VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #417 -Networking vs. Support – The Power and Difference of Groups
Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover. And welcome into this week's edition of Voice Coaches Radio. I am Josh, he is Sam. We are delighted to have you joining us here this, uh, this week. Sam, how we doing? Doing great, Josh. Thank you for asking. Oh, you know what? Uh, thank you for answering. You are welcome.
Uh, so, um, you know, anything going on? You know, just doing, doing the voice actor life. Yeah, yeah, living that, living that voice actor life. Living the voice actor dream. Yeah, yeah, it is a dream. Day in and day out. It is a dream. Um, uh, so. Oh, I did teach some, uh, adult ed classes, which is pretty cool recently.
That was nice. Very nice. Some group, some group work with some, uh, new voiceover students. That's super fun. Love it, love it. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Uh, so we, we actually, and I know we, we, we've asked for this, we've asked for this probably every single episode, but we asked for, uh, listener participation, uh, and I'm going to say, hmm, a little disappointed in most people, but, uh, but not in everybody.
Not in everybody. Of late. We have been getting some, uh, yeah, we've been getting some traction there. And, uh, and I think that's great. So there are people who, who actually value our opinion for reasons unknown, um, yeah. And, uh, and want us to, uh, to answer some questions, want us to, to delve into some topics and, and I think that's great.
I think it's awesome. As I say, Sam, this isn't just our show. It's yours. Usually that is how you end the show. Tis. Uh, but here's how we begin it. Because, uh, we, like I said, we do have some, uh, some of that. Listener participation some of those topics that want to be discussed and uh, I believe we have a uh, a question from a listener We do I feel like the month of march has been very good for listener participation more than we've seen so far Wouldn't you agree with that josh?
I feel like it's been pretty good. I would I would definitely say it is It has picked up. It's only taken us, you know, six months to figure it out So hey, we made it we we got a lot and this month We've actually received a lot of questions and today we want to tackle one of them So i'll read some of the question i'll paraphrase the rest of it, but the the gist Most of it was this.
One of our listeners was asking, what if you and Josh did an episode about helpful networking groups and professional associations to join or visit for a relationship building? How about meetups? Or what about ideas to find other voice actors and start a networking group if one doesn't exist? For those in the New York's, Los Angeles's, and Chicago's of the country, it's probably easier to find groups like this.
But for those outside of these network, these places, these hubs, not so much. So what do we do? Now? This is a great question, and thank you so much for sending it our way, because I, I will speak for Josh in this matter, we probably have a lot of, uh, thoughts on this matter. A lot of things that we could say.
Many thoughts. Many, many thoughts. And networking groups. So I feel like there are two broad categories that we can start with on groups to network with, and one of them is technically a networking group. The other is a little bit different, however. I don't know that I would call it a networking group, I might call it a Mastermind group or a group of peers and support support group.
That's a better way. Yeah a support group and both are valuable But I would separate these two things. So we in our curriculum and I know David has definitely David, the owner has said this many times in many different ways. A lot of new voice actors tend to join groups with like minded individuals or other voice actors.
Sure, sure. Which is not a bad thing. Misery loves company. It does. We love other voice actors. And this is not a bad thing, but if the goal is to network, that might not be the best way to do that. Sure, you're not going to directly contact the jobs. Most likely more than like from something like that, which is, which is again, why he kind of brings it up as a, well, you know, it's, it's maybe not something you want to put all your, your eggs in that basket.
Yeah. Other voice actors don't typically hire other voice actors. They would be doing the work themselves, right? Or maybe, you know, maybe they have too much work and they might hand it off. So there are those things. There are those opportunities, but more often than not. Groups of voice actors are not hiring voice actors.
The other group, the people who are hiring voice actors, those would be casting professionals. And we talk about, you could find things locally, like chambers of commerce, uh, you could have, um, there could be groups, uh, like marketing associations. The, um, American Ad Club, that's another place to look, but outside of that, where do you go for network, where you go for networking and where you go for support might be two different things.
Let's tackle the support front, because I feel like that's really what this question is about. If you're in a big city, there are probably meetups out there for voice actors. I've actually seen these. They, these things do exist for professional actors, voice actors, whatever, whatever you're interested in, there is a meetup out there for you.
In big cities, they'll, Often have these things in smaller cities or outside of the, these major hubs, secondary markets, secondary markets, B markets. These might not exist. So what do we do? My, my thought. If you're really looking for that, and it doesn't exist where you are, start building it. Start building it yourself.
If you build it, he will come. And by he, he means Sam. And by he He will show up for coffee and donuts. If you build it, they will come. They will come, right, they. And they, the other voice actors will come. So how do you do this? How do you start building a network of support for you yourself? A couple suggestions.
I know of like, just going on LinkedIn linked, I'm, I'm a huge fan of LinkedIn as a, the social media platform as, as far as social media platforms go. And what I've discovered in LinkedIn is even in upstate New York, I keep getting recommended other voice actors. I keep finding people that I didn't know.
Uh, that I have no experience with personally, but I keep finding them and they're getting recommended to me. So that is one place to look and you can start creating groups through these networks that way. That's one way to go. Or, Meetup is a great platform where you can create a meetup group and start finding people with similar interests.
And you can do that anywhere. anywhere in the country. You don't have to be in a big city. Well, I think that's, that's just the great thing. So my, my wife is, um, a beach body coach. And one of the things that that she does weekly is she meets with, uh, with her clients as well as, uh, meets with the person who she is, uh, who she is under.
And, uh, they don't necessarily live around here. They don't need to, because all of this is done on those, you know, Google Hangouts or whatever they are where, you know, everyone's able to get together to see each other and, uh, and to talk and to discuss and to pass along ideas and things like that. And again, it's not about getting more clientele from that.
It's about, you know, helping each other. It's about, you know, asking So, uh, yeah, Advice asking questions. It's a sounding board. It's uh, it's an accountability. Uh, you know type of type of situation. So it's it's Extremely helpful and with technology nowadays, it doesn't have to simply be In albany now, maybe it would be helpful to to have you know, a group that is just Towards the whatever, you know, city you might live in because you're going to have similar experiences.
You're going to deal with similar types of companies and similar situations. Uh, people who are working, say, in New York City don't have quite as much as common as someone who's working, you know, in a smaller B type market. Uh, so you might want to, you know, specialize a little bit, but again, you don't have to limit yourself to people who are in the area.
It's not like you all have to meet up at the same coffee shop. You certainly can. But, you know, it Life happens. That doesn't always work out that way, and that's okay with the technology we have, and we need to utilize that. Absolutely. And, yeah, yeah, Josh, that's, absolutely, Josh, I agree, you nailed it, I had so many thoughts about when you were talking, I was like, no, no, he's got a lot to say, I don't want to interrupt right now, and It's alright, just jump on in, I don't care.
No, no, it was good, it was good, um Definitely, like, there are so many ways you can do this, and really it is, if you are looking for professional support, a group like this might be helpful. Like, hey, I'm struggling with X, how do you deal with that? That's a great way to work. To be like, well, you know, actually, for me, what I do to find clients is I do this thing.
Oh, that's a wonderful idea, I'd never thought of it. That is where a support group becomes very helpful. And the accountability, on the accountability front, that's what Josh and I do here for each other in a lot of ways, and what we've been trying to cultivate. Every month going forward. That's our goal.
That's what we're trying to do. And you can do that too. You don't, you can, you can be like Josh and I look, there's an idea. Set your bar a little higher, but you could be like us or you could develop that even further. And what we're trying to do is develop community even through this podcast too, which is starting to happen with people sending us ideas and questions.
And that's what we want to answer too. So this is another way to how do you build community? That's really what I hear at the heart of this networking. Let's talk about. Working professionally. Otherwise that is, that is not as cut and dry per se, and it still is up to you. You could be become part of these.
The Chamber of Commerce, the American Ad Club, these are wonderful places who are people who hire voice actors. That's where I would begin, but two, it also goes back to everything we talk about and have talked about before, saying it out loud. Business cards, networking is something that happens all the time, every day, little bit by little bit.
It's not necessarily going to a party. It's not going to a function. It's you getting out there on the daily, putting yourself in front of other people. It's relationship building. It's relationship building. That's all it is. It's relationship building. And that's true, not just in this industry, that's true in any number of industries.
Business. Absolutely. Business, sales, it's all about, you know, making those relationships, cultivating those relationships, and it all starts with that, you know, first introduction, with that, Uh, you know, introducing yourself to, to someone, making yourself getting comfortable being a little bit uncomfortable doing that and, uh, and, you know, finding yourself in a situation where, you know, you have relationships with all sorts of people and those start to grow and eventually, uh, they'll start to yield and that's what, uh, that's what you're looking for.
Yeah. So keep putting yourself out there, keep doing the work, and then also, if you want to create a support group, you have everything in your power to do that. And I would, even if you're in a smaller market, there is nothing stopping you from being the person to build the community, to build your tribe, to build that group.
So, but do, do, my, my biggest suggestion in this whole thing is separate the two. There is a support group and there's networking groups. Both are valuable, but they're both serve different functions. No question about it. No question about it. So thank you very much for that, uh, for that question, for that, uh, that idea topic.
Hopefully that shed a little bit of light on that. Uh, and, and the fact that I, I think, and we kind of talk about it, there's no one, uh, you know, uh, golden ticket to success in this industry. It's all about doing a little bit of everything and that that goes, you know, for, for everything in this marketing, right?
Oh, we talked a little about social media. That's great, but not by itself. We talked a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, these support groups, they're great, not by themselves. Um, you know, a networking group is great, but you're going to need other things. You're going to have other, you know, other questions and other needs.
And so, you know, you shouldn't just do one thing. You should do everything as much as you can. And that's where you're going to start to see the results. Love it. All right. So again, thank you for the question. Any other questions or topics, uh, that you want us to discuss, uh, let us know. Give us a call. Uh, shoot us a line, sam at voicecoaches.
com is how to get in touch with us, uh, so we can, uh, enlighten you as best as, uh, well, as best as we possibly can, um, but again, thank you so much for listening in this week and, uh. Sam, anything to add? No, that's it. I think that covers it. Outstanding. Alright. Well, we will talk to you again all next week.
Again, thanks for tuning in. And until then, so long everyone. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
To view upcoming sessions of our live, web-based introductory sessions, visit voicecoaches.com/enroll.
Uh, so, um, you know, anything going on? You know, just doing, doing the voice actor life. Yeah, yeah, living that, living that voice actor life. Living the voice actor dream. Yeah, yeah, it is a dream. Day in and day out. It is a dream. Um, uh, so. Oh, I did teach some, uh, adult ed classes, which is pretty cool recently.
That was nice. Very nice. Some group, some group work with some, uh, new voiceover students. That's super fun. Love it, love it. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Uh, so we, we actually, and I know we, we, we've asked for this, we've asked for this probably every single episode, but we asked for, uh, listener participation, uh, and I'm going to say, hmm, a little disappointed in most people, but, uh, but not in everybody.
Not in everybody. Of late. We have been getting some, uh, yeah, we've been getting some traction there. And, uh, and I think that's great. So there are people who, who actually value our opinion for reasons unknown, um, yeah. And, uh, and want us to, uh, to answer some questions, want us to, to delve into some topics and, and I think that's great.
I think it's awesome. As I say, Sam, this isn't just our show. It's yours. Usually that is how you end the show. Tis. Uh, but here's how we begin it. Because, uh, we, like I said, we do have some, uh, some of that. Listener participation some of those topics that want to be discussed and uh, I believe we have a uh, a question from a listener We do I feel like the month of march has been very good for listener participation more than we've seen so far Wouldn't you agree with that josh?
I feel like it's been pretty good. I would I would definitely say it is It has picked up. It's only taken us, you know, six months to figure it out So hey, we made it we we got a lot and this month We've actually received a lot of questions and today we want to tackle one of them So i'll read some of the question i'll paraphrase the rest of it, but the the gist Most of it was this.
One of our listeners was asking, what if you and Josh did an episode about helpful networking groups and professional associations to join or visit for a relationship building? How about meetups? Or what about ideas to find other voice actors and start a networking group if one doesn't exist? For those in the New York's, Los Angeles's, and Chicago's of the country, it's probably easier to find groups like this.
But for those outside of these network, these places, these hubs, not so much. So what do we do? Now? This is a great question, and thank you so much for sending it our way, because I, I will speak for Josh in this matter, we probably have a lot of, uh, thoughts on this matter. A lot of things that we could say.
Many thoughts. Many, many thoughts. And networking groups. So I feel like there are two broad categories that we can start with on groups to network with, and one of them is technically a networking group. The other is a little bit different, however. I don't know that I would call it a networking group, I might call it a Mastermind group or a group of peers and support support group.
That's a better way. Yeah a support group and both are valuable But I would separate these two things. So we in our curriculum and I know David has definitely David, the owner has said this many times in many different ways. A lot of new voice actors tend to join groups with like minded individuals or other voice actors.
Sure, sure. Which is not a bad thing. Misery loves company. It does. We love other voice actors. And this is not a bad thing, but if the goal is to network, that might not be the best way to do that. Sure, you're not going to directly contact the jobs. Most likely more than like from something like that, which is, which is again, why he kind of brings it up as a, well, you know, it's, it's maybe not something you want to put all your, your eggs in that basket.
Yeah. Other voice actors don't typically hire other voice actors. They would be doing the work themselves, right? Or maybe, you know, maybe they have too much work and they might hand it off. So there are those things. There are those opportunities, but more often than not. Groups of voice actors are not hiring voice actors.
The other group, the people who are hiring voice actors, those would be casting professionals. And we talk about, you could find things locally, like chambers of commerce, uh, you could have, um, there could be groups, uh, like marketing associations. The, um, American Ad Club, that's another place to look, but outside of that, where do you go for network, where you go for networking and where you go for support might be two different things.
Let's tackle the support front, because I feel like that's really what this question is about. If you're in a big city, there are probably meetups out there for voice actors. I've actually seen these. They, these things do exist for professional actors, voice actors, whatever, whatever you're interested in, there is a meetup out there for you.
In big cities, they'll, Often have these things in smaller cities or outside of the, these major hubs, secondary markets, secondary markets, B markets. These might not exist. So what do we do? My, my thought. If you're really looking for that, and it doesn't exist where you are, start building it. Start building it yourself.
If you build it, he will come. And by he, he means Sam. And by he He will show up for coffee and donuts. If you build it, they will come. They will come, right, they. And they, the other voice actors will come. So how do you do this? How do you start building a network of support for you yourself? A couple suggestions.
I know of like, just going on LinkedIn linked, I'm, I'm a huge fan of LinkedIn as a, the social media platform as, as far as social media platforms go. And what I've discovered in LinkedIn is even in upstate New York, I keep getting recommended other voice actors. I keep finding people that I didn't know.
Uh, that I have no experience with personally, but I keep finding them and they're getting recommended to me. So that is one place to look and you can start creating groups through these networks that way. That's one way to go. Or, Meetup is a great platform where you can create a meetup group and start finding people with similar interests.
And you can do that anywhere. anywhere in the country. You don't have to be in a big city. Well, I think that's, that's just the great thing. So my, my wife is, um, a beach body coach. And one of the things that that she does weekly is she meets with, uh, with her clients as well as, uh, meets with the person who she is, uh, who she is under.
And, uh, they don't necessarily live around here. They don't need to, because all of this is done on those, you know, Google Hangouts or whatever they are where, you know, everyone's able to get together to see each other and, uh, and to talk and to discuss and to pass along ideas and things like that. And again, it's not about getting more clientele from that.
It's about, you know, helping each other. It's about, you know, asking So, uh, yeah, Advice asking questions. It's a sounding board. It's uh, it's an accountability. Uh, you know type of type of situation. So it's it's Extremely helpful and with technology nowadays, it doesn't have to simply be In albany now, maybe it would be helpful to to have you know, a group that is just Towards the whatever, you know, city you might live in because you're going to have similar experiences.
You're going to deal with similar types of companies and similar situations. Uh, people who are working, say, in New York City don't have quite as much as common as someone who's working, you know, in a smaller B type market. Uh, so you might want to, you know, specialize a little bit, but again, you don't have to limit yourself to people who are in the area.
It's not like you all have to meet up at the same coffee shop. You certainly can. But, you know, it Life happens. That doesn't always work out that way, and that's okay with the technology we have, and we need to utilize that. Absolutely. And, yeah, yeah, Josh, that's, absolutely, Josh, I agree, you nailed it, I had so many thoughts about when you were talking, I was like, no, no, he's got a lot to say, I don't want to interrupt right now, and It's alright, just jump on in, I don't care.
No, no, it was good, it was good, um Definitely, like, there are so many ways you can do this, and really it is, if you are looking for professional support, a group like this might be helpful. Like, hey, I'm struggling with X, how do you deal with that? That's a great way to work. To be like, well, you know, actually, for me, what I do to find clients is I do this thing.
Oh, that's a wonderful idea, I'd never thought of it. That is where a support group becomes very helpful. And the accountability, on the accountability front, that's what Josh and I do here for each other in a lot of ways, and what we've been trying to cultivate. Every month going forward. That's our goal.
That's what we're trying to do. And you can do that too. You don't, you can, you can be like Josh and I look, there's an idea. Set your bar a little higher, but you could be like us or you could develop that even further. And what we're trying to do is develop community even through this podcast too, which is starting to happen with people sending us ideas and questions.
And that's what we want to answer too. So this is another way to how do you build community? That's really what I hear at the heart of this networking. Let's talk about. Working professionally. Otherwise that is, that is not as cut and dry per se, and it still is up to you. You could be become part of these.
The Chamber of Commerce, the American Ad Club, these are wonderful places who are people who hire voice actors. That's where I would begin, but two, it also goes back to everything we talk about and have talked about before, saying it out loud. Business cards, networking is something that happens all the time, every day, little bit by little bit.
It's not necessarily going to a party. It's not going to a function. It's you getting out there on the daily, putting yourself in front of other people. It's relationship building. It's relationship building. That's all it is. It's relationship building. And that's true, not just in this industry, that's true in any number of industries.
Business. Absolutely. Business, sales, it's all about, you know, making those relationships, cultivating those relationships, and it all starts with that, you know, first introduction, with that, Uh, you know, introducing yourself to, to someone, making yourself getting comfortable being a little bit uncomfortable doing that and, uh, and, you know, finding yourself in a situation where, you know, you have relationships with all sorts of people and those start to grow and eventually, uh, they'll start to yield and that's what, uh, that's what you're looking for.
Yeah. So keep putting yourself out there, keep doing the work, and then also, if you want to create a support group, you have everything in your power to do that. And I would, even if you're in a smaller market, there is nothing stopping you from being the person to build the community, to build your tribe, to build that group.
So, but do, do, my, my biggest suggestion in this whole thing is separate the two. There is a support group and there's networking groups. Both are valuable, but they're both serve different functions. No question about it. No question about it. So thank you very much for that, uh, for that question, for that, uh, that idea topic.
Hopefully that shed a little bit of light on that. Uh, and, and the fact that I, I think, and we kind of talk about it, there's no one, uh, you know, uh, golden ticket to success in this industry. It's all about doing a little bit of everything and that that goes, you know, for, for everything in this marketing, right?
Oh, we talked a little about social media. That's great, but not by itself. We talked a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, these support groups, they're great, not by themselves. Um, you know, a networking group is great, but you're going to need other things. You're going to have other, you know, other questions and other needs.
And so, you know, you shouldn't just do one thing. You should do everything as much as you can. And that's where you're going to start to see the results. Love it. All right. So again, thank you for the question. Any other questions or topics, uh, that you want us to discuss, uh, let us know. Give us a call. Uh, shoot us a line, sam at voicecoaches.
com is how to get in touch with us, uh, so we can, uh, enlighten you as best as, uh, well, as best as we possibly can, um, but again, thank you so much for listening in this week and, uh. Sam, anything to add? No, that's it. I think that covers it. Outstanding. Alright. Well, we will talk to you again all next week.
Again, thanks for tuning in. And until then, so long everyone. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
To view upcoming sessions of our live, web-based introductory sessions, visit voicecoaches.com/enroll.
Voice Coaches team members Josh and Sam answer a listener question about working with different groups of voice over industry professionals.
