They are out there lurking around the Internet waiting for the right opportunity to strike you down with malicious criticism. Yes, I mean the trolls. The online bullies. The ones who look for any excuse to ruin your day or your whole life. They love to linger on YouTube so they can dislike your videos and post cruel comments. And when you succeed at something they post taunts and in some cases death threats just to unnerve you. [Read more…] about Do you have a thick skin to work in Voice Over?
Above you can see two sets of macaron batches. These are my pictures from when I was practicing and then perfecting my technique. Can you tell which one is bad quality?
If I told someone that I make macarons despite not having sales or proof that I know what I’m doing, and they wanted to buy some from me, what do you think would happen if I took their money and gave them the poor batch?
There’s a reason quality matters. And in voice over, quality demos and quality recording DO matter!!
We all want critiques of demos, especially those of us starting out. The problem is, too many get demos made when they’re not ready. And what’s most heartbreaking is that the talent don’t realize how bad they sound until it’s too late. What do I mean by that? Well, there’s two ways.
Two weeks ago I was part of a marketing group led by a well-known VO talent. When I was asked what I was doing to get my name out there I mentioned my demos, my website, my rapid growing list of connections on LinkedIn and my blog. The leader of the group stopped me and said that blogging was a huge waste of time and that I needed to abandon it and focus more time on marketing myself. “Blogging won’t help your career. No one cares what you have to say,” She said. That’s ok. Everyone is entitled to an opinion; however, it was the verbal approach that caught me off guard. Her tone was harsh and her criticism malicious. I wanted to explain why I blogged but she quickly moved on to someone else. Some time later I combed through the auditions I had to get done for the day and found myself thinking about my blog. Could this marketing expert be right? Was it worth continuing? [Read more…] about Why do I have a Voice Over blog?
This is a topic that goes on and on and on and on because there’s just too much information and commitment involved. Thus, it’s the reason why every year new books are published on the subject of marketing with hundreds of pages of new data collected. [Read more…] about Voice Over and the importance of Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!
It’s a new year now! This means more info, lots of upgrades to software, new bookings and a plethora of experiences to share, so let’s get started.
As a talent you always have rights. Having a talent agent negotiate on your behalf is terrific, but not everyone has an agent and a growing number of clients prefer to work with talent one-on-one instead since most have home studios to work from.
I encountered a new client who was GREAT to work with. But at first I was a little wary. Here’s why. She was inexperienced at hiring Voice Over talent and in the beginning wanted me to sign a highly unusual contract. Non-Disclosure Agreements are more than totally normal and even I admit that in the super early stages of my career I didn’t understand them very well. Since then I have matured significantly with quite a few clients able to vouch for my loyalty as well as professionalism. But this situation proved a bit freaky. It occurred to me that anyone new to VO reading my blog would need to know a few things before signing away their freedom. [Read more…] about VO Negotiations
Please forgive me for such a long delay. October is my busiest month, not just for voice over but for my other careers. I am a severe workaholic, but I’ll my best to keep up with posting every 1-2 weeks.
So for today’s post, as always, please read but keep an open mind. The information here is based on my own experiences and that of some of my colleagues and friends. I don’t speak for everyone. And don’t let what I have to say discourage you from your VO journey. My only goal here is to share knowledge.
“I’m a Voice Over and I feel like I haven’t worked a day in my life.” When I first started in VO, a teacher actually said those words at the beginning of the workshop. Looking back, I would have started laughing out loud if I knew then what I know now. [Read more…] about Reasons why Voice Over can be hard work
Continuing from my last post with Part 2 of putting my StudioBricks booth together. If you haven’t read it yet, I suggest doing so to keep up with what I’m sharing here.
I had put my studio together with the help of my brother, my boyfriend and my Dad. It looked amazing and was quite cozy inside. However, after all the unloading, and putting it together one section at a time (which took maybe 3 hours), there was a problem.
[Read more…] about Voice Over Life: Building My StudioBricks Booth part 2
Alright folks, many, many people have been asking for this and it’s finally here: my StudioBricks booth.
Expect quite a few pictures!
You can find another post about why I chose StudioBricks over other sound booth products on my blog.
For this post, I’m discussing the process of putting it together in a two-part series.
Ready?
[Read more…] about Voice Over Life: Building My StudioBricks Booth part 1
Patience is a virtue often underrated due to a fast-paced society we live in. People want to be famous right now so that others will grovel at their feet and pay money to see them at a convention. They want to be rich so that they never have to get a 9 to 5 job or splurge on ridiculous luxuries. The list goes on of course.
However, if everything happened quickly, how would you handle the consequences of what comes after?
Do you record at home in a small closet or room, buy a whisper room, build a home studio from scratch, or invest in a booth?
I’ve recorded in all kinds of spaces at my house and in professional studios, but these days you MUST be able to primarily record at home. No excuses, no exceptions. There’s no need to spend thousands of dollars; however, that can also depend on your location and outside environment. If you live in a nice quiet suburb, then a good closet space will do fine. But if you’re able to hear a 60 Hz hum in the walls from electricity, planes flying over your house or leaf blowers and lawn mowers every other day, you’ll need to find ways to work around them. [Read more…] about Voice Over and Recording from Home
