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Banks wisdom for 2014

Career Advice, General, People

My friend Philip Banks posted some cogent thoughts on the VO-BB earlier this week. I’ve quoted him here because not everyone will click through on the link and you really do need to see this:

1 -Stop comparing the Neumann U87 with any $150 mic from China and then asking for opinions.
2 – Stop comparing the MKH416 with the Neumann U87
3 – Stop debating whether or not P2P sites work
4 – Stop finding alternatives to ISDN
5 – Stop working on your brand, you don’t know what that means
6 – Stop linking to your blog, post your ill-informed opinions here
7 – Stop looking for yet another agent
8 – Stop trying to sound like the VO you admire
9 – Stop trying to find YET another VO Coach
10 – Stop asking other out of work VOs how to get more work
11- Stop giving advice to other out of work VOs on how to get work
12- Stop arguing with VOs who are at the top of the game
13- Stop believing other VOs who claim to be at the top of their game
14- Stop attending VO mixers until you’ve replaced the batteries in your Bullsh*t detectors
15- Stop telling potential clients how you sound and what you can do and let them decide
16- Stop following and start to lead
17- Stop apologising for your rate
18- Stop competing with others and start selling you; you’ll own the market
19- Stop aiming low
20- Stop giving yourself such a hard time, you’re doing fine.
Now you’ve cleared the decks that leaves you free in 2014 to do all the things you’ve been avoiding which lead to jobs and pay days. You will be amazed how much progress you’ll make in a relatively short period of time.
I wish you all prosperity in heart, body and bank account for 2014.

As Philip would say … “Think on.”

A Happy New Year to you

General

Thank you for reading, commenting and sharing The Voiceover Boblog. I’ve been writing this blog for nearly 9 years now and I am truly grateful for your kind attention.

The vast majority of the time I try to write about things other than my own voiceover work, because while this blog is about my take on voiceover, it’s not specifically a showcase for my own performances. However, this recent ad from nTelos Wireless is so much fun I just had to share it with you.

May you have a truly wonderful 2014!

Quote of the year

General

Living as I do in the Pittsburgh, PA area I run across things related to Fred Rogers and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood all the time. If you don’t know who he is, click here and you’ll see who I’m talking about. He was truly a wonderful human being and the quote I ran across recently I’m calling my quote of the year, because it so beautifully captures one of my core life principles.

“Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like “struggle.” To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now – and to go on caring even through times that may bring us pain.” – Fred Rogers

Lessons from a high school talent show

General

My middle son David was recently one of the performers in his high school talent show. He did a beautiful job singing “You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch” from the “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” movie.

But while I am very proud of the job my son did, what got this post started rolling around in my head was watching the entire evening and observing the wide range of talent displayed. From a drum duet to a baton twirling act, there was something different happening every few minutes.

One of my observations has to do with the interesting clash between the apparent popularity of a given performer and the quality of the actual performances. For example, one singer who was clearly one of the popular kids based on the way the audience reacted before the song began, was flat about half of the song; meanwhile another singer who garnered a much more tepid reaction from the audience absolutely nailed her performance.

Thinking about the evening, I started with the observation that it’s inevitable any talent show featuring high school students is going to have a wide variety of talent levels demonstrated. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this isn’t just true about high school talent shows, it applies to the whole of life including our work in voiceover.

Each of us has categories of work where we shine most brightly and others where the light isn’t quite so sharp. Does this mean we should only do the stuff at which we’re best? That’s one way to go for sure, but I would submit it’s not the only one.

From the most polished to the least, each act I saw in my son’s talent show was presented with real passion and a desire to please the audience. And more important, by someone who pushed past his or her fears to get on the stage and perform. So, don’t fence yourself into a pen that’s artificially small. Stretch your wings. Take a chance. And then another.
You might land on your face and end up feeling foolish. So what? You took a risk. And that puts you miles ahead of the masses who never get past their fears. Who never step into the spotlight and let it all hang out.

The Gold Rush

Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover

In the last 150 plus years, there have been a few periods of madness in the USA that were called a “gold rush.” The most famous was the California gold rush in the middle of the 19th century.

As you may or may not know, there were only a relatively few people who actually struck riches during any of these gold rushes. No, the people who most consistently made good money were the merchants who supplied the miners with tools and supplies. And at the time there were no certification bodies for safety or quality. So, when buying a pick or axe or shovel, the miner was on his own to determine if it was of an appropriate quality to do the work and last long enough to actually get some results.

So what does this mini history lesson have to do with voiceover?

In the last few years, there’s been quite a rush into voiceover. I can’t count the number of emails, calls and other messages I’ve received from people who have heard that there’s “good money in voiceover.” Here’s a quick thought on that subject before I continue:

“Voiceover is a great way to make a living, but it’s a terrible way to make a living quickly.” – Bob Souer

Look, voiceover is a business so, yes, you need to pay attention to making money. But, it’s also art. So, if you’re in voiceover just to make money, there are probably a lot better avenues to pursue. It’s a long, hard slog to build your business to the point that you can make a living doing just voiceover work. Only a tiny fraction of all the people who start out to make a career in voiceover ever make any real money at it. A very tiny fraction.

Meanwhile, you’ll find loads of folks with “advice” or seminars or workshops on how to make money in voiceover. I have no fear of being wrong when I advise you to run in the opposite direction from anyone who wants to sell you something or some plan to help you make money in voiceover.

There are many legitimate coaches. But there are a host of people more interested in separating you from your hard-earned money than they are in actually helping you make any real progress toward your goal of working in voiceover. I sincerely wish this were not true, but it is. Be very careful who you start studying with. Ask questions. Here’s one: What are the names of 5 people who have studied with you who are now working full-time in voiceover?

Assuming you get the names, contact these individuals and ask them about their experiences.
The coaches with whom I’ve studied have my explicit permission to use my name and share my contact information. I’m happy to give an honest evaluation about my experiences. And I do.

When you find a coach who is helping people actually make a living in voiceover, and you’ve talked with several students, then go for it. The money you invest (assuming you’re willing to do the work to actually learn and put into practice what you’re learning) will pay substantial returns in the long run.

It’s been far too long

General

I’ve had several ideas for blog posts floating around in my head for weeks now, but between one thing and another it’s been way too easy to put off actually writing anything. But today’s blog post by Seth Godin called Not a gift has kicked me off my “stuck” and into action. Seth makes such a solid point about how the attributes we admire and desire in others, which we often describe as being gifts are in fact attitudes and not gifts. People aren’t born generous, honest, or thoughtful. Those and a host of other qualities are attitudes, not gifts. And we can choose to have positive and helpful attitudes or we can choose not to have them.

So, today, what are you going to choose?

Home Grown Giants

General

For a couple of years now, it’s been a delight working with the San Francisco Giants. They’ve just released a terrific documentary called Homegrown Giants. I hope you enjoy watching because the stories of the people involved are terrific whether you’re a baseball fan or not.

(edited to fix typo)

Quote of the day

General

From Trent Hamm’s wonderful The Simple Dollar blog:

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” – Marie Curie

It’s the last day for one key benefit to The Voiceover Class

Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People

For several years now, Harlan Hogan and Dan O’Day have been doing a teleseminar series once during the year. It’s called The Voiceover Class. I took part in the first of them back in May of 2009 and it was an excellent experience. I’ve encouraged many of my friends to take the subsequent editions of this teleseminar series and have posted about it here as well. The stated goal of The Voiceover Class is to help you take your voiceover sideline and turn it into your full time business. Based on my experience and the experiences of a number of my friends, I would say it’s a goal that Harlan and Dan do a terrific job of reaching.

Registration has been going one for several days now, but there’s a pretty strong reason you’ll want to act today if you think this is something you would like to invest in. Each time Harlan and Dan do The Voiceover Class, they bring in Jeffrey Fisher to do an evaluation of the sound the studios of the members of the classes. This year, because of other commitments, Jeffrey is only going to be able to do a limited number of evaluations so you have to register before September 1, 2013 (in other words by Midnight today or tomorrow depending on when you’re readying this, August 31, 2013) in order to be included in those who get this evaluation. And again, I can say from experience,  what you get from Jeffrey is  valuable information that will help you get a better sound from your studio.

Harlan and Dan have offered to pay me $200 for each person who puts my name in the “Your Comments” field of the online registration form. You decide if you want to put my name in there or not. I’m fine with whatever you do. It’s not cheap. In fact, it’s a pretty fair chunk of money, but I think you’ll find the money you invest in The Voiceover Class will be money well spent, especially if you’re serious about making voiceover your full time business. So click through on one of the links for The Voiceover Class to get all the details about signing up.

The Voiceover Class

Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People

For several years now, Harlan Hogan and Dan O’Day have been doing a teleseminar series once during the year. It’s called The Voiceover Class. I took part in the first of them back in May of 2009 and it was an excellent experience. I’ve encouraged many of my friends to take the subsequent editions of this teleseminar series and have posted about it here as well. The stated goal of The Voiceover Class is to help you take your voiceover sideline and turn it into your full time business. Based on my experience and the experiences of a number of my friends, I would say it’s a goal that Harlan and Dan do a terrific job of reaching.

Registration actually started yesterday, and there’s a pretty strong reason you’ll want to act quickly if you think this is something you would like to invest in. Each time Harlan and Dan do The Voiceover Class, they bring in Jeffrey Fisher to do an evaluation of the sound the studios of the members of the classes. This year, because of other commitments, Jeffrey is only going to be able to do a limited number of evaluations so you have to register before September 1, 2013 (in other words by Midnight, August 31, 2013) in order to be included in those who get this evaluation. And again, I can say from experience,  what you get from Jeffrey is  valuable information that will help you get a better sound from your studio.

Harlan and Dan have offered to pay me $200 for each person who puts my name in the “Your Comments” field of the online registration form. You decide if you want to put my name in there or not. I’m fine with whatever you do, but I do think you’ll find the money you invest in The Voiceover Class will be money well spent, especially if you’re serious about making voiceover your full time business. So click through on one of the links for The Voiceover Class to get all the details about signing up.