One of the hardest things to learn when you're in the first few years of your voice over career is rates. Specifically how to avoid bad voice over rates, how to deal with aggressive voice over job listings. You know what I'm talking about? How to negotiate voiceover rates and when and why in perpetuity is bad for voice actors.

Now, when you're in the first few years of your career, rates and negotiation tend to be a bit of a black box.

First of all, why do we negotiate? Why do we negotiate voice over rates? How do we spot aggressive voice over job listings on the voice over websites and voice over job boards? And ultimately, how do we avoid bad voice over jobs and bad voice over deals?

Is Voice Over Rigged? What the VO Business SHOULD Be

Today I want to talk straight from the heart, and I'll start by saying that I am head over heels madly in love with this business we call voiceover. It's given me gifts I can never begin to repay. A sense of accomplishment, fulfillment, freedom over my life. Creative freedom, flexibility in my life, money, deep, rich friendships, you name it. Voice over has given it to me and probably more things than I could ever really list if I sat down to list it all out. I love this business more than anything I've ever done professionally. And second isn't even close.

That said, this business is not perfect. It has things that need fixing.

professional development, marketing, familyPaul SchmidtJuly 28, 2022vision, fixed, rigged Comments

The Top 3 Worst Sites For Voice Over Work

Nobody starts out looking for the worst places to find voice acting work.

But if you're going to look for the best voiceover websites to find voice acting jobs online, it's also useful to know the voiceover websites to avoid and more importantly, why they're sketchy at best.

The Number One Threat to Your Voice-Over Business

Most of us mistakenly tend to focus on external threats to our well-being. We endlessly worry about the things that could do harm to us, that threaten our physical, psychological, social, or financial well-being. Psychologists call this rumination.

The problem with focusing on the external is that we waste an inordinate amount of time and useless energy on things we can’t control.

Quoting Voice-Over Rates: Abundance vs. Scarcity

I’ve been pretty vocal on social media about so-called “coaches” in this business who purport that Fiverr, Upwork, Craigslist (for chrissakes), and the like are the key to a career as a professional voice actor.

My problem is not with these sites. My problem is with the scarcity mindset and the so-called “coaches” who teach it.

The VO Freedom Master Plan - Now Accepting Applications

Back in February, I recapped my research talking to almost 70 voice actors last Fall, and announced the development and launch of The VO Freedom Master Plan (VOFMP).

Here’s an update on what’s happening right now.

You Don’t Know What Impossible Is

Too many times, we start to dream a dream, and we tell ourselves, “That’s impossible.” And too many times, we let ourselves believe that bullshit.

A Journey of Becoming

We do the work. We build the habits required. We put in the time, training, sweat, failure, education, and long hours. We do the hard shit. We do what it takes.

And when we do that consistently and long enough, eventually, we see improvement. Progress. Successes. We start to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. We have those days you just can’t beat when we get those gigs that just make your whole day, or week, or month.

And a funny thing happens along the way…

Don't Quit

I know things are dark for you right now. I get it. I’ve been through it. There was a time I literally did not know where the rent was gonna come from. I’ve had those sleepless nights. And there are many that have had it way tougher than I and made it through.

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