People

There is a secret sauce recipe in this post at Adam Creighton’s blog that, if you follow these directions, will have a startlingly beneficial effect on your voiceover career.

Now, keep in mind that Adam is writing from the point of view of an actor pursuing on-camera work as well as voiceover work. In the case of someone (like me) who only does voiceover work, the comments about a headshot don’t really apply. But, preparing a personal “thank you” card for each of your auditions…brilliant. Having your own business cards? Pretty obvious, don’t you think? (Note to self: get the business cards done!)

The key point, about expressing gratitude for the opportunities you receive…is vitally important. I thought this was the best bit of the whole post…

I’ve heard people say, “I didn’t send a card, because I sucked at the audition.”

Get over yourself! Send a thank you card, and acknowledge the person for taking out of their day to spend with you. You’re sucking didn’t make their sacrifice any less.

A simple expression of gratitude. You’ll see. It will make a world-changing difference in your life.

Doc Phillips has a number of valuable and useful articles on his site. I think one of the best is called “If you can’t take the criticism, DON’T ask for it!”
Here are a couple of key points…

Don’t make the mistake of asking your significant other, best buddy, grandma or bartender. I guarantee they will be inclined to praise your talent(s). Why? Because they care about you and don’t want to hurt your feelings. There’s another very good reason. They don’t do your work.

NEVER argue with your mentor concerning their critique of your work. NEVER attempt to defend why you read a line this way, or why you chose this entrance over that entrance. Instead, thank them for taking their time to help you. Also, take from the critique what you can use – then, chuck the rest!

Good thoughts from a talented man. Doc’s site is here. You’ll find more valuable articles from Doc here.

Posted today on the VO-BB by Mr. Banks, in response to the one year anniversary of working in the voiceover business by one of our colleagues were these 16 years of lessons learned…as he put it, “from an elderly and frail man a few random thoughts.”

1990 – No matter what you believe there is nothing better than speaking to the decision makers and getting your demo in front of them.

1991 – Keep looking for those elusive new clients and keep your existing clients happy.

1992 – Aim high as the person you know will say “No” may surprise you and say “yes.”

1993 – Get to know the people who work alongside your clients and producers as most will be the clients of the future. Get to know them, DON’T network them.

1994 – Don’t work for nothing, but be prepared to make a loss, as in the long term the loss will prove to have been an investment.

1995 – Steer clear of the gossips, moaners and negs. You believe you are able to rise above them, but in truth you will catch yourself stooping to their level and one day you’ll moan about the wrong person to the wrong person.

1996 – When someone gives you a tip it’s usually because they’ve been given a better one. Good or bad, always say thank you and never say “I knew that” even if you did.

1997 – Do the jobs you hate doing as often as possible. Master those and when the jobs you love come along your star will shine brightly.

1998 – Don’t become a Voice Over bore, most people really don’t care. To be interesting one first must become interested.

1999 – Wise up to the users. Introduce the word “No” into your vocabulary and learn to use it without malice, vitriol or bitterness.

2000 – Let people know you are open to offers, work is work. The reason you aren’t being asked could be because people think you are not interested.

2001 – Embrace change but don’t follow the pack. Get better at making what works for you WORK BETTER.

2002 – Are you kidding yourself that one market makes you money or is it just taking more of your time than the profitable jobs? If you think something is not worth the effort you’re probably right –- Fortune really does favour the brave.

2003 – Life 1st, Voice Over work 2nd. For some strange reason if you concentrate on the 1st you get more of the 2nd.

2004 – Don’t send wine by the bottle, send it by the case. Most of the people for whom you work do not earn $300 per hour. A “Thank you” package can really make someone’s day.

2005 – Set yourself goals and stick to them. If the goals don’t make you think “I’m not sure if I’ll …..” they’re too low.

2006 – If you want to play, enjoy. If you want to get somewhere as a Voice Over you have to earn the right to play and it takes serious commitment. Be nice, be approachable, be easy to work with, be honest even when tempted to do otherwise. It’s worth bearing mind that people don’t have to like you, they have to hire you.

2007 – To anyone who got this far. May yours be happy, healthy, peaceful, prosperous and full of dreams come true.

It’s important to be prepared when opportunity knocks…prepared as one can be for the completely unexpected. But, David Houston points out in an excellent post at his blog, you can turn the tables on opportunity. Read. Apply. Repeat.

I hope that’s not your goal when you’re in a social situation. But as Karen Commins points out in a blog post here, it’s actually pretty easy to do.
Along with her story, she makes some sage observations that you might want to remember. Read the whole thing.

A little earlier today I was thinking back on some of the lessons I learned at the 11th International Radio Creative and Production Summit in August of 2006. (Search on the word summit here and you’ll find my reports not only from 2006, but also 2005; and references to experiences from earlier years.)
Anyway, I realized that I hadn’t given sufficient thought to some things I learned from Harlan Hogan in his session. This relates to Harlan’s fundamental approach to the business part of this voiceover business. He said…

Keep your current clients, expand the work from those clients and get new clients.

Simple, isn’t it? Actually doing these three simple things, that’s what separates the professionals from the pretenders.
And while I’m writing about Harlan, check out this interesting article about him. It’s well worth your time. (And while you’re at his site, check out the other interviews and articles about Harlan, here.
One, actually two more things. I have and high recommend both of these books from Harlan Hogan. The Voice Actor’s Guide to Home Recording and VO: Tales and Techniques of a Voice-Over Actor.

If you keep your eyes and ears open and your mind active, you can find lessons for your voiceover career in all kinds of places. Karen Commins, for instance, was on vacation in Egypt recently. The day she and her husand spent at the Great Pyramids turned out to be full of lessons, as she relates brilliantly in this post at her blog.
Here are a couple of key points.

In this setting of vendors barking their prices at us as we passed them, my marketing mind couldn’t help but think: How does a person selling a product that is the same or similar to his competitors distinguish himself in a saturated marketplace?

Karen has 10 observations in response to that question. Every one is well worth your time, but I want to be sure to highlight observation #3…

If you give away something for free, you can’t have any expectation of getting anything in return.

And observation #6…

Just because everybody else in your sandbox is charging low prices and negotiating price cuts with every new prospect doesn’t mean that you have to follow the trend.

As I said, it’s an excellent article. Read the whole thing.
And my thanks to Mary for reminding me to look at Karen’s post again.

Karen Commins is a talented lady who lives and does her voiceover work from her studio near Atlanta, Georgia. (Listen to her demos here. You’ll see what I mean. Talented.)
Recently Karen posted some thoughts on her blog about providing excellent service to our voiceover clients that really resonates with my own point of view.

I strive to ensure that every client is totally delighted with the work I perform.

Like Karen, I want to leave every client completely delighted with my work. And as she points out, sometimes that’s more difficult than others…

Delays are an inescapable fact of life. Have you thought about safeguards so that you don’t cause a delay?
Your contingency planning for delays and other unavoidable problems can be your saving grace in the eyes of your client.
What will you do if your Internet connection suddenly goes down, and you can’t deliver your recordings when you promised? Do you have some sort of back-up delivery method?

These are really important questions. I have two back-up plans for delivery, and two back-ups for those back-ups. If you haven’t thought about the answers to these questions, I hope you will. (I’ve had to use one of my back-up plans twice in the last year.)
Another question Karen asks is…

What do you do when a client contacts you and needs a recording that you can’t produce in the time allotted because you are ill, on vacation or swamped with other projects?

About 3 months ago, I was the recipient of a job for exactly this reason. A good friend was so busy he couldn’t take a specific job. The friend recommend the producer contact me. I did the job. The producer was happy with my work. Everyone wins. And you can be sure that friend is at the top of my list of people to recommend if the situation is ever reversed.
I commend Karen’s entire article to you. It’s well worth your time to read. It’s even more worth your time to formulate answers to her questions, and even to try to come up with a few more of your own.