I saw Joy last week.
It’s a movie Starring Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano, creator of the Miracle Mop who went on to become a multi-millionaire inventor holding over 100 patents.
It wasn’t a great film, but Joy’s story is fascinating and a true inspiration to entrepreneurs everywhere.
My Agent 1.22 partner Angelo Panetta suggested I see it in hopes of gaining some insight that could help us as comic book producers. We did but I got just as much out of it, if not more, from the perspective of a voice talent.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Joy’s struggle to bring the Miracle Mop to market and make it a success reminded me of three critical tips to being a successful voice talent:
Find a need and fill it. Joy invented the Miracle Mop out of a need to avoid wringing a mop with her bare hands. As a voice talent, figure out what type of markets need your services (commercial, e-learning, etc.) and become an expert in that genre. Strive to understand how that market works, what are the current trends, and build an up-to-date list of contacts that you can promote yourself to.
Have the resources to meet your goals. Once Joy designed her Miracle Mop and built a prototype, she needed a loan to produce it. Every business, whether it’s a multi-national corporation or a solo voice talent, needs capital (or what I like to call Cash Flow) to function. While I don’t necessarily suggest you take out a loan to start or maintain your voiceover business, you need money to purchase equipment, take lessons, produce & send marketing materials, and attend events.
Keep your eyes open. Joy got screwed over by just about every single person who had the opportunity to do so, including family members. At one point she was over one million dollars in debt and had to declare bankruptcy. She fought her way through it and overcame overwhelming odds. There are many, many people out there who prey upon voice talent and would love nothing more than to separate you from your money in exchange for ill-advice and crappy demos. Do your due diligence!
NEWS AND NOTES
My next Edge Studio “Business And Money 201” webinar will be this Thursday, July 7 @8PM EST. The topic: Cost/Benefit Analysis. We’re gonna talk about how you got your work and use that knowledge to get you more. Click here to register.
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Bikini Day and Stay Out Of The Sun Day!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Wit is wasted on the rude. DB Cooper
From my village to yours; this is Tom Dheere, GKN News…
Tom Dheere is a 20-year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a coach at Edge Studio, voiceover business consultant known as the Voice Over Strategist, and is currently writing & producing the comic book “Agent 1.22”.