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Dominos and luck and voiceover

Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover

One of Seth Godin’s newest enterprises is The Domino Project. Several days ago Seth posted on their blog this question: Are you feeling lucky? Now, because The Domino Project is an effort to reinvent publishing, the most obvious point of that blog post about feeling lucky has to do with publishing. But the application to voiceover is equally important and valid.

In voiceover, the obvious parallel to the publishing model is auditioning for a job. Just like there would have to be a bestseller every week, there is going to be someone who books the job when auditions are sent out.

Now, this is not a rant against auditioning. I’ll leave such literary explorations to others. The point I’m trying to make here is that if you build your voiceover business on the basis of auditioning for work, then you’re always operating from the position of being “one of many” and only some of the time are you going to end up as the one who books the job. Sure, in an ideal world, auditions are only sent to a select number of talent; but in the real world where we all live and work, that’s not how it always happens.

There are lots of factors that contribute to the way things are. Again, I’ll leave the enumeration of those factors to others. What I’m hoping to persuade you to see is that auditioning isn’t the only way to book work.

Last year was a good year for me. And over 80% of my income came to me directly. An email or a phone call arrived with a message to the effect of: “Dear Bob, we’d like to send you a significant sum of money. Would you record the attached script for us?” This experience isn’t unique to me. Many working professionals in voiceover have learned the value of building relationships with people who want to work with them.

It takes time, a deep commitment to excellent service, and hard work. Put in the time and effort and you, too, can get those kinds of calls or emails. As you do, I’d love to hear from you.

So long

General, People

Well, it’s been over a week now that I’ve been thinking about what to write here. Over a week since I attended my last International Radio Creative and Production Summit. After a run of 15 straight years, this event is no more. Every year in the last summer starting in 1997 I’ve attended this event. I’ve learned at ton. Built many good friendships. Kept my toolkit sharp and up-to-date.

It was at the Summit that I first learned about Voice123.com. It was at the Summit where I first learned about Nancy Wolfson. I encouraged many of my friends in voiceover to attend the Summit, at least some of whom came including Rowell Gormon, Pam Tierney, Melissa Exelberth, and Liz de Nesnera. A couple of times I brought my son Eric with me as he began working with me, doing a lot of my audio editing.

It truly has been a great experience. Of those 15 years, I paid my own way in whole or in part for 8 of them. Yes, it was that valuable.

This amazing run of years has seen me go from being a so-so radio production director through a number of transitions to today when I’m working full-time and exclusively in voiceover. I’m profoundly grateful to the hundreds of people who have touched my life during and between the Summits, and especially to Dan O’Day for being the fireplug that made it happen, and made it happen in a way that was fun and effortless to us who attended, every year. (Special thanks also go to Dick Orkin who was Dan’s partner in the Summit for the first several years.)

What a wonderful set of memories!

To be a better voiceover …

General

… you need to be better at listening. I know, it’s counter-intuitive, but true. So, without further ado, Julian Treasure’s TED talk, 5 ways to listen better.

Better than perfect?

General

My friend Jeff Tobin is a really bright guy with a lot of valuable insight into making your business better. You do understand that as a voiceover talent you’re in business, right? No matter how small or big your business is right now, it can be bigger and better. Spending some time reading my friend Jeff’s stuff (along with a number of other places on this wonderful world wide web) will help you get there.  I’d strongly suggest you start with How To Be Better Than Perfect.

A deserving voiceover will go to Faffcon 3 for FREE with the FaffCon Scholarship!

Career Advice, General, People

Today I’m delighted to feature an official guest blog for the very first time. It’s from my friend CC Heim.

Over the past two years, a peer-to-peer voiceover UNconference known as Faffcon has taken on a life of its own. What’s an UNconference, you ask? An UNconference is a gathering of like-minded individuals who meet and discuss topics of interest. Sound sort of like a conference? Well, in some respects it is, in that folks register, attend sessions, network, eat. Stuff like that. But the biggest difference is that while a conference is typically structured with specific lessons that are predetermined and planned for in advance, an UNconference unfolds as it goes along, with participants determining the content they believe would be most useful for them during the weekend of the event. While it sounds rather unstructured, the concept works remarkably well.

Consider the most recent business conference you attended. What were the parts that really stood out to you? Was it a keynote speaker talking about some Big Thing? Was it a technical session that discussed how-tos with remarkable minutiae? Or maybe, just maybe, it was the time you spent in the lobby bar, chatting with a new friend about some really cool way he was drumming up new business/refining his performance approach/targeting new representation.

Let’s be honest – for many of us, the conversations held during the social part of industry conferences are the best takeaways. We make new contacts, chat about the industry often sharing “inside” information, and just generally enjoy having others around who can relate to our own professional journey. That’s what Faffcon is. One big chit-chat session. Granted, chit chat with focus. For instance, there may be a group chatting about mic technique, another chatting about how-tos of getting an agent, another chatting about personal websites… you get it.

So now you’re excited, and you want to go! But funds are tight, and that mortgage payment is really important. Well, we may have a solution for you. After Faffcon 2, many of the participants felt a strong urge to express thanks for all they received, and decided to do that by creating a scholarship fund. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the first two Faffcon events, it’s that participants are generous – with time, knowledge, and money! Lots of people pitched in, and before we knew it, we had 850 bucks in the kitty! So this fund is the direct result of your voiceover peers sharing their finances after enjoying a rich sharing of knowledge at the last event.

The Faffcon 3 scholarship is intended for a well-deserving voiceover professional, who may be a bit cash-strapped, but sees the value in this type of a gathering. The scholarship provides up to $850 to cover registration and travel expenses (see note below). Faffcon 3 is currently SOLD OUT with only one spot remaining – and that is for the recipient of this scholarship.

Don’t be shy! If you are a working voiceover talent who would not be able to financially swing it without the help of this scholarship, and really, REALLY want to attend Faffcon 3, I do hope you’ll apply. And I hope you’ll do it quickly because the deadline is August 15, 2011.

If the promise of one of the most amazing career-building events of your life is not enough, just remember: there will be chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Cheers!

(NOTE: The recipient of this scholarship will receive up to $850 in funds to cover air/rail travel, hotel room and registration fee. Actual amount to be awarded will be determined based on actual cost of these expenses. If these costs exceed $850, recipient will receive a full $850 and will be responsible for any costs over that amount.)