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Beware of the Generic Voice Over Email

January 15, 2022 by MaryMorgan

Funny title for today’s blog post right? Well, there’s a reason for that. Last November, I received an email with the subject line “CASTINGS / BARN TALENT/ SEEKING MGMT REP”. For this post, I used fake names for the agency and the owner’s name, as well as marked them out on the email screenshot as I don’t wish to slander. I sensed this email was blasted to many people all at once and upon reading the note, I was right!

The first sentence as you can see, says: Hope all is well. This email is only being used for submissions of new talent. Then someone who called themselves Barney’s Assistant (not the actual name) wrote a poorly fashioned letter asking if I was seeking representation, talent management, or more opportunities.

Next, there was a super short description of the agency being around for 10 years and working with top casting directors, producers, etc, a request to visit the company website for more information, and an invitation to submit my demos. Oh, they also included the phrase “We are freelancing with talent and understand what that entails.”

Unsolicited emails are nothing new and I get them often. But I decided not to respond to this particular one for quite a few reasons:

As I mentioned above, I could tell the email was blasted out to lots of people. It started with “Hello” instead of “Hello Mary”, or “Hello Ms. Morgan”. It wasn’t directed solely to me.

Barney’s Assistant didn’t give their real name or even explain who Barney was.

Why was I specifically being contacted? Yes, I’m a voice over but there’s no mention of what genres they work most with or where I’d fit best in the agency’s VO department (if they have one): commercials, animation, video games, promos, etc.

Something told me I needed to find out if other colleagues received a similar email. So, I went on social media to visit a few voice-over groups and lo and behold, almost every talent and colleague I knew as well as many, many others had received the EXACT same email! Everyone questioned the legitimacy of the agency and who was Barney’s Assistant? But alas, there were no answers, just memes, and jokes.

A friend and colleague discussed some very interesting points as to why this email backfired the way it did, and I got his permission to share them:

The email was impersonal/generic. They didn’t address their message to anyone in particular and therefore had no idea who they were contacting.

The message felt arrogant, as though the receiver was expected to know who exactly Barney was and expected me to trust that they really know the business.

The proposal seemed fake and much like a scam. With no name from the sender, “Barney” was either acting as his own assistant or he had hired someone inexperienced at writing emails. The note felt like a “jump in the bandwagon while it’s hot” scheme or a “let’s make lots of money together in this new venture” propaganda completely ignorant to the nuances of what a successful voice acting career would entail.

The email was poorly planned with terrible use of phrases, typos, and little to no knowledge of voice-over other than starting up a department for it. If this is how they communicate with voice actors, what does their communication with casting directors, ad agencies, producers, and directors look like?

The sender didn’t do proper research on whom they were emailing. They more than likely found a list of names somewhere and sent their email to anyone with an address.

Instead of curating a roster that fills a need for the agency or their existing talent, they just wanted to add as many names as possible, which means they didn’t value the people they were contacting.

Lastly, the so-called owner of the agency, Barney himself, made a video on Instagram defending the email blast by explaining it was legitimate, how much he wanted to build the VO department at his agency, and finally mentioning that his Instagram page was in fact verified.

What’s more unfortunate is that new and unsuspecting voice-over talent are likely to fall for this gimmick which is why I wanted to blog about it. Always do your research! Legitimate agents/agencies DO NOT mass solicit talent. It’s also been reported by various sources that “Barney” shares jobs on social media that are supposed to be confidential, thus violating NDAs!

All in all, it’s not unusual to hear from an agent interested in representing you. It can be rare for certain due to agents being incredibly busy. Nonetheless, beware of generic emails that don’t address you by your name or mention how they found you.

Do your research, ask questions, and be careful out there!

Filed Under: Voice Over Tagged With: agents, Community, emailing, emails, Hard Work, managers, marketing, presentation, professional, research, respect, scams, social media, VO, Voice Acting, Voice Over, voice over artist, voice over career, voice over studio, work

The One Voice Conference Experience

September 18, 2021 by MaryMorgan

Hello again! It’s… been a while. Last year was a nightmare, this year has been a mix of good and bad, but it’s not over yet.

I’ve stayed busy in voice over with some new clients and last month I attended my first voice over convention in 3 years. It’s called the One Voice Conference. The program started in the UK but has become international with a convention in Dallas, Texas, USA! Having attended many voice over conventions like Faffcon and VO Atlanta, I came to see quite a few colleagues who also attended in person. Not only that, I met connections I only knew on Facebook or LinkedIn as well as introduces myself to talent I’d never met. I’d forgotten how joyous it was to meet fellow VO people face to face. Being on the autism spectrum I’ll admit my social skills aren’t great. Nonetheless, no one complained!

One Voice offered lectures, free workshops, and paid workshops as well as the opportunity for those staying home to attend everything virtually.

A slight downside for me was that I already knew the vast majority of what was being taught in the workshops and lectures. However, as my good friend Roy Yokelson (Or “Uncle Roy” as many VO colleagues call him) pointed out, attending VO conventions is also a great way to “brush up on your skills” whether they be in performance, technology or marketing.

Voice over is constantly changing and only talent who are serious about the profession will take time to learn and adapt to those changes. There’s also networking which I can never stress enough how important it is. Also, something unique I had never seen at a voice over convention was the inclusion of a conference for Latin American VO talent with a specially created agenda in Spanish.

I sadly didn’t get to attend all the panels and lessons I wanted since I had a recording session that took up my Friday morning and a yoga class to teach Saturday morning. But a benefit to signing up for One Voice is having access to all recorded sessions (except workshops). You might feel overwhelmed but at the same time, you can never learn too much.


Conventions are a fantastic way for new talent to get their feet wet and read for casting directors, agents, producers, and top coaches. It’s not about being able to impress them, it’s about learning. Here’s an example: I attended a promo/narration workshop with one of the top VO agents in Los Angeles. Of the 15 people in the room, I was the only one with a young-sounding voice. So, the agent gave me promo copy from Spongebob Squarepants while others got copy from Divorce Court, Real Wives of Beverly Hills, CNN, or ESPN. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE promos for cartoons and totally want to read and record them. But what more can I do besides cartoons and kid shows? The agent said I had potential in narration, especially when it came to sci-fi, or horror shows. He demonstrated this by having me read a narration from the show Spirit Hunters in my natural young voice. Taking his advice, I crept closer to the microphone, and without adjusting my voice, I read the copy as it was. The agent complimented me and barely have any further direction. So now I’ve learned that despite sounding young, there’s a place for my voice in various shows with themes of sci-fi, horror, and a little drama!

After meeting one of the top website designers and SEO specialists in voice over, she encouraged me to start blogging again even though I expressed concerns that my blogging about voice over didn’t stand out amongst those who’ve been in the business for decades whereas it’s my 13th year. Nonetheless, she told me to try again and that’s what I’m doing.
Another great workshop was with Shelley Avellino who is not only a fabulous talent but an expert at international marketing. For an hour she talked about ways to not only look for potential clients but also methods of contacting them such as how to engage in a conversation with them before discussing the possibility of collaborations. Such information is not easy to come by, so I highly recommend learning from her.

My overall thoughts on One Voice are a tad mixed, but quite positive. As mentioned above, it’s perfect for talent starting out in voice over yet also nice for professional talent to brush up on skills if not learning anything new.

If the conference stays in Dallas, Texas I’ll likely attend each year that I can, especially if I can sell or cater the even with my macarons!

Filed Under: Voice Over Tagged With: Advice, Animation, commercial, Community, Conference, convention, Hard Work, Knowledge, Learning, marketing, networking, One Voice, One Voice Conference, presentation, professional, promo, research, respect, Video Games, VO Talent, Voice Over, voice over artist, voice over career, voice over talent

Do you have a thick skin to work in Voice Over?

January 29, 2019 by MaryMorgan

They are out there lurking around the Internet waiting for the right opportunity to strike you down with malicious criticism. Yes, I mean the trolls. The online bullies. The ones who look for any excuse to ruin your day or your whole life. They love to linger on YouTube so they can dislike your videos and post cruel comments. And when you succeed at something they post taunts and in some cases death threats just to unnerve you.

It happens in every profession but in the arts and entertainment industry it is prominent.

Ok, bear with me. Remember Star Wars: The Phantom Menace? If you do you probably know where I’m going with this. That’s right, Jar Jar Binks. I wholeheartedly agree his character was… not good. It just didn’t work at all. A handful of people liked him but more didn’t and voiced their opinion anywhere they could.

Last year the actor, Ahmed Best, who voiced Jar Jar Binks wrote an article about the time that all took place. There was a picture of him with his son as they were looking at the water far below from the bridge they were standing on. What bothered me was when Ahmed Best said that years ago he contemplated jumping off that same bridge because of the backlash he received from his work in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. He still received work in voice over and occasionally on film. However, he would forever be known for a character most audiences hated. The criticism was severe enough that his presence was incredibly short and forgettable in the other two films. I understood his pain right away. I’ve known 3 people in my life who committed suicide, one of whom was a very close friend. What stopped Best, he says in the article, was the birth of his son. Ahmed Best isn’t responsible for the malicious reactions of the Star Wars prequels. It was the writing, direction and maybe a few misled casting choices. Yet the franchise solely belonged to George Lucas at the time (way before Disney bought it) and therefore he created what he felt worked. All Ahmed Best did was his job as a character.

I can tell you without a doubt that there are projects I sometimes wish I hadn’t been part of. But acting is acting and work is work. The scripts/stories were the main reasons. When a script is poorly written our job as voice overs is to make it sound beautiful when spoken or bring it to life.

What you have to expect is that people will like it, love it, hate it, or really hate it. Then you decide how to handle the situation in a professional manner.

Remember the infamous song “Friday” by a 13-year-old girl named Rebecca Black? She was a teenager, well behaved, had a nice smile and a good attitude despite the thousands of horrific insults flung at her. Ms. Black not only received verbal attacks, she received death threats, and a number of talk shows made fun of her.

Yet no one wanted to acknowledge that it was the song and the production that caused the problem, not her. The lyrics were amateurish. The songwriter even included a section where he rapped with no purpose for it in the song. Rebecca’s voice had been auto-tuned way, way too much. The producer was to blame for that part.

She received instant fame but also tremendous infamy, and for what? Singing a poorly written, poorly recorded song. Despite the verbal abuse, online bullies, and more, she kept a positive attitude which should be commended for someone so young entering a cutthroat industry.

Fame has a shelf life of 15 minutes, but infamy lasts a bit longer. Without a thick skin, infamy big or small can tear your soul to pieces.

Strangely though, there are occasions when a thick skin can backfire. Some celebrities are caught in the spotlight these days due to their horrible behavior, some of which has been going on for many years. And a few have destroyed their careers because of a single post, picture or video on social media that even when deleted still remains on the internet forever. When you look at a famous face who’s been in great movies, won awards, and who has done great charity work, everything changes when you find out the person committed crimes or made hateful comments online. Suddenly those movies aren’t enjoyable anymore because you see the actor in a different light, and there’s no going back. It’s especially hard on people who look up to celebrities and in some cases consider them heroes and mentors. And yet with all this drama, those big names play it cool in front of the camera. They’ve put up with criticism left and right throughout their careers. Perhaps over time the attention numbed them so much that their thick skin became a massive shield. As a consequence they think nothing can stop them with their millions of dollars, powerhouse lawyers, etc.

As performers we’re going to have admirers and, no matter what, we are definitely going to have haters. The question is whether or not you’re going to let it affect how far you’ve come.

Filed Under: Creativity, Voice Over Tagged With: Acting, Advice, attitude, bullying, Commitment, Community, criticism, Experience, fame, Infamy, Knowledge, Learning, professional, respect, social media, talent, treatment, voice actor, voice actress, voice artist, voice over artist, voice over career, voice over studio, voice over talent, voice over website

Are you a Jack of All Trades?

December 3, 2018 by MaryMorgan

Warning, long post today.

I sincerely apologize for having no posts in months. I’ve been terribly busy, dealing with uncomfortable controversies and false accusations and my wedding which was fantastic.

I’ll do my best to post at least every two weeks as best I can. If some posts are similar to past ones I ask that you please forgive me because it’s not easy going back over every post when there’s little time to do so. I’ll try my hardest to share new information as much as I can.

So, how do you define a “Jack of All Trades”?

I’m am by no means anywhere close to that.  I’m a voice over, I’m also a yoga teacher, a black belt in Krav Maga, a macaron chef, and a professional mermaid. Why am I doing all these things? I have reasons for each one that I enjoy discussing. The primary reason is that I have a huge obsession with creativity. If something interests me, I learn everything I can about it and share the results. For example, I became fascinated by macarons after seeing all the limitless inventive flavors and decorative ways to make them. When I mastered making them (in 5 months) people asked if I’d sell them. That’s still a work in progress. I chose to study Krav Maga because it’s a modern martial arts style that was designed for people in the Israeli military and has since been the most effective when in comes to self-defense. I took yoga to help my flexibility in Krav Maga since it helps me to be able to wiggle my way out from underneath an opponent pinning me down. I started sharing what I learned with other students who then asked if I would teach them. But I felt uncomfortable teaching without a certification and now I teach 3-4 times a week. Many people ask about the mermaid profession as it’s quite unusual (I’m always drawn to anything unusual). This started as a hobby because I love fantasy and I always dreamed of being a mermaid. I love the ocean and I love swimming. When I put on a fabric tail it felt more than magical. Much like being on stage, I got to step into another world and feel as though I was truly part of it. I have a pod that I hang out with now and we swim as well as discuss events and job opportunities. It’s an industry that is taking off very fast for a host of reasons. Kids love mermaid entertainers (remember The Little Mermaid?), it’s a fabulous workout, trade shows love having them to attract interest from the public, renaissance fairs love to have them, even haunted house attractions are slowly interested in adding mermaids as a scary attraction (zombie mermaids, vampire mermaids, etc), and one of my favorite reasons is the chance to help children and people understand the importance of ocean conservation and saving marine wildlife.

Ok, bear with me I AM going somewhere with all this. I shared all the above as that’s what has led me on my various career paths. However, have you ever met someone who said “I’ve been in lots of cartoons”, or “You can hear me in lots of video games” or “I taught (famous name here) all he knows and now he’s famous in Disney movies”? We’ve all met someone who claimed to do this and that BUT… do they have proof of their success on an IMDb page? Are they comfortable talking about what led them on these paths? Do they have real testimonials from actual people? When you mention their name around VO communities, what do people say?

One of the first VO talents I got to know claimed to be a genuine “Jack of All Trades” such as producer, engineer, film actor, writer, composer, singer, jingle producer, audio editor and much more. This person also claimed to have trained American Idol top 10 contestants, famous voice over talent who now live and work in LA, and even mega-famous bands like the Dixie Chicks. The problem is, this person (whom I’ll refer to as “he”) had no genuine proof of all these accomplishments except his word on his website. He said he worked in big animation shows and well-known video games but no credits were under his name on IMDb. In fact the only resume was one he posted and not credits listed by actual clients. As I got to know this person, their attitude changed frequently from overly positive and sure of himself in what he knew to moody about the industry and not competent that I had what it takes according to “his” standards. If I questioned how he achieved a certain skill he gave me a vague response such as “It’s just something I picked up” or “I’m a fast learner” when he could have said something akin to “There’s a great Udemy course on recording engineering”, or “I’m self taught based on these books or magazines”, or “I had an internship at Johnson Recording Studio in Dallas”. If the answer sounds elusive and they change the subject right away it means they’re hiding something.

The biggest red flag I witnessed happened during one of the man’s workshops where I was assisting and a student challenged his knowledge of experience in voice over. The teacher lost his temper and ended the class on a sour note with these exact words that I haven’t forgotten, “I don’t know. Now get out of here, goodbye!”. And worst of all, he habitually told people who were just starting in this business that they were ready to get demos made and if they hired him to produce their demo it would be for a fair price compared to other producers. This is a HUGE NO!!! Yet because I was so new to VO I failed to see these red flags waving in my face.

Before noticing these behaviors I had been paying the man for voice lessons and when I look back, his were some of the worst I ever received in my life. All I remember is having a song played for me on piano as I sang and then getting told, “That was so lovely, what do you want to sing next?” A true voice teacher goes back and breaks down the song on where I sound flat or lethargic or breathless or lacking support, etc. Yet in these so-called lessons I got NO real voice training. And this person claimed to have trained the Dixie Chicks? About a month later I said I could no longer afford the lessons and the teacher wasn’t happy about it. I received an email from him claiming that I had abused their time as well as some other choice words. Typically past teachers in music would politely say something like “Ok, I’ll miss you and I wish you the best of luck”. But not this guy. He didn’t take it well at all. Yet another red flag.

When I disconnected from this person that’s when my voice over career TRULY started. To my knowledge the so-called teacher is still out there conducting workshops in voiceover, even selling self-made audio books for potential students or self-published e-books for a price and to this day still misleading countless others who have dreams. I began speaking with a number of professionals from talent agents, to recording engineers, to studio owners and to other VO talent regarding this news. From there I learned that more than a few skills and accomplishments listed on this person’s website were false.  He was a legit VO talent but sticking to old school information that is long gone and no longer relevant, has a history of rude “diva” behavior with talent agents and… was a severe “raging” alcoholic. Their income came from workshops and “demo production”. Any voice over work they did in the 21st century was minimal due to poor choices and inappropriate behavior while drinking. When true voice over professionals from LA or NY came to visit, this guy worked overtime to convince people to take his workshop instead because it was $200 less or such and because he’d spread whatever rumor he came up with to supposedly discredit the out of town teachers.

So why did I tell this boring story? Well, there’s two reasons. First, I see a growing number of producers looking for talent who can “do it all” such as record voice overs from home, compose music, sing to it, edit, etc. One of my new clients wanted someone who could record in a professional home studio, edit, compose songs with real instruments, sing them and work with other voice talent to help them sing. Why? It saved money, of course. Otherwise they’d have to hire a composer ($500-$2,000 per song), an audio engineer ($150-$300 per hour), multiple voice overs (depending if they use union or non-union, in which case the latter is growing rapidly as the primary choice), possibly singers (if VO talent couldn’t sing, again union or non-union), and then sound engineers to add effects, etc. But, if one person can do it all then it saves TONS of money.

So, if you want to enter the world of voice over, that’s great. However, if you want to stand out among competition who legitimately have all the above skills and many years of experience you need to do so organically. Here’s how: learn, learn, learn more, continue learning more, stay up to date with what happens in VO, network, network, network again and keep networking while still learning more. Yes, it sounds crazy, but you’ve heard me often enough saying how this business isn’t for the faint at heart.

The second reason has to do with the false teacher I mentioned. The internet is your friend. FIND OUT ALL YOU CAN! Look them up on the top sites like Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. If you have doubts, look on social media and see if you share connections with the person. Send a private message asking others what their thoughts are, don’t post it to the public. Beware of the narcissistic behavior. By that I mean if you question who this person worked with, what their background is, if they have references or such and they get angry, then don’t bother. I’m more than happy to say I’ve trained with Bob Bergen, Pat Fraley, Debbi Derriberry and a host of others. If you can’t find ANYTHING about the person on the internet, I advise you to move on.

When that time comes for you to seek opportunities with clients be honest with them always and with yourself. If you have no proof of your skills despite claiming otherwise, not only will it backfire, your name will spread around as someone to “watch out for” and not in a positive way. Where I’m based there are at least 3-4 names people mention at events, workshops, parties, and other voice over functions as folks to be wary of due to false claims and diva behavior. To avoid being labeled as such, be genuine about what you can do and learn as much as you can. The best VO talent never stop learning even when they book a lot of work. If you have the drive, nothing can stop you.

Filed Under: Creativity, Voice Over Tagged With: Advice, Community, Creativity, explanation, Hard Work, honesty, IMDb, Jack of All Trades, Knowledge, Learning, practice, presentation, professional, proof, questions, recording, red flags, respect, social media, Training, truthful, VO, Voice Over, warning signs

Warning Signs

March 6, 2018 by MaryMorgan

Not everyone approves of the #metoo movement, but the fact is, it’s real and it’s happening. What does this have to do with voice over? A sad fact is that predators also prey on voice over talent. A recent story has come to light about a highly respected coach by the name of Peter Rofé. I’ve been fortunate to work with TRUE coaches who are masters at the craft and helped me get where I am. However, I know that only so many other VO talent can claim the same thing. It really made me angry when I learned a horror story that happened to my friend Heather Costa, an amazingly talented voice. And because I’ve been a victim of sexual harassment twice I my life, I felt compelled to make sure this story was shared everywhere, especially to new potential talent reading my blog.

NEVER do anything that makes you uncomfortable! You’re going to hear that a lot. Think about this: A new, inexperienced voice over talent versus a respected, well-known professional voice over talent and coach. Which side are the top pros in voice over likely to take? The new talent not only risk being humiliated and taunted by top professionals, they risk getting blacklisted or sabotaged like my friend. As a result, so many innocent women have been forced to abandon their dreams of working in voice over.

My friend fought back and is now a super-respected, admired and successful voice over. Not only that, she’s working to make sure this won’t happen to others:

“We know there are more victims out there. The dates we know of go back to 1999. We are working with a detective and a lawyer.” she says. ”

I’m so very, very proud of Heather for being brave and fighting back. But it hurts to learn that lots of other women were forced to walk away from their dreams and that no one came to their defense. We all know this happens everywhere in all professions, at schools, etc. And yes, it doesn’t just happen to women, it happens to men, too.

Rather than continue ranting about the situation as a whole I’m going to list things that a true coach has taught me and warning signs to run not walk from a bad coach/predator.

TRUE COACHES

-kept a respectable distance while directing me.

-the only touching allowed and respected is a handshake or a hug (which I reserve for people I know well after various workshops). Some prefer a fist bump, and some don’t want contact at all for health reasons.

-if a script required a ‘sexy’ read I was given references to voices from characters like Jessica Rabbit as just one example. I was never told to sound like I wanted to $&#^*€> someone’s brains out.

-if I didn’t want to be all alone I was allowed to bring someone with me. I have worked with producers alone when it came to demos, but they NEVER made passes or such. Always ask if you can bring someone with you if you’re uncertain.

BAD COACHES/PREDATORS

-encouraging you to remove clothing for a “convincing” read.

-exposing themselves!

-touching without permission!

-suggesting only sexy reads.

-Saying VO acting is no different from real acting and real actors have to get naked in movies for their art.

-telling you how sexy you look or how your voice turns them on.

-Tells you that if you “aren’t selling sex” you’ll never be a respected voice over talent.

-stays with you in a tiny booth when no one else is in the studio and tries to touch or assault you. Booths are sound proof and your screams won’t be heard.

-turns the lights out when it’s only the two of you.

-gets angry when you don’t follow their directions even when they make you uncomfortable or threatens to “ruin” you.

If you have doubts or uncertainties, ask for opinions on voice over social media groups. Please read this entire article from CNN and if any of this has happened to you, don’t be silent, because you’re not alone.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/08/us/metoo-voice-coach-peter-rofe/index.html

Filed Under: Voice Over Tagged With: Advice, Community, Learning, professional, research, respect, social media, support, Training, Voice Acting, Voice Over, voice over coach, warning signs, warnings, work

Voice Over and the importance of Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!

January 23, 2018 by MaryMorgan

This is a topic that goes on and on and on and on because there’s just too much information and commitment involved. Thus, it’s the reason why every year new books are published on the subject of marketing with hundreds of pages of new data collected.

Few people want to hear about it because it’s a lot of work. Finding names, emails, or phone numbers is one thing, but these days it’s not enough. With the internet you have a plethora of options to help in your quest of building a good client database. This means finding a company by name, and finding who’s the creative director, production director, casting director, audio director or producers in audio production. Then it’s finding a contact number or email for the specific name associated with one of the titles above, and putting together a clever introduction by phone or letter. If you choose the latter DO NOT use “Dear Sir or Madam”. That’s long gone and guarantees your note to the trash before the potential client can bother reading the next sentence. Remember folks, time is money in this industry. And don’t make your letter all about you:

“I’m a voice over. I’m the voice of this brand. I’m known for this and that, but I’ve also done this, this, this, this..”

Things have changed now and the absolute best way to get notice is to show you care about the client as a human being, not a prospective paycheck. Here’s where the research starts.

Let’s say you want to work in commercials; start by googling advertising companies in your area. Don’t search all over the country, start simple, the nearest city (even if its more than 150 miles away). You might start a search like this, for example: “advertising agencies” + Houston

As you can tell from the screenshot, you have some places to start, and that’s just one page. I experimented further by finding a company name: Adhere Creative.

Next, I want to find who’s in charge of creative direction or production. You can try googling such as: Adhere Creative, Creative Director; see what happens. You can also use LinkedIn which is a great way to find direct names to contact. Here’s another snip shot to show what I mean. I type the name of the company, then search under people associated with it. The first that comes up is a name with the profession of Executive Partner/Director of Marketing. Perfect! Alas, here’s where it’ll get tricky.

Here are your options:

Attempt to connect with the name on LinkedIn. Chances are they may not accept but you can try.
Call Adhere Creative and ask what’s the best way to get in touch with the name you’re looking to get in touch with. You might get a phone number, you might get an email, and you’ll more than likely get an answering machine. Either way, prepare how you want to present yourself and be sure to get to the point.
If you find an email address and prefer to use that instead of calling them then pay attention to all the info below before you send an email.

Try to find out what you can about the person you’re emailing. Don’t look at it as stalking, this is research. Let’s go back to the example on LinkedIn.

The name associated with Adhere Creative is Matt Lee (I don’t know this person. It’s just an example). I click on his page seeing there’s a summary of who he is, what he’s done, his knowledge and work experience. Browse the whole page, don’t skim. Is he part of any groups on LinkedIn? Yes: Social Media Marketing. Continue down the page and you notice he’s got an impressive resume of who he’s worked with in the past and present. He’s been a PR intern, a Digital Strategist, an Artist Manager, a Marketing Manager and now a Partner. This guy knows what he’s doing and has the background to prove it. What kind of skills have people endorsed him with? He’s a many of many talents! Contact information is usually only visible if you’ve managed to connect with the individual. But you can sometimes find websites, social media pages or birthdays. Lastly, does he care about anything outside advertising? Yes, he cares about arts and culture, children, poverty, and alleviation. Here’s a clue. He’s not just a busy executive, he’s a human being who cares about important causes.

Now, all that was a ton of work but it’ll do you wonders in the long run. When you email this person, you start with your introduction (this is an example only, NOT a template):

Dear Matt Lee,

Greetings (or Hello), my name is (insert your name here). I found your information through google and wanted to get in touch with you because I’m a voice over and I’d like to help with any upcoming projects that need a voice.

I’m stopping there because after that, it’s your job to put together a short paragraph acknowledging the person as a human being. “You have an impressive resume on LinkedIn”, or “I really enjoyed how thorough your summary is on LinkedIn” or “It’s mighty impressive that you’re a Partner at one of the coolest ad agencies in (insert city name)”.

(Continue praising their accomplishments for 2-3 more sentences, then get to the point of why you’re contacting him. What can you offer that would help him on future projects. Do you have a website? Referrals? Demos? A home studio? Don’t ask for a job, explain that you’re interested in being a service to them).

(Then end with how you’d love to discuss more of how you can help them as a Voice Over by including a good email address, or phone number and that look forward to hearing from them.)

Sincerely,
(Your name)

I know what you’re thinking. Good heavens that’s soooooo much work for one person and there are potentially hundreds of thousands of names in this ocean of advertising. Well guess what, that’s just one market. Do you want to work in animation? Audiobooks? Narration? Political ads? Video Games? Automotive? Radio Imaging? Promos? Elearning?

Pick the markets you want to be part of and spend 3-4 hours (or at the very least 1-2) a day finding companies associated with them. Create a LinkedIn page, try making connections there. Don’t treat it like Facebook or Twitter. I’m very, very strict with whom I accept as a connection on LinkedIn because it includes my contact info which is for business only. I only connect with Voice Over talent who share a certain list of names that I trust above all else. The rest are people who work in the markets that I’m interested in. Do you have a Facebook business page? If not, make one. But don’t turn it into a personal page. YouTube? Make a page there too. You never know when you may have a commercial, video game footage, narration clips, animation clips, or other samples to share (remember to get permission first unless the client has already posted on YouTube already). Twitter is an absolute must.

Social media is where it’s at my friends. You can find people easily and they can find you. If you don’t want to be on social media then clients can’t find you and they won’t be interested in hiring you.
I don’t advise posting anything political, judgmental or negative of any kind on your pages. It WILL come back on you. I’ve seen it happen more than enough times and it’s not pretty or pleasant. Look at what’s happened recently to actors like Kevin Spacey. He completed a movie that was scheduled to open in a month and after misbehaving was revealed online he was replaced by another actor who filmed all his scenes in less than 6 weeks. Years ago that would cost too much money and seem impossible. Now it’s not. Don’t jeopardize future opportunities!

Get to know potential clients as people first. Acknowledge and show respect for them and all they’ve done. Make it about them, not all about you. Be open to ideas and discussions. If they’re not interested, be courteous and wish them well.

Make 2018 your best year!

Filed Under: Creativity, Voice Over Tagged With: Commitment, Community, Creativity, emailing, Hard Work, inspiration, internet, Knowledge, Learning, letter writing, Linkedin, marketing, presentation, professional, research, respect, social media, VO, voice actor, voice actress, voice artist, Voice Over, voice over artist, voice over career, voice over studio, voice over talent, voice over website, work

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