Getting started in Voiceover

I’ve mentioned voiceover coaches here a number of times, but today I’d like to point you to a blog post by my friend Dan Friedman that makes a very good point about “The best voiceover coach.”

Several times in the past I’ve written about one of the key truths of voiceover: “It’s not about you.” And it’s not. It’s about your client and his or her or their story.

I’ve been reading a fabulous new book from Steven Pressfield called “Do the Work” (link is an affiliate link to the Amazon Kindle edition) which is published by the new publishing project from Seth Godin called Domino. In the middle of the book I ran across this quote:

A professional does not take success or failure personally.

That really hit me between the eyes. It’s so easy to imagine that all the hard work we put in (to find new clients, to delight our existing clients to encourage them to keep coming back, to meet or exceed deadlines, etc.) somehow means that we are personally responsible for whatever success we experience. On the other hand, when things are quiet and the phone isn’t ringing at the same time the inbox is strangely empty of anything but notes from your family and the occasional bit of spam that slips past your filters, we are again personally responsible.

Now, there’s some value to taking responsibility for our own behaviors that are either productive or destructive. But it seems to me, ultimately, that Steven Pressfield is right. It’s not about you. Success. Failure. You can’t really control this stuff. All you can control is what you are doing.

Are you keeping your promises? Are you doing everything possible to delight your clients? Are you moving forward and making progress toward your goals every day? Then keep it up. If you’re not, then start.

Meanwhile I highly recommend Steven Pressfield’s book “Do the Work. You can get it from Amazon in Kindle format or as a hardback book.

Dan O’Day and Harlan Hogan present a four-week series of tele-classes on the business of voiceover again this year. Classes start May 10, but registration closes the week before.

My friend Dan Friedman has written an excellent post about voiceover demos on his Sound Advice blog. Well worth a few minutes of your time.

Yes, I’m delighted to let you know that Nancy Wolfson and Anna Vocino have put their heads together and are planning Acting for Advertising Part 10 on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 9:00 PM Eastern / 6:00 PM Pacific. Nancy is going to cover 2 chapters of her core curriculum this time, so you’ll get double value for your money. Price to get on the call including an MP3 copy to keep is $49. Reserve your spot at Break Into Voice Over.

My friend and mentor Philip Banks has started a discussion on the VO-BB about this topic. We’ll worth your time.

There’s a very comprehensive review of Search Engine Optimization (with lots of voiceover specific information) from Nikki Saco at VoiceOverXtra. Well worth a few minutes of your time. The first article leads to a second article with information specific to WordPress and more. Lots of good reading.

It’s been a while since Dan O’Day held a new voiceover teleseminar, and his latest sounds like a “don’t miss” event:

VOICEOVER DEMO SECRETS:
Sneaky (Yet Totally Legit) “Tricks” To Make Your Demo Stand Out

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
9pm Eastern / 8pm Central / 6pm Pacific

All the details: here.

Added to my blogroll is Internet Voice Coach, an interesting site with a good deal of free information as well as additional material available to subscribers.

My friend Moe Egan offers some cogent thoughts about your voiceover business at VoiceOverXtra today. Well worth a few minutes of your time.

My friend and mentor Kristine Oller has been mentioned a number of times here. Every time it’s because she’s written or done something well worth your time. Today she republished an article that is going to take you several minutes to read, but truly is worth every one of those minutes. Especially if you are serious about pursuing your dream of working in voiceover.

Or perhaps more to the point, there is no single map everyone can follow to get to a successful voiceover business. You could do everything I’ve done for the last 27 years and you might be wildly more successful than me, or you might bomb completely. But since you can’t transport yourself back 27 years into the past, you can’t follow my exact path. The same is true for every other success you know in voiceover.

There are foundational things. Like getting the training you need to operate at a professional level. Making sure your demos are first class. Always being on time. Always performing at your highest level. But, there’s no map.

Now, you can take this news one of two ways, and here’s part of what I promised when I said I was going to write more about anxiety and fear. You see, I allowed my own anxieties and “what if” fears to keep me from moving forward full speed many times during those last 27 years. If you’re inclined in that same direction, that not having a map is bad news. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could just take a class, or a series of classes, learn everything you need to know to be successful in voiceover and then just become successful because you do what you learned?

Actually, I don’t think that would be wonderful at all. That would be like working at a drudge job in a factory. One step, followed by another step. And another. And another. On and on. You see, not having a map means you get to make your own road. You get to draw your own map. I think that’s really good news. I hope you do too.