Obviously your voiceover audition is important, but exactly how important is it? And why?

What kind of voiceover agent represents you? Are they fighting tooth & nail to get you industry rates and fair terms?

Welcome to the new VO Strategist Blog! Well, it's not exactly new. The content is exactly the same now it's parked at VOStrategist.com/blog.

Do you have a SEP-IRA? Do you even know what one is? Let’s zoom out for a sec for an IRA refresher… An IRA, or Individual Retirement Arrangement, is an account set up at a financial institution that allows you to save for retirement. What’s the difference between a SEP-IRA, a Traditional IRA, and a Roth IRA? To quote Vanguard.com: A SEP-IRA (Simplified Employee Pension) is a simple, tax-deferred retirement plan for anyone who is self-employed, owns a business, employs others

The 1099 form is often confusing for voice actors filing their taxes for the first time. Here is some 1099 101… If you earn more than $600 from a client and they didn’t take any taxes out when you got paid (withholding), you should receive a 1099 form from them. Until this year you got a 1099-MISC form. Now you get the new 1099-NEC (Non Employee Compensation) form. The 1099-MISC form is now used to report miscellaneous payments of $600 or more to individuals for: Rent Prizes

Here is a lesson in transparency… Last week Matt DuBois, founder of Voice Casting Hub and Voiceovers.com created this post in a social media group: This came as a shock to many in the voiceover industry as the ownership change occurred in August of 2020 and we as a community had no idea. Matt claims that this press release made the ownership change known. You’ll notice that in said press release there is no mention of Matt selling Voiceovers.com, LLC or parting with the compa

Ready to set your 2021 Cash Flow goals? Let’s do it…! Setting Cash Flow goals is often the most daunting challenge when you’re trying to start or improve your voiceover business. That’s usually because you don’t have the money right now to do all of the things that you want to do. This is why your Cash Flow goals need to be based in reality and results-oriented. TIP OF THE WEEK Think about which Cash Flow goals you can realistically achieve in 2021 and your priorities to mov

What is your worth as a voice actor? I bring this up because over the weekend I led the Breakout Session, “Know Your Worth: A Conversation about Rates, Negotiating, and Billing” at the fantastic Mini MAVO 2020. We discussed how to build a Rate Sheet, negotiate with clients, and invoicing protocols but we also talked at length about your worth as a voiceover business aka your value. What determines your worth as a voiceover business? I’m not talking about being talented or f

When a client is late with a payment, it's easy to jump to conclusions. But in today's world, the reason might be something you'd never expect. This brings up a critical question for all of us: What is the right way for voice actors to handle invoicing and payments?

Agents have not been spared from the coronavirus pandemic. My longtime agent Viola Staravoj of VS Talent Group has just decided to shut her agency down. Vi has been wonderful to me over the years and among other great projects, helped me book the Nat Geo Wild show “We Move Animals“. Alpaca-palooza forever! The Portland, Oregon-based agency In Both Ears just raised their talent commission to 25%. Agents traditionally charge 10% to 15% and managers upwards of 20%. This has cau

Have you ever gotten auditions that you didn’t want to do? Me? All the time. I get auditions from my manager, multiple agents, and regular clients pretty much every day and I often turn some down. Why? The rate is too low. Most of the time I just delete it but if the rate is outrageously low (like for a national chain) sometimes I’ll make mention. BTW often the voice seeker adds a note in the casting notice like, “We know this rate sucks but it’s the best we could negotiate.

How can freelancers like voice actors can get COVID-19 financial assistance?

The VO Strategist. That’s me! Even the VO Strategist has to take some time off to do human-type stuff. This week I’ll be at the Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC) and most of the related festivities & workshops. Since I’ll be busy running around Manhattan with all of my audio book homies, this is a good time to make a couple of announcements… Announcement #1! I’ve been producing voiceover demos for a little over a year now. I’ve had the pleasure of working with s

Money is the number one concern in every business, but in the voiceover profession I’ve noticed a trend. More and more people seem to be entering the voiceover industry with far less money than they need to effectively start their business. It’s become common for an aspiring voice talent to join a Facebook group, introduce themselves, and state that they want to be a voice talent but have no idea how to start and no money. Why does this happen in the voiceover industry but no

The 2019 tax season is here so it’s time to pay your taxes. Or hopefully get a refund. 🙂 Last year a I wrote a two-part blog about the new tax code. You can read them here and here. I got my taxes done last week and I got clobbered. Why? My income went up by about 10% and I didn’t adjust my Federal quarterly estimated tax payments. Duh. Since my income went up, my Earned Income Tax Credit went down. After you deduct all of your business expenses, your Adjusted Gross Income (

One of my student said, "In the voice over industry, there is no market pressure to keep rates fair." Is this true?

In the voice over industry, Legacy Thinking suggests that you are paid only for your time in the booth. FALSE. As a VO CEO, you aren't selling minutes; you are licensing a performance. With that in mind, let’s break down the mechanics of the voice actor's Usage Fee.

I am often asked, “When will my voiceover business become profitable? When will my career turn the corner? How long will it take for me to become successful?” The short answer; I have no idea. The longer answer is, well, a helluva lot longer. First off, what does “profitable” mean? It could mean: You’re making more than you’re investing in your voiceover business in a given year You’re making enough money doing voiceovers to cover your business expenses, personal expenses, sa

As freelancers, voice talent have to deal with a lot of things to run their business. One of many is handling different forms of payment. There are news forms of payment popping up all the time so I figured it would be fun (well, fun for me in a voice-nerdy kind of way) to explore the different forms of payment out there right now. Check: while getting a paper check sent you via snail is a bit antiquated in the 21st Century, this is a relatively secure way to get paid. I have