Karen@KarenCommins.com

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-ratorâ„¢

Narrators

Susan Berkley’s inner circle and upcoming masterclass

Whether you are just beginning or a professional, I cannot recommend too highly my voice-over coach Susan Berkley for training classes. Susan is the voice of AT&T, Citibank and other companies. She holds teleclasses, voice-over bootcamps and specialized workshops throughout the year to meet the needs of voice-over students.

I am a member of Susan’s inner circle coaching program and have taken several classes that she sponsored. One reason I like the Inner Circle so much is because we have a monthly teleclass. We usually speak with someone in the voice-over industry, but we also have branched out and talked with experts in business areas like marketing. I was excited last night because we spoke with my friend and teacher Hillary Huber about audiobooks.

Hillary was just nominated for an Audie Award by the Audio Publishers Association (I linked to the complete list of finalists). The Grammys only have 2 categories for spoken word, so the Audie awards were established to recognize excellence within the audiobook industry. Hillary’s nomination for this prestigious award was in the mystery category for the book A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Reed.

Hillary talked with us about her process of researching the book prior to recording it. It’s not enough for her to simply look up pronunciations of words. Whenever possible, she contacts the author to glean insights about the characters.

She also talked about how she obtained the work. The audiobook industry is burgeoning, and voice talent can independently obtain work without an agent.

Next month, Susan is sponsoring a very specialized workshop in NY on obtaining work in audiobooks. The class will be taught by Pat Fraley and Hillary Huber, and it will be limited to 12 attendees. Special guests in this upcoming class will be multiple Audie-award winner Barbara Rosenblat (who is once again nominated this year) and Grammy-winning producer Paul Ruben, who will direct you in the studio. You will produce your audiobook demo while you’re in the workshop.

I took this class with Pat and Hillary in LA. They are lovely people and fantastic teachers. You can read about my experiences in that class on my blog. As marvelous as the LA class was, I think this upcoming New York class will be even better due to the presence of these particular guests. I almost wish I could go again!

On-going training is a necessity in this business. If you call Susan’s offices, please tell them that I referred you. You will always receive excellent value for the money with her programs.

 

25 ways to get publicity and traffic to your web site

I subscribe to a fantastic e-zine called The Publicity Hound written by Joan Stewart. In each week’s issue, she posts a question to “help this hound”, and the question this week was from another voice talent who wanted to know how to drive traffic to his web site. I answered with 20 suggestions on Joan’s blog but am including my answer here these ideas may help other people. Also, I am adding 5 more ideas that I didn’t include in my original answer.

As another voice-over talent, many newcomers to the industry ask me the same question. I have written essays on my blog in which I point out that voice-over is a business that requires a marketing plan. Like any business owner, the talent should determine where s/he fits in the marketplace and develop a marketing plan that targets the primary prospects on a steady and consistent basis.

Numerous ways exist to contact the prospects and depend on a person’s time, budget and creativity. If the goal is simply to drive traffic to a web site, obviously, getting a link to your site published in a popular e-zine like The Publicity Hound will do the trick!A web site is just one aspect of a marketing plan. In order to increase business and develop sustained relationships, the voice-over talent must be persistent in taking actions, such as:

1. Creating and maintaining a personal web site

2. Making phone calls to casting directors, producers, directors

3. Networking at industry meetings and events

4. Sending direct mail (postcards, newsletters, etc.)

5. Auditioning for one or more agents

6. Joining on-line casting services and submitting auditions

7. Writing postings in forums to show your expertise

8. Sending e-mails when you see opportunities such as those posted on CraigsList

9. Writing articles that can be reprinted in on-line e-zines

10. Exchanging reciprocal web links with complimentary sites

11. Listing your site on free web directories

12. Speaking at industry or community events

13. Presenting training classes

14. Placing industry advertisements in printed and web-based directories, CraigsList, etc.

15. Including your web site on the signature lines on your e-mails, on your business card, and on every piece of correspondence both on- and off-line

16. Sending imprinted products with your web site to your clients

17. Starting a blog on your web site and post comments on others’ blogs when you have expertise

18. Publishing a regular e-zine to maintain contact and requesting people to forward it

19. Asking for and rewarding referrals from satisfied clients

20. Posting testimonials of satisfied clients on your web site

This list is by no means all-inclusive, and most items don’t apply only to those in voice-over. By implementing one or more of these ideas on a regular basis, a person could spur traffic to his site and potentially increase his business.

Of course, I could have added a few more things, like:

21. Establishing a pay-per-click campaign

22. Generating press releases to announce your news

23. Getting feature stories written about you in the newspaper (a feature story is so much better than an ad! Just ask my friends and fellow voice talents Susan Berkley and Mary McKitrick if you don’t believe me)

24. Sending clippings of news stories of interest to your contacts

25. Joining an on-line networking service

26. Using search engines to locate potential contacts and querying them directly

27. Starting your own podcast

28……

I only promised 25 ideas but got carried away! When you aren’t working, you are working on obtaining work, using the tools and technology at your disposal and through whatever means you feel comfortable. It’s meaningless if someone simply visits your web site. I think a better goal is to think of ways to make connections with your prospects so that you can develop on-going business relationships.

 

Shining the light on pitches to prospects

One need only look at my voice-over studio to know that I am in love with Paris. The Eiffel Tower is my favorite thing in the world. I wear a gold Eiffel Tower charm on a bracelet, and I have numerous Eiffel Tower figurines in my house. The highlight (no pun intended) of my collection is a tall, lead crystal Eiffel Tower that sits on a lighted mirrored base. The base has colored LEDs, so the sparkling crystal shimmers in a rainbow of color as the base slowly turns.

A dear friend didn’t know that I had bought this crystal Eiffel Tower when I was in Las Vegas. As a birthday present, she surprised me with a smaller version of the one I had bought. It even sits atop a lighted mirrored base just like the one pictured here.

Granted, the peddlers swarming beneath the Tower’s four lacy pillars wouldn’t know those things about me as Drew and I exited the Tower on a recent visit to Paris. They would only know that I had been up in the Tower, and they should have noticed that I was carrying a shopping bag. Since it was dark, they may have been unable to discern that the shopping bag was from the Eiffel Tower, indicating I had purchased souvenirs at the Tower gift shops.

Just like at the Great Pyramids, these people all rush up to you, shoving their wares in your face and shouting prices at you. In addition to the ever-popular Eiffel Tower key chains that we have seen (and bought) on previous trips, the new craze was hand-held, flashing, lighted Eiffel Towers. A girl who loves the Eiffel Tower as much as I do and already has 2 lighted crystal Eiffel Towers is a likely target market for such a thing. At the time, though, I was most interested in dinner since it was very late, and we had to get up early for our flight home.

The seller’s approach has everything to do with the prospect’s interest. People shouting prices at me just make me want to hurry along to get away from them, no matter how much I might like their item. As Will Newman points out in his excellent article in the Early to Rise e-zine, you often have to use the word because with appeals to your prospect’s emotions if you expect to make sales.

One of these flashing light vendors started walking with us. Like the guy at the Pyramids, I’ll give him points for trying to create rapport with us. He even attempted to follow Newman’s advice to play to our emotions, but he made a critical mistake.

Since this incident happened a few months ago, I have forgotten exactly what he said to me, but I responded that I already had one. Even though I liked the light, I was thinking I didn’t need to spend money on his light when I had the 2 splendid crystal versions awaiting me at home. I also just had stocked up on Eiffel Tower goodies inside the gift shops.

Did he appeal to my emotions in any way? Did he use humor and charm and say something like, ‘Two are better than one, especially for such a handsome couple! You each could have one then!’

Did this merchant explain the benefits of his product to me? Did he use quick thinking to generate a sale and propose that perhaps I’d like to purchase one as a special gift? Did he mention that the lights were exclusive items to the vendors outside and not carried by the Tower shops? (At least I didn’t see them inside the tiny, crowded little shops in the Tower.)

If he had ever suggested to either of us that we could buy this little light for me as reminder of our romantic nighttime visit to the twinkling Eiffel Tower, he probably would have made a sale. I DID like the flashing light, and he had engaged us in some form of conversation as we walked rather than simply shouting prices at us.

No, he employed a different tactic.

He argued with me.

When I told him that I had one, he said, ‘No you don’t!’ When I assured him that I do have one and had received it as a gift, he yelled at me, ‘YOU LIE!’

Okay, so I don’t have a lighted Eiffel Tower that looks and works exactly like the one he was selling. I think his light was something like a plastic flashlight, while my pieces are lead crystal and only light up when placed on top of the mirrored base. Apparently, street peddlers don’t study marketing tactics or read books by Dale Carnegie, but I would think even they should know that you don’t scream at potential prospects and call them liars.

When contacting potential clients about utilizing you as a voice-over talent, you should research them as thoroughly as possible before making the connection. Look at their web sites and read industry periodicals. The cold-call instantly becomes a warmer call when you already know something about the background and current needs of the person or organization. Practice your script, and be ready to tailor your responses depending on the recipient.

Understand that your first pitch to a potential voice-over client is probably not going to elicit a commitment on a project. You’re not trying to sell some little gadget on the street to someone you probably will never see again. You are a professional person who is introducing yourself and hoping to cast the initial rivets in the iron foundation of what will become a towering relationship among your clients. You usually have to make 5-7 contacts before the light even goes on in the prospect’s head that you are a voice-over artist.

Above all, have respect for everyone with whom you contact. You never know the source of that next job. What you put out in the Universe comes back to you. Would you rather spend your time in darkness, generating negative energy toward the prospect who turned you down, or in brightness, radiating positive energy to attract those clients who are looking for your vocal characteristics, your style of reads, your specialty niche and your value-added services?

If you always speak to and about prospects with deference to their needs, sometimes that first pitch will be all you need to forge a relationship of lasting beauty.

Look forward on New Year’s Day

I know I promised another article that was inspired from my recent trip, but I had to pass on something I just read that will help you move forward in your voice-over career. It’s a new year, and many people have spent part of the day setting goals and reflecting on events of the past year. Every New Year’s Eve, I write in a special journal about my plans and hopes for the coming year. I have goals for all areas of my life, especially in my voice-over profession.

However, I have learned that I don’t want to spend too much time looking back over the past year. It’s easy to fall in the trap of forgetting my many accomplishments for the year. My mind instead wants to dwell on things that didn’t happen the way I envisioned or at all. I want to stay focused on my current plans and keep marching ahead!

I just read Wayne Dyer’s new book Being In Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires. He makes a strong point in chapter six that made me realize yet again the detrimental effect one’s thoughts can have on one’s voice-over career.

Dyer and others have said You become what you think about all day long. He writes:

Thinking that the past is responsible for your continuing insufficiency is a major source of resistance. You’ve probably been taught that if you don’t pay attention to the mistakes of the past, you’re bound to repeat them. Here’s my take on that advice: Keeping your thoughts on the mistakes of the past guarantees that you’ll continue manifesting them in the present!…
Refuse to think about what’s failed to materialize unless you’re hoping for more of the same….
Be grateful for all that failed to show up. Then shift from resistance to the direction of manifesting your desires, and rebalance your thinking so that it matches up with those desires. 

Maybe you:

  • didn’t land an agent last year
  • didn’t book the amount of work you wanted to last year
  • didn’t get your web site on-line last year
  • didn’t connect with any new clients last year
  • didn’t attend any networking events last year
  • didn’t install or upgrade your studio last year
  • didn’t take any classes last year
  • didn’t send out any marketing materials last year
  • didn’t read any blogs last year (except this one!)
  • didn’t perform any auditions last year

Right. I could continue on with a long list of things that maybe you didn’t do, but that would be negative thinking. Why don’t you write down a list of everything — big and small — that you DID to move forward on your voice-over goals? When I look at my list, I feel fantastic! I see that I took advantage of unexpected opportunities, and I have momentum carrying me into the coming year.

I re-write my goals and plans on an on-going basis. Magical things happen when you write down your goals….but that’s another subject for another day.

I wanted to write today to encourage you to start your new year by looking forward in your voice-over career, not back. Looking back tends to crystallize your thinking and can cause you to get stuck. It’s a new year, so it’s time to move ahead! Decide what you want, and then decide that you have the power to attain it. Once you start thinking those types of thoughts, you will start taking the actions necessary to make your dreams a reality.

 

5 Thoughts About Self-Promotion in Social Settings

Can you ever go overboard on the self-promotion and networking? If you had asked me this question a few months ago, I would have had a different perspective. You can have all the talent in the world, but talent alone will not win you jobs if no one knows about it. I’m a firm believer that you must learn how to promote yourself and your capabilities often, to the right people and in the best light.

I have gotten most of my voice-over work through my own self-promotion efforts. I am a perpetual student of marketing and publicity books and other resources. I observe what other people do both inside and outside the voice-over industry to see how I might apply the concepts to my business.

I learned from Wayne Dyer that when you ask the Universe, ‘How may I serve?’, the Universe will respond by asking that question of you. If you are constantly in a state of saying ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme’, the Universe will respond by serving up that statement to you. You will feel like you are always striving and never arriving.

The point I want to make today is that the needs of your audience still take priority over your own need to promote yourself. It’s not all about me, and it’s not all about you.

I advise people to tell everyone what you do. You never know where that next voice-over gig may come from. I mention my work while on vacation when people ask about it, and I tell them details when they ask questions. Sometimes I have seized opportunity while on vacation to make a pitch for work, but those times are rare. (I mean it’s rare that I have the opportunity, not rare that I would take it!)

After listening to a lecturer on our recent cruise, I compiled some guidelines about self-promotion when networking in social settings that you may find helpful.On our recent cruise, Drew and I met this guy while we were waiting to return to the ship from one of the islands. He told us he was a lecturer on the ship and proceeded to inform us about living in Hollywood, some famous people he knew, etc. As I have an interest in expanding my business with speaking engagements, I asked whether he lectured exclusively on cruise ships or in other environments. He was only too happy to tell me how he was the best of the best and got the job through an agent.

He gave us a brief history of his life including his acting background, which prompted Drew to tell him about my voice-over career. The guy asked about my credits, presumably to see if he knew my work. When I said I perform a lot of corporate narrations and audiobooks, he made some comment about reading textbooks for the blind, as if he had dismissed me as someone beneath his exalted stature.

I explained to him that commercial audiobooks are an $800 million industry and growing, in part because people are spending more time than ever in horrendous commutes. For instance, the average one-way commute in Atlanta is 34 miles!

The next day, Drew and I were enjoying a perfectly lovely lunch facing the water on another gorgeous Greek island. Mr. Lecturer had already called out to us while we were walking around the town, and now here he was walking along the waterfront, headed straight toward us.

He saw us.

I don’t know why I did it, but, before I could stop myself, the words were out of my mouth: I asked if he would like to join us. Naturally, he sat down. I didn’t know when I extended the invitation that he would spend most of his time sitting at our table and talking to the two crew members who happened to be sitting at the table next to us.

The man found the topic of himself to be endlessly fascinating. He told us about being a contestant on Jeopardy and his history developing game shows. He related stories of speeches past and happy audiences who were mesmerized by his words.

He never asked about us or noticed our needs that day. To be perfectly honest, we really didn’t care about his many past accomplishments because we would never be in a position to hire him. Maybe the retired senior crowd of fellow passengers would find him to be a sparkling conversationalist, but we thought he was obnoxiously boring.

All we wanted to do was sit out in the sun at this amazingly pretty and romantic place that we may never see again and look at the village scenery set against the water. We couldn’t even do that because the guy’s head blocked our view.

So, here are 5 rules for self-promotion when networking, especially while in a social setting:

1) Repeatedly ask yourself ‘how may I serve?’ when progressing the conversation.

2) Don’t talk endlessly about yourself. Other people lead interesting lives, too, and you may find out the answer to question number one by asking questions of others.

3) Don’t put down other people’s accomplishments to make yourself feel better.

4) No matter how talented you are or what you’ve accomplished in life, somebody else is always better or has done more. Don’t make bold, bragging statements like ‘I know I’m the best so they were wise to hire me’. No one wants to talk too long with someone who is a legend in his own mind.

5) Take your audience’s needs into consideration before you make your pitch. Are you on vacation in an exotic location? If so, the chance is very good that no one is interested in talking about business anyway.

 

10 Business Tips From My Day at the Great Pyramids

When Drew and I recently visited the Great Pyramids in Egypt, our attention was instantly focused on something. You might think we were riveted by the awe-inspiring majesty of the ancient structures that we were visiting. While we were certainly thrilled to be standing at one of the 7 Wonders of the world, we couldn’t totally concentrate on the moment as we defended ourselves against the onslaught of sales pitches of the many vendors who rushed up to us as we stepped onto the Sahara sand.

If you stood still for more than a few seconds, someone would approach you, offering to sell you something, take you for a camel ride or shoot your picture. I began to think that the sellers outnumbered the tourists.

People were hawking everything imaginable to remember your experience at the Pyramids: postcards, calendars, camels (both rides on real ones and small toys) coins, stamps, papyrus pictures, and, of course, head wraps.

In fact, head wraps seemed to be the most popular item sold by the vendors, and most of the people appeared to have identical packages of white cloth which you would tie to your head with colored rope rings. These wraps looked like the traditional Arabian, white scarves with rope rings that you see in the movies. Most people were selling them for a dollar.

When we went to the Pyramids, we didn’t have it in our minds to buy a souvenir of our visit. We and our fellow travelers had spent a lot of time, money and energy to journey to the Pyramids; all we wanted was peace and quiet to enjoy the view. All the vendors wanted was to use our limited time and waning energy under the desert sun to relieve us of money for their trinkets.

In this setting of vendors barking their prices at us as we passed them, my marketing mind couldn’t help but think: How does a person selling a product that is the same or similar to his competitors distinguish himself in a saturated marketplace? The observations I made during my trip to the Pyramids are tips that you can easily employ in marketing and improving your voice-over business.



Drew and me in front of the Sphinx and Pyramids
One of the more unusual selling approaches occurred when one person forced one of these white head wraps into Drew’s hands, started walking with us and told us he was giving us a free gift.

Observation #1: The word FREE is one of the most powerful words in the English language. When someone offers you a free gift, you can’t help but feel intrigued. Of course, our society causes us to be cynical and look for the ‘the catch’ to any offer. In your voice-over business, you can entice people with free reports, free auditions, free script assistance, free revisions in short, whatever you feel adds value to your business without taking away from your bottom line. You ARE in the voice-over business to make money, aren’t you?

He proceeded to ask us if we were American. When we said we were, he told us that he loved America and wanted to travel here someday.

Observation #2: This seller was trying to create a relationship with us. People like to do business with those with whom they have a relationship. While everyone else was simply yelling prices at us, this guy was actually attempting to develop a rapport with us.

Once he had established our nationality, the Pyramid peddler suggested that it would be nice if we could also give him a gift. (Ah, HERE’S the catch!) He didn’t specifically ask for money, but we knew he wanted money. We quickly gave the so-called free gift back to him.

Observation #3: If you give away something for free, you can’t have any expectation of getting anything in return. If you anticipate a quid pro quo, you risk offending your prospects and a loss of any future sales.

Observation #4: When you’re in a sales situation, you need to have a firm price for your product (as in voice talent and services) and be able to speak to people about the benefits they will receive from spending their money with you.

We also visited the Sphinx, which is located at the site of the Pyramids. Here, the peddlers offered the same merchandise as at the Pyramids but also added scarves and crystal Pyramids. Souvenir shops lined the road, but I didn’t see an official souvenir stand at either site. I suppose that anyone who wants to sell stuff could do so.

We had successfully skirted around the sea of sellers while entering the chamber to the Sphinx. Our guide even shooed away one particularly pesky merchant by speaking rather sharply to him in Arabic. On our way out, though, Drew noticed someone selling a head wrap that was unlike the 100 he had seen prior in the day. All of the others were small pieces of white linen fabric, while this one was a large, black and white checked fabric similar to one worn by a former Mid-East leader. Drew stopped to inquire about it.

Observation #5: Find a niche and fill it. I know that may seem easier said than done, especially when I’m talking about the voice-over industry, but we all have unique voices and unique backgrounds that we bring to the microphone. Figure out your signature sound, and find a way to use your experiences in your marketing. Also, if you have some tie-in to a celebrity, use it!

Drew and the vendor haggled about the price of this head wrap for several minutes before Drew finally bought it at a price considerably lower than the dealer’s original price. However, Drew did pay more for his head wrap than the white linen wraps seen at the Pyramids and more than he originally planned to spend.

Observation #6: Just because everybody else in your sandbox is charging low prices and negotiating price cuts with every new prospect doesn’t mean that you have to follow the trend. When you cut your prices, you are the one who bleeds. If you want to charge and achieve a premium price for your voice-over talent, you need to be ready with factual, persuasive reasons based on quality, service or other aspects why the prospect should pay the extra money. For an in-depth and fascinating discussion of this subject, I cannot recommend too highly that you get Larry Steinmetz’s book How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitors: Winning Every Sale at Full Price, Rate, or Fee.

Observation #7: Even in a market that is saturated with vendors, people are willing to increase their budgets to acquire a quality product that matches their specifications.


Drew shows off his new purchase
Following the visits to the Pyramids and the Sphinx, we were taken on a Jeep safari and camel ride at the Saqqara Country Club near the 4000-year-old Step Pyramid, which we also visited. Both the Jeep safari and camel ride were included in the package price for the day trip to the Pyramids. Our camels were led by Bedouins walking by the camels on foot, and our guide told us that $2 was a customary tip for these ‘drivers’. Consequently, Drew and I each put $2 in our pockets with the plan to give it to each driver at the end of the ride.

The camel ride lasted 30-40 minutes, which was longer than we expected. During the entire ride, our drivers kept asking if everything was okay. They were eager to please and ensure that we were having a good time. However, they didn’t know a lot of English, so the rest of the conversation consisted of constant requests for money at the end of the ride.

I was uncomfortable during the ride because I only had one foot in a stirrup. I never found the stirrup on the right side, and I kept feeling like I would fall off the camel’s back. I told Moses, my driver, about this problem numerous times. Maybe he didn’t understand me since he would respond by telling me about needing money to feed his wife and 5 hungry children.

Observation #8: If your client reports a problem to you, you should fix it immediately. Listen twice as much as you talk. Do everything in your power to maintain your client’s trust.

Sami, Drew’s driver, gave the reins to Drew so Drew could steer the camel. Drew gave his camera to Sami and asked Sami to take our picture. Though we’re sure Sami doesn’t own a digital camera, he did a great job in using Drew’s camera. When people say I look extremely happy in this picture, I tell them it is because I was reunited with my Sheik of the Desert, who had been leading our little caravan of camels. Drew says he thinks I’m laughing because I know the hot, bumpy ride is almost over. 🙂


My Sheik and me on our camel ride in the Sahara Desert
We decided that, contrary to the advice of our guide, the drivers deserved more than a $2 tip for the long walk and value-added service. Drew had a mixture of US and European currency in his wallet. He gave a US $20 to Sami; however, he gave Moses a 20 Euro, which was worth around $25 due to the exchange rate. Even though Sami took pictures of us and gave Drew the reins of his camel, Drew paid Moses more because Moses was taking care of me. Also, Moses was also missing many teeth and had a larger family than Sami. Drew wanted to do more to add to Moses’ prosperity than to Sami’s. Rather than thanking Drew for his generosity, Sami was jealous of the amount given to Moses and demanded that Drew give him $5 more. Drew refused.

Observation #9: Do the best job that you can do and express gratitude for all of your blessings. Convey your appreciation to your clients for choosing you as their voice talent and for their prompt payment of your invoices. You would do well to set up a regular system to maintain contact with them that shows them you are thinking of them and their needs, not yours.

Observation #10: We live in a global economy. If you don’t have a passport, get one. If you have a passport, use it. Travel the world to spend time in other cultures and see how other people really live as opposed to taking your world view solely from the things that the media chooses to tell you. I can’t promise that you will gain creative ideas about your voice-over business, but I can promise that you will gain a perspective about your place in this world and an appreciation for the abundant lifestyle you are privileged to lead if you are a voice-over artist.