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By Donna Summers, VOplanet: Our Elevator Pitch VoiceCasting and VOplanet are both forerunners in the voice over talent representation, audition, casting and booking industry. VoiceCasting is a full service talent agency in continuous business for 31 years, while VOplanet is a 3 year-old audition site where clients and talent can connect directly. When using VoiceCasting or upon request at VOplanet, clients and talent can request and use the assistance of agents for an agency fee if one of our talent is chosen to do the job. Auditions are always free. There are no client or agency fees if talent and client book with each other directly at VOplanet. Talent are always encouraged to audition for every job that fits their criteria. There is no penalty ever for auditioning. SaVoa Member Sign-up for VOplanet
Staying in contact with our talent and clients via monthly newsletters is a great avenue to let everyone know what projects we have been working on, what new talent that we have available and just saying a friendly hello. All of our advertising and PR will identify us as a SaVoa Affiliate. SaVoa Talent will be separately searchable on our sites and our clients will be made aware of the benefits of using SaVoa talent. We will be sending out publicity announcing our affiliation with SaVoa and look forward to great returns for all involved! There are many benefits to joining SaVoa and VOplanet. Announcements are forthcoming describing how you can be involved. Who We Are VoiceCasting is a full-service voice-over talent agency that serves an elite list of loyal clients as well as new clients and represents the top union, non-union, and financial-core talent globally. We cater to our clients by personally helping them find the best voice-overs for each of their projects. We actively rep our talent to find them the best fit for their VO needs. VOplanet is a membership audition site where clients come to find the best VO talent on the planet. Clients can contact and work directly with talent on VOplanet, or they can have the assistance of full-service experienced agents and tech support on-call to help them with their casting needs. There is never a penalty for talent who audition at VoiceCasting or VOplanet. You are encouraged to audition for all the jobs that fit your profile. We work closely with both our clients and our talent on both sites in order to provide the best service available, bringing their projects in on time and on budget. Our experience, knowledge, superior tech support, excellent talent and direct involvement in the audition process differentiates us from the pay-to-play sites so common on the Internet today. We gear towards the higher profile auditions for our talent, as we are the oldest and most experienced voice-over talent agency online today. Services We Provide VoiceCasting - www.voicecasting.com is a voice over talent agency with experienced talent agents available to serve in all aspects of the voice over industry including but not limited to casting, booking, directing, coaching and consulting. We rep North American and International talent for all types of voice over and translation services. We have direct experience with top professional voice-over talent, foreign language speakers and translators as well as a blue chip clientele which spans the globe. We develop mutually beneficial working relationships with clients in search of voice over talent and translators for all mediums while representing experienced voice over talent and translators, most with in-home studios, seeking global representation. Among other things such as marketing and networking, our agents are available to help clients set up auditions, choose talent, negotiate rates, collect talent payments from clients, pay talent, and keep talent tax documents in order. Talent inclusion at VoiceCasting is by invitation only after joining VOplanet and meeting several requirements determined by the agents of VoiceCasting. VoiceCasting is an affiliate of VideoVoicebank and VoiceCasting talent demos are listed on their site. VOplanet - www.voplanet.com is an online based voice-over member website which puts clients in direct contact with talent who can provide all of their voice over needs without having to pay an agency fee. Clients can listen to talent demos, view talent profiles which include experience/credits, training, studio capabilities, a complete list of audio demos in various categories, personal contact information including phone numbers, email and website addresses. Clients can post their projects for free directly to the VOplanet website. There they will be provided with their own confidential Audition Screening Room where talent post custom auditions reading client copy via MP3. Clients can then save the best auditions to their favorites, share the link with their clients and book the talent of their choice directly. With client to talent direct bookings, the client and talent negotiate for fees and arrange talent payment directly between themselves. No agency fees are incurred and auditions are always free. For talent at VOplanet, there are several levels of membership, some of which include a free hour consultation, demo review and career recommendations with one of our agents, and also a free website and free web hosting. Our tech support is available all the time on both sites during normal business hours and there is always an agent standing by to answer general questions. Go to www.voplanet.com for more information. Business History As of April 1, 2009, VoiceCasting has been in business for 31 years, formerly as a full service talent agency in Atlanta, GA - Donna Summer’s Talent. Donna is still involved full-time with the day-to-day business. That agency niched down to voice-over only representation about 15 years ago, set up a website, and changed its name to VoiceCasting, a full service talent agency with Donna Summers and Michelle Summers (we are mother/daughter-in-law) as the agents and principals who handle all talent bookings for our clients. VoiceCasting had one of the very first voice-over websites on the Internet that offered MP3 downloads for clients. Robert Simmons, Donna's partner in VOplanet, was the tech support and co-mastermind behind VoiceCasting. VOplanet was created in September of 2007 by Donna and Robert as Managers and Michelle as Agent. Michelle and Donna act as Agents/Talent and Client Liaisons and Robert is Tech Support for VoiceCasting/VOplanet. All three take part in the marketing and advertising efforts of both agencies, as well as the daily tasks to make the businesses run smoothly. How We Market We use various mediums to market our companies. Having been in business for over 30 years as a reputable company in the entertainment industry, word of mouth has been a great avenue of new business. We also use direct mail/postcards and many online talent and client newsletters and surveys. We advertise in both print and web medias and have strategic partnerships with various companies which includes cross promotion, banner and link exchanges, sponsorships etc. We employ viral marketing using social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, iMedia Connection, Naymz, Voice Over Xtra, Voice Over Universe, iList, Plaxo, Fast Pitch Networking, Eventful, VoiceOver Casting, Chamber of Commerce and others. We use blogging as a source to advertise our sites and we contribute articles to various print and online newsletters/websites which pertain to our industry. Google Ads and search engine optimization are a viable source of advertising for us. We attend meet and greet luncheons, trade shows and conventions and we sponsor and advertise various voice over workshops and classes that pertain to our industry. Cold calling, press releases, and referral programs are all part of our marketing plan. We have written various e-books, stay on top of community forums, attend webinars and use many other various forms of marketing. Donna, Michelle and Robert are available for live speaking engagements, workshops and podcasts, and interviews. About Free Media and Social Networking as it pertains to VO. We combine the tools offered online through social networking sites and have created a powerful marketing plan for our talent and our companies, in some instances for free. Being creative and staying on top of and ahead of the trends of our industry gives our talent the advantage. These new online tools and social networking sites are indeed an important part of our business and we will be using them to announce our SaVoa Affiliate Program. We utilize viral marketing to its fullest capabilities and many times contact these very companies about sponsorship opportunities and work directly with them to get VoiceCasting and VOplanet the best placement and exposure on their sites and in their newsletters. We take advantage of Google ad solutions. We participate in various aforementioned social networking websites and newsletters, and we are always seeking out new mutually beneficial affiliations and strategic partnerships. All of this greatly benefits the exposure for the talent listed at VoiceCasting and VOplanet. Our Answer to the Current Economy VoiceCasting/VOplanet believe that we all need to pull together all the time. We strive to encourage our talent to come from a place of strength and not from a place of fear or lack. Advertising goes on no matter what the state of the economy and we feel it is our job is to find the niche and add value for our clients and our talent. Depend on the Experts to Navigate Today's VO Marketplace At VoiceCasting/VOplanet our motto is, "No matter what the state of the economy, it's always a good time for VO talent to make money!" We use whatever perceived challenges there are in the economy to create newer and better ways to fill niches created for voice-over talent. Historically, a downturn in the economy equates to more advertising. We have maintained and exceeded our former marketing efforts and feel that no matter what downturn the economy may see, cutting back on marketing is not the way to stay in business. We remain firm, active, and constant in our marketing efforts for our talent. There are so many creative marketing strategies we can utilize and get the most from yours and our marketing dollars, especially with newer and better online technologies available today. Marketing our talent to our clients will always remain a top priority for us. We also help you stay informed about the latest technologies in studio set-ups, microphones, audio programs, etc. We keep a current list of the most popular and successful VO coaches and demo producers and are happy to share that information with you at anytime. We are also happy to hear from you about your latest and greatest technological and coaching experiences and share that information with others. The VO world changes at a very fast pace these days and we search and study daily to ensure that your reads and auditions are the gold standard for the ever-changing VO marketplace. We are always happy to listen to your demos or give you instruction or feedback on auditions you post on our sites.
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Savoa Members: Sign up for the VOplanet Special!
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For more, visit http://www.savoa.org/
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