24
Your Voiceover Identity

In This Chapter

Present Yourself as a Professional

You’ve spent a good deal of time studying your craft, and you have made an investment in producing a high-quality, marketable demo. Congratulations… you’re in business. As you begin making contacts for voiceover work, you will be speaking to and meeting professionals who may have been in this business for many years. These people have seen it all, and have little time to waste on an amateur trying to break into the business. Your first impression needs to be memorable and professional.

Managing your voiceover business requires at least some degree of specialized knowledge in an incredibly broad range of activities, even if that knowledge is only an awareness of something you do not know how to do, but which you also know must be done. A professional is someone who knows how to delegate those duties for which they are not an expert. However, the little detail of cost can be a major incentive for a sole proprietor to learn about some of the more esoteric aspects of business management. Other chapters cover many of the more mundane business activities, like setting fees and keeping the books. This section will briefly cover some of the management concepts that will help to establish you in the voiceover marketplace. For more information on any of these topics, an Internet search will reveal many additional resources.

Creating Your Brand

Presenting yourself as a professional is important when you introduce yourself to agents and talent buyers whether that introduction is in person, through a phone call, in print, or via your website. A coordinated brand shows that you mean business, take your career seriously and consider yourself to be a professional. Your brand is the visual and/or auditory representation of who you are and what you do. It sets you apart from your competition in the mind of your clients.

Words of Wisdom from Paul Frees

If you don’t know the name Paul Frees, you really should get caught up on your voice actor history. From the 1930s until his passing in 1986, Paul Frees was one of the major character voice actors in the U.S., commonly known as “the man of a thousand voices” (a title simultaneously held by Paul’s contemporary, Mel Blanc.) His voice was heard in hundreds of movies, cartoons and television commercials. He was the voice of the Pillsbury Dough Boy and Boris Badinov in the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons. The list goes on and on. If you’ve ever been to Disneyland, you’ve heard his voice in the Haunted Mansion and numerous other rides. Paul’s unauthorized biography can be found on wikipedia.com.

Paul’s son, Fred Frees (fredfrees.com), has carried on in his father’s footsteps as a voice actor, producer, coach, and creator. He regularly interviews top voice talent on his Voice Peddler podcasts to inspire and educate anyone and everyone interested in voice acting (youtube.com/FredFrees).

Regarding Professionalism

© Fred Frees. All rights reserved.

fredfrees.com

Defining Your Business

Positioning Yourself in the VO Marketplace

There are two elements of your marketing that can set you apart from others who do what you do. Defining these two components is the first step to creating a strong brand. First is a UPS, or unique positioning statement. This is a short two or three-sentence statement that clearly defines what you do, for whom you do it, and your unique solution to an urgent need. The basic structure is:

“We do (services) for (your market) to achieve (results) .”

Imagine you enter an elevator with another person who asks you what you do. You see that person press the button for the next floor, so you know you only have until that elevator door opens to clearly describe what you do, who you work with, and the resulting benefits. That’s your elevator speech… a conversational version of your positioning statement.

Writing your UPS can be a challenge because it requires you to fully understand the value of what you offer and how what you offer solves the critical needs of your prospective clients. This may require some research on your part and a great deal of thought as you hone and refine your statement. It’s not as easy as it looks. There are many excellent books and Internet resources that discuss this aspect of business development, and that can help you create your UPS.

The second element is a USP, or unique selling proposition. A USP is a refinement of the UPS into a single, short statement. It says: “Use our services and you will get this specific benefit.” The essence of the USP can then be crafted into a slogan that can be anything from a single word to a short phrase. Your USP might actually be a functional slogan, or you may choose to not use a slogan at all. Your slogan, if you have one, along with your visual image or logo, are how most of your clients will come to identify and recognize your unique brand. With enough experience and credibility, your name in a specific font style may be enough to represent a strong brand.

Your positioning statement is intended for you to help give your business focus. It’s not really intended to be publicly promoted, although variations of it will be found in lots of marketing materials and, of course, in the elevator speech. Your selling proposition, on the other hand, is for your clients to help them remember you and keep you top of mind.

Here’s the unique positioning statement for our coaching and training services website VoiceActing.com:

This positioning statement is intended to give us a clearly defined focus on what we do, who we do it for, and the results that can be expected from using our services. It consists of only two sentences, but all three components are included. This statement positions us as expert performance coaches and as a business that understands business communication. When used in conversation, it opens the door to questions and an opportunity to get into more detail.

Your Visual Brand

Your visual image is another important part of your marketing campaign and should reflect your individual personality. It can help set you apart from the crowd and ultimately work toward establishing you as a “brand name” in the world of voiceover. It should be consistent in all printed materials and carry through to your website.

An orchestra conductor is our logo, representing the process of combining several core elements of communication to achieve effective results. For marketing this aspect of our business, we refine the positioning statement to a single phrase that is more concise, yet conveys the story we want to tell. During our early years, we successfully marketed our performance coaching services under the VoiceActing.com banner graphic and tested two USP’s:

The original VoiceActing.com graphic looked like this:

Figure 24.1: VoiceActing 1st generation graphic brand

As we began to produce the VoiceOver International Creative Experience (VOICE) (voiceconvention.com), the world’s first major International convention for voiceover talent, we realized that, although our positioning statement still conveyed what we did, our USP no longer accurately reflected the way we were perceived by the voiceover community and our clients. In addition to the convention, we had also expanded our services to include a full-service production company, corporate coaching, and had moved the business from a partnership to a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). We spent a considerable amount of time brainstorming and testing various ideas and slogans. As a result, we expanded the VoiceActing.com brand by adding the VoiceActing Academy, VOICE and VoiceActing Studios. New graphics were designed and a new USP was created for each aspect of our business that we believe more accurately positions who we are and what we do.

Here are some examples of our branding graphics that demonstrate how our brand has evolved over the years:

Figure 24.2: 2nd generation Voice Acting Academy with VOICE logo. USP: “Changing lives, one voice at a time.”

Figure 24.3: Updated 3rd generation banner graphic for website with new USP: “Training and Support in the Craft and Business of Voiceover.”

Figure 24.4: Updated 4th generation graphic for website, combining USP's from generations two and three.

Venturing into the area of producing an International convention presented an entirely new challenge for branding our event. We wanted the name of the event to be instantly identifiable and associated with the voiceover industry. The name ultimately chosen was VOICE, which is an acronym for VoiceOver International Creative Experience. During the course of its five conventions, the UPS and USP stayed the same, but the logo evolved through three iterations. The basic logo was designed over a period of days and incorporated a fair amount of symbolism using a series of hexagons and six-pointed stars to represent the core components of the event.

Figure 24.5: VOICE Convention logos (three generations) USP: “Education, Technology, Community.”

The convention’s positioning statement was:

You can create your own UPS, USP, and slogan by taking a close, hard look at what you do, who you do it for, and what makes you different. Only by close examination will you be able to discover what makes you unique from other voice talent in your area. When you discover what that is, write it out in a few sentences that describes it clearly and concisely. Be creative and let your imagination run wild. Ask your coach and close friends how they would describe you. This process can take up to several hours or several days, but once this creative exercise is complete, you’ll have a much clearer picture of your role in the world of voiceover. With this understanding in mind, you can now begin to explore various ways of refining the essence of your work into a concise USP and slogan.

Come up with as many ideas as you can and narrow them down to a few that work for you. Pick the best one and use it everywhere. Your slogan and logo are the visual representation of your brand and they should be included in every piece of print material, as an email signature, and on your website.

Here are a few examples:

• Changing lives one voice at a time (VoiceActing Academy)
• Telling your story in so many ways! (James R. Alburger)
• Putting the magic of media to work for you (Cigma Media)
• When quality matters (J Michael Collins)
• Aural gratification guaranteed (Lani Minella)
• Guaranteed to round up more business (Bob Jump)

Building your business as a voice talent can be a daunting task, but you don’t have to do everything at once. Take things one step at a time. As you complete one aspect of your business development, begin working on the next. Approach your business development from an organized and structured foundation, much like you have done with your performance craft. A search on amazon.com for “branding” will bring up dozens of books to help you identify your USP and build your business identity.

Setting Up Shop

Today’s voiceover world revolves around the voice actor’s home studio and office. Both are essential and fortunately, a single computer can handle most of the work.

The purpose of setting up a formal office area is so that you can really keep yourself in a mindset of handling your voiceover work as a business. The recordkeeping and organizational aspects of a business become increasingly important as you begin generating income from your voiceover work. You’ll need a way to keep track of your bookings schedule, income, expenses and other aspects of your business. There are also certain tax advantages to setting up a formal business and you would be wise to consult a tax advisor or accountant on this matter. These topics will be covered in the next few chapters.

As with any business, it is important for you, as a voice actor, to stay in touch with your clients and prospects. Consider some of these necessities for that all-important client communication:

• A cell phone—Your cell phone will be one of, if not the, most useful tools you own whether you work exclusively from home or are on the road. It will be an absolute necessity for staying in touch with clients and your agent. There are literally dozens of smart phone Apps that can help you with many aspects of your voiceover business, including even recording directly on your phone and uploading files to agents or clients. For a small monthly fee, you can even add a second line from a service like godaddy.com/smartline to use exclusively for your VO work.
• An answering machine, voicemail, or service—If you don’t have a cell phone, one of these is absolutely essential. Be sure to check for new messages frequently, especially when you get an agent. There are some interesting virtual phone number messaging services available on the Internet for free or for a minimal monthly charge. Services like Google Voice (voice.google.com) can forward calls, take voice mail and even send voicemail messages to your email. An Internet search for “phone messaging service” will reveal many options.

• Business cards, letterhead and envelopes—You should consider each contact you make as a potential client. Your first impression leaves a lasting memory. Even though we live in a largely electronic world, you should consider professionally designed and printed business cards and stationery as essential ingredients to presenting a professional image.

  A business card is an absolute necessity. As part of your personal networking, you will want to let everyone you meet know what you do. Your business card is the first and best introduction to you and your talent, followed closely by your demo. Always carry a supply of business cards with you and hand them out every chance you get.

The most important things on your business card are your name and a telephone number where you can be reached, followed closely by your email address and website. The most common problem with business cards is that the telephone number is too small to read easily.

Figure 24.6: Business card dimensions with sample layout.

The second most common problem is too much information on the card. Include only the most important information about yourself on your card. If you are using a slogan or logo, those should be on the card as well. Keep the design clean and simple for best results.

• Thank-you notes—A frequently overlooked, yet very important, business practice is the thank-you note. A brief note of thanks is often all it takes to leave a good feeling with a producer or client. These little notes can easily be prepared in advance, help generate positive memories of your work, and provide a gentle reminder that you are available. In this electronic age, receiving a printed thank-you note in the mail can have a huge impact simply because it shows that you took the time and effort to make your client know they are special. An email "thank-you" is also appreciated.
• Newsletters and Postcards—This form of customer follow-up can be either electronic or sent by mail. As with thank-you notes, newsletters and postcards will have more impact if sent by mail. Content usually includes a brief description of recent projects and clients and any other interesting information. The sole purpose of the newsletter or postcard is to keep your name in front of the talent buyer. If you use email to connect with clients, you might send out a brief update on your activities on a monthly basis.
• Blogs and social networking websites—Blogs (short for web log) have become a popular, and highly efficient, method for voice actors to communicate with their clients and friends in the voiceover community. Blog subscribers receive almost immediate notification when a new post is added that announces a new client or other news. Most blogs are associated with a website. Social media websites allow for communication on a much broader scale.

Print Materials

Even if your marketing will primarily be through your website and email, there are several marketing items you will want to consider having professionally designed and printed, including business cards, envelopes, and stationery. For best results, take your layout to an experienced printer. However, if you are on an extremely tight budget and possess the necessary computer skills, there are online printing services that are very affordable and that even include templates for designing your own layouts. An Internet search for “online discount printing services” will bring up lots of options. Or, if you have the proper software, you can use a laser or high-quality, color ink-jet printer to create your own print materials.

For the do-it-yourselfer, Avery is considered by many to be the standard for blank, preformatted labels and paper stock. Its website, avery.com, provides everything you’ll need to create and print your own designs.

Photos

CD Demos

One of the nice things about voice acting is that your physical appearance is far less important than your ability to act. No matter how good your demo might be, a photograph is going to give the talent buyer a face to go with your voice. At one time, a photo was seen as a distinct disadvantage. But as with many other aspects of voiceover work, over the past few years, that has changed. Many talent agents and voiceover casting services now prefer to have a visual association with the voice actor they are working with.

The increased use of Social Media and its widespread use of imagery for networking and marketing is likely one of the reasons for this shift. Another reason may be the increased desire for a conversational delivery style and that a photo can give the talent buyer a better connection to the voice actor’s performance. Yet a third reason may be the fact that many voice actors serve double-duty as on camera or theatrical actors, where headshots are an essential marketing tool.

Regardless of the reason, in today’s voiceover marketplace, a good headshot photo can actually be a strong benefit. But the photo needs to be well thought out and of professional quality. A poor-quality photo will still reflect your level of professionalism and can work against you, no matter how good a voice actor you are.

If you choose to use a photo as part of your packaging, hire a professional photographer who understands performance headshots and make sure the photo reflects your money-voice personality.

The era of the audio CD as a distribution medium for voiceover demos has gone the way of the audio cassette. However, individual one-offCDs will most likely remain an option for voiceover demos for some time to come. If you choose to put your demo on a CD, you have two options: 1) simply burn the CD and slip it into a case or paper sleeve with your name on the CD, or 2) go the route of having a small run of one-off CDs burned with a professionally printed label on the CD.

Here’s where another shift in voiceover marketing has taken place. When the CD was the primary demo marketing tool, the cover design, tray card and CD label absolutely had to be of top quality. The CD was often the first, or only, opportunity to present the voice actor’s brand and image.

Now that voiceover demos have moved, almost exclusively to online electronic delivery as .mp3 files, website downloads, and even as part of a video demo, the importance of a professionally produced and packaged audio CD has become less and less important. In fact, CD’s are so rarely used today, that most professionals—who once insisted on highly produced print content for the CD—are now endorsing the idea of simply burning a CD on your computer, writing your name on the CD in indelible ink and slipping it into a slimline jewel case or paper sleeve with only your business card as supporting print material. Most professionals today don’t even offer the availability of their demo on CD.

Your Website

For voiceover talent today, a website is an absolute necessity. It’s often the first stop a prospect makes to learn who you are and what you can do. A website is your 24/7/365 brochure, available to be visited by anyone, any time, anywhere in the world. If you don’t already have a website, I’d suggest you seriously consider learning about the Internet and getting online! A website is an invaluable tool in marketing your voiceover talent.

Many voice talent have chosen to use their Social Media page, their pay-to-play profile page or a free website design service as their primary marketing tool, rather than create a dedicated website. I think this is a mistake for several reasons.

Social media websites are great for staying connected with friends and maintaining relationships, but unless the site is focused on business, like linked-in.com, there will usually be many distractions on the page making it difficult for a potential client to quickly get the information they are looking for. Even if the Social Media site focuses on business, your page is still not a dedicated URL that brands your talent and services.

Pay-to-play profile pages are even worse! When you send a potential client to your P2P profile page, you are giving them access to every other voice actor on that website. It simply isn’t a good business practice to give your prospects such easy access to your competition. Another challenge with the P2P profile page is that you will have very little, if any, ability to customize the page layout. Most profile pages look just like every other profile page for that site.

Finally, although free website design services like wix.com offer a valuable service, a website created here will not be yours. Your “domain” name is actually a sub-domain of that service, which means you do not own the website.

You could, of course, register a personal domain name and create a domain forward to the free web page, but you still won’t own the actual website. The content is yours, but should you ever want to move to a different hosting service that offers you more capability or better services, you will likely have to build your new site from scratch. Also, building a website on one of the free services is usually limited to working within the constraints of their online templates. You simply won’t have the ability to create a fully customized website that you own.

Now, using a free website service is not necessarily a bad thing. If you’re on a tight budget, a simple free site can serve you nicely until you are ready to step things up. The free sites do have a professional look and they are relatively simple to use, although adding some bells and whistles may take some time. Always keep in mind the old adage “you get what you pay for.”

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges to using any of the above as a primary marketing tool is that all of them will show up in the search engines as part of the hosted domain, and not under your specific domain. The exception to this might be if you register a domain name and create a domain forward. But even here, the hosting company (the one giving you the “free” page) will be in the browser command line and in most search results.

If you are going to present yourself as a professional, I strongly recommend making the investment to either hire a professional website designer or taking the time to learn how to use Wordpress so you can create your own personalized and customized website.

No matter what approach you take for designing and building your website, remember that the purpose of the site is to market you as a voice actor. Flashy animation, glitzy graphics, and clever font styles may look nice, but they may not serve the purpose of branding your voiceover business. Before hiring any web designer, take a look at their work and ask for referrals. If you expect that you might need to update your site on a regular basis, you may want to consider building your own.

Website Essentials

There are many important considerations for putting your website online. Here are just a few:

• URL (Universal Resource Locator), also known as the domain name: This is the name of your website. You want yours to be simple, short, and descriptive. Your domain name must be registered before you can set up an account with a website host. Most hosting companies can help you with registering your URL. Check for availability and register or host through magicinet.com or one of many other registrars. Your domain's URL name is associated with an IP address (Internet protocol) consisting of a series of 12 numbers that identifies the websites location on the Internet. These numbers refer to address or location of the website's Dynamic Name Servers (DNS), which are actually the hard drives on which the website exists.
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol): This is the means by which a website structure (or file directory) can be accessed online. You can look at your site's URL as the front door of your website and its FTP access as the back door.
• Site design: Your website should be designed to reflect who you are and what you do. Carry your branding, font styles and color schemes through to your website to keep your visual image consistent.
• Email: Using an email address with your domain, such as "you@yourdomain.com" only makes good marketing sense. Most websites allow for email to be viewed or forwarded through the website's webmail account. Avoid using your primary email address as a common @gmail, @aol, @hotmail, @msn, @yahoo, and similar email addresses that shout "amateur." You can easily set up your domain email address to forward to your generic address, and set your domain address as an additional address in your email client so it can be used to send email from within your generic account.
• Tell your story: Your website is the place to let prospects know who you are, who you've worked for, and what you can do for them. A one-page site, if well-designed, will present you as a professional with all the information any prospect might need.
• Post your demos: Your demos are your primary marketing tool and should be posted on your website. MP3 is the most common format as it is a fairly small file size and will download quickly. Demos on your site can be linked to MP3 files stored on your site, which will usually play in the browser. Or they can be set to play within a media player on the site which can also offer the file for download. This requires a bit of behind-the-scenes web design, but the benefit is definitely worth the effort. Another option is to use an offsite media player service like soundcloud.com. This type of service allows you to upload your files and create a link to their player that is embedded on your site.
• Using photos: Photos of you, awards you've received, your logo, and even logos of your clients (used with their permission, of course) are all now considered as viable marketing tools and can all lend credibility to you as a professional voice actor.