The Voiceover Artist and The Press
If you have read any of my other blogs before this one, you will know I am super enthusiastic about the press. Why am I so passionate about it? IMDb credits will show the world how good and creditable you are. Your demos and headshots will show the world your range and style. Social media does an excellent job of showing whatever we want the world to see, whether it be humor, business success, family, or anything else. So, what does the press do, and why is it important? The press allows us to put out information that puts us in a place of influence and presents us with the opportunity to support, invest and uplift those who work around us. When we have the press, it shows we are well-rounded with all the above, but it gives us the ability to give back to the industry. Giving away our tips and tricks, sharing our experiences and stories, and putting ourselves in a place of connection helps those around us whilst boosting one’s own profile.
The Voiceover Mindset in the Business World
As a working actor and northern voiceover artist, the business side of what I do is vitally important. It is a core building block of everything I do and the number one opportunity to grow my business and book fun jobs! That said, it requires a different mindset. I must step out of my performer’s mindset for a moment and think practically, following the professionalism and expectations of any business. This is not a moment to be creative but a moment for me to show off my gifts, advertise my services and display my worth. This article was born in a business setting.
The Post-Covid Voiceover Business
I was at a voiceover collaboration meeting in London, looking at ways to support artists more globally. At the meeting, there was a business coach who supported the meeting chair. His role was to look at resource systems and processes to critique them, simplifying them but increasing the impact and audience range. These meetings are so important because modern-day voiceover talent’s trends, needs, and desires change regularly. Take the pandemic as an example. Outside studios suddenly stopped whilst home studios became the new norm. Larger companies were sending their regular talent home studio kits. Interface and microphone companies saw record sales, and all of a sudden, connectivity platforms like Source Connect and Clean Feed made the world a much smaller place, connecting directors, producers, engineers, and talent together under the power of the internet.
Making PR with a Voiceover Mindset and Vision
The coach at this meeting runs his own magazine, and it just so happened his PR manager was present at this meeting as she was supporting with the collaboration of the two organisations. She later began working closely with my client and supporting her with the voiceover magazine. We were on a call discussing the voiceover magazine one evening, and she shared with me how she was delayed in her business clients’ magazine due to an article gap that she was now struggling to fill. I mentioned how often I write content, and she invited me to collaborate with the business magazine after sharing some of my recent business ventures. I kindly accepted this offer. Within the article, I shared the following four key points.
Point 1: Use your Imagination in Business
At this point, being an actor and voiceover artist means you are a business. So, for this first point, let me ask you a question, what do you believe in? What is the natural dream progression for your business? There are common answers to this question. More subscribers, more customers, more clients, bigger clients, all the usual stuff. But let us unpack it more, do you want new customers in specific countries? If so, which ones? Do you want to expand your team or travel the world? Allow yourself to imagine and begin making tiny steps towards this, but most importantly, let yourself just dream and imagine.
Point 2: Think Outside the Box
As a voice over talent, I am constantly having to think about creative ways to find and keep more clients as it is a heavily oversaturated environment and highly competitive. Ask yourself where the work is. I am constantly looking out for where I can help a potential client with a problem. In the voiceover world, I recognise out-of-date or poor voicemail recordings. I would ask for recommendations and testimonials from clients I can share on social media or my website. I would think about investing some more time into my SEO and content. There are always things we can be doing.
Point 3: We Need to Adapt to Change
I mentioned the pandemic, but in the acting and voiceover world, we had to adapt quickly or not work at all. Here is the thing, a lot of actors and voiceover artists did start new jobs or not work because of the situation. It was awful! But many managed to scrape new realms of income in the forms of teaching, proactively reaching out to new and old clients, and putting the hustle on the front foot. Many companies used the online world to take advantage of the situation. The open university did an outstanding commercial of a student telling her family online that she was accepted into university. The screen displaying the boxes of the individuals was something we were all familiar with, having suddenly jumped onto Zoom, Teams, and Meets. It was relevant, it was expected, and it was present. But the need to change continues regularly.
Point 4: Work with Conviction and Purpose
With all the above, use the visions you captured in your time of dreaming and imagination from point 1 as your driving force of motivation. What you visualised can be materialised. Spend some time every day doing a little bit to grow your business, whether it is a social media post, a blog for your website, or reaching out to clients – prospective or existing.
The Voiceover Mindset and Vision Today
So, whatever comes our way as actors and voiceover artists these principles will apply. Though the seasons change and the environment is always a little bit unstable. The ability to make a social media post, write a blog, or reach out to prospective or existing clients is something we can do daily. Networking does not stop, whether online or in person, the options are there. Of course, you need to keep your skills sharp with workshops and coaching. Immersing ourselves in new business trends and techniques is a good point. Finally, do something! Do not become complacent because you can rest assured your competition will be proactive.
The Voice Actor Getting Press
Getting press can seem like a tricky task. You might ask yourself, what will I write about? What do I want to share? Who will take this article on? These are all great questions. Before I answer them, let me explain the several types of press. Perhaps you met a celebrity and want to interview them; that is an interview with someone else. Perhaps someone wants to interview you on a role you did, this is an interview on you. Perhaps you wrote something important designed to help others, this is press written by you (articles). Finally, perhaps you found a cool piece of kit or some plugin you have fallen in love with, and write something about that; this would be a review. So, we have interviews with you, interviews done by you, articles, and reviews. All of these work favourably for your portfolio.
So where do you go to get press? Reach out to your local newspaper, they love media-based content. For example, perhaps you just did a corporate VO for Starbucks, the headline could be: ‘Local Business Books for Starbucks.’ You can reach out to your old educational facility, be it a Drama School or University, they are always looking for successful case studies from former students as they can use them in their literature for current and prospective students. Look for relevant publications in your industry field. You will notice in several of my blogs the articles I am writing about are related to ‘The Buzz Magazine.’ The Buzz Magazine is dedicated to voiceover artists and motion capture performers. So, I try to get involved with these guys as much as I can, and occasionally, they get me involved. This, over the years, has built an excellent portfolio.
Press Breeds More Press
So, I frequently mention The Buzz Magazine, but this article is from The Business Club House magazine. So what is that? The Business Club House is a business magazine. You may have recognised from my blogs that I am super enthusiastic about networking and business. A friend shared a mutual client, and we were chatting about shared tasks. During our chat, she shared that she was behind with a publication for one of her other clients. She was the editor for The Business Clubhouse magazine and had to pick up an article due to someone letting her down last minute.
She shared that she was not a fan of writing content, which would take her hours. At this point, I shared a few of my recent wins and business successes with her and she invited me to author the article in her place if I could do it immediately. I informed her it takes me 20-25 minutes to write one page of A4, and with excitement, she invited me to write for the magazine. Thirty minutes later, it was in the final draft. My point with this is networking, and business skills put me in a position to get this piece of press. I knew the person, I was able to help them, and I was able to adapt myself to their publication.
The Voiceover Mindset and Vision in Business
As mentioned earlier, The Business Club House produces the magazine. So for me, as the writer, the content has to be less entertainment-based and more business based. Relatable, generic, and transferable content from industry to industry is vital here, as it is all just business at the end of the day. Whether you are a window cleaner, a voiceover artist, or a stockbroker, you are a business in your own right.