Frank James Bailey 

Let’s talk travel!

I happen to be a voice actor living in Ohio. And Ohio happens to have a bunch of large to medium size metro cities. There are the obvious big ones – Cleveland, Cincinnati, & Columbus. Most of the cities have a population over 100,000.

Then there are the smaller size big cities. Akron, Canton, Toledo, Dayton and Youngstown. Most of the cities have between 50,000 to over 100,000 population.

Finally here are some cities that I consider metros but are very small by a “metro” standard. Mansfield, Findlay, Springfield, Dublin, and the city I live the closest to…Lima. These are between 40,000 – 60,000.

Ohio happens to have a bunch of nice size cities, where some other US stats don’t. Like West Virginia for example. Ohio has 3 big cities with OVER 100,000 population. WV has NON over 100,000!

Ok, enough of the geography lesion.

The reason I bring all these cities up is because of traveling. I live close to the Lima, OH area (about a 20 minute drive) and I market myself as a voice actor in Lima, OH. But…I don’t want to LIMIT myself to JUST Lima. After all, the big cities in Ohio are Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus! Columbus is about a 2 hour drive, so is Toledo. Dayton and Ft. Wayne, Indiana are about an hour to an hour and ½ away! The big ones, Cleveland and Cincinnati are about 3 – 4 hours away.

My point?

If I want to go to ANY of the BIGGER cities outside Lima, OH I have to drive at least an hour or more!

When I lived in Van Wert, OH - Ft. Wayne, IN was less than ½ hour away. I went to a few Ad Club meetings in Ft. Wayne. I never joined the Ad Club but I did pass my business card to lots of people at these meetings in the hopes that someone would hire me to do a voice over for them. No luck!

I even went to an Ad Club meeting in Toledo…once, for the same reason. To pass out business cards in hopes that someone wants to hire me. Again, nothing.

I know I get to wright off the miles for my taxes but how far do I really want to go for a meeting that might (or might not) lead to a new voice over job? Isn’t it like buying into a voice casting site and NEVER getting a single job off of the site? How far is too far? I was thinking of going to some Chamber Of Commerce meetings in one of the smaller cities around me like Mansfield or Findlay. But how many meetings do I have to go to do get at least 1 job!?? How far do I have to travel? Should I go to a meeting in a bigger city like Cleveland, Columbus or Cincinnati? Are my chances better their?

These Chamber of Commerce and Ad Club meetings are a great way to meet new people. People with companies that might want MY voice for an on-hold message, a commercial or a narration project! But most of these meetings cost between $10 – $30 for NON-members. And besides, how many times do I have to go to a meeting before I finally say to myself…this isn’t worth the travel time!

The good thing is, you only have to make a good impression once to start a good working relationship that might last for years and lead to good money. One good meeting is all it takes!

The bad thing is, you might have to go to a few of these meetings, far away, to get that 1 company that will last a LONG time!

Finally, let me ask you.

How far have you traveled for YOUR voice over business? New York, LA, or down the street from where you live? And…was it worth it?

Let me know your answer here on my blog, on my facebook LIKE page, or Google Plus!

Frank