Karen@KarenCommins.com

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

Narrators

Resonance between harp and voice-over

I had planned to write about an incident with karma, but that’s not the voice-over story that wants to be told today. In 1995, I fell in love while at the Stone Mountain Highland Games. Drew and I were walking through the clan and exhibits area when I heard a pleasant, tinkling sound in the breeze. I followed the sound and was delighted to discover a tent where harpists had gathered and were playing their instruments. I immediately knew that I had to get that sound in my life, so I did what anyone would do in the circumstances: I bought a small harp.

Playing the harp immediately became one of my passions. In 2000, I was thrilled to buy my first and only pedal harp, a magnificent 44-string Camac Clio.

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My Camac Clio harp in my music room

When I started playing the harp, I was exercising my desire to do voice work by volunteering for the Georgia Radio Reading Service, which I did for 5 years. I still was a few years away from making the decision to become a voice artist and creating my first demo. Learning to play the harp taught me 5 things every aspiring voice talent should know.

1) If it were easy, everybody would do it.

If someone learns I play harp, the inevitable first question is: Isn’t it hard to play? I always answer that harp is like anything else. It takes continuous practice, and I think it probably takes a lifetime to master if you want to do it well. You always have room to evolve and improve.

If someone learns I am a voice-over talent, the inevitable first question is: People have always told me I have a nice voice. How can I get started in voice-over? Most people assume that voice-over work is as easy as speaking. My answer to the harp people would also work here. I always advise people to start with a book from my recommended reading list and practice reading everything aloud: newspapers, billboards, cereal boxes, shampoo bottles, etc. If a person doesn’t want to read, as evidenced in a common approach from newcomers described Rowell Gormon’s hilarious blog post, I truly can’t imagine how they would become successful in voice-over — a career that is based on reading!

2) You’ll go further and faster if you learn from an experienced teacher.

I knew how to read music, and I had taught myself to play oboe and flute when I was in high school. I naturally thought that learning the harp would be snap, or at least a graceful flick of the wrist. Once I discovered that I could only go far with the information in a book, I decided to take harp lessons.

I called a few universities to learn of harp teachers in the area and was referred to the fantastic Monica Hargrave. For about 3 years, I thoroughly enjoyed my weekly lessons with Monica. I learned proper technique and confidence-building measures. I learned how to take music apart in order to practice and master it. Without Monica’s steady encouragement and advice, I doubt I would have had the confidence and skills needed to play harp at my brother’s wedding.

While the books on voice-over give you a great overview of the industry and/or exposure to a particular skill set, an experienced voice-over coach shows you how to break apart a script in order to serve the client’s goal in communication. Your confidence grows as you learn techniques necessary to thrive in the business. You can create and market a demo secure in the knowledge that you can recreate any cut from it on cue.

We don’t hear ourselves as others hear us, and it can be easy to fall into bad habits. Like professional sports players, professional voice talent still need to practice and get feedback from a coach.

3) You don’t have to make money or become famous from everything you do.

The second inevitable question that people ask me about the harp is: Do you play in the symphony? Most people have only seen harps at a concert. They seem shocked when I tell them that I only play harp in my house, as if they don’t understand how I could play an expensive instrument simply for the love of it.

The second inevitable question that people ask me about my voice-over career is: Where have I heard you? Most people tend to associate voice actors only with the celebrities making big bucks working in cartoons and movies. They seem disappointed when I tell them that I primarily voice corporate training and marketing modules.

I do make money in voice-over, but I’m not famous – yet! 🙂 I don’t do voice work solely for the money, though. I do it because I have an inner calling to do it. You’ll never go to the theater and see the training video on insecticide application prepared for highway workers with the Georgia DOT, but I’m proud to be the one who narrated it.

4) Practice alone does not equate perfection.

Due to my busy schedule, I currently don’t take harp lessons or even make time to play my harp with regular frequency. Whether it’s harp or voice-over technique, repetitive practice will build muscle memory. However, performances based solely on muscle memory are dull and lifeless, not to mention subject to more mistakes. It’s the emotional connection to either the music or script that makes the performance memorable.

5) Listen and learn from others in your field without negatively comparing yourself.

No matter how good you are or how much you accomplish, you always can learn more and improve by listening to others. I have a 100 or more harp CDs, and I see harpists in concert when possible.

In voice-over, I actively listen to radio and TV commercials. I avidly listen to audiobooks. I still listen to voice talent demos on Voicebank. I consciously listen to narrations for shows on the Discovery, History, and Travel TV channels. While audiobooks and TV programs are entertaining, I like to hear the pacing, characterization, and pronunciation of the voice talent booked in areas where I am focusing my career.

I have different levels of expertise in harp and voice-over. Listening to others doesn’t make me feel discouraged about my level of achievement. Instead, I feel inspired. If something is possible for someone else, it’s possible for me.

In either case, I am reminded of a quote from Pat Conroy:

I was a baitfish struggling upstream with the leaping wild salmon,
but I was swimming in the same river and happy to be there.

 

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For love…or money?

A while back, I wrote about offering unsolicited advice to anyone, especially potential or existing voice-over clients. Today, I have a story about solicited marketing advice that has made my day!

I have previously mentioned Henriette Klauser’s wonderful book Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It. The author provides a variety of writing method which can be emulated to reach your own success. I am a firm believer in the process and consequently find myself writing almost every day, most often in some sort of journal.

I have journals for my voice-over career, my harp practice, design of my dream house, books I’ve read, and, most importantly, my everyday life. Given that I like to write as much as I do, it should not surprise you to know that I enjoy writing with fine pens.

In the last couple of years, Drew and I have become passionate about fountain pens, and we have assembled a small collection. We were therefore were excited to go to our first pen show, which was held in Atlanta this past April.

My favorite color is purple, and I fell in love with this luscious fountain pen the moment I walked in the door.

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Taccia prototype fountain pen on display at Atlanta Pen Show

Part of my everyday journal entry for that day relates to this fountain pen and today’s marketing story:

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Part of my journal entry from Saturday, 5 April 2008

As you can read, I found myself talking with the Taccia company president, who told me that the pen was a prototype for which a name had not been determined. She was asking for input on the names for the 4 pens in this new collection. On my way home, I thought of a name for the collection and for the individual pens, and I discussed them with her when I returned to the show the next day.

She was very appreciative of my ideas and insisted on giving me a Taccia leather pen case. Most people don’t value ideas unless they pay for them. She didn’t have to give me anything, so her gift of the pen case was generous and representative of good karma. (Stay tuned for an upcoming story about karma.)

I had forgotten this incident until I was reminded of that pen yesterday. When I looked at Taccia’s web site, I was thrilled to discover that most of my idea for these pens had been implemented!

The Taccia Nightlife Collection is available
in NYC Blue, Golden Gate Copper, Vegas Sage, and Paris Lilac.

The collection name is a little different, and the copper color changed to another city. Still, the concept and names of the other cities are true to the ideas I presented.

If you’ve read this far, you may be wondering how this marketing story helped my voice-over career. Actually, I never thought that it would. I’m telling it for 3 reasons:

1) I’m proud and happy that a company chose to use some of my marketing ideas.
2) Everything I do isn’t about me or my voice-over career. I like to help others as good citizen of the world.
3) I love and am good at marketing but don’t need or want to make it my career.

I want to write for a minute about this last point. I have been told countless times in my life that I am good at marketing. People tell me that I should work for an ad agency. While I love marketing, I don’t want to make it my career. Just because you love something or are good at it doesn’t mean that you have to make it a career, or even do it for money. Our society gives the message that the only things worth doing are those which make money. However, it really is okay to do things just because you love doing them!

I believe that if you do something just because someone else thinks that you can make some money from it, you may find yourself feeling miserable much of the time. Almost every day, I hear from someone who wants to become a voice-over talent because they have been told they have a nice voice. They want to use their nice voice to make money.

To my ear, most people have nice-sounding voices. It’s what you can DO with your voice in transparently interpreting the client’s copy that can possibly earn money for you. Since it takes time, money and energy for classes and demo production, I always recommend that newcomers start with a book from my recommended reading list.

If you want to become a professional voice-over artist, you will be someone who runs a business and constantly markets yourself and that business. If you aren’t prepared or don’t want to operate as a business person, you still can use your very nice voice to volunteer to read/record for the blind, tell stories to children at libraries and hospitals, announce sporting events in your community, be a political activist, etc. In other words, use your voice and time in ways that you love and not just because someone else made you think that you can make some easy money as a voice-over talent.

To finish with the pen story, I already own 2 Taccia fountain pens, and you can be sure that I soon will own a third — the Paris Lilac that I named! 🙂

 

Setting prices and getting paid

I recently wrote about cleaning out my paper files. I tossed folders for voice-over clients who can’t pass my red velvet rope policy and, in doing so, created a vacuum for the clients whom I want to attract.

I looked at and made a decision about every piece of paper in my filing cabinets. I found an e-mail message that I sent to a client in 2002. I extracted the main portion below because I wondered if you have found yourself in a similar situation:

Hi, Clientname. When I agreed to do this project, you will remember that I cut my normal rate severely in order to work with you and establish an ongoing business relationship. I thought the script was in final form, so we did not discuss whether any changes to the narration would be included in the original fee.<

I have already spent about 3.5 hours on the narration, editing and transmission of the files, including resaving and resending the files in .mp3 format earlier this week [because the client originally specified .wav format on CD]. At my normal rate … this project would have cost $675 instead of the $150 to which we agreed. Because I am committed to providing you with high quality service and ensuring your total satisfaction, I will not request additional compensation for these edits. However, please be aware that I will be unable to perform future projects at the same low introductory price.

In reading my words today, I realize that I was dealing with a textbook definition of price-buyer. In addition to demanding more work than was originally agreed, the client never followed through on the promise of additional work. I don’t remember, but I believe I had difficulty in obtaining payment for the narration. Price-buyers are the same clients who can take months to pay you.

When confronted with client who does not pay promptly, I follow the advice that I read in advertising executive Donny Deutsch’s book Often Wrong, Never in Doubt: Unleash the Business Rebel Within:

 Howard Rubenstein, one of the top publics relations executives in the country…called [when Deutsch was about 60 days late with their payment] and said,“Donny, I see you guys are about two months back. Just understand, this is unacceptable for us.We need to be paid on the first of the month, and if that is a problem,we are not going to do business together.” Rubenstein showed me that he valued his service. He wasn’t shy about demanding to be paid because he knew he was providing a quality product at the right price.

From that moment on, I knew I would never lose the respect of a client by asking to be paid promptly. If I allow a client to pay late, what am I really saying? One, that I am not as good as my word, andtwo, maybe what I am providing to the client is not as good as I say it is. If you don’t value it, how will they? The same holds true for offering to cut one’s price.How valuable is your product if you’re willing to discount its value?

To underscore Deutsch’s last statement, Larry Steinmetz, author of How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitors: Winning Every Sale at Full Price, Rate, or Fee, declares that when you cut your price, you are the one who BLEEDS!

As evidenced by the first line in the e-mail that I quoted, I have had my share of painful, undervalued projects! In my maturation process as a voice artist and business person, I have learned that my experience, education, studio and services all have a value. I now include my payment policies with my written quote. I am blessed with clients who appreciate my service and pay promptly for it. I gratefully welcome them through the red velvet rope!

 

6 lessons from my first voice-over job

In cleaning out my filing cabinets, I found the script and paperwork from my first voice-over job. I learned some valuable lessons that day, and I hope that telling the story today may help new talent.

I had produced my first demo and had mailed it without success for about 6 months to agents and prospects. I also created a database, using data I found on-line and in organization directories. I then started mailing postcards to these prospects.

Lesson 1: Always qualify your prospects before adding them to your database. I had not even contacted people to find out if they hired voice talent before entering all of the contact information into my database. Mail-outs are expensive, and I learned the hard way that repeatedly mailing things to people who would never hire me is a colossal waste of time, money and energy.

One person called me after receiving one of my postcards. I was elated when he said he wanted to hire me for a radio commercial. My first job, and a radio commercial, no less! I wouldn’t have cared what the job entailed; I was giddy with the knowledge that I had hit the big time! I didn’t ask any questions except for the scheduled time and directions to the session.

Lesson 2: Ask questions of potential voice-over clients. At a minimum, you need to know the type of project, the usage for your voice (both in the script and in geography) and the client’s budget. You can also ask about the frequency that voice talent is hired and samples of previous work. You have the opportunity and obligation to provide your own policies. For instance, I expect new clients to pay 50% up front, and I expect everyone to pay immediately upon receipt of my invoice. I also charge fees for revising or writing scripts, as well as re-recording segments due to client changes. 

When I arrived at the address, I was confused. The address was at a duplex in a somewhat seedy looking neighborhood. Surely this producer had hired a recording studio? Was I at the wrong address? I rang the doorbell. I was at the correct address and felt a little distraught when the producer led me to a back room. I started thinking how I might escape and was relieved to see microphones at a table. He sat at one, and I sat at the other. I had produced my demo in a gorgeous studio at Todd A/O/Editworks. I naively thought that all recording studios were of the same caliber.

Lesson 3: Many people work out of their homes. If I were approached now by a new prospect to go to another location, I would inquire in person and/or through Internet research to determine whether the address is commercial or residential. If you don’t feel safe at an address, don’t be ashamed to cancel the session, even at the last second. If I felt my safety was in jeopardy, I wouldn’t care if I lost a prospect’s respect and business. As an aside to this point, potential clients who have seen the picture of my stunning soundproof studio have asked if they could come here to direct my performance in person. Since my studio is in my home, I do not allow anyone to come here until I am comfortable in the working relationship.

The producer told me that the commercial was a local spot for a small town in Louisiana. I had to sound like I had a cold when performing my 2 short lines for a company selling air conditioners. The producer read 50 of the 60 seconds in the spot.

Lesson 4: Not all commercials are well-written, and most probably don’t air in a major market. You should be prepared to have different rates for different markets and duration of use (1-time, 13 week cycle, buy-out). In fact, you will want to establish rates for each type of voice work that you pursue. After my first project, I never worked for $25 again! I established rates for radio commercials, TV commercials, podcasts, video narrations, audiobooks, voice mail systems, and e-learning projects, with a minimum fee to perform any kind of work.

When I completed my work, I was ready to be paid. I was shocked when the producer said he would send $25 to me. I said that my research showed that a radio commercial session paid X, quoting the AFTRA rates. He held firm; I could take the $25 by check, or nothing. I chose to accept his check. However, since I did not know him or anything about him, I insisted that he sign and date a document stating the he owed me $25 for my voice-over work on that commercial. He seemed to think it a strange request, but he complied.

Lesson 5: Get all details in writing BEFORE performing the work. If I had known the payment was so small, I probably would have passed on the job since the time and gas I spent was worth more than the amount I received. In addition, once you have performed the work, you have no position of negotiation. Finally, payment expectations should be discussed and resolved before the work begins. Most people do not pay on the spot (pardon the pun) and instead send payment at a later time.

I asked for a copy of the ad when it was complete. I’m pleased to report that he did send a cassette tape of the commercial when he mailed the check.

Lesson 6: Always ask for a copy of your work. You may want to use it on your demo.

In addition to getting my first paid voice-over credit, I learned valuable lessons that have served me well through my career. Hopefully, others can benefit from my experience.

 

Filing scripts under “P” for prosperity

When is the last time that you cleaned out your filing cabinet? Until recently, Drew and I might have answered “about 20 years ago.” If I had realized the negative effect that the overstuffed file drawers were having on my voice-over career, I would have done something about it long before now! Perhaps my story will inspire you to sort through your own files.

We decided to redecorate my office with new furniture, which meant pulling all of the files out of the drawers before the furniture could be moved. We made numerous trips to gather armfuls of hanging file folders that we stacked on the floor in the upstairs hall. Although the clutter in the hall was overwhelming, we agreed on the arduous task of examining every piece of paper and file so that we would only keep those things we needed.

Throughout this project, we have shredded at least 6 bags of paper and thrown away countless sheets. In addition to finding a multitude of outdated records about our health, finances and possessions, I was incredulous to see just how much paper I had accumulated in my work as a voice talent.

When I do an audition, I save the script so that I will have it available when I am booked for the job. I had folders overflowing with scripts from agents and on-line casting services. I also maintain folders for clients and their jobs.

My system works well — EXCEPT that I never got rid of anything! In making decisions about voice-over paperwork to toss, I combined principles discussed in 2 books on seemingly disparate subjects: Michael Port’s bestseller Book Yourself Solid : The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling and Catherine Ponder’s classic work The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity.

The first chapter in Port’s book is titled The Red Velvet Rope Policy. He makes the analogy of going to an invitation-only event where someone checks your credentials before allowing you to pass beyond the red velvet rope. He asks: Do you have your own red velvet rope policy that allows in only the most ideal clients, the ones who energize and inspire you? The first exercise in Port’s interactive and thought-provoking book is to dump the duds.

I include price-buyers in my category of duds; I wrote about this type of client in a previous entry. I immediately tossed folders of price-buying clients. More projects made their way to the circular file if I only worked for the client once and have no interest in voicing projects for them again. Perhaps I didn’t enjoy the type of work, or the project didn’t fit with my target and niche markets. Several folders belonged to clients who were notoriously slow to pay me, which actually is a form of price-buying.

I kept folders for the clients and projects that were a pleasure in every sense. In addition to conforming to the red velvet rope policy, I reminded Drew about Catherine Ponder’s words about the vacuum law of prosperity:

Nature abhors a vacuum. It is particularly true in the realm of prosperity.Basically, the vacuum law of prosperity is this:if you want greater good, greater prosperity in your life,start forming a vacuum to receive it!In other words, get rid of what you don’t want to make room for what you do want.

If there are clothes in the closet or furniture in your home or office that no longer seem right for you;if there are people among your acquaintances and friends that are no longer congenial —begin moving the tangibles and intangibles out of your life, in the faith thatyou can have what you really want and desire.Often it is difficult to know what you do wantuntil you get rid of what you don’t want.

Here’s where this monumental project to organize and declutter my filing cabinets had a direct impact on my voice-over career. Within days of tossing the bulk of my old voice-over auditions and projects, a new prospect from overseas contacted me about a video narration. The query was all the more interesting since I had never even heard of the company.

I quoted my price and was pleased when they immediately committed to the project and paid my customary charge of 50% up front. Two days later, I received, recorded and transmitted the script. The client provided almost instantaneous positive feedback and requested no changes. They paid the balance of the fee within one week of my invoice. The client also suggested that future voice work would be forthcoming.

This new client definitely fits my red velvet rope criteria! I truly had no room in my old file drawers to add a new client folder, but now, I have plenty of space — a vacuum, in fact — ready to hold this one and those to follow.

In cleaning out the files, I also found a couple of pieces of paper that have their own stories. Check back on the blog for a related entry about them in the near future. In the meantime, I would love to hear from you. Have you experienced the vacuum law of prosperity in your voice-over work or other aspects of your life?

 

5 pieces of e-mail marketing advice

I received an e-mail tonight from a voice-over actor seeking work. I decided to post my answer with some additional thoughts here on my blog in the hope that it helps other voice talent better utilize e-mail as a marketing tool. I am a voice talent marketing myself.

The only help that I can offer your career at this point are 5 pieces of e-mail marketing advice:

1) It’s better to write customized e-mails which address the needs of the recipient instead of generic e-mails to a group. You need to research the person or company to whom you’re writing before you even think of sending them a message. When writing the e-mail body, it’s helpful to explain the reason which compelled you to make contact (referral, newspaper article, web search, etc.). When I contact people with whom I wish to work, I explain how I discovered them and the reasons that I am a good fit for their business. Those reasons would be things I uncovered in the research phase.

2) If you do send e-mail to a group, the addresses should not be listed on the TO: line. It’s a privacy violation to make e-mail addresses visible to a group. In fact, some people harvest the addresses for their own purposes, generating even more spam for the recipients. In addition, people often reply to all, which generates unnecessary email traffic for most of the people included in the message. Add your email to the TO: line and your recipients’ email addresses on the BCC: line for group messages.

3) The subject line of your e-mail should be a succinct statement that compels the recipient to open the message. The message I received had a subject line of TEST. I would have deleted that message without opening it if I had not been able to read the first line in the autopreview. I opened it only because I could tell it pertained to voice-over; I thought it was probably another newcomer who wanted my guidance.

4) Don’t send attachments to people whom you don’t know or who are not expecting them. I cannot overemphasize this point! So many people send unsolicited demos to me. I will NEVER open them, and I’m sure I’m not alone. In these days of rampant computer viruses, people are leery of unsolicited attachments. Besides, if everyone sent me a 3 Mb attachment, I would quickly run out of mailbox space. Let me say this one again: Don’t send attachments to people whom you don’t know or who are not expecting them.

5) Your message should be a clear call to action. What do you want people to do when they read your message? Saying you are “ready to cooperate” with me could mean to me that you will cooperate when I ask you to send me all of your money and the deed to your house. 🙂

Bonus round:

Correct grammar and spelling are worthy goals in all of your communications. I am constantly amazed to receive e-mails with spelling errors and incomplete or incoherent sentences. Remember, you are making an impression with every type of communication. E-mails that seem unprofessional are deleted by producers without a second thought. Furthermore, if I were a producer who hired voice talent, I would wonder how you could interpret my script if you can’t seem to express yourself.

E-mail is an essential component in the marketing toolbox for any professional voice talent. Hopefully, my observations will help you craft messages that help you convert prospects to clients. If you have other ideas on the topic of e-mail marketing, please share your comments here on the blog.