Business Planning

I’ve been doing a little holiday shopping this week, for client gifts and presents for family, and wanted to offer some tips to make it easy for your customer to buy from you.

I’ve visited a lot of web sites, looking at all the options for the specific gifts I’m thinking about giving. I prefer to shop local; not necessarily local to my town or geographic area, but at least, within someone’s town! In other words, I prefer to make my purchases with small business owners in the US.

Tips to Make it Easy for Your Customer to Buy from You

Here are a few tips for making shopping on your web site easy, pleasant, and fun for your customer:

1. Allow them to sort the options in as many ways as possible. Cost from lowest to highest, highest to lowest, sale, alphabetical, with or without certain characteristics.

2. Offer as many pictures as possible of the said product, from all the angles.

3. Give the measurements of the product (length, width, height), and the weight if it’s not obvious. Your customer is most likely shipping this purchase, and might like to have an idea of what it weighs.

4. Make reviews readily available and easy to access. We are a people who purchase based on other peoples’ experiences, and we NEED the reviews.

5. Be as descriptive as possible when creating the listing – tell us what the combination of scents are, the types of colors, and all the juicy details so we can paint a picture in our minds and noses.

6. Create a short one to two minute video of you and your husband, business partner, kids… explaining the evolution of your small business – how you conceptualized it, why you started it, how it’s grown, and how you hope it will help others. I encountered such a video today, and it was wonderful to get to “know” the people I was purchasing from. It made me feel good to know I was helping another family live their dream, by making a purchase with them. (PS: if you need a voiceover for this video, I’d be happy to help!)

Hopefully, you find these tips to make it easy for your customer to buy from you are helpful! I’d love to hear if you have any other tips or ideas for small business owners, and how they can help make shopping easier and more delightful for their customer. Ping me at caryn@carynclark.com if you do!

PS: Here are a few of the people I’m purchasing from this season. Check them out.

Stamped with Love Custom Stamps

Gather Beverages – consciously crafted herbal, functional elixirs designed to elevate your cocktails

WeMadeBoutique on Etsy

Sometimes, we change our mind about how we do business. I changed my mind about my marketing strategy.

I didn’t want to use digital marketing, especially direct marketing. At all. I’ve been in voiceover nearly twenty years, and I’ve never had to really direct market to gain business. So, the idea of a CRM, sending emails, creating sequences… blew my mind.

I dug my heels in and said, “Nope, not for me.”

Then, after going though Marc Scott’s Voiceover Playbook, I changed my mind.

Marc Scott invited me on the VOPreneur podcast to chat about my resistance to a certain marketing strategy and what led to my change of heart.

Now? I even dream about it! (True story. My mind is always thinking, and dreaming, about marketing.)

Whether you’re in voiceover or not, this podcast is worth a listen. You can teach an old dog new tricks, and change her mind about her marketing strategy!

Click here to listen to the VOPreneur Podcast!

If you want to chat about business, marketing, and the like, I’d be happy to talk with you. I offer consulting services! Click here to learn more.

#voiceover #video #commercial #audio #marketing #network #digitalmarketing

Recently, I had an interview with CanvasRebel, where they asked, “Let’s talk about the first dollar you made as a creative. What can you share with us about how it happened?”

You can read all about how I made that first dollar, and how I was subsequently fired hours later, by clicking here. 

I also discuss how I built my social media presence, and what I think non-creatives struggle to understand in the journey as a creative.

I hope you enjoy the interview!

As a voice over talent, there are a number of tools you can use to help you maximize your business.

I recently started using VoiceOverView, and let me tell you, it’s AMAZING! I’ll admit, I was a little intimidated about having to enter each audition and job for tracking, but honestly, it takes seconds to do, and is worth the few extra key strokes.

If you dig data and statistics, VoV is for you. It’s not a CRM, but a way for you to track various metrics of your business, including jobs you’ve booked, in what category or genre, auditions submitted, and, the most important stat – money you’ve made. You can track this by client, and by genre/category. There is also Job Source Mix and Growth, where you can compare the stats month to month and year over year. Oh, and there is a Top Ten Client list, that auto updates so you can see who you work with most.

It allows you to link invoicing software to it as well, so you can follow the life cycle of a job, from booking, to delivered, to invoiced, to being paid. You will also be able to see all of your clients, in one spot, and categorize them as well (agent, production house, etc.)

Dani States is the creator of VoiceOverView. She’s a voice actor herself, and created this tool with all of us in mind. While it’s already robust, she continues to make enhancements – example, pie chart view was just added to a number of the graphic stats.

There is even a reminder system, where you can add tasks and reminders for yourself, and check them off as you complete them. One of the features I love is reminders – if there’s a client you haven’t done business with in a set period of time, their name, email and last date you worked with them will pop up in the Reminder area, so you can contact them to say “Hi, just thinking about you…” and stay in touch! Genius and so easy!

All in all, VoV is an amazing tool, and for only $96 a year! I am beyond thrilled to use it. It truly helps you understand your business.  Click here to learn more and subscribe! 

What’s next?

This month, I celebrate a 17 year career in voiceover (19 years including years spent pursuing/studying, if we’re being entirely accurate).

Where does time go?

17 years ago this month, I quit my career in marketing/writing and started in vo full time.

Though, I wasn’t making enough money to really sustain myself. That would come about three years later. It’s still not always rainbows and butterflies. Being a freelance voiceover is an incredibly tough career. It’s a roller coaster, and any voice actor who tells you differently, is (I’m going to be bold here) lying to you. This is not a 9-5, 401K, health insurance, office summer picnics and Christmas parties, annual review where you’re told what a good job you’re doing, steady income… kind of job.

When I look back at my career, I think about all the wonderful and amazing projects I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of, the incredible creative minds and writers who’ve directed me in sessions, and all the hard work it took on my part to get here, 17 years later. The clever marketing ideas, the iterations of web sites and demos, the wondrous experiences with various coaches, the hundreds and thousands of auditions, the wonderful lifelong friends I’ve made, and… life… all the life I’ve lived in that time that shapes my perspective when I approach a piece of copy.

Lately, I’ve encountered a number of stories from role models, actors, and others who didn’t hit their peak until their 50s! Pretty astounding, right?

Take Martha Stewart. She’s a pretty shrewd business woman, always has been. But, she didn’t create the empire we know and love her for until her 50s! Vera Wang didn’t get into the fashion business until she was in her 40s. Heck, even Ray Kroc didn’t buy his first McDonalds till after the age of 50.

This morning, I woke up wondering, “What’s next?”

I’ve always said, voice over is a great career because there is NO ceiling. The opportunities are endless. One can pursue so many different lines of work in vo. Now, it also involves talent, and maybe a little luck. 😉

So, today, I wonder, “What’s next?”

I have some ideas. And I’m always open to ideas.

#voiceover #entrepreneur #narrator #videoproduction #audioproduction #futureplanning #sayyestoopportunities