I used to think it was enough to work hard.
Most of us do.
We’re told the lie that if we work hard, we will succeed. But that’s not always true.
When I started acting after college, I used to look for auditions on casting sites, and go audition for theatre companies and for independent films. Yes, I booked work now and then, but I auditioned for YEARS without really getting anywhere.
The times when I was looking for a day job, I would look on the big job posting sites, or Craigslist, but then rarely get a response and NEVER get the job.
And most newer voice actors I know pay to be on the P2P sites even if they never or rarely book a job.
I’m writing about this now because this week a fellow voice actor posted on the Global Voiceover Artists Network:
I had an epiphany about this the other day.
Economics tells us that people pay for what is valuable.
The fact that voices dot com can take an annual fee, large cut, and a secret (but well known) cut… And Voice Actors accept it and still work there…
It is showing us that the ability to source work is more valuable than the ability to win and do the work itself.
Seriously. That’s it. And TONS of people work on VoiceBunny and they tell you straight up... if you’re good and you’ve been here a while you might get 30%.
The ability to FIND the work is more valuable to more Voices Actors than the ability to DO it.
And this gave ME an epiphany.
Ever had to pee while stuck in traffic?? Yeah, right, me neither…
Most people take the obvious route to their goal, even if that route is as congested as the interstate during rush hour.
While job postings make finding the jobs easy, the ease with which they’re found means these jobs tend to be oversaturated with applicants. Sometimes, by the time you see them, they’re already filled.
But there’s a better way!
STRATEGY!!!
Strategy means seeing that there are a million different moves you can make to get to your goal.
Those who can think many moves into the future will be ahead in the game
If you want to get UBER-strategic, you can use these sites sparingly as PART of your strategy. But it shouldn’t be your only strategy.
(For the sake of this article, I’m assuming that you voice actors have already done the work and gotten yourself a quality e-learning demo and that you stage actors have good quality recent headshots and a professional resume. If you don’t have these things, then THAT is step one.)
Here are the basic steps to creating a strategic plan.
Narrow down your focus. Your end goal needs to be specific. Don’t “spray and pray.” The best results come from focused intention.
Research. Get all the information you need to implement your plan.
Implement. Follow through with the steps, and remain diligent about seeing the plan through to the end. You can’t judge the results of a plan half done.
Here’s what that might look like for a stage actor and for a voice actor. Feel free to skip the one that isn’t relevant to you, or perhaps read both (because you might get an idea from something I mention in the other).
Jeff here is auditioning for lead velociraptor in Jurassic Park: the Musical
Stage Theatre:
Most stage actors I talk to don’t seem to have any goals beyond “I just want to act.”
With that goal in mind, the standard way to go about getting cast would be to wait until the audition notices go up, make an appointment, and audition.
If your goal is still “I just want to act,” I’m really sorry, but that’s too broad.
I’m not trying to be mean, I’m trying to help you.
Remember what you learned in drama school? The thing your teachers probably called you on OVER and OVER again? “BE MORE SPECIFIC.”
Vague goals get vague results.
Instead, here’s the strategic way:
Narrow down your focus: “I want to do Shakespeare” is a better goal than “I want to do a show.” Get more specific than you think you need to.
Do your research: Instead of waiting until the audition notices get posted, start working on your goal as soon as you know it’s a goal. Start reading Shakespeare. Watching Shakespeare on film. Working on soliloquies or sonnets for acting class. (If you’re not in an acting class, join an acting class)
Decide what companies you might want to work with (local, regional, summer stock, etc) and when they release their upcoming season notice, read the plays that they plan to do, and choose the roles that you are right for/most interested in, then bring scenes or monologues from those to work on in class.
Research the company’s work. Research the director’s work. What style of production is this likely to be? Is anyone pre-cast? Are there monologues that the director hates? Do some recon within the community and see if there are likely front-runners to get cast. More information is always better.
Implement: Before you audition, it would be wise to narrow down your focus even more. If you go in with a wishy washy goal to get cast in the show, but haven’t gotten specific about what role, your chances decrease. Get specific. Pick the role you really want, the one that fires you up and gets you energized. Study the crap out of it. Choose your monologues based on the type of character you want to play. Write to the theatre immediately after their season is released, and express your interest in auditioning for the role. Even if it’s precast or if they decide someone else would be better for it this time, they’ll notice if you really did the work on the role.
Get MORE strategic:
Create relationships with the people you want to work with. Seek out their advice or expertise (they’ll be flattered). Get to know people in their inner circle. Find out where they hang out and go to events they might be at. (Do they frequently attend karaoke at a particular establishment? Do they play pub trivia every week?) Business is about relationships, so stop being afraid of forming relationships with the people you want to work with.
Support the companies that you really want to work with. Go to their fundraisers. Attend their productions. Take classes or workshops with them. Can’t afford to do some of these things? Volunteer! Don’t expect them to show interest when you haven’t done so first.
Stay in touch. People are busy, and they don’t mean to ignore you, but they frequently will. After you’ve heard about some great new thing the company is doing, send a message (email, DM, text, social media post, etc—whatever is most appropriate for your level of intimacy with this particular person)…asking a question, relaying your congratulations, anything that feels authentic to you and allows you to stay top of mind.
Be visible! Invite the directors you want to work with to come see your work. Offer them comps. Don’t have comps? Offer them a free ticket anyway…chances are they won’t take you up on it, but if they do, it’s a tax write off. Do this even before you have a relationship with them, but don’t expect anything from it until you’ve started to build a relationship. The goal in doing this early is not for them to see your brilliance, but for them to at least not say “George WHO??” when you come in to audition for them. Not working? Can’t get cast? Find ways to create your own work until you do.
Marketing for voice actors isn’t as easy as this, but it’s a LOT cheaper
Voiceover:
You can audition for everything posted on V123 that fits your voice type…and audition with hundreds of other people. And only have about half of your auditions listened to, rendering half of the work you do completely useless.
But if you’d like to try your hand at the strategic route, here’s what that looks like:
Narrow down your focus: Pick a specific goal. At least START with a specific goal. It doesn’t mean that’s all you’ll ever do, it just means you’re focusing your intention to get better results. Capiche??? Let’s be specific and say your goal is to book a corporate e-learning gig. Even better, let’s say your goal is to get five corporate e-learning clients in the next three months. How do you do this?
Do your research: I’m going to make up some numbers here, because I honestly don’t know (nor do I want to do the research on this myself right now), and I also want clean round numbers to make my point…so let’s say for argument’s sake that you do the research on this and find out that in general, you can expect to have a 10% response rate to your cold marketing, and that of those people, 10% will become a client. So 100 outreaches =10 potential clients = 1 client.
That means you will need to reach out to at least 500 contacts in the next three months in order to add the five clients you want. That’s approximately 38.5 emails or cold calls per week, or 7.7 per day, if you only work weekdays. TOTALLY DOABLE!
There are voice actors out there emailing a hundred people a day, and more power to them. I’m just trying to show you how you can break down your specific goal into strategic steps.
So, next you do more research…find the companies, the people with the right titles, and get their phone numbers or email addresses. There are a bunch of ways to find contacts and a bunch of different ways to contact them, so if you don’t have experience in sales or marketing, I recommend looking into learning from someone in the industry about their method. (I’ve done League of Listbuilders, Tracy Lindley’s LinkedIn course, watched Joshua Alexander’s had chats with WoVO mentors,
Implement: Send your 7.7 emails each day, and DON’T FORGET about following up!
Get MORE Strategic:
Create relationships with the people and companies you really want to work with. With voiceover, it’s going to be a lot more through email and social media, so follow the company and a contact or two at that company on social media. If they post something that adds value for others, share it! Start a conversation. Ask a contact to coffee to get to know them and their business (virtual or in person depending on when you’re reading this).
Stay in touch. Most voice actors get discouraged after not hearing back after the first contact. Make sure you have a method of following up, even if they never replied to your first email. They might not reply after five…or ten. Unless they tell you to STOP, keep reaching out. Think strategically. How can you stay top of mind without being annoying and pitching yourself over and over again? There are a million ways. Be creative.
Be visible. Create good content on social media. Share your work when you can. And make sure you INTERACT with those who comment. Not working or can’t share the things you’re working on? Share your practice! (NEVER SHARE AUDITION SCRIPTS, as this can get you in big trouble) Create fun things. Read public domain books, poems, write your own stuff, create commercials for fake products, whatever. Just find a way to showcase what you can do.
A note on social media:
Social media is pointless unless you use it properly. Commenting to add value to people’s posts, posting your own content regularly, and connecting to others allows you to be visible.
If you show up only once a month and post about a project you just did, but don’t tag anyone or use relevant hashtags, it’s the equivalent of sneaking into a holiday party two hours late only to hang out with the host’s dog on the back porch while everyone else is in the living room.
Social media is not a bulletin board!!—it’s more like an NFL football game, and all the cameras are on. The algorithms are the cameras…they go where the action is, and aren’t going to show you just because you’re there. If you want to be visible, you’ll have to put on that Viking helmet, paint your chest, and start cheering like your life depends on it.
Get in the game!
This is not even remotely an exhaustive list of strategic ways to get work. Your strategy shouldn’t even be bound by the limits of your imagination, but should be informed also by the imagination of others. Look outside yourself and see what other creative things people are doing to market themselves and get work.
Is it a lot of work? Yes. It can be. But I gotta say, you’re more likely to get the kind of work and the amount of work you want when you go at it strategically.
Strategy may not guarantee you work, but it does give you some level of control over the result.
What strategies have worked for you? Are there any you would add to my list? Comment below!