You don't need Permission.

One of the subjects that crops up over and over in coaching sessions recently, is the idea of Voiceover as running a self-employed business, and all that that implies and entails on a day-to-basis.

Anyone coming from a theatre or film acting background, or fresh out of drama school, where so much power and influence is placed in the hands of an agent, may be surprised to learn of the vast amounts of work there is out there for Voiceover Artists going after work for themselves. Want to make sure your favourite production studio books you? Then make sure they get to hear your voice and your demo.

You do not need permission to contact production studios, and casting directors! You are your own business, and every business needs constant sales and marketing. In Voiceovers, you can take control and manage your own career. This is especially true of those VO's with Home Studios.

How are people going to know that you have the perfect voice for their next project, if you aren't investing time, effort and energy into letting them know you are there, ready, waiting, experienced and ready to provide excellent customer service?

I read a great quote somewhere (and promptly forgot it), but the essence of it is this: in business, a potential customer generally needs to be made aware of you a MINIMUM of seven times before they decide to use your services. SEVEN TIMES. And that is until you are noticed, not necessarily until you are booked.  That's right - you need to up your marketing strategies to make this Voiceover business a success.  Personally, I take a lot of comfort and reassurance from that (slightly hazy and forgotten) quote. It means that I can process any rejection I might feel on not landing a gig I wanted, or not getting a response to a lead generation email that I had hoped for, as just one small step out of at least seven that I will have to take to get the potential client to notice me. It wasn't me they didn't like, it's they just have too much on their plates and haven't had enough time to sit up and take notice of me. Yet.

These days we have so many tools at our disposal for voiceover Marketing. To name a few options on social media - FB, Twitter, LinkedIn. We have the ability to send targetted newsletters to those on our list through online companies like MailChimp. We can pick up the phone and introduce ourselves. We can write a letter, or send a note, or a gift. We can write blogs. We can get out, and take a course with a producer. We can go to Voiceover Networking events.

So my question to you is...what are you going to do today, to make sure you notch up another of those sevens times before you are noticed?



This is your Voiceover business, and your responsibility to take action to increase your client list.

If you'd like any further advice, visit www.VoiceoverCoachUK.com to book a coaching session.