You've defined the brand and you're managing it. The last question is whether you're getting full value from it. A strong brand isn't just clear. It's consistent across every place a client might meet you, and it's working even when you're asleep.
So how well is yours working? Five questions. Answer them honestly and you'll know exactly where to spend the next month.
Score yourself
- A clear positioning statementWho you're for, what you offer, where you sit, what you promise.
- A thirty second pitchQuick, persuasive, sounds like you, tailored to who's listening.
- A website that delivers the brandOne feel a visitor takes away, and can name.
- Known as someone who knowsWriting, contributing, answering, teaching.
- Findable, and consistent when foundEvery profile current, every one telling the same story.
1. Do you have a clear positioning statement?
One or two sentences that nail down four things:
- Who you're for. The kind of client and the kind of project you want to attract.
- What you offer. The voice, the style, the value you bring.
- Where you sit. What makes you different, better suited, or simply unlike the others in the line-up.
- Your promise. What they can count on, and how you back it up.
This isn't your tagline and it isn't your elevator pitch. It's the private sentence behind both, the one every piece of marketing gets checked against. If you can't write it, the rest of the brand is guessing.
Fill in the blanks
For [the kind of client] who need [the kind of project], I'm the [two or three true adjectives] voice that [what it does for them]. Unlike [the obvious alternative], I [the thing you can promise every time].
2. Do you have a thirty second pitch?
A short, clear, persuasive answer to "so what do you do?" The name comes from the length of an elevator ride, and thirty seconds is about right. It's what you say when you introduce yourself at an industry event, what your bio says in its first two lines, and the spirit of the first spot on your demo.
Practise it so the key points come out easily, but don't recite it. Let your personality through and adjust it for who's listening. A producer and a fellow actor need different thirty seconds. It should be quick, it should sound like you, and it should make the other person want to hear more.
3. Does your website deliver the brand?
A website says a lot about a voice over business, mostly about how much thought went into it. Yours should carry the image you want: the visuals, the type, the colours, and most of all the words and the demos. Consistency is the key ingredient. You want a visitor to leave associating a particular feel with your name.
Here's the test. If you could survey everyone who visited your site this month, what single trait or message would they take away? If the honest answer is "not sure", the site isn't doing its job yet.
4. Are you known as someone who knows?
A strong way to spread a brand in your niche is to become the person people learn from. Write about the craft. Contribute to industry publications and newsletters. Answer questions in the communities generously and well. Run a session for beginners. Be a trusted, useful source in your corner of the business.
It doesn't happen overnight, and it can't be faked. Credibility is built one genuinely helpful piece at a time. But clients notice, and so do the other actors who'll refer work your way when they're booked out.
5. Can people find you?
How strong is your presence when someone searches? Your profiles need to be current and consistent with the image you're presenting, all of them, because a client will find whichever one comes up first. Show mostly your expertise and your work. A little personality and pop culture is fine, and human, but the balance should tell a professional story. Join industry conversations, comment, contribute, and keep it positive and on brand.
Your brand is what makes you unique. The more you nurture it, the better you're placed against everyone else in the marketplace.
Everything about you, your performance, your presentation and your attitude, should speak to the same message. Your brand, your reputation and the value people believe you bring are things you can cultivate, shape, grow and control. That's the whole point of doing it on purpose. Next track: finding the work.
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