VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #444 – 5… 4… 3… 2…1… Happy New Year!
Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover. And welcome to this week's edition of Voice Coaches Radio. I am Josh Heller. Delighted to have you joining me as we do each and every week here. It, uh, happy holidays to everybody. Hopefully everyone had a, a wonderful, happy, safe, healthy holiday. season. Uh, still in the holiday mode here.
Is it, uh, it's gonna be New Year's. It's almost, uh, almost New Year's Eve coming up this week. And with that in mind, uh, we decided to take a look back a few years ago, uh, at an older podcast, which is what we've been doing here recently. We've been looking back at some, some older podcasts through the years, looking back through the archives of the, uh, years and years, decades plus worth of, uh, worth of audio that we have.
And, uh, kind of going through and finding some, some stuff that maybe Maybe you haven't got a chance to listen to maybe you missed out on maybe you haven't gone through the archives
But but I have I have gone through them and and what we're gonna listen to today dates back from the beginning of 2017 it features Warren Garling and Tom Robinson and it is the beginning of the year 2017 just as is the end of our year here 2019 about to be 2020 and obviously with that comes New Year's resolutions Starting things anew, joining that gym, getting on that diet, pursuing your voice, acting career.
So what this, uh, this podcast is that, uh, that they're doing is, is actually looking at just that, uh, uh, looking at a fresh 365 days laid out in front of us and, and how to prepare yourself, how to really attack this, uh, this upcoming year. And again, I felt it apropos to, uh, to use this one to, uh, to take a listen back to this one because, uh, it is, uh, about to be, uh, about to be the new year, about to be the year 2020.
And, uh, obviously we, we all make those, uh, those resolutions we do each and every year. Sometimes we stick to them more often. We don't, but, uh, these are some good ways to, as far as at least voice acting. is concerned to to prepare yourself to to really have some success this year, uh, in your voice acting career, more success this year in your voice acting career.
So take a listen in, uh, to Tom Robinson and Warren Garling from back at the beginning of 2017 talking about a new year, a new you and success in the voiceover industry.
Now for a long time listeners, some of this is going to sound familiar, but it's always a good idea to review where you are and where you want to be.
Okay. So, so take stock to start with. And I, and I prefer beef stock myself. Uh, now you want chicken myself. Sorry. Now you want your goals to be very specific. So think about what you've been doing to market yourself of late and determine if it's really been working for you. If not, your goals may be a bit different than they are than they were last year at this time, but be specific.
Don't just say, I'm going to do more voice work this year. Yes, we're all saying that. Exactly. Okay. Uh, you'll want to lay out a means of getting there, some idea. So perhaps your first goal should be more like, um, research new ways of finding work. Yeah.
That's a good place to start, I guess. Yeah. But you can get even more specific than that so that your goals are easily measured.
How about something more like, um, contact three new video production houses. Each week this month. Whoa. Okay. I mean, that gets right down to it, right? That's something that's not only doable, but easy to
track. Yeah.
And it's very specific. So, uh, not only have you set a success goal, but you've set a time table, right?
There's an important thing. We've spoken many times over the years on this podcast about the amount of time you're spending on marketing. You don't have to take time off from your full time job or. Set aside time every night of the week to build your business. Nope. It's as easy as finding 15 minutes to about a half an hour a week, really.
Okay? Uh, I think that's about, that's reasonable. Yeah. Uh, if you reach out to three prospects tomorrow night, after the kids are in bed, of course, and do that every week for a month, you've made contact with a dozen new prospects in four weeks. How's that for mathematics?
Yeah, that's pretty good. You did that on the fly.
I like that. Yeah. And doing the follow up. with those 12 folks that you've now been in touch with. It's going to keep you busy in the months to come because take it from us. Your first contact will probably not do the trick. It just doesn't work that way. First, they have to have a need for your services when you contact them.
And second, you're not the only person trying to get work from these prospects more than likely, but persistence and patience will pay off. I've been trying to get some work from one particular production house in the area here for a few years now. I've, uh, known the owner and some of his staff for a long time, but the right project at the right time has just not happened.
And then I auditioned just yesterday for another gig and it looks like it might, you know, finally may happen.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Yes, me too. Yeah, that'd be neat. And, and that's just one of your prospects you've been working for, right? Right. So if you're working on a dozen or more similar prospects over the course of a few weeks, you know something is bound to come around eventually.
True.
The odds are with you. They are, especially if you're doing this, uh, this basic amount of effort. You got it. But you have to start by setting your goals and tracking your progress. Now be sure you're doing this in writing. I forget stuff easily. My short term memory isn't what it used to be, so. Yeah, you know, keeping written notes on your progress or, or you can set up a spreadsheet on your computer that's easy to update on a regular basis.
So, you know, you've been in touch with and how many people you've been in touch with and who you've been in touch with recently.
There you go. Let's talk for a moment about how you're making this contact. In the good old days before the internet, we were using the U. S. Mail and Ma Bell. I remember those days.
Remember those days? Okay. You know how long I've been around. I'm talking about Ma Bell here. But, uh, today, email makes this. It's so much easier. While I don't want to discourage you from using the phone, since it's a lot more personal, it's also a little bit intrusive when you think about it, especially if you're making a cold call.
Think about it. You've got a professional life you're leading, and things to do that have to be accomplished today or tomorrow at the latest, and so do your prospects. So by contacting them through email, their reply and consideration are on their timetable. Probably a better way to make a phone call.
First impression short of, of course, one to one, you know, marketing, networking.
Oh, no doubt. And, and remember that you're not going to get a return email from many of these contacts on your first few tries. It's not going to happen. You're right. Don't, don't be frustrated. Just like the young princess who has to kiss a lot of frogs before she finds her prince, me.
Uh, you'll, you'll, you'll have to learn to put up with a lot of rejection before you find success. And again, uh, timing is everything in this life. In this life and in this, of course, this business, this is why we set goals and track our progress. It's all part of the process, especially as we get older, Warren, uh, when we don't always remember the last time we had contact with someone like, I think you and I had a conversation this morning and you forgot it already.
Yeah. Well, probably. And let's not go there. You know what I mean? Just, just because I've called you George occasionally, it doesn't mean. You know, my mind is going okay, but seriously, keep good notes. The more you learn about your prospect, the better notes you take, the better you can relate to them in future contacts.
We call this relationship marketing and it's the best way to build your business to build relationships. If you keep hearing that same voice on the commercials for that business that you really want to do voice work for. Remember that talent took the time to build a relationship that continues to work for them.
Of course, they're the cousin of the, well, that could be too. Yeah, exactly. But it doesn't rule you out completely from doing this work. It's just going to take you some time for you to build that same relationship.
Now, one more thing when it comes to goals. Share them with a friend or loved one, someone who supports you in your voice acting quest.
We always talk about this. This will help you stay on course as you market your talents. It's one thing to set goals, put them in writing and keep track of the follow up. It's another thing altogether to stay motivated. Uh, just getting out of bed in the morning sometimes, right? And uh, while we do our best here on this podcast to help keep you moving in the right direction, there's no substitute for someone in your life who can give you feedback and ask how you're doing once in a while.
Now if you share your goals and aspirations with someone close, uh, your dog. You're more likely to succeed.
I'm not sure how encouraging your dog can be. Uh, I will tell you this though. It doesn't necessarily have to be your spouse or significant other. Okay. Sometimes they can't be quite as objective.
Although my wife of more than 38 years is really good at pointing out that if I really want to take her to Florida for vacation this winter, I better land a few more gigs because it's not coming out of the household account, she tells me. But, uh, but sometimes a good friend or even a fellow professional, can give you some insight into what you're doing that maybe your spouse can't.
So share your goals and invite the occasional check in to see how it's going.
So, so now your goal in the next few days is to set your goals for the next few months. It's, it's a great time to do that because there's no time like. I don't know, today? Right now? Yes, exactly.
So there you have it, a look back in the archives, back at the beginning of 2017, with us from early January of 2017, Warren Garling and Tom Robinson on a previous episode of Voice Coaches Radio, talking again about this upcoming year.
And of course that was the year 2017, it's about to be the year 2020 as we get set for that shiny ball to drop in just a few days this week. And so again, this is something that we all can use, as we all try to Try to lay everything out. Try to prepare ourselves for, uh, for a new year. And, of course, we all have delusions of grandeur of how that year is gonna go.
Never quite turns out the way we planned. But, obviously, preparing yourself. And these are good, actionable things that you can do to really start to see some tangible results this year. So, hopefully, you take some of that and, uh, take that into consideration and give that a try. I know I'm going to try to as well.
Next week, we'll talk a little bit about, uh, about our, uh, voice over resolutions as they were. We did that last year. We'll do it again, uh, this year as well. We'll do that next week. So be sure to tune into that. If you have any voice over resolutions that you're looking to keep this year, that you want us to keep you accountable for and accountable with, certainly happy to do that.
Uh, just let us know. You can always reach out to us. Podcasted voice coaches. com is the best way to get in touch with me. That's podcast at voice coaches. com. So again, let me know what your, uh, voice over, uh, You know, resolutions are this year, what you plan on doing. And again, we'll, uh, we'll be certain to, uh, to check up on you guys and, uh, and make sure that we're, we're, we're sticking to it.
We're sticking to it because you guys are going to help me, uh, stick to my plan. I'm certainly hoping to help you stick to yours as well. So we can all have success in the upcoming year. 2020 again, [email protected]. Is the best way to get in touch with me for that. And for any other reasons, topics, questions, comments, concerns, anything you'd like us to discuss, just let us know.
Cause it's not just our podcast. It's yours too. So again, feel free to reach on out for any reason. [email protected]. Everyone have a very happy, safe and healthy New Year. Big things coming up this year in 2020 here at Voice Coaches. Big things coming up in 2020 for your VO voice acting career. I can feel it and we're gonna help you get there.
Thanks again for tuning in. Until next week, until next year, so long, everyone. Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
Is it, uh, it's gonna be New Year's. It's almost, uh, almost New Year's Eve coming up this week. And with that in mind, uh, we decided to take a look back a few years ago, uh, at an older podcast, which is what we've been doing here recently. We've been looking back at some, some older podcasts through the years, looking back through the archives of the, uh, years and years, decades plus worth of, uh, worth of audio that we have.
And, uh, kind of going through and finding some, some stuff that maybe Maybe you haven't got a chance to listen to maybe you missed out on maybe you haven't gone through the archives
But but I have I have gone through them and and what we're gonna listen to today dates back from the beginning of 2017 it features Warren Garling and Tom Robinson and it is the beginning of the year 2017 just as is the end of our year here 2019 about to be 2020 and obviously with that comes New Year's resolutions Starting things anew, joining that gym, getting on that diet, pursuing your voice, acting career.
So what this, uh, this podcast is that, uh, that they're doing is, is actually looking at just that, uh, uh, looking at a fresh 365 days laid out in front of us and, and how to prepare yourself, how to really attack this, uh, this upcoming year. And again, I felt it apropos to, uh, to use this one to, uh, to take a listen back to this one because, uh, it is, uh, about to be, uh, about to be the new year, about to be the year 2020.
And, uh, obviously we, we all make those, uh, those resolutions we do each and every year. Sometimes we stick to them more often. We don't, but, uh, these are some good ways to, as far as at least voice acting. is concerned to to prepare yourself to to really have some success this year, uh, in your voice acting career, more success this year in your voice acting career.
So take a listen in, uh, to Tom Robinson and Warren Garling from back at the beginning of 2017 talking about a new year, a new you and success in the voiceover industry.
Now for a long time listeners, some of this is going to sound familiar, but it's always a good idea to review where you are and where you want to be.
Okay. So, so take stock to start with. And I, and I prefer beef stock myself. Uh, now you want chicken myself. Sorry. Now you want your goals to be very specific. So think about what you've been doing to market yourself of late and determine if it's really been working for you. If not, your goals may be a bit different than they are than they were last year at this time, but be specific.
Don't just say, I'm going to do more voice work this year. Yes, we're all saying that. Exactly. Okay. Uh, you'll want to lay out a means of getting there, some idea. So perhaps your first goal should be more like, um, research new ways of finding work. Yeah.
That's a good place to start, I guess. Yeah. But you can get even more specific than that so that your goals are easily measured.
How about something more like, um, contact three new video production houses. Each week this month. Whoa. Okay. I mean, that gets right down to it, right? That's something that's not only doable, but easy to
track. Yeah.
And it's very specific. So, uh, not only have you set a success goal, but you've set a time table, right?
There's an important thing. We've spoken many times over the years on this podcast about the amount of time you're spending on marketing. You don't have to take time off from your full time job or. Set aside time every night of the week to build your business. Nope. It's as easy as finding 15 minutes to about a half an hour a week, really.
Okay? Uh, I think that's about, that's reasonable. Yeah. Uh, if you reach out to three prospects tomorrow night, after the kids are in bed, of course, and do that every week for a month, you've made contact with a dozen new prospects in four weeks. How's that for mathematics?
Yeah, that's pretty good. You did that on the fly.
I like that. Yeah. And doing the follow up. with those 12 folks that you've now been in touch with. It's going to keep you busy in the months to come because take it from us. Your first contact will probably not do the trick. It just doesn't work that way. First, they have to have a need for your services when you contact them.
And second, you're not the only person trying to get work from these prospects more than likely, but persistence and patience will pay off. I've been trying to get some work from one particular production house in the area here for a few years now. I've, uh, known the owner and some of his staff for a long time, but the right project at the right time has just not happened.
And then I auditioned just yesterday for another gig and it looks like it might, you know, finally may happen.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Yes, me too. Yeah, that'd be neat. And, and that's just one of your prospects you've been working for, right? Right. So if you're working on a dozen or more similar prospects over the course of a few weeks, you know something is bound to come around eventually.
True.
The odds are with you. They are, especially if you're doing this, uh, this basic amount of effort. You got it. But you have to start by setting your goals and tracking your progress. Now be sure you're doing this in writing. I forget stuff easily. My short term memory isn't what it used to be, so. Yeah, you know, keeping written notes on your progress or, or you can set up a spreadsheet on your computer that's easy to update on a regular basis.
So, you know, you've been in touch with and how many people you've been in touch with and who you've been in touch with recently.
There you go. Let's talk for a moment about how you're making this contact. In the good old days before the internet, we were using the U. S. Mail and Ma Bell. I remember those days.
Remember those days? Okay. You know how long I've been around. I'm talking about Ma Bell here. But, uh, today, email makes this. It's so much easier. While I don't want to discourage you from using the phone, since it's a lot more personal, it's also a little bit intrusive when you think about it, especially if you're making a cold call.
Think about it. You've got a professional life you're leading, and things to do that have to be accomplished today or tomorrow at the latest, and so do your prospects. So by contacting them through email, their reply and consideration are on their timetable. Probably a better way to make a phone call.
First impression short of, of course, one to one, you know, marketing, networking.
Oh, no doubt. And, and remember that you're not going to get a return email from many of these contacts on your first few tries. It's not going to happen. You're right. Don't, don't be frustrated. Just like the young princess who has to kiss a lot of frogs before she finds her prince, me.
Uh, you'll, you'll, you'll have to learn to put up with a lot of rejection before you find success. And again, uh, timing is everything in this life. In this life and in this, of course, this business, this is why we set goals and track our progress. It's all part of the process, especially as we get older, Warren, uh, when we don't always remember the last time we had contact with someone like, I think you and I had a conversation this morning and you forgot it already.
Yeah. Well, probably. And let's not go there. You know what I mean? Just, just because I've called you George occasionally, it doesn't mean. You know, my mind is going okay, but seriously, keep good notes. The more you learn about your prospect, the better notes you take, the better you can relate to them in future contacts.
We call this relationship marketing and it's the best way to build your business to build relationships. If you keep hearing that same voice on the commercials for that business that you really want to do voice work for. Remember that talent took the time to build a relationship that continues to work for them.
Of course, they're the cousin of the, well, that could be too. Yeah, exactly. But it doesn't rule you out completely from doing this work. It's just going to take you some time for you to build that same relationship.
Now, one more thing when it comes to goals. Share them with a friend or loved one, someone who supports you in your voice acting quest.
We always talk about this. This will help you stay on course as you market your talents. It's one thing to set goals, put them in writing and keep track of the follow up. It's another thing altogether to stay motivated. Uh, just getting out of bed in the morning sometimes, right? And uh, while we do our best here on this podcast to help keep you moving in the right direction, there's no substitute for someone in your life who can give you feedback and ask how you're doing once in a while.
Now if you share your goals and aspirations with someone close, uh, your dog. You're more likely to succeed.
I'm not sure how encouraging your dog can be. Uh, I will tell you this though. It doesn't necessarily have to be your spouse or significant other. Okay. Sometimes they can't be quite as objective.
Although my wife of more than 38 years is really good at pointing out that if I really want to take her to Florida for vacation this winter, I better land a few more gigs because it's not coming out of the household account, she tells me. But, uh, but sometimes a good friend or even a fellow professional, can give you some insight into what you're doing that maybe your spouse can't.
So share your goals and invite the occasional check in to see how it's going.
So, so now your goal in the next few days is to set your goals for the next few months. It's, it's a great time to do that because there's no time like. I don't know, today? Right now? Yes, exactly.
So there you have it, a look back in the archives, back at the beginning of 2017, with us from early January of 2017, Warren Garling and Tom Robinson on a previous episode of Voice Coaches Radio, talking again about this upcoming year.
And of course that was the year 2017, it's about to be the year 2020 as we get set for that shiny ball to drop in just a few days this week. And so again, this is something that we all can use, as we all try to Try to lay everything out. Try to prepare ourselves for, uh, for a new year. And, of course, we all have delusions of grandeur of how that year is gonna go.
Never quite turns out the way we planned. But, obviously, preparing yourself. And these are good, actionable things that you can do to really start to see some tangible results this year. So, hopefully, you take some of that and, uh, take that into consideration and give that a try. I know I'm going to try to as well.
Next week, we'll talk a little bit about, uh, about our, uh, voice over resolutions as they were. We did that last year. We'll do it again, uh, this year as well. We'll do that next week. So be sure to tune into that. If you have any voice over resolutions that you're looking to keep this year, that you want us to keep you accountable for and accountable with, certainly happy to do that.
Uh, just let us know. You can always reach out to us. Podcasted voice coaches. com is the best way to get in touch with me. That's podcast at voice coaches. com. So again, let me know what your, uh, voice over, uh, You know, resolutions are this year, what you plan on doing. And again, we'll, uh, we'll be certain to, uh, to check up on you guys and, uh, and make sure that we're, we're, we're sticking to it.
We're sticking to it because you guys are going to help me, uh, stick to my plan. I'm certainly hoping to help you stick to yours as well. So we can all have success in the upcoming year. 2020 again, [email protected]. Is the best way to get in touch with me for that. And for any other reasons, topics, questions, comments, concerns, anything you'd like us to discuss, just let us know.
Cause it's not just our podcast. It's yours too. So again, feel free to reach on out for any reason. [email protected]. Everyone have a very happy, safe and healthy New Year. Big things coming up this year in 2020 here at Voice Coaches. Big things coming up in 2020 for your VO voice acting career. I can feel it and we're gonna help you get there.
Thanks again for tuning in. Until next week, until next year, so long, everyone. Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.
On this throwback episode of Voice Coaches Radio, team members Tom and Warren outline some voice over-oriented New Year’s resolutions.
