The following is from the Such A Voice archive, written by Catherine Marshall.
When you hear the name Britney Spears, chances are many things come to mind. There was her hit video in the Catholic school girl’s outfit, her outrageous kiss with Madonna, and let’s not forget her on-again-off-again relationship with K-Fed. Her amazing voice talent probably doesn’t come to mind because, well, to be honest – Britney Spears can attribute about 80% of her success to brilliant marketing and 20% to actually singing.
Admittedly that’s a bit harsh, but as business today is swarming with new social media outlets, competition isn’t simply about quality these days. As you set up your home studio and professional voice-over work, you may be wondering how much time and resources to put into marketing your product versus practicing your voice-over technique. On the one hand, conventional wisdom still holds true: If no one knows about your amazing product, then no one will buy it. That’s a big recommendation to get set up with the bare essentials of social media to get your voice-over brand out there: Facebook, your personal website, and (if you have time) Twitter.
On the other hand, if your product is no good, then social media creates the opportunity for everyone to find out about it. Here, other conventional wisdom holds true: Good news spreads fast, bad news spreads faster! People can write reviews in Yelp.com, tweet about you, and then publish a more lengthy diatribe on their blog.
This pertains to you and your social media marketing strategy for your voice-over work because people pay less attention to advertising and more attention to social media these days. Be careful that you’re honest and direct with what you directly promise – or imply – to clients with your voice-over marketing so that you still have the goods to back it up! [And *that* is a big recommendation to continue your voice-over technique training with your coach!]
