I had a good day on Thursday last week. One of those days where a few things come together and you unexpectedly book more revenue in 24 hours than your usual monthly target. A happy dance may have been involved. Perhaps two.
My instinct, sitting there at about 3PM on the Thursday before a holiday weekend, was to power down the studio, slap myself on the back for a job well done, and open a nice cold cerveza. See you Monday, voiceover business.
Instead, I did another 30 auditions over the next few hours, replied to client emails, worked a bit more on my upcoming book, began writing several scripts for student demos, and did some marketing. I quit around 10:30 that night.
Do I have a problem? Maybe. It’s hard not to love what we do. It’s harder still not to take it for granted when it is going well. Yet, I recalled last April, when after a surprisingly good March considering over a week of lost workdays for VO Atlanta, I had the ugliest month I’ve had in a few years. Yes, it was an aberration, but missing your standard monthly target by 40% even once lingers in the memory. So I passed on the beer and went back to work.
One of the most critical separating factors between the talent I see acting relaxed and comfortable in the consistency of their business, and those who always seem to have a little panic around the eyes, is the sense that the only answer to how much VO work is enough for the former group is always, “more.” While many talents occasionally catch lightning in a bottle, the glow of that big booking or career-advancing step fades quickly. Consistent, repeat business from a core of stable, loyal clients does not.
How do you get there? You do 30 auditions when you would prefer to have a brewski. You make one more marketing call when you’d rather spend a few minutes making monkey noises with your kids.
You don’t stop. You push harder. You keep going.
Keep pushing that rock up that hill!
Thank you for talking about how it's done!
Very well said, man. And one more thing to add is that part of creating that consistent business filled with stable, loyal clients is being DIVERSIFIED. Being able to successfully execute several aspects of v/o is, at least I've found, a critical component for long-term success in this business. Sure, PROMO or MOVIE TRAILER is a ton of fun and pretty glamorous, but if you don't balance that out with E-Learning, Narration, Industrial, and Affiliate work, your monthly fluctuations will only be more pronounced.
Wow, your timing on this one is impeccable, sir! I was just going to call you and whine about how frustrating this constant auditioning can be — as if you didn't know! I went right into my studio and auditioned for 10 jobs, when I really only had energy for 8. And now I learn that when you're tired, you push through with 30! Thank you for the great pep talk. Keep calm and audition on!