One of the earliest coaching tips I adopted when something was misread was don’t apologize, just pause, breathe, and start again from the beginning of the sentence. This seems to me to be doubly relevant at this time of year as we take a pause from the last 12 months to take a deep breath and launch into 2022. As January starts to build steam, I realized that it was time to do some ‘winter cleaning’ and a yearly review of my Voiceover business.
Social media is full of New Year resolutions (Join a Gym & Go on a Diet). Although I do set goals, I really look to lists and creating a yearly Business plan to keep the focus.
I looked at the past year, decided what worked well and what didn’t, what should I do more of, and what I will do differently. What actions will I take that are new? What expectations do I have for turnover, expenses, and income? Are there areas of my business that are no longer profitable, are there new areas of business I need to investigate. New areas that I’m interested in, include ADR, Promo, In-show narrations, and animation. I’ll continue to be active in Videogames, corporate, commercial and E-learning and I see a trend where an ability to perform as a character in E-learning will be an asset, so training and refreshers in these areas will be on my agenda.
Here are a few of my other observations:
- My expenses were higher this year but fortunately so was my turnover
- Conferences are back (VO Atlanta this Spring) and I will continue as both an attendee & speaker
-VO work can be found via social media so I will continue to explore this option
-To do more VO training, as in any job and life, the learning never stops.
But what other things did I need to get sorted coming into the New Year? Early in January, I was invited to apply for a production house roster and one of the requirements was an ‘up-to-date resume’. This was completed and I now have to see what other agencies and clients need this too.
Then this led to...’review my website’ - This is the place new clients can gain an insight into my work ethic, the genres I work in, and how professionally I run my business, so it’s crucial to keep it current.
Tasks include checking that all video links work, that the 'About me' page is up to date, that my new demos are uploaded, and searching out any new work that can be linked on it. What about other information and requirements. Adding awards/nominations and ensuring Web compliance is important. This along with working on conference presentation content, marketing, and auditioning.
Christmas also brought new things into the studio. A new microphone and some new booth lighting resulted in some adjustments there too. I’ve always been a stander when recording but I’m experimenting with sitting for certain styles which means bringing in something to sit on and easily adjustable mic mounts. Also making way for my new Star Wars figures, led to changing my work desk layout and a general tidy of the growing pile of papers that sits just to my right. My wife thinks that my Whisper Room (uniform gray felt) could use something like a wrap to brighten up the ambiance in my studio----is there even such a thing? So that’s now on our ‘To Investigate’ list.
Let's all Roll Sound to a Prosperous Voice over Year!