Debbie Grattan

This is Part 2 of the article, “Some Observations on the Ever Changing Landscape of Voice-Over Acting.” It will make more sense if you read Part 1 first.

Just Because It’s Easier to Start… Doesn’t Make it Easy to Succeed

Here’s the truth: If I was trying to start my voice-over acting business today, I honestly don’t know how far I would get in that process. Even though access to jobs and opportunities is greatly expanded to the point where virtually anybody can set up a studio and start auditioning for (and hopefully booking) lots of voice-over acting gigs, I actually think it is much harder to “make it” in this business today than it was twenty years ago. And by “make it,” I mean ramp it up to the level where you can make a living at it as your sole source of income.

Just for the record, I am a full-time voice-over talent and have been since the year 2000. Prior to that I supplemented my voice-over acting income with more stage and on-camera acting jobs. While my income has increased over the years, the biggest change and challenge I’ve seen is that I now have to market myself much more aggressively and constantly in order to land the same amount of work. Keeping the marketing engine rolling has become a pretty full-time job all by itself and has necessitated me building a marketing team. Since I am also a full-time Mom, wife, and running a household as well as a VO business, I’ve learned to delegate….a lot.

After all, my professional time is of most value when I am recording. That’s what I get paid to do. The more time spent on marketing, (and blogging, posting to social media, networking, invoicing, and the list goes on…) the less time I have available to do what makes the money. We all need to be wise in how we spend our very limited time on a daily basis. These days I think it is very easy to get caught up in a lot of activities that make you feel busy but which are not ultimately very productive. This is a pitfall I am aware of at all times.

Maintaining Voice-Over Acting Client Relationships

It used to be that I only had to focus on maintaining my relationship with my agents. I’m sure there are still many voice talents who operate that way, but what has naturally evolved for me over the past several years is doing work for more and more clients directly, who find me on the internet or are referred to me. Now it is necessary for me to maintain relationships with a whole bunch of different direct clients and companies, in addition to agencies, casting agents, recording studios, production companies, etc. It’s much more to manage from a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) perspective. I’m always thinking about better ways to serve, stay in touch with and be top-of-mind for my clients’ voice over acting needs.

And, it’s not something I ever thought I’d have to do as a voice-over actor!

I have effectively become my own agent in that I am now almost completely responsible for my own marketing as well as the delivery of my services. If I sat back and waited for jobs to come only through agencies, I would have a lot of free time on my hands that is currently consumed by doing paid work.

It used to be I didn’t have to do much to market myself beyond having a demo, resume, etc. I got to just walk into a studio and be the talent…and then go home. But now, more and more, voice-over talents are forced to wear the marketing hats AND sound engineering hats, as well as the talent hats. That’s a lot of hats!

If you have a background knowledge in marketing, advertising, branding, writing, website construction/maintenance, SEO, in addition to being an awesome voice actor, you will definitely have an advantage in the voice-over business today.

It’s a tremendous amount to manage. Wait a minute, I thought technology was supposed to make my life easier?

So You Still Want to Be a Voice-Over Actor? How About a Voice-Over Entrepreneur?

I recently came across a video created by Paul Strikwerda that very succinctly lays out the reasons to NOT run head-long into a full-time voice-over acting career.

And to further amplify the excellent points Paul makes in his video, I also recently read a wonderful post by Rachel Fulginiti entitled, “Thinking Of A Career In Voice-Over? 10 Key Questions To Evaluate Your Potential” Her article deals more with the personal qualities that are critical if you’re going to become a voice-over entrepreneur — which I think is a much more appropriate term than “talent” these days.

If you aspire to work in voice-over acting, and if after watching this video and reading Rachel’s article, you are still convinced that you have what it takes to make it in this business, then by all means give it a go.

But, contrary to what some people will tell you, especially those who have a vested interest in getting aspiring voice-over talent to pay for start-up voice acting services like demos and classes, this really is a very tough business in which to succeed.

It’s nothing like it was just ten short years ago, and it now requires a lot more than just a great voice-over acting demo and the ability to take direction.

I’m not saying this to discourage aspiring voice talent in order to decrease the competition. I’m saying it because it really is true, and a person should be aware of the upside and the downside before entering into any new career field.

With voice-over acting, much like TV and film acting, it’s easy to ignore the downside and hold onto unrealistic dreams and expectations of “what could be” if things go the way you hope. Especially if all you hear about is the upside.

Again, comparing it to the music business.  Today you can literally be discovered on Youtube (like Justin Bieber was) and have millions of fans who watch your videos and want to hear your music. You can be on the Today Show next week if you happen to put up a video that goes viral. But, there are SO MANY people trying to do just that… Youtube is teeming with all kinds of very talented (and not so talented) people, who are ALL looking to be discovered, or at the very least, be noticed and acknowledged.

Ditto for the voice-over acting business these days. There are tens of thousands of voice-over actors chasing after thousands of voice-over acting job opportunities every day.

Just the thought of jumping into that race without the years of experience and a database full of loyal clients who already know me, feels a bit daunting I must admit. The demands created by constantly changing technology force all voice-over acting talents to embrace change at every turn. It’s both scary and exhilarating, and in the big scheme of things, it makes for a very interesting and challenging profession.

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” — Alan Watts

Debbie Grattan has been in the voice-over acting profession for more than 20 years. She has collaborated on thousands of projects and partnered with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial voice-over recording studios and corporate/business clients around the United States and throughout the world. Check out her Voice-Over Acting Demos and request a Voice-Over Services Quote for an upcoming project.

The voice over acting business is going through something similar to what the music business has been grappling with in recent years.

Voice Over Agents (like record labels) are getting squeezed out more and more as the voice over actors (like music recording artists) find ways to go directly to their clients (consumers) via new forms of technology, especially the internet.

There is a word for this phenomenon. It’s called “Disintermediation” and it is defined as the “removal of the intermediaries or middlemen in a supply chain.”

Other examples of businesses or industries that have been strongly impacted by disintermediation are: Computers (both hardware and software), travel agencies, bookstores, video stores and stock purchasing.

Two markets that are currently in progress of disintermediation in a big way (in addition to voice over acting) are the real estate market; RE agents are getting squeezed out due to online homeseller transparency, and education, as online education continues to erode enrollment in traditional schools and universities.

It is interesting to look at how this process of disintermediation has affected how I spend my time each day as a working voice over talent.

The Old School Way to Start Voice Over Acting

Back when I first started voice over acting in the early 1990’s, the internet was not the marketing tool that it is today. In order to get a voice over acting job, I had to physically go out on an audition or be booked for a job by my talent agency. That always meant driving many miles to studios or casting agents in Los Angeles, San Diego or somewhere in between. No problem, I was young, single, carefree, gas was only $1.15 per gallon and I drove a very reliable Toyota Corolla!

I also had to find ways to establish and maintain relationships with recording studios and producers who I met along my travels. Because I’m a pretty social person by nature, I excelled at making connections with people who hire, or even suggest voice over acting talent to clients. As a result, I booked more and more voice over acting jobs and the momentum eventually began to build over time.

At this stage of the voice over timeline, making it in this business was fundamentally contingent on where you lived and who you knew. You HAD to live in a major market or metropolitan area, or at least be willing to commute to those areas on a regular basis. You HAD to know the kinds of people who could offer you voice over acting opportunities.

So, living in Orange County, California was perfect for me to get my feet wet and start building a career as a voice over talent.

Then, Along Came Technology

Technology can be a blessing or a curse depending on where you stand in relationship to it. Looking back, it would have been truly impossible for me to have started my voice over acting career living where I do now in Southwestern Michigan.

Likewise, were it not for technological advances that make home recording studios now possible and even easy to set up, I could never have even dreamed of moving out of crowded, traffic-jammed, expensive Southern California when it was time to start a family, buy a bigger home and shift gears into a more stable and practical lifestyle.

On the other hand, because of technology, I now have to compete with a lot more voice talent than I ever did in the past. This fact has forced me to constantly work on improving my marketing skills and continually adapt to the changing voice over acting landscape.

Just Because It’s Easier to Start Doesn’t Make it Easy to Succeed

If I was trying to start my voice over acting business today, I honestly don’t know how far I would get in that process. Even though the access to jobs and opportunities is greatly expanded to the point where virtually anybody can set up a studio and start auditioning for (and hopefully booking) lots of voice over acting gigs, I actually think it is much harder to “make it” in this business today than it was twenty years ago. And by “make it,” I mean ramp it up to the level where you can make a living at it as your sole source of income.

In Part 2 of this article I look more at the impact of technology on voice over acting, and specifically on what skills and abilities beyond acting training are needed for today’s voice over actors.

Debbie Grattan has been in the voice over acting profession for more than 20 years. She has collaborated on thousands of projects and partnered with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial voice-over recording studios and corporate/business clients around the United States and throughout the world. Check out her Voice Over Acting Demos and request a Voice Over Services Quote for an upcoming project.

This article is part of a series of articles exploring various aspects of what is involved in getting paid well as a working female voice-over talent in today’s highly competitive voice over industry. You may want to also read the first article in this series, Getting Paid by Voice-Over Clients – An Overview of What Matters Most, and look for more blog posts on this topic in the coming weeks.

Please share your comments, opinions, experiences and points of agreement or disagreement. A lively discussion is always a good thing!

Finding That Perfect Balance of Pricing Your Services

As a freelance female voice-over talent, it is very important for me to understand how to price my voice-over services in a way that creates a win-win feeling for my clients and for myself.

If I am priced too high for any given project, the client may not hire me for that project or, if he does hire me,  may feel like he didn’t get his money’s worth and therefore will be less likely to hire me for future projects.

 If I am priced too low, the client is very happy but I will feel like my efforts and talents are not being fairly valued and that may lead to some negative feelings which can really get in the way of client relations and me being productive in my business.

I also find that when I have priced myself too low, there are often more requests by that client to make more changes for no additional charge, or completely redo the project for little or no added cost. So, I have learned that clients who expect me to charge significantly lower than normal fees for female voice-over services are often the same clients who want a lot of free changes on the backend.

For me, finding that perfect balance point in pricing comes from experience and intuition. Being aware of the client’s needs, the variables of the project, the range of the current going rate and what just feels right.

The Importance of Educating Your Voice-Over Clients on Pricing

As the old story goes…

“Nikola Tesla visited Henry Ford at his factory, which was having some kind of difficulty. Ford asked Tesla if he could help identify the problem area. Tesla walked up to a wall of boilerplate and made a small X in chalk on one of the plates. Ford was thrilled, and told him to send an invoice.

The bill arrived, for $10,000. Ford asked for a breakdown. Tesla sent another invoice, indicating a $1 charge for marking the wall with an X, and $9,999 for knowing where to put it.” — Know-Where Man Story

The point of this story is obvious and its lesson could be applied to many businesses or areas of specialty, including voice-over. However, it is sometimes difficult for people who hire female voice-over talent to understand just how tricky it can be to make a script sound great. There is so much subtlety involved.

Delivering female voice-over services is as much an art as it is a business, yet many people don’t see it that way initially.

So, I sometimes find it necessary to explain to a new client who is overly focused on getting a “cheap” price, that yes, there are many other female voice-over talents out there who can record his script for the price he’s asking, but he needs to ask himself, “What will be the quality of the final product? Will it get him (and his end client) the results he is seeking?”

Essentially, I am reminding him that female voice-overs are like many other business services or products, you usually get what you pay for. And when you’re trying to communicate your message effectively to your audience, it’s not wise to scrimp on the person who is speaking your message out loud over the top of your video or on your radio commercial. No matter how great the final audio or video production is, if you add a sub-par voice-over track, it’s going to be less effective than if you hired a professional, experienced voice talent.

Voice-over work is so often seen by the layperson as being something that “looks” easy… People hear a voice on a commercial and they can imitate it almost exactly and think, “Hey, I could do that!” But, an artist must create on the spot and be original and relevant, on target… Not just an imitator of other artists who work in the same medium.

Being a Female Voice-Over Artist is Highly Creative AND Technical

When I am hired to do what I do, I’m not just hired to deliver the product. I’m hired to be a “creator” of the product. To bring something original and unique that captures the true essence of what the client is after.

Any experienced voice-over talent can share stories of being in a session doing take after take on one simple phrase, to get it just right. There is a reason that advertisers and marketers strive to get it just right. If it didn’t matter, they wouldn’t take the time to do it.

Anybody can read a line into a microphone. But it takes a real voice-over artist to read the line in a way that captures the essence and conjures the desired image or thoughts in the mind of the audience.

I liken it to being an accomplished jazz musician who has mastered the technical theory and now can easily improvise and play the notes the fit the moment.

Voice-over pricing is one of the key points I educate clients on to help them understand why the price is where it is and to illustrate that in many situations, a good portion of what they are paying me for is my knowledge of exactly where to put the X.

Debbie Grattan has been a full-time female voice-over recording artist for more than 20 years. She has collaborated on over 10,000 projects and partnered with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial voice-over recording studios and corporate/business clients around the United States and abroad. Check out her Female Voice-Over Demos and request a Voice-Over Services Quote for an upcoming project.