How do you plan to grow your VO business in 2009?

[WayneLHenderson]

I found a forum thread at VO Universe, asking everyone how they plan to grow their VO business in the coming year. I thought it was such a great (and timely) topic, I wanted to ask it here in our Voice-Overs.com community forums.

So, how do you plan to grow your VO business in 2009?

As far as myself, I hope to:
* Budget for, and attend VOICE 2009
* Some more rack-mounted equipment, and sound-proofing, for my studio
* Fully upgrade my VO and Podcast websites, and focus on some of the SEO I've been learning about
* I'm sure I'll find some more great VO books and audio training programs to learn from
* I will be more involved in the VO Universe community, and other VO forum communities
* Pound the pavement, and use creative ways to find and get my voice heard around my area
* Get out and get to more people in old and new media
* By the end of 2009, I'd love to be able to get a professionally produced/coached Voice Demo

I would love to hear everyone's ideas for the upcoming year(s)!

Wayne

[SeptemberDay]

Great ideas Wayne! As for me, I'll definitely be back to VOICE next year, I'm joining the local Chamber of Commerce, and I'm really focusing on hitting the advertising agencies here and in some of the middle sized markets. I'd like to tweak my demo a little, work on my website just a bit, but I'm pretty happy with both so it's not a huge priority. :) Mostly, I'm really focusing on the marketing aspect next year!

[Scott Pollak]

So remind me again (remember, I'm the cynic here)... beyond an unquestionably delightful few days rubbing shoulders with some of the nicest people around, how exactly does the $5k or so 'investment' in Voice 2009 pay dividends?

I'm not being an ass here. At least not on purpose.
This is a legitimate question. If a business person expends money on something in order to further the business, there really should be quantifiable monetary return. Or at the very least some pretty solid business contacts that will realistically turn into some business down the road.

I would be quite open and interested in hearing any HONEST and documented accounts of money-in-the-bank returns that people saw from attending the voice conventions. And bear in mind I personally would LOVE to attend. I'd like nothing more than to finally meet most of you in person, chat, eat, drink, make bad jokes together, etc. But unless it's either in Atlanta or I can see where it's going to pay me back, I can see a lot of other ways to more profitably invest that sum of money.

[ChrisMezzolesta]

I have sort of done it early here in 2008, but I made the decision to get ISDN and build a booth. So there has been quite a monetary investment thus far, between the installation, the codec, booth materials, new workstation/desk (still on backorder), separate PC for the booth work as opposed to one for stuff I can cut out in the room (including my music), monitor & cordless desktop for inside the booth....etc! But it is coming from work I have already done, so I figure I'm subsidizing it ahead of time rather than going into debt (lucky in that regard). It is admittedly a sort-of "if I build it they will come" leap of faith, but I've taken the cue from a few factors that have come up so I feel pretty confident that over the medium haul it'll start getting used regularly.

I also intend to step up marketing, constantly researching, expanding and verifying my mailing/contact list and trying to keep some sort of communication going out once a month, between postcards, email, and phone. Also going to try for more representation in various parts of the country (just signed with an agency in Toronto) and also see if I finally break in with the ad folks in my old stomping grounds of Cleveland. Provincial at times, they seemed to only want to use out-of-town talent, as if that was automatically better. OK, I'm out of town now!!!!!!!!!

I was always so scared of the marketing aspect and the obvious rejection...it really paralyzed me for many years and that in addition to the belief that the union would take care of me, really kept progress to a crawl. But I feel unencumbered now by those fears, and ready to strut my virtual stuff. Almost 19 years in this racket, and only now starting to take hold, yet it still feels good.

May we all say "What economic crisis?" in 2009.

[Lee Gordon]

Scott -- You took the words right out of my mouth. I'm sure that Voice 2008 was a positive experience for most, if not all, of those who attended. However, I am looking forward to receiving much of the same benefit (at least in terms of meeting and hob-nobbing with with many of my fellow VO kin) at the get-together in New York City on December 5th. And all that is going to set me back is Metro North train fare from New Haven and the price of a couple of cocktails.

[Claired]

Hi Scott,

What you get out of a conference like Voice 2008 really depends on your circumstances and what goal you set yourself for it.
I gained lots from it, but what may have financial implications are:
I met in person with an A list agent who is considering representing me when I move to LA (they normally only accept referals but because we met it's different), I met with industry people who are now emailing me casting notices, I learnt skills from Pat Fraley that have allowed me to impress clients on several occasions since I came back. These clients have told my agents who are booking me now much more than they did last year, not to mention the confidence boost.
I can't put a price figure on it, but purely on a business point of view I think it was worth it for me. And there was the pleasure to meet up with fellow vo talents! It also allowed me to try out different voice coaches and now I know who I want to study with. It would have cost me a lot more to find this out by taking their workshops separately.

As for my plan for next year: do all of what's on the above posts, my move to LA and getting source connect being my priorities.

[SeptemberDay]

Scott, it really wasn't that expensive. I shared my room with two others and got a great deal on my flight. I think all told I spent right at $2,500. I learned a TON. I hadn't had any training up to then and some of the classes changed the way I auditioned completely. For instance, I auditioned exactly the same for both radio and TV commercials. Never gave it a thought! Now that I use those new techniques, I'm landing more stuff. Julies' lessons on coloring words was great as well. I also learned that my teen voice and kiddy-cute voice are actually marketable. If I hadn't, I never would have tried for the Elf on the Shelf spot. I was seriously stuck in sexy robot hell, but happy to be there because it was my one thing I could do well. Branching out has made VO fun again and much more profitable. I made so many new connections out there! I've collaborated with at least 10 of the VO people I met out at VOICE and now hat I think about, I've probably made back almost 90% of my investment spent going out there. One of my personal favorite things was getting to hear how others would read scripts. It's something we get glimpses of on the L&R here but it's people we know already. Seeing strangers, and well-known strangers take a stab at cold scripts just rocked. And there was one class in which a VERY well known guy did a not-so-great reading. This was so uplifting to me! Even the greatest pros don't always get it right the first time. After that, I stopped feeling so terrible when I messed up on phone patch or ISDN sessions. I always felt like I was wasting their time when I screwed up, now, though I always try my best, I know that they've heard even the best screw up and no one is going to lose patience with me until maybe take 8 Also, talking in groups about what we do, the humorous stuff, the hard stuff, how people collect on deadbeats, the techy side of things, it was great! So many VO people don't even use any internet forums and VOICE was a place to pick hundreds of brains for ideas. The big meltdown from an older AFTRA/SAG member during a panel Q&A was almost worth the price of admission and really sparked a great debate about why you should or should not be union. I really hope you decide to come to 2009 if it's closer and maybe a bit more economical. I'll sit next to you!!

[Scott Pollak]

Good responses everyone, and much appreciated. It sounds that for at least Claire and 'Ember it was monetarily worth it.

'Ember, if I spend that much money to attend one of these things, you'd better be sitting on my LAP!!!

[Claired]

Originally Posted by Scott Pollak

'Ember, if I spend that much money to attend one of these things, you'd better be sitting on my LAP!!!

hang on a minute, who's the puppy?!

[Scott Pollak]

Fine, Claire. I'LL sit on YOUR lap then.

Sigh.

So difficult when the women start quibbling over me.....