Growing Your Voice-Over Business

Okay, so let me preface this by saying that like most of you, I dream big. Like, really, really big. I’ve read Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk more times than I can count. I subscribe to Danielle LaPorte’s “Truthbombs”, and listen to all of Story Brand’s podcasts….I am a junkie for the hustle.

That being said, one of the greatest sources of tension in my life and business is in maintaining the balance between my tenacity and my expectations.

By the way, if you’re reading this, you’re tenacious too. You may not feel like it all the time, and that’s okay. Sometimes I don’t either. However, I want to remind you of the level of courage you mustered up when you began this entrepreneurial journey, and encourage you to keep moving forward. I believe perseverance is one of the greatest determining factors that differentiates successful individuals from those who settle for mediocrity.

Alright, I’ll step off my Zig Ziglar soapbox for now so we can get down to it because you have goals to reach!

First of all, have you connected with all of your local studios, production houses and ad agencies? Some of the most successful talent I know have started building their client list by locking down their local and regional markets and then expanding from there, creating a ripple wave of success. Last year my biggest single booking came from networking with creatives from a local, boutique ad agency. I made a little more than 40k from this one voiceover job and it was all because I decided to get to know the people from my hometown that hired voice actors like me!

Have you looked up and contacted all of the studios in your state that are listed on Production Hub? Are you a member of your local Ad Club or AAF Chapter? Do you attend the MCA-i meet-ups that take place in your town? Even if you have to travel a few hours to a bigger market to participate in these kinds of networking opportunities, I would strongly encourage you to do so. It’ll be worth the gas money.

Here’s another possible avenue to success which DEFINITELY requires perseverance, so first I’m going to ask you a question:

How much are you auditioning? I have a friend who built a six figure voice-over career in less than two years by auditioning 60-80 times a day. I know that Pay to Play sites are a touchy subject and to be honest I have never participated with any of them. However, I know that for some people P2P’s have played a significant role in their success.

Let’s talk about perceiving possibility. I was chatting on the phone with a friend a few weeks ago and we were talking about perception when she happened to say the most unusual thing. She said, “I love traffic.”

I’ll let you think about that for a minute.

She went on the qualify her sentiment by saying, “When everybody’s cruising along at 85mph, I feel like I may be missing things. When we’re sitting in traffic I have plenty of time to take in my surroundings and occasionally draw creative inspiration from billboards, bumper stickers, etc. Sometimes I’m able to find a nugget or two that inspires a new brand or marketing campaign for one of my clients.”

This made me wonder how much I might be missing out on simply because my perception may not leave my imagination open to possibility.

I’ve always loved this quote by G.K. Chesterton, “An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.”  We all know how hard this business of voice acting can be. Our time is so valuable and precious, especially when we’re desperately trying to juggle work and “real life”. Things like traffic or waiting too long in the drive-thru Starbucks line can seem like huge time-eating inconveniences.

I encourage you to try and adopt a new perspective that may put a new spin on things that may have once been considered inconvenient. Possibility is everywhere, we just have to be open to seeing and receiving it.

Later goal diggers!