Business Planning

So Important, Yet, Often Overlooked

September 21, 2023 by Caryn Clark

Not all businesses advertise on radio or TV, especially local businesses. They might not create web videos, or need promotional voice over work on podcasts. These types of marketing/advertising can be costly, and it can often take time to see the ROI.

BUT THERE IS ONE THING ALL BUSINESSES HAVE and should use to portray their happy and friendly image to their potential and current customers.

Their phone!! Everyone’s phone has voicemail, and many businesses utilize a phone tree menu, along with marketing messages for when people are on hold.

If someone is calling your business, it’s because they’re interested in doing business with you in some way…. oorrrrrr maaayyyybbbeee they’re a bill collector… sorry, I can’t help with that! LOL. The voice who answers the call is the FIRST THING your potential and current clients hear to get to know you and your business personality and brand. This voice is THE REPRESENTATION of your business’s brand. It sets the tone for the business’s image and the relationship they’ll have with the client going forward. Think Monorail system at Disney Parks – iconic, right? Your business brand should be iconic, too!

The phone message of any business is the most important piece of marketing representation a business has, and it’s probably the least expensive and quickest marketing to implement! So let’s do it!

Smile and welcome your customers and clients through the phone! From assistance with writing, production, and voice over (both male and female voices), my team can produce phone messaging that represents you and your business. Give me a call at 239-634-5039 if you’d like to chat about how I can help you!

www.CarynClark.com

#phone #phonemessaging #messageonhold #phonesystem #voiceover

Eggs in a Basket

September 18, 2023 by Caryn Clark

You might have heard the phrase, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

In the practice of investing, this means don’t invest all of your money into a single stock/mutual fund/etc. Why? Because if that investment tanks, you’re going to lose all of your money. Of course, the opposite is true, as well. If the investment increases in value, you stand to gain money.

Investing in only one stock, mutual fund, etc is a risky strategy. It’s important to DIVERSIFY your investment portfolio across various types of investments.

The same could be said of your work strategy.

As voice actors, we tend to want to focus on the craft of voice acting. For most of us, it’s what we find most interesting and invigorating as work.

However, focusing only on voice acting, and not other sources of income, could be a risky strategy. Unless you are a voice actor with contract work for tv/radio station affiliates, promo work, trailer work, and the like, your income is likely unsteady and varies greatly from month to month, year to year.

There are many ways to diversify your voice acting business to include other related ways to garner income. Here are just a few ideas of how you can help other voice actors, or your clients:

audio editing for other voice actors voicing eLearning – editing breaths, mistakes, creating individual files
audio proofing for voice actors voicing eLearning or audiobooks – listening to their audio against the script to ensure it’s accurate
creating videos for voice actors or others – these could be video demos, or perhaps other videos if you’re skilled in videography
writing and copy editing
implementing social media marketing for other voice actors
teaching social media marketing
web site creation for other voice actors
marketing and branding brainstorming
if you’ve been in the business long enough, coaching. Ok ok, sometimes I feel like the vo world does NOT need another coach, but if you’ve been in vo a long time and have a unique perspective, it could be a possibility. Or, perhaps you could work locally coaching theatre kids – many of them also have an interest in voice over.

These are just a few ideas! The possibilities are ENDLESS! I’d love to hear your ideas on how to diversify your voiceover business! Email me at caryn@carynclark.com!

www.carynclark.com

#voiceacting #voiceover #marketing #commercialproduction #audioproduction #videoproduction #advertising #elearning

Let’s Do Zoom Coffee (aka, relationship-building idea!)

August 7, 2023 by Caryn Clark

Lately, when I send emails to my clients, I end it by inviting them to have a Zoom Coffee with me!

Tim Underwood of AudioTango said HECK YES, I’D LOVE TO (because that’s the kind of wonderful, happy, enthusiastic guy he is!). Last week, we caught up over a latte/coffee. Tim and I have been working together forrrr…oohhhhhh… a long, loooonnnnggg time, and we’ve never met in person… only during sessions.

Hooray technology! Sometimes it’s not all that bad lol. It was so great to see each other face to face, see each other’s studios, and take a few minutes to catch up!

Who wants to do a Zoom Coffee with me?

#technology #coffee #voiceover #audioproduction #facetoface #relationships

That FEELING You Get…

August 4, 2023 by Caryn Clark

Turns out, I’m a collector.

Of coffee mugs.

And Christmas ornaments.

My mug collection is really growing. I was shopping last week and found this little gem. Toward the end of my shopping trip, I circled back to the aisle I found it on and started to put it back on the shelf bc I don’t NEED another mug, but then convinced myself to just buy it! I love the picture on this mug so much. It reminds me of home – when I was a kid, and where I hope we get to live one day. I especially love the tall vibrant green Christmas-like trees in the background. This mug just makes me happy and makes me feel good.

It’s not associated with any particular brand, but branding is this. Images in branding, or music, or voiceover, or the mixture of all, evoke feeling and emotion in the person listening/watching so they want the product.

If you’re in the south, you might’ve seen the latest Publix commercial released a couple of weeks ago. That commercial is the perfect mix of nostalgia/vintage feel, harkening back to our summers as kids, with sticky sunscreen, delicious summer foods, making memories with friends and family, and even taking us for a game in the swimming pool. The song selection is out of the box, yet perfect.

It’s the perfect summer day of our childhoods, that we can relive today, all in 60 seconds. It’s absolutely brilliant.

Bravo Publix Super Markets and 22Squared. I can’t get enough of that feeling you’re giving me in “Summer Never Gets Old.”

Click here to view this awesome commercial!

#music #branding #nostalgia #advertising #commercialadvertising

Relationships Matter

August 2, 2023 by Caryn Clark

This will be the shortest blog post ever. 🙂

Relationships matter.

Be sure you treat your relationships, business and more personal, in a way that let’s the other side know, THEY matter.

Start with, “I appreciate you.” I will end an email with those very words, because, I do appreciate the people in my life, and they should know.

#relationships #relationshipsmatter #voiceover #voicetalent

Looking for Free VO Training? Read This!

July 31, 2023 by Caryn Clark

There are tons of coaches, programs, workshops, and the like out there. Some are great, and some are not so great.

Recently, Anthony Reece started VO Radio Online. It’s just that – an online radio station that plays really cool music, and every 10 minutes or so, there are voice over “features” that are about 5 minutes long. The topics range from VO Tips – that’s my feature 😉 – to Business Cents, Power Questions, Calm in the Chaos and Mindful Moments, 3 Star News in Voice Overs, Technology and Gadget Reviews, Adventures of Voice Over Man with Marc Graue, The Marketing Mix, Lessons from Last Week, Up and At ‘Em, Station Imaging, VO Recipes, From Inside the Booth, Character Corner, Fine Tuned Performance, That Venting Voice, Audiobook Insights, VO Interrogation, and so many more.

There are over 20 voice actors creating these features on a regular basis, offering you their advice and knowledge FOR FREE! You can catch them while listening to VO Radio, or you can access them on-demand on the site.

It’s truly an amazing collaboration. Take advantage of this incredible resource!

Click here: VO Radio Online

#voiceover #vo #freeresources #freetraining #voiceovertalent