Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People
Joe Cipriano, as I’ve mentioned previously, is one of the guys who works in the major leagues of voice-over.
On his blog a few days ago, Joe mentioned a book that sounds like something well worth a few of your dollars, and mine. The title of the book is Secrets of Voice-Over Success. It’s just $12.32, as of this moment, at Amazon. (UPDATE: price corrected after looking at Amazon.)
If you want to get started doing voice-over work, here are two solid recommendations:
First, read this post by Karen Commins. Karen’s a very talented lady and you need to heed what she’s written.
Second, after you’ve read that post, think about entering the Minewurx Studio Voice contest. It’s designed just for someone like you.
If you’ve signed up for a premium membership with either Voice123.com or InteractiveVoices.com (soon to be Voices.com), you should check out the comments Brian Roberts has posted in the blog at Voice123.com.
Here are a couple of highlights:
I did more than 600 auditions in the first 6 months with V123 and made maybe $1000. I was working at it full time!! I’d wake up each morning, go down to my computer and start auditioning. I had an amazingly loud alert on my MAC that screamed at me to check my mail whenever a new email from V123 came in. Id did this EVERY day for MONTHS. And was discouraged.
And
For example, for the first 2 months, I didn’t realize that my microphone was missing a battery that made it sound horrible! I auditioned for HUNDREDS of jobs with this bad mike and NO ONE SAID A WORD. Once I figured it out, It was amazing how much my chances increased and my profits.
Especially in this second comment, Brian makes an extremely important point, you have to have professional equipment and it has to be set up correctly if you have any serious chance of making a decent living doing voice-overs…even part-time. Read the whole thing. (By the way, I’m not surprised no one said anything about Brian’s bad microphone. The clients almost certainly just chalked up his auditions as coming from someone who wasn’t a professional. Which means you need to find and fix the problems you have, because no one else is going to do it for you.)
By the way, one guy who does a lot of voice-over training, and who takes the time to make sure his students understand this essential point is Michael Minetree.
Vox Blog, the voice-over blog at Voices.com points out there is a contest running through July 23, 2006 to become the voice of either Namor (a.k.a. Sub-Mariner) or Jean Grey. Or go directly to the contest entry here.
Now, that contest is primarily for folks with significant professional voice-over experience. But, the Voice-Over Contest continues at Minewurx Studio. And that contest is closed to people with such experience.
So, if you want to push the boundries of where you are…whether you’re a novice just getting started…or someone who’s been doing voice-overs for some time but wishing you could get your big break; opportunities are right under your nose.
A few years ago I heard a quote from Henry Ford that applies: “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.”
If you teach or coach voice-over talent, you ought to check out Stephanie’s latest post on Vox Daily, the voice-over blog at Voices.com.
As of yesterday, June 23, 2006 Vox Daily, the voice-over blog from Voices.com (formerly InteractiveVoices.com) has moved to its new and permanent home. Check it out. The site is very well designed and includes all of the posts and comments from the InteractiveVoices.com blog, searchable by keyword.
Comments are easier to leave, too. Check it out.
Several days ago I added a link to Dave Christi’s site to my list of voice-over links over on the left; but I neglected to post a note here about having done so.
Dave is another example of a guy with a lot of talent with whom I’ve had the delight of corresponding via email. I hope in the next year or two that we get to meet in person.
He’s also a really nice guy. He even posted a link back here on his blog when writing about nice people in the voice-over business.
Thank you for the kind words, Dave. Takes one to know one.
My first encounter with Pat took place 2 years ago at the Dan O’Day sponsored 2004 International Radio Creative and Production Summit. His presentation was on creating and using characters. Since Pat is a very successful animation and character voice-over talent in Los Angeles, this was great fun, but not all that practical to me, since this isn’t my niche.
Then last year, Pat was back for a second session at the 2005 Summit. In 3 hours, Pat Fraley taught us practical and immediately useful techniques about how to approach copy at auditions. How practical? In the last year, I’ve earned at least $5000.00 more than I would have, because of the auditioning tools I gained studying with Pat Fraley. In fact in less than a year, I’ve won multiple high-paying jobs using the ideas I learned from him.
I’ll write about my expreriences of putting the audiobook class lessons into practice as time goes on, so there’s more to come on that subject.
The Audiobook Master Class presented by Pat Fraley was everything I hoped it would be and more. It was really 3 master classes in one. We each received a wonderfully detailed book of notes, saving us the trouble of writing like mad and hoping we weren’t missing something important in the process. Instruction both in the classroom and in the studio came from our three very talented teachers: Pat Fraley, Hillary Huber and Kimberly Breault. (Hillary’s link is to a page on Pat’s site. I can’t find a site specifically for her. Here is another page with some good comments about Hillary.)
First, it was training in how to approach the reading of an audiobook. It’s a very different approach than doing a commercial voice-over. The word picture Pat gave us was “it’s like a train,” running for a very, very long time in the same direction. Recording sessions for audiobooks often last 3 to 6 hours, with just short breaks each hour and for the longer sessions, a stop in the middle of the day for lunch.
Second, it was training in how to find work recording audiobooks. There were many helpful suggestions here, not just about web sites to look at but suggestions about letters to use for contacts and follow-up. This was the part I expected to get the least from, because I’m such a poor self-promoter, but even I believe I can follow through on these simple, and practical ideas.
Third, it was recording our actual audiobook demos. There were 3 voice booths in use, with four of us moving from booth to booth in turns. (One group had 5.) I was delighted to get to record with three talented artists: Connie Zimet, Dwight Harmon and Cindy Shoemaker. Hillary, Kim and Pat each provided direction and notes as we recorded.
This week they are taking our raw tracks to a professional editor to prepare the finished demos. We’ll receive them in a few days.
In addition, Kathe Mazur came in during lunch to offer us her insights as a successful voice talent recording audiobooks for major audiobook publisher, Books-on-Tape. It was wonderful to hear her thoughtful comments about both the delights and the challenges involved in recording audiobooks.
Having now attended three training events with Pat Fraley, I strongly recommend you jump at your next chance to take one of his classes; at least one that makes sense for your specific area of interest. The price of the serminar, the air transportation from Charlotte to LA and back, the hotel, rental car and meals…all of it combined was worth every penny based what I learned in one 8-hour day. I’m very confident I’ll make it all back, and lots more before this year is finished.
Best of all, its was a load of fun!
And one of the most talented I’ve met in a long time is Connie Zimet, who was part of the Audiobook Master Class I took this weekend in California. (About which more shortly.)
Connie lives in Florida, so she and a young lady named Rachel (from New York) were the two who beat me out for the title of “traveled the farthest” to get to the class.
In any case, I was impressed with everyone I met, but Connie was head and shoulders above the rest of us. I’ve added her site to my “Voice Over” links on the left.
This evening I fly to Los Angeles and tomorrow all day I’m going to be attending Pat Fraley‘s audio book master class. There’s a second class the following day. Both are fully booked. (I’m sure there will be others in the future.)
I’ll post my thoughts about the class here once I’ve had a chance to absorb what I’ve learned. But, I’m sure it’s going to be a great experience. Janet Ault, a very talented lady I’ve met through Dan O’Day’s International Radio Creative and Production Summit, has attended a previous class and emails that she loved the experience. (It was at the Dan O’Day event two years ago that I also first met Pat Fraley.)
As I write this post, today’s the last day for you to get the lowest registration rate for the International Radio Creative and Production Summit 2006 of $495.00. This link goes directly to the registration page.
If you write or produce radio commerials or voice for radio, television or the Internet you should seriously think about attending. I’ve attended every year since 1997 and it’s made a huge difference for me professionally.
This year, Dave Foxx of Z-100 in New York will present a seminar on station promo production. Harlan Hogan will speak on Advanced Voice-over Strategies and Techniques. And there’ll be a panel of voice-over agents and casting directors. Each of these will be worth the price of admission alone.
Even if you have to pay a bit more than the minimum, you’ll be glad you were there. Register today.
The answer to the question posed in the title to this post can be found in large part in this post on the InteractiveVoices.com blog (soon to be the Voices.com blog). Read the whole thing, but here’s one key thought.
Competing means that you are jockeying for the top position, and that there can only be one winner.
The term “Competing” gives permission to the client to treat voice talent like dirt, and to be frank, abuse you, your time, and your skills. For the client, it’s a passive experience. For you, it can be demeaning and stressful.
It doesn’t help anyone, clients or talents, to be in the mindset that this is a competition where it is okay to ‘let talent compete’ for voice-over work…
Exactly. I don’t see Charlie Glaize, Ross Bagley or any other voice talent (male or female) as my competition. There’s plenty of work for all of us. Plenty. Thousand and thousands of opportunities for professional voices. My voice and my interpretive ability is right for some of those jobs. But I’m not right for many, many others. And somone else should be cast for those jobs.
I find it fascinating that much of the time when I’ve been cast from an audition, the person who hires me says something like, “When we heard your voice, we knew you were the right one for the job.” Now that rings my chimes.
Today, Karen Commins left some kind words in a comment. So, I immediately checked out her website and her blog. Karen is a talented lady and I’m sure will continue to do well in this crazy business we call voice-over.
We’re both going to the audiobook Master Class with Pat Fraley in Hollywood, but she’s attending the Sunday session on June 18th and I’ll be there on Saturday, June 17th. I’m sure we’ll compare notes afterward. Some of that note comparing will, no doubt, make its way here. Something to look forward to.
Several days ago I mentioned that the Voice Over Contest at Minewurx Studio had started. Here’s the page where you can hear the current contestants. And here’s the latest news about a prize that’s been added since my last post.
So, if you’re just getting started, go thou and do likewise. Uh, I mean, enter the contest. After all, you could win. And as Michael Minetree, the owner of Minewurx says, if you do, you’re going to be very happy.
One more thing that I really like about InteractiveVoices.com, (soon to be Voices.com, as I posted below) are their job posting guidelines. You’ll find them here. So, not only have they helped me make a tidy sum of money, they’ve presented me with jobs I want to do without compromise. Now, that’s what I call a win-win.
The 11th Annual International Radio Creative and Production Summit is coming August 18 and 19, 2006. It’s presented by Dan O’Day and features a stellar line-up of presenters, as it does every year. Sign up to attend before June 9, 2006 for the best deal. But, whatever you do, sign up.
And if you decide to attend, please say “hello” to me while you’re there. I’ve been every year since 1997. Look for the large guy in the long-sleeved white shirt and tie. That will be me.
I’ve written about my very positive experiences with both InteractiveVoices.com and Voice123.com a number of times. As far as I’m concerned, the $200 per year I pay to each of these services for a premium membership is some of the best money I spend.
So, you should know that right now, Voice123.com has a deal going that they will provide you with some Search Engine Optimization consulting, free, if you sign up for (or renew if you already have) a premium membership.
In my last post on this subject a couple of days ago, I gave a thank you to my friend Charlie Glaize for pointing me to an article in a Utah newspaper about folks who are making a career of voice-over while living in that western State.
That post prompted a comment from Stephanie Ciccarelli of InteractiveVoices.com, which you’ll find in the comments section of that post, just below this one. Stephanie has also posted some thoughts about that article, which you can read on the InteractiveVoices.com blog here. Stephanie was nice enough to give me a “thank you” in her post, which I only just discoverd this moment while looking at her post.