VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Mike Harrison

What marketing effort(s) seem(s) to work best for you today?
_________________
Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

ConnieTerwilliger · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:12 pm Post subject:

Repeat clients and referrals, plus direct hits on my website. Occasional fits of calling or writing past clients who I haven't heard from for a while.

I really feel for the talented newbie trying to make this a living.
_________________
Playing for a living...
www.voiceover-talent.com
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/connieterwilliger

Drew · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:03 pm Post subject:

Ditto.
_________________
www.voiceoverdrew.com
Skype: andrew.hadwal1
Although I have a full head of hair, I'm quite ribald.

Scott Pollak · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:13 pm Post subject:

Double ditto.
_________________
Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

For long-form narration, all adverbs are FREE in the word-count! Wink

_________________
Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

Deirdre · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:42 pm Post subject:

You know what?

I don't know.

I have a steady announcer job and repeat clients.

My video game work is all side- and back-door stuff— I get cast because I know the guys who do the audio, and I know them because I'm a geek.

That's not "marketing" but it's a living.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

Lee Gordon · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 1:07 am Post subject:

I stand on a busy street corner, looking disheveled, holding a cardboard sign saying, "Have Golden Voice. Will Announce for Food," and hope to be discovered and exploited. Shocked

_________________
Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

todd ellis · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 7:10 am Post subject:

ALMOST like lee - but i've learned how to spin the sign in a really cool way!
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

melissa eX · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 3:08 pm Post subject:

I never market to new clients during a Mercury retrograde.

ConnieTerwilliger · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 3:50 pm Post subject:

OMG Mel - I never believed in that mumbo jumbo, but I tell you, I tried to buy a new cell phone to replace the one that wasn't very old, but no longer had software upgrades and I had to beat on it regularly to force a Hobo Tounge

s to close. Well. two defective phones and three days later, I hope the newest phone I picked up today will behave.

Sheesh - I can tell you, the manager saw me come into the store and blanched - well, OK, not really - he is pretty calm. I guess he has to be.
_________________
Playing for a living...
www.voiceover-talent.com
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/connieterwilliger

Yonie · CM Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Posts: 906

Mercury retrograde. Are we delving into the machinations of Los Angeles Astrology right now?

Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 5:18 pm Post subject:

mercury retrograde, now through august 8! hurry in for best selection!
_________________
sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

www.d3voiceworks.com

Lee Gordon · Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:06 am Post subject:

Available at your Mercury-Saturn dealer. (In Jupiter, FL, that's Mercury-Saturn of Jupiter.)
_________________
Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

Lapianoman · Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:33 am Post subject:

I considered driving up there to buy a car Lee, but their prices were out of this world...

_________________
John LaPiana
Voice User

Tom Test · DC Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 629 Location: Chicago, IL

Hello Mike,

Great question! The business is always changing, and what worked 5 or 10 years ago may not work so well today. I remember a time when postcards were frowned upon because creatives already got an avalanche of direct mail, so they just tossed it without looking at it. But now that people rely so much on email, perhaps a postcard would get noticed!

I used to send out postcards 2-3 times a year to my mailing list of about 1200, but I haven't done that in 5 or 6 years. I actually think I will try it again in 2013, but for now I have the massive task of rebuilding my database to tackle first.

About 3 years ago, I totally redid my website. That has helped, and I think oftentimes it helps and I'm not aware of it because clients don't mention it (perhaps I need to ask!). I know of one creative at a Milwaukee agency who went out of her way to praise my website, and she actually read my blog (she said "I could tell you were a serious player when I read your blog," or words to that effect). So I think that having an effective website helps. What makes a website "effective" for a VO talent? That's a whole 'nother thread.

After that huge project was completed, my next task was to re-do all of my demos. I used to have a nice sideline as a demo producer/ coach myself, which I quit after getting married in 2000, so I had been doing my own demos. But this time I hired a guy who I thought was one of the best directors of talent I had ever worked with, Ray Fister. I got a great Commercial demo working with Ray, along with enough extra tracks that I could create variations of my demo (more on that later).

Then I hired another freelance producer I highly respect, Doug Pieper, to produce my various Narration demos - all of which were recorded from my own studio. I made a generic Narration demo for my agents (all of whom have unique versions), but here's the really key thing... I made several specialized demos. For example, I narrate a ton of e-learning projects from my home studio. A generic "Narration" demo may have too much material that isn't relevant to someone looking for a good narrator for a training video. So offering a demo that is only variations of reads for that type of material is very useful to them.

I made a separate "Corporate Image/B2B" demo that takes out the (relatively boring) training reads, and I think makes a greater impact. I have variations of that demo that focus more on the "sales" aspect of B2B, or more on a "warm and fuzzy" corporate image read, or skews younger (with more material like iPhone a Hobo Tounge

s), etc, etc, etc. I also have similar variations of my Commercial demo.

So when a potential buyer of talent goes to my website, or hears my submission on V123 or other sites, they will have a much better chance of hearing exactly the type of read they are looking for, using the same sort of copy their project has. I think this helps A LOT!

I really want to make a Commercial demo that focuses on my health care work, which I get a lot of. I recently was a "Finalist" for a campaign on V123 for a hospital, but did not get the gig. If I had been able to offer (along with my audition read) a demo that contained nothing but my health care reads, I think my chances of scoring that lucrative gig would have been much better.

Another big deal for me was investing in ISDN about 1.5 years ago. That enabled me to get a good new agent in Denver (I'm in Chicago) whom I have booked some lucrative jobs through. It cost an arm and a leg, and I pay over $200/month for line charges, but it is well worth it.

So for me at least, the reasons why 2011 was my busiest year ever (and 2012 is keeping pace) are because of my highly competitive specialized demos, and investing in the gear that enables me to work across the country easily (ISDN and now, Source Connect). Honestly, I don't market myself through cold-calling, postcards, advertisements at all. I think those things are great, but I'm too damn busy working (over 125 gigs so far this year).

Hope this helps, Mike!
_________________
Best regards,
Tom Test
"The Voice You Trust"
www.tomtest.com