The Day My Voice Over Business To-Do List Got Completely Out of Hand

The Day My Voice Over Business To-Do List Got Completely Out of Hand

I was listening to a Marc Scott podcast and he advised someone going through a VO dry spell to focus on the things they can control, beyond auditioning. It's a good reminder that running a voice over business isn't just about finding auditions. It's also about improving the business assets that support your career. That’s solid advice for all of us. We spend a lot of time tossing our kite in the air hoping it catches wind, so it makes sense to spend at least some of our time addressing the things we can actually influence. The most attainable, and sometimes the biggest mole hill, is how we’re presenting ourselves. And you’re most likely doing this in more places than just your website. There’s also online casting profiles and LinkedIn for most of us. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or BlueSky. The list seems endless. Anywhere your name appears associated with your voice over business deserves attention. Effective voice actor marketing means making sure every profile, website page, and casting platform reflects who you are today. Learn from my experience: start a to-do list because this exercise has a tendency to get wildly out of hand fast. I started with my website, which I am mostly happy with. But advice I’ve heard for product pages runs from ‘make it 800 words” to “keep it personal”. Huh, 800 “personal” words about each product without sounding like a stereo manual. And uh, uh, uh…you shouldn’t use ChatGPT. I need to research that more so I can be confident which direction to head, so it goes on the list. Then there’s the website “about” page. Personal info up top or work qualifications? Oh and make it unique! That’s a tall order when the path for most of us is quite similar, but I think I’ll investigate what tools WIX can offer me to at least make it appear unique. Another one for the list. Not to be forgotten, and soon to be replaced, there’s SEO and now GEO. I’ll be honest, I don’t really understand much of the reporting on this, so I need to do a deep dive with some AI help. And I think this needs to appear  early on the list as I suspect it’ll influence nearly every other point. Then, it’s worth checking in on your Linkedin profile, because if you tweaked any portion of your website, those two may not be congruent. And I can’t  forget my long neglected Business Linkedin Page. Sigh. Aaaannndddd…added to the list. Next , most of us are on at least one P2P casting site, and boy, did I find a rat's nest there! There’s an about section, how demos are labeled, and if you’re using extra services, there’s all the data in there too. This was a painful one for me. My VO has changed so much in the past, I’d say 2 years, that my demos are cringe worthy. I think it needs a major overhaul requiring me to ditch any work that’s more than 3 years old. Which means new tagging, labeling, and just so much else. I’m definitely putting P2Ps on the list. This one probably needs separate items for description, demos, and projects. But wait there are other casting sites I’m on that send me work directly. So I’ll add those 3 odd ones to the list. One of which is new and requires a massive amount of recording and production.

Meanwhile of course I need to keep up with auditioning, posting and commenting. And suddenly it’s overwhelming. But didn't I just write about how you can't pour from an empty cup? this all can't be done in a weekend and I still need to feed my soul. I'll definitely be sprinkling dog training in there. Friday and I have to get ready for trials! I’m left with: 1. Record and produce new demo audio 2. Google Analytics

3. Website “about” page 4. Website product pages 5. LinkedIn page 6. LinkedIn Business Page 7-12. Casting Profiles, Demos and Projects

This is almost laughable! But, I know that if I can just get the first 4 done, the rest should come pretty quickly. I’ll be confident I have the right words that I can copy and paste moving forward. And If I’m diligent about working on the demos, I should have all those in hand and ready for posting.

I’m sort of glad I’m in a coaching break because, WOW, this is a lot.

My wish for you is that your to-do list comes up much shorter than mine!

Running a voice over business involves much more than auditioning. Sometimes the biggest gains come from updating the things clients see before they ever contact you.