Voice-Over Envy: Stop the Madness!

Sometimes I just gotta stay away from Facebook these days.  There is a documented phenomenon (I know it’s true, ’cause I read about it in Psychology Today) called “Facebook Envy”, and I must admit it hits me when I check my newsfeed and it seems like my VO Peeps are landing more gigs, way more impressive gigs, and making tons of money all the time.

Sigh. And – oh yeah- Yay! I truly am happy for your success. Really. But, sometimes, the old green-eyed monster rears up, and its name is Voice-Over Envy.

And it’s a really stupid monster!

Voice-Over Jealousy – or Admiration?

Yoko Ono is credited with saying: “Turn jealousy into admiration and what you admire will become part of your life.”  Whoever originated that quote (Yoko, really?) , it’s really cool.  I actually used that thought process to go from single Mom to happily re-married Mom/wife, from wanna-be-published author to a published one.  And it’s useful in any life endeavor; it’s the backbone of gatherings like faffcon, of the VO social media groups, of the newly-forming industry association, World Voices.

So – why not just be inspired by the success of others?

Why I Hired My Plumber: How’s Your Voice-Over Business?

Our water heater died last week. Sniff. Not only that, it was kinda leaking everywhere. After two days of hoping my husband’s efforts with the wet-vac would buy us some time (ha!), I knew I had to call in an expert.

What Does This Profession Tell Us About VO?

So what to do? Audition plumbers? Post a project and consider dozens of prospective plumbers? Yikes. What a pain that would be!

Nope. I did what most of our voice-over clients want to do: Hire someone they trust to do the job professionally, reliably, skillfully – to their satisfaction.

The Odds: Auditioning vs. Marketing

Yep. I firmly believe that many of my VO clients and prospective clients never even listen to a good portion of the auditions they receive.  Would you? Just go to voices.com or voicebank.net and put yourself in the client’s shoes.  Listen to some demos, even the top-rated ones. How quickly have you had enough?

Vocal Booth on Tracks: An Option for Space-Challenged Voice Talents

Yahoo! I now have my own recording “room” – and, even better, I can whisk its “walls” aside whenever I need to.

a glimpse into the old booth area

How? I replaced my wardrobe-screen-from-Goodwill-draped-with-quilts (only 5 feet high) with a floor-to-ceiling Vocal Booth on Tracks from vocalboothtogo.com. And it’s great – exactly as promised.

First of all, let me clarify that in a perfect VO world I’d get a sound-PROOF booth – and perhaps someday I will. This is not a WhisperRoom, or StudioBricks booth – and is not offered as such.  This booth, however, delivers exactly what it promises. I love it.

What is a Vocal Booth On Tracks?

What is it? It defines a vocal space where you have none, and provides excellent sound-dampening in the process. Many of us do this with moving blankets, acoustic foam, closet space, even hanging clothes – but it can look unsightly and be a pain to “undo” in case the in-laws are coming over for dinner.

Ask, Show Up, Follow Up: Old-Fashioned Marketing Still Works

Take a look at your last ten voice-over jobs – or, if you are just starting out, think about another business venture you had that was successful, or even your solid friendships.

You may find that the “secret” to that success is as simple as ASF:

• Ask

• Show Up

• Follow Up

Step One?

Sales experts talk frequently about “5-7 Points of Contact”  before we “make a sale” – ooh how I hate that term – so why whine when after one contact we are not hired, especially in a business where the need for our particular service, with our unique sound, has to match at the right time?

Sure, there is a delicate balance between contacting and pestering…but stay helpful, respectful and patient — and then have faith in the process and in what you have to offer.

Here is an example:

A month ago, I received an e-mail from a local chapter of Ladies Who Launch.

Cool name, right?  I looked up the concept, and re-read the e-mail. It was an invite to go to the home of the local chapter Managing Director Kathy McShane  for a “Pot Luck” evening.

ASK: Who? What? But I wrote back to Kathy asking for more info. It sounded really interesting: a gathering of local female entrepreneurs, solidifying goals for 2013. So I said yes. Risk? Sure! I knew none of these people. But for $15 and an entree contribution, I asked myself another important question: Why Not?

SHOW UP:  Chicken dish in hand, I went to the event. What a great group of women! After way too much food, we gathered to share what our businesses were about and what our goals were for 2013. Who was there? Realtors, garden designers, hot-dog-truck entrepreneurs, Mary Kay managers, insurance salespeople, interior designers…and not one other Voice Artist.  When it came time to share what I did, I simply told them all that “It’s my business to make your business sound better” – and went on to explain what that meant. Sometimes I play a demo from my SmartPhone, but it didn’t feel right here, so I didn’t. Still – lots of oohs and ahs, as if they’d never heard of a voice talent before. So I was really glad that I showed up.

FOLLOW UP:  Still, that was only one point of contact. Later that week Kathy sent a thank-you note to us all, and (with permissions) shared e-mail addresses. I waited a few days, and followed up with the group to re-introduce myself, share website info (demos)  and offer to help their businesses  make that “sound first impression.” Of the 35 women I contacted, three wrote back to me express interest –  and admiration.  I said thanks, and asked for permission to add them to my contact/mailing list.  They said yes, and now when I follow up with my client/prospect list with an update or newsletter, there will be more points of contact.

And there you go.  Any bookings out of this yet? No. But there might be. and meanwhile I met a really cool group of women!

As I write this, I am sitting in the broadcast booth at WSHU, an NPR affiliate where I get my occasional radio fix as understudy for the classical music hosts, newscasters, and talk-show announcers. How did I get this gig?

• I asked for a tour after leaving my full-time commercial radio job
• I showed up for the appointment, on-time and enthusiastic about the opportunity
• I followed up with a big thank-you, and willingness to learn as many gigs here as possible.

So – how about those last ten bookings? Here’s how mine played out:

• 1 agent booking
• 2 from roster listings or P2P (new, but slightly different process)
• 2 clients who use me monthly – telephone messages, radio imaging
• 4  repeat clients – the backbone of any business!
• 1 word-of-mouth referral

Networking works great too – thanks, Faffy!

In this case, there were no brand-new clients – but all of them were, at one time, new to me. The relationship began with ASF, and continues with the addition of quality work.  Cultivate  your new clients – take that risk! So worth it.

And by the way, the formula works in friendship too

Value Exceeds Cost: The Designer Voice Talent

The project specs say: Client is very budget focused.  Um..okay. But what does that mean? Sure, so you can go on fiverr.com and find someone to read words for, well, five bucks.  But – what’s the value?

Consider this: How long is takes to get the sound and attitude you were looking for, how much creativity the voice talent brings to the project, how easy he/she is to work with, and your satisfaction with the final product.

If someone calls your phone system, sees your video, takes that virtual tour – what will that potential customer’s first impression be of your product, project or company?  They may not be aware that a sub-par voice created a sub-par first impression, but it will be there.

One recent client told me, at the end of a phone patch session for an awards show, “Working with you guys is always a pleasure because it requires the least amount of intervention on my part.” Thanks!

What does an experienced and/or well-trained newbie voice talent bring to the project? Here are a few of those things:

• Responsiveness. If you say, “can you make it more authoritative, but still friendly, and just make the tempo a bit faster – oh, except on this line…” – we can do that for you.
• Creativity. If you ask, “I don’t know. Just try something.” – we can do that for you, too. Five different ways.
• Fun. We have a professional fee scale because many of our clients are regular customers. Part of that is that we are fun – and easy – to work with. We’ve been at this long enough to bring confidence to the session.
• Professionalism. We meet deadlines, honor commitments, have spent time and money on home studios, take care of our voices, invest in “continuing VO education” to keep our skills sharp – vocal, technical, and business.
• Uniqueness. Like every actor.

To paraphrase an old L’Oreal ad (and date myself in the process): Sure, I’m expensive. But you’re worth it. Designer voice talents make a client’s work easier, and the final product something to be really proud of. And that pays off, in many ways, in the long run. That’s the value.

—

“Randye ‘gets it.’ She has a way of sensing the right level of assertiveness, compassion, playfulness, sarcasm (or whatever is being called for) on the first take so that subsequent takes are more a matter of fine-tuning. Recommending Randye Kaye to my clients makes me look good!” – Walt Graham Productions, Norwalk, CT

“Randye has worked with Fairview Media on multiple projects with tight deadlines, and rapidly changing requirements. She has always been right with us, through easy clients, and not so easy jobs, remaining on track and on time, giving her expert knowledge of professional voicing to us. Randye is an asset that I will continue to keep in my ranks for the future.” – Eric Oppegaard, Fairview Media

Randye is the consummate storyteller. She is among the best voice actors we’ve ever recorded…a real pro.”

— Daniel M. Welsh, President and Publisher, Spoken Arts Media, NY

Back to Basics: The Fun of Voice Acting

Yeah, we know – these days a voice talent wear sooooo many hats, the first of which is the hat of a small business owner.  The wonderful Dave Courvoiser, who is a way more prolific blogger than haphazard l’il ole me, has a fabulous CourVO  post that explains this beautifully: A New Hat.

We all have days where the last hat we get to wear is the one that sold us on this profession in the first place: the task of bringing the words on the page to life for the benefit of the listener. I am fortunate enough (and, yes, have worked hard enough) to say that I get to do this just about every day now – sometimes for 12 hours, sometimes for 15 minutes – and each time a client is happy with the result, it reminds me of why I love this job as voice talent:

I love the challenge of lifting the written word off the page and turning it into a conversation with the listener. I love this!!! And if you don’t – well, there where’s the payoff for the work you do when you are wearing those other hats?

And that’s why we chose to do this work, most of us.  Believe me, it wasn’t because it was an easy path to the first gig, or for the guarantee of quick big bucks that some think awaits them like a pot of gold at the end of some rainbow (wherever that is…)

Why I’m Not a Voice Over Superstar- Yet

I recently heard from one of my agents, someone who represents me in Chicago. We hadn’t had any contact in awhile, so I was checking in to see if we should “break up” or not.  You know. Weeding.

What she said was both reaffirming and a wake-up reminder:

The reaffirming part: “You are an amazing talent.  I was just on your website and it is incredible.”  (Thank you!)

The wake-up call? : “In our market – most all clients want to audition in person... They won’t accept taped auditions.  I have had clients hear your voice and like it but want to record locally and not by distance.” (Aha!)

Jumping Up a Voice Over Level

There it is:  Sometimes you’ve gotta live in the Big City if you wanna get work there.  If you want to jump the level, like in a video game.

At Edge Studio, yes in NYC

Honestly, I am really happy with my voice-over career so far. I have regular clients, new interest in my work every week, several agents, local/national/international clients – and, most importantly, I pay the bills doing what I love while also being there for my family, friends, and other passions of my life.

Pretty fortunate, right?

Persistence and the Ping-Pong Ball: Voice Over and Business

Last night I taught “Extended Studies” class #4 (of eight) at Norwalk Community College, on The Basics of Voice Acting. Although the topic was “Acting Skills plus Technique: Variety from Both sides of the Brain”, so many of the students needed to hear the VO Business info again that we spent almost an hour reviewing the fact that, yes, it will take work to get work! It reminded me of this article I wrote for Technorati about how my book got to publication at last – and these principles apply to Voice Over as well – or any goal.

Article first published as Persistence and the Ping-Pong Ball on Technorati.

My book, Ben Behind His Voices: One Family’s Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope has launched. Suddenly I have an author’s page on Amazon, and I’m being asked to serve on panels about “how to get published” – on the success side of the table. (Wow. Really? Me? You want my advice?)

Persistence and Publication – (and Voice Overs too)

Well, OK. Here’s what I know, at this point in time, about success.
• Know your gifts. Recognize that feeling in the zone – when you love doing something enough to keep at it, just for the joy of it.
• Improve your skills. Make sure that thing you love to do is good enough to present to the world. We all know someone who thinks he can sing. Enough said. If self-belief is really self-delusion, you are going down a dead-end road.
• Partner. As you’re improving, get some trusted peeps to chime in with their expertise, advice, encouragement, and support. Let yourself be accountable to them. Hard to give yourself a deadline – at least it is for me.
• Persist. This alone will not work without the other three qualities. But the other three won’t get you anywhere without this one. To remind myself, I use a ping-pong ball.

Voice-Over Customers: Always Right?

Are your voice over clients always “right”?  If they direct you (in-studio, on phone-patch, via e-mail),  is the sound they want always right for the copy in your eyes (ears)? Have you ever had a client give you a line-reading, which you mimic perfectly, only to hear, “that’s not what I meant!”.

Sigh.

The answer is – well, there is no clear answer.

This much I do know.The client has the right to ask you to voice the project

Leads to Happy – and often Repeat – Clients

any way they want. It is their baby, their vision. Sometimes they ask for our input – and many of my regular clients love that collaboration once they know and trust me – but sometimes, especially at first, our job is to deliver whatever it is they think they want.

Trouble is: sometimes the communication issue comes into play. How to say, in words, what it is the ear wants to hear, the heart wants to feel, in playback?

That’s part of the challenge of voice-over. And, often, part of the fun! And, sometimes, part of the frustration. But when you nail it so that everyone (especially the client) is happy, then it feels like sweet victory. Even if you don’t always agree with the client’s choice. We, the talent, are not always right either.

The Five-Second Voice-Over Billboard: How Hard Can it Be?

My first billboard for NBC! What a pleasure to be directed and produced by the fabulous Bill Rock, who has been one of the voices of NBC for years and is one of the voice-over greats. I pinned his studio on Pinterest on my “Great Places to Record Audio” Board.

Source: bargainnews.com via Randye on Pinterest

Bill and I were talking about why it can take so long – well, let’s just say more than 5 seconds – to record “short, easy” pieces like this.
What do you need? When to market yourself to this work?

• First of all, you need to be able to deliver variety - so the client has choice and can pick the one they want.
• Secondly, timing is of the essence, down to the hundredth of a second.
  

  technique plus imagination...

  As in many shorter reads, to really deliver the tone the actor in you wants to perform, you’d need a little more time. You don’t have it! It helps to have a master producer/director like Bill, who can make an extra tenth of a second go away without adjusting speed.

• Third, techniques like articulation, pitch, coloring words, phrasing, tempo changes are all vital here. Some of the variety will come from these “left-brain” techniques, some will come from your “right-brain” sense of play and imagination. And be willing and able to take direction, especially from a pro like Bill.

Fascinating, too, to hear the listening expertise of the client from NBC – one listen to all 7 takes, and she knew: “let me hear 3,4, and 7″. Then “Let me hear 4 and 7″ Then, number 7 it is. Whew! And I can’t even decide which pair of jeans to put on in the morning (and, um, they all pretty much look the same).

So – it didn’t really take that long (I mean, way under an hour) to come up with seven reads to play for the client, all under 5 seconds – but, as Bill said, “People think this is easy; it’s not! It’s hard work.” Indeed. Okay, maybe not compared to, say, police officers, construction workers, and middle school teachers. (not delusional…I know voice-over is cushy compared to that!)  But, harder than the average person might expect.

Thanks again to Bill – and if you want to hear the 5-second result it’ll be part of “Fashion Star” on April 24 and it’s about Maybelline.  Yeah, I’m taping it. It’s my first one.  Guilty!