Comments

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  Dan (Daniel Eduardo) Hurst October 3, 2011 at 6:54pm

  im, my idea will take you a little time, but I'd be willing to bet a bag of cookies that you'd get some good response.
  

   

  Create a couple of customized lines for a specific client.  Put it on a mono mp3 and email it to a few prospects, and see how that works. In other words, each prospect gets their own custom made lines. Most clients do not want to get large audio files, but a short one that takes up little space, is often acceptable...especially if it's humorous and catches them by surprise. 

   

  In the accompanying email, send them a quick note and simply say, "I thought you might get a kick out of one of my voice specialties.  If I can help you out with a project, I would appreciate your consideration!"

   

  Sending out a dozen or so of those will give you a quick idea of your rate of return.  Worth a try.

   

  I'm going to post a message pretty soon about a little marketing experiment  I did along these same lines that got GREAT response.
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  John Melley October 3, 2011 at 6:37pm

  Follow up-

  The correct spelling for "their" in the sentence "but they get opened if their fun," should have been "they're."

  I hate when I do that. ;-D

  JM
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  John Melley October 3, 2011 at 6:35pm

  Hi Jim-

  If I were in your shoes, I'd write a newsletter or email very similar to the post you just made and send it out to your current clients. I would write it like you were just telling them about it and how fun it was to do. I wouldn't make it much of a sales pitch at all - just sharing a little about what your day was like or events going on in your world.

  Newsletters - printed/hardcopy are very powerful.

  Everyone says "Nah - just email it to them and save money."

  Really?

  How many emails did you just delete today without opening them - from people you know?!

  Yes, printed newsletters take time and money, but they get opened if their fun, stick around on desks longer, keep you top of mind and are more likely to be shared with others (read... referral tool here.)

  They pay for themselves. There's a reason I send mine out every month. They work.
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  Jim Lueck October 3, 2011 at 6:23pm

  Over the weekend I was hired by a company to drop into their conference call to do live impersonations of Tom Brokaw and Arnold Schwarzenegger to celebrity roast 8 members of their management staff. I have got to find a better way to market this sort of thing, they are so much fun to do. If anyone has some suggestions let me know.!  I am a fair voice Impressionist but not very skilled in marketing.  That/s why I joined this group.  Any ideas would be much appreciated.
  
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  AL B Conahan September 26, 2011 at 1:31pm

  That's cold man.

  But hey, there are a lot of people who don't have any idea what you're talking about.

  The guys over at 123456 want to know where to get a $45. us, whatever, mic.
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  Dan Harder September 26, 2011 at 9:52am

  SOT:  Scary music a la Jaws

  VO: "Just when you though it was safe to go back to the internet..."

  SFX: Scary thunder crash....

  VO:  Another PTP site?

   

  Yes.  Early this morning, I received an invitation to www.premiumvoicetalent.com.

   

  Sound like Voice123, voices, and others, but this time, it appears you the talent has to audition to be accepted.  So now it might take more than Audacity and a $45 USB mic to be heard.

   

  Thoughts?
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  Dan Harder September 22, 2011 at 1:38am

  <Tongue firmly planted in cheek>
  I went to McDonald's one time and asked for a $3.50 hamburger - for free. I told them if they gave it to me, I would go out and tell everyone I meet how wonderful it was.  They said, "No."

  Bummer. 
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  Dan (Daniel Eduardo) Hurst September 22, 2011 at 1:15am

  Thanks for the reminder, Dawn! It's been my experience that companies that aren't willing to pay a fair rate for voice talent will also cut corners in their production. That means their work is questionable at best!
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  Dawn Harvey September 22, 2011 at 1:05am

  Just had to share this with someone.   Received an audition notice in my inbox today from a casting service.   Looking for 2 voice artists for a "web review" series.   Here's what they said about it:  "Voice Actors will be expected to have full and immediate access to their own recording equipment, and be able to e-mail their voice clips to us. These are a non-paying role, but we are perfectly willing to give you credit for your work."   Isn't that nice of them?  We provide them with our work for free and they're going to go way out of their way to give us credit for it.  All out of the goodness of their hearts I guess.   I'm getting right on THAT opportunity! 
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  Dan (Daniel Eduardo) Hurst September 11, 2011 at 4:50pm

  Maybe I'm the only one, but I'm getting more and more tired of requests to "join" voice talent forums, groups, and discussions.  I mean, how many times can we discuss the same VO issues over and over??? 

   

  I'd rather join (and am doing so) the forums that my clients and potential clients are getting involved in!  Those connections answer so many of the discussions in the VO forums!!!