When you work for a company and you take vacation it’s usually not a big deal. The company is prepared for you to be away and has contingencies in place to cover you during your absence.
When you work for yourself it’s a bit of a different story.
I don’t want to lose voice work because I took a week of holidays. More importantly, I don’t want to upset a client because they came looking for me to voice a project for them and I wasn’t available to do their job.
Even Voice Actors Deserve Vacation
Yes, it’s true, even voice talents deserve vacations. I just think there are right ways and wrong ways to do it.
The wrong way… leave. Tell no one.
The right way… leave. Tell your clients.
I’m planning a week of holidays the first week of July. Today I sent emails to a number of my clients. I selected the ones I do the most work with on a consistent basis. The ones who are used to having me around to record something within a day or two for them. The ones that would be most likely to come looking for me if I wasn’t here.
Giving Clients Notice
You don’t need to tell them your life story or your vacation itinerary. All I did was fire off a quick two sentence email letting them know the day I was leaving, the day I was returning, and that I’d be happy to fit their voice-over needs into my schedule before I go.
It’s a courtesy thing. Now they have a few weeks notice to prepare for anything they may need me for ahead of time.
It’s good customer service.
It’s smart business.
PS: If you need me for a voice-over… I’ll be away on vacation from June 30th to July 9th. 😉
QUESTION: Do you let your clients know when you’re going away for an extended period of time?
