Forgive me, friends, for I have sinned. It's been seventeen weeks since my last blog post. Okay, I'm not actually asking for forgiveness; Neither will I try to justify my transgressions with stories of how busy I've been with life, voiceover work, or - worse - auditions. Those are a given (or at least should be.) It's just that sometimes I, as one who blogs, feel as if I have to explain; But to whom? Where is it Written that I have to write every day or every week for that matter? My blog is not my job. I am a husband, a father, and then a voiceover artist. Simply a voiceover artist. It's what I do. I don't have to justify what phase of my career I am in. Despite that, many freelancers feel the need to add "full-time," "professional," or both before their title. Not only is it pointless (other than for the slim chance that someone is actually Googling "full-time professional voiceover artist,") but it's a dead giveaway of just the opposite.
As a freelancer or creative, how do you define "full-time?" My week, for example, can vary wildly from 10 hours total time on the mic to 15 or 20 hours total time on mic. Hardly "full-time" in the corporate sense of the word. I only count time on mic because that's when I'm actually "voice-overing." The other times, when I'm on twitter, facebook, email, Google, and blogs I'm a twit (no clue what they're called,) friend (or fan,) sender, Googler, blogger, and subscriber - otherwise collectively known as a marketer. Even though the time spent on these activities can rival paid time on mic, I don't consider myself a full-time marketer. It, just like voiceovers, is just what I do. It's my virtual watercooler. I do it because I enjoy it, not because I have to. Where marketing and voiceovers differ, for me, is that voiceovers is what I wake up every day feeling like I have to do.
Now, again as a freelancer or creative, how do you define "professional?" I'm not asking you log onto
M-W.com, I'm simply asking you what is your perception of that word? How do you define it and how does it define you? In my case, it doesn't. To place the word professional in front of what I do is almost akin to bragging about the size of one's male member (sorry, I don't know what the equivalent of that would be for ladies, but if you know please send me an email.) When I was in music, my business partner and I would laugh at all the other music studios' websites because it seemed that most would include what we called "the penis shot*." That is to say, a picture of their big mixing board with all the lights on. It was splashed across their home page as if to compensate for what they were lacking - actual mixing and recording skills. Need I say more?
In the end, you call yourself what you'd like, but when a client is interested in you and what you have to offer, there are two things that are assumed:
- You will be available to do the work you're getting paid well to do.
- You will perform at the highest level of your craft to help bring their ideas to life.
Both of those point to an assumption of you being both "full-time" and "professional." Besides, in a world of 140 characters you can't waste time stating the obvious. Many of my producer and editor friends can easily spend upwards of sixty hours a week doing their magic while chugging down caffeine throughout the night and working under the gun to the sound of the cleaning crew. They assume number 1 and number 2 as well and don't ever refer to themselves as "full-time professional on-air promo producers and trailer editors." They just are.
How about you?
'Have to run, my full-time professional landscapers just showed up!
-Anthony
*See picture at top of article for an example of a "penis shot."
