The Monthly Action Plan: A CEO’s Guide to the Voice Over Industry
- Tom Dheere
- Jan 8, 2013
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 26
My VO Strategist Monthly Action Plan shifts voice actors from an starving artist mindset to a CEO mindset. Unlike a standard to-do list, this prioritizes ROI-driven activities, specifically Feeding the Robots (SEO/Algorithms) and Charming the Humans (Direct Marketing) to keep you relevant and effective in the voice over industry.
Why Most "To-Do Lists" Fail
Most voice actors are unpaid assistants to their own anxiety. They spend their days reacting to their inbox rather than acting on a strategy. This is Legacy Thinking, clinging to a "hustle" mindset that might have worked a decade ago but is now obsolete.
A true Action Plan isn't about feeling like you're busy. It’s about Risk Management and ROI. If you aren't auditing your business monthly, you become invisible to the very Voice Seekers you're trying to reach.
The Two Jobs of the Modern Voice Actor
In the current landscape, your monthly action plan must address two distinct audiences:
Feed the Robots. This is the technical side of your business. You must optimize your SEO, metadata, and platform profiles so the machines can find you. If the robots can't find you, the human never hears you.
Charm the Humans. Once the machine delivers you, your branding and empathy must do the heavy lifting. Humans buy your story and your reliability, not just your voice.
The 5 Pillars of a Strategic Action Plan
To move from the Crawl phase to the Run phase of your career, your plan must address these five categories every single month:
Cash Flow
Tools
Technique
Marketing
Health
The Farmer Analogy
Think of your voice over career like a farm. You cannot plant a seed today and eat a salad tomorrow. Your studio is the Soil, your training is the Fertilizer, and your marketing is the Sun. A consistent Action Plan ensures that all three elements are working in harmony so you can eventually harvest the results.
Ready to take your voice over business to the next level? Click here for a free Action Plan template plus a bunch of other free downloads.
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As the VO Strategist, Tom Dheere has provided voice over business & marketing coaching since 2011.
He's also a voice actor with over 30 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voice over you can think of.
When not voicing or talking about voicing, Tom produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.
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