This week we interviewed Michelle Summers from Atlanta, Georgia. Her two companies VoiceCasting and VOplanet are both involved in the voice over talent industry. VoiceCasting is a full service talent agency, while VOplanet is an audition site where clients and talent can connect directly, or have the assistance of agents. Both companies are doing some very interesting things so be sure to follow Michell on twitter!
What service/product(s) does your company provide?

VoiceCasting - www.voicecasting.com - is a voice over talent agency with extensively experienced agents assisting in all aspects of the voice over industry. This includes casting, booking, directing, coaching and consulting, foreign language voice over and translation services, etc. We have direct experience with top professional and extensively experienced voice-over talent, foreign language speakers and translators as well as a blue chip clientele which spans the globe. We develop mutually beneficial working relationships with clients in search of voice over talent and translators for all mediums as well as experienced voice over talent and translators with in-home studios seeking global representation.

VOplanet - www.voplanet.com - is an online based voice over website which puts clients in direct contact with talent who can provide all of their voice over needs without having to pay an agency fee. Clients can listen to talent demos, view their profiles which include experience/credits, training, studio capabilities, a complete list of audio demos in various categories, personal contact information including phone numbers, email and website addresses OR they can post their project needs directly to the website where they will be provided with their own confidential Audition Screening Room where talent will post custom auditions reading their copy via MP3 for clients to listen to, save the best auditions to their favorites, share the link with their clients and book the talent of their choice directly.

How long have you been in business?

As of April 1, 2009, VoiceCasting has been in business for 31 years, formerly as a full service talent agency in Atlanta, GA - Donna Summer’s Talent. Donna is still involved full-time with the day-to-day business. That agency niched down to voice over only representation about 15 years ago and changed its name to VoiceCasting, a full service talent agency with Donna Summers and Michelle Summers (we are mother/daughter-in-law) as the agents and principals who book talent exclusively for our clients. VoiceCasting had one of the very first voice-over websites on the Internet that offered MP3 downloads for clients, which was created by Robert Simmons, a partner in VOplanet. VOplanet was created in September of 2007 by Donna and Robert as managing partners and Michelle as partner with the purpose of allowing clients and talent to directly contact each other. Michelle and Donna act as agents/Talent and Client Liaisons and Robert is Tech Guru.
What is your elevator pitch?

 VoiceCasting is a full-service voice-over talent agency that serves an elite list of loyal clients and represents the top union, non-union, and financial-core talent globally. We cater to our clients by personally helping them find the best voice-overs for each of their projects.

VOplanet is a membership audition site where clients come to find the best VO talent on the planet. Clients can contact and work directly with talent on VOplanet, or they can have the assistance of full-service experienced agents and tech support on-call to help them with their casting needs.

We work closely with both our clients and our talent on both sites in order to provide the best service available, bringing their projects in on time and on budget. Our experience, knowledge, superior tech support, excellent talent and direct involvement in the audition process differentiates us from the pay-to-play sites so common on the Internet today.

What marketing tool(s) does your company currently use?

 We use various mediums to market our companies. Having been in business for over 30 years as a reputable company in the entertainment industry, word of mouth has been a great avenue of new business - direct mail/postcards - online talent and client newsletters and surveys - we advertise in both print and web medias - strategic partnerships with various companies which includes cross promotion, banner and link exchanges, sponsorships etc. - viral marketing using social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, iMedia Connection, Naymz, Voice Over Xtra, Voice Over Universe, iList, Plaxo, Fast Pitch Networking, Eventful, VoiceOver Casting, Chamber of Commerce and others! We use blogging as a source to draw traffic to our sites, we contribute articles to various print and online newsletters/websites which pertain to our industry - Google Ads - search engine optimization - meet and greet luncheons, trade shows and conventions - we sponsor various voice over workshops and classes that pertain to our industry - cold calling - press releases - we have a referral program - we have written various e-books - community forums - webinars and many other various forms of marketing. We are available for live speaking engagements, workshops, podcasts, and conferencing.

What has been your greatest marketing tool?

 We are lucky enough to afford the luxury of word of mouth as a huge marketing tool. We have worked with high profile and notable clients across the globe who have been very satisfied with our prompt and affordable services and are happy to make recommendations to others about our service and professionally experienced and credited talent. I also feel that staying in contact with our talent and clients via monthly newsletters is a great avenue of letting everyone know what projects we have been working on, new talent that we have available and just saying a friendly hello.

What are the biggest challenges your company faces in marketing its product and what are you doing to overcome those challenges?

To be truly honest with you, I think we are so lucky not to have to face the challenges that many seem to be facing in this changing economy. We have not seen a decrease in our marketing budget and feel that no matter how bad the economy gets - cutting back in your marketing is not the way to stay in business. You must remain firm and constant in your marketing ventures. There are so many creative marketing strategies that many companies can utilize and get the most from their marketing dollars especially with the online technologies available in today’s economy. Marketing our talent to our clients will always remain a top priority for us.

A lot of companies are shifting their marketing efforts to online tools and free social media marketing. Has your company made this kind of shift, and if so in what ways are you marketing online?

This is a great question and confirms what I was saying in my last answer… This kind of marketing is something that any company can do on a daily basis and costs them - many times - next to nothing. Combine the tools offered online and through these social networking sites with even the smallest of marketing budgets and you have a pretty powerful marketing plan for your company. Being creative and staying on top of and ahead of the trends for your specific industry will give you the advantage. These new online tools and social networking sites are indeed an important part of our business. We take every advantage of utilizing them to their fullest capabilities and many times contact these very companies about sponsorship opportunities and work directly with these companies to get VoiceCasting and VOplanet the best placement and exposure on their sites and in their newsletters. We just began a strategic partnership with John Florian of www.VoiceOverXtra.com a successful website which also provides a monthly newsletter to thousands of clients and talent across the globe. We established an extremely beneficial sponsorship opportunity including priority banner and ad placements on his website and in his newsletters, we will be writing articles which will be used in various mediums throughout his company website and newsletters as well as other cross promotional opportunities for both of our companies. We take advantage of Google ad solutions. We participate in various fore mentioned social networking websites and newsletters. And I must add that we are always seeking out new mutually beneficial partnerships so anyone should feel free to contact me, Michelle - msummers@voplanet.com, if they are interested in working on a marketing and promotions plan.

How are your company’s sales tactics or way of doing business being affected by this recession and do you have any advice to other small business owners?

I truly believe that we all need to pull together in times like these. All for one and one for all! NOT everyone for themselves. Come from a place of strength and not from a place of fear and stay positive. We have all seen in the media how badly so many companies have been affected by the recession or have had to go out of business. This is a time to pitch in and hold one another up. One of our favorite affirmations is, “No matter what the state of the economy, it’s always a good time to make money!”. Advertising goes on even in a recession. Our job is to find the niche and add value for our clients and our talent.

Any cost saving tips?

 Don’t be afraid to contact a company about ways you can trade services and cross promote one another - free of charge - while still being of tremendous benefit to one another. Create a network! Offer monthly payment programs to your customers. Create your own economic stimulus offer for your clients by offering them a one time discount on your products/services - every little bit helps. Give back to your community. How can you help other struggling businesses? This is a time to create partnerships! Be creative, be unique, do your research, stay on top of the trends, jump in head first and don’t be afraid to try new things with your marketing and advertising.

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