Let’s assume you’re well trained. You’ve invested in proper coaching and creating competitive voiceover demos. And now you’re attempting to complete your branding with an appealing, memorable logo to present yourself as the professional you truly are, because… let’s face it, presentation matters.
You might be relieved to discover the best advertising… isn’t. By that I mean the adage, ‘less is more’ applies when it comes art directing your graphics that will allow you make your name known and associated with being a professional voice talent with taste and an elevated aesthetic.
If you are you a voice actor with more than four voiceover demos, it’s likely you’re relying almost solely on Pay-to-Play (P2P) sites, rather than aiming to secure work primarily through talent agents. This multiple demo “promotional” model was adopted chiefly by online sources to benefit most from your on-going attempts to “feed the algorithm”. After all, continually adding new content to the Internet, especially in audio and video formats, is how Facebook and YouTube became household names. This is how SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has driven traffic on the Internet for the last decade or more. And the practice of continually updating and adding new content to any site, and naming each with key (searchable) words and phrases are meant to improve the number of visitors to your web site.
However, when it comes to voiceover all that, and more, might just be overkill.
For example, I don’t want to see what you look like if I’m casting you for a voiceover. I want to IMAGINE what you look like. Your job as a voice actor is literally to engage the listeners’ imagination. This fact is far too powerful to overlook.
Can we Google you? Of course. And in doing so we’ll likely discover more than one image.
However, offering a seamless, professional experience from your VO only web page, employing your aesthetically appealing logo, your demos, and direct contact info, as you would with your auditions should be enough to feed the listener’s imagination with who you are and what you do best.
It’s far more likely most images of you online read, and will only serve to undermine the impression you’re attempting to create with your voiceover demos. What you suggest with your performance is far more important than what you actually look like.
Besides, the objective of your voiceover web page, as with your overall graphics, is to make your name known. Your brand logo should legitimize your professional identity through effective advertising by featuring your name in the form of a distinct logo that looks as good as you sound.
Keep in mind you’re promoting yourself to commercial producers, first and foremost, considering better than 80% of all producers spend between six and eight years in advertising before specializing in other areas, such as documentary, film, TV, games, industrial, or animation.
Unfortunately, a bulk of voiceover web sites are overwhelmed with the same tired graphic images of mouths, sound waves, headshots that read like you’re selling real estate, and, lest we forget, the ever popular, overused (limited imagination) ribbon microphone. All of which tells us absolutely nothing about you, except—yep, you guessed it—I suppose you do voiceover, huh?
Considering the importance of social media and establishing a digital presence has on your professional reputation in this industry, mastering proper branding has never been as crucial as it is today.
Copyright © 2019 by Kate McClanaghan. All Rights Reserved.
