There is usually a definite slowdown at Christmas time and as soon as Christmas is over the amount of voice over jobs does not pick up so much because of holiday leave and possibly hangovers and over indulgence (too many parties). Some projects get shelved for a couple of weeks, some just give the client a minor and temporary seasonal bout of Alzheimer. Then as the first few days of January begin the pet projects and the temporary shelved professional voice projects start to get the dust blown off them and get readied for your beautiful voice talent. There is a rapid increase in the amount of work available and the voice artists suddenly begin to feel like their schedules are filling up again. With the workload picking up and everybody starting back refreshed in the new year 2014, all of the same crowd of VA's will be out there looking for jobs as well as yourself, the competition is still high, you still need to hone your skills and you still need to upgrade your equipment if you need to and if you have the budget and work out the formula for staying at the top of your game.
It's important to keep the voice artist to client relationship on a very friendly basis because you don't know who the client who hasn't booked you for a while knows and whoever they know is maybe someone who needs to use you. No-one wants to work with someone who has a chip on their shoulder so always be as nice as pie and contain your thoughts even if a project goes a bit astray because of lack of communication.
"How many of us have been on a project that just seems to go backwards and forwards with communication that doesn't quite communicate fully what the client wants?"
There are always some projects that work out this way but keep your annoyance in check and always play it cool. Many voice projects are easy and the clients you deal with can also be easy going but some jobs just seem to have a complete perfectionist at the other end and nothing ever seems to be right. Bite your tongue, be nice and keep that business relationship well balanced.
With the influx of work and projects that should happen in January 2014 as everyone comes back from their holidays, there should be enough jobs for everyone but you'll still be fishing for jobs by auditioning. New Years Resolution! Let's all learn how to fish better and more efficiently - 2014 is going to be an interesting year!