People are always asking me, “what makes someone a professional voice talent?” There’s no easy answer for that. It’s just not one thing. Its an all encompassing definition that includes every aspect of how you conduct yourself and business.
That said, there are some simple steps you can take today that will make you look more professional.
5 Simple Steps To Look More Professional
Get Your Own Domain: It’s 2014 and .com’s cost a whopping $10 a year. Get one! Register your personal name, your business name or both. Just get a domain. It’ll be ten of your best spent dollars.
Get Your Own Email: This goes right along with registering a domain. When I see an email from @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com I immediately think amateur. Not just for voice actors. For any business. Once you’ve registered your own domain name, setting up your personal email address is very simple.
Get A Headshot: In my experience, clients like to see who they’re working with. This means your smiling face. Not your company logo or some goofy avatar. Spend a few bucks and get a quality headshot done. Use that headshot across all your social profiles for consistency.
Be Professional On Social Media: When I see “professionals” in any business mixing too much personal with their professional on social networking, I shake my head. Do I tell people personal things on my Twitter profile or Facebook page? Sure I do. But I’m smart about it. Drunk party photos, for example… well… not very professional!
Respond To Emails Quickly: One common complaint I’ve heard from clients is they get frustrated when it takes voice actors days to answer simple emails. In this day of smartphones and tablets and laptops and WiFi networks in nearly every establishment, there’s really no good excuse (if this is your business) to take more than a few hours to reply to an email.
These five things alone aren’t going to make you a professional voice talent, just to be clear. But they’ll go a long way to improving your image. Improving your image builds your confidence, and a little confidence can go a long way in how you conduct your business!
