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What Values Do You express in Your VO Business?

November 21, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

The Choices You Have As A Business Owner

As a professional voice over actor, we have the glory of being the queen of our own kingdom! And as we get to make all the calls on how we run our small business, we have the luxury of deciding which of our values we reflect in the way that we choose to run our business. As solopreneurs, our choices and the we treat others gives our clients a glimpse into who we are and what matters to us. Therefore, it behooves is to put a lot of choice into all of these decisions. For me, I focus on several core values in my daily business practices:

Treat Everyone the Same

Treat everyone the sameI consider the is to be the “Golden Rule” of voiceover! Whether a job is worth $200 or $2000, I treat every single client the same. If a new student books a single lesson or a five pack, they too are treated equally. First, I truly cherish each and every booking. Whether as a talent or as a voiceover coach, folks have a choice of who to work with. When casting, there are many who do what I do. Whether it is the conversational, millennial sound that I provide, or the fast turnaround, I am aware that I am not the only shop in town. Next, in terms of coaches, there are many wonderful VO coaches. Depending on your needs and what style you respond to, different coaches are better for different people. Again, I am aware that everyone has a choice. So, I treat every single booking as if it is my most important booking.

Value Others’ Time

Value timeOne of my values is respect of everyone’s time. In the last year, I made a shift to using Calendly to book meetings and sessions. Automating bookings has been a huge improvement not just to my quality of life, but is also a giant nod of respect to my own time. There is no longer a repeated back and forth just ti schedule a 20 minute introductory zoom. Or when a student needs to book a session they have paid for, I no longer waste their time waiting for me to confirm a booking. It all happens seamlessly, which benefits everyone. Another way that I try to be respectful of everyone’s time, whether it is in a Clubhouse or a live session, is that I always am mindful of how much time has been booked. If an hour has been allotted, I try to work within the hour, and not run over. I always keep in mind everyone has a schedule.

Don’t be Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

The big pictureTry to be giving when you work with clients. Don’t nickel and dime them, try to think of the big picture. When you go out to eat, and you ask for extra of something, how do you feel when the waitress immediately snaps about extra charges? Even if there are extra fees, there are pleasant way to introduce them, and then there is a tone that makes you seem like an anxious money grubber. Recently the traversing rod in my bedroom broke. I had to reach out to the local upholstery man, John, who had made them to come back and repair them. I had no idea how much he was going to charge and I had to call him repeatedly to beg him to do the work. I was worried that with each pleading call the price would go up. Instead, when he came to do the work, he charged me less than I expected. In this scenario, I was delighted by the quality of his work, his turnaround, and hsi fair price. This is how I want clients to feel every time they work with me.

Be a Mensch

Be a MenschMake it easy for clients to get what they need. Once you have a booking, turn that booking into a repeat client by making it is easy as possible for your customer to get exactly what they need by being genuinely helpful and kind. For example, I happen to have a lot of international clients. Often, the scripts were clearly not written by a native English speaker, and they need revision. I offer Copy Writing. If the changes are minimal, I do not charge. If the changes are quite involved, I send a helpful and caring note and suggest my usual hourly rate for this before I move forward.

It’s YOUR business, so at the end of the day you make the call on what feels right to you. Each interaction, each conversation, each policy reflects your values. Think about what you want to reveal and how you want to make clients feel as your work together.

Filed Under: Business Management, Voiceover Tagged With: automated booking, business values, calendly, copy writing, Golden Rule, sessions, talent, values, VO, VO Business, voice over, voice over business, voice over coach, voiceover, voiceover talent

The Radio Imaging Panel At OneVoice Conference USA

July 5, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

Why I wanted to Do It

Laura Schreiber Female Voice Over Talent Inner HeadshotSo if you asked me when I got into voice over what I dreamt of doing, I would have told you that “I want to be a Disney princess,”or “I hope to book a target commercial.” Never did I utter the words, “I want to do radio imaging.” Why? Because I had no idea that this genre of voice over even existed, or what it meant to be a female radio imaging voice for a station. I actually attended a GVAA webinar that J. Michael Collins did on radio imaging and a light bulb went off in my head. All of this energy, enthusiasm, and passion that I was constantly having to tone down for my conversational commercial voice over reads was what made me perfect for radio imaging! That enthusiasm was the essential ingredient for station liners, stingers, promos… anything necessary in imaging!

Over the years, I have worked really hard to build my radio imaging business. Each station that i work with I found on my own and I negotiated the contract on my own. I have small stations all over. Some I work with on monthly retainers, some on  quarterly retainers, others as needed. Some I do everything, from copy writing and voice over to coordinating the mix-down and production of their work. For others, I am just the female voice of the station. When my VO besties and I decided to meet up in Dallas for the OneVoice Conference USA this August, we planned to do a panel about our accountability group. For me, that is a big part of who I am, but that is not all that I am. I wanted to be able to share with others my unique path into a genre that I very much love.

In Good Company

OneVoice Radio Imaging Panel AttendeesThe team at OneVoice put together an all-star panel for Radio Imaging. I am elated to be on stage with these folks. In addition to me, the others include Randy Thomas, Joe Cipriano, AJ McKay, Paul Cartwright, and Brent Williams. I have to say, to be up there with Randy blows my mind a little. When J. Michael and AJ did my first multi-format imaging demo back in 2017, and I asked how to get started in radio imaging, JMC connected me with Randy. She suggested that I fly out to LA for her VO Mastery conference, which turned out to be amazing. Since then, she has been a mentor to me. While there, I took a master class with Joe Cipriano in promos. It was incredible. I had been a working pro for quite some time at that point, but was new to radio imaging. To be on a stage with them means so much. If you don’t know, in addition to voicing countless radio stations around the country, Randy has announced the Oscars, the Super Bowl, and the Tonys! Joe Cipriano is a man who typically needs no introduction, but just in case you’ve been locked in a broom closet, he has been the voice of Fox and CBS for over 25 years.  AJ McKay is a well known talent, coach, and creative director and has worked with the best in the biz! Paul Cartwright is a well-established British talent, now based in LA, who has worked with top brands. And finally Brent Williams it the creative services director of Z100 in NY!! The Station I listen to every day! So yes, this radio imaging panel is one that you will want to watch!

What Do I Have to Offer

Laura Schreiber Female Voice Over Talent Accomplish DreamsWhen I first looked at this line up, I was ecstatic, then I got nervous. Then I realized the very reason I was nervous is why I need to be on the panel. You see, unlike people like Randy and AJ, I did not work into radio imaging because of a background in radio or work as a DJ. I know lots of brilliant talents… Issa Lopez, Chad Ericson, Josh Goodman, Jeff Berlin… who all started as DJs and got into imaging. I am different. I came to voice over in my mid-thirties. I have always booked a lot of commercials. I love doing commercials. I have a ton of energy, and I needed to find what else was in that category. I love working with my radio stations for imaging. From CHR, to Christian, to Oldies to Adult Hits, I am happy in many formats. But you can’t just record a demo and hope that the universe sends you work. Having work in imaging requires consistent, daily follow up. It takes commitment and hard work. It takes determination. Talent and the ability to voice the liners is only a small part of booking imaging work, especially for those of us not from Radio. So I am on this panel to talk about how a determined, hardworking, focused, ambitious voice actor built a solid radio imaging business all on her own.

Filed Under: About Me, Marketing/Branding, Voiceover Tagged With: AJ McKay, Brent Williams, copy writing, Female Radio Imaging, female station voice, GVAA, J. Michael Collins, liners, OneVoice Conference Dallas, Panel, Paul Cartwright, promos, radio imaging panel, Randy Thomas, retainers, stingers, VO, voice over, voiceover, z100

Radio Imaging That’s Upbeat, Fun, and Affordable

February 14, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

I LOVE Radio Imaging

Don't Settle: Steve Jobs quoteWhile I’ve been full time in voice over since 2015, I did not discover Radio Imaging as a genre or my passion for it until 2017. As a professional female voice talent, I had been booking a lot of commercials and loved my commercial work. I was researching and trying to figure out what else was like commercial work to see what I might be good at. When I found radio imaging, I loved the genre right away because of the energy. In other genres of VO, I often have to dial down my energy and contain my exuberance. I have always found this quite ironic, because authentic is a big buzz word right now in voice over, and I authentically am bursting with energy. So when I found radio imaging, it seemed like the perfect fit and I began actively pursuing radio stations to add to my client roster. I love working with radio stations, regardless of market size, and do my best to meet all budget needs.

This Station Reached Out

Competitor is One Click AwayAbout a week ago I got an email through my website from Brandon at Ozarks Work Mix Radio. He was looking for a new female voice for his station. He needed both liners/sweepers and station IDs or stingers as he calls them. He was used to working with a male talent for quite a while who had provided him with packages. Brandon made it easy from the start. He was transparent about what he needed and what budget he was starting with. He even sent a link to his prior provider which made it so easy for me to be as helpful as possible. I was confident my team and I could present him with high quality, upbeat, fun liners, sweepers, and station IDs to compliment what was playing currently on the station. Brandon explained that the station was created so that there is a great mix and something for everyone. He explained that this blend of 70s, 80s, 90s, and today was a clean, upbeat mix so that whether you were at work or on a road trip you could just keep listening. They play a fun blend of pop, rock, and country. Who doesn’t love that?? I was so excited to be working with them. After all, this is my kind of music!

Presenting it On Their Terms

Brandon was used to getting packages from his male imaging provider, cluster in lines of 5 or 10. I had not previously done this, as all the other stations I’ve worked with had priced imaging per page, which is much more standard across the industry. Still, this is what the client wanted and I wanted to make it easy for him even if my rates were not the same. I spoke with several excellent producers who were all available to produce the sweepers and stingers for OWMR, and presented a chart of the different options, comparing them to the client’s current pricing in the top row, so that he could compare apples to apples. It also occurred to me when preparing the data for the station that other small stations like Ozarks Work Mix Radio might be looking for the same type of pricing, and now I have this to offer future prospect as well.

Getting It DONE!

Brandon reviewed the options and selected what fit his needs best. The prices I had quoted him included production and voiceover. To be clear, while the prices were not high, they worked for all parties involved. What was new to me, was that he needed copy writing for his imaging content as well. I had not initially understood that the previous provided’s prices also included the copy. Frankly, I was thrilled to work with him on this as well. I haven been doing copy writing for years, and I love adding copy writing clients. I immediately started writing the scripts. The next morning I recorded, and that morning they were sent to the different producers. Half of the spots have come back already and are live and on the air, half will be back at the end of the next work week.

https://youtu.be/TVuLfL6Ixp8

Takeaways From the Experience

People Remember how You Make Them FeelThe station is happy. They are extremely pleased and I made it easy for them to get what they wanted and needed. I had a blast working with industry partners doing what I love. For me, even if a station is small, there is still a lot of value in providing them service. My hope it that they will now come back to me as they need more sweepers and station promos. It’s not just providing them quality content that has great meaning to me, but also getting to know my clients and building a strong relationship over time. So while I made them happy with this first go around, now the work of building a lasting relationship so that I can serve them even better begins. With taking feedback, introspection, and hard work, I hope to continue to provide them with outstanding radio imaging for years to come.

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Rates, Voiceover Tagged With: 70s, 80s, 90s, affordable, authentic, clean, client centered, client friendly, commercial, copy writing, female voice over talent, full time, fun, happy, hits of today, liners, love, packages, passion, pop, presentation, production, promos, Radio imaging, rock, scripts, solutions, station IDS, stingers, sweepers, upbeat sound, VO

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