune into are presented by hired voices. Quite often the person who has a message to get across and especially those who have a product to promote and sell will hire a voice that will present better than themselves. Like narration this voice will need to be pleasant and real and more importantly they will need to sound like the information is coming directly from them, this is in fact a huge part of voice over and voice acting as a whole and we will go into more detail shortly.

Radio Imaging: We all have favorite radio stations and more often than not we become very familiar with the voices that come on between the music reminding us what station we are listening to… and why. Like TV promo this quite often seems easier than it actually is. Remembering that a large selection of the voices who do these sweepers and station id’s are also the producers of all the fancy effects that go along with them. Radio or voice imaging as it is widely known requires a voice that generally pierces through the music on our radios, sending a clear message without sounding offensive. One of the bonuses of this form of voice over is that there are a multitude of radio stations worldwide and quite often a collection of them are looking for a fresh new sound at one time. If you can become that sound then you can make a nice little income, well at least until the stations decide to reformat again.

Obviously this is not the whole voice over industry but rather it’s an overview of a large chunk of the available work for voice professionals.

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Having the Right Business Mindset

When building the right business infrastructure, you must think strategically or have the right business mindset. Every business decision you make today affects your voice over business today, tomorrow, and in the future – so become a good strategist. A good strategist looks at all facets of their voice over business today in context of where they are trying to go. A good strategist reacts to problems positively instead of negatively. A good strategist also welcomes change and turns it into an opportunity. A good strategist can react quickly with the unexpected.

Here are four examples of having the right business mindset:

1. Having the right business mindset is knowing that the purpose of business is to make money. Sometimes your passion or hobby is just that, but when you grasp onto that passion and acquire a higher level of development, as you will as a member of the Voice Over Club, you will position yourself to acquire a higher level of income.

2. Having the right business mindset means developing your own style. As a member of the Voice Over Club, I will equipped you with all of the tools in which to achieve your destiny or your dreams. However, this is YOUR voice over business, so you need to take time to think, document, research your own style to make you truly unique.

3. Having the right business mindset is understanding strategy and implementing it into your business practices. These days we tend to focus on the day-to-day mundane tasks and deadlines, solving short-term problems, and implementing marketing tactics that aren’t a good fit for our businesses. Strategy concerns itself with what’s ahead, looking at where you’re going and how to get there. Thereby, making you ask the question–”is this task in line with where the company is going and/or where I want it to go?”

4. Having the right business mindset is understanding your emotional ties to your business. Understanding the emotional ties to your business will allow you to break through your personal barriers that prevent you from doing what you say you’re going to do and also doing what you want to do. The next time you get emotional in your business jot down what you’re feeling and what triggered it, this is how you begin to recognize which emotions are keeping you from doing good business.

A good strategist has the right business mindset.

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Am I Ready for the Voice Over Business?

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These days, it seems as though everyone wants to start their own business. Seems easy enough doesn’t it? Come up with a good idea, and the dollars roll right in! …Or do they?

Most people understand that running a business requires business know-how, but most successful business owners also possess some additional skills and qualities that help make running a business easier.

Before you decide to start a business, you might want to think about the qualities you possess, what makes you tick and how that might help you be a more successful business owner. But before you make that big decision, ask yourself these questions:

Am I a self starter? When you have your own business, there’s no boss or manager to tell you what to do and when to do it. To get your business off and running you’ll have to motivate yourself to get things started.

Do I enjoy challenges? Businesses provide constant challenges. If you enjoy a good challenge, it will energize you. If you don’t, you may end up feeling as though you’re engaged in a constant uphill battle.

Am I a creative problem solver? Creative problem solving is a key skill for business owners to possess. One way to hone your creative problem solving skills is to challenge yourself to think “out of the box”. Don’t go for the obvious, think in a different direction than you’re used to, and inhibit standard responses.

What are my strengths and weaknesses? The ability to do this is also invaluable for the business owner. Recognizing what you’re good at and what you’re not will help you decide how to use your time, when to delegate, and when to call in experts or outside professionals for help when needed.

What interests, talents, and skills do I have that will assist me in running my new business? Business owners often have to juggle lots of hats. Inventory the abilities you already possess, and think about all the ways you can use them to grow your business will make the juggling easier.

What skills do I need to learn or brush up on to run my business effectively? Recognize which skills you need to develop in order to run your business most effectively. Identify the ones that are worth investing time into learning, and which ones you might be better off finding outside sources to perform.

Will I be doing work that is meaningful and really interests and excites me? Running a business is a lot of work and effort, and it’s often a long term commitment. It will be more fun and rewarding if it speaks to who you are and the things you hold dear. When we’re engaged in doing something rewarding it helps to motivate you to keep going even when things get tough. Start by getting back in touch with your values and see if there is a synergy between them and the things you’ll be doing in your business. If not, see how you can spin things so that there is.

Who is my competition? Learn everything you can about the others in your field who provide similar products or services to the same ideal customer. This information will be invaluable in learning how to “position” your own business.

What do I offer that the competition doesn’t — what makes my services or product unique? This is the basic premise of any USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and the case you’ll make to your prospective customers to buy your product or service. It’s essential to a compelling marketing plan.

Who are my ideal target customers? Every business needs customers. And the most successful businesses know exactly how to describe who their best customers are, what “pain” they’re feeling and what they need and desire. And don’t forget: one of the most important qualities of an ideal customer is whether they can afford your product or service.

Do I have effective marketing and sales plans? No business can survive without a constant supply of new customers. Develop a compelling USP, values proposition, sound-bite and marketing message; set-up a marketing schedule to get your message out there consistently; and learn how to close deals without using pressure to ensure you’ll have all the customers you need.

Have I established business goals? Setting goals is an important part of any business plan. But setting a goal is only part of the picture. Achieving them is even more important. Learn how to identify which goals are important enough to commit to, and systematically work towards them by breaking them down into steps, establishing timelines, identifying resources needed, and benchmarks for success.

Will I need capital to startup my business? If so, how much? Not all businesses require a lot of start-up money, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that you don’t need any. Be realistic about how much money you’ll need, and how much time it will take until you can draw a salary; so that you give your business idea enough time to grow and flourish.

Have I written a business plan? If I need to raise startup capital, is my plan powerful enough to attract investors? Not all business plans are created equal. Make sure you include all of the sections that investors will look for. Also, make sure that the type of plan you’ve written is appropriate for the amount of money you’re looking for.

What are the things that my business will require that I cannot do myself? Will I have funds to pay for them? Don’t forget to add these important line items to your start-up cost spread sheet.

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