Last time Anne offered nine great points on basic marketing for VO performers which were also applicable to the rest of us working in the media (see Nov’10 issue of the MCAI Blast.) Here, in Part 2, she continues with important ideas about marketing your business online.

VO Marketing Tips Part 2 (Marketing Your Biz Online) By Anne Ganguzza

The VO industry has gone through an incredible transformation in the past 10 years with the

advancement of technology and the exponential growth of the Internet and online services. In

today’s economy, it is unrealistic to expect that you can truly support your VO business without

an Internet connection and a home studio of some sort. And if you are not advertising your

services online, you are missing out on a very real and viable marketplace for your business.

Two and a half years ago, when I relocated to California, I needed to establish a strategy for

keeping my loyal clients from the NY/NJ area without having the ability to conveniently travel to

their studios, as well as a way to attract and meet new clients on both coasts. ( I did not have

any West Coast clients at the time). I had already established the basic lines of communication

with my previous clients through email, but I wanted to make sure they remembered me once

I moved 3000 miles away. And since no one enjoys their inbox being “spammed”, my only

options were to find other creative, “non-invasive” ways to increase my online presence and

demonstrate my viability as a truly professional entity. I explored many possibilities - online

of course - and, through my research, learned a whole lot about various online technologies,

and found many wonderful and giving people along the way willing to share their ideas and

experiences. (One of the many reasons I have always truly loved the Internet and have always

been a complete and utter techno-geek!)

Some of the online strategies and lessons learned that have worked well for business include:

Establish a Web Presence This is an absolute must in the voice over industry - Having a web

site first and foremost, establishes credibility for your business, and gives you a central location

where your clients and potential customers can hear your demos and find out more information

about you. Luckily for a voice over artist, it doesn’t have to be complicated - a simple one page

web site with your contact information and demo links can suffice. Keep it simple - due to the

fast paced nature of the voice over business, the quicker your information and demos can be

accessed, the better. Flashy websites can be incompatible across different browser platforms,

so make sure your website functions on the most popular browsers. Make sure to check your

site on your mobile device too! You can find great deals on domain names and web hosting at

godaddy.com.

Update your Voice Profile Regularly - Make sure your profile information is always current

on your “Pay-to-Play” online casting sites and any freelance sites you may be registered on,

as well as your own website. Especially with any recent jobs you have completed or with new

or updated demos. Even if you are not fully subscribed or participating actively in submitting

auditions, your profile is a linkable web address that is found by search engines and this, in turn

will help to advertise your services. For example, some of my linkable profile(s) look like this:

● Voice 123 profile: http://voice123.com/anneganguzza

● Bodalgo profile: http://www.bodalgo.com/voices/anne-ganguzza/index_e.php -

(I do not officially subscribe to this, but have a profile filled out for the active link)

● Elance profile: http://www.elance.com/s/anngan/

Google Yourself! Make it a point to google your name and/or brand at least once a week.

This will give you a good benchmark indication of your visible online presence, as well

as showing you what you shouldn’t do! For a while, I was having fun posting comments

on “Freebie” blogs in an attempt to win free prizes. Imagine my surprise when I googled my

name the following week! There they were, linked in all their glory! Obviously, this can give the

wrong impression to potential clients - winning that free pizza really has nothing to do with my

voice over business! (And 6 months later, I still see some residual links!)

Market by Example - Read, Research, and Follow peers in your industry every day - Create

a basic account for yourself on Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In. See what others are doing

and see what works - and what doesn’t! One of my favorite “marketers” is Emille Barta

http://www.emiliebarta.com/ . She is a popular trade show spokesperson who tweets and blogs

regularly. She always makes sure to promote the company and trade show event she is

currently working with. The appreciative company and trade shows respond in kind, tripling her

marketing efforts!

Create a Social Media Presence Building your brand used to be all about you, saying positive

things about you. With the advent of social media, building your brand has become the process

of bringing value to the market and having the market say good things about you. And (for the

time being) - it’s all FREE! Create your business presence on Twitter, Facebook, and Linked

In, at the very least. If you are a beginner at social media, start by “lurking” and learn the social

media etiquette for each platform. Once you are comfortable, your Social Media Marketing

Strategy should, at a minimum, enrich the relationship with your current clients and followers

through meaningful, professional conversation. In time, these contacts will become “advocate

agents”.

Add Social Networking to your Email Signature Once you have established your Social

Media business presence, include a “follow me” at the end of your e-mail signature with links

to your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter accounts. This can be another way for you to reach out

to clients and others that may have not been aware of your businesses presence on the social

networking scene, and makes it easy for them to keep current with you and your business.

BLOG! The concept of “blogging” allows you to be interactive with your audience, which

allows you to develop and nurture important customer (both existing and new) relationships

online. If you blog regularly and produce good content, you will be seen as an “expert” in your

field, and can develop a following of readers who can be referrals for your business. Most

blog software today is optimized for Search Engine Optimzation, or SEO, due to the fact that

it allows you to categorize content and designate keywords. This makes it easy for search

engines to algorithmically crawl your site, giving you the opportunity to rank well on your topic.

Also, by nature, blogging regularly creates fresh content, which means that your site will be

crawled more frequently, giving you more opportunities to score high in your search ranking.

Comment Regularly on Industry Blogs - Comments and trackback features in blog software

encourage interaction, which are rewarded by search engine rankings. If you don’t feel

comfortable creating and writing a blog yourself, read other industry blogs and comment on

them. This will show that you, and your business, is current and relevant. You name and

contact information (such as your website link) can be published along with your comment. On

many blogs you can post by automatically by signing in with your Google, AIM or other blogger

ID which automatically links your contact info - if you do this - be careful that you use a login

that contains your professional information (perhaps NOT your AIM or other ID that you would

use to chat casually with your friends)

Your voice is unique - there is no other voice like it in the world! Once you discover your

true voice(s) as an artist, you have the opportunity to become distinctly adept at being the

perfect person to market it! Combined with some smart online strategies, your success can be

unlimited!

I hope these tips have been helpful and I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions!

Please feel free to contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit my website at

www.annespeak.com for more information.

--Anne Ganguzza

This article was originally published on the blog for OC VO Peeps and is reprinted here with permission.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ann Ganguzza has recorded for a long list of clients including ad agencies, production companies, corporations and government entities. She is the founder and doyenne of the networking and talent support group, OC VO Peeps http://vopeeps.blogspot.com/ dedicated to providing resources and information to help voice artists grow in their voice over career. Currently, in between recording sessions Ann travels the Western States as Voice Coach and Producer for Such A Voice http://www.suchavoice.com/ a nationally known training organization.

Ann Ganguzza is represented by the DeSanti Talent Agency http://desantimodels.com/ You can audition samples of her work at: http://www.annespeak.com or reach her directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 949.630.3208.