The golden rule of voice over. Wait for it…..Wait for it……Actually you’ll be waiting a long time. There are too many people out there who think there is one golden rule to follow for your creative career that will make you rich and famous. If you came to this article thinking I was going to give this amazing nugget of information, then I will be up front. You are probably going to be disappointed.
Nuggets? Usain Bolt is the fastest man on earth. You would think that if people followed his training regime, they may one day be standing on the Olympic podium crying to their national anthem with a gold medal around their neck. Yet he ate 1,000 chicken nuggets in 10 days at the Beijing Olympics! The simple fact is, he is different. What works for him will probably not work for you. And that applies to all people and all industries.
It worked for me. Ahhh. The age old “it worked for me so it should work for you”. Really? One of the most important things that will sell your services in the creative industry is being unique. Being yourself. Bringing your life experiences to the creative process. Sooooo, how will doing what somebody else does make you unique? “Use my email template!”, “follow my marketing plan”, “use my cold call script”. Really? You want somebody else’s words to explain who you are?
Connect. Humans yearn for connection. This is especially true when trying to make business connections. Whether you are talking to people on the phone, writing an email or posting on social media, please just be yourself. And instead of talking about you, spend your time learning about them. People love talking about themselves. All you need to do is give them the opportunity to do it.
So, please don’t copy others. You’ll be surprised how small the creative community is and how inundated our prospective clients are with voiceover emails. SERIOUSLY! If you send an email that looks like all the other emails, do you think they will even read it to the point they want to click to listen to your demos. No way! When you meet new people, you should want to find out who they are. It should intrigue you. Have that mind set for your potential clients. Be interested in them. Hey, why not take them out for some chicken nuggets (in a post Covid world!).