I know it has been said countless times by other Voice Over Artists and other small business owners, but I wanted to pop on to give a quick testimony to HOW IMPORTANT SOCIAL MEDIA IS TO YOUR BUSINESS!
The focus of my business is voice over, but I also offer Social Media Coaching to other VO and creative entrepreneurs like authors, bloggers, and artists.
For some people, social media comes easily, for others it is like pulling teeth: painful and only when necessary. This message is for anyone that is struggling to see how the blood, sweat, and oh-so-many tears that they’re putting into their social media presence will pay off.
I am very active on social media.
I am constantly adding new folks and posting. Some mediums come easier to me like Instagram, and some I have to work to create content, like LinkedIn. I have been very surprised to learn just how much of a HOT BED LinkedIn is for voice over!!! I was just not expecting that! But it makes sense, VO is often where performance meets marketing and business so it follows that our ideal clients (business people) will be found on LinkedIn.
So, advice number 1 for other VO:
GET ON LINKEDIN IF YOU AREN’T ALREADY!
I do want to mention and give credit: much of what I learned from LinkedIn I learned from Tracey Lindley who offers courses for marketing your VO specifically on LinkedIn. And, without spoiling her course, she really emphasizes relationship building with potential clients.*
So for many months I have been building my network of other VO artists, VO adjacent professionals, and potential VO clients on all social media, but especially on my LinkedIn.
Adding folks left and right, striking up virtual-conversations with them, and, in the meantime, not expecting anything from it, just going about my regular social media business.
LAST WEEK, I got a phone call out of the blue. It was a production company rep that I had connected with on LinkedIn weeks earlier. She needed a last minute commercial spot and remembered me from our brief, yet meaningful, online interaction.
Boom! All because I’ve been adding folks online and making relationships. The seeds you sow now may seem so very inconsequential, but they sprout! All of a sudden and seemingly out of the blue!
Advice #2: Change your mind about social media
- Yes, social media is overwhelming.
- Yes, it changes very quickly.
- Yes, it sometimes seems like an insurmountable mountain of new learning, and a ridiculous amount of buttons.
- AND social media is also an incredibly effective method of forming new relationships.
- AND social media can be a really fun tool for creative expression.
- AND social media is a place for you to take up space, share your gifts and unique personality with the world.
Stop looking at social media as a monster, and start thinking about it as a place to forge relationships. Period. Make everything you do on social media fall under your genuine desire to have relationships with clients, friends, and peers in your industry.
Advice # 3: If you do nothing else on social media, add new people and start a conversation with them. Then let the other legs fall in.
Engaging online is how I’ve met almost all of my social media clients, it’s how I get booked for comedy shows, it’s how I end up on podcasts with people across the country, and so much more.
All because I
- showcase my genuine personality and talents and
- actively reach out to form new relationships.
AND YOU CAN TOO!
I hope this little story can offer some hope for anyone that is struggling in their social media journey, as well as permission to take that journey slow and steady. It is an absolutely effective tool, but don’t let its monstrous presence scare you off from learning, relating, and sharing your gifts online.
*I want to say fully that Tracey and other professionals offering courses are really fantastic resources. I offer something different than she does and do not want to steal her clients in any way. Go to Tracey! Go to Jonathan Tilley for Instagram tips! What I offer is one-on-one coaching where I will personally assess your profiles and we will walk through revamping them together via video conference, as far as I understand they offer courses. Great courses!