by DIANA HOLGUIN
We are Voice Over for the Planet – a small (for the moment) collective of voice actors who want to put more good out into the world through impactful storytelling. Many of us, founders and members alike, came to voice over after having had careers in various fields. Teaching, midwifery, nursing, culinary arts, to name a few. So we have a lot of wisdom and skills to draw from but we also left room for growth and improvement because all living things do that as they seek sunlight, water, and all that which makes organisms thrive. And, well, we did just that. We’ve evolved a little bit to settle more comfortably and confidently into our mission and be better equipped to deliver on what motivated us in the first place – to put more good out into the world, for the planet and its inhabitants.
In the beginning, our intention was to work almost exclusively with 1% for the Planet members, both environmental and business partners. We began our marketing, reaching out to several organizations and offering them our voiceover services to help uplift their message and thus reach a wider audience. We soon discovered though that many organizations, particularly smaller non-profits or small businesses, just didn’t have the budget to hire voice over professionals. So what were we to do?
We reached out to a marketing consultant who looked at what we were doing and gave us their honest feedback. And what we heard was that we weren’t so special. Well, we are, but our value proposition? Not so much. Yes, we are professional, full-time voice actors. We speak multiple languages, offer a lot of range and versatility in our craft, and are a fun and reliable bunch to work with, 100%. But there are a lot of us voice actors out there who do exactly that. And the fact that we donate 1% of our revenue to environmental partners via 1% for the Planet? Well, that’s cool but many organizations donate money independently so while it could be a cute added value to some, it wasn’t necessarily a knock-your-socks-off proposition.
This marketing meeting was the moment in time when evolution occurred and we decided to restructure our collective’s workings. We’ve since adopted a buy one, give one model through which our paying clients provide us with the opportunity to offer our voiceover services to non-profits, eco-startups, and other such organizations with smaller budgets for a project similar in scope.
Let’s break it down so you can see how the cycle works. Most recently one of our talented voices booked a paying job at standard rates for Medtronics. That job allowed us to provide Friends of Bonobos with a voiceover by Ally Murphy that absolutely brought their video to life for use at an awards ceremony in Sweden. Once one or both of these projects are available to be shared, all of us involved will be able to share with the world the good that Friends of Bonobos does, the talent that we provide, and the opportunity that companies have when they choose to work with us.
So this is what we do at Voice Over for the Planet. Our wish is that we can work together with all kinds of companies who have a strong sense of purpose and passion for the environment and social justice so that we can then amplify the voices of the nonprofits and eco startups who are doing such important work and could really benefit from having a professional voice over added to their new or existing multimedia projects. Will you join us? Contact us to learn how we can work together for a better world.