Business Planning

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

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

What makes you feel legit in your career?

Today, I sent a text to my husband and said…

“Making money like this makes me feel legit.”

I’m gonna be real. Today was a good money day. As a freelance voice talent, reality is, unless you’re a promo or radio/tv affiliate voice talent who is contracted to work, or you have a few e-learning clients who keep you busy (which seem to be harder to find these days), you’re auditioning and marketing yourself for work among hundreds, if not thousands, of other talent every single day. Not every day is a good money day.

So, when it’s a good day, take the time to celebrate it!

Making decent money isn’t the only thing that helps me feel like I am a legitimate player in my field. It helps (because… bills), but it’s definitely not the only factor. Or even, the most important factor.

I had two recording sessions today with clients (and one by myself). Being able to work directly with clients is the best! When they say things to the agency like, “Be sure to keep the talent’s contact info on hand, as I foresee we’ll use her in the near future…” it’s a good day. On top of that, we finished the session in 15 minutes and six takes.

In the next session (just 20 minutes and five takes, I think), I got to play a character. It was a role that comes naturally to me (funny comedic young woman as girlfriend/wife). I loved the spot when I auditioned for it – it was funny, and totally something I’d do and say. There is nothing better than getting to role play, bringing the creative’s comedy to life with the voice they heard in their head when they wrote the spot. Hearing the client’s approval after each take is bliss for me. Let’s face it, they’re spending LOADS of money on the conceptualization, writing, audio/video production, voice, media time, etc, all with the hope of selling more of their product… so yeah, making them happy makes me happy.

When I can make clients happy, then I know I’m doing a good job.

So, what makes you feel legit? I want to hear it!

www.carynclark.com

#legit #voiceover #voiceactor #audioproduction #videoproduction#commercialproduction #advertising #narration