Lately I’ve been able to do what I truly love: collaborate.
Several clients I hadn’t heard from in a while contacted me with work offers: for ISDN voice over services.
There’s definitely something to be said for Real-Time communication!
I find it difficult most times to read a client’s mind (though I always do my best and I actually think my psychic skills are improving gradually) and to know exactly what kind of inflection they want.
What word they want stressed, or NOT stressed.
How much smile they want to hear.
Whether they want me to adlib a bit with the written copy in the places it seems appropriate to do that.
I suppose that knowing answers to these kinds of questions is why it helps to have over twenty years of experience as a professional voice over talent. It’s a bit of a guessing game at times, but my many years of experience have helped me to build that “guessing muscle” to where I can guess correctly most of the time. Or, even better, I just know what is needed for any particular piece of copy and when I get feedback from the client, they usually like the choices I made.
My Lips Feel Lovely, Thank You
So when someone called me yesterday and began the conversation not with a salutation, but by telling me how moist and terrific his lips were feeling, I was thrown off just little bit at first. But I was also intrigued so I stayed on the line to see where this was going. Afterall, I don’t get many obscene phone calls these days, so you gotta enjoy them when they happen. ; )
Then he segued into how the beautiful lips on the tin he was holding reminded him where his small gift had come from.
Ah, now I was following what he said.
This year, I’ve been working on a tiered marketing campaign with a unique marketing tool: An attractive little lip balm tin that prominently displays my logo and tag line, “More than Just Lip Service.”
Is it mere coincidence that I’ve been seeing a surge of clients from my database, who are getting in touch with me to get voice over services quotes for new projects? Certainly there must be some connection with my good old snail mail marketing campaign.
When clients received the lip balm and attractive personalized card from me, perhaps it just reminded them that I’m still here.
Have you ever noticed that when you send someone a gift, they remember you? Well at least for a while (though, hopefully forever).
The client who called me mentioning the lip balm hired me to do two spots—no audition required. Then we got to do an actual session, where we enjoyed each other’s banter and solidified that casual yet professional working relationship even more.
Small Steps Lead to Big Results
I find that small steps like these, continuously, keep my business moving forward, leading to increased momentum and more opportunities. It’s a simple idea to apply, yet easy to forget to keep taking the small steps day after day.
Another client praised this little marketing piece in one of the most glowing emails I’d ever received from a client. He lifted it up to a status that was far beyond any impression I had ever imagined. The client also apologized that he didn’t have any work to offer me. Sometimes, that’s what happens. But the gesture, and the process of creating and maintaining a solid relationship, allows for positive energy flow…even if a job doesn’t come from any particular direction right at that moment.
In the real estate business, they say it all comes down to 3 things: Location, location, location.
In marketing my voiceover business it also comes down to 3 things: Relationships, relationships, relationships.