I talk a lot about the idea of prospecting. For those who have missed it, or those unfamiliar, prospecting (in the voice over world) is about the quest to find new clients. And that doesn’t mean auditioning all day on Pay 2 Play sites.
Prospecting is about reaching out to potential clients directly. This can happen in any number of ways including, but not limited to, emailing, cold-calling, networking groups, social media, referrals, etc.
How To Avoid Prospecting Where There Is No Gold
Obviously the idea of prospecting is to find gold (clients, jobs, money, etc). But occasionally, for one reason or another, we find ourselves prospecting where there is no gold.
- Businesses who don’t use voice over.
- Clients who already have a VO talent.
- Companies that do work internally.
- A producer that wants a female voice and you’re a man!
So you ask, can prospecting where there is no gold be avoided in any way?
To a certain degree… yes. I believe it can.
A Quick Tip Before You Dig In
In this day and age basically every production house has a website. And, as has become my experience in prospecting, many of those websites include pricing information for their packages.
If you visit one of these websites and the production house is offering fully produced professional videos for $199, ask yourself this question… how much of that budget do you suppose will be dedicated to voice over?
Before you even grab your shovel, you know it’s not worth trying to dig in. There will be no gold for you in that claim!
Doing a little bit of research ahead of time can save you a lot of time in the long run. Rather than going back and forth with a client where there really is no potential for you to draw a decent rate, you can skip over them from the start and head onto the next one.
Don’t drop a shovel where you know there’s no gold!
