{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Entrepreneur Hustle: Promo","description":"[Cue Promo VO] Today, on VO BOSS: Two Bosses share their extensive knowledge about your favorite topic - VO! But one of them has a special secret to share\u2026 Tune in every Tuesday for new Episodes of VO BOSS! [End Promo VO] Do you dream of being the "voice" of a show? Anne and guest co-host Kesha Monk will help you rock your promo business #LIKEABOSS! In this episode, you'll learn how to listen to promos, what you need to know before trying to break into the genre, plus take away some innovative networking ideas... Grab, grasp, and open the door to this insightful episode!   Transcript: It\u2019s time to take your business to the next level, the BOSS level! These are the premiere Business Owner Strategies and Successes being utilized by the industry\u2019s top talent today. Rock your business like a boss, a VO BOSS! Now let\u2019s welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza.   Anne: Hey everyone, welcome to the VO BOSS podcast. I\u2019m your host, Anne Ganguzza, along with my amazing, wonderful guest cohost, Miss Kesha Monk.   Kesha: Ladies and gentlemen, she\u2019s been changing the way \u2014   Anne: Oh!   Kesha: \u2014 people podcast. She puts the \u201ccast\u201d in podcast since 2015. Ladies and gentlemen, Anne Ganguzza.   Anne: Ooh Kesha! I love that! Wow! Thank you!   Kesha: That actually sucked, but hey.   [both laugh]   Anne: Wow, Kesha, you know, I think you have a little bit of experience. You sound like you have some experience doing a little bit of promo work there.   Kesha: Keyword \u201clittle bit.\u201d   Anne: [laughs] Well, I know right now you are doing some steady promo work for PBS, is that not correct?   Kesha: I totally am.   Anne: That\u2019s pretty awesome. That\u2019s a genre that I am not as familiar with, I don\u2019t do much work in. I think our BOSS listeners would love to hear a little bit about that genre.   Kesha: It\u2019s crazy. I actually got that gig because somebody on Facebook saw that I did voiceover, and they saw like a, I don\u2019t know, a want ad somewhere. I don\u2019t know if it was on Craigslist or whatever, but [laughs] you know, they gave me [laughs] they gave me, you know, a lead. And at the time, I really didn\u2019t have a promo demo. So I just kind of faked one a little bit, to just give them a little bit of sample \u2014   Anne: Sure.   Kesha: \u2014 and they hired me. And I\u2019ve been doing \u2014 this is my like my, I\u2019m going into my fifth season next year.   Anne: Wow, that\u2019s amazing! So, and are you doing one or two series? Tell me what you\u2019ve done in the past.   Kesha: What it is is I am the promo voice for POV. POV is a documentary series that airs on PBS. I think they\u2019ve probably been doing it since like \u201988, so I don\u2019t know how long that is, 30 years, 30 something, 30 years? So yeah, they kind of liked what I did. And it\u2019s been interesting. I really had to self-teach though because again I hadn\u2019t had any promo experience. And so you know, I got a little friend, I got a little friends who do certain things in the industry. Peep, peep, Randy Thomas.   Anne: I was just gonna say, did Randy have something to help, help you out with that?   Kesha: Of course. And I try not to be too, you know, heavy leaning on getting help. I really try to self-help as much as possible.   Anne: Sure.   Kesha: Of course I got a coach, and I listened to promos with a different ear.   Anne: You know, that\u2019s, that\u2019s so interesting, because I had Randy guest host a couple of times for my VO Peeps group, and I\u2019ve also had some other promo classes with other guest directors. And one of the biggest things is for you to just listen to, to turn that television on and listen, and listen, and listen, and get to know the show.   Kesha: Yes.   Anne: So what would be some important things that you would have to know before you get into promo? Like how, like how would somebody get into promo first of all if they wanted to?   Kesha: Well first of all, just like when you want to get into voiceover, you kind of have to educate yourself and really know what promo is. Promo is a completely different delivery. It\u2019s not like commercial, it\u2019s not like narration, and it\u2019s something that I really can\u2019t explain. I mean you really just have to listen again with a different ear to all of the promos that are on television, and again, just like any other way that you approach copy, is to know what you\u2019re promoting. It doesn\u2019t help \u2014   Anne: Know the show.   Kesha: Know the show. And that\u2019s very important to me, by the way.   Anne: I was gonna say, I would think that the delivery really is dependent on the show and the brand audience that they\u2019re trying to capture. Well, I would imagine they want to capture everybody, but there is a certain audience that they are probably trying to target. And that would have to really have a lot to do with the sound, I would imagine, when you are doing the promo or you\u2019re auditioning.   Kesha: Of course. I wouldn\u2019t read a Nickelodeon promo the same that I would read, you know, an OWN or a Lifetime promo, you know what I\u2019m saying?   Anne: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.   Kesha: Know the audience. And you know the other thing, Anne? Don\u2019t be afraid to \u2014 well, once you get your feet in \u2014 don\u2019t be afraid to ask questions. Because even though I have a little bit of experience, whenever I do get the opportunity to do a promo, I\u2019ll ask them. I\u2019ll say, you know, \u201ccan you send me the instrumental that you\u2019re gonna use under my voice? Are there any pictures that can help me visualize exactly what I\u2019m \u2014 it really, really helps me to know what I\u2019m promoting. And that\u2019s really how I\u2019ve been able to succeed at it.   Anne: And so what you\u2019re saying to me, Kesha, is that you don\u2019t necessarily need an agent to get promo?   Kesha: Mmm I ain\u2019t sayin\u2019 that at all.   Anne: Ok.   Kesha: I\u2019ve never\u2026 well, PBS is different, because that\u2019s like listener-supported tele \u2014 listener, listener supported! \u2014 viewer supported television.   Anne: Yes, and I say that because I had a commercial on PBS, and the way that I acquired it was very, very different, was \u2014   Kesha: Of course.   Anne: Yeah, and it ran\u2026 so you deal with different people, and they\u2019re not necessarily working through agents.   Kesha: Right, right.   Anne: So I guess it depends then on the network?   Kesha: It totally does, but here\u2019s this, check this out. Because we\u2019re in this age of streaming, there are promos that are created outside of network television. There are all kinds of programming, you know, online programming, that need promo voices. So it\u2019s not impossible to go after that kind of work. The network stuff is probably what you won\u2019t get exposed to unless you have an agent.   Anne: Right. And so, but now what isn\u2019t being streamed these days?   Kesha: Exactly.   Anne: There\u2019s a question.   Kesha: Exactly.   Anne: And so, you know, how important \u2014 and I\u2019m \u2014 look, I love my agents, and I would never dare to think that they aren\u2019t important in my voiceover career. But what\u2019s so interesting is with this digital technology and with the streaming technology, and especially now during the pandemic, all the \u2014 all, tons of streaming, like content is coming out. And so how do you think you would approach if you didn\u2019t, if you didn\u2019t have your agent to help you out? How would you approach getting work in promo, let\u2019s say, something that was streaming?   Kesha: Ok, so I just want to preface this by saying that I am not a know-it-all. I can tell you how I would do it. It\u2019s not, you know, my word is not, you know, in stone here, but research, research, research. What you\u2019d do is you watch a particular show. This is how I would do it. I would watch the credits. I would figure out who is producing the show. I would get a name. I would LinkedIn. I\u2019d find out how to contact them, and I would just basically introduce myself, just introduce myself. But again, I don\u2019t know, that\u2019s a little iffy, Anne. But you know, but I have used that approach for some of my work. I just figured out who are the guys behind the production board.   Anne: You know, networking is such a wonderful thing, and I know that we have another podcast on this, but I will bring up. I\u2019ll say the word, and I want you to just take a deep breath, Kesha, because I know how excited you get, but let\u2019s just say Clubhouse\u2026 could be an amazing way to network with people like we were just talking about. There\u2019s some heavy hitters there. It could be an amazing way to network, and what I really like about it, and I know you\u2019re gonna be able to go off on this, what I really like about it is that it can be such an authentic platform to get to know someone. And it\u2019s so not \u2014 like right now it\u2019s, I think it\u2019s in its infancy, and it\u2019s in that stage where it hasn\u2019t been spoiled by marketers. And I say that with the most love in my heart for marketers, because we all market our own businesses, right?   Kesha: Of course we do. Yeah.   Anne: What we don\u2019t want is that platform to all of a sudden become spoiled by, all of sudden, people are going to be marketing on it, or people are going to be completely selling things on it, which is what everybody laments about on social media, is like \u201chere come the ads.\u201d Right? While this is an unspoiled platform right now, this is an amazing opportunity to really network with some heavy hitters. Like you told me before, you got a contact at NBC that was like, just reached out to you and boom. I mean, it was, it was, it didn\u2019t seem to take a whole long time. [laughs]   Kesha: So you know, this is what I actually would do. [laughs] This is kind of crazy. You get a name. Right? You hear a name, you\u2019re watching a program, and you\u2019re like, \u201coh my God, I would totally love to do promos for this network.\u201d You wait for the credits, you grab a name. You take that name and you plug it into LinkedIn. You look at their, look at their resume, and not only that, see who your common contacts are. Reach out to your common contacts. \u201cHey. Do you know Joe Schmo from, you know, Lifetime? Do you think he would be interested \u2014 I mean, can you introduce me?\u201d So forth and so on.   Anne: Absolutely.   Kesha: I also do the same with Facebook, just plug a name in, pull up their profile, see who my common friends are. And then see if they\u2019re on Clubhouse! And then that way you can hear them talk! You can hear them speak.   Anne: I think you hit the nail on the head there, is find the common contacts, because a friend of a friend, or you know, a contact of a contact is a great kind of way to get your foot in the door without coming in with a cold call, so to speak \u2014   Kesha: Yes!   Anne: \u2014 or a cold, you know, connection.   Kesha: Yes.   Anne: Which I think is so difficult. And I know that myself, when somebody just reaches out, I\u2019m like, what do they want? You know? [laughs] What are they trying to get from me? It immediately kind of, I repel. But if you have a contact of a contact \u2014 I love how you said LinkedIn, because that\u2019s a great way to see your common contacts, as well as Facebook, your friendships, as well as, well I always say, you know, Google is so simple.   Kesha: Absolutely.   Anne: And the more that you, I would say, do your searches in Facebook and LinkedIn first and maybe more in-depth information about them, and the company, the network that they\u2019re working for, and then you can plug that into Google and maybe get some more in-depth information.   Kesha: That\u2019s how I would do it. And it totally works. I\u2019ve done it many, many, many times. Certainly!   Anne: I think that\u2019s, that\u2019s just a really great, out of the box \u2014   Kesha: No, no, let\u2019s call it what it is. It\u2019s genius. Call it what it is! Call a spade a spade.   Anne: There you go, I love it! [laughs] I love it. It is genius, it really is genius, because I don\u2019t think you\u2019re gonna get this type of work from, let\u2019s say, a pay-to-play. Although you did say that it was some ad somewhere along the line. Now Kesha, I\u2019m gonna bring up a thought [laughs] because of, you know, this day and age, we have younger people obviously that are getting into, working and doing creative endeavors and possibly hiring us. And so is it possible that maybe we can reach out to them on those platforms to try to understand how we might get in front of them and present them with our services without, you know, making it be annoying? [laughs]   Kesha: Well, you know, using social media to contact, it is really in a sense untraditional. Remember back in the day when we were young chaps, you know, we would have to, you know, write a letter and put a stamp on the letter.   Anne: Absolutely. Send a print, send a print, a CD, our demo CD out in the mail.   Kesha: Absolutely, yes.   Anne: That\u2019s right. We don\u2019t do that anymore.   Kesha: Yeah. And so I\u2019m sure many of my colleagues would frown upon that, I embrace that, and the reason why I embrace that, Anne, is because I\u2019ve done it. I\u2019ve done it and it has worked. Now I\u2019m not saying get crazy. You know, you really still need to figure out a professional way to approach them on social media.   Anne: Sure.   Kesha: You know, I wouldn\u2019t go, you know, commenting about somebody\u2019s husband. \u201cHey girl, your husband sure is a cutey!\u201d You know, I wouldn\u2019t do that, but \u2014 \u201coh and by the way, are you hiring? Are you looking for voices?\u201d Anne: Oh yeah, and by the way. What about those platforms that tend to have high search engine optimization, like, I\u2019ll say it, Fiverr, or Upwork, or you know, Freelancer, or those? You know, you said before, it might have been posted on Craigslist or something.   Kesha: Right.   Anne: People do \u2014 it\u2019s rare, but I have heard of people getting really good jobs from a posting \u2014   Kesha: Here, here\u2019s my thing \u2014   Anne: \u2014 postings on those platforms, and so \u2014   Kesha: Absolutely.   Anne: \u2014 why not?   Kesha: That\u2019s the reason why I don\u2019t, I would never discourage someone from doing that. Because you know, it\u2019s not impossible, but for me personally, I do better in, in\u2026 in spaces that aren\u2019t so crowded. It\u2019s easier for me to stand out if I\u2019m not in a room with 500,000 other voiceover artists. If you have that type of patience, absolutely go for it. But I tend to fill voids. I tend to \u2014 I sneak in a lot of backdoors.   Anne: I think what I\u2019m learning about you, Kesha, is that really it does \u2014 like first and foremost, your relationship is how you start to strategize getting work. And that\u2019s really unique. I mean, gosh, we\u2019ve been doing \u2014 I\u2019ve been doing this for so long, and we always talk about relationship and networking, relationship and networking. But a lot of times we think of that networking as networking with ourselves, like at a voiceover conference. Nobody really thinks about it as networking for your potential client. Like you know, a lot of times people say, \u201cwell I\u2019ve done LinkedIn, and I\u2019ve tried to contact people through LinkedIn.\u201d But you really look for that additional way in, like let\u2019s find the friend of a friend, or the contact of a contact \u2014   Kesha: So here\u2019s the thing \u2014   Anne: \u2014 and get in this way.   Kesha: I don\u2019t mean to interrupt, but I will forget because I\u2019m an old lady, and my memory is \u2014   Anne: [laughs]   Kesha: Here\u2019s the difference. I\u2019m just being honest! Here\u2019s the difference. [laughs] For, you know, for those who are on Fiverr, those, that space is for people who prefer opportunities to come to them.   Anne: Yeah.   Kesha: I am the opposite. I like to go for the opportunities, if that makes any sense.   Anne: Sure, absolutely.   Kesha: Because on Fiverr, you make a profile, and you kind of tell them what you cost, and you kind of sit there and you wait for people to contact you. I ain\u2019t got that kind of time. I\u2019m 50 years old. Like I only got a good 50 years old \u2014 50 years left on this, on this earth. I do not have time for the BS. I have got to grasp, grab, and sneak into as many backdoors as possible.   Anne: Yes.   Kesha: You gotta be a go-getter. You gotta seize the moment.   Anne: The backdoor is \u2014 and the backdoor is important, I\u2019m just gonna say that.   Kesha: Oh yeah.   Anne: The backdoor is important because if you try to attack it the front way [laughs] a lot of times, that comes off as cold calling, cold emailing. And that is, I think, much more difficult, I think. I think I really love that you try to find the backdoor and the commonality, the commonality of the relationship to find an entry point or a way in. This is why I\u2019m so excited about Clubhouse, and I know that\u2019s why you\u2019re so excited about Clubhouse. When I, and literally, when we talked about it the other day, when I was on it, I literally just said \u201clet me just enter a room,\u201d like with my shaking, you know, index finger, because it was my first time in a room. I didn\u2019t know if my microphone was gonna be on. I said, let me just try it. And the second I heard what was going on in that room, I was like, \u201coh my God, this is brilliant.\u201d   Kesha: Your antennae went up, right? Your antennae went right up.   Anne: Why have we not had this before? What a brilliant platform, and you need to hop on board while it\u2019s, while it\u2019s fresh. [laughs]   Kesha: Do we have time for a really, really quick story?   Anne: Sure, absolutely.   Kesha: As we\u2019re talking about backdoors. So if you\u2019re familiar with Clubhouse, you know, you can kind of like just be a regular old person on Clubhouse, or you can be the founder of a club. Right? We all want to try to, aspire to get that VO BOSS club, right?   Anne: Yes. Oh, we\u2019re absolutely doing it.   Kesha: But the way you do that is you have to submit an application, ok? And so I submitted an application for a club, and I waited, and I waited, and I know they\u2019re overwhelmed. And I\u2019m like, gosh, nobody is going to ever get to my application, so let me tell you what I did. I researched the owner, and then I found him on Twitter. And then I saw that \u2014   Anne: And then you followed him.   Kesha: I didn\u2019t even follow him. I\u2019ll tell you what I did. He, he has another page that deals with hereditary disease. And I\u2019m kind of familiar with hereditary disease, so I approached him on that page.   Anne: Absolutely! There you go.   Kesha: Where everybody is hanging out on his main page, I, I sent him a message on his hereditary disease page. And I said, \u201chey, kudos for you, you know, finding this page. Oh by the way\u201d \u2014   [both laugh]   Kesha: \u201cI heard you have a little something to do with Clubhouse.\u201d I say, \u201chey listen, I have this application. I don\u2019t know if you can nudge somebody,\u201d \u2018cause he\u2019s the owner. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s not approving applications. I said, \u201cI would really appreciate it. Clubhouse has made such a tremendous difference in my life,\u201d and girl, the next day, my application was approved.   Anne: Nice.   Kesha: He never responded.   Anne: Nice.   Kesha: I don\u2019t know if he had anything \u2014 I\u2019m sure he did. I don\u2019t believe in happenstance, but you\u2019ve gotta find a backdoor and slip in it.   Anne: Let\u2019s kind of come back to your acquiring work for promo work, tell me about \u2014 like I guess if you were selected as the voice, right, of a particular show, then it would seem to me that it would be fairly steady work. And is it a \u2014 I guess depending on the show, is it work that you do every day, is it work you do once a week? I imagine that the workload is different for a show than it is for me doing e-learning or corporate narration or commercial.   Kesha: Right, well the programs that I\u2019ve done particularly have been just for like one-shot deals, for like a special on OWN or you know, a one-time viewing party for something or the other. That\u2019s just been my experience. Of course I\u2019m going to pounce on my agents to try to get me more promo work this year, but that\u2019s just been my experience. And then of course with PBS, that\u2019s season work, so I just get scripts every couple of weeks.   Anne: How is the market in promo? Do you feel that there is a lot of opportunities, is there a lot of work? I mean, I guess it\u2019s dependent on \u2014 I mean, I like the specials, and I think now people are really concentrating on the entertainment value while we\u2019re all deep into the pandemic here, because it\u2019s our one, it\u2019s what we have while we\u2019re here at home. I think that they\u2019ve been doing, they\u2019ve been really doing a lot of good work for television in bringing content out. So I think, I would hope that that would increase your opportunities for promo.   Kesha: Well, as long as there\u2019s programming, there\u2019ll always been promo. And because of the climate that this country has experienced over the past year, I\u2019ve seen an uptick in promos because there\u2019re a lot more specials, and a lot more, you know, programming with regards to the pandemic, and the racial up-rest, and the, the, come on, the election and stuff like that.   Anne: Sure.   Kesha: And so \u2014   Anne: Very much specialized content.   Kesha: That\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to say, a lot of specialized content. So there\u2019ll always be work. As long as this world keeps going bat-butt crazy, we\u2019ll always have work outside of the regular, you know, SNLs and the Dancing with the Stars stuff.   Anne: So then if you get a job, if you get the gig for a particular show or special, is it you know, 24-hour turn-around time? Is it \u201cI need it yesterday?\u201d Is it multiple sessions that are directed, you know, three days in a row?   Kesha: It really depends.   Anne: Does it depend?   Kesha: It\u2019s all of that plus more. Again when it comes to the specialized content, they definitely need it yesterday. And somebody could want to do a directed session, but also what I\u2019ve noticed is a difference in how, because of, you know, things are needed yesterday. A lot of times, they don\u2019t even have time to dial in, so they trust you as long as \u2014   Anne: They\u2019re just like \u201cyou do it.\u201d   Kesha: Yeah, as long as you have a good space, and a good mic, and they know you. And they have to get to know you with regards to the kind of content that you\u2019re able to produce. But yeah!   Anne: That was my next question. So let\u2019s just say you get in good with, on a show. Maybe it\u2019s not a special, but it\u2019s a show that\u2019s continually running and with a good network. Do you stand a better chance of getting more work with that network because they\u2019re familiar with your voice, and you\u2019ve been employed doing that?   Kesha: Absolutely.   Anne: Ok, I was just gonna say \u2014   Kesha: Absolutely.   Anne: So then you don\u2019t necessarily have to audition? They might say, \u201cyou know what, Kesha? You\u2019d be great for this new show that we\u2019re gonna be promoting,\u201d and boom.   Kesha: That literally just happened to me.   Anne: Yeah. I was gonna say, that would be a nice way to get work. You know, I feel like, you don\u2019t have to \u2014 I love it when you don\u2019t have to audition all the time. And if you become like a, you know, this is, \u201cKesha is our voice\u201d maybe for the network, then you might have multiple opportunities.   Kesha: Right, exactly. And being accessible and available at all times, it certainly helps. Because I like to think sometimes that oh I got this gig not because I have this great voice or not because I\u2019m super talented. It\u2019s because when they said \u201cwe need it now,\u201d I already did it. Before they can even finish their sentence, it\u2019s already in their inbox.   Anne: Oh my gosh, Kesha, there\u2019s so much to be said for that. I mean, I want you BOSSes out there to understand what we just said. Sometimes it\u2019s not about, \u201coh my God, Kesha has the best voice in the world for this particular show.\u201d It\u2019s so much more than that. It\u2019s the fact that you have, you know, you have come through for them. You\u2019re dependable, you\u2019re accurate, you get the work done, and you\u2019re a pleasure to work with, which is a big, big, big thing for all voiceover work. It\u2019s not just for promo work, but any client that you can, you know, get on board, and they love you because you\u2019re dependable, you\u2019re fast, and you just get the job done, that\u2019s just a wonderful feather in your cap for \u2014   Kesha: Absolutely.   Anne: \u2014 additional work coming up.   Kesha: Yes, ma\u2019am. Yes, ma\u2019am. For sure.   Anne: Wow, so the exciting, the exciting world of promo. Well, Kesha, the best of luck in getting more shows. I want to be able to hear your voice all over the place.   Kesha: Thank you! Thank you so much! I appreciate you. It\u2019s good to have good cheerleaders in your, you know.   Anne: There you go. I am a fan. I am a fan, for sure. So I\u2019m gonna give a big shout-out to our sponsor, ipDTL. You too can learn about ipDTL and connect and network like a BOSS. Find out more at ipdtl.com. You guys have a great week. And we\u2019ll see you next week.   Kesha: Bye!   Anne: Bye!   >> Join us next week for another edition of VO BOSS with your host Anne Ganguzza. And take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at voboss.com and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies, and new ways to rock your business like a BOSS. Redistribution with permission. Coast to Coast connectivity via ipDTL. ","author_name":"VO BOSS","author_url":"https:\/\/voboss.com","html":"