Self-Accountability in Voice-Over
When you’re your own boss, you make the rules. When, where, and how hard you work are entirely up to you. It’s honestly wonderful! I run my life entirely on my own schedule. But some days, my schedule looks more …
Setting Client Expectations
Well, here we are. You’ve completed your initial course of voice-over training (for now), you’ve done your demos, and have been reaching out to potential direct clients consistently to market your services. All your hard work is starting to pay …
5 Steps to Better, Easier Expense Tracking
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to tell you, we’ve got it pretty good. Here in the 3rd decade of the 21st century, life for the everyday, garden-variety, friendly neighborhood voice actor ain’t bad, as things go. Take for example, the …
Working Wednesday: Workflows for Voice-Over
What’s a workflow? A workflow refers to a set of tasks that you do repeatedly or regularly to achieve certain goals. It’s basically a defined process for whatever work you’re doing, whether it’s related to recording, finance, or other tasks. …
Scheduling Rest While Hustling
Day jobs, side hustles, family life, social life, self-care, and the list goes on. There are so many things that we need to take care of daily. And if we do it wrong, burnout is waiting for us right around …
Confidence with No (or Little) Experience – Paul Schmidt
One of the most common concerns for a new voice actor as they begin their voice-over journey is, “I don’t have any (or very few) credits to my name. I haven’t worked with anyone (or very many) clients yet. How …
Planning Your Next Year
Every year around the first of December, I start jotting down any goals or accomplishments – anything I’d like to achieve or do – in the following year. This tends to be random and informal, except for writing them down. …
Finding Your Niche: A Venn Diagram
At the end of my final coaching session with students, we have a chat about finding one’s niche in voice-over, especially as you begin the process of looking for work. Initially, for most new voice actors, corporate work is often …
Make Room for Romance
It’s not news to say that the audiobook industry is booming. Even before COVID-19, audiobooks experienced steady and predictable growth. In fact, “…the market size of the Audiobook Publishing industry in the US has grown 10.6% per year on average …
I’m Not Booking – Does that Mean I Suck?
So you are not booking many voice-over jobs, and possibly questioning your talents. Before you throw in the towel and decide you suck, consider the amount of time and training you’ve put in and if you need more. Most importantly …
But I HATE Commercials!
If you are anything like me, you have spent most of your life avoiding commercials: turning down the volume, fast forwarding, leaving the room, or simply using your mental powers to block them out entirely. Welp, studying voice-over sure changed …
Why You Shouldn’t Do It Alone
Some of us are lone wolves. It’s true, but it’s rare. Most of us thrive and do our best creative work collaboratively, in some sort of community. The world of voice-over is isolating enough these days, each of us in …