This Date in My History — Sun., Jan. 9, 2000 1:33am

I actually still consider this to be Saturday night even though the clock says differently. It’s a new year, but I still have the old dream!

I mailed CDs and still have not had any calls or reply cards. I’m sure other people were as busy and distracted by Christmas as I was. I was also extremely distracted from my voice-over career by my pursuit of enough cash to order my Camac Clio harp! I finally ordered it on Wed., 12/29! Since then, I have been giving more thought to voice-overs; the last few days have even seen some action.

On Thursday, I bought the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Book of Lists so I could have the current information for my mail-outs. I didn’t know when or if the SCORE office would get it. I hated to pay $35 for it, but it would be worth it if even one job results from it.

Yesterday, Mike Estrada and I went to the Atlanta Public Library at lunch. I found that they have the Georgia Business Directory, so i was pleased to know I will be able to make my own copies rather than wait for the very nice but exceedingly slow gentleman at the SCORE office.

The library had another directory of radio stations not found at SCORE. I plan to go back one day next week and start making some copies.

My biggest endeavor lately has been the design of a postcard that I am going to mail to the top 75 ad agencies and top 20 radio stations as indicated in the Book of Lists. I spent about 5 bucks or so today (Sat.) designing and testing the printing of it. We even found some matte finish postcards at Office Max that will enable me to print the design edge-to-edge. I’m really excited by the design!

Tomorrow, I plan to begin entry for the database, as well as do the layout for the card reverse with my logo and the mail merge fields.

Today’s Take-aways:

1) When starting a business, research your potential customers. The library and organizations like SCORE are a treasure trove of free information. Of course, today Google and LinkedIn searches could turn up countless prospects!

2) There’s more to life than your voice-over business. Spend time doing those other things that are important to you, like playing music.

3) You can start a side business while continuing your present job if you’re willing to press any spare time into service of your dream. I often developed my voice-over business during my lunch breaks at my full-time job at the IRS.

4) You can create professional results in your DIY marketing materials by learning how to use available software and buying quality products.