Voice over blog with useful information and strategies on the business of voice over, the voiceover industry, how to get voice-over clients, how to grow your voice-over business, voice over marketing, professional development, personal development, and more.
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Let's face it. There's a lot of B.S. and myths out there about becoming a voice over actor, a professional VO actor, and about the voiceover industry in general. And sadly, a lot of this bullshit is put out by snake oil salesman, so-called coaches in this business who will fleece you from your money or pick your pocket. And I'm not being disingenuous.
So today we're going to bust the top seven myths about becoming a pro voice actor. And we're going to set the record straight.
Read MoreSAG-AFTRA is on strike, and it can be very confusing to non-union actors and voice actors, and those who aren’t actors.
Today I’m gonna break down the major issues around the strike, why this is a watershed moment in the history of acting (and no, I’m not overblowing it), and why non-union actors should not only pay attention, but should absolutely support the strike and advocate for us all.
Remember that episode of friends, when Joey lost his health insurance?…
Read MoreOne of the biggest objections I hear from voice actors is I don’t want to be spammy in my email marketing. And I get what people are saying here, and they’re right. They don’t want to be perceived as sending irrelevant, salesy, sleazy messages to poorly targeted, or not targeted at all, people.
In other words, if they reach out to prospects, they want that to be a quality engagement and I 110% support that philosophy.
BUT there’s another kind of spam. And it’s this second kind that you may be sending and not even know it. It’s unintentional spam. It’s messaging that you’ve taken the time to craft, taken the time to target your prospects, taken the time to try to do all the things right, and yet it’s not even making it to your prospect’s inbox, because the ESPs, the email service providers are marking it as spam and culling it from the system before you’ve ever had the chance to say Hello.
Read MoreToday, we're talking about the importance of using contracts for voice actors and outline the benefits and protections they offer. This video emphasizes the need for clear expectations, protection of rights, payment security, scope management, liability limitations, professionalism, and dispute resolution.
While formal contracts are generally recommended, I also mention situations where email communication may be acceptable as a substitute, such as for informal or small-scale projects with trusted clients or established working relationships.
However, the acceptance and validity of using email as a substitute may vary depending on jurisdiction and I advise seeking legal advice.
We wrap up by providing resources, including a book on voiceover legal matters, an AI and Synthetic Voices rider for contract addendum, a recommended entertainment lawyer, and a link to my own policies page for setting clear expectations.
Read MoreAs a voice actor, as really any freelance creative writer, developer, designer, you name it, your ability to attract and retain clients is going to be key to your success. And as a freelancer, you're going to run into some pretty common customer objections. And those customer objections can get in the way of or at worst, completely derail closing deals and booking gigs.
And when I say common objections, I'm not kidding. They happen all the time.
Today I'm going to help you do just that. We're going to explore some common customer objections. And I'm going to give you some strategies to overcome them so you can close more deals and book more gigs.
Read MoreTim Friedlander, president of NAVA, the National Association of Voice Actors, discusses the recent victory in which Voices dot com amended their terms of service to address the use of voice actors in AI voices. Tim credits community efforts and demonstrates the power of collective action.
Read MoreDavid Ciccerelli and Voices have finally launched their AI product called unshockingly, Voices dot ai. It’s here kids. It’s like the lump of coal you’ve been waiting to get in your stocking for years now. Except Santa-relli has been telling you all along what a good little girl you are. And somehow the whole time you knew the coal car was gonna be backing up with a big black nugget with your name on it.
It's here. Let’s break it down.
Read MoreThe GVAA Rate Guide creator, David Toback, tells the crazy story of how the guide that our industry depends on was an accident, how he founded it with Cristina Milizia, what it is, WHY it's so crucial for talent to use it when quoting professional voice over rates, and what some of the exciting future plans for the guide are.
Read MoreOne of the biggest pains in the butt for freelancers and voice actors is just getting paid on time. I know tons of freelancers and voice actors who have right now outstanding invoices, past due invoices, and I even know several who have been stiffed completely by clients.
It's rare, but it happens.
Today we're going to talk about how to manage your billing practices so that you minimize the risk to your own business while still maintaining a positive relationship with your clients. But most importantly, you get paid on time.
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