I hope that’s not your goal when you’re in a social situation. But as Karen Commins points out in a blog post here, it’s actually pretty easy to do.
Along with her story, she makes some sage observations that you might want to remember. Read the whole thing.
Career Advice
Remarkably unremarkable, and that’s a good thing!
A little earlier today I was thinking back on some of the lessons I learned at the 11th International Radio Creative and Production Summit in August of 2006. (Search on the word summit here and you’ll find my reports not only from 2006, but also 2005; and references to experiences from earlier years.)
Anyway, I realized that I hadn’t given sufficient thought to some things I learned from Harlan Hogan in his session. This relates to Harlan’s fundamental approach to the business part of this voiceover business. He said…
Keep your current clients, expand the work from those clients and get new clients.
Simple, isn’t it? Actually doing these three simple things, that’s what separates the professionals from the pretenders.
And while I’m writing about Harlan, check out this interesting article about him. It’s well worth your time. (And while you’re at his site, check out the other interviews and articles about Harlan, here.
One, actually two more things. I have and high recommend both of these books from Harlan Hogan. The Voice Actor’s Guide to Home Recording
In the most unlikely of places
If you keep your eyes and ears open and your mind active, you can find lessons for your voiceover career in all kinds of places. Karen Commins, for instance, was on vacation in Egypt recently. The day she and her husand spent at the Great Pyramids turned out to be full of lessons, as she relates brilliantly in this post at her blog.
Here are a couple of key points.
In this setting of vendors barking their prices at us as we passed them, my marketing mind couldn’t help but think: How does a person selling a product that is the same or similar to his competitors distinguish himself in a saturated marketplace?
Karen has 10 observations in response to that question. Every one is well worth your time, but I want to be sure to highlight observation #3…
If you give away something for free, you can’t have any expectation of getting anything in return.
And observation #6…
Just because everybody else in your sandbox is charging low prices and negotiating price cuts with every new prospect doesn’t mean that you have to follow the trend.
As I said, it’s an excellent article. Read the whole thing.
And my thanks to Mary for reminding me to look at Karen’s post again.
Dangerous Dreamers
John Cassidy-Rice offers some stirring words about dreamers and when they are dangerous is this excellent post on the American Small Business blog. My conviction is that, to be a success in the voiceover business, you must be at least somewhat of a dangerous dreamer.
What do you think? I’d love to read your comments.
More excellence on display
I’ve interviewed Mary C. McKitrick and I’ve written here a few other other times about Mary’s great work ethic and how seriously she takes the process of marketing herself and her voiceover services.
Now, thanks to her latest blog post, you can see for yourself. As I told Mary in a comment, I think the most important line of her entire post is this one…
I would absolutely love to be able to write a newsletter, click Send, and be done with it. That would certainly be easiest for me.
But, staying in contact with your clients and potential clients isn’t about what’s “easiest for me.” It’s about what those clients and potential clients prefer. And there’s evidence to support the email rather than newsletter approach. For example, one of Mary’s clients who writes and distributes a newsletter was in need of some voiceover work. He told Mary…
…that he appreciated my regular emails and that I was the first person he thought of when he needed female voice talent. I had first written to him at the end of March 2006, and his first response was 6 December, with a work proposal.
The title of Mary’s post is “How do you stay in touch?” What ever methods you use, finding work is always going to be a substantial part of your professional efforts. If you don’t put effort into marketing yourself, you won’t be doing voiceovers for a living very long.
Don’t believe me? Try it and see.
Excellent thoughts about excellence
Karen Commins is a talented lady who lives and does her voiceover work from her studio near Atlanta, Georgia. (Listen to her demos here. You’ll see what I mean. Talented.)
Recently Karen posted some thoughts on her blog about providing excellent service to our voiceover clients that really resonates with my own point of view.
I strive to ensure that every client is totally delighted with the work I perform.
Like Karen, I want to leave every client completely delighted with my work. And as she points out, sometimes that’s more difficult than others…
Delays are an inescapable fact of life. Have you thought about safeguards so that you don’t cause a delay?
Your contingency planning for delays and other unavoidable problems can be your saving grace in the eyes of your client.
What will you do if your Internet connection suddenly goes down, and you can’t deliver your recordings when you promised? Do you have some sort of back-up delivery method?
These are really important questions. I have two back-up plans for delivery, and two back-ups for those back-ups. If you haven’t thought about the answers to these questions, I hope you will. (I’ve had to use one of my back-up plans twice in the last year.)
Another question Karen asks is…
What do you do when a client contacts you and needs a recording that you can’t produce in the time allotted because you are ill, on vacation or swamped with other projects?
About 3 months ago, I was the recipient of a job for exactly this reason. A good friend was so busy he couldn’t take a specific job. The friend recommend the producer contact me. I did the job. The producer was happy with my work. Everyone wins. And you can be sure that friend is at the top of my list of people to recommend if the situation is ever reversed.
I commend Karen’s entire article to you. It’s well worth your time to read. It’s even more worth your time to formulate answers to her questions, and even to try to come up with a few more of your own.
Don’t sweat the small stuff?
While this post at the American Small Business blog isn’t about voiceover, I think there’s a vitally important point to be drawn from it.
It’s extremely easy to imagine that little things aren’t important. Yet, as Jane’s post makes clear, often it’s the little things that influence how other people perceive us. And those perceptions have a powerful influence on whether or not we’re hired again.
My goal with every voiceover session I do is to leave my client deliriously happy with my work. No doubt, I miss that mark much of the time; but it’s still my goal. And as evidence that I don’t always miss the mark, a fair amount of the time, when someone casts me once they do so again.
For example, the very first real voiceover client I ever booked in 1983, still casts me for voiceover work. In that particular case, their business model has changed in the last 10 years, so we don’t do as much work together as we once did. But, I still get work from them every year. Several other clients go back more than 10 years as well. And I’m deeply grateful to every one of them. Of course, I’m equally grateful for even the newest clients.
Hopefully, every one receives the same level of care and attention and passion. That is always my aim. So, how are you “sweating the small stuff?” I’d love to read your comments.
A deep well of experience
The following letter arrived in my inbox this weekend.
————————————-
Bob –
Here is my anonymous response to some to the recent postings at your blog.
Feel free to quote from it, as it may be something others may find helpful, or they may be able to relate to my career situation, time of life or personal/professional goals. However, I’d rather not say who I am because parts of this may seem like I’m lazy or not passionate about the VO biz, which could not be further from the truth. Also, some financial disclosures I’m mentioning are such that I don’t want others to attach them to me, my reputation or my name. For some, I’ll be perceived as rich, for others I’ll be viewed as not aiming high enough in the VO field.
You may also want to re-word or re-work some of this, if you even want to use it at all. If you don’t use it, I will view it as a chance to “talk” with an old friend, as well as review some important aspects of my life. At this stage of the game it’s hard to really be in touch with how one really feels about some things, but your blog and other VO forums of late have sparked some serious – as well as some fun – thinking!
I’m much like you and your friend, Mary C. McKitrick, regarding the point of consideration by some people to get out of the VO biz. I just hate to see anyone have to do it, but any number of factors can force the issue. Lack of money is the main one ….in other words, not seeing one’s venture really take off. This is where my perspective of being in the business a full 30 years may be helpful.
To me, it’s all about finding your niches …. NOT niche, niches. Plural. Yes, this is a crowded business, more competitive than ever. But with technology, more media beyond radio and TV commercials has evolved, requiring more specialized voiceovers.
Look at the landscape now: Internet and cable outlets, training videos and CD-ROMs, web presentations, messages on hold, flash presentations, tutorials, documentaries, corporate presentations, industrials, Imaging voices for television and radio promos and station identification, voice prompts, voice mail trees… There are hundreds of new opportunities to explore!
Even 30 years ago I learned that I needed to diversity in the VO work I offered. I marketed myself for dialog spots, character voices, straight VO, narration work, as well as on-camera. I even started getting good using the ear prompter before deciding to focus just on voice work about 10 years ago.
Here’s what happened for me: I lost two huge voiceover accounts in the mid-90’s. At that same time, there were 3 concurrent “technology megatrends” emerging:
1) ISDN studios enabling real-time sessions from studio to studio.
2) Home studio digital recording and editing.
3) The Internet, offering the means for distribution of audio files and other media, as well as scripts and email communication across great distances.
From these innovations, new VO niches began to spring up.
I was rattled for a while, after losing those major accounts, but decided to get my demos on as many studio and marketing sites as possible and promote myself like crazy using the Internet and by developing a web site. The website not only serves for promotional purposes, but also is functional as a means of delivering large sound files to clients.
The strategy worked! Some new niches emerged for me right away … churches and ministries that need VOs for local broadcasts or even cable networks …. narrations for business PowerPoint presentations … message-on-hold …. government training CD-ROMS and videos … ad agencies in different parts of the country that need announcers for car spots and other local accounts. … colleges and universities that need donor-appeal narrations for banquets and DVDs …
Yes, I am still do a lot of work with one local studio and I still do tons of auditions and love reading and learning about the VO field…but I feel I have enough tops spinning that I can now call myself “semi-retired” and enjoy other aspects of my life.
I read online recently this statement from actress and VO artist, Karen Hutton:
The (home) studio’s usually up most of the day, since if I’m not recording client work… I’m working on a number of my own projects I’ve got in the works. Also… it’s fair to say that some days I just have to shut it all down and go skiing, get outside, go hear music and have some other life too. Because I’ve always felt that part of what I can bring to my work that’s unique… is me. If I’m not living a rich, multi-faceted life of many colors… how can I bring that to my work? That’s something I’ve always lived by…which was reinforced many years ago by some wonderful acting mentors. If my world gets too small, my work gets stale and flat. The most successful and well-rounded people I’ve known DON’T work 24/7…they have balance and live a really full life. So, I really listen to that voice inside and try to be in the flow of things.
Exactly, Karen! I’m learning the same thing too.
After working in a deadline-driven business for 30 years, I am now at a place where I can realistically aim to make $300 – $500 a day. If at the end of a given week or month I see I am off pace, I’ll take a look at what’s slipping, but for the most part, I remain on course.
Should I aim higher? Do more? Be better? Try harder? At this stage, frankly, I want to reap the harvest. If something big comes my way, great! Several times a year, I do a national spot or get to record some cool character voices for a museum, whatever. But I am no longer striving for such things. The good Lord is my agent and I am reminded of the scripture that says, “teach me, Lord to number my days”. I’m in my 50’s now. Do I want to work night and day like I have been for the last 30 years? No. Do I want to wait until I am 70 to start traveling with my wife? No.
Two scenarios coming up highlight what my “semi-retired” life is starting to look like.
1) A producer friend I’ve known for years, but haven’t heard from in a long time, is now the public relations manager for a Bible college in one of my favorite parts of the country. He called me the other day and says he has me in mind to narrate two projects for the college. One is a 5 – minute piece that I can do by phone patch from home, the other is a long form narration for a DVD and possible broadcast. We’re negotiating a rate for this that would allow me to record at their facilities. They would fly me and my wife there on a Wednesday, I would record on Thursday and Friday while my wife shops or hangs out at the hotel … and we would take Saturday and Sunday to tour around some more.
2) To celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, I’ve decide to make it extra-special for my bride. I’ve arranged for two weeks on the Hawaiian islands. Since I’m incorporated and own my own production company business, my “boss” (the owner) is paying for most of the trip. I will work out of an ISDN studio in Sacramento on the way there, which will break up the trip. Plus we’ll spend a weekend to take in the Redwoods and giant Sequoias along the northern California coast. The company has enough frequent flyer miles to make airfare free.
I experienced a panic attack this past summer that sent me to the local hospital emergency room. While there, I happened to see in the waiting room another VO talent that I have known for years. He’s near 80 years old, has a great voice and has been know for always being there and always doing a good job. But I realized as I looked at him that this guy was not known for having much of a life outside of doing voiceovers. He was at the studio all the time. Yes, he’s made a ton of money, but, well, it was a “Christmas Carol” moment for me, and it was as though I was observing the “ghost of Voiceover future” if I’m not careful. How many vacations had I put on hold or canceled altogether over the last 3 decades? How many rounds of golf have I passed on, or even opportunities to be of service in the church or community?
So what I’m saying is…don’t turn up your nose at the low-mid range VO jobs out there. Don’t think you have to be on the upper tier of VO work to make a decent living and enjoy the one life you are given on earth to make the most of.
Folks who desire to do voiceovers should not give up too soon. If you work in radio, do what I did and get a night shift so you can freelance during the day and get that home studio going along with the web page. Hone your demos, sign up with online voiceover services and aim to make $300 – $500 a day so you can quit your night job 😉 … Phase into the VO work you love, and then begin to really enjoy your life!
Mr VO Anonymous
——————————————-
I’ve made a few slight edits to what was sent me to clarify a few points made by my friend; but the substance of what he’s written is entirely his own. I’d love to know your thoughts. Leave a comment.
Finding voiceover representation
If you’re relatively new to voiceover work, finding an agent is probably one of the things you believe you need to do. You’ll find some very helpful guidance at Vox Daily, the main voiceover blog from Voices.com as well as two very fine posts (one and two) at their voiceover advice blog called Ask the Voice Cat.
Read them all. They are well worth your time.
But, let me offer one note of caution. Hopefully not discouragement, just caution.
You must be able to actually deliver the level and quality of work that’s on your demos. If you’ve hired a demo producer who has helped you create a killer demo or two or twelve that all feature reads you can’t pull off for real in the studio, you could torpedo your career before it even gets going.
Yes, you want to put your best foot forward on your demos, but it has to be your best foot, not the genius of your producer and editor. A killer demo will help you find representation, but if you can’t deliver the goods from behind the mic, a killer demo could kill your reputation. You’ll lose the represenation you’ve worked so hard to find, and you’ll lose opportunities to work.
This, by the way, is why so many auditions are required now. Too many killer demos from too many people who can’t actually deliver the goods in the studio. Producers really don’t like unhappy surprises when they are burning money at a booked session.
Tell the truth. Show what you can do. But, don’t try to fake it. You will be found out.
As I’m typing this, I’m remembering something that happened quite back in the late 1980s. I had signed with an agent in Chicago and was starting to get cast fairly often for commercials and especially for narration work. A friend of mine was a pretty decent voiceover talent, but his demo was produced using a number of editing tricks to make his voice sound deeper than it really was.
One day, he asked me to take a copy of his demo to my agent. I told him that I would be happy to. I also told him that if he were ever hired for a session on the basis of that demo, the first time he asked the engineer to use the speed control on the tape machine to make his voice sound like it did on the demo, he’d be laughed out of the studio. He dropped the subject.
Good advice no matter how old
With thanks to my friend Mary McKitrick, who posted this link on the Voiceover Bulletin Board, check out this interview with acting coach Larry Moss. Very good insights that stand up well 6 years after the interview was conducted.
And speaking of Mary, congratulations are in order. While her accomplishment isn’t directly connected to voiceover work, I have no doubt that the discipline and control she’s been learning in her classes are valuable for her work behind the microphone. Good for you, Mary. May you find much success in all parts of your life.
(edited to correct typo)
Talent Moving Forward
With my thanks to my friend Dan Nachtrab for pointing this out on the VO-BB.com today, here’s a terrific article which not only features three talented voiceover fellows, but also some interesting observations about the whole Union vs. Non-union question. It’s well worth your time.
An exaggerated death
Over at Tim McLaughlin’s blog, he asks and answers the question “Is Broadcast Advertisting Dying?” I think Tim makes some excellent points.
I’ll say again, as I’ve noted here a number of times: the world of voiceover work is growing not shrinking. In fact, it’s growing fast enough that there’s plenty of work for everyone with the talent, drive and teachable spirit needed to be successful.
But, to be successful you do need to have at least some talent.
You do need to be persistent enough to make it through the tough times.
And you can’t believe you know it all. Because you don’t. Neither do I. In fact, I probably know less than you. But, there’s always something to learn. Always.
Demystifying the Home Recording Studio
There’s a new blog I’ve just added to my blogroll over on the left called Master VO. Dan Lenard introduces himself as the writer of this blog in his first post, here. I strongly suspect I’m going to visit this little corner of the blogosphere quite often.
Let me know what you think. You can leave a comment. They’re open.
Live blogging Debbie Munro’s Webminar
12:00 Noon – Debbie Munro is an experienced voiceover talent, introduced today by Caroline Perkins, Project Manager at Voice123.com. Debbie begins by describing how much she enjoys doing voiceovers. It wasn’t easy to get in to this business. It took a lot of hard work. She’s worked full-time for about 6 years and encouraged all of us to get a professional home studio set-up.
12:05 PM – Debbie talks about the value of a membership at Voice123.com (the sponsors of this Webminar), how it can provide professional experience auditioning, providing a web presence and possibly some income all for only $195.00 (US) per year.
12:08 PM – How do you start? With a demo? A demo is important, but she says the right place to start is at the start. She also mentions that she’s going to talk about The Key Ingredients of a voiceover career, the Types of Work available, different Reads to Know, How to Create Characters, A Script Checklist, Industry Secrets.
12:12 PM – How can voiceover work benefit me? By giving me the opportunity to work full or part time, at my own schedule. Work in my own home. It’s less discriminating than acting. (By this she explains “the look” is imperative, and talent can be secondary in film and television acting. Voiceover work depends on one’s talent, or ability to delivery the goods, is the whole deal.) But, to do this, you need training. Read. Take classes. Find our own styles and areas of ability.
12:17 PM – Further benefits of voiceover work? You can pick and choose what you want to work on. Do what you want and make money at it. Debbie suggests that they next time we’re at a party, start doing character voices for the kids. By this we learn to break through the inhibitions that we’ve lost since we were children. And this “childishness” is vital to be able to engage in characters. If the kids pay attention, you know you’re doing it well. This is how we get in touch with our “inner child” and learn to break through.
12:20 PM – So where do we start? Set realistic goals. It’s vital not to set goals that are completely out of reach. Take classes, but not just stage acting. Film and television acting as well; because it’s important to balance internal and external acting energy. Voiceover classes. Improv classes. Research the history of voiceover. For example, Daws Butler and June Foray.
12:24 PM – Create a demo. But, don’t rush into doing a demo. How do you know when you’re ready to make a demo? When you don’t have to ask yourself “Am I ready to make a demo?” Because you have to be actually deliver the goods of what’s on your demo when you’re in the studio. And make sure you work with a director who actually will direct. My demo needs to reflect who I am, my personality.
12:27 PM – Contract with an agent. But, don’t rely on the agent to find all of your work. Market yourself. Debbie mentions that she talks about her voiceover work where ever she goes. And finds a remarkable amount of work just by talking with people.
12:29 PM – Practice, practice, practice. Listen for interesting voices in real life. Audition the scripts that come through Voice123.com. All different kinds. Keep practicing and keep studying. Study the midwestern US accent, which is the “standard” sound.
12:31 PM – Book work and Have fun!
12:32 PM – What do we need? Talent and passion. Means to a recording studio, either through renting time at a local studio or building one’s own at home. A great demo. Listen to lots of demos. What do I like? What don’t I like. Write down impressions both ways. But, again, we have to be able to pull off what’s on our demo. A web site. Make sure my own personality shines through the site. We needs to be able to do different reads and characters. Lots of ideas. Don’t be afraid to add something to the copy, especially in animation. Versitility.
12:36 PM – Take a chance and put yourself out there. Risks are risks. There can be a huge payoff, and there can a huge downside. Being willing to look stupid. Never take “no” for an answer, take it for what it is “Not right now, maybe later.”
12:37 PM – Stay organized and keep business focused.
12:39 PM – What kind of work is available? Anything that has a voice? Talking toys. Video games. Internet flash presentations. Web sites. Every script has a character in it. See the characters. Find the characters. Our reads will improve. What reads do I need? Conversational, which is most popular right now. Hard Sell. Medium sell. Soft sell. Sultry (but to pull it off you have to feel sexy). Flat (throwing it away, kind of “less is more.”) Monotone which is harder that it seems. Straight. Energetic. Narrative (telling a story). Character (which is all over the place).
12:43 PM – Who am I (the character I’m playing)? Define with as much detail as possible, scanning for clues in the script. What am I talking to? Acting is reacting (re-acting). Back story? Motivation? Location and what’s happening? Each character is another personality, become that personality completely. There is no wrong way to do a character. The client might like it or not, but go with what seems right.
12:47 PM – Record practices. Listen back. It’s vitally important to be able to self-direct and learn. Listen for human qualities. Listen for what sounds “real” now fake. Learn to be comfortable with what we sound like. Stay focused.
12:49 PM – This is a tough business. You might not make it. But, there are a billion commercials every day (world wide) and James Earl Jones can’t voice them all. So, persist. Focus on realistic goals, not on getting rich. Staying power is vital. Have fun. Have faith in yourself. Be interesting and interested. Never stop learning. Tenacity is vital. Stop thinking about it. Do all the homework, but when you’re in front of the mike let it go and just let things come out.
The balance was questions and answers. Debbie talked about how she got started and her life-long passion for acting, the blossoming market of podcasts, suggestions for folks who are having a hard time landing work, taking further private coaching, focus on specific areas of work like commericals as you get started, how to find a good coach for training, how to learn computer audio editing, Debbie mentions that she’ll be starting an on-line course on January 9, 2007.
Learn the lingo in one easy step
If you’re new to voiceover work, or even if you’ve been in the business for a while, you may encounter words or terminology with which you’re not familiar. Having to ask “what does that mean?” is not only embarrassing, but could give the impression that you aren’t really a pro.
Marc Cashman has compiled an extensive list of terms related to the voiceover industry and posted the list at the Vox Daily voiceover blog at Voices.com. Read. Learn. You’ll be glad you did.
Packing it in, more thoughts
Whether you agree or disagree with what I wrote below under the title “Packing it in”, I hope you’ll take a few moments to read the superbly written post from my friend and fellow voiceover talent Mary C. McKitrick titled “How do you know when to quit?”
Mary provides some thoughtful commentary that puts much of what I wrote in exactly the right perspective. It’s a long post, but well worth your time.
Now that you’ve finished reading Mary’s comments, I want to be sure that my advice to you is clear. Do I want you to quit your attempts to build a voiceover career? I don’t have any standing to even offer an opinion. I can’t possibly know enough about you or your specific circumstances to advise you, what ever level of success or lack of same that you currently experience. And if you do quit, one thing you know for sure, you won’t be a success in voiceover.
But, as Mary has so cogently pointed out, you’re not limited by anything except your persistence and effort to achieve success in many different fields. And that success need not come easily. Indeed, it will be doubly sweet if it comes after much effort and struggle. (I cherish my college degree because I paid for all but $45.00 of it from my own pocket.)
Only you can decide if you should quit or keep on trying. But, then that was the point of my previous post. Or to put it another way, not deciding is a kind of deciding too; and if in your not deciding you’re hurting your marriage, your children or yourself then…fill in the rest for yourself.
You never know who might see
Adam Creighton is a talented actor both on camera and as a voiceover talent. His blog post Toy Job resume lies is a classic illustration of why it’s never a good idea to boast about something you didn’t really do…especially in your efforts to find voiceover or other acting work.
What about the voice?
Today a few thoughts about working in the studio.
A few days ago I congratulated one of my correspondents, Noel, on landing his first paying job through Voice123.com. He wrote again today with some additional observations that I’ve asked his permission to copy here. And then below, an observation that I hope is helpful not only to him, but to you as well.
Noel writes that he’s beginning to understand…
…not only is it the sound and range of one’s voice, but the ability to not get all hung up on listening to the sound of one’s own voice. The ability to lift the words off the page counts for something as well.
Best regards,
Noel G
Not only is Noel right that the ability to lift the words off the page counts for something, it’s very nearly everything. This is critically important, so please take note. It’s not about you or your voice.
Really, it’s not. There are literally hundreds of millions of people with pleasant sounding voices in the world, millions of whom speak English as their native tongue. And of those millions, most have a voice that’s more pleasant sounding than your voice…at least to some people.
You know all those times when you auditioned for a job and someone told you they hired you because you “had just the right voice for this project”? Here’s what they were really saying: “we loved what you did with our script.” How do I know that’s true? Because if they didn’t love what you did with their script in your audition, they would have hired someone else. Think about it for a second. If you mangled their script, gave no indication that you understood the message, they would never hire you.
Having an interesting, or pleasant, or appealing voice is the price of admission. It’s like a restaurant that advertises tasty food. What? As opposed to all of those other restaurants with bad tasting food? No, of course not. And for that matter, a pretty long list could be created of successful voiceover people with annoying voices. AFLAC!
It’s not about you. It’s not about your voice. It’s about your client and the message that client is trying to convey. You’re either helping deliver that message effectively or your not working. At least not for long.
Let me know what you think. Comments are open.
Packing it in?
So, you’ve been trying for a while now to make some money doing voiceovers, right? You’d read on a website about all the money people make doing voiceovers. All your life people have told you that you have a nice voice and you really should be “on the radio” or a “voiceover person.” You know how to talk, so how hard can it be?
But…
After hundreds of dollars spent getting a demo made. Hundreds more having a website designed and hosted. And joining Internet casting sites. And doing dozens, even hundreds of auditions through those sites. You’ve tried low-balling the price. You’ve tried raising the price. And what do you have to show for it? Zip? Maybe a few hundred dollars?
So…
What now? You’ve heard that “winners never quit and quitters never win,” but you’re wondering how much more money you have to sink into your voiceover “career” before you start making those big bucks?
Well, where ever you are on the road I’ve just described, please believe me; the vast majority of people trying to make money doing voiceovers never do. Yes, the vast majority. And there are lots of folks who will happily take your money to “train you for a professional voiceover career” or “create that killer demo” or whatever. Maybe you’ve already met some of them?
Being successful in voiceover requires a host of skills, only some of which have anything to do with talking into a microphone. If you don’t succeed it’s both because and not because of the competition. There’s always someone more experienced, more talented and more driven than you are. Always. Someone with a better voice. A better demo. A better agent. Or something.
You can make excuses all day long. None of them amount to a hill of beans, except for the way they block you from actually getting where you want to go.
So, here are some concrete suggestions from a guy who’s learned more than a few things the hard way…
Don’t sign up for the first training opportunity you find. At least, don’t sign up until you’ve checked to see if the person doing the training actually knows his or her stuff. And until you’ve checked to see if the prices being charged are reasonable. In many cases, you’d be far better off taking an acting or improv class at the local community college. And then some singing lessons. If you have talent for voiceover work, you’ll learn everything you really need (except microphone technique) in theatre and singing classes.
Don’t make a demo until you’ve spent at least a few months listening to the demos of top notch working professionals. Here, I’ll save you the trouble of finding them. Click this link. That’s the Union/International house reels for voiceover talent agents. As you can see and hear, there are hundreds of people in line ahead of you. Actually, it’s not hundreds. It’s thousands.
Don’t build a website until you have a demo worth promoting. And when you build the site, again, don’t go with the first person you meet who can code a little html. Has this designer ever worked on a site for a voiceover person, or even an actor, before? Look at the sites. Look at lots of sites from other voiceover people. Take note of what you like and what you don’t like. Discuss these with your designer. Or, do what I did. Find a template you like, study some html, and build your own.
Are you depressed yet? Look, I’m deliberately trying to splash some cold water on your face because at some point you have to examine the question: is it time for me to quit this and get back to doing something else with my life?
Bonnie Gillespie is a brilliant Hollywood casting director, mainly for independent films. She writes a weekly column for Showfax called The Actor’s Voice. I’ve pointed to her work a number of times before, but this post was prompted by reading Bonnie’s column from October 16, 2006. While, as usual, the focus is on Hollywood actors, the lessons apply to all of use who earn our trade acting with our voices in places other than Hollywood. As Bonnie writes…
What I’m hoping to provide here is a nice little kick in the butt for those of you who hem and haw about leaving the biz. To paraphrase Yoda: Leave or leave not. There is no whine.
And this is, I think, the money quote…
Remember that what you do as an actor most of the time is pursue work. So I’m not talking about finding yourself jealous of those who are succeeding in ways you were not. That doesn’t count. That’s like being an astronomer and finding yourself jealous that you didn’t discover a new planet. Very, very, very few people have the level of success that draws people to the pursuit of acting in a major market. If you cannot be happy pursuing the work, improving your craft, and building relationships in this industry, you absolutely should consider packing it in…
Take a long hard look at reality. Are you putting your family in jeopardy? Are you spending too much time and money on this dream of voiceover success? Do you truly understand in your bones that voiceover work, like any other kind of acting work, is mainly finding work? This is a marketing and sales job far more than it’s a “talk into the microphone” job.
So, how are you doing? I’d love to read your thoughts and experiences. Comments are open.
Excellent thoughts about voiceover work
With my thanks to Karen Commins (for linking to an excellent article on her blog), you’ll find some tremendously valuable thoughts posted on Adam Creighton’s voiceover blog about the work of acting, including voice acting.
I’ve added Adam’s Ramblings blog to my list of voiceover blogs in my attempt to compile as complete a list as possible of voiceover blogs.