Direct vs. Indirect Marketing

BOSSes, Anne Ganguzza is joined by Tom Dheere to tackle a topic many voice actors fear most: marketing. In this episode, they break down the essential difference between direct marketing (you go to them) and indirect marketing (they come to you). The hosts discuss how to make both strategies work for you, offering a powerful, actionable roadmap for building a sustainable voiceover business.

00:01 - Anne (Host)
Hey boss listeners. Are you ready to turn your voiceover career goals into achievements? With my personalized coaching and demo production, I'm here to help you reach new milestones. You know you're already part of a boss community that strives for the very best. Let's elevate that. Your success is my next project. Find out more at anneganguzza.com. 

00:25 - Speaker 2 (Announcement)
It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. 

00:44 - Anne (Host)
Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss podcast and the Real Boss series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and I'm here with Mr Tom Dheere. Hello, hello, hello, the Real Boss, Tom Dheere. 

00:56 - Tom (Guest)
Hi, I'm seeing the light ring in my glasses. I'm going to change. I want to change these. 

01:01 - Anne (Host)
Wait, I thought you said I'm seeing the light. 

01:03 - Tom (Guest)
I'm seeing the light. Well, yeah, no, but the light was seeing me and my glasses, so I'm switching over. I have, like different pairs of glasses for where I'm at. 

01:11 - Anne (Host)
No, really. So like these are better. I hear that. I hear that Yours are part of a marketing strategy. 

01:18 - Tom (Guest)
Mine are purely because my eyeballs are decomposing. I can hear them. 

01:22 - Anne (Host)
But me too, though, I need them as well, and I figure I might as well make them part of a marketing strategy. And speaking of marketing, yes. Great segue, isn't it? I think it's one of the most feared things for any voice actor is to actually think and do marketing, and so it's a great topic to talk about, because, I mean, we could talk like multiple podcasts about it, but let's talk about marketing Indirect marketing, direct marketing. They're both important. 

01:49 - Tom (Guest)
Yes, absolutely. 

01:50 - Anne (Host)
Let's distinguish the difference. 

01:52 - Tom (Guest)
Right, and this is the thing that when most people come into the voiceover industry, they think and their instinct is correct, so I need to market myself. What does that mean? For most people, it's slamming into social media sideways and talking about what they had for breakfast, or it most often means cold calls and cold emails. Now, you can clearly lump all of that stuff together into marketing, but there's a lot more to it. It's a lot more nuanced than that. 

02:18 - Anne (Host)
You say the word cold calls and I think people go cold. I know they do. They're like oh no cold calls now. 

02:25 - Tom (Guest)
So the way I talk about it is that there is direct marketing and then there is indirect marketing, also known as active marketing or passive marketing. So direct or active marketing is when you are seeking out specific potential clients and you are basically grabbing them by the lapels and saying, hey, you give me money to say stuff out loud. 

02:48 - Anne (Host)
Here I am. Hello, this is me. 

02:50 - Tom (Guest)
Hello, right Now that's a cold call, that is a cold email. There's also follow-up emails and getting your seven touches. 

02:57 - Anne (Host)
And that's direct, because it's direct contact with a potential client. 

03:01 - Tom (Guest)
Exactly. And then there is indirect marketing, which is where you're kind of like doing your thing over here in hopes that people or robots will notice you Right and come to you Right. So, for example, working on search engine optimization on your website, that's a form of indirect marketing or passive marketing, because if somebody's searching for you, hopefully your website or your content will rank higher on Google, bing, yahoo and they'll be like, hey, who's this person? And then they reach out to you Right. 

03:30 - Anne (Host)
Or they're seeing you on social media. 

03:32 - Tom (Guest)
Social media, exactly, is another perfect example of indirect marketing. So that's where you're kind of like demonstrating your value, your progress, your humanity as a voice actor and a person, in hopes that it will get voice seekers' attention and be engaged with your content and hopefully you'll stay top of mind for future projects. 

03:50 - Anne (Host)
An easy I would say an easy way of thinkin