Anne and Lau share a valuable discussion about the pivotal role websites play in any business, and how they can be a driving force behind attracting potential clients. In this episode, The Bosses discuss how a well-presented, professional, and easy-to-navigate website has a crucial role in enhancing online shopping experiences, increasing sales, and building trust with potential customers. Learn how to ensure your website is professional, easy to navigate, and trustworthy to drive potential customers to your content. Transcript: Anne Ganguzza: Hey, hey, everyone. Welcome to the V.O. Boss podcast and the V.O. Boss Superpower Series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and I have today with me the effervescent, lovely, amazing Lau Lapides.
Lau Lapides: Keep going Annie, keep going. You don't need to stop.
Anne Ganguzza: She
Lau Lapides: Ha ha
Anne Ganguzza: is everything. She is everything, bosses.
Lau Lapides: ha. Aw, thank you.
Anne Ganguzza: And we love her, and we
Lau Lapides: We
Anne Ganguzza: love her.
Lau Lapides: love you too. So awesome to be here, always.
Anne Ganguzza: Well, it's awesome to have you as usual. So
Lau Lapides: Thank you.
Anne Ganguzza: today, or I shouldn't say today, but this week, Law, I had a very exciting thing happen to me. I got an email from a potential client that said they had been researching quietly in the background, looking for a new voice for their brand. And they found me. And they listened to my d- demos. They found me like on a Google search and found my website and listened to my demos. And then apparently narrowed down that search to about, I don't know, a handful of people. And they said that they would like me to audition for this very cool possibility for a major brand. And I was so ecstatic because... I didn't do a thing. Like they found me. They found me on a Google search and they found my website and they were able to listen to my demos and they were able to assess, right, my voice, obviously, and decide yes, she's going on a short list. All because I had a really great website that had things laid out easily, easy to find my demos, easily played. and easy to contact me. And so I thought it was important. I thought it would be an important topic to discuss websites. And I know I talk about it incessantly, but I thought let's dedicate an entire episode to websites and how they are so important to your business bosses.
Lau Lapides: Oh, that's so fabulous. I'm so happy for you.
Anne Ganguzza: Thank
Lau Lapides: Congratulations.
Anne Ganguzza: you. Yay, thank you.
Lau Lapides: Big yay. I love that you got my jazz hands. Whoo.
Anne Ganguzza: Thank
Lau Lapides: It's really
Anne Ganguzza: you.
Lau Lapides: awesome. I do have to qualify one thing you said for
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: the listeners and that you said you did nothing.
Anne Ganguzza: Oh, well.
Lau Lapides: You actually have 25 years behind you that
Anne Ganguzza: You're right.
Lau Lapides: led up to that moment that made that prospect. clients life really fast and easy
Anne Ganguzza: Yes.
Lau Lapides: so that they didn't move on to the next person.
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: So I just wanted to catch you on
Anne Ganguzza: Thank
Lau Lapides: that because
Anne Ganguzza: you, thank you
Lau Lapides: you're
Anne Ganguzza: for
Lau Lapides: so
Anne Ganguzza: that.
Lau Lapides: used to
Anne Ganguzza: Yes,
Lau Lapides: being fabulous
Anne Ganguzza: I know.
Lau Lapides: that you think you're doing nothing when really you've done all the work leading
Anne Ganguzza: Well,
Lau Lapides: up to that moment.
Anne Ganguzza: and I'll
Lau Lapides: Right?
Anne Ganguzza: tell you, and I did do the work on my website, my storefront that made that available, right? I'm always saying that you can have the best voice in the world, but it doesn't do you any good if people don't know about you. And one of the easiest
Lau Lapides: That's right.
Anne Ganguzza: and quickest ways that people can find out information about you and your product and contact you is that website. And so many people put that website on the back burner. Or they're like, I don't have the money to invest. Guys, I'm here to tell you, you have to do that. If you are a business in 2023 or for the past 10 years, if you've been a business, you really need to have that storefront. You need to have that website. It is critical. And I always tell people, don't skimp on it. We talk about investing in our business all the time. And it is one area I think you need to invest. And I've invested over the years, thousands of dollars. I don't want to say that it's super, super expensive. It can be. I'm a big believer in presentation. Really matters. Presentation matters. And so yes, can you do your own website? Sure. Are you a website designer by trade? Maybe not. So I tend to. try to make it as presentable and as professional as possible so that it really makes an impression.
Lau Lapides: Yeah, it pops. Yours always pops and it just comes right out at you. So I'm not surprised that you have this huge brand that's looking at you now because you look like a huge brand. You have to you have to
Anne Ganguzza: Mm.
Lau Lapides: project exactly
Anne Ganguzza: Yes.
Lau Lapides: the karma and the boomerang that you want to get back. You have to really be honest about that. And when someone says what you just said, Annie, like, oh, I don't have the money for that. Well, make the money. Go
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: go
Anne Ganguzza: Oh,
Lau Lapides: do
Anne Ganguzza: please.
Lau Lapides: whatever you need. Wash cars. take care of puppies and
Anne Ganguzza: Yes,
Lau Lapides: flip pancakes
Anne Ganguzza: yes,
Lau Lapides: to make the money
Anne Ganguzza: wash
Lau Lapides: so that you
Anne Ganguzza: cars,
Lau Lapides: look
Anne Ganguzza: clean
Lau Lapides: like
Anne Ganguzza: houses,
Lau Lapides: that.
Anne Ganguzza: do whatever you gotta
Lau Lapides: Whatever,
Anne Ganguzza: do, but get
Lau Lapides: we all
Anne Ganguzza: that
Lau Lapides: did
Anne Ganguzza: money,
Lau Lapides: it. Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza: right? Yes, exactly, and I love that you said that because again, we all did that, right? I mean,
Lau Lapides: We all did that.
Anne Ganguzza: you'd be amazed at what I do for money, but that's another topic. But,
Lau Lapides: By
Anne Ganguzza: but.
Lau Lapides: the way, websites are cheaper and quicker and
Anne Ganguzza: Hmm
Lau Lapides: easier to create now than ever.
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: I remember the days
Anne Ganguzza: and
Lau Lapides: where it would take $10,000,
Anne Ganguzza: yeah
Lau Lapides: $15,000
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: to make a website.
Anne Ganguzza: and well, and I'm gonna mention this I'm gonna qualify this because I have a website that's very functional Okay, I have multiple websites number one I don't think you need to be held to just one website. Although, you know for my voiceover, right? I've got one website, but remember I've got multiple multiple divisions of my business, right? I've got the VO Boss, that's a completely different brand. I've got the VO Peeps, that's a different brand. I've got Nganguza Coaching, that's a different brand. I've got my Studio Cats, that's a different brand. So literally, for each of my brands, I have a separate website. And I, for, depending on what you wanna do with that website, especially because I sell products, I sell physical products, I sell digital products, I sell memberships. And so because of the extensive selling that I do on my website, and I think, hey, every VO needs to be able to sell on their website. You have to make it easy for people to pay you, right? Who wants to step through hoops to make a payment? I mean,
Lau Lapides: No
Anne Ganguzza: just
Lau Lapides: friction.
Anne Ganguzza: click, click and pay. Yeah, and same thing with all aspects of your website, right? People should be able to find what they need and buy as quick as possible. Right?
Lau Lapides: Yes.
Anne Ganguzza: So my websites, and you know you were talking about, they used to cost a whole lot more money. You're right. Any voice actor can get a one page website, and I'm gonna talk a little bit more about that
Lau Lapides: Hmm.
Anne Ganguzza: a little later, but for not a tremendous amount of money. And I think there are templates out there that can make it look very professional. Lots of great people out there as well. For my websites, because of the extensive functionality, I have memberships, I have multiple ways to pay me, I have calendar appointments, scheduling going on, then that's gonna cost you a little bit more on the back end, but again, it is an investment in your business.
Lau Lapides: Mm hmm. Yes. And I want to caution listeners, too, that as much as you want one and need one and eventually will have one, if not more than one, be careful of doing it prematurely. Because I know,
Anne Ganguzza: Mm.
Lau Lapides: Annie, you go through this. I go through this as on the coaching end. that will get a lot of newbie starters, like within the first month or
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: two, they're just literally investigating VO, they're just starting training, and already they're thinking about, oh, I need a website, I need
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: marketing, I need this. I'm like, wait a second, you don't even know if you like it.
Anne Ganguzza: Well,
Lau Lapides: You
Anne Ganguzza: wait,
Lau Lapides: don't even know if you wanna
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: do it yet.
Anne Ganguzza: And wait till you get the product to market first, right? Because the whole idea of a website is that you have, well, I should say the whole idea of a voiceover website is that you have a product that you can market. Well, you want to make sure that you have the product first. That means get your coaching. Get your demo, because the demo's going to showcase that product, right? Make sure that you've got those things in place. But I would say it's never too late to start thinking about your website. Start thinking about a brand. But again, that's something that you'll discover as you go. And so I think a lot of times, if you start too early with that website, your branding is not quite finalized. And then that could be costly for you later on, because you could be thinking, oh, I really like this way to brand me. I'm going to use this tagline, or I'm going to use these colors. And then as you evolve in developing your voiceover product, you might say, oh, well, maybe that doesn't fit me as well as this one does. And then you're going to have to rebrand, and that's going to probably cost you more money. So absolutely start planning for it. But there's lots of development work you can do on the back end before it is out there and present on the web, on the interwebs, where people go to your website and they say, but I don't have, there's no demos. How do I hear you? Right?
Lau Lapides: And be careful too, that once you do this, or at least the beginning stages of doing this, of saying, I see this all the time. Well, I have my website is up and out, I got my demos on there, I've got some training, I'm ready to go. I'm ready for the jobs, where's my work?
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: Be careful of that way of thinking, because on average, a business that's a startup business in any industry, takes a good three to five years to get
Anne Ganguzza: Oh
Lau Lapides: off
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: the ground, it just does.
Anne Ganguzza: Oh yeah.
Lau Lapides: So be careful of this, I'm ready to go. Where's my work kind
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: of mentality? Like you have to work at getting work. You have to earn it. You have
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: to reach out. You have to do the hard work labor of directing traffic to the website.
Anne Ganguzza: Yes,
Lau Lapides: The
Anne Ganguzza: yes.
Lau Lapides: website doesn't necessarily do it for you. You
Anne Ganguzza: Exactly,
Lau Lapides: have to direct
Anne Ganguzza: exactly.
Lau Lapides: people to the website, right? And...
Anne Ganguzza: Exactly. Your content, right, that's out there is what helps to generate the SEO where people are searching for a specific, you know, product or a specific voice that hopefully, you know, it's getting increasingly. difficult that you show up on those pages, right? So if you're not getting good SEO with people finding you through the search engines, you can absolutely put content out there that is of interest to your potential clients. And that can mean social media. You can be entertaining on social media. You can put out blog articles on social media or on your website. You can then drive people to that website so that they can then have access to your demos, to a button where they can click and contact you and say, hey, I have this script, how much would it cost? And of course, I always like to make it easy
Lau Lapides: Right.
Anne Ganguzza: to pay as well. So absolutely driving.
Lau Lapides: I always love to, I'll tell you, speaking as an agent, one of the big things that I'm asked is, how do I deal with driving someone to see my website? I say, easy, give me one link. It should be one link
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: navigation and drive me exactly, point me in exactly what you want me to see.
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: right away. So
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: let's say I'm an agent. I am an agent. I don't want to go through all your pages. I don't want to scroll way down. I don't want to find the
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm,
Lau Lapides: demos.
Anne Ganguzza: mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: For me, it's the commercial demo. Send me exactly to where the commercial demo
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: is. And then
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: if I have time and I want to scroll down, and oftentimes I do, I'll scroll, I'll
Anne Ganguzza: Right.
Lau Lapides: see what it looks like. It's kind of cool. But I'm not frustrated trying to find that particular item that I'm looking for. So really point. the people that you're driving in exactly
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: where they need to go so they're not kind of looking around figuring
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: it out, having trouble with navigation.
Anne Ganguzza: yeah. Having trouble with navigation. Yeah, that's a big plus, is to be able to have concise information quickly available to the shopper. Now, I always make this comparison that when I shop online, and I love to shop online, I'm a shopper, okay?
Lau Lapides: You're a shopaholic.
Anne Ganguzza: So the free I kind of am so the first thing I do think about when you shop online, right? What is it that makes you click and buy right
Lau Lapides: Mmm,
Anne Ganguzza: number one?
Lau Lapides: I
Anne Ganguzza: It
Lau Lapides: like
Anne Ganguzza: has
Lau Lapides: that.
Anne Ganguzza: to be right for me. It has to be a professional looking website It has to really speak to me that this is what okay old Navy sells clothing and accessories And so therefore I was used old Navy, but it could be anything Nordstrom rag It could be all of my favorite places,
Lau Lapides: Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza: right? They have to absolutely when I get to that first page have to look professional. They can't be, you know, they have to be with the
Lau Lapides: Right.
Anne Ganguzza: current, they kind of have to be current trends, you know. It can't be like anything screaming, you know, blinking graphics like from the 90s or, you know, when websites were first made. It can't just be one big long, long page. It has to look professional. I have to be able to access the products that I want right away. I need to be able to find out information right away and I need to be able to maybe read, get more information, or look at pictures of it.
Lau Lapides: Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza: And so for a voiceover, I listen to demos, listen to samples, maybe watch videos. And then I need to be able to do, OK, if I have questions, how am I going to get those questions answered? Is there an FAQ? Is there somebody I can contact that I can talk to? Is there a phone number, believe it or not? There are people who still like to talk on the phone, just saying. You know, I like to talk on the phone. When I need to find out information, like I literally. I bought a pair of glasses, there's a big surprise, and I needed to return them so that I could get a new pair of lenses, and I went to the website, they're like, well, we're sorry, we don't make those anymore, right? So you're gonna have to pick out new lenses, or you're gonna have to pick out new glasses, and I'm like, wait a minute, okay, now this is getting complex. So I literally was like, where's the phone number, right? So I got the phone number, I called customer service. So. Things like that, right? So for me, when I buy, what's important for you when you buy, when you go to a website? It looks professional, it's trustworthy, I feel as though I could put my credit card information in there and it wouldn't be stolen or compromised. And so you have to work on creating a business storefront on that website that is trustworthy, professional. and just easy to access and navigate.
Lau Lapides: I love that word easy. Easy is the word we wanna keep in mind because as creatives, we wanna go into a lot of content, a lot of information, a lot of different directions because it's a nature of a lot of what we do, but yet the audience does not want that. The audience wants super quick, 10 second, find what I need, look it over fast,
Anne Ganguzza: Or
Lau Lapides: or,
Anne Ganguzza: after that, if they
Lau Lapides: or.
Anne Ganguzza: want to find out more information, like how experienced are they? How have they been doing this a long time? Now I'm gonna ask you a lot as an agent, and for me also for casting people, a lot of times I will go to their website because it tells me a bunch about their brand. Just like when I research companies, when I'm researching companies so that I can voice their brand more effectively, I look at what is their website saying to me? What is their brand? Who is their audience? Do you, when it comes time to deciding who you might want to put on your roster, let's say, okay, you hear the commercial demo, but don't you also, if you've got, maybe you've got a similar voice, or maybe you're trying to find out if they have versatility in maybe another area, do you not continue to go through their website and or even their social media, right? I think your social media links got to be on there as well to kind of find out more about the person because before I let you speak, we always buy from people we know, like and trust. And that website is going to be the storefront of that in providing that information.
Lau Lapides: Yes, I would say yes, and yes, and be
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: careful. Anything that's leading you to anything else, you've got the tentacles out there. So whatever you put on your website may lead you to other places,
Anne Ganguzza: Sure.
Lau Lapides: whether they're socials or articles or stories, whatever. I would just be careful. Just go through all of that. So play the role of someone who is landing on you and maybe looking at you for a job. Just put yourself
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: in their shoes and say, okay. Joe Smith, great. Let me go and investigate Joe Smith because
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: maybe I want to represent them. What are all the places that I'm led to?
Anne Ganguzza: Sure.
Lau Lapides: And are they good places? Are they
Anne Ganguzza: Sure,
Lau Lapides: not
Anne Ganguzza: absolutely.
Lau Lapides: good places? How do they represent you? Like, you have to be really careful about that. The panel that I was on at the conference that we just attended, one of the agents brought up, one of the casting brought up, you know, be careful of what's on your social media.
Anne Ganguzza: Oh, gosh
Lau Lapides: Be very
Anne Ganguzza: yes.
Lau Lapides: careful,
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: right? You may need a You may need, well, you can control that yourself, but you may need a reputation defender type
Anne Ganguzza: Absolutely,
Lau Lapides: of a service
Anne Ganguzza: absolutely.
Lau Lapides: to wipe out all your crap that you've done for 10 years, pay
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: him a thousand bucks or whatever it is, and clean your slate. Just like you and
Anne Ganguzza: Well...
Lau Lapides: I clean our closets and our, right? Clean your online
Anne Ganguzza: Wait,
Lau Lapides: slate, right?
Anne Ganguzza: we are, look, we are celebrities, okay? I'm just saying, right? First of all, I'm manifesting, I'm manifesting. We are celebrities, right? We are
Lau Lapides: Yes.
Anne Ganguzza: celebrities. And how many celebrities do you know have tarnished their brand, right, by something they've said or something that's gotten out on social media, right, that wasn't appropriate, okay? And so when a brand is going to hire you, a company's going to hire you to represent them, That is of concern to them, right? They don't wanna
Lau Lapides: Yes.
Anne Ganguzza: be hiring people that are talking, talking badly or poorly
Lau Lapides: Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza: on social media or representing themselves poorly because then it's gonna represent the brand poorly. So it starts with your website, because again, if people don't know how to hire you, if they can't find you
Lau Lapides: Yep.
Anne Ganguzza: and they don't know, it's never going to happen. So that website is... a very, very worthwhile investment. And I'm gonna say, I wouldn't go for the cheapest website developer out there. I just wouldn't. There are some reasonably priced websites that you can, and so I guess the question to me would be, okay, is it good enough?
Lau Lapides: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Anne Ganguzza: Well, okay, so for me, right, I don't know. Look at my websites. I spend the money. And I'm just saying, I'm not saying that my websites are the. well, I'm very proud of my websites. I made sure, it took me a long time to find my website designer, and I make sure that I'm refreshing, and I'm trying to update them, so that it is a professional-looking website, and I constantly get complimented on it. And I'm thinking to myself, well, I think that's wonderful, but you could have it too, right? It really comes down to
Lau Lapides: Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza: researching. you know, a good website designer, understanding who you are, what your brand is, what you want to put out there, right, in your storefront. And that requires a lot of work, guys. It's not a, oh, let's do this overnight. Let's get this, and let's just write a quick paragraph bio.
Lau Lapides: No.
Anne Ganguzza: No, this is something that really has to evolve. And like I said, if you can plan and you can start that planning sooner, I would recommend that, right? Because there's a lot of thought that goes into how you present yourself.
Lau Lapides: Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza: And again, I am that type, I will spend the money, I will make the investment to present myself in the very best light possible, right? I wanna be better than every other website out there because I want there to be that little something that people say, you know what, I just, I'm gonna go with her. And again, I cannot tell you how many people who have found me on my website and said, wow, you are so impressed, and they go on about, you are so impressed, and I'm thinking to myself, okay, I'm in. And you know, I've been doing this for a while, thank you. And but in my head, I'm going, okay, but they're going on about it because of the presence, right, that I project. And every one of you can project that presence and manifest that celebrity, right, on your website, because that is going to make such a statement about who you are and what kind of work you're going to be doing for that company. And of course, I am a celebrity, so I manifest it. I'm just saying,
Lau Lapides: I'm all
Anne Ganguzza: right?
Lau Lapides: over that.
Anne Ganguzza: Right,
Lau Lapides: And
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: I do think there is something to you get what you pay for.
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: I think,
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: you know, but be careful in
Anne Ganguzza: Yes.
Lau Lapides: who you pay and who you entrust. Like you really have to look at their work, look at their portfolio, see
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: if they're someone that you want to trust with your brand and are they capable? Are they competent? Are they fast, the designer? Are they someone who's gonna stay with you? Or are they just wham bam, done, here, pay
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: me, I'm gone and you never
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: find them again? I would suggest you go with someone who, to some degree, can help you manage it, even though
Anne Ganguzza: Yes,
Lau Lapides: you're gonna manage
Anne Ganguzza: I
Lau Lapides: your
Anne Ganguzza: agree.
Lau Lapides: own site. You
Anne Ganguzza: I agree.
Lau Lapides: do need an assistant
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: manager, someone who you can connect with, who has that artist mentality and say,
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: yeah, I'm gonna be available to you for help with plugins or help with the backend
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm,
Lau Lapides: or
Anne Ganguzza: mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: help with stuff that you're just not. capable or competent to do. I also wanted to make mention to any that in regards to like your different websites Be
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: be aware that if you're doing more than one website or even on your one website Don't confuse us that you're in different careers
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: different vocations So what you're talking about is all under the umbrella of your company.
Anne Ganguzza: A voiceover.
Lau Lapides: It all
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: works hand-in-hand It all is services that make sense to being a voiceover coach and on
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: and on. But don't tell me you're a nurse, don't tell
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: me you're a
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: landscaper, and
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm,
Lau Lapides: be careful
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: of talking about your bartending site.
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: Because that
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: side hustles that are quiet and
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: underground and for you to have. And I see that a lot with talent actually. Sometimes on the same website, they'll be telling me something that confuses me. Like, I'm like, hmm, are they career? Is this
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: something
Anne Ganguzza: Is this
Lau Lapides: that
Anne Ganguzza: their
Lau Lapides: they're
Anne Ganguzza: full
Lau Lapides: serious
Anne Ganguzza: time?
Lau Lapides: about?
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah, exactly. That's
Lau Lapides: Right?
Anne Ganguzza: a really wonderful point. Yeah. So you want to make it, you want to make it, you know, that this is your... professional, this is your vocation, this is what you do. Even if you're doing it part time, right? You don't necessarily have to mention that you're doing it part time, but what you showcase to the world is that you are a professional and that you can turn things around within a certain amount of time and that there is no question about that, right? So
Lau Lapides: Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza: if you're going to put content on your website that makes us question that, then I might go to another talent. Now, if I had to choose, right? from one talent and I like their voices and I'm like, oh, I like, I love this voice and I love this voice. What's the next thing you're gonna do? Law, look at social media, look at websites, see what they've done before, right? Do they
Lau Lapides: Yep.
Anne Ganguzza: have other experience that might be, especially if you don't know, right? When I don't know a product and I've never purchased from a store before, I'm looking at testimonials. I am looking at reviews. And of course, that's something that I think is super helpful to have on your website, right? Testimonials, reviews, you know, of your work, because how do I trust, right? And not just reviews on the website. Oh, I think that's a great place to start, because I think a lot of people can actually, you know, put reviews and make them up. But I certainly don't. I don't, but I'm a testimonial. I don't even know what the word is for it, but I am constantly asking for testimonials. But not just putting it on my website, but putting them in blog articles, putting them out there on social media so that they kind of just become all over the place where it becomes a good word of mouth. And also I want to back that up, right, with performance so that people are actually talking about me. And talking about me, that's probably the best, I think one of the best things. that you can do for your career is get people talking about you in a good way, of course.
Lau Lapides: Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza: And talking about, God, she's so talented, or I love her voice, she just executed for me and I would hire her again and again and again. And that is people talking, right? In groups and forums, you know, good word of mouth, I'm going to say word of mouth. But to get to the word of mouth, people have to know you, right? And so you have to put yourself out there. first and foremost on a website, right? And then social media, and then back that up with good performance, with reliable, solid work. And then, then after a certain amount of time, hopefully people start talking about you, right? And then that becomes one of the best referrals and best ways of getting the gig ever.
Lau Lapides: I love that. I love that. I mean, as an agent, the first thing I'm going to go to
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: on your website are jobs.
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm,
Lau Lapides: So
Anne Ganguzza: mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: if I see visuals, I'll always go to the visuals first. Actually, before your
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: demo, sometimes I'm a very visual person. So if I see videos, I'm going to run on the assumption those are actual jobs of some kind. I'm going to poke on one or two videos and see if they look like they're professionally produced.
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: If they do, then I'm like, oh, this guy, he's selling to you. OK, all right, perfect. Then I
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: kind of listen to the demo, but I already know. He's a top pro, he's already
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: in the
Anne Ganguzza: yeah,
Lau Lapides: market, on the national market, and he's
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: doing stuff. I just think that's the nature of what we do, moving fast,
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: working at a business level, and working with top notch
Anne Ganguzza: And visuals.
Lau Lapides: customers and clients, and visuals, yes,
Anne Ganguzza: I love that you said
Lau Lapides: visuals
Anne Ganguzza: visuals because,
Lau Lapides: are really important. Cleanliness,
Anne Ganguzza: yeah, yes.
Lau Lapides: space, structure. A lot of times I'll see the designer put the content in, but it looks messy. It looks...
Anne Ganguzza: Mm.
Lau Lapides: it looks like it's not formatted well, it looks like it's hard to read,
Anne Ganguzza: Mm.
Lau Lapides: the font is too small or the colors are wrong. Things like that sort of get in the way of the messaging. So
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: I think one of the more important things is, yes, visuals, but keep it clean, keep it fresh, keep it streamlined, keep it open, keep it easy to read.
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: Above the fold is good. It doesn't mean I won't scroll, I'll scroll, but keep the most important stuff. boom
Anne Ganguzza: above
Lau Lapides: when I
Anne Ganguzza: the
Lau Lapides: land
Anne Ganguzza: fold.
Lau Lapides: on it, it's right there. Your Toyota commercial is right there.
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm,
Lau Lapides: I
Anne Ganguzza: mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: don't have to look for it, you
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: know?
Anne Ganguzza: And again, I like the, like you said, visual. I think visual is so important these days, because again, most of
Lau Lapides: Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza: us have less than a seven second attention span, and that
Lau Lapides: Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza: includes people who are looking for people to hire. And so if you can put the most important stuff above the fold, make it visual. If you just have commercial demo and it's a one, gosh, I'm a big fan of breaking up your demos into each spot and then labeling those spots with, let's say, Ford F-150,
Lau Lapides: Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza: powerful, motivational, that kind of thing. Hogue Hospital, compassionate, warm. So putting those descriptors on the individual spots as well, because people don't click to listen. Sometimes we're not in a spot where we can listen, although you hope that people that are hiring you are going to be listening. But sometimes visually, right? Or they'll see a video of a Ford commercial that you did. And so that alone, and then they'll click and go to the YouTube of it, right? And then maybe on your YouTube channel, you'll have a playlist of all of the work that you've completed. So that kind of just helps and lends itself to your professional credibility. And visual, visual. And
Lau Lapides: Peace
Anne Ganguzza: again,
Lau Lapides: out.
Anne Ganguzza: visual, not just in visual videos, but also visual words saying, Ford F-150. They know, oh, she does automotive, right? Or a Hogue hospital, oh, she does health care. Or, you know, I don't know, Dominion Energy. You know, oh, there's an energy spot. I'm an energy company, so I'm gonna click and listen to that spot. Or
Lau Lapides: Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza: fast food, right? So people can just get to what they need to quicker, and visually it's there, boom, when it shows up. And then also, you've got the media behind it. And absolutely, I'd say, put everything above the fold that's important, and yeah, make it clean. And I'm gonna say that... Oh gosh, you can think that you can do it yourself. I don't know how many people are like, well, I'm just gonna do it myself because I don't have the money. I'm gonna
Lau Lapides: Right.
Anne Ganguzza: do it, I'm gonna make my own website. There's a template, I can, you know, Wix has got time. First of all, I'm just gonna say, like, okay, so if you are a website designer, then I would say yes, go ahead and do it yourself. However, you know, there are people trained, and this is what we talk about all the time, like I am
Lau Lapides: Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza: a trained voice actor, why would you hire someone? that, you know what I mean? I've got
Lau Lapides: Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza: the experience. I'm a
Lau Lapides: Right.
Anne Ganguzza: demo producer. It's what I do eight hours a day. So if you want something, you get what you pay for. If you want something awesome, pay somebody that does it. That's their job. So why do you have to do it yourself? Why?
Lau Lapides: Exactly,
Anne Ganguzza: I mean,
Lau Lapides: exactly.
Anne Ganguzza: yeah, OK, maybe you're proud. I mean, I tried to do mine myself, because I actually did websites a long time back in the day. But I know enough. to be dangerous. And I know that I may know the back end of things, but I am not a graphic designer.
Lau Lapides: Great.
Anne Ganguzza: So if you're not a graphic designer, please don't. Please
Lau Lapides: And I
Anne Ganguzza: don't.
Lau Lapides: would say,
Anne Ganguzza: Do
Lau Lapides: I
Anne Ganguzza: it.
Lau Lapides: know
Anne Ganguzza: I do
Lau Lapides: how to
Anne Ganguzza: it
Lau Lapides: clean my teeth every day. I do it
Anne Ganguzza: every
Lau Lapides: several times a day,
Anne Ganguzza: day.
Lau Lapides: but I'm not a dentist.
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: Do
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: you know what I mean? I know how to figure out if my heartbeat and my respiratory system is moving fast, but I'm not a doctor.
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: So
Anne Ganguzza: yeah,
Lau Lapides: I think understanding
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: the difference between something that's a layman and a practical
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: matter and something that's a professional and a really learned trade are
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: two
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: very
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: different things. I wanted to say too, this is a creative choice. But I see this more and more and I get a lot of questions, should I show my photo? Because gone are the days where, no, you shouldn't show your photo, don't show your photo.
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: Now, a lot of times, companies wanna see who you are. They
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: wanna see what you look
Anne Ganguzza: yeah,
Lau Lapides: like. And
Anne Ganguzza: they
Lau Lapides: they might
Anne Ganguzza: do.
Lau Lapides: even want to reach
Anne Ganguzza: They
Lau Lapides: out to
Anne Ganguzza: do.
Lau Lapides: you for on-camera work as well.
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: So
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: if you're
Anne Ganguzza: And.
Lau Lapides: a voiceover interested in on-camera work, or if you do on-camera work, you really have to have the photos of yourself on
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: that website. You really are the face of your voice.
Anne Ganguzza: Now, even if you're a character, that's my question. Even if you're a character, do you want to, should you show your face?
Lau Lapides: Again, I think it's a creative choice. I don't
Anne Ganguzza: I
Lau Lapides: think
Anne Ganguzza: think
Lau Lapides: it's
Anne Ganguzza: so
Lau Lapides: a
Anne Ganguzza: too.
Lau Lapides: yes or no, do or don't, but I'll tell you, and this is just me, I'm getting sick of avatars.
Anne Ganguzza: Me
Lau Lapides: I'm
Anne Ganguzza: too,
Lau Lapides: getting tired
Anne Ganguzza: me too.
Lau Lapides: of characters
Anne Ganguzza: I'm
Lau Lapides: and
Anne Ganguzza: getting tired of connecting
Lau Lapides: those little
Anne Ganguzza: with
Lau Lapides: animations.
Anne Ganguzza: microphones and
Lau Lapides: I'm tired
Anne Ganguzza: yeah,
Lau Lapides: of
Anne Ganguzza: mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: it. And it's not that you shouldn't do it. You
Anne Ganguzza: Mm-hmm.
Lau Lapides: should do it, especially if you're an animation actor,
Anne Ganguzza: But
Lau Lapides: of course,
Anne Ganguzza: put a picture
Lau Lapides: but
Anne Ganguzza: of yourself with
Lau Lapides: it
Anne Ganguzza: all the
Lau Lapides: doesn't,
Anne Ganguzza: animated characters that you
Lau Lapides: yes.
Anne Ganguzza: do, right?
Lau Lapides: Think about all the top notch A-listers.
Anne Ganguzza: Yes.
Lau Lapides: You see Rob Paulson, you see Debbie Derryberry,
Anne Ganguzza: Yep,
Lau Lapides: you see
Anne Ganguzza: yep,
Lau Lapides: them as
Anne Ganguzza: you see
Lau Lapides: a person
Anne Ganguzza: Christina Milizia,
Lau Lapides: smiling,
Anne Ganguzza: you see Bob Bergen, and you see
Lau Lapides: right?
Anne Ganguzza: them with all
Lau Lapides: Warm,
Anne Ganguzza: the characters they've done.
Lau Lapides: coming out to you, and then
Anne Ganguzza: Yep,
Lau Lapides: you see all the characters they've done.
Anne Ganguzza: yep, absolutely.
Lau Lapides: Because their
Anne Ganguzza: And they're
Lau Lapides: PR,
Anne Ganguzza: gonna do videos.
Lau Lapides: their manager says you need to be seen. This is your name and your
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: brand.
Anne Ganguzza: yeah,
Lau Lapides: So that's all I'll say, it's up to you, but that's
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: all I'll say, you know?
Anne Ganguzza: I am a big believer in that, you know, that
Lau Lapides: Me
Anne Ganguzza: oh, I've
Lau Lapides: too.
Anne Ganguzza: got a face for radio kind of thing.
Lau Lapides: No.
Anne Ganguzza: Gone are those days. People
Lau Lapides: No.
Anne Ganguzza: want to connect with people, guys.
Lau Lapides: Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza: They just do.
Lau Lapides: And the more real you are, the better. I don't think
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: they're looking for a supermodel. They're
Anne Ganguzza: No,
Lau Lapides: not looking
Anne Ganguzza: no.
Lau Lapides: for an untouchable. They're looking for someone who looks like them that's doing incredible and miraculous things.
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: That's what they're looking
Anne Ganguzza: yeah,
Lau Lapides: at, you know. So I think that that's fantastic. And
Anne Ganguzza: yeah.
Lau Lapides: so, you know, your website is you and it's changeable and it's manageable
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah.
Lau Lapides: and you can shift it. It's not written in stone. It's
Anne Ganguzza: Yeah,
Lau Lapides: a work.
Anne Ganguzza: as you
Lau Lapides: It's
Anne Ganguzza: evolve,
Lau Lapides: a work in progress.
Anne Ganguzza: as you evolve, your website evolves. So guys, bosses, get that website. And really, it is an important, really start thinking about it. It is an important part of your business, super important part of your business. So, Law, thank you again for an amazing discussion. I could
Lau Lapides: incredible.
Anne Ganguzza: go on and on and on about websites. But we do want to let you guys listen to our next episode. We're going to have you consume all of our episodes. And so I am going to ask you, bosses, if you have a local nonprofit that's close to your heart, do you ever wish that you could do more to help them? Well, you certainly can. Visit 100VoicesWhoCare.org to learn how. And big shout out to our sponsor, IPDTL. We love them, IPDTL. You too can connect and network like bosses. Find out more at IPDTL.com. Law, I love you.
Lau Lapides: I love
Anne Ganguzza: That's
Lau Lapides: you
Anne Ganguzza: it.
Lau Lapides: too.
Anne Ganguzza: That's
Lau Lapides: I
Anne Ganguzza: all,
Lau Lapides: love
Anne Ganguzza: bosses.
Lau Lapides: everything about you.
Anne Ganguzza: And bosses, we love you too. So we hope you'll join us next week and you guys have an amazing week We'll talk to you soon.
Lau Lapides: Talk
Anne Ganguzza: Bye
Lau Lapides: to you soon.