Stop Selling Yourself on Social Media: What Voice Actors Need to Know About Building Trust
- 2 days ago
- 13 min read
with Tom Dheere
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much social media has changed for voice actors.
Not necessarily because the platforms themselves are completely different, but because the way we use them—and the way the algorithms respond to us—has become much more obvious. I noticed it recently in my own feed. I love fashion, and I spend a fair amount of time looking at fashion content, saving outfits, and generally playing what I jokingly call “paper dolls with my body.” Suddenly, my feed was filled with fashion. I was seeing less and less voiceover content because the platform had learned what I was interested in.
That got me thinking about what this means for voice actors who are trying to use social media to grow their businesses. We talk about algorithms constantly, but are we actually thinking about what we're teaching those algorithms? More importantly, are we creating content that gives another human being a reason to stop scrolling and pay attention to us?
That was one of the questions I wanted to explore with Tom Dheere in this episode of the VO BOSS Podcast and the Real Boss series. Tom has a particularly practical way of looking at the business side of voiceover, and this conversation quickly moved beyond the usual advice about “posting consistently” or “making more reels.” We started talking about what social media is actually supposed to accomplish for a voice actor.
And I think the answer may be different than many people expect.
Listen to the full conversation to hear Jim share the experiences behind these lessons—from overcoming stage fright and developing his improv skills to building a remarkably versatile and enduring career.
Listen to the Full Episode
You can listen to the full podcast episode right here before diving into the summaries and takeaways.
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For an even deeper dive into the conversation, you can view the full episode below. Don't forget to subscribe to the VO Boss YouTube channel for more exclusive content and expert advice!
Social Media Isn't Your Digital Business Card
One of the first things Tom pointed out is that there are really two different sides to social media. There's what we're consuming, which teaches the platform what we're interested in, and there's what we're creating, which gives the platform information about the kinds of people who might be interested in us.
That sounds simple, but it has a pretty significant implication for voice actors.
If the majority of what you're posting is “I'm available for work,” “Here's my demo,” or “I just booked this job,” you're not giving people much to engage with. You're essentially treating social media like a digital business card and hoping someone happens to pick it up.
But most people aren't going onto Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or LinkedIn thinking, “I wonder which voice actor I should hire today.”
They're there for something else.
They want to be entertained. They want to learn something. They want to be surprised. They want to follow an interesting person. They want to see something that makes them laugh or think or feel something.
So instead of asking, “How can I get someone to hire me?” I think a better question is, “What can I give someone that makes them want to keep watching me?”
That distinction is incredibly important.
Listen to the full VO BOSS Podcast episode with Tom Dheere to hear our complete conversation about social media, algorithms, vulnerability, and building a voiceover career.
Give People a Reason to Remember You
Tom made a point that I think every voice actor should really sit with: the vast majority of voice seekers aren't spending their day watching voice actors' social media content.
They're working.
They're posting their own content, managing projects, casting talent, running businesses, and doing all the other things that come with their jobs. So the idea that a casting director is scrolling through Instagram and suddenly sees your brilliant voiceover reel and says, “That's my next talent!” isn't necessarily how this works.
That doesn't mean social media is useless. It means we need to understand what we're actually building.
One of the examples we discussed was Hunter Peterson, a voice actor who made headlines because he proposed buying Spirit Airlines. Obviously, that story had nothing to do with booking a voiceover.
But it got attention.
People became curious about Hunter. They saw the story, then they wanted to know more about him. And eventually they discovered that he was a voice actor.
That's a completely different path to visibility.
You're not standing in front of someone saying, “I'm a voice actor. Please hire me.” You're giving them something interesting enough that they want to know who you are. Once they know who you are, they may discover what you do.
I've seen this happen in different ways over and over again. Sometimes the thing that attracts people to you has very little to do with your actual service. That's okay. In fact, it can be an advantage because people aren't encountering you as an advertisement.
They're encountering you as a person.
Your Passion Can Be Part of Your Marketing
This is also why I don't think every piece of content a voice actor creates needs to be about voiceover.
Tom and I talked about voice actor Stefan Johnson, who has built a following around food. He's entertaining, he's funny, and he's clearly passionate about what he's doing. He doesn't have to constantly remind people that he's a voice actor. You hear his voice, you get his personality, and you start to remember him.
That's marketing.
It's just not the kind of marketing many voice actors initially recognize as marketing.
The same thing can happen with almost anything you're genuinely interested in. Maybe you love sports. Maybe you're obsessed with cars, cooking, books, fashion, travel, history, fitness, or some wonderfully obscure hobby that nobody else understands. If you can create something interesting around that passion, you're giving people another reason to spend time with you.
And that matters because people don't only remember voices.
They remember personalities.
They remember the person who made them laugh. They remember the person who taught them something. They remember the person whose videos always seemed to show up when they needed a little entertainmentucation
Eventually, that familiarity can become incredibly valuable when someone needs a voice.
One of Tom's Best Social Media Lessons Came From Failing
Probably my favorite story from our conversation was Tom's 50-video experiment.
He created 50 short YouTube videos based on sports quotes. Each one took a quote and connected it to voiceover, freelancing, or entrepreneurship. He planned the campaign, filmed all of the videos, scheduled them, and then promoted them across different social platforms.
It didn't work.
As Tom put it, it was a disaster.
The videos didn't get the attention he expected, and the strategy of pushing people from one platform to another wasn't effective. The social platforms didn't particularly appreciate him trying to take their audience somewhere else, either.
Now, he could have simply decided the campaign failed and moved on.
Instead, he wrote about it.
He explained what he had done, why he thought it would work, what actually happened, and what he learned from the experience. He then turned that experience into a LinkedIn post.
That post received nearly 20,000 impressions.
There's something very interesting about that.
The original content was supposed to demonstrate Tom's expertise. The thing that ultimately performed much better was Tom admitting that he had screwed up.
That's not an accident.
People relate to mistakes because they've made them too.
Tom told me that when he looks at his most successful blog posts over the years, many of them aren't the ones where he's presenting himself as the expert who has everything figured out. They're the ones where he's saying, essentially, “I tried this. It didn't work. Here's what happened.”
That kind of honesty creates a different kind of authority.
You're not saying, “Look how successful I am.”
You're saying, “I've been through this. Here's what I learned.”
And that is useful.
Vulnerability Isn't Weakness
I think voice actors sometimes get nervous about showing too much of themselves online. There's a fear that we have to look polished, successful, booked, and confident all the time.
But some of the most engaging content I've ever seen—and some of the content I've created myself that has gotten the strongest response—has come from moments when I've been willing to show something less polished.
Tom and I talked about bloopers, mistakes, failures, and personal experiences because those are often the moments when people recognize themselves in us.
It's one reason I think vulnerability can be such a powerful teaching tool.
You don't have to manufacture drama or share things that are deeply personal. You don't have to turn your social media into a diary. But if you made a mistake, learned something the hard way, struggled with something, or discovered a better way of doing something, there's a good chance somebody else is struggling with that same thing.
Share what you learned.
You may be surprised by how much people appreciate it.
“Charming the Humans While Feeding the Robots”
Tom used a phrase during our conversation that I absolutely loved: “charming the humans while feeding the robots.”
That really captures the challenge of social media today.
There are algorithms deciding what content gets shown to people, but there are also actual humans deciding whether your content is worth watching, sharing, commenting on, or remembering.
You have to pay attention to both.
Tom also made the connection between social media and the larger search ecosystem. Your online content doesn't exist in isolation. Search engines and AI systems are increasingly trying to understand who people are, what they know, what subjects they're associated with, and whether they're a credible source of information.
That's where Tom's discussion of E-E-A-T came in: Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust.
I think those are useful questions to keep in the back of your mind when you're creating content. You don't need to turn every Instagram post into an SEO exercise, and you certainly don't need to force keywords into everything you say. But it is worth asking yourself whether your overall body of content demonstrates that you've actually done the thing you're talking about, learned from it, and have something useful to contribute.
That is much more powerful than simply telling everyone how good you are.
Remember That Your Comments Are Content Too
There's another part of social media that voice actors sometimes forget: your comments are part of your professional presence.
Tom and I talked about how easily a comment can turn into an argument, particularly in voiceover groups. You may think you're simply defending your opinion or correcting misinformation, but suddenly you're ten comments deep in an argument with someone you've never met.
And now there's a record of that interaction attached to your name.
My advice has always been to ask whether you're actually contributing something useful. Can you encourage someone? Can you add information? Can you continue the conversation in a constructive way?
If the answer is no, you don't have to participate.
There is tremendous value in knowing when to walk away.
Potential clients may never comment on your social media. They may never like your posts. But that doesn't mean they're not looking. Someone may eventually search your name before hiring you, and what they find can tell them quite a bit about how you conduct yourself professionally.
Your reputation isn't just what you say about yourself.
It's also what you say about everyone else.
Your Fellow Voice Actors May Be More Important Than You Think
One of the other pieces of Tom's story that really stood out to me was his data on where his work originates.
Tom tracks his business very carefully. He doesn't just track what kind of work he books or where it comes from; he also tracks how he discovered the opportunity in the first place.
He found that a significant portion of his voiceover revenue could be traced back to another voice actor.
Think about that for a moment.
The person you consider your competition might be the person who recommends you for your next job.
That's one of the reasons I don't like the idea that voice actors should completely disregard their peers because “casting directors are the only people who matter.” Your community matters. Your colleagues matter. The people you meet at conferences, interact with online, collaborate with, and support throughout your career can become an important part of your professional network.
And this brings us right back to social media.
If you consistently show up as someone who contributes, encourages, shares information, and treats other people well, you're building a reputation within that community.
That reputation can travel much further than a single post.
The Goal Isn't to Sell Yourself Every Time You Post
By the end of our conversation, I kept coming back to one idea: social media doesn't have to be about selling yourself.
It can be about becoming memorable.
That might mean someone sees a video you made about something you're passionate about. Maybe they laugh at something you posted. Maybe they learn a technique from you. Maybe they read about a mistake you made and avoid making the same one themselves.
They may not need a voice actor that day.
But six months from now, they might.
And if you've been consistently showing up as someone they know, like, and trust, you're no longer a stranger appearing in their inbox.
You're Anne.
You're Tom.
You're the person they've been seeing and hearing for months.
That's a very different position to be in.
Social media is going to continue changing. The algorithms will change, platforms will come and go, and the kind of content that works today may look completely different next year. But I don't think the human part of this equation is going away.
People still want to be entertained.
They still want to learn.
They still want to work with people they trust.
And they still remember people who make them feel something.
So yes, understand the algorithms. Pay attention to what you're consuming and what you're creating. Think about search, discoverability, and the kind of information you're putting into the world.
But don't forget the human being on the other side of the screen.
Don't just try to get seen. Give people a reason to remember you.
Tom and I went much deeper into this conversation, including his 50-video social media experiment, why failure became some of his best content, how your fellow voice actors can contribute to your career, and what E-E-A-T really means when you're building your online presence.
Those stories are worth hearing in the full episode.
Podcast Chapters
00:00 – Welcome to the Real Boss Series with Tom DheereAnne and Tom introduce the conversation and discuss how Anne's fashion interests have changed what she sees in her social media feed.
01:10 – How Social Media Algorithms Learn Your InterestsWhy the content you consume influences what platforms continue showing you—and what that means for voice actors.
02:40 – What Voice Actors Should Be Posting on Social MediaTom breaks down the two sides of social media: what you consume and what you create.
04:06 – Why Video Continues to Matter for Voice ActorsAnne and Tom discuss video content, engagement, and creating content people actually find useful.
05:26 – The Two Audiences Voice Actors Need to UnderstandWhy different voiceover genres may require different approaches to social media and why voice seekers aren't necessarily watching your content.
07:15 – “Charming the Humans While Feeding the Robots”Tom introduces one of the central ideas of the conversation: balancing human engagement with algorithmic visibility.
09:37 – Expertise, Experience, Authority, and TrustHow E-E-A-T can help voice actors think more strategically about the content they publish.
11:08 – Stop Making Social Media a Hard SellWhy “I'm looking for work” and constant self-promotion can work against you.
12:06 – Your Comments Are Part of Your Professional ReputationHow interactions, arguments, and behavior inside social media groups can affect how people perceive you.
14:47 – Tom's Failed 50-Video Social Media CampaignTom shares the experiment that didn't work—and how turning the failure into content produced a much better result.
18:07 – Understanding Impressions and Social Media ReachTom explains how LinkedIn impressions can expand the audience beyond your immediate connections.
19:44 – Why Vulnerability Creates Better ContentTom discusses his most successful blog posts and why people respond to mistakes, honesty, and lessons learned.
22:30 – You Don't Have to Be an Expert to Have Something to SayHow sharing your own journey can become useful content even when you don't feel like you have anything important to contribute.
24:19 – Why Other Voice Actors Matter to Your CareerTom shares data from his business tracking and explains how fellow voice actors have contributed to his opportunities.
26:14 – Treat Your Social Media Like Your Voiceover PerformanceWhy being friendly, conversational, authentic, and helpful applies both on the microphone and online.
27:50 – Your Passion Can Become Your MarketingAnne and Tom explore how hobbies and interests can attract people who eventually discover your voiceover work.
28:25 – Know, Like, and Trust: Becoming MemorableWhy social media can be more effective when the goal is familiarity rather than a direct sale.
29:07 – Social Media Is Changing, So Your Strategy Has to Change TooAnne and Tom discuss the increasingly visible role of algorithms and why voice actors need to pay attention.
30:30 – The E-E-A-T Takeaway for Voice ActorsTom breaks down Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trust as a framework for social media content.
31:12 – Closing Thoughts and IPDTL
Top 10 Lessons From This Episode
1. Social media is not your digital business card.
Simply announcing that you're a voice actor doesn't give people much reason to pay attention. Give them something useful, entertaining, interesting, or memorable instead.
2. Your audience may find you because of something completely unrelated to voiceover.
A passion, hobby, personality trait, or unusual interest can become the doorway through which someone discovers your voiceover work.
3. A failed experiment can become successful content.
Tom's 50-video campaign didn't produce the results he expected, but sharing what went wrong created a much stronger piece of content.
4. Vulnerability can demonstrate authority.
Talking honestly about mistakes doesn't necessarily weaken your professional image. When you explain what you learned, it can demonstrate experience and credibility.
5. Different voiceover genres may require different social strategies.
Tom's example of audiobook narration shows why understanding where your potential buyers spend time matters.
6. Don't assume going viral means you've built a business.
A large number of views can create awareness, but attention only becomes useful when people have a reason to remember you and understand what you offer.
7. Your comments are part of your brand.
The way you behave on someone else's post can tell potential clients just as much about you as the content you publish yourself.
8. Your fellow voice actors aren't simply your competition.
Tom's tracking shows how much opportunity can originate from other voice actors. Community can become a meaningful source of referrals and professional growth.
9. Give people the answer instead of forcing them to click.
Tom's LinkedIn example demonstrates why useful content should stand on its own. If people find the information valuable, they can choose to explore further.
10. Think about being remembered, not constantly being hired.
The strongest social media strategy may be the one that makes people familiar with your personality, expertise, and approach so you're already on their radar when an opportunity appears.
Listen to the Full Episode
There is a lot more to this conversation than simply “post more on social media.”
Tom and I get into what happened when one of his carefully planned content campaigns completely missed the mark, why his most successful writing often comes from mistakes, how voice actors can use their interests to attract attention, and why your relationships with other voice actors may be more valuable to your career than you realize.
We also talk about the increasingly important relationship between social media, search, AI, algorithms, and the way your professional reputation is discovered online.
Listen to the full VO BOSS Podcast episode with Tom Dheere to hear the complete conversation.
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