When starting out in voice-over, so much of the emphasis is on your performance – and rightly so – you need to be talented enough in order to be consistently booking work.
Fortunately there is no need to remember how the Dewey Decimal System works.
But what happens when you get the work and need to save your project? What about invoices? Do you have a letterhead? Wait, the client came back three months later and wants you to resend the file….but where did you put it?
You want to spend the time you have auditioning, marketing, and getting coaching – not scrambling through your Trash folder hoping you can find your client’s project from a few months ago.
We are professional business people. So let’s get organized.
Create a file called something simple like “Voice-over”. Then within that main folder, let’s create several more specific folders…
- Demos, with your demos listed in category folders, like “Commercial” or “Narration”, followed by folders indicating which year they are from. Every few years you update your demo, but we still want to keep our previous iterations. You also may have to name each demo in different ways for different agents or platforms depending on their preferences (i.e F.AmandaUtter.Commercial and AmandaU.Commercial).
- Invoices folder, again organized by year. You can also list your invoices by year and then number order of job. Your first job of 2023 would be listed as 2023-1, then the second one would be 2023-2 and so on. Use an organizational document like Excel to list the company you are invoicing, the date, the invoice number (2023-1), project name, rate and usage, and whether you have been paid.
- A Marketing and Branding folder, followed by specific folders like “Headshots”, “Letterhead”, “Client Logos”, “Social Media Posts”, etc. Here you can conveniently access your professional headshots, letterhead and logos to continue your consistent branding whenever needed. You can keep track of what social media reels have been posted and what are prepped for the next week.
- Projects, where you know to find each recorded project saved, first by year, then by client. This gives you a simple path to find projects from years prior, as well as a place to save final projects when you receive the files from clients. Quick hint: at the end of every month reach back out to that previous month’s clients, asking for a shareable or downloadable link to the final product. Not only will you get work you can share, but it will also remind the client of your talents and keep you top of mind.
- Auditions, by year and then by month. Many times when you book a job, the agent or client will reference your audition when giving direction. By staying organized you can quickly reference your work.
There are numerous other configurations. Take my examples and format them to fit your style. I would also suggest folders for important paperwork such as contracts, taxes/receipts, and résumé.
You want to be able to effortlessly find what you need so you can respond to the client or agent as the professional you are. Being a freelance creative takes so much mental work just to get started, and much of the effort is solely on you. Make it easy on yourself from the beginning and your future voice-over boss self will appreciate it!
Check out our free PDF with pro-tips from real working voice-over actors here!
Want to learn more about voiceover? Signup for our introductory VO webinar.
