|
VO Marketing 101: 'Keep In Touch' ...
Innovative Ways To Sell Your Sound
 By Alan SklarVoice Actor
Click below to hear inspiring six-minute audio version of this article, read by the author
About 15 years ago, a friendly staff producer at the NYC office of Carabiner gave me some advice which is worth thousands of dollars.
He said, “Keep in touch.”
Keep in touch.
That’s good advice for vendors in most industries. And an excellent suggestion for voice actors in our business.
WHAT ARE YOU SELLING?
You’ve heard it many times: ”Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind.”
In the “old days” actors would make phone calls to chat with producers or send postcards with a brief recap of what jobs they’d done in the last month or two.
Several of my colleagues still send postcards. It’s worth the 20-cent stamp to have a producer spend three or four seconds perusing your photo and news, and then tossing it in the waste basket.
It’s "keeping in touch.”
But a voice actor is not selling his look, but his sound.
SUNDAY CALLS
When I started in this work, I used to make calls to corporate clients on Sunday afternoons. I had a list prepared of the names and phone numbers, and I’d roll through the list.
Why a Sunday afternoon? The corporation was closed.
My thinking was that on Monday morning the producer walks into his office with his coffee, sorts through his mail, and then listens to any phone messages that had come in.
FRIENDLY MESSAGE
My message went:
So I left a voice sample of a warm, deep, authoritative voice, not a printed post card résumé.
While I spoke, I leaned back in my desk chair, and relaxed physically in order to get the best soft, warm sound I could muster.
Also packaged in my spoken message was an unspoken communication: ”Alan is a gentleman, a reliable professional and so easy to work with.”
BUSINESS GREW
Did it work? Was that an effective strategy?
I dunno. But my numbers went up every year.
So, like a good enema, it probably didn’t hurt.
ON CLIENT'S TEAM
About 70% of my work for years was - and still is - non-broadcast narration, serving corporate, medical, financial clientele.
I still feel that’s my strongest skill, and I love the work.
With “Industrials” the voice talent can be a part of the creative team, making script suggestions, which are often accepted.
Not so with commercials. Just keep your trap shut and do what they tell you. I’ve learned to not turn on the charm or the humor or make suggestions during a TV commercial job.
GOTTA LOVE IT
At an on-camera audition many years ago, an actor friend (a grown man over 50 years of age!) said to me:
He spoke as if I had a disease.
I thought to myself, ”I love competing with guys like this.”
Another time, a voice actor, on the sidewalk outside Liz Lewis’s facility in NYC, said:
I thought to myself, ”I love competing with guys like this.”
THE EMAIL TOUCH
Keep in touch.
Nowadays, with email, it’s easy to keep in touch.
An email is a non-intrusive electronic postcard, hopefully getting the client’s attention for the same three or four seconds.
And a voice actor can attach an audio file to show his/her stuff rather than just describing it.
I know for a fact that producers occasionally listen to the attached sample.
NOT AGENT'S JOB
Some actors feel that the agent should do 100% of the marketing. I feel differently.
When a job creates new wealth, the agent gets 10% and the talent gets 90%. That means to me, that the actor should do 90% of the marketing efforts.
So many actors are reluctant to do the selling.
It’s as if the agents and producers are titans of the industry and the actor is “poor little me,” so deferential with hat in hand ....feeling unentitled to even approach such industry giants.
Boy, what a misunderstanding.
BUT DON'T INTRUDE
Keep in touch. How to do it effectively and not intrusively haunts me.
I know to think:
SALES SAMPLE ...
As a sales person in the paint and hardware industry for 20 years before I got into voice overs, I learned how effective it is to be pleasantly persistent.
One fun story was when Ralph (our northern Manhattan salesman) and I tried to open up a new account, a lumber yard/hardware store on 2nd Avenue in the East 90’s.
We got thrown out 12 times.
The owner said:
Ralph and I left and stood on the sidewalk outside the store.
Ralph said: “Alan! Screw this guy!”
And I replied: “No, Ralph. If the New York Times crossword puzzle was easy, it wouldn’t be any fun. We’re gonna open this guy up.”
And sure enough, two weeks later, on our 13th call, the owner yells at us across the store: “Do you guys carry Frost King Weatherstripping?”
I yelled back: ”Sure do!”
The boss yells to his buyer: “Frankie, give ‘em an order!”
And Ralph called on them every week thereafter and wrote an order.
TELL 'EM A STORY
But back to Keep in Touch.
I had a brainstorm last year. I recorded several short stories on CDs, had labels printed with a small headshot, and in big letters at the top:
MAY I TELL YOU A STORY
Reader: Alan Sklar
On the bottom: The author and title and running time.
I sent these “entertainments” to producers with my card, on which I write: “Hope this story enhances your commute.”
POSITIVE RESPONSE
The response was and continues to be very positive.
I often get lovely grateful emails thanking me. I’ve mailed hundreds of these CDs. An effective way of staying in touch.
ENJOY THE HUNT
Now ... how else to stay in touch?
Next time we talk, I’ll tell you stories about finding new accounts (production companies.)
It’s THE HUNT!
And if you are a salesman in your heart, it’s often more fun than the voice jobs.
But you must understand that the definition of a salesman is: A guy who gets other folks to do what he wants! It’s got nothing to do with hawking wares.
Also see and hear:
ABOUT ALAN ...
Alan Sklar has been a freelance voice actor for more than 20 years, voicing radio/TV commercials and VNRs - and narrating everything from audiobooks and documentaries to thousands of corporate and medical video projects. An award-winning narrator of more than 150 audiobooks - including A Civil Action and Black Hawk Down, he is also an on-camera and in-person spokesperson for major corporations.
Email: alan@alansklar.com
Web: www.AlanSklar.com
|
|
|
.png)
Thank You,
Ed Hawthorne
Angie
Thank you...and consider every bit of it stolen for my own personal use!
:)
Thanks!!!
This is my first post on VoiceOverXtra ... and a very sincere thank you, Alan, for a great article.
"Like a good enema, it probably wouldn't hurt."
That's a good line to remember. As is the rest of Alan's advice.
I've been doing the VM message thing after hours at corporations. That gives you a chance to leave a good message without interrupting someone's day. And a chance for you to "audition," so to speak, by having your voice recorded on their VM.
And that CD story thing ... now ...that's got me thinkin'!
Thanks, Alan ... Keep in touch!
Handsome AND brilliant! I just love your wonderful article! Thank you so much for writing this and sharing your wisdom. I enjoyed your recording very much, as well.
I’ve been a big fan of the Sunday voice-mail messages for a long time. (I think I might have learned that idea originally from Susan Berkley or Diana Boylston.) It’s such a great way for your clients to hear your voice with no pressure or interruption.
Your idea to record CD’s for clients is fabulous! In fact, would you send one of your short stories to me? I commute all the time and it would be a lovely alternative to what I usually listen to during my drive. :~)
And you’re right - sales can be so much fun! It requires creativity and imaginative thinking and most of all, persistence. (Pleasant persistence.)
Thank you again Alan for your beautifully written article and inspiring ideas. I hope all is wonderfully well with you and that our paths cross again sooner than later.
xox
Maxine
All The Best,
Bobbin Beam, Voice Actress
Alan, I am genuflecting in your direction right now! The CD stories are yet another of your brilliant marketing ideas, and I thank you for sharing it with us!
Cordially,
Karen Commins
http://www.KarenCommins.com
Love that velvet voice - Excellent ideas!
Amy