I heard a friend of mine the other day say, “All goals are achieved incrementally.” What he meant by that is most goals, there are a few exceptions, are completed in increments. This could be done daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly; but always incrementally. The important thing is that you keep moving forward and doing what you can, when you can. As far as my Voice Over career goes, I feel like I knew this but have just hoped it would take off much faster and with less effort on my part. I think it is safe to assume that, since I feel that way, I am not alone in that.
When I started marketing myself to people, I thought that I would get responses immediately. So after I had done about a two hundred emails or messages to people and I only received a response from less than 5 of them, I started thinking that maybe I was doing something. I still could be. It really is hard to know if what you are doing is effective without feedback. However, I had been talking to my coach and I also heard this from other voice actors, it was brought to my attention that most creative directors or people that you are marketing too won’t respond until they need you. I was told that just because they didn’t respond doesn’t mean that they didn’t hear it or that they didn’t like it. They just don’t need your voice at that moment. I had read a post where a voice actor reached out to a potential client and did not hear anything for months. Then, out of the blue, the client emailed them and asked them to audition. I have even had some of the people message a couple months after reaching out to them and giving me a response such as, “Thanks. We’ll keep you in mind.” Which is not the most ideal response, but I have to take a win where I can get them. Otherwise, I would stop and give up.
I think that means that just because you are not seeing your progress, does not mean that you are not progressing. Every day that you do something towards your goal, you are getting better at what you are doing and closer to your goal. I have the sudden urge to spout off a handful of motivational phrases like, ” You can only walk 100 miles one step at a time” or “It’s progress, not perfection” but I won’t. I am just going to do what I can, when I can. Thanks for reading and have a great day!