Voice Over Conferences 2023 CALENDAR: VO Atlanta and more

So, I thought the first post of the New Year would be a great time to lay out the 2023 Voice Over Conference Calendar for you, not just the big ones like VO Atlanta, but some of the lesser known, more intimate, more boutique conferences like MAVO.

So, at this point in the first week of January, when we're filming this video, some of the conferences haven't announced dates or details yet, but we know generally, historically, when they fall.

So, I want to give you a brief overview of each and, you know, details and all that good stuff, organizers, and event people when I can, in case you've never heard of these conferences or you've never been to them.

conferences/conventions, professional development, the vo industryPaul SchmidtJanuary 5, 2023VO Atlanta, VOcation, One Voice, MAVO, SOVASComment

Voices.com Changes – For The Better or Worse?

In my last video called I Offended Voices.com. and Here's How, the founder and CEO, David Ciccarelli asked me to lay out my points as to why I asserted that Voices puts profit before talent.

Now I laid out five facts that detailed their history of disregard for transparency when it comes to fees, taking egregious cuts of the budgets and a few others.

The reaction was just nuts, Unprecedented. Here's just some of what you had to say…

rates, the vo industryPaul SchmidtDecember 22, 2022Voices.com Comment

I OFFENDED Voices.com. And Here’s WHY…

In my last video, My (No Gear) Christmas Wishlist for Voiceover, one of my wishes was this:

"I wish all of the pay-to-plays were ethical, but the chief offender here, of course, is Voices.com, but they're certainly not the only ones that put profit before talent and clients. These companies control a huge amount of work globally in the voiceover business, and it's a travesty to me that rather than seeing themselves as leaders and stewards of our industry, they couldn't give a reindeer turd about anything else other than putting profit ahead of people - clients and talent."

And the very next day, I got an email from David Ciccarelli. David, if you don't know, is the founder and CEO of Voices.com, and he was NOT happy…

My (No Gear) Voice Over Christmas Wish List

Christmas is right around the corner. And of course, this is the time of year when voice actors get the steamy undies for all kinds of gear. Mics, interfaces, preamps, amplifiers, headphones, you name it. We want all the gear.

But I think in this season of gratitude and giving, I want kind of a different kind of Christmas wish list this year for voice over.

Sure. I love great gear as much as the next voice actor, but what I want for voice over this year is not for me. It's for everybody. Everybody that calls themselves a voice actor.

So, Santa, if you're listening or watching, here's my list. I've checked it twice…

How To Survive Losing a Big Client: Voiceover Crisis Management

I was completely freaking out.

Seven months into my full-time voiceover career, I lost my biggest and best client, one of my gateway clients, one of the ones that helped me make the leap to full-time voiceover. I had lost a huge client and I had never seen it coming.

I was a single dad, a one-income house. I had risked everything for voiceover. Not only that, but I had fled a job that not only I hated, but I knew I would be fired from and could not go back to.

What in the hell was I going to do? Well, I'll tell you what I did, and I think it'll help you if the same situation or one similar ever happens to you.

This is your VO Crisis Management Plan.

business development, marketingPaul SchmidtDecember 1, 2022crisis management Comment

How Voice Over Saved My Mental Health

I was in a dark place.

I had been through a series of three jobs in three years. I had largely failed at all of them. I was a single dad. I was paying my bills, but just barely, living paycheck to paycheck. Near the end, I was working for people I didn't respect. I didn't enjoy the job.

I wasn't enjoying any success at the job, and I was pretty sure I was going to be fired within a year. I was approaching 50 and I was sick of at-work politics. Sick of working for other people. Sick at working at jobs I had absolutely no passion for. I was sick of all of it, but I had no real options, no hope.

Plan A was to go back and get another sh*tty job, and there really was no plan B.

Now, just to be clear, I was not suicidal. I was moderately depressed. I loved my son, but I hated my life. I dreaded going to work every day.

But there was one bright spot, and that was voiceover

mindset, personal developmentPaul SchmidtNovember 24, 2022mental health, depression, anxiety, 988 lifeline Comments

Get Started in Voiceover Work: Choosing Your 1st Coach

So you've decided you want to get into voice acting and you want to learn to do voiceovers and maybe even, who knows, become a professional voice actor one day. That's great.

And as the song says, yes, there are two paths you can go by first. Maybe you just want to make a few extra bucks and have some fun and make voice over a hobby.

Or you can jump on Fiverr or Upwork or any of the freelancer sites and find a ton of voiceover jobs to audition for. And that's great.

But if you think you might want to go pro one day or you don't even know, avoid the Fiverr route. Working on Fiverr and Upwork and the freelancer sites can eventually damage your professional career.

Now, if you want to get started on the journey to professional voice acting, it all starts with good coaching.

acting, professional development, the vo industryPaul SchmidtNovember 17, 2022coaching Comments

NEW Voices.com Affiliate Program – BRAZEN. RIDICULOUS. SHAMELESS.

The email goes like this:

We are excited to officially announce the Voices affiliate program and we are inviting you to become a part of it. You're already getting paid for doing what you love, so why not get paid twice as a Voices affiliate? Refer your network to Voices and receive a commission when they hire their first voice talent.

Learn more about the Voices affiliate program here and apply now to start earning.

Let's click that apply button and see what this is all about.

Using Online Casting Sites SMARTLY: 3 Scenarios

I am staunchly against relying on the voiceover casting sites as a long-term strategy for growing your business.

Note: I said relying on. If the lion's share of your business is coming from the online casting sites, then chances are you're not developing your own relationships and you're leaving your business and yourself vulnerable.

But I do believe that there are certain times and circumstances where you can use websites for voiceover or work strategically.

In this post, I'm going to lay out three scenarios of when and how to use the online casting sites and which ones in each case to your advantage using the voiceover audition sites.

Conference Sneak Peek: MAVO 2022 - Mid-Atlantic Voice Over

MAVO, The Mid-Atlantic Voice Over conference is coming up Friday, November 11th through Sunday, November 13th, at the Westin Dulles in the Washington, D.C. area. MAVO was my first conference, and it's very special to me. And so today we're going to do a little preview of MAVO 2022, the faces you can expect to see what you can expect to hear, why MAVO is different than certainly the 800-pound gorilla conferences in our business and what makes it special.

And to tell us about all that is the chief executive president, owner and executive producer of MAVO, Val Kelly.

conferences/conventions, professional development, the vo industryPaul SchmidtOctober 27, 2022MAVOComment

Absolutely CRUSH 2023: Your 3-Step Voice Over Business Plan

2023 is going to be your year

But only if you have a solid voice over business plan, including a solid voiceover marketing plan.

In this post, I'm going to give you the three most effective steps for building a rock solid 2023 action plan for your voice over business. And stick around because at the end, I'm going to reveal the real secret sauce for success in 2023 and beyond.

The old saying failing to plan is planning to fail is absolutely true. Here's exactly how to plan and rock. 2023.

Paul SchmidtOctober 20, 2022 Comment

Voice Over Jobs Websites – 5 RED FLAGS

There are tons of voice over websites where you can find voice over jobs, opportunities for beginners, voice over work for pros and everything in between. Everybody, it seems, is trying to make money online and jobs websites have become a popular way to find voice over jobs opportunities.

So today, I'm going to give you five red flags to look for on the voice over jobs websites.

And stick around because at the end, I'm going to give you a bonus sixth red flag to look for, which just might be the biggest threat to your voice over business.

KILL Your Fear of Rejection and Failure - 8 PROVEN Methods

“Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” That's a quote from George Addair. And it's so true for voice actors. I talked to almost 70 voice actors face-to-face. And by far the biggest fear we have is the fear of failure.

That one root fear permeates everything we do. Fear of auditioning. Fear of rejection. Fear of standing up for our worth. Fear of pushing back on a client. Fear of demanding pro rates. Fear of annoying people. Fear of not executing the audition spec. And the list goes on and on and on.

So today, we're going to give you eight proven methods to kill your fear of failure and rejection.

A Voice Over Marketing Plan Is CRITICAL to Your Business

It's a cold, hard fact: A voiceover marketing plan is critical to your voiceover business.

Marketing for voice actors is a fraught subject, and most voice actors don't have a voice over marketing strategy, email marketing strategy or even any vague, faint direction in their voice over email marketing. Most voiceover artists are petrified at worst and nauseated at best over marketing for voice actors.

Today, we're going to get you over that fear. So buckle up, Buttercup.

How To Go Full Time in Voice Over – 7 Steps

Welcome back and welcome to How to Go Full Time in Voice Over. When starting a career in voiceover, figuring out how to become a voice over artist and how to make voice over a full-time career can be daunting. Going full-time in voice over ain't easy. Today, we're going to talk about what it takes to go full-time in the voice over business, including voice over training, voice over marketing tips, voice over coaching, and more.

The WORST Thing You Can Do on Fiverr and Voices.com

Alright, when it comes to Fiverr and Voices.com, there is one worst thing you can do making money online doing voice over work. Today, we'll discuss that regarding Fiverr versus Voices.com, voiceover freelance sites in general, how successful voiceover professionals find voiceover jobs online, how they make money online, and create income from websites for voiceover work.

5 Career Killers (& 5 Best Practices) Every Voice Actor Should KNOW

Today, we're going to warn you about five ways where you can really damage your voice acting career, things that can truly hurt your voiceover career and give you a negative reputation, which you don't need. Stick around, because I'm also going to give you five best practices to build your reputation in the voiceover industry, build your career, and enrich your life.

Paul SchmidtSeptember 8, 2022 Comment

WHY Negotiate Voice Over Rates?

"How do I set and negotiate proper voice over rates?" That's one of the most common questions I get from newer voice actors. In fact, just this week I had one of my students in the VO Freedom Master Plan ask it in just this way. “I also feel like a huge obstacle for me is pricing knowledge. Knowing how to price myself and how to justify my prices, I don't want to do cheap work in many businesses I've reached out to directly have told me they just use places like Fiverr to buy cheap VO. Drives me nuts"

It drives a lot of people nuts, so let’s get into it.

business, business development, mindset, rates, the vo industryPaul SchmidtSeptember 1, 2022GVAA, rates, bad rates, negotiation Comments

The VO Pro Blog