If you want to be a voice over artist it’s not just about sitting in a booth reading copy. In this episode you’ll learn tips and tricks about how to best market yourself as a voice over and the importance of considering yourself as an entrepreneur. Rachael Naylor is an award winning voice over artist from London in the UK. Her voice has been described in many different ways, “friendly, down to earth, fresh, natural, young, upbeat, energetic, smooth, urban, sexy, engaging, London, versatile and fun”. The truth is Rachael is extremely versatile and a true professional and joy to work with.
How Did Rachael’s Voice Over Journey Begin?
Rachael was inspired by her grandfather who was a fantastic actor and news announcer she went on to study at drama school and started to work with a vocal coach who guided her into the direction of voice overs. In the podcast we learn how you really are an entrepreneur as a solo voice over talent – marketing, chasing clients, invoicing and accounting – you perhaps spend around 50% of your time on the business and only 50% of the time actually performing voice overs.
A Home Made Voice Over Booth
Rachael had been looking into many options when thinking about a professional voice over booth and finally settled on the idea of a bit of DIY. Her husband planned out and created a home voice over booth right in the house! You’ll hear more about that process in the podcast from choosing the right sound proof material to adding some pretty decorations for the outside of the booth. Rachael has also created an article with photos about her home voice over recording studio.
Marketing Yourself As A Voice Over
Business is an exciting part of Rachael’s day. She’ll often sit down with a pen and pad of paper and plot out some new ideas to market her voice overs – a new blog, email campaign, social media or even direct mail marketing.
Blogging
Starting a blog and creating content has been a great method of attracting visitors to Rachael’s own website she also guest blogs for other websites which is a great way of exposing yourself to a whole new audience online.
Google AdWords
It can seem pretty complex at first to use Google AdWords but once you’ve set up a budget you can choose different relevant keywords such as, “voice over”, “female voice over artist” and “voice over artist london”. It’s also important to set up negative keywords such as, “free” or “cheap” as this will prevent you paying for searches that may not convert into business.
More Marketing Tools
Other marketing tools mentioned in the podcast included Google Analytics, email marketing and direct mail marketing.
Voice Over Events & Meetups
Rachael is a member of Entrepreneur’s Circle and also runs a West London voice over artist meetup. They’ve had a few meetings so far and it is great to get out of the voice over booth, socialise and exchange ideas.
Voice Over Demos
It’s massively important to have a high quality voice over demo (or reel as they’re sometimes known as). You should spend time updating your demo often and ensure you get it professionally produced. Your voice over demo is everything when someone is making the decision to hire a voice over artist.
