Every once in a while, I’ll get a particular email response back from one of my blog subscribers.
It’s an automatic message, and it says the following:
Hello there,
In order for me to appropriately delegate my time properly to high priority tasks, I only check Emails twice a week. My Email operation times are:
Monday and Thursday.
12pm to 1pm And 4pm to 5pm.
All I’ll say about the respondent is that this person is a freelancer (not VO).
First of all, I give this person kudos for a ballsy move. He’s got his priorities, and he’s sticking to them. I give him extra points for a clear vision, and excellent follow-through.
But I ask you…could your freelance VO business thrive…no…survive, if you only checked it twice-a-week?
Mine couldn’t.
I’m married to email. I get all my FaceBook, G+, Twitter, Google Alerts, V123, Voices.com, Bodalgo, Nutshell mail, and most every other notice funneled through email.
People pooh-pooh email, saying it’s importance is behind us in the new digital age. My 20-ish kids tell me only “old people” use email. They use texting, and FB messaging instead. My guess is our friend above would put THOSE messages on a similar restrictive diet.
The bottom line is that I think clients prefer email first over even phone calls on first contact. A good 70% of my first-time contact from prospective/future clients comes from email — maybe more — I’ve never done the exact metric on that.
Tellya what…just to prove how valuable email is, let’s do this. Send a message to me at [email protected] with the subject heading GREAT TIPS, and I’ll send you a link to a website I just found that has links to some amazing online tools.
I truly hope the above-mentioned person has found a groove with this time-saving priority.
Is this something you do? / are doing?
CourVO
Listen to my Commercial demo
I agree! Email is how I do 99% of my communication – only about 1% by phone. When client details/instructions are on an email I can reference back. If they provide pronunciation via an audio file recorded on their phone etc., I have it on file so I can reference back. Plus, let’s say time has passed and the client references something from the past, chances are I have the email saved and can, once again, reference back.
If I did this my voice over career would be over. Period. I’d be back to working full-time in radio to make a living.
We’re a connected society, whether we like it or not. Email is quick. It’s easy. And in a world with no virtual borders, it’s more affordable than long distance phone calls.
In addition, I work with clients around the globe. If I checked my email once or twice a week, I’d lose every one of those clients simply because of time zone differences.
Marc and Brian,
Whew, I was thinking maybe I wasn’t controlling my email enough…I’m not…but better that than only reading it twice a week for an hour!
I appreciate your responses!
Dave Courvoisier
“This is a test of the Email Operating System!”
I strongly agree about first time contacts coming through email. I do almost all of my communicating with voiceover clients this way and it levels the playing field for us introverts! I check mine throughout the day and respond as quickly as possible. Thanks for another great post, Dave.
Well Dave…
In order for me to appropriately delegate my time properly to high priority tasks, I only reply to blogs twice a week… 😉
Seriously though… I am also married to email. I am on it several times a day. I’m so afraid to miss something important. Needless to say…I usually don’t miss anything.
Tom