So you’ve had some coaching, you’ve put together your demo and now you are ready to share your voice with the rest of the world. It must be time for you to get an agent?
Hold your horses! Before you leap on that particular bandwagon let me share with you some facts that many newcomers to the voice over industry don’t realize:
Fact 1 – they’re not interested in amateurs. Unless you’ve got some pretty decent experience behind you then they won’t entertain the idea of using you.
Fact 2 – your demo needs to be on top of its game. No dodgy recordings that you’ve put together in your back bedroom with your dog barking in the background. It needs to be professionally produced and broadcast quality
Fact 3 – they are not responsible for your voice over career ….you are! Agencies will have numerous talents on their books. They will be trying to organize auditions, deal with emails, put together invoices and a plethora of other admin duties for their client base. They will not be devoting specific time to developing your career.
I am not telling you this to put you off getting an agent. On the contrary, having an agent can be great for your voice over career and they can definitely land you the more lucrative gigs in the industry. They have fantastic contacts and they can get you a foot in the door with major players and blue chip companies. The kind of contacts that you would struggle to get on your own. But just be aware that most of their contacts are local or national.
Nurturing the relationship
Relationships with agents need to be nurtured. The work won’t flood in from them but if you are able to build a good relationship with an agent then you can certainly benefit from their know-how and contacts. Here are a few tips on how to nurture that relationship:
- Follow submission guidelines – every agency will have a website page dedicated to how they want you to submit your demo. Do yourself a favor….follow it! Any deviation from the instructions will lose their trust immediately.
- Remain patient – some agencies can takeover 6 months to get back to you. Don’t bombard them with emails if they don’t get back to you. This will irritate them and lessen your chances of being considered.
- Stand out from the crowd – what is the usp of your voice? Can you do something with your voice that other talents can’t. Maybe cartoon voices for animation or storytelling abilities for children’s books. Make your cover letter more unique and give it the best chance of being read.
- Repeat work – Once an agency has agreed to sign you up then you need to give them a reason for choosing you over and above the other talents that they have on their books. The best way to do this is by doing a thoroughly professional job on the first gig that they land for you. If you meet the client’s needs in every way then the chances are that the client will request you again and the agency will see that you are somebody who can be totally trusted. This means that they know that their money is safe if they put you forward.
But the big question is, do you need an agent to work as a Voice Over Artist? The answer is no. You can build your own career, make your own contacts and forge ahead without an agency taking a cut. Use the great resources that the Internet offers you. Start with a website that is straightforward without frills but with clear presentation of your samples on the first page. With a description of your voiceover studio, your career, experience and specialities as talent. A rate card would be quite handy too. But as we have often said here, a website per se is not enough. It needs to be designed with a clear SEO structure inside.
If you want to become your own agent, just be present on social media targeting your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn messages to potential clients, producers, the voice seekers or contractors. Networking with fellow VO colleagues is fine to learn from them and capture the new trends. Send your demos to as many voice banks as possible and get yourself registered as active VO talent on Pay to Play sites. DirectVoices.com will be the new one on the market, focusing on international clients mostly from Europe and allowing you to publish your rates and tell the potential customer that you are ready and online, something producers appreciate a lot. So look beyond your own borders if you want to land jobs, because the client will be many miles away and is probably a foreign producer.
However, for a local or national market having the traditional agent will definitely help in filling those gaps in work that you have and they will help you find you more lucrative work. However, don’t rely on an agency to do all your marketing for you. You are still in control of your own destiny.
What do you think? Are you thinking of getting an agent? Are you an experienced VO artist who already has an agent? If so we’d really like to get your feedback.