So You’ve Booked It!
Congrats, you’re a working voice over actor and you’ve booked a gig. Let’s say its a VO for a commercial, and let’s say for the sake of this blog that you booked this 30 second spot on your favorite pay-to-play. Your stoked not just because we are always pleased with every booking, but because it’s actually a rate you deserve. Yippee. So, how do you take this one-off and turn it into a client that keeps coming back over and over again for years?
The Platform Matters
In general, the platform you are on matters! Some pay-to-plays and even many rosters do not allow you direct interaction with the clients. The client belongs to them, not you. Their goal is for the client to come back to their site, to their platform. You, the paying talent, are only a means to that end. Other pay-to-plays, in contrast, let you interact directly with your client. Do your homework and start booking on those sites. Wouldn’t it be great if the next time the client needed you they just came directly to you, and you did not even need to audition? And wouldn’t it be great if that happened over and over with multiple clients? That’s how you build a business!
Bending Over Backwards
So let’s go back to this client that you’ve booked on this pay to play for a commercial that you can interact directly with. Let’s say this job comes in on a Saturday and it’s a “Rush” job. Do you actually have anything else going on? Did you really need to re-shuffle your life to accommodate them? To me, if the client is already paying a nice rate, I would rather dazzle them with my super fast turn-around time and ease of availability than nickel and dime them. After all, how does it make you feel when you are charged extra for every little thing by a service provider? Instead, make it easy for the client to get exactly what they need as soon as they need it. Do an awesome job right away. Do you know what will happen if you do your job well and quickly? The client will be happy.
Building a Relationship
In the course of your email discourse, try to start getting to know your client. You can start with the basics: ask them how they are and share a tidbit about your day or your week. If you live in a different region, chats about the weather can actually be riveting. I happen to be a working mom, so I love bringing that into the fold. Holidays and birthdays are also great ways to get to know people. Studio pets are also a wonderful conversation starter. Then, when you speak next, circle back to what you already know.
Express Grattitude
Every job matters. Clients have a choice when casting and we are lucky to book what we book. An attitude of gratitude goes a long way. At the very least, send a hand-written thank you card. If you have an international client, send a virtual card. Let them know that you appreciate their business and act as if you are part of their team, because you are! Wish them well when presenting the finished audio, and mention your next collaboration. And in thanks. Sometimes, for larger projects, a thank you gift is appropriate. From agents to project managers to video producers to creative directors, it depends who you are working with and what the project was, but I have sent gifts ranging from Starbucks gift cards to chocolate to giant containers of popcorn.
Keep in Touch
Make sure to maintain a relationship with your clients! You already know they like you, they already cast you once! So, don’t lose contact. Sometimes newsletters are great for reminding them that you are still available. More personal quarterly check-ins are, however, extremely important. You can share a tid-bit of wrk that might be relevant to them as well. You can check out their social media and new content and engage and comment on it. It’s really important to be genuine and actually have something to say, but it’s also important to simple stay top of mind. Your voice many not be perfect for every project, but you don’t want to miss out on a casting simply because the client has forgotten that you exist. Be present. Engage. Be the talent they are thrilled to hear from.
But do I really Need it…
When I started my voice over business years ago I had headshots done for my website. While a long time ago people used to say that voice actors did not need to show their face, as the VO industry has continued to evolve and we, as talents, now have to bring in the bulk of our own work, it is on us to run our business like a business. If we want our clients to connect with us, having current pictures is a must. So, about a year back, I was presenting at an online eLearning conference and I was super excited. When they asked for my head shot, I became for cognizant of the fact that the photo no longer resembled me. I was thinner, my hair was shorter, I always wear glasses… the list went on. I decided to take new photos and update them. While my old headshots had been done by a professional, I took the new ones in my booth with an iphone. I loved them and was thrilled.
Sometimes you are blessed with knowing the right people, and knowing Joe Davis and Karin Barth is a blessing indeed! While I am fortunate to have worked with them for years on my website and SEO, I am doubly blessed to call them dear friends and amongst my favorite people in the world. When I have important decisions to make about my business, I trust them not just because of their superior expertise, but because they are truly menches in every sense of the word. I have shared holidays and dinners out with them, they have been to my home and know my family, I share personal details of my private life with them, so when I tell you that I trust their guidance for websites… I
Karin said in order to begin you need to have had some coaching and completed a professional demo. As a voice over coach and video demo producer, I cannot tell you how happy this made me to hear. She shared an anecdote about a woman who wanted to do a website and had no demos. This lady thought she could just record some stuff on her phone. Karin said in this scenario they advice folks new to voiceover to instead invest in coaching and then revisit a website down the road.
About four years ago my world was rocked when Dani States created her amazing tool Voiceoverview. It’s a business tracker with a CRM component. At the time of its inception, Dani was then partners with my dear friend Joe Davis who everyone knows from Voice Actor Websites. That’s how I first heard of it. So, before I go into Voiceoverview’s amazing features and why you should sign up today, I should tell you a few other details.
One of the features I was super excited to learn about was the ability to duplicate a job! I had no idea that if you have another booking with the same client you can do this! Wow, my mind was blown. We talked about favorite features including integration with WavesApp for invoicing, allowing for seamless invoicing and tracking of payments. Dani said that Fresh Books and Quick Books are coming soon! We talked about the year to date and past year comparisons. We also talked about the top ten client feature. Not only can you see you work with your top 10 clients during this year and in years past, but when you click on it you can get a ranked list of all of your clients from all time! We also talked about the reports feature. As a user, you can run reports on any data: contacts, jobs, expenses. You can then export and extract the data. Lastly, we spent some time talking about job reminders settings, and as I go through me notes I realize that I need to log in and reset my own! These job reminders can be set to off, 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days. The features are remarkable and were created by a voice actor for voice actors.
Dani said she is far more motivated since she has this in place. She also has a goal of doing at least 100 auditions per month to continue to bring in new clients, and it helps her track that ratio. She also said that the invoicing feature has been huge for her. I can tell you that Voiceoverview has been a game changer for me too. I am not guessing and as my business trends shift, I understand why and where it is going. It helps me make informed choices about my marketing strategy as well.
