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Time spent marketing oneself
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Micazon
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:36 pm    Post subject: Time spent marketing oneself Reply with quote

I'd like to know how much time you (for those who would like to share that info) spend marketing yourselves. Let's take a measurement of time in and of sending out demos, postcards, e-mails, phone calls, networking and any other type of contacting potential clients.



Then I'd like to know what method seems to work best for you.



Thanks.



Micazon (get it? the Mic is on!)



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Deirdre
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Joined: 10 Nov 2004
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Location: East Jesus, Maine

PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How much time?



All of it.



All the damn time.
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ConnieTerwilliger
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 2:32 pm    Post subject: Marketing - part of the job Reply with quote

I spend a lot of time marketing and networking...as well as some money doing some advertising. I have a huge mailing list. that I try to touch at least every quarter. Sometimes I am more consistent with that than others. I am constantly poking around the net looking for new contacts. It takes time and some sort of organzation and plan.



And this has to be part of your plan when you first start thinking about the voiceover business. So many people think that just because they have a "good" voice, the work will come in the door.



For a very very very few people the work just comes in without a lot of effort - they either have an incredibly different sound and acting skills that click with someone who wants that voice -- or else they have incredible connections. For the most part, if you aren't out there staying in people's ears, you will only be doing this once in a while.



This reminds me of a time about 20 years ago when I was doing pretty well as an independent producer, writer and talent. My local radio and TV spot business was going gang busters and it was very cool to wake up to myself, hear myself as I am driving and spend the evening with myself when I watched TV.



BUT, I took a full time job at a major corporation as a producer, writer and talent and suddenly didn't have time to do market my voiceover work. I had insisted that I be able to slip out and do a spot when my agent called, but suddenly I wasn't slipping out quite so often and then less and less as the years went on.



When it became clear that we were shutting down the business, I spent nearly a year starting to get back into marketing and networking mode. The spot work locally has never come back - for a couple of reasons...but one very big reason was that I wasn't able to market and keep my name in the minds of my clients. Out of sight, out of mind - it really is true.



Regards,

Connie
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imaginator
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:41 am    Post subject: "you haff zee plans?" Reply with quote

hello, ms. connie



your on-air exposure/local "share of the mind" story sounds like a bigger-scale version of my own experience.



one phrase in your comment made me curious for more, though:

"It takes time and some sort of organzation and plan."



...what sort of organization and plan? i've been stalled in self promotion for many years now. i know i should be doing it...but have never been able to really grasp what "it" is. so much of what i HAVE done seems to have been so random and disorganized.



is there a template/how-to/seminar on just how to set up this type of plan? i have plenty of materials and a decent amount of talent, but little idea of how to effectively put the word out.



your name next to an opinion carries a lot of weight with me. thanks.
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ConnieTerwilliger
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:01 am    Post subject: i have plenty of materials and a decent amount of talent... Reply with quote

The crux of having a marketing plan lies in knowing where you fit in the industry. It is a big industry with lots of niches. You need to know your true abilities and match those skills to the people who are producing the kind of things you know you are suited for. You could have lots of niches!



This means really knowing the industry - more than basic marketing here - it is also networking, getting to know the people who might hire you. Joining associations - MCA-I (Media Communications Association-International) ** Now defunct as an international group - check for local media groups **, IABC (International Association of Business Communicators), HCC (health care communicators), etc. If you don't join, you can still go to their meetings and start meeting some folks face to face in your own market.



You need to know your competition - are you as good or better? Be realistic about your abilities. Know your strongest areas and promote that first.



Do your materials compete with your competition? You can hear lots and lots of demos at www.voicebank.net - from some of the most well know actors (theatrical and pure voiceover) in the business. ** Now part of the evil empire and you will need to find other places to listen to demos - but there are tons out there - check out www.voiceover.biz ***There are lots of other demos posted around the web that reflect all "levels" of voiceover ability and focus.



You need to learn to pre-qualify your potential contacts - this is part of any basic marketing plan - you need to know that the people you will be touching really need what you are providing.



Then you need a plan to keep your name in the forefront of their mind when they need to hire a voice talent. Again, basic marketing 101 with a twist. We need to get them to listen to our demos when they are in hiring mode.



Your particular plan may be local, regional, national AND/OR global. If you live in a major market witha good agent and mostly use studios other than your own, your marketing efforts will be different than someone who lives outside a major market and does most of their work from their own studio. If you are a promo person, your marketing will be different than someone who does mostly commercials.



You may be marketing in person, through the mail or using the internet...



But it all goes back to knowing where you fit and finding the people in that niche who do the hiring and get your stuff into their hands.



That help at all?



Connie
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Last edited by ConnieTerwilliger on Tue Nov 14, 2017 7:49 am; edited 1 time in total
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imaginator
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:39 am    Post subject: thank you Reply with quote

wow...fast reply. again, my thanks.



yes, it helps some.



i'm in a medium market, doing some of my work in other studios, and a lot more from my own.



my strengths are radio acting (not so much "announcing"), character work (straight and comic), and certain types of narration (casual, "real people", friendly) and animated characters for corporate projects.



i've been with mca-i since it was itva, and have good working friendships with other local members, but nothing beyond that.



the other groups you menitoned bear investigation.



my talents, within my niche, are as good or better than most, depending on whom you ask. to some, i'm the "voice guru" of the area. to too many others, i'm "huh? who?"



i know about pre-qualifying clients: not sending loads of stuff to an agency that only produces print. but beyond that i'm clueless.



i know i'm terrible at cold calls, but great at responding to cold inquiries. and i get a lot of repeat business from those who do use my talents.



i know postcards touting recent projects have worked, but i lack a real feel of how to followup without becoming a pest.



the whole thing is like trying to clean up and organize my studio: i see the problem. i know where some of the stuff should go. but the overall task seems so overwhelming i spend way too much time trying to decide which little bit to start on first for fear of picking the wrong thing and making the mess even bigger.



thanks again for taking time to respond. i believe there are local chapters of the other groups you mentioned and i will investigate them further.



i still plan to send in that demo for your paid evaluation. holiday spending and end-of-year taxes got in the way of my best-laid plans.



the time you take in replying to posts such as these is much appreciated.
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Den
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 8:44 pm    Post subject: Other Marketing ideas Reply with quote

If I may butt in....all excellent advice. (What would you expect?)



Couple of other thoughts that may be somewhat start-out as opposed to 'major makret'. I encourage my voicers to be creative. Because of technology, there are many smaller operations that have sprung up over the years, that have no idea that 'professional voiceover' exists. They use the receptionist - with all due respect. When your professionally produced demo lands on their desk, they're going to say:

A) - Wow! Listen to what we could have!

B) - But they probably charge wayyy too much!



Examples would be every college or university has an A/V department. They do promotional work for campus projects, but also market themselves beyond. Most do not work in the 'pro voiceover' realm. There's usually a promo DVD produced once or twice a year, but CAN lead to on-line instructional courses. (Yumm!)



When many audio / video companies start out, they usually call themselves "such & such Productions..or Communications". Do an internet search in your region for (e.g. "Billings Montana" "Communications") and see what pops up. Probably 8 pages worth, of which only 5 hits apply to you. But realize, those 5 may NOT have 20 demos sitting on their desk, as opposed to "Billings Sound Studios". Then do a re-search, changing from Communications to Productions, and see if any new prospects pop up. (Then remove Billings, and type another city...and another....)

You are not hostage to your area. Any studio - including your own - possibly has the ability to MP3, FTP, ISDN audio around the world.



There are tons of ways to get creative, but to wrap-up, I think most freelancers would agree that you have to Market / Do the job (well and on time) / Invoice the client. These 3 things are the cycle of success. While all 3 are very important, the marketing is probably the most important. I also encourage people to develop a relationship and to help the client - before assuming that a mere 'big voiced demo' is all you need. Find out what budget they have to work with. Also, Marketing does NOT stop with the invoice. Send them a card or thank you of some kind. (Remember names. Especially that receptionist that you replaced!)



Open up them Yellow Pages and get creative.

Good Luck!



-den
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Deirdre
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 7:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm sorry I was a smartass above, but when I was in broadcast radio, my credo was "Life is show prep."

Everything you do qualifies as "marketing".



My Cardinal Rules:



1. Be excellent.

2. Be available.

3. Earn yourself a reputation as a Nice Guy.



#1 is a given; #3 will get you through times when #2 isn't possible.
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Bo Hudson
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 7:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi...I'm new to this board, but recognize many names. Great to be here!



On marketing.....I'll throw in my 2cents:



I find that marketing is the real work. The voice-ing is the easy part ...

I try to stay organized, which is NOT easy for me, the creative type. But, I try to make a list of everyone I've sent a demo to, Mp3 or my CD, then call them back. When I was in radio sales eons ago I heard this phrase and it has always stuck with me:

"For every yes expect 20 no's"

So, it keeps me going, and going and going. ....I have not yet spent much to be on various boards, and I may start doing that. But I don't see how one could get much work when there are say 300 other voices to choose from. For now, I just endlessly search the web for new clients...agencies, agents,studios, even other voice talents who may need an additional female voice. Best to all, Bo
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Dan-O
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:12 pm    Post subject: Another Great Quote Reply with quote

Another great motivational quote: "Once the mic is turned off, you're unemployed."
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Tre M.
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This thread is awesome....I decided to go look up some of the older posts and found this gem. Glad I did. Thanks to all who chimed in.
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Bob Bergen
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For me it's a 9 to 5 sorta thing, and sometimes more. Every waking moment during working hours that I'm not auditioning or in sessions is spent marketing.

Now, we are all going at this from different places in our career. I'm into this for over 30 years. So, I market recent work to past buyers. Here's an example. Last week I did a bunch of radio spots for an ad agency I'd never worked for before. Afterwards, I did 2 rounds of marketing:

1) I sent a thank you note to the 3 writer/producers who hired and worked with me at the session, along with my demos, a list of recent work, etc. I also connected with these 3 on social media, such as Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

2) I then surfed these 3 advertisers on Linked In and found over 200 ad writers/producers they were connected with within the same ad agency. I sent each connection a personal note, telling them what I just worked on and with whom, along with a copy of the finished ad, a brief summary of recent work, agent contact, etc. If I wanted to be super ambitious, each of those 200 were connected with hundreds and hundreds more from other ad agencies. With one gig an actor has the ability to market to thousands. I get bored easily, so that latter is just a bit too tedious for me.

I do this with every job. And I don't have to wait until I work. If it's a slow day, I'll just go through old schedules and remind myself of past gigs, find a buyer I worked with, and market.

Here's another marketing strategy for radio imaging. It's an easy one. I'll pick a state and a radio imaging genre, such as oldies, Hot AC, country, whatever genre I have a demo for and (or) feel like marketing. I then google radio stations in whatever state I choose to find whom to send my demo to and send each imaging buyer a personal note/demo/agent info.

There aren't enough hours during the day to do all the marketing I want to do or have the ability to do. And it's SO much easier and cheaper today than when I started out! Back in the day there was no internet to research buyers. My agent did indeed have her list of buyers to market the demo, but these were the days of hard copy snail mailed demos. It cost in the thousands each year! Today it's almost free once you have the tools to market. And again, you have the ability to reach so many more.

Now, I think most vo actors out there need to first evaluate what you have TO market and whom would be impressed by it. This is a business all about relationships. Your marketing will reflect who you know and where you are in your career. Your marketing has to be specific and strategic. And your demos need to be brilliant. Impressive people are only impressed with impressive work. A bad demo will close more doors than a good one will open.

And if you've never worked a day, but you've had auditions, chances are some of your auditions included the buyer/ad exec info. If so, do the same marketing I do when I work.

So-before you do any marketing, sit down and put together a spread sheet reflecting you career, whom you know, have auditioned for, worked with, etc. Then start marketing! Know that you won't hear back from 90% or more. So what? You only need one person to change your life and career. When they do, and especially if it's an impressive gig, you now have another substantial feather in your hat to use for your next round of marketing.

All of my marketing is electronic. Well, most. I do wine and dine past buyers. If there's an ad exec, producer, casting director, etc., whom I know well enough, I'll take em for after work drinks and (or) dinner and talk shop.

But I never cold call. Those whom I work with would resent that.

If I send out a postcard, that's also electronic. If I've done something extra special, I create an ad that promotes the project and email that. I design these based on "for your consideration" ads used during award season. Google "for your consideration ad" and click images, you will see oodles of em. The ad reflects the project itself, subtly mentioning me and what I did. I do this mostly for animation, but only when the project is released. It could be an episode of a cartoon where I did a guest shot that is airing this week, OR a new show where I'm a series regular. Etc. It will probably include hyperlinks to everything fro my website to my agent.

Hope this helps!
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ballenberg
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
But I never cold call. Those whom I work with would resent that.


What do you mean, Bob?
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Bob Bergen
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ballenberg wrote:
Quote:
But I never cold call. Those whom I work with would resent that.


What do you mean, Bob?


I don't cold call buyers. The caliber I work with at the major networks , studios, and ad agencies would consider this annoying and unprofessional. But all are open to an email.
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DougVox
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good god man...the brilliance above, provided by Connie, Den, Deirdre and Bob (combined with a healthy dose
of effort and follow-through) is enough to turn a talented beginning voice actor into a talented working voice actor.
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