Real HumanI Love my Job and Appreciate All my Clients
And that cannot be understated. Even after 20 years, I am in awe of just how much I adore being a voice actor. I love it so much. I love the variety that every day brings. I love being creative every day. I love using my acting training and getting into character. I love working from home. I love the fact that the sky is the limit and there are always new goals to strive for and new voice over genres to tackle.
People often ask me who my favorite clients are. I think the answer surprises them. They assume that I am going to name the client that pays the most or who provides the voice over jobs that are the highest profile.
But being a fantastic voice over client is a lot more nuanced than that.
February is the Month of Love
Or so the Hallmark holiday says. And in honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I would share a few of the things that my MOST LOVED CLIENTS do that make me appreciate them immensely.
•They are Great Communicators
My favorite clients communicate with me. Clearly and effectively. They help me help them by telling me exactly what they want…without me even having to ask. If they have time, tone, file format or any other specific needs, they LET ME KNOW. This results in me being able to get them their audio files quickly and to provide them exactly what they want the first time around.
They also just communicate with me in general. You have no idea how much I appreciate a quick reply back saying “file received!” or “submitted your invoice to accounting”. I care deeply that my clients are satisfied. When I don’t hear from them, I worry that the file somehow didn’t reach them. And yet, I don’t want to bother them with excess emails.
A super quick email confirmation eliminates all that headache.
And ditto with the invoice confirmation. Look, I love my job but I also want to get paid for it. I really love those clients that keep me posted in regards to receiving and submitting my invoices.
•Don’t Make Me Chase Payments
And while we’re on the subject of payment…I have massive love and appreciation for the clients that just make getting paid SIMPLE and HASSLE-FREE.
I have quite a few clients that I completely trust and really don’t have to think about in regards to payment other than submitting my invoices to them. I know that they will pay me within a certain period of time without my having to follow up.
Others, not so much.
Chasing down payments and sending follow-up emails feels like a whole additional job that I really never asked for. It’s so important to me that I fulfill my clients needs quickly and to full satisfaction. If they need a file within the hour? I make it happen. I only ask that my need to get paid without extra hassle would be prioritized as well.
And I LOVE the clients who respect that need.
• They Express Appreciation
I care. I care a lot. And I think that is one of the things that has increased my success in the voice over industry. That care comes through in my work and my business conduct.
You have no idea how far a simple “thank you” goes.
Of course, I will do just as good a job for you whether you express gratitude or not. But a simple thank you and expression of appreciation fills me with the warm and fuzzies.
It feels good to know that my work is acknowledged and appreciated!
My favorite clients go out of their way to recognize how hard I work for them and let me know that they appreciate it. Their notes of gratitude truly make my day.
•They Provide Proper Phonetics
Oh boy, this could be an entire blog post in itself. Please understand, I want to make you happy. I WANT to nail all of your desires and wishes for your voice over project and I want to do it as efficiently as possible.
My favorite voice over clients provide proper phonetics for ANY and ALL questionable words in their voice over copy.
We’re not just talking about technical or medical terms. There are names of towns that only locals know how to say. There are names of individuals that are not easy to decipher. Local store names, foreign names, etc. When in doubt? Provide a phonetic.
And not just a badly written phonetic. A proper phonetic that includes WHICH syllable gets the emphasis. You would be surprised how often that is missed. For added bonus points, add a reference link or a “rhymes with…” to the note.
I have many clients who will slow down the process by making me ask for phonetics (that are not easily looked up on Youtube) or their phonetics are so poorly written out when provided that they are useless. This just slows down the process.
My favorite clients take the guesswork out of the equation for me. They automatically provide the phonetics in a proper and detailed manner.
Sharing the Love
I hope this list was helpful and enlightening to all of the commercial producers, video producers, instructional designers, promo producers, etc. who interact with me and other voice over artists on a regular basis.
This month of love, and all other months, I see you. I appreciate you. I LOVE you!
