On a different theme, I’m already beginning to see that building a contact list is vital, the lifeblood of success.  Making a cold call was such a stumbling block for me, but listening to the strategies of checking out a business on a web site, and sharing excerpts of actual conversations you might have as an icebreaker made me realize it’s not such a fearful endeavor.  I was getting bogged down with companies that would put me on voice message or dump me into a voice mailbox.  Worse still, when I was researching in the yellow pages, making a call, and being told their company only handled visual advertisements.  I was getting really embarrassed and frustrated, but didn’t have a way to counter the issue.  When I would call again, I felt I just wasn’t able to connect with the “right” person.   Since I had no frame of reference to make those calls, I felt I was stumbling around in the dark.  I now keep repeating my new mantra,  “I can promise THE solution to a corporate narration problem!  So…now I’ve branded myself over the past couple of days.  I feel I have a stronger position to make those introductory calls!  Thank you!  I’ll chart out my SWOT this afternoon (yes, Dan, I wrote it on my calendar!)

Thank you for the deep thoughts and time commitment you both have made.  I’m hoping you’ll write, hold a prerecorded/live seminar, or record a book so you’ll continue to share your expertise with others.  I admire your sense of educating us toward the real world business of VO!

You guys ROCK!

Hopefully, that means that my own website, without such diversions, is much more user friendly.

I also liked the 12 resource prospecting client list. Like any good plan, I may even pick it up and use it!

I like the class outline/study guide and order of the topics covered, and I thought that the information on the Branding was especially important! A question I might have later, is how to maintain the same branding (or can/does one need to?) as we move from genre to genre? Genre Vs. Branding?

I certainly would sound differently as a cartoon character (I aspire to return to that big time) than I would performing a commercial. I expect that so long as your Brand is firm and consistent throughout the demo, whatever the genre then the target client will recognize what he/she wants to hear?

At certain moments during the marketing section I felt a bit bewildered, not in its conveyance, but in its execution on my part and all that entails. I understand logically what needs to be done now that I have this great information– that’s start! I was thinking about how I personally I would gather prospects and then act upon them, navigating through all of the channels to arrive at the marketing and promoting stage — and ultimately the audition.

It really made me stop and think– What it is we REALLY MUST do and continually to keep doing to keep working.! I also had to ask myself whether I’m the right candidate for constantly prospecting every moment of my waking life, since I can see that other than winning the prize of being signed on to an ongoing Union cartoon series this is the only way one can WIN as a freelance voiceover business. One must also be their own talent agent, in the three-hat dynamic!

As an animation artist, once I have the connection, I’m on the project for a protracted amount of time – When I performed a few cartoon character voiceover projects, after having won the parts, I simply drove or flew and just showed up!

This is an entirely NEW ballgame – I was very happy to see another realistic dimension and yet doable picture of this art as a business in last night’s class, and we need this to develop the marketing skill. I’m a people-person but selling is something else, and I appreciate the concept from Harlan and Dan that it is NOT about YOU, it is about THEM and how and what you can do to HELP them. That makes it a whole lot easier to digest, since I always like helping people!

I do think I AM that candidate for winning at voiceovers as a business!