Ah, the dreaded cold email! Even considering sending them to voice seekers sends a shiver down many a voice actors' spine. Exactly how important is a cold email?
It can be very important! I've booked many great clients over the years via a cold email. That first impression goes a long way, but it's just the beginning of the relationship.
On both social media and in the classes I teach, the same batch of questions are asked over and over again about what to do after sending a cold email:
What do I do if a voice seeker doesn't immediately reply to my cold email? When should I follow up? Should I call them? Did I write too much? Too little? Do they hate me?
TIP OF THE WEEK
Calm down, calm down.
Once you send a cold email to a voice seeker, forget about it. You can't sweat it. If they don't reply to you immediately or even open the cold email (which a good CRM like Cloze will tell you if they do), that means absolutely nothing. For all you know they may have saved your cold email and they'll open it the next time they need to cast a voice actor who sounds like you. That could be in a few days or a few years. My record from first touch to getting cast is ten years!
Should you follow up that cold email with another touch? Eventually, yes. Opinions vary, but I email them again in about three months but only if I have something relevant to say. Not, "Do you have any work for me?". Don't be that person.
The cold email is part of a long-term marketing strategy. It's not designed to book voiceover gigs that voice seekers are casting right now. It's designed to cultivate relationships with voice seekers for voiceover gigs that will be cast later.
An effective cold email is brief, professional, and demonstrates your value as a voiceover business. If done effectively to enough voice seekers, it will pay off eventually!
RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS
Here is where I occasionally suggest stuff that may help your voiceover business. Some of these suggestions may include an Amazon Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you click on the link and purchase the item in question, I get a few cents at no extra cost to you.
Today's recommendation: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. This book changed how I think - not about only money and my voiceover business, but about who I am as a person and how I make life-decisions. Robert Kiyosaki extols the virtues of making decisions based on Financial Intelligence rather than Emotional Intelligence. This is a great read; it will change your voiceover business and possibly your life!
NEWS AND NOTES
Monday, September 13th: It's my birthday! To celebrate, I'm offering 13% off ALL videos in the VO Strategist Shop. Get videos like 'How to Market Your Demo', 'Learning to do eLearning', 'Managing Your Money', and much more. Just use the coupon code TOMBDAY2021 on September 13th and you can get as many videos as you want for 13% off!
Wednesday, September 15th @8PM ET: The VO How-To webinar: "Explainers Explained". What is an Explainer Video? How do you narrate one? Where do you get the work? These and many other questions will be answered in this online workshop! If you can't attend the night of the event, the webinar will be recorded so you can watch the video at your convenience.
Thursday, September 16th @8PM ET: The Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar "Cost/Benefit Analysis". This class will give students an understanding of how to analyze their voice over business, figure out where their voiceover work came from, and how to read metrics.
Sunday, September 19th: Stay tuned...!
Saturday, September 25th @8PM ET: The Voice Actor Studio webinar "Set Goals and Build a Business Plan". Now is the perfect time to create your voiceover business plan and set your goals for the next week, month, quarter, and year. In this online workshop, I will walk you through how to determine what success can look like for you and how to make it happen.
Thursday, September 30th @8PM ET: The Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar "The Sales Funnel". In this class, students will explore the concept of the “Sales Funnel,” and how it can yield more paying clients in the long run if used properly.
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Cheese Pizza Day and Fight Procrastination Day!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 20 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.
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