VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[TC]

I didn't want to hijack Banksey's excellent thread ("The Road to Failure"), but I did want to explore further Question 11, the one about clearly defined targets and goals. (This is a wordy post, I know, but bear with me...)

I've never been good about clearly defining goals. I'm more of a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of a guy. I have a very general idea of what I'm trying to accomplish, but I usually can't state exactly what it is until after I've accomplished it. I just work and work and work until one day I look up and, viola!, I'm there, even though along the way I couldn't articulate what "there" is. For me, beginning a voiceover career has been a pretty straightforward set of tasks toward the goal of breaking into the business -- take classes, record a demo, build a home studio, land a few paying jobs, get listed with an agent. I've done all that, but three years ago, when I made the decision to pursue this line of work, I had no idea that those would be the steps I'd take. (Well, I knew I would take classes, and I knew that eventually that would lead to recording a demo, but that was about it.) The next step for me is to develop an identity package of some sort and start actively marketing/promoting myself to potential clients. And I'm doing that now.

After that, though, it seems like a lot of what I should be aspiring to is based on less predictable outcomes, with more external forces having an influence on what happens. For example, I can record a demo. That's up to me to do and I did it. Getting hired, however, is less predictable. Somebody else has to make that decision. I can do my best to influence that decision, and I can increase my chances of getting hired by getting myself in front of as many potential clients as possible, but the final decision is out of my control.

Along with the development of my voiceover career (or perhaps because of it), I have become more and more interested in developing my ability to set goals for myself, to set specific courses of action ahead of time, instead of only being able to look backwards and see where I've come from. But I'm grappling with how to envision outcomes for goals on which external forces have a significant impact.

So what sort of targets and goals does a working voice talent set? I don't want you to tell me what targets and goals I should set. That's for me to decide. But I am interested in hearing how other people define these things for themselves and the thought processes behind those choices. Do you set an income figure you want to reach? Do you set goals for acquiring new clients (one a day, one a week, one a month, or whatever)? On what do you base your figures?

What other sorts of creative thinking do you do to define where you want to go in your voiceover career? Have you read any good books on the subject of planning and goal-setting?

Thanks for your input.

Tony

[bobsouer]

Tony,

I highly recommend the ideas of Kristine Oller, as you explore this matter further. I was very impressed with what she had to say when I saw and heard her last month in Los Angeles. Her website is simply her name (without a space) dot com.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
ISDN, Source Connect, phone patch

[Deirdre]

Goals I have written down currently look like this:

Finish PF's website
Blurb for Camp Cooper VO Boot Camp
Character Demo
Package to CESD
DB-Cooper.com re-design
Dylan Demo

These are listed in order of urgency with the most urgent at the top.
The most IMPORTANT thing I have on the list is "Package to CESD".
I have to remake my character demo before I do that.
My VO classes at my studio start up in Sptember and I need to mail a bit of promo material in the next week.
I'm on a roll with Pat's website and I want to get my examples straight for its design.
I don't want to crank the design of MY website before I finish Pat's.

Sometimes I write a note to post im my office that says:
WHAT I WANT TO BE DOING IN SEPTEMBER[or current month] 2007
and list a couple of things like:
Have another corporate AV client
Be doing TV promos for CBS Boston
Have more video game lead roles

I just keep this stuff hanging about to keep me on track as I deal with the daily minutiae of working from home.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com

[TC]

[Rognog]

I set up annual goals and based on those goals I prepare a monthly/weekly checklist.
I focus on five areas:
Cash Flow: making enough money to live on
Marketing: getting myself out there
Tools: equipment, website, demos, etc.
Technique: maintaining my instrument
Health: physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually

Some of them are as large as "Set up a home recording studio" and some are as small as "post a Quote of the Week" on MySpace.

For me, it's all about setting up and maintaining two major systems: systems of thought and systems of behavior. Systems produce habits and habits produce results.

If you'd like I'd be happy to PM you my checklists. One of them is sitting right next to me and under "Marketing" it reminds me to check out this forum every week!
_________________
Tom Dheere - The "H" is Silent, but I'm Not!
www.tomdheere.com

[Gp]

Setting a goal is the basis of a business plan. You will never get where you don't know you are going.
Here's an analogy: Say you live in North Carolina and you decide you want to go to Wallyworld in California. ( of course if you had no idea where you were going but knew that you wanted to have fun on the west coast then certainly anyplace near Wallyworld would do....say Oregon.)
So you start off one day to Wallyworld....no map of course....remember you are just winging it here in hopes that you might make it.
You drive for 18 days and finally you end up in Seattle......Would a map have gotten you there sooner? Would a map have got you to the right place?
This is what a goal is designed for. Daily goals are a step by step process that will take you from point A to point B.
Goals need to be done daily.....not monthly or yearly. If you have set a goal and not set up a step by step process to accomplish it; it is merely a dream or at most a to do list.
OK I could go on for a few pages here but.....
If you want help with goals and how to make them work etc I'd be happy to help.
Gp
I need to get an avatar.

[Travis]

Went through years of "career planning", etc. Set "goals", made a "business plan", and all that other stuff. While I believe those things are important, I eventually realized that I was not being honest with myself.

I eventually realized that my real goal is: To get through the next fifteen minutes with some sense of dignity.
_________________
Travis
www.VOTalent.com

[Audiogal]

Came across this today & thought of it when reading this thread, as the answer has lots to do with success in any venture.

Who Am I?

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might as well turn over to me,
And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed, you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done,
And after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men,
And alas of all the failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with the precision of a machine,
Plus the intelligence of a man.
You may run me for profit, or run me ruin,
It makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me,
And I will put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.

Who am I?



I AM HABIT
_________________
Mary