I came across another great article from Practical eCommerce, “Six Surefire Ways to Boost Sales.” I particularly liked tip number 4 but, as a voiceover producer, I’m probably biased, right?

No 4 - Test Audio Instructions

 

One of the best ways to increase sales is to include an audio button on your site that tells people exactly what to do in order to buy or subscribe. Telling people in no uncertain terms to “Enter your name and primary email address in the box and click the button” has proven one of the most effective means of getting website visitors to take the actions you want.

Many voiceover talents offer web audio as part of their standard voiceover services. I definitely do. If you’re a voice actor, consider adding web audio to your list of services.

If you’re a business owner and my voice doesn’t fit your project, please consider posting your job lead for free at Voice123.com or Voices.com. Both marketplaces will give you the ability to hear other professional voice actors and obtain bids for your job. In other words, if you don’t hire me, please consider one of my many friends in the voiceover industry. I tend to be on the low side of bidding; but please remember: the lowest bid isn’t always the best voice for the job. The voice you choose will represent you and your company.

What’s that old adage: a picture is worth a thousand words? So how cool would it be to have Apple’s logo on your site, or Windows, Coke or Pepsi’s? Few things resonate as well as a high-profile brand on your site. It immediately suggests you have high-profile clients. Or, it could suggest you work for the competition; or you don’t respect copyright. Unless you have specific sponsors, long-term clients, or want to support a particular brand, it may not make sense to add a high-profile logo to your site (other than yours). If you have that close a relationship with a particular organization or company, well at least be sure to get written permission for use of that logo on your site.

Generally, that company will want to make sure your site doesn’t have offensive or other material it doesn’t want to be associated with. Once you have that permission, it’s always a good idea to add “XYZ logo courtesy of XYZ Ltd.” It tells other potential clients you have a good relationship with XYZ and respect their brand. On the other hand, XYZ might also want you to add a disclaimer that states it’s not associated with you nor responsible for the content of your site. That kind of disclaimer isn’t necessarily a problem, but it also doesn’t scream “great talent-client relationship.”

Bottom line: adding your client’s logo to your site isn’t always good; and it isn’t automatically okay.

A voice actor I met through VoiceOverSavvy.com, Todd Ellis, recommended a 6th century book by Sun Tzu, The Art of War, as a marketing resource. In term’s of military strategy, the book has a long-standing history, over a thousand years, in both Eastern and Western cultures. In marketing terms, the book has gained popularity as a guide to overcoming the competition, and it doesn’t have to be messy. In fact, Sun Tzu argued that “supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”

The book is in the public domain and available through Project Gutenberg, translated from Chinese to English by Lionel Giles in 1910. To see a side-by-side guide to applying Sun Tzu’s tactics in business, you might prefer The Art of War Plus the Art of Marketing, by Gary Gagliardi. The Art of War discusses, for example, method skills of moving and positioning — basically changing positions to take advantage of new opportunities.

With advances in technology creating both affordable home audio equipment and more robust Internet connectivity, the voiceover industry has seen huge changes over the last decade. Veteran voice actors who used to travel to commercial recording studios for auditions are now competing for jobs going to home-based, online competition. To overcome the competition, these voice actors have had to learn to self-direct and self-produce, and in very rudimentary terms re-position themselves online. Those veteran voice actors who have moved to adapt to the changes, and challenges, of the online voice market will be in the best position to take advantage of new opportunities in voiceover.