Before you invest a lot of time in researching and pursuing voice over leads, it’s always nice to know if there’s potential for return. Although it’s impossible to know this up front every time, there are certain things you can look for with each lead to help determine if they’re worth connecting with.
Watch this video tip for the 3 main criteria I use to vet each voice over lead.
“Never throw away a lead.”
I teach this over and over and over in my courses and coaching. Just because you don’t get an answer the first time you reach out, or even the second time you reach out, does that mean you give up?
Not only no. HECK NO!
I’ve told stories of leads I’ve pursed for as much as three years before I ever booked a voice over with them. Was it worth it? You bet!
That said, people do still ask if there’s ever a time when you should give up on a lead. There are a few criteria where I consider it acceptable to move on. After all, you don’t want to waste your time on a pursuit that will never produce fruit!
They specially ask you to.
From time to time, this will happen. For one reason or another, and sometimes more or less politely than others, a lead will ask you to no longer contact them. This is NOT the time for one final pitch. It’s a time to apologize for any inconvenience, thank them for their time, and let them know you’ll no longer contact them.
All Their Social Profiles Are Outdated
If you jump onto their Facebook page and it hasn’t been updated since 2014, that could be a red flag. If you search their Twitter profile and it looks the same… another red flag. Sometimes companies close. Merge with other companies. Change names. If there hasn’t been new posts in a year or two, it’s probably ok to move on.
Their Website / Portfolio Hasn’t Been Updated
Similar to social media, when is the last time their portfolio has been updated? If it’s been a year or two, it’s possible they’re no longer active. Double check their Vimeo and YouTube channels to see if there’s any recent activity. If you find nothing, go ahead and move on.
Their Pricing Isn’t In Line With Your Rates
If a company posts pricing on their website, check the rates. If they’re cranking out 90 second videos for $499, do you suppose their going to spend $250 on a professional voice over? Unlikely! Don’t even bother reaching out. If they don’t share pricing, but you get a negative response to your rates, it’s time to move on!
If you’re using a CRM (like Nimble) don’t delete the contact from your database. Instead, mark them as a “Dead Lead.”
Why? If you remove them from your database entirely, you run the risk of forgetting about it. A year from now, when you’re searching for new leads, you may inadvertently add them back and reach out again.
If they remain in your database as “Dead” you can save yourself the time and embarrassment.
The strength of your voice over business is as dependant on the quality and quantity of your leads as much as it is on your ability to deliver a voice over. The fewer leads, the less opportunity. The more leads… well… you can do the math! We all need and want more leads.
Reaching out to those leads isn’t as hard as you might think, but there are some rookies mistakes that can cost you any chance of ever turning that lead into a prospect, or further down the road into a client.
Failure to Research: Since it really is a numbers game, we’re all looking for ways to speed up the process. We want to reach as many leads as possible, and sometimes in doing that, we skip important steps like this one. Before you ever reach out to a lead, you need to do a little research.
All of these mistakes are easily avoidable with a little research, but they’re also mistakes that voice actors make on a daily basis because they’re trying to be fast and efficient. When it comes to leads, it’s better to be slow and effective!
Bottom Line: Spend a few minutes on the companies About page. As Agent Pride says, “learn things!”
Failure to Personalize: Want to know a sure fire way to make sure your email will never get read by a lead? Send them a generic form letter that shows you put zero effort into getting to know the lead, their company or their needs. Once you do that, by the way, you’ve likely lost the lead for good. As they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
With everything shared in social media today, it will take you less than five minutes to find a creative way to personalize your email just enough that will make the lead take notice. Trust me, this works!
Bottom Line: Stop sending out mass, generic emails to as many people as possible. It’s a waste of time and effort. Instead, do a little customization on each email before you send it, and you’re going to increase your conversion rate!
Effective marketing is going to take time. That’s why most people don’t commit to it. But I promise you, if you’re looking for the fast and easy way, you’re not going to see the same kind of results. Most times, if you’re struggling to grow your business, it can tie directly back to the effort (or lack thereof) you’re putting into your marketing.
When you live outside of a major market, it’s easy to think you can’t compete in the voice over industry. After all, that’s where all the money is, right? Well, no question there are big opportunities in big cities. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still build a nice little business for yourself at a local level.
It’s important to remember that local businesses are still businesses! They’re looking for ways to market themselves too. Sure, they may not have the budgets of major corporations, but that doesn’t mean opportunities don’t exist and there’s no money to be made.
Joining your local Chamber of Commerce, or at the very least, attending some of the events they sponsor, can be a great way to network locally and generate some solid leads and clients for yourself.
Consider these…
Bottom line is, there are opportunities out there. You’ve just gotta go grab them.
When I speak with coaching clients about the subject of the local chamber, many of them say the same thing, “I attended a meeting, and half the people didn’t even know what a voice over was!”
Therein lies your opportunity. It’s simple. Show them!
Load up your demos on a tablet and take it to a meeting.
When you’re speaking with someone about voice over, now you’ve got a tool you can use to show them (on the spot) what a voice over is, and explain how it their business could benefit from having a professional narration for their project.
If you’ve got videos you can load onto your tablet, perfect. Do that too!
Make sure you get a card from any individual willing to listen to your demo, and then follow up with them after the meeting to discuss their needs further.
Someone that listens to your demo is definitely a solid prospect!
If you’re going to direct market your voice over business, it all starts with leads. Traditionally, we look to places like Google searches and social media to find these leads. We often overlook a potential gold mine right in our own backyard.
Best part about this lead source… odds are, depending on where you live, the competition won’t be nearly as stiff!
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