So, you’ve got your demos posted to your website. Your home studio is all set up. You feel confident in your abilities to produce high quality voice over work. Now what? It’s time to get that first voice over job!
To accomplish this, you’ll need to take off your voice over hat for a moment and put on your marketing cap. After all, it’s not the best voice over talent that typically gets hired for the voice over gig. The best marketer does. Plus, let’s face it, people can’t do business with you if they don’t know you exist. The voice over artists with the greatest skills at getting their demos in front of the right ears enjoy the lion’s share of the voice over opportunities in the market place. The good news is that, in this internet age, the number of cheap and effective ways to market yourself has never been more plentiful. In this blog post, we’ll cover a few simple steps for getting that first paid gig.
- Build or obtain a sharp looking website. In this industry, and in today’s age, a website is a must. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, but it does need to be sharp looking and professional. Take a look at other voice over professional’s websites to get an idea of what you’d like to create. You can produce a website at a relatively low cost. If you are a student of Such A Voice, a professional looking website may even be a part of your training package. Contact us for more details about that.
- Build a profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a powerful tool for voice over professionals. Most of your competition is not using this tool at all, never mind using it to its fullest potential. Your LinkedIn profile can lead people directly to your VO website and your demos. LinkedIn also offers professional industry groups you can join for networking and professional collaboration. If you want to do voice over for video games, for example, there are hundreds of opportunities to connect yourself directly with professionals working for video game companies. The same holds true for ad agencies, production companies, and producers of E-learning materials.
- Create a Facebook page dedicated to your voice over profession. Utilized in the correct ways, Facebook is a great place to market your voice over business. Opportunities to network and advertise your services are plentiful and growing with each new Facebook update. Facebook needs to be utilized in a specific way, though, in order to be effective. Don’t use Facebook to spam messages to people. Use it to network, invite people to listen and comment on your demos, and to connect with people in professions related to voice over work.
- Twitter is another powerful marketing tool for voice over professionals. Follow others on Twitter who are either practicing voice over professionals or professionals in digital media, gaming, E-learning,
- Finally, build your list. This will require a bit of leg work on your end, but it will be worth it. Every voice over professional should make it a practice to build a database of companies, people, and contacts who hire and work with voice over artists. An ideal starting point is to build a list of up to 200 contacts. This can be accomplished easily enough with simple Google searches. Pick a geographic region like Kenosha, Wisconsin. Go to Google and type Kenosha, Wisconsin ad agencies or production studios. A list of viable prospects will pop up. Visit the web pages of these companies to determine the kind of services they offer and products that they make. From there you can begin contacting these companies to inquire about how they handle their voice over needs.
There are only four practical ways to market yourself. They can be categorized in the following ways; advertising, networking, direct response, and referrals. Eventually, referrals will play a major role in your voice over marketing strategy. Until you’ve developed a bit of a foundation, however, direct response marketing and networking will be the most effective tools in your marketing arsenal. You can rejoice that you have entered a thriving industry at an opportune time. The internet enables you to work for anyone from anywhere provided you have a computer and an internet connection. There’s plenty of work out there so go out and get it, and let us know when you get that first gig!
Lonny Hogan is a marketing and business development expert, working directly with Such A Voice to grow the brand.
