Fellow audiobook narrator and righteous dude Steven Jay Cohen recently posted a question on a voiceover-related Facebook Group:
So, if ACX (Audiobook Creation Xchange) were to disappear tomorrow, how would you move forward with your audiobook career?
Interesting question! I think the point of his question is to ask: if this easily-accessible free platform for auditioning vanished, would you still have an audiobook career?
It reminded me of a blog I wrote a few years back about how voice talents are the “red-headed stepchildren” of the entertainment industry and how few products & resources were designed specifically for us. You can read that blog here. ACX is a notable exception along with the various “Pay-To-Play” voiceover casting websites.
I’m going to take Steven’s question one step further: if the technology to audition online, record from home, and deliver sound files electronically didn’t exist, would you still have a voiceover career?
For me the answer should be yes but I think if those resources didn’t exist, I may have given up on voiceovers. I’d like to think that I would have dedicated myself to auditioning and attending networking events in New York City more often, but who knows if I have would achieved the level of success I currently have.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Examine your voiceover career. Track where you work came from (I like to call them your Portals). How much work came from P2P sites or other online resources like ACX? If they didn’t exist, would you have a voiceover career? If not, what are the barriers: geography, Cash Flow, fear, laziness, etc.?
After you have done that, think about what you can do better to improve the five areas of your voiceover business: Cash Flow, Tools, Technique, Marketing, and Health. Figure out how you can become as independent from the Internet as possible and still succeed as a voice talent. If you can’t, be grateful for that series of tubes!
NEWS AND NOTES
I will be the guest speaker for the The Voice Actors Studio Thursday August 10th! We will talk about the business-side of the voiceover industry with a focus on Time Management. Click here to learn more…
My August Edge Studio “Marketing 201” topic will be: 4 Words That Will Kill Your Marketing. That date will be announced soon…
My August Edge Studio “Business and Money 201” topic will be: Rates, Negotiating, and Billing. That date will also be announced soon…
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Root Beer Float Day and Rounds Resounding Day!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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”.