VO Business Startup

CREATE YOUR OWN SUCCESSFUL VOICEOVER BUSINESS
A GUIDE TO FINDING YOUR GROWING YOUR VOICEOVER BUSINESS:
- HOW TO FIND THE TYPES OF CLIENTS THAT WILL BUY YOU
- HOW TO FOCUS ON LEADS THAT ARE HOT VS NOT
- HOW TO EASILY SELL YOURSELF WITHOUT SELLING
- HOW TO BUILD STRONG RELATIONSHIPS TO SECURE REGULAR WORK

Table of contents
INTRODUCTION
Step
01
SET YOUR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
DEVELOP A POWERFUL FOCUS
GENERATE LEADS
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS TO GET MORE WORK
Step
02
Step
06
Step
05
FIND YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS
Step
03
03
05
10
07
28
48
Gravy For The Brain | 02
SUMMARY
KNOW WHY CLIENTS BUY
Step
04
14 51
18

It's time to take control. It's time to consistently build your dream
career on your own terms by harnessing the power of relationships.
But first, you need a systematic, automatic, value-driven marketing
plan that doesn't eat up all your time or your money. That's where
this Blueprint comes in. This is the fully-loaded, proven formula that
to attract high-caliber auditions, book next-level jobs, land and
propel your career to the next level. It will give you the confidence to
take your career to staggering new heights.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
1. How to focus on clients that want you.
2. How to set your goals and objectives to steer you
towards success.
3. How client profiles can help you win more customers.
4. How to easily research and find clients.
5. How to organize your contacts using a CRM system.
6. How to build relationships with prospective clients.
7. How to create the perfect elevator pitch.
8. How to use the top power techniques to sell yourself
INTRODUCTION
The voiceover market is very competitive and building a sustainable
voiceover business can be tough. However, the rewards are amazing –
you get to work around your personal lifestyle and have a level of
freedom many will envy.
When you are starting out it is easy to be overwhelmed by all the
different information you need to learn. At the back of your mind is
the pressing need to also find out if you can make money as a
voiceover. Making money is one thing but what most voiceovers want
is to make enough money so that they can do it full time and really
concentrate on building it as a business.
You don’t want to give up or fail too early. Having made the initial
commitment to use your voice talent, it is important to work smart
not just hard. You want to avoid making the rookie mistakes that
beginners and even intermediate voiceover artists make.
With a limited amount of time to do your marketing and promote
yourself it is important you use it effectively. This guide is designed to
help you thrive in this exciting industry. Work though each section and
use it to improve how you develop your voiceover business.
If you want to learn more, get more information on how to develop
your voiceover career then take part in the Voiceover Business
Mentoring Forum.

INTRODUCTION
Do you want to get regular work as a voiceover? Work with
the best clients and agencies? Well the only way to do this
is to improve how you build relationships.
Being able to persuade and influence people is a vital part
of developing any career. It becomes even more important
when you are running your own business as a voiceover and
you need to get regular work.
The good news is that ‘promoting yourself’ isn’t as hard you
think. This guide gives you a step by step guide to how to
the basic skills you need to find clients, understand them
and get more work.
The skills you need will enable you to nurture client
relationships just like a sales professional. Each section of
the guide gives you a clear set of actions to help you move
your career forward. Changing habits can be hard, but each
time you practice and develop these skills you start to
improve how you compete in the voiceover market.
4
1
2
3
6
5
Set goals
Develop niche focus
Find your ideal clients
Use research to get
noticed
Generate leads
Get more work

GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND TACTICS
One of the most important aspects of developing your life and your career is to develop a plan. When
writing a plan, you need to follow a simple formula, abbreviated "GOST," which stands for "Goals,
Objectives, Strategies and Tactics." Each element is essential to the success of the plan. Following this
template also makes it easy to measure the goals once the plan has been executed, because the
objectives are already set.
Step
01
A goal is a broad primary outcome. if
you don’t have a goal in life, you are
spending your life running around and
not achieving anything for yourself.
Top-level athletes, successful business
people and achievers in all fields all set
goals. By setting goals for yourself you
are able to measure your progress
because you always have a fixed
endpoint or benchmark to compare
with.
GOALS
A strategy is the approach you take to
achieve a goal.
A strategy is a plan of action designed
to achieve an objective. Strategies tell
you how you’re going to get there, the
overall direction you are going to take.
You need to realize that the most
essential and valuable thing that you
have to bring to your life and to your
work is your ability to think, to act and
to get results.
STRATEGY
An objective is a measurable step you
take to achieve a goal.
An objective is a specific and
measureable milestone that must be
achieved in order to reach a goal.
Each objective will start with a verb.
Here are some good ones: ”increase,"
"deliver”, "sell”, ”work”, "find”,
"decrease”, "speed up”, ”earn”,
”learn”. Start an objective with one of
these words, and then use numbers to
make it measurable.
OBJECTIVES
Goals
Strategy
Objectives
Tactics
A tactic is a task you do in pursuing an
objective associated with a strategy.
Tactics are the small steps you have to
perform to achieve your strategies.
Tactics are your daily “to-do” list, that
give you the momentum towards
achieving your objectives.
Tactics are also about the tools you
use to help you get things done.
Tactics are about: what concrete
action needs to be taken and how
effectively can you achieve them.
TACTICS

GOALS
Think of all the wonderfully talented voiceover artists out there. If you
perceive yourself as just one of hundreds of talented voiceovers, it is
easy to feel discouraged from pursuing the career of your dreams. This
is where having a brand and setting goals can help turn your career
around. Once you see yourself as unique, it reduces the pressures of
competition because you know that you have something special to
offer. It is the start of trusting your gift. On a practical level, having a
brand helps you define your career objectives.
"Life is a journey, not a destination.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
As this quote reminds us, life is ever evolving and changing for all of us.
As we travel on life's road, let's take the time to consider what we want
to accomplish along the way.
In order to create the kind of career you want, it helps to have a clear
picture of where you're headed, your personal mission. It's equally
important to carefully plan how to get there—how to make your
dreams come true, one day at a time. Setting goals gives you long-term
vision and short-term motivation. It focuses you, and helps you to
organize your time and your resources so that you can make the very
most of your accomplishments. By writing down goals and objectives
for yourself you are taking a big step toward making them happen.
For those of you ready to push yourself to your full potential, we believe BEST
goals can take you and your voiceover brand to the next level. Here is how you
can apply these new criteria to inspire your very BEST
BOLD – A bold goal, when applied to your personal brand, goes beyond your
“safe” goals. Setting these goals takes you out of your comfort zone by
surpassing your own expectations. The most exciting aspect of personal
branding is that you don’t always have to play by the rules when dealing with
how you want to brand yourself. Be fearless and maximize your potential by
stretching your limits.
ENRICHING – A goal set on the basis of enrichment is a goal benefitting two
sources. Create goals that are advantageous to your product or service as well
as your own personal growth to fortify your brand. Because your brand is a
direct representation of you as a professional, it is important for your goals to
enrich your story.
SUPPORTED – Rather than being a one-man-team in achieving all of your goals,
acquiring a support system of those believing in your dreams is a great way to
remind yourself of your ability to achieve. For example, if you hope to be
influential enough to speak at an upcoming industry event, clue others in on
your goal for added motivation.
TARGETS – Similar to “timely” in the SMART goals, the final criterion for BEST
goals is to establish a framework as to when you will accomplish what you have
set out to do. Goals without a deadline often remain in the clouds. This is the
tough love aspect of goal setting – if you want to reach your goals, get it done!
Step
01
TIPS FOR ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS

OBJECTIVES
Too often we don’t spend enough time clarifying what we’re really aiming to
do before we move to action. It’s all too easy to set objectives that are so
general that we don’t know exactly what we’re trying to achieve, or whether
we’ve achieved it.
SMART objectives
A structured approach forces us to think more deeply and methodically about
what we actually want. Objectives are active using strong verbs. Action verbs
are observable and better communicate the intent of what is to be attempted,
like plan, write, conduct, produce, apply, to recite, to revise, to contrast, to
install, to select, to assemble, to compare, to investigate, and to develop etc.
Avoid generalities in objective statements and infinitives to avoid include to
know, to understand, to enjoy, and to believe. rather than learn, understand,
feel. The words need to be not only active but measurable.
What is SMART objectives? Any objectives you set should be:
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely
SPECIFIC– Objectives should specify what they need to achieve.
Tip 1: Think about your goal from start to finish, and plan out how to do it. Try to sum it up in 1-3
sentences while plotting everything out.
Tip 2: SMART goals work best if you're willing to stay committed. Get yourself a day planner to
help you stay on track. Write your goal on the inside page as well as the steps involved. Track
your progress as you go along.
MEASURABLE – You should be able to measure whether you are meeting the
objectives or not.
Tip 3: When measuring, set up checkpoints along the way. Your overall goal might be to lose 30
lbs, but try setting up check points every 5-10 lbs and give yourself a small reward. You've worked
hard after all.
Tip 4: Measure carefully. It's easier to keep a goal if you witness all the progress you have made,
rather than just occasionally checking in when you remember.
ACHIEVABLE – Are the objectives you set, achievable and attainable?
Tip 5: Write out a mission statement to yourself and hang it where you can see it. Reminding
yourself of why you're doing it is a great way to stay motivated.
Tip 6: Before setting a lofty goal, ask yourself why you're doing it. If the answer does not come
back as "for me," you might want to reconsider.
REALISTIC – Can you realistically achieve the objectives with the resources you
have?
Tip 7: Don't be afraid to ask for help. Friends and family are often more willing than you expect to
help you stay on track.
Tip 8: If you're having trouble reaching your goal, don't be afraid to extend your time frame a
little. Just remember there's a difference between struggling and being lazy.
TIMELY – When do you want to achieve the set objectives?
Tip 9: If you achieve your goal early, you might want to continue on until your finished date.
Especially if this involves saving money.
Tip 10: When setting times to achieve your goal, don't set the date too early just to impress
people.
Step
01
TIPS FOR WRITING OBJECTIVES

TOOLS
Step
01
EVERNOTE
This is your digital brain. You can use Evernote to
organize your thoughts, store information, set out
your goals and objectives and so much more. It is
an ideal tool to help you get organized. To learn
how to use it use Evernote Essentials.
NOZBE
This is your task management system. It one of
the most powerful but flexible tools in the
market. The trick is to use set specific projects to
stay organized and manageable. Nozbe also
integrates with Evernote and DropBox.
LIVEPLAN
LivePlan is a cloud-based solution that helps you
generate a solid business plan, even without any
knowledge of how to put one together. LivePlan
guides you through the entire process with video
and text instructions.
DRAFTS
Drafts 4 provides steps for all sorts of tasks such
as posting to various social media sites, accessing
the iOS Share or Open in menus, sending emails
or text messages, or uploading your drafts to
services like Dropbox or Evernote.
ZEN
Do your notes keep piling up in your default
Evernote notebook(inbox)? By using Zen, you can
quickly organize your notes with swipe
operations. Zen helps you reach inbox zero in
Evernote, leaving you feeling refreshed!
TODOIST
Todoist is a great online task management app
and to do list. For Web, iPhone, iPad, Android,
Chrome, Outlook and many more!

OBJECTIVES
Step
01
CHECKLIST OF ACTIONS
GOALS
OBJECTIVES
STRATEGY
TACTICS
Write down three goals – make them specific.
Set them for a 1-2 year time frame.
For each goals set three clear SMART objectives.
For each objective write brain storm the tasks.
Prioritize your tasks and set them out in time order.
Put the tasks into your task manager e.g. Nozbe.
Schedule weekly times to review progress in calendar.
Schedule time to review objectives every three months.

NICHE FOCUS
Owning your niche in your market, using your personal brand, means you are creating a mini-kingdom where you are the king or queen of a particular target
market. When people think of that niche, they think of you. The niche and your personal brand become synonymous. When you are going to spend time
researching and building relationships with clients you need to do it in a focused way. Researching is not just finding contact names, it is about learning about the
potential clients and understanding their business, troubles and much more.
Step
02
BETTER MATCH YOUR SERVICES TO THEIR NEEDS
Many people are afraid to eliminate people from their niche
because “What if I narrow so much that I don’t have any clients
or work to do?”. The truth is the more you define yourself the
better your will be able to tailor yourself to the needs of a specific
set of clients.
LESS COMPETITION
Most markets have a high level of competition. If you compete
for work with all the other generalists, you are unlikely to stand
out, get work or be treated as an expert. A niche has less clients
but also less suppliers. More importantly you can focus.
GREATER PERSONALIZATION
Understanding a niche market means that you will develop a
greater depth of relationships. Usually niche markets people
know each other well and it is easier to build relationships and
get referrers.
DEVELOP EXPERTISE AND KNOWLEDGE
Trying to hop from learning about one part of an industry to the
next is hard and takes up a lot of time. Specializing gives you the
chance to be very knowledgeable in a specific sector. You will
learn more about common problems facing clients, how they buy,
and what’s changing e.g. clients changing companies.
CHARGE MORE
Study after study shows that specialists earn more than
generalists. The same is true of niche brands, they are more
profitable because they can charge more.
FIT TO WHAT YOU WANT
Before focusing on a niche there are two things to consider:
1. How does your voice fit to the market
2. Is it something you are interested in and passionate about
You are more likely to succeed if you are able to answer yes to
both of these.

VOICEOVER NICHES
NICHE SECTORS FOR VOICEOVERS
The main types of voiceover:
• Commercials
• TV
• Radio
• Movie Trailer
• Narration
• Audiobooks
• Gaming
• Animation films and series
• Phone Message
• Training videos
• Explainer videos
• Podcasts
• Documentaries
Each of these aspects of the voiceover industry involves different types
of clients and buying processes. By clients, we mean creative directors,
casting agents, talent agents, ad agency executives, TV network
producers and video game developers. You must learn what drives
these professionals, what their day-to-day work life is like, what they
look for in vocal performances, and how they like to be contacted.
The voiceover industry has niche types of work which are largely driven
by the different media and media channels used.
LOSE THE FEAR OF MISSING OUT (FOMO)
Fear of missing out on opportunities, makes many voiceover actors
try to be all things to all people. They present ourselves as generic
“all-purpose” voices. The result is that their marketing is equally
generic … and clients can’t easily what specific skills they have.
Once you stop trying to be “all-purpose” and allow yourself to focus
on your natural strengths, you’ll avoid wasting energy and time
pursuing areas of the industry you’re not ideal for. The payoff? More
energy and time to focus on the clients who need your type of voice.
Get out of your own way. You won’t impress any agents, casting
directors, or clients with insecurities and small goals. If you think
small projects, you’ll get small projects. If you think network
campaigns, national commercials, and signature projects, you’ll find
voiceover glory.
As in all industries the size of the budget for a project affects how
and what services are purchased. The larger the budget and/or the
more complex the process; the more likely clients will be to use an
agency who can provide a one stop shop for their needs.
Step
02

YOUR NICHE BRAND
Strong brands are recognized by how they fulfil their brand promise.
It’s not just about being different, it’s about the difference you make.
The unique mix of qualities you have combined with your values that
creates your personal and powerful platform to market yourself.
Strong personal brands succeed because they recognise and add value
to their customers. The brand you create needs to be authentic and
be consistent across all your channels and media communications.
The guiding principles used in this work book will help you focus on
your strengths and identify your uniqueness. This workbook will help
you create a powerful personal brand and that can accelerate the
success of your voiceover career.
1. Set Your Goals
2. Identify Your Strengths and weaknesses
2. Find Your Unique Values
3. Identify Your Personality
4. Define Your Style
6. Create Your Brand Promise
7. Produce Your Visual Brand Identity
8. Write Your Brand Story
Your personal brand needs to be true to who you are, in other words
authentic and a reflection of your strengths, personality and values.
As you build your personal brand you will reflect on what value you
offer clients and how to package yourself.
THE EIGHT STEPS OF NICHE PERSONAL BRANDING.
Developing a clear and strong personal brand is vital to differentiate
yourself from your competition. It provides the platform for you to be
able to
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
SET YOUR
GOALS IDENTIFY
YOUR
VALUES
BUILD ON YOUR
STRENGTHS
IDENTIFY YOUR
PERSONALITY
CREATE
YOUR
BRAND
PROMISE
DEFINE
YOUR
VALUE
CREATE
YOUR BRAND
IDENTITY
WRITE
YOUR
BRAND
STORY
Step
02

DEVELOPING YOUR NICHE
Step
02
IDENTIFY YOUR VOICE STYLE
Get feedback and identify your signature voice.
Produce a high quality show reel.
Produce website and brand social media sites.
Identify clients and their profiles.
Build and nurture relationships.
Maintain focus and build database of target customers.
Extend network and update brand.
FOCUS
IDENTIFY CLIENTS
BRAND YOURSELF
Develop your personal brand.

HOW TO FIND YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS
There are lots of ways to get work in voiceover. Much of the pay to play sites for instance will give you chances to audition and
get work. But if you want to take your career to the next level you need to be much more strategic. Getting a solid roster of
regular work with big name clients gives you not only a great income, but also an enviable and prestigious portfolio of clients.
This next section shows you how to marry up you goals with your niche to become a master at getting work. It isn’t easy though
but the good news is that many won’t do this, they won’t be disciplined and focused. If you are then you will easily get more
work then your competition, but more importantly achieve your goals.
Step
03
Once you have identified your niche target
clients you are ready to find potential clients.
Remember it is a competitive market so the
more research you, the better your list will be.
Add all your information into a CRM system so
that you can record all your contacts. The CRM
system will become your most valuable tool in
developing and building your client base.
In the voiceover market there are lots of
different clients – agencies, casting directors,
voice directors…Understand how each of these
people buy is critical to success.
Different sectors of the market also have
different lead times between starting a project
and using a voiceover. IN your CRM system you
need to allocate people to these different types
of profiles.
Building a list of clients takes time. If you want
to build long lasting relationships in the
voiceover industry you need to be careful not
to spam people or appearing desperate.
Use the right techniques though and you can
create a great first impression and develop
those all important relationships with potential
clients.
RESEARCH PROFILE DEVELOP
Use the promo code ‘VOEBOOK18’ for a special monthly discount

RESEARCH
Using the internet it is easy to research your ideal voiceover clients
based on the niche sector you are looking to work in. Of course there
are some key types of ‘clients’ such as casting directors and voiceover
agencies.
The type of voiceover agency you decide to target will reflect your
experience and level of skill. You needn’t be a geek to learn how to
research though. There are some basic tips that make a big difference.
The important thing is to stay focused and avoid losing valuable time
by getting distracted whilst on the internet.
WHAT TO RESEARCH
The more work you put in at the beginning the easier it gets.
• Contacts
• Places to get auditions
• Networking opportunities e.g. industry conventions
• Partners e.g. video directors who get involved in projects early
PLACES TO RESEARCH
• Search engines – Google, Bing
• Linkedin
• Backstage
HOW TO USE KEYWORDS
You may be using smart ways to search already, in which case this is a
refresher. However, for those that are new to searching there are ways
to improve the accuracy of your search results, they are called Boolean
searches, but you don’t need to get hung up on that term.
The first important thing to appreciate about Boolean, is that there are
only 5 elements of syntax to understand. These are:
• AND
• OR
• NOT
• ()
• “”
The two most important are the AND and quotations.
AND
We are asking the LinkedIn database to search for all of the people
who include both the word “casting” and the word “director” on their
LinkedIn profile. Meaning we are only looking to find candidates who
candidates who have both keywords mentioned in their profile.
QUOTATIONS
When using search, if the keyword you’re searching for needs to be
considered as a whole word e.g. Voiceover Casting Director, then it
must be enclosed within quotation marks in your Boolean search
string. If not, the database will consider the space between the two
words to be an AND and will search the database for two terms –
voiceover AND casting AND director.
In other words, you must use quotations wherever you have two or
more words e.g. “voiceover casting director”
Step
03

RESEARCH
At this stage join the dots to what you are trying to achieve. You have
already set some clear GOALS that indicate what you want to achieve.
You have also identified how your voice fits to the market and the
niche you want to focus on.
Now when you research you are looking at connecting HOW you are
going to market yourself with the RESEARCH.
The main ways to market yourself are:
1. Referrals – build on existing relationships/who can connect you
2. Networking – events and who attends them
3. Reach out/selling – profile potential clients/companies
4. Website – optimise your website to ’sell’ your VO services
5. Social media – Twitter feeds of potential clients/companies
6. PR – relevant journalists for target magazines
So when we are researching we should have a clear goal for each of
these methods.
As an example you can research industry events that we can attend to
network. You can also look at the Twitter feeds of potential clients to
see if they attended the event the previous year.
Few people like the idea of picking up the phone and talking to people.
It can seem scary. Yet this is often the best and fastest way to get to
know companies and build relationships.
HOW TO FOCUS
Imagine having a steady stream of work, a healthy list of regular clients
and getting paid above average rates. Sounds ideal!
This is achievable. To get there though you have to move out of your
comfort zone, do things that at first may seem scary. Marketing and
sales is about building relationships and sometimes you have to be
bold and brave to get out there. The good news is that if you use the
right techniques and work hard at them you success rate will motivate
you as you get more work and more clients.
GET ORGANISED
Use tools to get organized. Plan your week and days so that you have a
regular set of ‘habits’ that build your voiceover business. Much of the
next steps are about getting organized:
• Create a list of clients that you can ask to refer you on.
• Research and build a list of conferences/events where you can
network. Try to go with a friend/fellow VO to help you network
more effectively/for support.
• Create your list of potential clients
• Break your list up and prioritize it:
• Local vs national (you can meet local face to face)
• Types of clients e.g. agencies, casting directors…
• Size of company/opportunity
• Build a list of magazines, newspapers you would like to get featured
on
• Create a list of journalist contacts
• If relevant, get a list of contacts together for local TV/radio stations
• Create a list of people to contact re: TV/radio
Step
03

RESEARCHING YOUR NICHE
Step
03
RESEARCH GOALS/FOCUS
Create a list of things you need to research.
Break the list down to match your marketing methods.
Identify clients and their profiles.
Prioritize local vs national opportunities
Understand how and why different clients buy.
Maintain focus and build database of contacts.
Set actions to contact people weekly
CREATE RECORDS
PROFILE CLIENTS
RESEARCH CONTACTS
Schedule time to do it every day.

FIND OUT WHY CLIENTS BUY
Identifying your target clients and developing client profiles is a great
way to:
1. develop a clear picture of the kind of companies you are
targeting» understand the types of people you will be targeting
within those companies
2. understand how to reach out to them
3. understand what motivates your existing and potential clients
4. build a picture of buying cycles so you know when and what to
communicate
5. understand how they buy and who influences their decisions
6. understand what type of communications work best to get their
attention
THE STEPS TO A GREAT CLIENT PROFILES
1. Create a simple client persona – who are your clients?
2. Understand their goals – personal and professional
3. Identify what projects and programs they are working on now
and in the future?
4. Identify how they source voice talent – the process and who
else is involved
5. Understand how often they buy and budgets
6. Identify who else is involved in the decision making process
and budgeting. Who influences their decisions?
7. Learn what they think is important for voiceovers to get right
and stand out?
8. Understand what channels they use?
9. Identify what content interests them and what they share?
10. Identify how they make decisions about voiceover actors?
FOCUS ON YOUR IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE
Before you can identify potential clients, you need to define which
clients you can help and which you can’t. The ideal client profile
defines which companies are a good fit for your services and which
ones are not.
Know your clients, influencers, decision makers and other interested
parties are. To ensure that your content and communications
resonates with them, learn what their needs are and what keeps them
up at night. By researching you will eliminate assumptions and
demonstrate your expertise.
RULES FOR BUILDING EFFECTIVE PROFILES
Taking the time to building a client profile helps you to focus on
understanding your clients, how they buy and importantly why they
buy. Buyer profiles are not “made up” and are derived as an
outcome of a thorough research process.
Step
04

Client Persona Client Goals Buying Process Client Thinking Why Buy?
Initiatives Channels
Influencers, Stakeholders, Buying Team Content and information
Timing
Who are your clients?
Demographics:
male/female, age, income,
location
Role:
job title, level of experience
do they have, area of focus
and responsibility.
Team:
Do they work as part of larger
team?
Is the team involved in buying
process?
Who are your clients business
goals?
What are your clients personal
goals?
What company goals affect
their buying behaviour?
What initiatives/new projects
is your client working on?
What new projects have they
got in the pipeline?
Which projects and programs
have potential for you?
What buying process/casting
process do your clients follow?
What is their selection
criteria?
How do others influence the
buying process?
What are the seasonal buying
patterns>
How does their budget get set
and when?
What is the full buying cycle?
Which attitudes help you/hurt
you with clients?
What perceptions do clients
have of your
services/voiceovers?
Which channels do they use?
Where are our clients socially?
What external sources do they
use? Forums?
Why do use voiceover
services?
What do they consider when
making their decision?
What do clients value from
voiceovers?
What can voiceovers do to
help them?
Do they use regular voiceovers
or go to market each time?
What are the unarticulated
reasons “why” when they look
at voiceovers?
Who are key people involved in voiceover projects?
Who influences their decisions? DO they have external influencers e.g. agencies?
What role does your client having in projects?
Who participates in the deciding which voice is right?
What news and articles do clients read?
What interests your client?
How do clients share information e.g. Twitter?
What affects their choice when deciding on a voiceover?
How do they look for voiceovers – sources of information?

BUILDING CLIENT PROFILES
One of the most critical steps to establishing your client persona(s) is
identifying potential clients, finding them and arranging to talk. Start
with your best clients as you want to attract more client work like
them. Conduct some interviews with your existing clients to build your
profile. If you’re relatively new to voiceover or in early stages and
developing your list or client base, then approach some clients. Be
sure to balance out your interviews with people who have not
purchased your product or know much about your company. Ask
existing clients to refer you to others to help you.
Step
04
People are driven by the need to achieve their goals within their role.
This is particularly true of people who work in larger more structured
organisations were goal setting is an everyday part of life. By
researching clients you can uncover insights into their goals and how
they affect the buying process and decisions. There are two types of
goals to understand: 1. their company goals and 2. personal goals.
Research has proven that the underlying goals and goal-directed
behaviors, as well as, their link to emotions, affects decision making.
The role of emotions and goals in buying decisions can account for
nearly two-thirds of the elements going into pursuing a choice. An
example of an emotional decision is how they assess risk and trust.
Client Persona
Client Goals
You want to understand the personal or organizational circumstances
that cause your clients to allocate their time and budget. You might
find that once they source the right people they hand off to others
and then work on new initiatives. Knowing what projects lie ahead,
and their priority is important. Using this information you can stay
ahead and be in the front of the queue when they are looking to
source voiceover talent.
Some voiceover clients work months in advance and line up the right
people in advance. Other clients will work on much tighter timelines.
As an example a voiceover agency might get a call from a client that is
new to them asking them for a voiceover for that week.
Some clients might change how they source voiceovers based on new
budgets or new projects. The important point is that sometimes
clients deviate from normal buying patterns, although it might not be
often it is important to know.
Some buying involves teams. Knowing if a team is involved is critical to
improving conversions.
Initiatives
Buying Process

Certain types of clients, as well as different sectors of the voiceover
business, display specific patterns of timing. Gaining insight into this
aspect of buying can lead to powerful content as well as sales
interaction at the right time. If you want to find and nurture lead
opportunities you need to know these e.g. project lead times for
gaming and the release date cycles.
Step
04
This area is concerned with the perceptions and attitudes of clients.
These will often differ dependent on the level of involvement within a
project as well as personally bias. As an example a client might decide
on a voice (potentially with others), but after that hand off to a voice
director to be involved in the project.
An example of their thinking is how they view the level the voiceover
profession in general, the importance of the voiceover as part of a
project…it can also affect who they choose in terms of voice
preferences. Other things might be pet hates – things that they find
annoying or irrelevant when they are looking for information.
Timing
Client Thinking
It is easy to say clients use multiple channels. However, more work
needs to be done in the how and why and where clients are going to
find information and source voiceovers. How is social and digital
channels affect their decision?
Different clients will use different channels for sourcing services they
need.
Why clients buy is an important part of understanding differing clients.
Some companies are more price focused, some will only buy based on
a certain level of experience, others are looking only for people who
have experience in a sector e.g. no gaming voiceover experience.
Whilst some clients will issue a clear brief for the type of work others
may not thus making the decision making process more personal
rather than logical. The other aspect is the level of experience of the
client in choosing and using voiceover services.
Channels
Why Buy?

Influencers, stakeholders, approvers, and etc. can each work
independently or in unison. There are patterns, which form for
different parts of the voiceover industry. Knowing the role your client
plays in the overall buying process is critical. Knowing the full story of
how people and team members interact in the buying process is just
as critical.
Step
04
Influencers, Stakeholders, Buying Team
The information and content needs of voiceover clients are shifting as
trends in the different parts of the industry change. Content on your
website, social media feeds, PR articles and outreach campaigns need
to be relevant to your target client profile. More importantly it is
important to know what information directly affects clients choice.
Content and information
At the heart of the client profile is the principle that you do not simply sell to clients. The goal is to understand them, recognize that they do not buy solely based on skills.
The more you place the emphasis on their needs and getting to know them, the better and more sincere you will come across.
The process of developing a client Profile is to challenge people to understand the different ways in which a voiceover comes to be hired for a project. The more you know
the processes, the thoughts behind the process, the more you will find your fit with potential clients.
Where to start – sometimes you will find it takes time to build out a full profile. In meeting clients you don’t want to bombard them with too many questions so you might
ask questions and then follow up with some further questions. Build out your profiles and keep them pinned on a board to remind you of your clients. In marketing
departments it is not unusual for teams to have their all their client profiles pinned on a board. By being visible it will help remind you that your clients are your number
one focus.
KEEP IT SUPER SIMPLE

ORGANIZE YOUR CLIENTS
So far we have talked about researching clients and so far we have
treated all clients equally in terms of their importance. This is far from
reality though. As you learn about different clients you recognize that
not all will become long term or event want to build a relationship.
This is no reason to treat how you work with them any different. You
will still want to deliver a great and professional experience. These
buyers that buy ‘transactionally’ might change jobs and may well, in a
new role or company, become a long term client.
The diagram ‘Types of Clients” breaks down the market into four types
of clients.
- Short term and Transactional (ST)
- Short term and Relational (SR)
- Long term and Transactional (LT)
- Long term and Relational (LR)
As you build your voiceover career you ideally want to have more and
more regular work. Clearly this will come from clients where you have
the opportunity to build a relationship:
- For ongoing regular work and for a portfolio of project work from
clients that have work, but not often subject to their own clients – in
other words you become their preferred voiceover for project.
- In the voiceover market you will always have one off projects, that is
indeed the nature of the industry. However, identifying clients that
have longer term pieces of work is also useful. This is one of the
reasons why voicing for games is so competitive.
TYPES OF CLIENTS
This is a simple way to think of how you want to have a spread of
different types of clients.
Step
04
TRANSACTIONAL RELATIONAL
SHORT TERM
LONG TERM
SINGLE PROJECT
e.g. pay to play -
commercial
ONE OFF
SPORADIC
PROJECTS
e.g. video
production
companies
LONG TERM
PROJECTS
e.g. extended
types of project
REPEAT PROJECTS
e.g. go to voice for
company or
advertising agency
or through
voiceover agency

THE POWER OF CRM
Now you have an understanding of the importance of understanding
different types of clients its time to get organized.
You want to organize your clients for a number of reasons:
- Track client conversations. So you know what you last said to them
and can set follow ups.
- Track the value you get from different clients. Make sure you know
which clients pay the best, the ones where you earn more from and
of course the clients who give you regular work.
- Make a record of any bad clients e.g. clients that are rude or don’t
pay you (on time or at all).
- Record personal details so you can use them when you next see
them e.g. birthdays, partners name, trips…
-
The other key point is that there are costs associated with finding new
clients (your time and effort) so every existing client is important.
Customer relationship management (CRM) helps you to do all of the
things above and helps you better understand your clients. Using a
CRM helps you to:
- Increase the number of clients who you get regular work from
- helps build your professional reputation by being active and
following up with clients
- improves your earnings by focusing on the most profitable
customers and dealing with the unprofitable ones
HOW TO USE A CRM SYSTEM
Most CRM systems have a number of key features that allow you to
manage your clients. The trick to using them is to determine before
hand what your approach is going to be and to organize your
information. This also helps you spot gaps in your information that you
can then address e.g. missing emails, contact numbers, addresses…
SEGMENTING YOUR CLIENTS
As you research your potential list of clients you will identify those that
give you the better opportunities. Generally CRM systems use tags
and/or labels to group types of customers. Using these you can then
send separate emails out to different types of buyers, making it more
relevant to them and interesting.
- Getting face-to-face with clients is important. So if you live in a large
town or city then focus on on clients you can meet. If you live more
rurally set a radius for travel e.g. within 1 hours drive.
- Create these basic tags/labels (you can change what you call them):
1. Early Stage Contacts that are active and you plan on
reaching out to
2. Nurture Clients – clients you are currently working on
building a relationship with, but haven’t purchased.
3. Active Clients – clients that have purchased your services
and your are strengthening your relationships
4. Transactional Clients – clients who you will keep in contact
with but are not going to use your regularly.
5. Hit list Clients – Clients that could transform your career –
choose a limited few no more than 10.
6. Inactive Clients – clients that do not respond to you
7. Bad Clients – clients that do not pay on time or for one
reason or another you do not want to deal with.
Step
04

CRM TOOLS
Step
04
INSIGHTLY
A simple and affordable CRM software for your voiceover
business. Insightly is an easy-to-use, feature-rich CRM
software that won't break the bank. Easily manage
customers, prospects as well as easy tools to analyse your
customers base.
HIGHRISE
Highrise doesn’t integrate with email applications directly
like some of its competitors. Instead, it uses a concept called
a “dropbox.” Each user has a dropbox email address in their
Highrise account. You can copy or blind copy this address on
all email correspondence and Highrise will attach it to the
right contact.
BATCHBOOKS
BatchBook allows you to integrate the most popular
of social media into one easy to manage interface.
This can provide needed information for your social
interactions. Although BatchBook does have a great
deal of features for customer relations management,
it does center around social integrations more than
sales.
ZOHO CRM
Zoho CRM provides contact management, lead
management, campaign management,
opportunity management, service management
and mobile apps. It’s also free for those that are
tight on budget.
BIG CONTACTS
BigContacts’ CRM gives you an easy to use dashbaord
view of your prospect & customers. With this dashboard
you can easily view all of the notes, calls, email, files,
opportunities, and more for any contact. The software is
also optimized for mobile viewing, and can be interacted
with from any web-enabled device.
APPTIVO
Apptivo’s CRM Apps work as modules for contact
management, lead management and opportunity
management. Marketing Apps include campaign
management, lead and loyalty management.

CLIENT PROFILE - TIPS
The purpose of developing a client profile, also called a marketing
persona, is to focus on how you communicate with clients.
Recognizing differences amongst the clients you come into contact
will help improve how you build relationships.
• TIP 1 – don’t add in stuff that you think about a client – in other
words do not make assumptions.
• TIP 2 – Talk client that has a certain profile to verify the
information you have put together.
• TIP 3 – Focus on the client profile that represents the largest
amount of money you earn – you want more like this.
• TIP 4 – use information to help develop CRM profiles and stage of
contact in terms of buying.
• TIP 5 – another way of improving how you get to know clients is
to find out what they are interested in and keep a record of it.
A USEFUL PROFILE TOOL
A simple tool to help you get started in PersonApp. Use this to create
your profiles and identify the different type of clients you need to
build a relationship with.
4
1
2
3
6
5
Set goals
Develop niche focus
Research and find
clients
Produce client profiles
Generate leads
Convert leads
Step
04

JOINED UP MARKETING
Now you have done the hard work and got the foundations in place
you are on your way to taking your voiceover career to the next elevel.
The next step is to market yourself. Marketing though is not a one off
activity, it is a consistent set of actions that over time build your brand.
Imagine if a business launched a new product and only advertised it
once. The chances are the company and the product would fail.
There are some rules to marketing that you need to follow:
• Consistent – make a mantra to consistently develop your brand,
your business each day of the week.
• Connected – make your marketing connected. Join up your website,
PR and social media to create a bigger impact.
• Relevant – be relevant and focus on having a service rather than a
sales mindset.
• Authentic – Be you. You are your own unique brand so be true to
who you are and demonstrate you personality.
• Creative – think like an entrepreneur and develop unique ways to be
interesting and relevant to potential customers.
• Experiences – your brand is about telling your story and creating
vibrant and memorable experiences each time you interact with
people/
So the key is to create a simple and manageable schedule – a blueprint
for how to market and develop your personal brand.
FOCUS ON OUTCOMES
Too many voiceover actors focus on the wrong things and as a result
feel as through they aren’t getting anywhere. They keep doing
auditions but not building success.
The most important thing is to focus on the right outcomes and that
starts with people not jobs. If you treat your career as a series of
transactions with people, and not relationships, you will fail.
Relationships
Build strong lasting relationships with people that value you and your
talent.
Reputation
Build a credible reputation that people share and endorse. Your
reputation is the cornerstone of your brand.
Resume
Your relationships and reputation will deliver the results that help
build your resume.
If you focus on being you, on using your creativity and having an
entrepreneurial mindset you will:
So what are the methods to connect with the right people, the
communication methods that work? The next sections will help you
understand each of the main methods to connect and build leads with
clients.
Step
05

THE PROMOTIONAL TOOLKIT
Now you have done the hard work and got the foundations in place
you are on your way to taking your voiceover career to the next level.
The next step is to market yourself. Marketing though is not a one off
activity, it is a consistent set of actions that over time build your brand.
Imagine if a business launched a new product and only advertised it
once. The chances are the company and the product would fail.
There are some rules to marketing that you need to follow:
• Consistent – make a mantra to consistently develop your brand,
your business each day of the week.
• Connected – make your marketing connected. Join up your website,
PR and social media to create a bigger impact.
• Relevant – be relevant and focus on having a service rather than a
sales mindset.
• Authentic – Be you. You are your own unique brand so be true to
who you are and demonstrate you personality.
• Creative – think like an entrepreneur and develop unique ways to be
interesting and relevant to potential customers.
• Experiences – your brand is about telling your story and creating
vibrant and memorable experiences each time you interact with
people.
So the key is to create a simple and manageable schedule – a blueprint
for how to market and develop your personal brand.
FOCUS ON OUTCOMES
Too many voiceover actors focus on the wrong things, and as a result
feel as through they aren’t getting anywhere. They keep doing
auditions but not building success.
The most important thing is to focus on the right outcomes, and that
starts with people not jobs. If you treat your career as a series of
transactions with people, and not relationships, you will fail.
Relationships
Build strong lasting relationships with people that value you and your
talent.
Reputation
Build a credible reputation that people share and endorse. Your
reputation is the cornerstone of your brand.
Resume
Your relationships and reputation will deliver the results that help
build your resume.
If you focus on being you, on using your creativity and having an
entrepreneurial mindset you will:
So what are the methods to connect with the right people, the
communication methods that work?
Step
05

WEBSITE
You need to understand that an voiceover actors website is rarely used
in a professional casting process. This is worth repeating, your website
is rarely used in a professional casting process.
So why do you need a website?
Having a website allows you to showcase yourself:
• To get work - having an online presence allows casting directors,
producers and directors who are interested to learn more about
you.
• To be able to control what material is presented about you - you
control how you appear in search and start to own your personal
brand. Having all your information in one place makes it easy for
those looking to get to know you and wouldn’t you rather have
control over what they see?
• To have a digital hub – a home base when social media sites come
and go. Who knows what Facebook, Instagram or Twitter will look
like in ten years? You don’t. But you will know what your acting
website looks like.
Decide on the focus of your site. Look at where your career is now and
where you’d like it to be. Often it’s a good idea in your marketing to
position the facts in a way that tells where we’re going, not where just
where you’ve been.
WEBSITE MISTAKES TO AVOID
Amateur Design - there’s a LOT of crap out there. If you are going to
produce your own website either use a standard drag and drop
service or WordPress (WordPress has drag and drop capabilities as
well!).
Third person - unless you’re already a huge success, it’s just plain
weird to write your news and/or blog updates in the third person.
People expect for it to be personal.
Avoid pompous language - it is incredibly annoying to read bios
peppered with cheesy self-importance, i.e. “With his incredible work
ethic and talent, Michael has become an instantly recognisable name
in voiceover!”
Flash website - ten years ago, flash was the bomb OK. Unfortunately,
it’s quickly becoming a useless format because it’s not compatible
with smart phones and iPads.
A website you can’t update - if you can’t update your website with
new photos, show-reels, bios, and/or news on your own, you’re going
to have a heart attack . Make sure that however your site is built -
through WordPress, or otherwise - that you have access to the back-
end and you understand how to update the website elements.
What comes next is how to make a website that is awesome, delivers
your brand, is easy to use and looks good on mobiles.
Step
05

WEBSITE
Building a website yourself can be highly rewarding and provides an
opportunity to learn how it works. With the tools we have provided
there is very little technical skill required. However, it will still take you
time and effort to get it to look really good.
It’s important to set a budget, set out how much time you’re willing to
invest and what sort of result you aim to achieve. If you have a lot of
work and budget is not a problem then you can hire a professional web
designer. On the other hand if you are just setting out and have a
limited budget then you can develop a website yourself.
This guide provides you with the main advice only and to find out more
look at our other guides for voiceovers.
STAGES OF DEVELOPING A WEBSITE
• Register your domain
• Define your brand professional photographs
• Develop structure for your website
• Produce copy for your website
• Decide on theme/style
• Build site
• Publish site
Remember you website needs to be kept up-to-date with your work,
show reels and credits. Make sure you keep it current.
TIPS TO BUILDING A GREAT VO WEBSITE
Choosing a domain name
You need to have a name and not try to be a company. It is you people
are hiring. So www.vovoxandco.com doesn’t work. Use
www.yourname.com. This also allows you to send professional emails
e.g. you@yourname.com
Define your brand
Get it right at the beginning and invest time into your personal brand.
This will distinguish you in a crowded market. Remember a brand is
you not just a logo.
Structure your website
Make your website interesting and make sure it is easy to navigate.
Too many clicks to your show reels or bio and you will lose peoples
attention.
Copy that sells
Copywriting is an art, but you can learn how to do it right. Think of the
audience first and what’s in it for them. Keep it tight and focused.
Want some tips then go to Henneke.
Decide on content management system (CMS)
Use a CMS that makes it easy for you to update your own site. This
way you can upload new showreels, update your bio…all without
incurring the costs of a web developer.
Step
05

WEBSITE CHECKLIST
Step
05
Install Google analytics.
Link to social media platforms.
Secure site and create regular backups.
Optimize site for SEO.
Launch and promote site.
Create a campaign to get backlinks.
Track site statistics.
Submit site to main search engines.
Update regularly with new work, updates and show reels.
Buy your own domain – for emails and website.
Create your brand and style.
Set a budget and decide to build it yourself or outsource.
Choose Content Management System e.g. WordPress.
Write copy for website and produce graphics.
Get professional portrait photographs.
Build site.
Create a draft of website and structure.
Check site: typos, links, contact forms work…

WEBSITE BUILDERS & TOOLS Step
05
MAKE PRO
If you are looking for a way to create the website
you want, without having to code that design
yourself, Make Plus could be just what you are
looking for. It provides an easy way to style pages
including colors.
BEAVER BUILDER
Beaver Builder is a drag and drop page builder
plugin for WordPress that aims to help you build
custom sites in minutes not months. The plugin
comes with a range of professional looking home
page and content page layouts. Everything on
your pages can be fully customized.
CSS HERO
If you’re a beginner who wants to customize your
WordPress site design without touching CSS, then
you’re in luck. CSS Hero is a WordPress plugin
that claims to make design customization easy.
SQUARESPACE
Squarespace is incredibly well designed. It’s clear
that there is a thoughtful team that pores over
the details of this website builder. I is by far and
away the best website builder both in terms of
design and user experience.
WEEBLY
Weebly includes 34 layouts— mostly typical
layouts such as a contact page, about page or a
portfolio page. These layouts make it quick and
easy to create your site. It is very easy to use and
comes a close second to Squarespace.
WIX
Wix’s offers a flexible builder that makes it worth
the choice for some users. Unfortunately, that
flexibility makes a tendency to get unwieldy,
lacking the polish of website builders when
compared to Weebly and Squarespace.
WORDPRESS BUILDERS & TOOLS WEBSITE BUILDERS
DISK AUDIO PLAYER
Disk Audio Player (MP3 Player) is a Wordpress
plugin to display your showreels in your website
with unlimited color options and playlists with
scrollbar. You can also allow clients to download
your audio files.

SOCIAL MEDIA
As a voiceover actor you have at your disposal an amazing set of tools
to help you market yourself. The problem though is that too often
people don’t use these tools well and don’t appreciate how they differ.
Most voiceover actors feel they need to use it, want to use it, but don’t
know where to start. The truth is it is hard to use it well. Most
voiceovers in fact use it really badly, they simply shout out about a job
or post up a new show reel.
The art of social media is that it is and always has been social, yet most
people and in fact businesses, simply use it to broadcast.
With so many social media sites already out there and even more
popping up each day, where do you begin? Do you create a Facebook
account or do you hop on whatever “the new Pinterest” is today? Each
platform has its own etiquette and way of being social.
They are also distinct differences in how they are used by people. What
someone posts on their Twitter profile maybe and often is very
different to what they post on Linkedin. Understanding these
differences can help you to get better results.
If you want to compete take the time to decide which platforms you
are going to use.
POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Step
05

SOCIAL MEDIA RULES
The first thing to do is to recognize that you there are some ground
rules you need to adopt when using social media.
#1 – IT’S ABOUT THEM NOT YOU
This is the first and most important rule. If ill be the least popular
person at a party if all you do is spend the whole evening talking about
yourself.
#2 – UNDERSTAND YOUR CLIENTS
Which social media platforms do they use/belong to?
Where are they active on social media?
When are they active on social media?
Who does your client engage with on social media?
What content does your audience seek on social media?
What information do they share on social media?
#3 – DON’T SPAM OR PESTER
Don’t bombard contacts you don’t know with friend requests. Don’t
direct message your work, show-reel if you don’t know people it is
spamming.
#4 – BE CONSISTENT
Turning up once a month does not help build your social media. You
need to be a daily activity.
#5 – BE SOCIAL
Respond to people, be polite and be engaging. Be you and also look for
good content that is either useful, entertaining or relevant to people.
USEFUL SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS AND RESOURCES
The following are a useful set of resources for social media statistics
and to understand the different ways each platform is used.
STATISTICS
The average Internet user has 5.54 social media accounts and is active
on 2.82.
16-24 year olds have the highest average number of social media
accounts at 6.6.
24-36 year olds are the active on the largest number of social media
networks at 4.2.
SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS
1. Social Bakers
2. Pew Internet
3. Marketing Charts
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS FOR VOICEOVERS
• FACEBOOK
• TWITTER
• GOOGLE PLUS
• INSTAGRAM
• YOUTUBE
• SOUNDCLOUD
Step
05

SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAG
Not everyone knows how to use hashtags well. When used properly,
hashtags (# signs that help categorize social media content) make it
easier for users to find related content. They can help increase the
visibility of your messages and boost your social shares. When used
inappropriately, however, they can negatively impact your credibility on
social media. This can have the inverse effect of decreasing your social
activity.
Do cater hashtags to the social network you’re using. While hashtags
on all social networks have the same fundamental purpose of content
tagging and discovery, the use of hashtags still varies by network. In
terms of use, Instagram hashtags, for example, are often more focused
on description of the photo and the tools used to take it than on a
broader story or theme.
This is at odds with Twitter, where hashtags tend to be more focused a
topic of conversation, or a group of people (a chat for example) that
you would like to engage.
Before using hashtags, do research on the proper way to use them for
that particular network. Most networks will have guides for hashtag
selection and use (here is Twitter’s). Also take the time to discover the
most popular and most relevant hashtags on a specific subject for each
network. This extra time you invest will pay off in engagement down
the road.
SOCIAL MEDIA – THE HASHTAG #
The following are some useful tools to help you understand listen to
what is happening is
• What the trend
• Ritetag
• Twitonomy
• Hashtagifyme
RESEARCH AND TRACK TRENDS
Popular (or trending) hashtags are a great way to develop a presence
and build relationships. They can help you source useful news and
content that is popular with other people.
For voiceovers the most common hashtags are:
• #vo
• #voiceover
• #voiceacting
• #voiceactor
DON’TS
• Don’t have more hashtags than words.
• Don’t hashtag everything
Step
05
Use the promo code ‘VOEBOOK18’ for a special monthly discount

SOCIAL MEDIA CHECKLIST
Step
05
Use hashtags in all your posts – no more than 2.
Don’t ask for feedback on reel from people you’ve just met on
social media.
Steer clear of controversy and polarizing subjects.
Reply to everyone daily.
Check mentions daily.
Track your stats – followers, retweets, new followers.
Every week plan ahead – creative ideas.
Stay positive, be kind and generous in your comments.
Weekly join in group conversations.
Register yourself across the main range of social media .
Use the same visual branding across all sites.
Use your biography across all social media sites.
Research your clients and identify the social media they use.
Regularly follow people each day.
Regularly repost or retweet others work.
If you are not going to blog curate quality sources of content.
Produce a simple but powerful bio with keywords.
Identify and use the most popular hashtags.

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS
Step
05
HOOTSUITE
Hootsuite is an enterprise level social media
management tool used by over 10 million
professionals. They can help you schedule and
analyze your social media marketing campaigns.
EVERYPOST
EveryPost lets you curate visual content, schedule
customized posts, and share content to
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest,
and Tumblr. This is useful for posting from your
Android and iPhone devices.
CROWDBOOSTER
Crowd Booster is a social media analytics tool to
help you optimize your social media marketing
decisions. Instead of doing the analytics
manually, get it automatically updated on a
consistent basis. You can even create custom
reports that can be useful for clients. Finally, use
the reporting information to schedule Tweets for
optimal times.
TAILWIND
Tailwind is a comprehensive tool to help you with
your Pinterest marketing efforts. This is the
official partner for Pinterest marketing.Tailwind
helps you create multi-board pins, bulk uploads,
and calendar scheduling. They can also help you
optimize the best times to send your pins to get
the highest engagement.
BUFFER
Do your notes keep piling up in your default
Evernote notebook(inbox)? By using Zen, you can
quickly organize your notes with swipe
operations. Zen helps you reach inbox zero in
Evernote, leaving you feeling refreshed!
LATER
Later is a great tool for businesses that want to
improve their Instagram marketing. It has an
easy-to-navigate interface and you can use it on
multiple devices (including desktop, mobile, iOS,
and Android).

EMAIL
WHY USE EMAIL
Email is by far and away the #1 form of communication in business. Phone is
used primarily for setting appointments and meetings. More collaborative
tools, like Skype, have taken over for more elaborate discussions about
projects for instance. Whereas email is used for notifications and updates.
Emailing may be an inherently more convenient way to contact people, but
it’s by no means the perfect vehicle for cold contacting. Being able to email a
busy person and get the response you desire is literally a skill you need to
know to increase your income.
Emailing Cons
• Competition - the person you’re trying to reach already has hundreds of
emails in their inbox. Many of them won’t even be opened.
• Easy to ignore - it only takes a couple of seconds for someone to delete
your message. And those are the lucky emails. Think of all the emails
blocked by spam filters or sent directly to junk.
• Conversion rates - most salespeople cold email, they have an even
success rate of about 1-3%.
Emailing Pros
• Potential - cold emails have potential. With the right research techniques
and the right message, you can connect with anyone.
• Simple to learn - email is very simple to learn, anyone can send an email.
• Low cost – emails are low cost to send out, but they it does take some
time to prepare a great email.
• Speed - email is quicker, more direct, more modern and business-like
FOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE
Two different audiences. Write and tailor your emails to different
audiences. There are essentially two types people to target –
potential buyers such as casting directors and clients e.g. businesses,
video production companies…
Finding the right email address of a target client in a business can be
difficult.
There are many different tools to help you do this, but the obvious
two are:
• Google – type in the name of the company and the persons name
e.g. “thiscompany” “firstname lastname” “email”
• Anymailinder - is super simple. Enter in your target’s name, what
company they work for.
Potential clients need to understand who you are and why you are
contacting them. The art of emailing clients it to keep it simple and
point out the value you offer and how they can benefit.
Casting directors and agents are usually clear on their websites about
how they want to receive submissions and correspondence, so if it is
your first time writing to someone then generally follow their
individual guidelines. You can ignore it if you know the person you are
writing to well, and agents will generally be less annoyed than casting
directors if you go against it.
Step
05

EMAIL
WHAT MAKES A GOOD EMAIL
A good email is brief to the point and focuses on offering a clear value
to the person. Almost every body these days is short on time; they
receive a lot of emails and letters so make it easy for them to
understand the why – why they should read it.
What does ‘brief’ mean? Anything over a couple of short paragraphs
and you are probably pushing it. But if you follow the structure below
you’ll be able to write a very readable set of three or four precise,
information-packed sentences.
The key thing is to present your information clearly and get to the
point - what you want from that person. The biggest exception to this
rule is if you are explaining your interest/passion for a specific
upcoming project to a writer or director. Think about your aims. If you
are trying to get someone to watch your showreel then clearly
explaining why you are targeting that person and putting in an easy-to-
use link is your priority. Lots of banter and showing off your vibrant
personality is not.
One of the best things you can do before emailing someone cold is to
get them to get to know you through other channels, particularly
through social media. This is sometimes called “greasing the wheels.”
It helps by getting people to be familiar with your name.
Even better way to start is to get someone they know to forward an
email onto them. This way you get a warm referral.
Step
05
THE STRUCTURE OF A GOOD EMAIL
THE SUBJECT/HEADING
You want the subject line to quickly tell your recipient either why they
would benefit from opening your email and/or how they know you.
THE BODY
One of the best things you can do when emailing a busy person is to
keep your email very short. Even though most people have heard this
tip, I am still shocked at the incredibly long emails I receive, and I
probably receive a small fraction of the email traffic Noah receives.
Communicate how you will benefit THEM, not why they should hire
you.
Have a single, clear CTA (Call-To-Action)
Make sure you only ask for one thing - even if it’s just a simple, short
reply. Sometimes you just want to start the dialogue.
Personalise it - Always be personalize it - make sure that include some
references to their success, feature in the press, recent tweet, their
recent achievements, common connections, etc.
THE SIGN OFF AND SIGNATURE
Include links to your website, show-reels (download and/or play).
Don’t include them in email they will increase your chances of getting
picked up on a spam filter.

EMAIL
THE BASIC STRUCTURE
1) Subject/Headline – interesting and relevant (not gimicky)
2) Dear/Hi …only use ‘Hi’ if you know them very well, and if in any
doubt go with ‘Dear’. Use their first name rather than their full
name.
3) Your strong, fascinating, specific reason for writing to that
particular person. You should explain everything that you want in
the first two sentences.
4) What value you can offer them and why they should carry on
reading – your call to action. Don’t be too sales led here, think
more about building relationships than asking for a job.
5) A little bit about them e.g. someone in common, press release
(why relevant), recognition of a recent award. Explain why you
mention it without being overly flattering.
6) Include any links or attachments in the body of the email if they
relate to your call to action - make them one-click away from your
material.
7) A sign-off. ‘Many thanks’ is informal enough, professional, and will
stop you finishing off with a lot of groveling. Use your full name if
you don’t know the person.
Step
05
Research a list of people to email.
Research each person and don’t do blanket emails using a
simple template – it’s lazy!.
Focus on building relationships – don’t oversell.
Keep it simple, short and to the point e.g. use bullet points to
help point out key information.
Include links and relevant information – but don’t add in your cv,
it will just overload people.
Make it clear why you are writing and what you want
them to do
Show that you have researched them and know about them e.g.
common connection, recent award.
Be creative with your headlines and grab their attention.
Check your email for grammar and typo’s.
EMAIL CHECKLIST

NEWSLETTERS
WHY USE NEWSLETTERS
A newsletter can be a great way to update your contacts on your
recent work and reminding them that you are available for work. The
most important thing to remember is to make interesting. A good
newsletter can be read quickly and doesn’t make people think that you
are asking for work, it simply sells your value.
WHO SHOULD YOU SEND IT TO
Newsletters shouldn’t simply be sent to everyone. They should only be
sent to existing contacts and not prospects. The worst thing you can do
is send it to someone that doesn’t know you and with whom you’ve
never made contact. Make sure your email doesn’t placed into the
spam filters of companies. If you send a newsletter try to tailor part of
it to different people. Sending a newsletter all about your recent
narration work to a commercial video director might not be a great
way to keep them interested.
TIPS
• Make your content clear, organized, and digestible, but also the
inclusion of social share buttons underneath each story.
• Curate content from around the industry and make it interesting and
relevant to your readers. Use the 80 – 20 rule, 80% about the
industry news and articles, 20% about you.
• Create a balance between images and text. Think about creating a
magazine page style.
• Use clear headers and sub-headers to break it up, and the important
stuff is bolded, making for easy skimming.
• Call it something other than newsletter it makes less snooze-worthy.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR PERFECT NEWSLETTER
FORMAT
Create a one- or two-column page layout with a banner section at the top. The
banner should contain the lead title and your branding. Keep to a minimal
design and layout – keep it uncluttered.
FEATURE ARTICLE AND SECTIONS
Create a feature article, the headliner that will hook people into reading the rest
of your newsletter. You can have a brilliant article, but if your headings don’t
grab attention quickly enough it can be bypassed.
WRITE IN A CASUAL, PERSONAL STYLE
Write in a personal and friendly way so that your personality comes across. This
is your chance to let people get to know you. Add in some personal information
to help people relate to you.
RESEARCH YOUR TOPICS
If you are going to write about what is happening in the industry do your
research. Use quotes from notable people or ask for their opinion on a topic and
then use this as part of your newsletter.
SHARE STORIES
Sharing your story is a very powerful way to find people who want to be part of
that story too - and your newsletter can let them know how you want them to
contribute to it. Be imaginative in how that narrative is conveyed visually -
there's no "rule" to say that a newsletter has to be a dry list of links.
HAVE A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION – ONE FOCUS
Make sure you do promote your latest work and also include a clear call to
action e.g. download my latest show-reel.
YOUR PROFILE
Include an up-to-date profile image and your contacts details.
Step
05

PUBLIC RELATIONS (PR)
PR often seems as though it is something only done by big agencies or
PR specialists. The truth is that these professionals do save you a heap
of time, but they cost a lot of money. The reality is that with a bit of
creativity, focus and know how you can take control over your own PR
and use it to get valuable exposure. it’s more important than ever that
you understand how and when to grab the attention of a reporter.
The biggest mistake most people make when trying to write a
newsworthy PR article is that focus on promoting themselves rather
than creating a story. There are key elements that a journalist looks for
in a story — and the human interest angle is key. Do you have a human
interest angle, and can you show that your news has an impact on
people?
Why Use PR
• Press releases improve SEO
• Press releases generate social signals and increase publicity
• Press releases often get republished in other sources or quoted in
online and print publications generating even more publicity.
• Press releases get you more work.
• Press releases provide an ongoing stream of content to use on your
website.
FOCUS ON THE AUDIENCE
Target – Think about the publications that connect with your potential
clients. Research the magazine, you should know their specific focus
and the structure of their releases. So do your background work.
Honesty – If your words are honest, people can really feel it. Just like
when you’re telling a story, written language no is different; if you
know what to say, words come out fluently and there is no artificial
touch in your press release. Write it first then edit afterwards.
Respect – Journalists are people who have limited time. Don’t be lazy,
make it easy for them to take your work and use it. Never lose track of
the fact that you aim to build a professional relationship, so you
should never take things for granted. Show them respect and build a
relationship.
Precision – Be concise. A short message/announcement might be a
lot more impactful than a 2 page press release which drifts and
doesn’t have a compelling story.
Engagement – Create the feeling that there are things happening and
you have a lot more opportunities ahead waiting to be announced.
Leave the impression that the readers should keep an eye on you.
Story – Every time you write a press release, even if it’s just adding a
new product to your roster, don’t forget to include a short story about
the brand.
Step
05

PR
What should go into a press release?
Answer the following questions about your news:
• Who? Who is involved in your press release? You and which
company and/or people involved.
• Who does your news affect/who does it benefit?
• What? What is new?
• Why? Why is this important news — what does it provide that is
different?
• Where? Where is this happening/is there a geographical angle/is
the location of business relevant?
• When? What is the timing of this? Does this add significance?
• How? How did this come about?
What angle should I focus on in the release?
The most important thing to think about when writing a press release
is the target audience. The angle that will interest the readers of a
specialist magazine will be very different to those that read the local
newspaper. In fact, you should write different versions of your release
for the different audiences you are targeting.
When thinking about the audience, consider what knowledge they
have about voiceover and the company or project. Use language
relevant to the publication and keep it simple.
HOW TO STRUCTURE THE PRESS RELEASE
Timing — for immediate release or embargo?
You need to indicate at the top of the release whether it is for immediate
release or under embargo and if so, give the relevant date. Generally,
immediate release will be sufficient. An embargo means that you are asking
them not to use the information before a particular date.
Create a compelling title
Strong headers can be the difference between someone reading your release,
or simply glazing over it. The chances are most journalists/editors will change
the title anyway.
Use double spacing
It’s good form to use double spacing, with wide margins. This helps the
journalist in making notes and helps present your news clearly.
How many paragraphs?
The answer is as few as you need to get your points across. You need to get all
the information into the first paragraph. The test of success is whether the
story can be understood in its entirety if only the first paragraph was used.
The second paragraph expands on information in the first, giving a bit more
detail. Often, the third paragraph provides a quote. The fourth paragraph
outlines final information, such as referencing websites.
How to end the press release
Signal the end of the press release with the word “Ends” in bold. After “Ends”,
write “For further information, please contact” and list your details. Do give a
mobile number so that journalists can make contact out of office hours. The
more accessible you are, the better.
Step
05

PR CHECKLIST
Step
02
Don’t make a journalist work – produce a clear story of
interest.
Include all relevant contact information e.g. website, social
media details.
If you have a budget use PRweb.com.
On the day of a press release ask friends to retweet/repost.
Follow up and respond to any messages and enquires.
Thanks the journalist and if you got good results tell them.
Determine if results warrant using that media again.
Have high quality professional photos ready for press releases.
Track results and build your profile over time.
Research and identify what media your target clients read.
Create a list of the publications you want to be featured in.
Find out how far in advance they work e.g. their editorial
calendar.
Track which events the journalists will attend. Building
relationship in real person is often easier and better.
Build a relationship - weeks, if not months before pitching.
Do not, repeat DO NOT, send a cookie cutter email to 100
journalists.
Story ideas—thoughtful ones. Develop some strong story ideas,
start by looking at publications and look for recurring themes.
For each publication identify the relevant journalist for the
section of the magazine or paper you are targeting.
Expand your horizons – look at local business events e.g.
opportunities for public speaking.

COLD CALLING
There is one thing that tends to horrify voiceover actors and in fact
many other business people, it is cold calling. There are a number of
definitions of cold calling, but Wikipedia describes it best:
Cold calling is the process of approaching prospective customers or
clients, typically by telephone, which weren’t expecting such an
interaction.
The word "cold" is used because the person receiving the call is not
expecting a call, or has not specifically asked to be contacted. Most
voiceover actors will immediately and instinctively come up with lots
of reasons why not to do cold calling:
• “I’m not comfortable doing that!”
• “Cold calling takes too much time.”
• “What if they hang up on me?”
• “I don’t like talking about myself.”
WHY COLD CALL
Well, first of all, marketing your services is not a neutral thing. We’re
either moving forward or we’re moving backward. You need to
consistently be doing things to create momentum with your personal
brand and VO business. Good reasons to cold call are:
• cold calling is one of the least expensive.
• it to one of the most effective methods.
• it quickly identifies opportunities.
• It quickly builds a relationship with a client.
• it gets you work.
WHO TO COLD CALL
Cold calling is not the right approach to voiceover casting directors.
The chances are you will annoy them, because you’re not solving any
of their problems. Quite simply you are hoping to get a job, but have
no idea of their projects and they also have lots of choices.
The reason your cold calling is to go direct to potential clients and/or
people who want your services.
As a voiceover actor, you can skip past casting directors and build
relationships with clients – lots of them. This is about creating
opportunities, it’s about putting yourself forward and finding
untapped opportunities. Sometimes opportunities may not be
immediate, remember you’re sowing seeds, building relationships and
creating your database of clients.
HOW TO COLD CALL
First of all it is important to understand that cold calling takes
practice. The more cold calls that you make, the more polished you
will become at the delivery of your message. Try to learn as much as
you can from each call that you make.
During this learning process, you need to apply the same marketing
principles that great marketers use on a daily basis. These principles
are called testing. You need to constantly be test new sales openers
and questions that help open up potential clients to you. Practicing
means you will also get better at handling objection.
Start of simple and build up how you cold call. The key to any good
cold call is preparation.
Step
05

COLD CALLING TIPS
HOW TO FIND POTENTIAL CLIENTS
Remember that research is critical to cold calling. So building up a list
of calls prior to making your cold calls is important. You need to at least
know the company you are calling, what they do and some of the key
people in the business. This was covered earlier in this guide.
An example search in Google would be “video production company” +
London. This would help you identify a list of video production
companies in London.
Some steps to preparing to cold call:
1. Prepare a list of potential clients to call
2. Have the list in front of you and a notepad and pen – this is to
make sure you take notes during the call.
3. If you prefer you can record your calls to listen to how the call went
and how you could improve.
4. Prepare a script to help guide you when you are new
5. Have a clear objective for each call – what do you want the person
to do after the call.
6. As a minimum leave doors open – take contact details and ask to
follow back in 3, 6 or 12 months time.
7. Follow up quickly – if you agree to send people details, ideas of a
show-reel, then follow up quickly.
8. Make sure your website and branding looks good – people will take
a look if you send them your details.
THE COLD CALLING SCRIPT
One of the most powerful words you can use when cold calling is the
word help. We instinctively are more open to helping people than we
are to responding to a hard sell. Remember you are aiming to build
relationships, so a hard sales approach won’t work.
Below is a basic script that you can use and build on for your cold
calling. One important point is to change the words so that they fit
with your natural language, the natural way you speak. This will make
it more comfortable and come across as more sincere and natural.
“Hi, I was hoping you could help me. My name’s is ____, I’m a voice
over artist, and I would like to talk to the creative director or person
who deals with choosing voice over talent for your productions?
Hi, I was looking to find out how you currently choose and use
voiceover talent for the different types of videos you produce (pause
so they can answer).
I’m an experienced voiceover talent with __ years in voiceover
producing commercials. If you are open to I can send you my show-
reel with some examples of my work or can tailor it to any upcoming
projects you have. Would you prefer me to email you a link to my
demos or email you an mp3?
That’s great. Could I take your email address? I’ll just read that back -
Is it okay if I follow up with you in a few months just to stay in touch?T
hanks so much for your time, your help has been much appreciated.
Have a great day. Do you mind if I contact you in a few months to see
if your anything has changed.”
Step
05

COLD CALLING TIPS
COLD CALLING THE OBSTACLES
Being self-employed you need to spend every minute you are not
working, e.g. recording on client projects, marketing yourself and
building relationships. Cold calling then is the most direct method
available. Cold calling is about generating sales and that means you are
earning money. The reality is that you will encounter obstacles that
everyone does when cold calling. To be successful you need to
recognize what these are and accept them as part of the process.
These obstacles are common to every industry and market, the art is
improving how you deal with them and not letting them stop you from
losing momentum.
COMMON OBSTACLES
- Gate keepers – sometimes receptionist and/or secretary's act as
filters preventing you from getting through.
- People are busy – sometimes you call will simply coincide with when
somebody is busy – make sure you phone back.
- People are not sure of the benefits of voiceover – make an
appointment and discuss the difference you can make e.g videos
with voiceover vs or text prompts.
- Not ready to buy – this is because they do not, at this time, have any
relevant projects – follow up with them in a few months time.
- Do not use and will not use voiceover – that’s fine you just
eliminated them as a potential customer.
- Already have a roster of talent – it doesn’t hurt any buyer to check
the market and keep their bank of voices fresh and competitive.
THE VALUE OF COLD CALLING
THE VALUE OF COLD CALLING
Average time for a cold call – 3 minutes.
If you do 10 call a day this is a total of 30 minutes.
In a week that is a total of 2 ½ hours and 50 calls.
In a month that is 10 hours and 200 call.
Now if we say that each job you get is worth £500.
If you convert 5% of these calls into work then you create:
0.5 * 200 = 10 jobs worth a minimum of £5000
That doesn’t account for any repeat work you might get from these
calls. Some of the calls that do not yield immediate results still could
convert to jobs in the future. More important than that is that you are
building relationships. Another benefit is that by cold calling you are
also eliminating those businesses and companies that will never buy.
SOME TOP TIPS
The Power of The Pause - Make a conscious effort to pause after
someone's name, after a key point and after certain questions to
allow someone to think and talk to you.
Be Enthusiastic - there is nothing more powerful than a positive
attitude. A positive attitude is like an energy force. A positive attitude
is magnetic.
TRACKING YOUR RESULTS
Determine how you are going to track your results: typically the
measure to use are: # of calls made, # of people that answered, # of
decision makers reached, # of requested call-backs or e-mails, # of
show-reels sent, # of sales made. For each contact make a mark next
to them for each of these things.
Step
05

COLD CALLING CHECKLIST
Step
02
Call your potential clients.
Take notes on a notepad.
For potential clients short or long term enter their details into
your CRM system.
After completing your calls – check your follow up actions.
Send out thank you emails and follow up on actions.
Schedule date and time for contacts that agreed to be contacted
again the future.
Review and change script based on your calls.
After each call enter information into the spreadsheet.
Keep a track of leads that convert and their value.
Schedule time to research clients – do this as one exercise.
Generate a list of potential clients – contact numbers, emails
Schedule time to call potential clients.
Prepare a script to help you – practice your script.
Ensure that your website and show-reels are up-to-date.
Ensure your show-reels can be listened to or downloaded.
Create a spreadsheet for the information you want to gather
e.g. name of buyer, call back email follow up.
Warm up your voice prior to making your calls.
Place all the information in a spreadsheet

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
As you develop more and more leads you need to set clear priorities.
Not every lead or contact will yield immediate results. However, over
time your relationships will help you to generate work.
Adopt the mindset that relationship building is part of your daily life as
a voiceover actor. It should be part of your regular planning. Anywhere
from 5-10% of your working week should be dedicated to building
relationships. If you’re used to being too busy and heads down in your
work, it’s time to take a different view.
One thing that is important when you work in a home office
environment, is to make sure you are get out to meet people regularly.
The mindset of a good networker and someone good at building
relationships, is that they view themselves as helping their clients.
They make sure they do not come across as being self-serving. They
keep their clients interests, problems and projects in mind. They listen
and ask rather than talk about themselves.
SOME TIPS
Develop strategic alliances. No one ever succeeds alone. The most
successful people build strong strategic alliances. I define strategic
alliances as deeper relationships (think inner circle of your network),
where you are regularly interacting with one another for the specific
purposes of making introductions and referring business.
Small, consistent actions over time build up to great things. Ask yourself
“What have you done lately for anyone in your network?” Your goal is to
offer value, whether to a close connection, or an informal, social contact.
Phone calls build relationships. It’s up to you to decide if meeting someone
in person is a good fit, or perhaps a phone call introduction will do. A phone
call can quickly and make the most of everyone’s time. In a 30-minute call,
you can usually discern how if it would be mutually beneficial to continue
the conversation.
Go beyond your industry or current circles for connections. It pays
dividends to diversify your connections. Raise your awareness of the circles
you spend your time in, and if the circles have become too narrow.
Handwritten notes never go out of style. Keep a stash of nice stationery
and stamps with at all times and send notes regularly – as a thank you, or a
simple keep in touch.
Regularly attend local events and aim to meet at least one new person.
Have you ever gone to event and spent time only with people you know?
Ask for the attendee list ahead of time to get an idea of who may be there.
Meet the featured speaker at any event you attend. Make it a goal to meet
the featured speakers at any event. This means usually arriving a little early
or staying a little later, but it’s well worth it.
Learn the Art of the Ask. One shortfall people have is so often is when we
do have a strong relationship, that we’re afraid to ask for whatever we need.
When you have a strong relationship with someone, and you have truly
added value to that other person, it’s completely OK and expected that from
time to time ask for something you need.
Step
06

WEEKLY / DAILY SCHEDULE
Step
05
TRACKING YOUR PROGRESS
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
- Check your diary for days/times to schedule your marketing
activities
- Review your actions from the previous week
- Review your CRM system for scheduled follow up calls with
potential clients
- Schedule your social media activity:
- Check information sources e.g. posts to read/industry news
- Schedule content to post
- Schedule time to read/retweet clients news/posts
- Schedule time to research and top up potential client list
- Schedule time for phone calls – prospects and existing clients
- Sketch out ideas for blog article(s) or PR article
- Contact one journalist about new PR article
- Update website with any news/blog
- Update tracking sheets vs goals and targets
DAILY SCHEDULE
- 5 prospects calls a day
- 1 existing customer call per day
- Post to Twitter and Retweet others content
- Comment / join in conversation on one network in industry
- Spend 20 mins on reading client posts/news
- Spend 20 mins on reading industry news sources
- If you spend 20 mins on draft blog (1 blog per week but high
quality)
- If PR then 20-30 mins on draft PR articles
SET GOALS/TARGETS (ACHIEVABLE)
If you haven’t got these in place it is hard to know how you are going to track
how well you are doing or what areas to improve on. Revisit the Goals and
Objectives section and spend sometime on working out yours.
TRACK EACH ACTIVITY
The art of successful marketing is to coordinate all activities, work on them
consistently so you amplify your brand. Key things to track are sources of
income, leads vs activities.
ANALYZE RESULTS
Track each activity and always look to see how you can improve your results.
Which clients do you get the most work from, which type of activities yield the
best results.
MONITOR WHAT WORKS FOR OTHERS
Keep up-to-date with what other voiceovers are doing in the industry and
what works for them. Never be afraid to ask and learn from others.
ASSESS LEAD TIME
Keep a record and understand how long it takes to get work from different
types of clients from your activities. Sometimes sowing seeds and building
relationships takes time but can deliver significant work later.
USE THE POWER OF CRM
Use a CRM system to work smart not just hard. Be organized in how you
approach your business and use good tools.

POSITIVE MINDSET
When you’re in the middle of marketing overwhelm, do your best not
to overthink whether or not your postcard will get the results you’re
looking for; or whether or that tweet will get results; or if you should
even bother with marketing in such a crowded market place.
Instead, trust in the power of your own pursuit. Trust that by showing
up on your behalf, and taking bold, consistent action toward what you
want, that energy is going to come back to you in clear and surprising
ways.
Because here’s the reality:
You can either stand up for yourself and passionately pursue what
you want, or you can throw up your arms and say “why bother?” and
nothing will change.
Developing a successful career starts with your mind-set. Your point of
view serves as a filter and guide for how you engage with your
business as well as your personal life. A positive mind-set, combined
with talent, skills and business knowledge, is a powerful way to
develop an interesting and dynamic career.
Choosing to live in that mind-set and implement strategies that that
grow from it lead to a successful and fulfilling career. As a voiceover
actor you live on projects. Now you can let fear rule the fact that as
each projects comes to an end you have to have another job. Or you
can embrace the methods that strengthen how you build bridges and
effectively see each project as a stage to the next.
A WINNING MIND-SET
Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more
happiness.
Defining and managing how the world sees you and the way you see
the world is the goal of this section. It’s about having faith in your
abilities and being ready to spot and seize the opportunities, rather
than losing faith and focusing on your setbacks or what others
accomplish. The only competition you really have is you, how you
define your limitations and what effort you put in to develop yourself.
When you are proactive, you operate from a position of strength, you
control what you can control and take charge of your career. Learning
to create strategies that prevent you from becoming a negative is
critical to success and longevity in the voiceover industry.
How amazing it would be as you progress to gain the visibility and
respect in the industry as a fulfilled, grounded and successful
voiceover actor. In order to be effective you have to do things not just
read about things. This is when the rubber hits the road and you
learn. This is a process and as such is designed to awaken your
potential, get excited about the possibilities and enable you to feel in
control of your career.
There will be times when you fail, when you fall over. As a child we
know we have to do these things to learn and develop. We do not fail
we merely learn. Each setback is not a setback it is a point of
reflection for you to learn how to improve. Seize this mind-set and
you will make more connections, build more relationships and get
more work.

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