Don't Mind Your Business
This time of year, it's easy to get overwhelmed with all of the business advice you'll find online, in magazines (remember those?), and in casual chats with colleagues. Everyone seems to have the answer for achieving success this year in one form or another. A term that has been coming up with more frequency than the bad Chinese takeout I had last night (sorry) is ROI - return on investment (intentionally not capitalized.) While this is an important measure, it's not as crucial as it's made out to be; At least not for everyone.
As I mentioned in "More Than MoMA," the problem is that who we are as artists is frequently overshadowed by who we feel we need to be as entrepreneurs; Better still, whom we are made to feel we need to be as business people. It's the beginning of the war of art. It's also common sense. If your product is not fully developed (in voiceover your product is your voice... your read,) then it's not ready to be marketed. No amount of measuring ROI is going to help you redirect your efforts into productive marketing if no one wants what you have to offer.
The real answer is actually quite simple - spend more time working on your product; on yourself; on your read. If you start redirecting too early on in your journey, you might end up going in circles. This is indeed a journey. Every individual talent carves her own path. What works for someone else will, most likely, not work for you unless you factor in all of the variables that directly apply to your business and experiences. Don't use someone else's numbers as a benchmark for making decisions in your career... especially in voice-over.
Instead, be inspired by someone else's success. Congratulate someone else on their success. Wish as much success for someone else as you would for yourself. But do not, under any circumstance, attempt to duplicate their success based on what they did or didn't do to achieve it. To quote Hugh MacLeod (from his best-selling book "Ignore Everybody:"
- You are responsible for your own experience
- Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb
- Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside
- Avoid the Watercooler Gang
There are no real benchmarks in this business. If there are, I'd like you to show them to me. Someone else's numbers do not a benchmark make. Everything is in constant change; in flux. It's the way of the Universe. Therefore, any benchmarks that exist are no longer in the same place they were just a second ago.
Conclusion? Your ROI decisions are only as good as your ability to forecast! In voiceovers, some claim to do that as well. Don't get me started.
I wish you success this year - regardless of how you define it. Remember: Craft first. Business second.
I welcome your thoughts on this.
-Anthony
EDIT: Here's a quote from Investopedia:
"Keep in mind that the calculation for return on investment and, therefore the definition, can be modified to suit the situation -it all depends on what you include as returns and costs. The definition of the term in the broadest sense just attempts to measure the profitability of an investment and, as such, there is no one "right" calculation."
