CRM

Sales Funnels For Voice Over

March 17, 2022 by Laura Schreiber

Marketing to Voice Over Clients

Note: this is not a story with a happy ending. If you want to skip to the follow up blog, click here.

In voice over, we talk about marketing endlessly. How do we get clients? Voice actors love to talk about marketing. We love to talk about our CRMs. Building client relationships is another hot topic. A few weeks ago Robert Sciglimpaglia started talking about sales funnels for voice over. Diana Birdsall, fellow VO Coach and I got super excited. Why? After years of emails and LinkedIn outreach, sales funnels are different. And why work with Rob and his daughter Mary Brainard? Put simply: they are fantastic.

You might be wondering how a voice actor/attorney and his daughter teamed up to do this? Well, Rob explained that it was always his dream to work with his daughters but none are lawyers. Mary actually studied English and Psychology in college. At present, Mary does copy writing and marketing for companies with six and seven figure budgets. Mary and Rob decided to team up and bring Belair Creative to the voice over community so that we can benefit from their marketing expertise. In just their first month on the scene, business exploded for the father-daughter duo.

Explaining a Sales Funnel

A sales funnel is a fancy word for a sales process. If you picture a tube or a pipe that is wider at the top and narrow at the bottom, that is what a funnel looks like. In a sales funnel, as people move through the funnel, there are more people at the top and fewer at the end. This is because not everyone wants or needs you services at the moment they are pulled into the funnel. You can work to maintain contact with all who have come into the funnel through follow up emails, calls, and social media. Also, it came up in our clubhouse chat that funnels should really be used for experienced voice actors who have their business up and running. If you are new to VO and just starting out, this is not the system for you. You can try this once your booth is set up, your website is up, and you are ready to seriously invest in your business.

Knowing Who to Target

Just like when you mark your script and you have to understand who you are talking to, in marketing you have to understand who your ideal or dream client is. Some other people might call this a buyer persona, although Rob and Mary did not use that terminology. Anyway, instead of sending out endless emails in hope of a reply, Mary uses targeted videos well-placed in social media groups so that they land where you want them. Often, clients need talent but don’t know where to find them so they end up on casting sites. By going directly to them, and finding the clients where they are, we are making ourselves easy to find.

Some Sales Funnels Have More Steps Than Others

Every clients is on a different path in their journey. Some might be ready to buy your services today. Others might be ready to purchase next month. Maybe some might never be ready to take action. It’s possible funnels have more steps because they want to qualify the potential clients. Other funnels have more steps because there are different types of funnels. Some have a survey, a questionnaire, or a form. The main goal could be information for a mailing list. Another main goal could also be the sale of services. The funnel is based on what you want to accomplish. Belair creative does a three level funnel that includes video, a survey, and scheduling an appointment.

When Mary and Rob work with voice actors, they are aware that different talents need varying degrees of handholding when setting up their sales funnels. They basically set up a system so that someday we can maintain it ourselves. Through the funnel, we can learn where our clients come from. We will get data both from the CRM and from social media. In order to run a solid funnel, you need to know who you are talking you and what you want to specialize in.

The Downside to Sales Funnels

We asked if there is a downside to sales funnels. Mary said she thought a lot about this. She said if you set it up and did not use it that would be a downside. Or, if you got too many new clients and you could not manage them all, that would also be a downside.

Why Sales Funnels are Unique and Some Final Thoughts

As Diana astutely pointed out, so many voice actors are on pay to plays and do direct marketing. What we all want is jobs in our in box every morning, right? We asked Rob why this is the next great thing. He said that in addition to finding clients where they are, so much of the funnel process is automated. From follow-up emails to scheduling appointments, automation helps drive the campaign. Mary also offered that doing a funnel allows you to be more in control of your business. You get unique, specific data about who is purchasing your services. By reaching out you are building relationships and staying top of mind. Getting clients is really important, and that is what funnels do.

In business it is really important to be careful who you take advice from. There have been many conversations about being cautious of “the next big thing.” We have all scene recent promises that sounded wonderful and did not pan out. You probably know already that I do not have a crystal ball. I can’t guarantee that every funnel will get who we need to get. What I do know is that you can waste a lot of time marketing to the wrong people on your own. Rob has been loved my many in the VO community for years, and once you meet this father daughter team, you will see why Diana and I were so delighted to share them with the community.

Voice Over Invoicing

January 26, 2022 by Laura Schreiber

Why Your Voice Over Invoicing Should be Set Up the Day You Launch

I learn so much and am often so inspired by my voice over students. Recently, a very talented student new to voice over who had all his demos done and his website up and running booked his first gig! YAY! He reached out and wanted to know how to send an invoice. I was surprised by this. I was less surprised that he did not know and more surprised that I did not make it clear. So here I am, making it clear: if you are at the point where you are auditioning for work and ready to accept booked work that the universe sends your way, you had better have your business bank account up and running, and your voice over invoicing software set up and ready for use. Even though we had talked about invoicing and talked about CRMS, apparently I did not make it straightforward enough, so this is me making it clear. Do not start looking for work if you do not know what you are going to do when that work comes in. Why? From start to finish, you want you your client to have a seamless, professional experience, and if they have not taken every single step that you have discussed, then they are not ready to launch yet. Period.

https://youtu.be/NBdoZFhEi30

Laura Schreiber and Invoicing (https://youtu.be/NBdoZFhEi30)

My Personal Voice Over Invoicing Preference: Wave App

Over my years as a working voice talent, I have tried many different types of billing programs. I strongly prefer Wave App for several reasons. First of all, it’s free. Next, it is integrated rather seamlessly into the CRM I use, Voiceoverview. Because of this integration, I can create the invoice, modify, edit, and send it all within VOV. I can create shareable links and download PDFs of the invoice. I was able to customize the design to include my logo and the fonts that I prefer. All in all, of every option I have tried for invoicing over the years, this has been my absolute favorite.

Fresh Books

I very much liked using Fresh Books and its features and the only real downside is the heft monthly cost. I liked the look of the invoices it created. I liked that I could accept bank transfers, credit cards, and PayPal! I liked that I could add taxes for different countries. I very much liked the time tracking features. When I have done copywriting work, I used this feature and could do precise, to the second invoicing with ease. I also liked that for clients in other countries this program could sort out VATs and all of that and my effort was very little. Again, if it were free I would likely still use it.

PayPal

I love that you can create invoices for free. I do have some clients who specifically ask for PayPal invoices and I am happy to send them. Because they do not integrate with my CRM, I prefer Wave App to this, simply for ease of record keeping. This is fine, but not as great.

Square

I tried Square for several months several years ago. Other than to say it was lackluster compared to other invoicing systems, I do not have much to see. The look of the invoices was “ehh.” It was not as easy to work with. My overall experience was mediocre. Not bad, just not exciting.

Quicken

I have never endeavored to use Quicken, but much like Fresh Books those who do use it seem to love it very much. Quicken provides many features, and can both invoice and work as your accounting software. Again, like Fresh Books, you have to pay to use Quicken.

Voice Over Invoicing Best Practices

As small business owners with a client-centered approach, we need to be mindful of what is best for our clients. Typically, every time I deliver finished audio I invoice within the same email with a shareable payment link. As my billing software will also invoice directly, after that email, I also send a specific invoice-only email. Some clients specifically ask for either a downloadable PDF or for a PayPal invoice, and if that is the case I send that upon delivery of the email. In my invoice, I also have a “footer” message giving very clear and specific instructions with all the ways that I accept payment. I do know some nice talents who invoice weekly, but I prefer to send the invoice as the job is completed. The only time I make an exception is when I have a client who requests a monthly invoice. If that is the case I hold the invoice until the end of the month and invoice for everything at once.

Sometimes, it can be hard as business owners to balance what is right for our clients and what makes the most sense for us as voice talents. For example, sometimes clients request sessions at times that conflict without family responsibilities. In this instance, it is actually possible to both meet our client’s needs and to make the sound choice for our own business.

Mindset Matters in Voice Over

November 9, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

Construction and The Foundations We Establish

Recently my husband’s parents bought a ranch around the block from us. They needed to gut renovate it and my brother-in-law is the project manager. It has been quite the undertaking, and my brother-in-law has done everything, from day-to-day interactions with all of the various crews working on the job site, to making choices about every material to use each step of the way. He has had to sort out bids and come up with various plans all while weather and kids pose on-going challenges.

This parallels running a voice over business in many ways. In voice over, like with a construction project, the mindset matters profoundly. The foundation of our business is ours to build, and to create by our own design. The intent of this blog is to think about a few key components of mindset related to voice over.

What are your Goals?

When you build a house, sometimes you are doing an update to make a space your own and sometimes you are doing a gut renovation. Either way, from the outset, you need to consider your goals for the project. In voiceover, knowing your goals enables you to have direction in your daily pursuits. If you know where you want to be, and if you have a clear vision for yourself, it is easier to work towards reaching those goals. And the goals you have might well be completely different from other voice talents you know. For instance, I do not do medical narration or audio books. Two of the women in my accountability group work in both of these genres, so their goals and their day to day marketing endeavors look quite different. As a professional voice over actor, I am very clear about my passions and where I want to spend my time. This is a key component of my mindset.

Business Mindset

Even though I am a working creative, from the start I have run my business like a business. Our mindset and the choices we make determine whether voice over is a business or a mere hobby. Do you want this to be your career or something you simply dabble in? For me, from day one, this was going to be a career. There was no other option. When I decided to pursue voiceover, I did so in lieue of returning to teaching, so I had the luxury of plunging into VO full time from the get go. Besides working full-time, other choices helped establish this is a business. Using a CRM is essential. This helps you track all of your outreach, your costs, your bookings, your contacts… all of your efforts in one place. I have blogged before about my experience using Voiceoverview, but I truly believe this specific CRM is essential to the success of my business.

Having an invoicing system and being consistent about it is essential to a business mindset in voice over. After all, it’s a business and you want to get paid! I know many talents who invoice weekly. For me, I invoice with the delivery of the finished audio for every single booking. When I send the audio, I send a link to the invoice. If you happen to use Voiceoverview, it integrates with Waves App, Freshbooks, and Quickbooks! Ultimately you need to decide how often invoicing will work for you, but for me I love doing it at the time of delivery because it means no job ever slips through the cracks.

Another aspect of a business mindset is having a business checking account. No one told me about this when I launched my voice over business, so I mention this often to try to make it easier for those starting out. I actually learned the hard way about 18 months in to my voice over journey. I tried to deposit a check at the bank at my local branch and suddenly they would not accept it. It was an eye opener, as by this point I perceived myself to be running a small business. So, if you are a solopreneur, you must actually also open a business checking account. This, too, is crucial.

Make Your Studio A Pro Studio

If you really want to succeed in voice over, and establish yourself as a professional voice talent, you need to have a professional studio. First, it is essential to maintain business hours. As a business owner, if you want to be available and accessible to your clients, you should have set business hours each day. For me, I typically work from 8 am- 6 pm, and schedule breaks for myself at my lunch hour for things like exercise classes or seeing friends. I also use my lunch hour to make myself available for consultations with new students or people looking for demo. But, the main point, is that I am available to clients all day, every day, during regular business hours.

Next, it is also important to have a professional home studio set up. I often have folks new to voice over ask me if it is really necessary to go to the effort and expense of buying equipment and if they can just rent studio space. I can tell you unequivocally that if you intend to succeed in voice over you simply MUST have a home set up. Further, it is not enough to have a basic home set up, you have to have a quality set up so that you produce pristine audio. This requires a booth with acoustic treatment, gear, and training in audio engineering so that you are capable of mastering your recordings. Once this is in place, you are ready to have your business up and running.

Mindset matters. Every choice you make matters. Run your voice over business like a business from day one.

What I Wish I Knew About VO Business When I started

September 8, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

As I reflect on the trajectory of my career as a professional voice over actor, I am blessed with how my cookie has crumbled. A combination of hard work, coaching, and making the right adjustments along the way has served me well. I however, am lucky, as I came into voiceover later in life. When I started in voice over as a second career, I was highly educated with an advanced degree. I’m also surrounded by professionals in my family. I happen to come from a family of attorneys and get more advice than you could ever think possible. That said, in talking to some newer voice talents recently, there are a few things that I wish I had known about the business side of things when I get started in voice over. Here is a countdown of my top 5:

5. Business Plans are Fluid

When I got started in voice over, I spent months developing a business plan. Little did I know that as my goals shifted, my business plan would shift. While my initial plan worked when I only had a few demos under my belt, as I began to target more genres and add multiple revenue streams, my business plan needed to evolve to address my growing and widening ambitions. While I am so proud of how I launched, I then had to learn to tweak and adjust to go after new goals as well. This ranged from social media to direct marketing to presence on pay to play sites. All of this was part of my business plan and as my target audience evolved so did my plan.

4. The CRM Matters A LOT!!

So different voice actors in the industry use different CRMs. As a voice over coach, I can tell you that it matters less which one that you use and more that you use one!! I myself started with nimble and switched to Voiceoverview. I love Voiceoverview and have interviewed creator and owner Dani States and blogged about that. For me, this CRM meets all my needs. Whether you use Voiceoverview, Upper Level, 17 Hats, or one of the many others, you need to be aware of several data points:

who you’re reaching out to, how often, and if they are replying
your income
your expenses
your audition to booking ration

If you are lucky, you can create reports that go beyond this. like how much of your work comes from repeat clients or from agents, are you booking from one pay to play more than another, where do the bulk of your expenses lie. These reports give you invaluable insight into future choices that you might make. Initially when I started in voice over I simply made excel spread sheets. I can tell you after years in the industry that the data that you get from a CRM is essential to running your small business.

3. Have a Separate BUSINESS Checking Account

As a soloprenuer, you need a business checking account. Even if you are not an LLC, you might be able to get away with depositing work checks or transferring money into your personal checking account for a little while.It is, however, better for you to actually have a proper business checking account. I’ll share a little story. When I started out in voice over I was luck to be added to multiple rosters pretty early on. One of those rosters sent me work weekly and paid me monthly. One day I went to the local branch with the check as this was before the days of mobile deposits. I had been depositing monthly checks from this client for almost two years in what I thought was a “business” checking account. It was a separate account that I had opened for my business at my local Chase. Somehow, Chase had just opened another checking account, but it was never designated a “business” account. Instead, it was just a second “personal” checking account. So that this does not happen to you, if they do not ask for you business’ legal formation papers, it is likely not a business account. That day, the bank refused to deposit the check. Instead, I had to gather all the documents I had for my business which happens to be an LLC and at that point, several years in, I opened both a business checking and a business savings account.

Now, you might be thinking, why does she have a business savings account to? Well, as a business owner we have to take out and set aside our own taxes. I pay quarterly taxes. Every single time I get pad, I set aside 40% into that savings account. So, I encourage you to have BOTH a business checking and a business savings account.

2. Save for Retirement- Especially if you are Non-Union

I wish someone had told me when I started, as I did not think of this until several years into my career. Think about all the bills you pay. Some day, when you stop working, don’t you want to have something for yourself? Every single month I auto deposit a nice amount into my 401k, and I am proud to say that I am setting aside as much as my husband does every month. Now, if you are a union talent, you will retire with savings. For those of us who are non-Union, all you have to do is set one up and then go to your bank where you have your work checking account and auto fund it. I have my 401k at Charles Schwab because I was advised that their fees are low.

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

When I started my business I spent a lot of money very quickly. I invested a lot and planned to be a huge success. While I was fortunate and success did come, expenses mount quickly. I know see ways that I could have spent less and spread out my investments over time so that as my business grew I re-invested in myself. Be mindful of your money. There are no guarantees in this industry. As you make choices, try to spend money in places that will likely generate business.

Voiceoverview: A Must Have tool for voice actors

August 8, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

Do You Have a Tool You Can’t Live Without?

The first few years I ran my business, I used a CRM called Nimble. I’ve said this often, but as a professional voice actor, whatever genre we work in, we wear a lot of hots. As a small business owner, tracking our clients, prospects, and outreach is essential to our success. Nimble offered some features that I needed, but to be frank it was way more complicated than what I needed and it drove me a little crazy. I almost felt tormented by it.

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.

Last Friday Diana Birdsall and I were lucky enough to have Dani join us on our Clubhouse panel. Dani answered our questions and those of our guests and I learned SOOO much! Even as a longtime user of Voiceoverview, who has VOV open on my computer everyday, I still learned from Dani during our clubhouse!

How Voiceoverview Began

Dani explained that she was home, on unemployment, and started working as a voice actor about eight years ago. In order to track her progress, she had created spreadsheets. Dani’s husband took it a step further, and actually created a dashboard for her. Dani began sharing this with her friends, and although they occasionally messed it up, Dani realized she had created something that would benefit the voiceover community as a whole! Dani then began chats with Joe Davis, who as I mentioned become Dani’s business partner.

The Beauty of VOV

Dani explained that Voiceoverview is a business tracking tool built so that voice actors can understand the scope and breadth of our business. As a professional voice actor and voice over coach, I cannot tell you how essential such tracking is to your success. As we chatted, Dani was saying that the difference between having a business and having a hobby is tracking and analyzing your data. Whether you got voice over work through rosters, agents, LOLB, and casting sites, you need to be able to see where you work is coming from, how your numbers change, and what genres you book from whom. VOV allows you to see and analyze just that. The biggest barrier to using this tool is failing to incorporate it into your daily routine. Dani explained that it should be open on your computer all the time, and Diana and I said that we both use VOV throughout the day every day. Finanaces should not be a barrier to use, as it is $9.99/month or $96/year and Dani assured us it will remain at that rate, so it really is quite affordable, especially relative to other CRMs.

VOV’s Special Features

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.

Some Questions from our Guests

New voice actor David Jacobs said he is using Hubspot at present and asked Dani if he can import his contacts? David also wanted to know if he can connect his email for tracking purposes. Dani explained that if hi has certain components like full names and email then yes, she is happy to help import contacts. She also explained that at the moment there is not email tracking and she herself uses something called Cloze to do that. Diana and I chimed in and said we both switched to VOV from Nimble and are really happy with it as a CRM. Dani also offered sound advice that it is really important to start tracking your business as you build it so that when your business grows your system is already in place and you do not have to get used to a new one. You need to have the tools and systems in place to manage your business.

Philip Koloctonois wanted to know about contacts and if bulk reminders can be set to reach out every 30 days. Dani set at the moment that is not an option but she loved the idea and will implement it. She also said she is exploring integration with Cloze for such a feature, and it depends on their API.

How It Has Changed Dani’s VO Business

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.

Advice for Other Entrepreneurs Thinking of a Side Gig

Diana asked Dani if given the opportunity, if she would do this again and without a moment of hesitation she said yes! Dani just finds this so valuable and really wants to help people. Dani did not start out thinking that she was creating something that she could sell, she created something she needed and it turns out others do to!

Hitting a Goal for Subscribers and What that Means

I was surprised to learn on our Clubhouse that Dani does not draw an income from VOV. Instead, she continues to reinvest into her brainchild, to make it better and better for the voice over community. While she describes its existence as being like a small country, she is building something and it isn’t about Dani, it’s about us. She is creating something for all of us. I can tell you it’s amazing and my business would not be where it is without it. If you are not using Voiceoverview, sign up today. You can get a 30 day free trial when you create an account, and if you were in the clubhouse you can get an extra month free!