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Chatting with Voice Actor Katie Flamman

August 15, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

A Lovely Talk

For 10 weeks now, fellow voice over coach and professional voice over actor Diana Birdsall and I have been hosting a weekly Clubhouse. It fascinates me how the energy of every panel is so different. It’s great that every week the guests in our room comment and asks questions, but depending on who are special guest is, the tone and the vibe is so different.

Katie Flamman and Diana Birdsall at the SOVAS awards in Hollywood
Katie Flamman and our very own Diana Birdsall at the SOVAS awards in Hollywood, from Katie’s instagram feed!

This week we were lucky to have the amazing British voice over actor Katie Flamman. Katie lives in a village south of London and like me was a stay at home mom for years and came into voiceover at the moment when it made sense for herself and for her kids. Katie has an academic background in English Literature from Cambridge University and a professional background in broadcast journalism, all things that serve her well as a voice talent. What made this week’s panel so unique, I think, is that even though Diana and I had a planned set if questions that primarily revolved around marketing and business, the genuine conversation kept shifting back to acting technique and the actual craft of being a working actor. I felt like chatting with Katie and the other guests we had fed me soul and it wad great fun.

Katie’s Take on Marketing

When speaking with Katie, what struck me was how genuine and authentic she is. I’ve been spending a lot of time this week working on keywords on my pay to plays, and these words seem to accurately describe Katie. While so many of us strategize and plan, Katie really is all about making genuine connections with people,

Katie's Clever Posts
Katie’s posts are clever and authentic, and always make me feel inspired.

both industry friends and clients alike. And the timing could not be more perfect, as she actually has an article out this week in Buzz Magazine put out by the Voice Over Network.  Katie shared with us that when she first got started in VO, she was in a group called media parents. One of the other women in the group looked at her resume, and helped her find a common thread, and that was storytelling. Katie has worked story telling into all of her branding.

Beyond that, Katie says that when she has something that she things is funny or interesting, she shares it. Beyond that, she does not have a grand plan or strategy. Katie has had the opportunity to travel to the United States for the SOVAS awards and has been able to meet and connect with many people who she finds to be inspiring, and knowing her audience helps shapes her marketing and outreach. She always tries to share information about herself that is authentic and clever, and she uses hashtags as a vehicle to drive her audience connections.

The Work Katie Does

Since Katie had acting experience as a student, and then went into journalism, when she first went into voice over years go she was only doing corporate and commercial work. While for some that may be hard to book, with Katie’s skill set and talent she settled into those genres with ease. For Katie, while she was glad to book that, she still wanted to do character work. She studies with Dave Fennoy and even won a SOVAS for her video game demo. When she won, she thought the job opportunities would pour in, but they did not. She got feedback that she needed to put more physicality into her roles, and she needed to “become the character.” She began to study Alexander technique and started doing a physical warmup before each recording session. She even had her coach come to her studio to evaluate how she stood in front of her mic. I was particularly fascinated by this and now when my twins start back to school may give it a go. Katie has also gotten training in MoCap and PCap. She is really excited about how all of her efforts are helping her pursue work in the genres she is quite passionate about.

What She Wishes She had Known

One of our guests asked Katie what she wish she had known. I always LOVE this question because I think there are so few barriers to entry in our field, that sometimes folks jump into voiceover and are not always realistic about their expectations. Katie said she wished she knew about how to run a business and more about accounting. I loved this answer because anyone getting int VO needs to understand that as a working creative, while our art is part of it, we are running a business. In order to succeed it has to be treated like a business from day one. You need a CRM, you need to track outreach, invoices, expenses, and bookings. You need to pay quarterly taxes (at least in the US). And most importantly, you need to carry yourself like a professional. At the end of the day, being a voice talent is about many things, and our voice is just a small bit. Having Katie on was such a joy, and the chat could have gone on much longer. We are so thankful for her time, especially across time zones!

Filed Under: Marketing/Branding, Voiceover, working mom Tagged With: Alexander Technique, Clubhouse, Diana Birdsall, Instagram, Jonathan Tilley, Laura Schreiber, Marketing, MoCap, OneVoice, PCap, professional voice over actor, social media, SOVAS, story telling, storyteller, TikTok, Twitter, voice actor, voice over, voice over coach, voiceover, working mom

The Beauty of VO Marketing

July 17, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

Jonathan Tilley Was Out Guest

The Jonathan TilleyI have to admit, that when Diana Birdsall and I got Jonathan Tilley to come on our weekly Clubhouse, I got a little fan-girled out for a quick minute. If you don’t know Jonathan, he is quite fabulous. He runs a genius marketing course for voice actors and other creatives called League of List Builders to teach about direct marketing to clients. Diana and I both took his class years ago, and as full-time professional talents and coaches, have used his methods with great success to build our own businesses. Jonathan also teaches about specialty topics like Instagram marketing, selfie techniques, lighting….so basically he is a marketing g-d and everything that comes out of his mouth is pure brilliance plus he is lovely and kind and so fun. See why I was excited to have him on our panel? So in case you missed it ( and I don’t know why you would miss it but if you did…) here is a recap based on my notes from Jonathan Tilley’s panel with us:

What is the beauty if marketing?

Our chat with Jonathan started out with this pivotal question. Jonathan talked about the importance of authenticity and being a real person to the people we reach out to. We talked about how our goal really is to make connections so that we can ultimately build relationships and get to know people and actually make deep connections. Our marketing should be friendly and down to earth.

Instant Gratification Doesn’t Work

Researching the people we are marketing to is essential. Jonathan gave the example of Starbucks. If we wanted to find a Starbucks, we wouldn’t just set out. We would take the time to see which Starbucks was closest to us. In this world where we all want everything right away, marketing is the one time where we need to take our time and learn about who we are marketing to, whether or us a podcast, ad agency, or video production company.  We need to know a little about them BEFORE we reach out.

The Subject Line Matters

After years in voice over, I can tell you it is still hard to know what to put in the subject line. Jonathan says it should be clear and professional. The subject line should say who you are and what you offer. After all, this is a way people often make sure an email is not spam, so if you are a “Female Professional Voice Talent” say that.

Making a Personal Connection

Jonathan talks about how everyone loves compliments, and the best way to engage is to make people feel good with something that you genuinely feel. So, if you are reaching out to a video production company that you would like t work with, look at the work they have done on their website and social media. Write a personalized letter to them and tell them what you liked and why it resonated with you. A heartfelt compliment goes a long way!

Promoting Yourself Without Seeming Like a Spammy Braggart

This is a tricky one for a lot of people. We want to sing from the clouds how great it would be to work with this ad agency/vide production company/agent but then it’s about us and not about them. Jonathan talks about how making them feel good starts with showing that you understand what problems they are dealing with and what the solutions are. Speak the clients language: “On an ideal day you get work done under budget and ahead of time. I’d love to make your day a little easier. I specialize in……some brands I’ve worked with are (insert 3 examples). That is the kind of language that is client centered and works for them.

As a tip, Jonathan suggested googling production house nightmares and dream stories. He suggested it would be a great way to get insights into their pain points and desires.

Follow Ups

Jonathan Tilly marketing gemiusJonathan recommends monthly follow ups.  I have to say, I was surprised by this. For years I have done quarterly follow ups. Jonathan reminded us that it often takes a minimum of 5 correspondences to get a potential client to engage, so whether they reply or not, monthly follow ups are best. These correspondences should also be individualized and interesting. Remember, our goal is to build a relationship.

Jonathan also shared another fun way to follow up is to share testimonials from clients cleverly interwoven with a behind the scenes glimpse of what was really going on. So if you have a rave review that talks about your stellar performance, but in reality you were a ball of phlegm sipping throat coat between each line, it balances the testimonial.

What if You’re New and Don’t Have Street Cred?

We had a few folks ask Jonathan how to reach out to potential clients when they are brand new to voiceover. They had been told “fake it til’ you make it” but wanted to know how you have credibility without a client list? Jonathan encouraged everyone that nothing should stop you from going after your dream clients. All you need is a demo, a website, the internet, and time. Typically, you want to attach an MP3 of your time. You need to carefully craft your personalized letters to talk about how you can best support their needs, and shine, regardless of your time in VO.

Filed Under: Marketing/Branding Tagged With: authenticity, Clubhouse, demos, Diana Birdsall, direct marketing, Instagram, Jonathan Tilley, League of List Builders, LOLB, Marketing, professional voice over, selfie technique, social media, Subject Line, VO, voice over, voice over coach, voiceover

Social Media and Voiceover: How does It Effect Your Business?

April 8, 2019 by Laura Schreiber

Ever feel like you are doing 20 things at once ?!

Any working mom can tell you that there are not enough hours in the day, so social media serves multiple purposes in our life depending on what form you are talking about. And any working mom can tell you that often when we are doing one thing we are thinking about the other 10 things we have to get done at the same time. From enabling a small business owner like me to let potential clients know about my business to staying connected with friends and voiceover industry friends from all over, to staying on top of current trends and hot tips, social media across the board is really important. If you were to ask me how social media directly effects my voiceover business, I would tell you that it depends on the specific genre, so here is a point by point break down of how the most relevant genres relate to my voiceover business.

Twitter

A few years ago a prominent voiceover talent was offering a class with another industry insider on Twitter marketing. You’ll see as I go on why I leave their names out. I loved the class. I revamped my twitter strategy based on what I learned and was determined that I, too, would make upwards of $20,000.00 after the class. I did every single thing that we learning with gusto. I posted a minimum of 3 times a day every day for 2 years. I never gained more than 1200 followers and I did not book one single job from twitter. I also hired a marketing person to help with my twitter endeavor. Again, we yielded no results. As I book mostly commercial voiceovers, I do not think that folks are looking to hire talents like me on twitter.

Instagram

I love Instagram for personal use but I have also never booked work from Instagram. My Instagram account is a business one. All of my postings are “brand” relevant. I have tried for several years to post here and to connect with industry folks that I am curious about. I also hired a hot young intern who had a pulse on Instagram. Nothing. Then I hired a marketing consultant. These so called experts did not generate any better results than I did. So, I have a lot of fun at night before bed looking at pictures of jewelry and cute dogs but I do not believe that the people who want to hire me directly are looking for me on Instagram.

Facebook

I love Facebook and always have. I love it both as a way to keep in touch as so, so many voiceover talents and production people seem to hang out here. I also love to post and share projects and blogs on Facebook. While I have never booked an actual job from Facebook, I have formed the foundation of some amazing friendships that exist off line. I have met so many fantastic people. I also love the groups that I am in. Especially because we use so much audio equipment in voiceover, I find that the support of these Facebook groups is key to my success. For example, if I am having questions about ipDTL or Source Connect, I just hop onto the group and ask. Also, I love the Voice Peddler’s Tech Tuesdays. Others are always so genuinely helpful and insightful.

LinkedIn

Working side by side with my Dad while on vacation… a real plus of life as a solopreneur!

Now this is a platform where I have gotten quite a few clients! I love connecting with folks from all over the world in all different industries. Perhaps it is because we are all definitely talking about work on LinkedIn, I have made professional friends and booked solid jobs in genres from Radio Imaging to eLearning and everything in between. I am certain that because LinkedIn’s platform make’s it so easy to post samples of voiceover work and connect to our website, potential clients can get a real feel for the service that I provide. I find that the time that I spend on LinkedIn is extremely valuable. For years I had the professional membership but now, with almost 5,000 contacts, I have the basic membership and I am very pleased with it.

Summary

So across the board the different forms of social media platforms play a different role for me as a solopreneur. In truth a love Pinterest, and spend a lot of time making pages for my house or my nails, but I have not found a way to make it relevant for my business as of yet. I also do use YouTube a lot, but it is typically either to repost work that I have completed or to create videos that will enhance my blogs and help clients and potential clients get to know me. And at the end of the day, that is really what it is all about. Even when I am not directly booking work on genres like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, if it is helping the community get to know me as a person and as a creative that it is worth the time and the energy. I’m not so complicated, I’m a working mom who loves my kids, jewelry, getting my nails done, and walking my dog; so if folks take that away from my post than they get it. And if they understand that I put my heart into everything that I do then the really get it:)

Filed Under: Voiceover Tagged With: blog, blogger, Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, momtrepreneur, professional voiceover, small business owner, social media, solopreneur, Twitter, voiceover, working mom, YouTube

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