REAL VO SUCCESS FOR 2017

How many times have you heard or said, “If you don’t clean your plate you don’t get dessert."

It’s intriguing to me how we have carried that mentality over to personal success. We look at success as the sweet reward for having to deal with all the other stuff we’ve had to swallow.

This is probably one of the greatest misunderstandings of success. We have a tendency to think of success as some sort of state of being that we achieve because we’ve done all the right things – you know, sort of like we’ve cleaned our plate so now we can have success – dessert.

But success is not dessert.

Success is having something to eat in the first place.

I’m in the voiceover business. It’s taken me several years to build a client base that I absolutely love. Seriously, I think of my clients as family. I’m close to them – or at least to their business endeavors. I think about them. I wonder about them. I really want to see them win. Oh sure, there are a few batty uncles in the lineage, but that’s just family.

I realize that it is my clients that provide whatever success I might enjoy. And that is exactly my point. Success in business isn’t about how much money you’ve made, or how great your cash flow is.  Real success is that you have something on your plate.

I have the best wife in the world.  How she has put up with me for 178 years is beyond me. One of the things that I really appreciate about her is that she has come to accept that my mentality is that if I don’t have work, I’m unemployed, and that’s why I work so hard at building relationships and being available to my clients all the time – even on vacation. Success is having something on your plate.

Not that I don’t enjoy a vacation now and then. I do. In fact, I’m planning on one in a few weeks. But the beauty of my business is that I can take vacation for as long as I want as long as I stay connected to my “family.”  And if they need me, really need me, I’m there for them.

No, success isn’t about reaching a revenue level or a particular bank account balance. It’s about having to get into the studio and get a voice job done because a client is waiting on it. It’s about recognizing that I have something on my plate, and for that I am grateful.

As we face this New Year, let me share five thoughts to make this new year one of your most successful.

1. Make a commitment to make your clients successful.

Your clients are not thinking about making you successful. That’s the last thing on their mind. They’re thinking about their own success. And if you think with them that way, you will most likely become part of their ongoing strategy for success. Meet their needs and they’ll meet yours.

2. Recognize that your client’s project is more important to them than anything else you have to do.

A few years ago, my little granddaughter taught me an important lesson about this. I was in my studio, and she was busy drawing on some papers on the floor. As she was lying on the floor, she accidentally bumped a chair that had some books and papers on it. They fell down on her leg. She was quite distressed about the matter.

I said, “Mona, it’s OK. Let me get this finished and you can sit up here on my lap and we’ll watch something on the computer.”

“But Grandpa,” she replied, “I need you to kiss my knee now.”

The reason your clients (and my clients) expect immediate attention is because it’s important to them and they trust you to be part of their solution.  That is an honor and a privilege. To your clients, it’s all about the “now.”

3. Embrace the realization that your client really needs you!

Think about it.  The reason your client is calling you, even at the most inopportune times is because he/she needs you.  To my voiceover compatriots, even a request for an audition is a signal that your client or agent needs you!

4.  Smile

I don’t know why this works, but it does.

I’m a natural born grouch. I mean, even when I’m pleased, people ask me what I’m upset about. Even in my wedding pictures, the happiest day of my life, I looked mad. When I get to heaven I’m going to ask God why He made me with such a sour face.

But I have found that when a client calls, when I force myself to smile – no matter what the issue – it completely changes the tone of the conversation. And knowing that I have something on my plate gives me a reason to smile!

5. Remember that all success is based on meeting needs.

Your client’s problem, concern, or issue is an open door for you to succeed! When your client calls with a need, he/she is saying “Here, have a helping of success!”

Don’t wait for dessert.  Enjoy what is on your plate now!

The best part about it is that you don’t have to prepare it – your client cooked it all up and is ready to serve you a big helping of success now!