What Voice Actors Can Learn from Photographers: Freelancer Series

Our guest today is an amazingly successful children's photographer in the Tampa, Florida area. She is the author of a book called Don't Blink: Capturing Your Child's Story Through Portraits (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.).

And she also hosts a very successful podcast. She's one of the hosts of the Fully Booked Photographer. And she helps photographers market their businesses much in the same way that I help voice actors market our business.

So we thought there might be some synergy there and maybe even something to learn for voice actors. Please welcome to the VOPro Podcast, Jeanine McLeod.

interviews, freelancingPaul SchmidtMarch 4, 2024interviewComment

Lisa Biggs: The Unravelling of a Voice Over Reputation

In December, very public allegations were made against voice actor, coach, and demo producer Lisa Biggs.

Earlier, in November of 2023, a group of voice actors sent an anonymous letter to the National Association of Voice Actors detailing their allegations, which in some cases, date back possibly as far as a decade.

As many as 100 people now allege that Biggs has violated agreements she made with them.

Three of the alleged victims have courageously stepped forward to tell their stories.

Dervla Trainor: P2P Auditioning a HUSTLE. Marketing Is EASIER!

The lovely and talented Dervla Trainor, a successful voice actor and creator of the VO Kickstart program, joins the podcast to discuss her journey in the voiceover industry.

Derv shares her experience transitioning from pay-to-play sites to marketing and finding direct clients, the importance of marketing and building relationships in order to have clients come to you.

She also highlights the value of attending voiceover conferences for learning, networking, and staying current in the industry and she talks about the VO Kickstart program, which provides a comprehensive foundation for starting a successful voiceover career.

interviewsPaul SchmidtFebruary 28, 2024dervla trainorComment

5 BIG CHANGES to LinkedIn in 2024: What VOICE ACTORS NEED to Know

LinkedIn's got a ton of changes in store for 2024. And if you're not up to date, then you could be missing out on huge opportunities and getting left behind.

LinkedIn is bringing a massive change to creator mode, a dedicated services section, search filters, and a whole lot more.

In this video, I'll break down five big LinkedIn changes for 2024, what they mean for you as a freelancer, as a voice actor, and maybe most importantly, how to update your LinkedIn profile to take maximum advantage and have the best possible effect in light of all these changes.

marketing, social media, businessPaul SchmidtFebruary 22, 2024LinkedInComment

TikTok VO Maven Mandy Fisher: Social Media Made Me ANGRY

Well, my guest today is one of those folks that in the voiceover world, kind of borders on celebrity. She's got close to 20,000 followers here in early 2024 on TikTok alone.

Then you go over to Instagram. She's got another 5,000 there. So, she's building a little empire. She's known by a couple of names, @AstoriaRedHead on TikTok, but...

Her real name is Mandy Fisher and we couldn't be happier to have her here today.

interviewsPaul SchmidtFebruary 19, 2024mandy fisher, astoriaredheadComment

How To Get a Voice Over AGENT: 3 BIG Questions, 3 Big Answers

I got a message from a VOPro student this past week who says this. “I have a topic that could go down a big rabbit hole for all us newbies out here. When is it time to look for an agent? What milestones should you have met or be meeting to find an agent? How do you go about finding an agent and soliciting them?”

I'll answer these and other burning questions in Paulie's Secret Agent Plan.

Yeah, this is a big one, especially for newer talent. So, you've got your baseline training, you're competent, you have your professional demos ready, you have a professional website ready, you are finding work, maybe even you're finding a fair amount of work.

And yet the whole question of agent representation can be a big black box. So let's try and break it down for you into smaller chunks.

agentsPaul SchmidtFebruary 15, 2024agents Comment

Toby Ricketts: "It's NEVER Been Harder” To Be a Voice Actor!

Well, my guest today, I'm pretty certain is a time traveler because it's already a day ahead of me where he is in New Zealand.

In all seriousness, my guest today is not just a highly experienced voice actor of over 20 years.

He is also the head of Gravy for the Brain Oceania and runs his own voice acting academy in New Zealand and the voice of Outback Steakhouse in the US.

Please welcome Toby Ricketts.

7 Voice Over Audition Red Flags – RUN, DON’T WALK AWAY

Auditions are the lifeblood of any voice actor. It's the main way that we compete and win work in our business.

Assuming you're properly trained, the more auditions you do, the more work you're ultimately going to be able to book, and that's a great thing.

But what about bad work? Work that is unfair, exploitative, or downright dishonest? How do you avoid those jobs?

Well, the best way to avoid bad work is to not audition for bad work.

Today I'm gonna walk you through seven common audition red flags in voiceover.

Paul SchmidtFebruary 8, 2024Comment

3 HARD FACTS for Freelancers & Voice Actors - Straight Truth

If I asked a hundred voice actors, what do you do for a living? How many do you think out of that 100 would include the word freelance? Probably zero. And yet, if you're a voice actor, you're a freelancer.

We get so down in the weeds with all things voice actory, and sometimes we forget that we are freelancers first, and that many of the issues and problems and challenges and obstacles that we face are not at all unique to voiceover.

Freelancing is literally exploding in this country, and there's some evidence to show that it is around the world as well. And as voice actors, we are part of the freelance community.

Today, I'm going to break down three hard freelancing facts for you if you're a voice actor or, more importantly, a freelancer.

freelancing, professional development, businessPaul SchmidtFebruary 1, 2024Freelance, freelancerComment

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