Stays in Vegas. So goes the city’s famous ad slogan. But, at the end of March 2007, what happens in Vegas isn’t going to stay in Vegas. Or at least it shouldn’t. It should come home with you, and help you move your voiceover career to the next level. Of course, I’m talking about V.O.I.C.E. 2007.
With other voiceover talent coming from as far away as Japan and Australia, you’re not likely to win a prize for traveling the farthest; but it’s going to be worth the trip however long or short it may be for you.
I hope I’ll get a chance to meet you while we’re there.
Getting started in Voiceover
Go deep
One of the key points I gleaned from the teleconference the other evening was the idea of keying in on a signature sound for our voiceover work. Seth Godin makes this point brilliantly in a recent post on his blog.
I am not suggesting that we narrow our world to only one kind or category of voiceover work; rather that we concentrate our marketing efforts on our signature sound, who we really are. Other work will almost certainly come our way. And we evaluate each of those jobs to figure out if it makes sense to take that work or recommend someone else better suited to that job.
(update: edited to fix typos)
Be Yourself
Gary Terzza is a well respected voiceover coach in the UK. On his blog he illustrates for us how “being yourself” can sound on their side of the pond. Good stuff, Gary.
Some good thoughts on budgeting
My friend Elaine Singer has written a helpful post on her blog about how much time it really takes to record a long form narration, and how that influences the amount of money a voiceover talent needs to bid on such a project. Good stuff, Elaine.
The Break Into Voiceover Teleseminar (edited)
I found an amazing amount of powerfully motivating information in this seminar. If you missed the seminar, you can find information about Nancy Wolfson and Anna Vocino at BreakIntoVoiceOver.com.
Nancy Wolfson spoke about creating a map for success. The metaphor is re-booting our operating system. We need to start from the beginning, formulating a business plan for our voiceover career.
We have to look at this as a start-up business.
Education is key. The number of people who can’t do voiceovers is actually pretty small. Doing voiceovers isn’t brain surgery, it’s quite teachable.
Nancy Wolfson says her job is to help us brand ourselves, figure out our own personal styles, and how to present that.
Group classes can be beneficial because we can learn when someone else is not getting it, as well as when someone is really nailing it. But better is private instruction.
A bargain basement demo is often more expensive than what it costs.
Master your elevator pitch. (You’re riding in an elevator and you have to complete a pitch before that elevator ride is over.)
Pay for a good education. Pay for a good demo. Pay for great graphics.
A great tip from Pat Fraley, via Nancy, when you don’t have a pop filter handy, hold an index finger upright between your mouth and the mike. It will split the air to keep the mike from popping.
There is a list of recommended equipment to buy to set up a basic home studio on their website. BreakIntoVoiceOver.com.
Notice that we’ve not talked about agents. When we’re in the booth, we have to be able to deliver the goods. If we spend good money having a great demo done in the first place, we won’t need to update it very often.
What a great opportunity and experience this teleconference was. It was $49.00 well spent. By the way, a copy of the audio for this entire session will be available for sale through the web site. BreakIntoVoiceOver.com.
(Note: I’ve condensed and edited the “live blog” into a more succinct and coherent whole.)
An oppotunity, right now (updated)
With my thanks to Stephanie over a Vox Daily for posting about this, there’s a 2-hour teleseminar this evening that should be of interest to anyone wishing to get serious about voiceover work. It’s hosted by Nancy Wolfson and Anna Vocino.
It’s taking place tonight, Wednesday, January 31, 2007 starting at 9:00 PM Eastern, 6:00 PM Pacific. Registration is $49.00 and you can sign up at BreakIntoVoiceOver.com.
(Update: I’ve signed up already, so I’m putting my money were my mouth is…uh…typing fingers are.)
Among other things, it takes guts
Kristine Oller is a woman with remarkable insights into how to get where you really want to go. And her blog is specifically written to help you think about where you’re going and how to get there.
Her post on January 24, 2007 is a perfect example of what I mean. Maybe you’ve been thinking and dreaming about working full-time as a voiceover talent for some time now. How long? It doesn’t matter. However long it’s been, if it seems like a long time, it is.
You’ve made some money doing voiceovers, but not enough to live on. At least not consistently. You’ve talked with people you respect. You’ve read and taken part in discussions online.
These are some of Kristine’s thoughts…
So, whose advice do you follow? Whose opinion matters most? Whose smarts can you count on?
The answer is: your own.
Ultimately, you have to learn how to trust your own gut. Success definitely involves soliciting sage advice, gathering informed opinions and educating yourself, but it also involves filtering all of that information through your gut to determine what “feels right†to you.
Kristine continues by making a distinction between your brain and your “gut.” My friend Roy Williams would probably say Kristine is actually drawing a distinction between using the left and right hemispheres of your brain.
But the point stands, regardless of the language you use. Eventually, you have to figure out what’s truly right for you.
Take a few minutes, and read Kristine’s entire post. It’s not short, and while I don’t agree with every word Kristine writes; I think it’s well worth your time.
Oh, and while you’re there, if you found benefit in what you read, why don’t you spring for a hot chocolate for Kristine? The links are just to the right of her posts.
Some good words about training
Over at the Ask the Voice Cat blog, you’ll find some good comments from Mark Cashman about training for work in voiceovers.
One of the keys (updated)
The other day I was digging through the blog archives at my friend Dan Nachtrab’s site and came across this thoughtful and well written post from some time ago. It’s not long, but well worth a moment of your time.
Update: Dan was part of a meeting of the minds among 3 of us voiceover guys when we all got together for lunch in Central Ohio recently. He’s posted about it here.
Consonance
I’ve written a number of times in the last few weeks, encouraging you to join me (and lots of our fellow voiceover professionals) at V.O.I.C.E. International in March of this year. So, I think it’s very cool that the voice casting site a name so similar to the conference has signed on as a major sponsor of the event.
As noted in her comment a couple of message below, and as you can read about in this news report, Voices.com has signed on as a major sponsor of V.O.I.C.E. International.
I hope I get to meet you there, too.
Update: More information from Stephanie is available through Vox Daily and VOX Talk.
From Radio to Voiceover, a correspondence
The other day as I was looking through my server logs and noticed I was getting some traffic from a site I hadn’t seen before so I clicked over to check it out. The site was Clark W. Michael’s. So, I wrote him a quick note of thanks for the link, and to let him know I’d added him to my voiceover blogroll.
His response to that email prompted some correspondence I thought useful enough to share, so I asked Clark’s permission, which he has graciously granted, to post here.
He wrote…
Thanks for the link back. Appreciate it. I usually take a look at your blog about every morning and find it helpful and enjoy the friendly tone of your site.
Thank you. I’m delighted to know you’re enjoying the site. I’m happy to take a few minutes to try to answer your questions. You’ve made some important observations, to which I’ll respond in a moment; but first a couple of concrete suggestions:
1. Join the VO-BB.com. Lurk. Read the archives (I’ve read all of them, which took a long time, but was worth every hour it took.) Lurk some more. Post some questions when you feel like you’re ready. Post some answers when you have them. It’s a great on-line community and you’ll be glad you’re a part.
2. If you can possibly work out the schedule and finances, join us in Las Vegas at the end of March at the V.O.I.C.E. conference. It’s going to be an incredible time of learning, meeting loads of other people at all kinds of difference stages of their career, etc.
I’ve put the responses to your questions below, in among your questions. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I’ll do my best to answer.
I’m a radio guy and just beginning the arduous process of seeking voice work. Not easy at all. I’ve got a lot to learn and have come to the conclusion that I need to get on the phone and solicit work if I’m going to find any.
Work rarely falls into our laps with gift-wrap and a bow. While I’ve had that happen a few times, it’s usually the result of relationship that have been built over a long period of time; and not just some random event. But, before you start making phone calls looking for work you need: 1.) training (as you note above, there’s a lot to learn); 2.) a great demo for each category of voiceover work you’re trying to find (imaging, promo, commercial, narration, etc.); 3. a plan for how your not only going to “put yourself out there” but how you’re going to keep track of what’s working and what’s not working in your marketing plan. (Without this plan, and the ability to track and compare, you’ll never know where to concentrate greater resources and what to leave behind.)
I have an account with Voices.com, but that has proved rather fruitless.
My experience with Voice123.com and Voices.com has gone like this: I get cast about 4 times as often through Voice123.com as I do through Voices.com and most of my work through Voices.com has come as a result of direct contacts while my work through Voice123.com has mostly come through auditioning. But, I have a good friend for whom almost the exact opposite is true. Most of his work has come through Voices.com and little through Voice123.com. There’s no magic formula. When you audition, you do the very best work you can, send it, and forget it. Maybe every 3 months, you do a little comparison to see what’s working and what’s not (see my note above about planning, tracking and comparing); but I look at my membership fees at these sites as exactly what they are: advertising dollars. I spend it for the the doors of opportunity it opens, not for guaranteed work.
I’ve also come to the conclusion that radio and voice over are almost two different worlds.
You’ve just said a mouthful!
One would not assume that until investigating what it is you guys do to make a living. Hard work. Lots of rejection. I would guess most of the time you never hear back from the people for which you audition. That’s certainly true for me.
Correct. I rarely hear back from auditions, unless I’m cast. Of course, that’s what you want to hear!
I admire your tenacity and am realizing that that seems to be the key character trait necessary to find steady work.
Without persistence, you’ll give up. No one ever won anything by giving up. No one ever succeeded at anything by giving up.
I image you’re quite busy doing what you do, but if you have time — I’d sure appreciate any hints you can offer to steer me in a productive voice over direction.
See points #1 and #2 above.
However you can manage it
I hope you will plan to join me and many of your fellow voiceover professionals at the V.O.I.C.E. conference the last week of March 2007. We are going to learn so much. We are going to have such a great time.
Pat Fraley, Bob Bergen, MJ Lallo, Rodney Saulsberry, DB Cooper, Frank Frederick, James Alburger, Penny Abshire, Connie Terwilliger, Bettye Zoller, Chris Wagner, Gregory Best, Dave Courvoisier, and even more players to be named later. Whether you know all of these names, some of them or even none; every one of them is a working voiceover professional who is willing to dig into his or her bag of tricks and share with you.
I sure hope I’ll see you there.
Harvesting follows planting
Never the other way around. As a kid who grew up in the farm country of North Central Minnesota, I knew this kernel of truth before I knew how to ride a bicycle.
My friend Brian Haymond has a excellent post on the value of planting voiceover seeds. What? Read it. You’ll see what I mean.
Like me, Brian lives in Charlotte, NC. So, while I’m on the subject of voiceover guys in Charlotte, today I received a very nice email of greeting from another voiceover guy in Charlotte, Jon Carter. I’ve added Jon to my blogroll to the left.
Golden Handcuffs
Every week at the end of her regular The Actor’s Voice column, Bonnie Gillespie has a section titled Your Turn. While I think her new column is stellar, and almost every word applies in some way to people trying to get into the world of voiceover work; but what I really want to call to your attention is the Your Turn section at the bottom of this column.
Here’s the question to which Bonnie responds…
I’m here in NY. (Yea!) I’ve managed to get a temp job (happened fairly quickly) and an apartment (took three months and at the “low” rent of $1200/month for a 1-bedroom). I’ve had some good acting success with a number of indie films and TV pilots so far and I’ve even had the lead in an NYU student film (and I’ve only been here a couple of months). I can feel my confidence increasing and opportunities opening up. I feel it won’t be long before I start making some money with my acting, in spite of all the input from everywhere about how limited opportunities are. I have just ignored all of that and moved full steam ahead into my work. So here is my question.
The temp job that I’ve been working is looking to hire the position I’ve been in permanently. They’ve been flexible with me as a temp to take whatever time I’ve needed for moving and acting but I’m worried that if I take a permanent position with them I’ll lose that flexibility. On the other hand, I need to make that $1200/month just to cover my rent. I’d like some input from people out there who are working actors. Is a bird in the hand really better than two in the bush? Do I opt for a more financially secure position knowing that the loss of flexibility could possibly cost me work?
Thanks for any input. And as always, thanks for the great column. You are an incredible resource for all of us.
Bonnie’s response is brilliant, transparent and full of great advice. Here’s a key thought…
I had to trust that I was going to be able to make a living, because there is no guarantee that you will, when you choose the freelance lifestyle. I had done the “job security” thing the last time I had moved across the country for this crazy career. I was not going to fall for that again! They’re called golden handcuffs for a reason. The job takes care of you and you get used to living a certain way. And then you’re stuck. And you’re not pursuing acting anymore. Or if you are, it’s like a hobby you barely have time for. And that’s not why you moved to a major market, right?
Read the whole thing, main column and Your Turn. It’s well worth your time.
Actor’s Tool-Kit #1
Recently I subscribed to an excellent service from Bob Fraser called Show Biz How-To. Bob’s information is focused toward on-camera actors for television and film; but there’s a bunch of valuable information that applies to those of us who act entirely or mostly with our voices. I’ve asked his permission to reprint the series of Actor’s Tool-Kits that he sends to his subscribers, and he has given me permission. What follows is the first installment. I’ll post more of these in the coming weeks. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
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ACTOR’S TOOL KIT #1
ACTING FOR MONEY
by Bob Fraser
One of my hobbies, during my active career, was watching the results of other show biz folks. I kept journals for about 5 years, then I noticed that I didn’t need to keep a journal because it was becoming redundant. The fact is, that all the successful people I met over 40 years, (and when I say ALL I mean 100%) were capitalists.
I don’t mean that in a political way – I’m talking about store-keeper capitalism. All the successful people I’ve known in the show business are successful because they are good business people. Good store-keepers.
The other side of the coin is the unsuccessful actor, writer, director, producer, etc. Believe me, most of them are not untalented, or unlucky, or unconnected. Generally, their real problem is that they are just lackadaisical business people.
The biggest mistake I see is the total time and energy the unsuccessful actor puts into the business. This amount of time can be described as: not enough.
IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCT
If we are not working at our business to keep things running smoothly on a daily basis, if we ever sit back and wait for things to happen, stop marketing and promoting, or quit trying new ideas to get people into our store (to buy our product) well, every business around us will say a big thank you – and grab our customers.
If we don’t devote enough time to our business, if we don’t plan what we’re doing, if we don’t put in a lot of thought and energy, if we don’t have vision, if we’re not excited by it all, then, then the sad truth is that we’re just not going to get very far. we’re going to be crawling along, while all around us, sincere, hard working capitalists will be charging past.
What can you do to become a better capitalist? A good start is to understand the difference between actually being in business and just having the store open.
The number one way to improve your business is to improve your product. The best product is not always what the customer buys – but it’s always the product the customer wants. Your odds improve as your product gets better.
Be sure to advertise. If one kind of advertising isn’t working – try something else. (Get new headshots until you get one that works.)
It doesn’t hurt to keep the store open 12 hours a day.
Don’t worry about hiring a salesman (An Agent) until you’ve done a lot of market testing and selling, yourself.
You want a smart salesman and a smart salesman knows better than to try to sell an untested and unproven product. An agent cannot afford to sell one of his customers (studios and producers) a sub-par product. Keep in mind that your salesman will probably represent a lot of different “lines” and he will give more attention to the better ones.
Always present your product (you) in the best possible way.
The key to good business is to accentuate the benefits of the product and work hard to eliminate any reasons for the customer not to buy. This requires a lot of thought.
After all, your product is a human being and we all have flaws – which sometimes (after some thought) – turn out to be benefits.
WORKING HARD AND SMART
That’s what capitalism is: Taking your product out into the marketplace, defining your customer base, doing good product testing and research, hiring good salespeople, advertising well, and keeping the store open late.
Watch the capitalists around you. You know, the folks who run their own dry cleaning store, sandwich shop, or quick print center. If they are successful, study them carefully and find out how they run their businesses. You will discover that most of them work very hard.
Is it worth working very hard?
Well, their dream is probably just security. Our dream, on the other hand, is fame, fortune, respect and a bit of immortality.
And security.
Don’t kid yourself, it’s a capitalist’s dream … with a twist and a cherry on top.
The question is – how hard are you willing to work to achieve your dream?
Keep in mind that the number one benefit of capitalism is the money – and money equals freedom.
I think that’s a dream we can all get behind.
NEXT INSTALLMENT: ACTING LIKE YOU’RE A BUSINESS
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Keep learning
If you’re not honing your craft, learning how to do a better job of marketing yourself, or otherwise improving your life personally and professionally, you’re losing ground. It may not seem like it right now, but that’s because sometimes the ground losses are subtle enough that you don’t notice. But, it’s happening.
This year, in March, you have an opportunity to learn on several levels. Craft. Marketing. Networking. Auditioning. And more. Yes, I’m talking about V.O.I.C.E., the Voice Over International Creative Experience.
And here’s another reason you should be there in Las Vegas, March 27 through 31, 2007: Pat Fraley is going to be there to teach his new seminar called 26 Slick Tricks Smuggled Out of Hollywood. I look forward to seeing you there and to learning along side you.
Are you derailing your own efforts?
My friend Dave Christi has some very cogent thoughts for you about marketing yourself. Here is the key question…
“What is YOUR marketing strategy?†As an independent voice artist, you are a business owner. It doesn’t matter if you are running your business full-time or part-time, you’re President, CEO, CFO, and YES, marketing director, of your own business. So what, Mr. or Ms. Marketing Director, is your marketing strategy?
Read the whole thing. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time.
I’m going to make my first trip to Las Vegas
At the end of March 2007, I’m going to make my very first trip to Las Vegas. Not to gamble. In fact, if you come too, we’ll both be there for a sure thing. What sure thing? Making the leap to the next level in your voiceover career.
Yes, I believe that’s what I’m going start, based on what I’ll experience March 27 through 31, 2007 at the Palace Station hotel. If you come, you’ll gain the same benefits.
If you’d like to know more about V.O.I.C.E., the event I’m talking about, check out their website voice-international.com. Once you’ve read over everything, then click on this registration page to sign up.
Will you be there? Let me know. I look forward to meeting you in March.
Where to find scripts
Several times on this blog I’ve written about my conviction that learning to write better also improves one’s voiceover work. But, it’s entirely possible that you don’t like to write, don’t have the time to write or just don’t want to write.
And why would you need or want to write anyway? Well, maybe you’re new to voiceover work and you need some scripts for building your demos? Or maybe you have the kind of business where you don’t just do voiceovers, but you’re also responsible to write and produce commercials for local radio or cable television? Or…?
Voices.com has a possible solution for you. It’s called The Voice Over Script Collection.
Now, in the interests of full disclosure, if you click through on that link and buy their collection of 50 professionally written scripts, I’m going to get a small commission from them. But, I’ve read through all of these scripts. They are in fact well written. They cover a wide range of styles, ages and approaches to copy. I think you’ll get your money’s worth, if you need commercial copy for your demo, or that you can adapt to your local retail store or service.
VOICE in Las Vegas
By now there should be two key things you’ve learned from reading this voiceover blog, if you want to be truly successful as a voiceover talent. Always work on improving the art and craft part of your work. Always work on improving the business part your work.
If you’re great at marketing yourself, and you find lots of work as a voiceover talent; but you can’t deliver the goods once you’ve been cast, you’ll have a very short career.
If you’re a brilliant talent, can make grown men weep and women swoon with your voice; but you have no idea how to market yourself and find work, you’ll have an equally short career.
Both sides of the equation are equally important.
Which is why, if you’re serious about your voiceover career, you should make plans now to attend VOICE in Las Vegas, March 27 – 31, 2007. I’ve already paid my registration to attend. I’ve already bought my plane ticket. I will not miss this opportunity to improve both sides of the voiceover equation.
Read about it here. Register here.