what i know about voice-over talents after attending faffcamp 2
Peter K. O’Connell hosting a marketing session at FaffCamp 2015 (Photo Courtesy of Brad Venable)
I have been fortunate to have been included in a great many FaffCons and FaffCamps. These are unconferences and conferences for voice-over talent and they are among the most revered voice-over events by anyone who has ever attended one.
Full disclosure, I am on the FaffCamp and FaffCon committees because I believe so strongly in them. Also because I am so small, conference producer Amy Snively hardly notices I’m there.
At this FaffCamp, I offered a marketing planning presentation on Saturday and Sunday. Though the presentation was meant to be informative and somewhat light-hearted, I noticed a couple of things in both groups that I believe are universal among voice-over business owners.
Maybe you’ll see yourself in some of this. I certainly see myself in some of it.
Making a point or just scaring his audience, Voice-Over Talent Peter K. O’Connell makes a point during his FaffCamp 2015 presentation (Photo Courtesy of Sean Caldwell)
1. Most voice-over business owners generally don’t like the business part of the voice-over business. In no way am I saying they don’t do it well but they don’t like it much. I think they like it less than most business owners.
2. Though they themselves are a key part of the marketing food chain with the service they provide, voice-over talents do not like doing marketing much. It overwhelms them and intimidates them for the same reason I think it intimidates most small business owners: “where do I start?!” syndrome.
3. Which leads me to the universal acknowledgement by almost all of my session participants that they each suffer in varying degrees from the malady “Paralysis by Analysis”. The non-medical marketing definition is “I don’t know what to do first so I won’t do anything.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: The author also sometimes suffers from this malady.)
4. Most voice-over people are pretty smart and strong and even though sometimes paralyzed by the fear of marketing, they understand that they have to do and when led a little bit, they can take the reins and run with a marketing plan. That takes guts and strength to jump into something even when you’re not fully sure what you’re supposed to be doing
I post this not so much for the FaffCampers who attended my presentations (and thank you for doing that) but for other voice talents who couldn’t make it to San Antonio. I want you to be reminded that you are not alone in your business challenges and that rather than have it be a mountain, operational and marketing challenges can be only a bump in the road to your ultimate business success.
Just remember to believe in yourself and your abilities…even those abilities you don’t think you have.
Peter, I enjoyed meeting you at Faffcamp in San Antonio and loved your presentation! The biggest question I have is how long does it take to do something before you start to see rewards from it? I’ve done a lot of different things, from postcards to emails to phone calls to local networking to social media. While I get some interest, nothing has come from it. In your presentation you mentioned that it might take 3-6 months for things to really start kicking in. That’s a long time to do something that, because my message was too long or disjointed or too “me” focused, might not be very effective. In other words, I want more immediate feedback that what I am doing is either working or it’s not. Any suggestions?
Hi Taylor,
For immediate feedback, likely the channel you’ll want to focus on is email to your data base. Focus on your audience, your message to them and possibly a special offer. Hope that helps.
Best always,
– Peter