This was one of my favorite sessions at VOICE 2010, because my good friend Peter O’Connell was on the panel – well, OK, it was filled with great information from the rest of the presenters too.

John Florian kicked it off with some of the top level statistics from the first ever survey of voice talent conducted to find out how voice actors use the internet to enhance their business. Look for detailed results in upcoming columns on VoiceOverXtra.

Peter encouraged us to focus on who we want to find us – and figure out what we want to say to them – and it ISN’T how great we are! We need to identify what sets us apart and tell them what is in it for them. We should all do a SWOT on our careers: Identify our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Doug Turkel came next – he is the UNnouncer. His message was multi-fold (much like his little handouts). First, we need to identify why clients are looking for us – wait, that sounds a bit like some of what Peter said (hmmm). And who do we want to find us (ah, a theme is developing here). We also need to make it EASY for them to find us! He encourages targeting our specific markets by using some of the free tools available – for example, sign up for free trade magazines in industries where you excel – and scour the business journal and business sections of your local paper.

Trish Basanyi (as usual a vision in purple) focused her remarks on social media and how it can be leveraged to get work. Use the import contact features and start connecting with your existing contacts in a more personal way.

David Kaplan calls himself the Voice On The Run and never stops – not even for dinner. While most of us probably couldn’t keep up his pace, he suggested finding the people who want to buy what we have to sell by using such tools as BackStage’s Call Sheet (formerly the Ross Report) to glean contacts. They usually do reports twice a year for voiceover people.