1. 20 Imporant Marketing Lessons

    Posted April 30, 2010 by Bob

    With thanks to my friends Dave White and Dan Nachtrab for passing this link along to me, check out the superb article 20 Important Lessons I Learned from My Marketing Mentor.

    Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (2)

  2. Travel mic stand

    Posted by Bob

    My friend George Whittam has posted this video blog about a very cool idea for a travel microphone stand.

    As George mentioned, you can find these items at Amazon.com or through Harlan Hogan’s site VoiceOverEssentials.com And George’s site is VOStudioTech.com.

    And my friend Bruce Miles points out on the VO-BB that B&H Photo sells a set of bushings that will convert the video mount to a microphone compatible mount, too.

    Category: General, People, Tools | Comments (0)

  3. Your voiceover business – Last Day reminder

    Posted by Bob

    Two things both related to the Harlan Hogan and Dan O’Day teleseminar classes that start next week:

    1. Today is the LAST DAY to register for Harlan Hogan’s “STARTING YOUR VOICEOVER BUSINESS: Everything You Need To Know To Turn Your Dream Or Your
    Sideline Into A Business    ” teleseminar class. One year ago exactly I had given notice at my corporate job and had left that safe and comfortable position on May 1st. The following Monday I started taking last year’s version of these teleseminars. I paid the same price everyone else did to attend and I’m very glad I did.

    You see, even though I had been working full-time at my voiceover business for several years, while also holding down a full time corporate job, I knew that there was a lot I still didn’t know about the business part of the voiceover business. It was because I wanted to have the best possible foundation to this adventure of only working in voiceover that I signed up for the class. I drew valuable ideas from every one of the teleseminars. I put at least some of those ideas to work in the last year and my business has grown even during what has been a very tough economy for us all.

    So, if you want to start your journey on this path I’ve been walking for a year now, your last opportunity to sign up for this year’s class is today. Registration ends when today ends.

    You’ll find all the details at TheVoiceoverClass.com

    And if you do sign up for the class, and you happen to mention in the comments section at the bottom of the registration page that you signed up because you read about the class here on my blog, I’ll get a commission from Harlan and Dan. The price will be the same for you whether you mention me or not so if you don’t want me to get the commission, don’t mention me.

    2. Dan O’Day has just published a video that directly challenges the beliefs and mindsets of quite a few people in the voiceover community. He doesn’t pull any punches. In fact, he’ll probably get some hate mail in response.

    Personally, I think every voiceover person should view this video. But there’s one catch: Dan says he’s going to take the video down tonight. He’s leaving it up for less than a day. Please click on this link, watch the video, and let me know what you think.

    Category: General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (1)

  4. A view from the other side

    Posted by Bob

    I received a very nice note the other day from Dianne Russell, asking if I would consider posting the following on my blog. It’s her view of life with a voice actor and I found it very interesting. I hope you will too. (Dianne originally posted this on her blog, here.)

    ————————————————–

    Living with a voice actor is a privilege few people can profess to have experienced. It is a life like no other – a constantly changing whirlwind of auditory dreams and fantasies, occasionally peppered with startling aural hallucinations.

    For a person who requires a partner of certain steadiness and a routine of relative constancy, the lair of a voice actor is not one to call home. For those who shy away from strangers, the home of a voice actor will be sure to trigger social anxiety attacks of the third kind. For those who love to luxuriate in peace and quiet, a voice actor’s den of sound will over-stimulate to the point of mania.

    For you see, a voice actor is not a normal person, and a voice actor’s home is not a normal home. A voice actor is a montage of characters, some known, some not yet known (and others hopefully never known!). A voice actor’s home is a non-stop, live-action theatre, and one never knows what or who lurks behind the studio door. I live with a voice actor, and though my life has been far richer for it, it is not a life for the average soul. 

    The man behind the VOICE.

    My day begins and ends with voices – voices in strange languages, accents, speech impediments, dialects and sub-dialects of every kind; voices of all ages, races, social and educational levels, and even genders; funny voices, ridiculous voices, so-freaking-sexy-that-I can’t concentrate-on-making-breakfast voices, evil voices, irritating, nails-on-chalkboard voices, angry voices, whispering voices, screeching voices, gay as in pride parade voices…I’ve almost heard it all. However, when I truly do think I’ve heard it all, I am quickly put in my place and proven wrong.

    When I open the studio door to deliver the morning cup of coffee, I brace myself lest I be vocally assaulted and subsequently cover myself in second-degree burns. Who will be sitting in front of the microphone when I round the corner?

    A snivelling old Eastern European man, bitter with loneliness and the pain of having lost the only love he ever had, describing the soothing relief of a new and improved anti-itch cream?

    A zombie-lizard with a Pan-African accent (with maybe a hint of Nigerian dictator), bellowing to his pelican underlings that the lions are coming and war is imminent? 

    I Love my Voice Actor!

    A giggling gay TV talk show host, tittering about the fabulous new Manolo Blahniks Helena Christiansen was sporting at the opening of her new documentary, Old Models Gone Wild?

    A South Asian jeweller, praising the new ruby bindis that have arrived with the spring collection?

    A Zulu ultimate fighter, chanting in actual Zulu? (To hear the Zulu, check this out: http://gamevoices.ning.com/video/video/listForContributor?screenName=2knke6h2qepqv). 

    Or maybe I’ll find a frantic, nasal-sounding Chinese noodle cook, shouting at an ungrateful customer on the streets of Jersey.

    Or, even better, there will be a lion. Not a man, but a startlingly real, snarling, growling, rogue African lion, ready to pounce on the first whiff of fear.

    Besides the auditory collage of characters I encounter in the studio (and occasionally in the hallway, kitchen, and yes, even the bedroom), I am also exposed to an extraordinary amount of information. Yes, that’s right; living with a voice actor is more educational and less expensive than an American college education. From commercials to cartoons, audio books to ringbacks, museum narrations to CNN specials, corporate training videos to documentaries, I am hit by a barrage of information – both wanted and unwanted – every single day.

    I have discovered organic haemorrhoid creams and environmentally friendly motor oils, deeply moving audio books about the holocaust and stunning short art films, socially responsible online games and management seminars on non-discriminatory hiring practices. With upwards of 30 different auditions happening every day, the volumes of information to which I am involuntarily exposed (I suspect some will argue that this is completely voluntary, but for creative purposes, I decline to agree) is mind-numbing. 

    Just Imagine…

    So back to the bedroom. As one might suspect, one of the best parts of living with a voice actor is that it is never boring – and that also includes life in the voice actor’s boudoir. With a different man in your house every day, and often (sometimes by special request, sometimes by surprise) a different man in your bed at night, the stimulation is nonstop. “Talk dirty to me, baby” comes with its own menu. Fantasizing about Julio Iglesias? Dying to make out with Sean Connery? Or maybe your personal kink is the Swedish Chef. (And for you freaks out there, ordering the rogue African lion or the zombie-lizard for a nightcap is disturbingly hot.)

    Whatever or whoever gets you through the night, living with a voice actor can bring you closer to the stars.

    Despite perks of the sexual variety, voice acting is a tough gig that requires more motivation and drive than I ever imagined. Starting early in the morning, finishing late at night, and working on and off throughout the day, my voice artist works bloody hard to respond to the droves of incoming auditions. An internet-mining expert, he can find the most obscure voice jobs which he painstakingly records, edits, invoices and sends back to the source in as short as 20 minutes or as long as 20 hours. 

    Some people say that earning $500 for a two-minute commercial is ridiculous, but the amount of time spent auditioning and editing would put most nine-to-fivers to shame. 

    The mortal enemy – NOISE.

    As for me, I have learned that although my mate is at home all day, I must be wary of all possible noise disruptions – noise is the mortal enemy of the voice actor. When the studio door is closed, I tiptoe through the house, rather enjoying the fact that cleaning the kitchen will have to wait, yet again, lest I interrupt the recording by clanking a glass or slamming a cupboard.

    Sometimes, when the sounds coming from the studio send me into hysterics, I smother my face in a pillow or stuff my mouth with the nearest dishcloth to keep from shrieking with laughter.

    There are other issues as well. Hypochondria takes on a whole new meaning in a voice actor’s house as any disruption to vocal cord function due to a cold or sore throat could result in thousands of lost dollars. Slippery Elm powder is as much a household basic as dishwashing liquid and bedroom windows are sealed shut at night at the slightest whisper of a cool south-easterly.

    Living with a voice actor is a life that not everyone can live. For me, however, it appeals to my lifelong fascination with eccentric creativity and my ADHD-driven hunger for constant stimulation. It also brings me to my knees in gales of laughter, every single day.

    Laughing with and at my voice actor is my favorite thing on earth. I can’t wait to see who or what I find in the studio tomorrow…

    To hear my voice actor, check out http://www.adambehr.com

    ———————————————–
    If you’d like to read more of what Dianne has written, visit her blog Yea, but …

    Category: General, People | Comments (4)

  5. The “A” list

    Posted April 29, 2010 by Bob

    Pat Fraley presents The “A” list, an opportunity to study animation, advertising and audiobooks with three of the very best. Pat Fraley, Ed Asner and Scott Brick. It’s taking place in LA at World Famous Buzzy’s Recording on Saturday, May 22, 2010. Here’s what Pat has to say about this event:

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

    Details including registration is at this page on Pat’s site.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

  6. Spotlight on Kristina

    Posted by Bob

    Actress and voiceover talent Kristina Hughes is featured as the guest in this episode of Actors Entertainment.

    AE Kristina Hughes April2010 from Actors Reporter on Vimeo.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  7. Tips for working from home

    Posted by Bob

    Steven Lowell posts excellent tips for everyone who does voiceover work from home on the Voice123.com blog.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (0)

  8. Ancient Ways, Future Paths

    Posted April 28, 2010 by Bob

    I love telling stories for people. It’s why I work as a voiceover talent, because I love to tell stories. Most of all I love telling really well written long-form projects like documentaries. Currently I’m narrating a series called A History of Christian Worship: Ancient Ways, Future Paths. The first episode, The Word, is just now being released. The other five will come out through the balance of this year.

    Category: General | Comments (5)

  9. Pricing advice

    Posted April 27, 2010 by Bob

    Paul Strikwerda has written a superb blog post about setting rates. My thanks to DB Cooper for posting the link on the VO-BB.

    (Updated to add the link to Paul’s voiceover site.)

    Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (0)

  10. Scott Brick announces the contest finalists

    Posted by Bob

    You’ll find the list of the 25 finalists and links to their demos on Scott Brick’s site. Congratulations to the finalists.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

  11. Jack Benny, Mel Blanc and Johnny Carson in 1974

    Posted by Bob

    I found this video linked on my friend Bill Elder’s blog. Doesn’t have much to do with voiceover, but Mel Blanc is there so I’m posting it here for your amusement, too.

    Category: General | Comments (7)

  12. Spotlight on Bill

    Posted April 26, 2010 by Bob

    My friend Bill Pryce provides the voice for this Dell web video. Very nice work, Bill.

    Category: General | Comments (2)

  13. Extra time?

    Posted April 24, 2010 by Bob

    Have you ever been given extra time to work on a project? Take some hard-earned advice from my friend Rowell Gormon and make good use of it. And while I’m pointing you toward good advice, if you’re faced with a new challenge and have no idea how best to tackle it, take a page from my friend Pam Tierney’s playbook.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

  14. The new “bridges” is released

    Posted April 23, 2010 by Bob

    Volume 25 of “bridges” the quarterly web publication from the Office of Science and Technology at the Embassy of Austria has been released. It has been my pleasure for several years now to narrate and produce podcasts of several of the articles from each release.

    Category: General | Comments (1)

  15. How get the most from an event

    Posted April 22, 2010 by Bob

    Kristine Oller is flat out brilliant when it comes to organization and career planning. How brilliant? Well, read this article about how to get the most out of attending an event and then you tell me.

    Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (2)

  16. The Voiceover Class

    Posted April 21, 2010 by Bob

    If you’ve been thinking about seriously pursuing voiceover there are a couple of things you need to do. Get your performance skills up to speed. I’ve talked about the voiceover coaches I recommend on this blog loads of time. Links are in the Career section of my blogroll. But, you also need to get yourself in the mindset that this is a  business, not just a way to have fun. Which is where the tele-classes that Harlan Hogan and Dan O’Day will be doing this year in May will make a huge difference.

    I took this class last year and even though I’ve been working as a professional voiceover for over 25 years, I got a lot out of the classes. I recommend you sign up. All the details are here. And if you mention in the comments section at the bottom of the registration form that I recommended the class to you, I’ll get a commission. If you don’t want me to get that commission, don’t mention me. Whether you do or not, the price of the class is the same.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (2)

  17. The joy of generosity

    Posted by Bob

    The last few days I’ve been thinking quite a bit of generosity and in particular how being generous can be extremely powerful and beneficial. But there’s a kind of catch-22 involved. You see, if you are generous to others in order to gain some benefit for yourself down the road a ways, that selfish intention has a way of blunting the value of the generosity in the first place.

    My good friend Rowell Gormon wonderfully illustrates how things are supposed to work on his blog recently. And as I noted in my comment to his post, it was his own act of generosity toward me that was the catalyst for our friendship several years ago. So many other people have been generous and helpful to me through the 27 years that I’ve been a professional voiceover that I feel obligated to be generous to others. Well, that’s not entirely right. Not obligated as in a burden. Obligated as in how can I not respond with generosity to others?

    Of course, talking about how generous I am here on this blog smacks a bit too much of self-elevation. Kind of like that line that I always laugh at when I think about it. “But enough about me, what do you think of me?”

    No, the point of this post isn’t to point at myself as some sort of paragon of virtue and generosity. It’s to encourage you to think about ways you can pass along what you know to those who are coming along after or with you. Much of the time, those opportunities will sneak up on you so you have to make up your mind in advance that you’ll grab them when they come your way.

    Grab and then immediately release. Which is the point, isn’t it? It’s not the fastest way to build your voiceover business, but it may be the most satisfying.

    Category: General | Comments (4)

  18. Spotlight on Philip

    Posted April 20, 2010 by Bob

    My friend and mentor Philip Banks demonstrates his skill with this video.

    Category: General, People | Comments (2)

  19. Ask Axe Cop motion comic #1

    Posted by Bob

    Sometimes people write and ask Axe Cop questions.

    There’s more at Axe Cop on YouTube.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

  20. Great minds and Masterminds

    Posted by Bob

    My friend Doug Turkel started a voiceover mastermind group in South Florida a year ago and it has been a wonderful experience for all involved. Doug wrote about this group, and offers thoughts about starting one in your part of the world, in an article on VoiceOverXtra. Well worth your time.

    Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)

  21. Also added to the blogroll

    Posted April 19, 2010 by Bob

    Whitney Wyatt emails to introduce himself today and to let me know that he’s started blog about his newly launched journey into voiceover.

    Category: General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (0)

  22. Added to the blogroll today

    Posted by Bob

    I have a pretty long blogroll, in case you’ve never noticed. Near the bottom of that very long list is a group called “Other Blogs.” I’ve added one there today called the Beagle Bugle. It’s the official blog of the Wizard Academy. I will be visiting there often. I hope you will too.

    Category: Blogging, General | Comments (0)

  23. Voiceover workship in LA with Rodney Saulsberry

    Posted by Bob

    Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 10 AM to 4 PM at Tree Falls Studio in LA, Rodney Saulsberry will be holding a one-day intenstive workshop focused on auditioning, script interpretation, breathing and microphone technique. For registration and more details go to Rodney’s site and click on the “Voice Over Workshop” tab.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  24. Sliced returns to History

    Posted by Bob

    My friend John McCalmont is the host of Sliced on History.

    He tells me that he’s been on the road so much putting this show together he’s set a new world’s record for recording voiceover session in rental cars. Premier is this week (April 22 according to John’s blog) and kudos to John for all the drive and determination he’s put into this project.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  25. Voiceover microphone shootout

    Posted April 18, 2010 by Bob

    Here’s another microphone shootout for you, this one featuring several condenser microphones. It’s features Aaron Lyon on the Recording Hacks blog.

    Category: General, Tools | Comments (0)

  26. The value of letting go

    Posted April 17, 2010 by Bob

    Recently I stopped working with a client that I had been serving for almost exactly 10 years. While, the work I did for them included voiceovers, most of what I did for them was production and writing. 10 years ago, production and writing were a part of the mix of services I provided for my clients. Today, my focus is voiceover work.

    Now, I loved working with these folks. I mean I really loved everything about working with them. They were not only nice people, they had very high standards, which helped to keep me sharp. They were always searching for ways to do things better. They valued my suggestions. I even traveled every quarter so we could plan our next steps in a face-to-face setting, paying for that travel out of my own pocket.

    Then, a few months ago, they were presented with an opportunity to tremendously expand what they are doing. That expansion was best served by working with someone else so we’ve parted ways. Very amicably, but we’re not working together any more. I do miss seeing and talking with the people there. And I do miss the income. But, here’s the really interesting part. Now that I’m not working with them, I’m able to be even more focused on my core business of voiceovers. I loved working with those folks, but I really love telling stories for people. And what I did for them didn’t involve telling stories all that often. It was much more the nuts and bolts of editing, writing and producing.

    So, in a strange way, we’ve both gained from this parting of the ways. They’ve been able to expand rapidly and effectively. And I’ve sharpened the focus of my work. I’ve also gained a bunch of time that I’ve needed in order to serve the significant number of new voiceover clients I have. In fact I might well have missed a couple of really significant opportunities in the first quarter of this year if I was still working with them because I wouldn’t have had the time I needed to meet some very tight deadlines. And as a result of being able to take on those opportunities, my income hasn’t fallen since our parting, it’s grown.

    Not every story has one, but I do love happy endings.

    (edited to fix typo)

    Category: General | Comments (4)

  27. Tube microphone shootout

    Posted by Bob

    Matthew McGlynn emails with news about a new video and blog post that features three tube microphones in head to head to head comparison.


    The full story is at the Recording Hacks blog. By the way, as part of that blog post, you can download the uncompressed WAV files for each of the microphones to you can hear for yourself the full audio details.

    Category: General, Tools | Comments (3)

  28. Impressions

    Posted April 16, 2010 by Bob

    When you submit an audition or start working with a new agent or a new client, do you ever think about how one little thing can have huge consequences? Seth Godin mentions today what it was like being in the same room watching someone read his blog for the first time, unbeknowst to the reader. Much of the time we don’t get to pick our first impressions. They happen when and where they do.

    Some of them, no doubt, are better than others. We are all human. We’re not perfectly consistent from moment to moment. But thinking about this matter of first impressions (and for that matter second impressions and five thousandth impressions) reminds me how vitally important it is that we keep ourselves in top condition all the time. My voiceover coach Marice Tobias often says “there are no auditions, there are only performances.” Some we get paid for. Some we do in order to get paid.

    Keeping this in mind is tough. I find it easy some days to slip into an attitude of “it’s only an audition and not all that important.” Actually it is important. Every time. This is why I keep studying with Marice. It helps keep me on my toes. So, what are you doing to stay sharp?

    Category: General | Comments (2)

  29. SEO insights

    Posted by Bob

    Nikki Saco provides some excellent insights about Search Engine Optimization.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  30. Three legs

    Posted April 14, 2010 by Bob

    Are you standing on all three of your legs? Wait, three legs? David Brower explains over at VoiceOverXtra.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

Next Page »

Subscribe by email

Click here to subscribe by email

Search

Categories

Archives

Blogs & Forums About Voiceover

Career

Favorite Sites

Female

Help for Blogging

Male

Other Blogs

Information



View blog authority


Site Navigation: