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YouTube? Yes, YouTube! It's no secret that when it comes to online marketing, videos rule. As a voice actor, should you care? "Never pass up an opportunity to use a revolving door, an escalator, or a bendy straw. - Tom I should care about YouTube because...? If you only use agents or Pay-to-Play sites to book voiceover gigs, you shouldn't care about YouTube as a voice actor. Go enjoy your cat videos & stuff. If you use Direct Marketing strategies to find and retain voiceover clients, then you damn well better care YouTube. Why? You need to please both the humans and the robots. People like watching videos and the bots increase your online visibility when you videos. It's even more valuable when you use YouTube videos because Google (the #1 search engine) owns YouTube so clearly they will give more love to YouTube videos than videos from anywhere else. With all that in mind, what can you do to leverage YouTube? Tip Of the Week If you can make videos, do it! They can be super-short as long as they're to the point and well hash tagged. If you write a blog, record a video version of it to increase the blog's visibility and page ranking. Just like the video you're watching right now! Find videos on YouTube you have voiced. Like them, add them to a playlist, and share them on social media. Share videos that aren't about voiceover to get people engaged and so you're not just a one-dimensional self-promotion machine. Yes, they can be the aforementioned cat videos, but you can share any video that interests you. I love movie trailer so you can me posting a lot of them on Facebook. Join me at an upcoming event Here's what I've got going on in the next few months - register to attend and add your voice to the mix! Study on your own time - download & watch VO How-to Videos Use Promo Code GETMORE for 20% off 3 or more videos! Paid Links Grab Studio Gear Want more studio gear & reading recommendations? VIEW ALL As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Keep Going - Work with Me Book a Strategy Session and get your VO business together! Want more VO Strategist? Subscribe on YouTube for the latest... Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 25 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.

eVOcation is coming! The only voiceover conference series that focuses on business & marketing will happen Friday, June 10th to Sunday, June 12th. Here to talk about it and other tasty treats are co-producers Jamie Muffett and Carin Gilfry in a special VIDEO VERSION OF THE VO STRATEGIST BLOG! Watch and enjoy...! Tip Of the Week Click here to sign up for eVOcation! Join me at an upcoming event Here's what I've got going on in the next few months - register to attend and add your voice to the mix! Study on your own time - download & watch VO How-to Videos Use Promo Code GETMORE for 20% off 3 or more videos! Paid Links Grab Studio Gear Want more studio gear & reading recommendations? VIEW ALL As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Keep Going - Work with Me Book a Strategy Session and get your VO business together! Want more VO Strategist? Subscribe on YouTube for the latest... Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 25 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.

Freaking out about managing your audiobook projects? This Audiobook Task Tracking Template is just for you! Use this template to track all your narration by chapter, file editing, file delivery, length of time recording vs finished minutes, and more. Please subscribe & sign in to download this template...

What's coverage? In voiceover circles, coverage is when you record certain things that could be pronounced different ways. Over the years, I've noticed that this can be a good tool to ensure that after the recording session you don't have to go back and rerecord stuff. "Most people would rather live with dull despair than experience one moment of genuine pain to escape it." - Tom Stuff like what? Coverage includes a few things... Often there is a mistake in the script that was overlooked. This happens all the time because the client has been writing and rewriting a script for weeks or months. Often they don't notice mistakes that are immediately noticed by someone who has never looked at the copy before. If you see what is an obvious typo, record it correctly. Often there are grammatical errors because English isn't the native language of the copywriter. This comes up for me a lot because I have many regular international clients. I'm at the point with many of them that they just tell me to correct the script as I record it to make it proper English. This means they trust me so I honor that by doing the best I can to make it grammatically correct. If it's a new client, though, I record the way it's written then the way it should be written and send them both takes. I explain why and almost every time they accept & appreciate the changes I've made. Often there is more than one way to pronounce something correctly. If that happens then ideally you should ask the client before you record it. Sometimes you can't. At many of the recording studios I regularly work at here in NYC, I don't get the script in advance so I have no idea what I'm saying next. I also record projects from home and the turnaround is pretty quick so I don't have time to ask for their pronunciation preference and wait for an answer. Tip Of the Week Here are some examples of ways to help your client with coverage. FYI some of these are what I do and others are from fellow voice actors who were kind enough to share their coverages. Thanks, fellow voicers! The year 2022 as 20-22 and 2,022 Either as ee-ther and eye-ther Data as day-ta and dah-ta Finance as FIE-nance and fuh-NANCE Our as ow-er and are (my international clients tend to prefer the latter) UK to US terms i.e. changing the word 'lift' to 'elevator' Record three versions of the last line Record an acronym as if it's an actual word Join me at an upcoming event Here's what I've got going on in the next few months - register to attend and add your voice to the mix! Study on your own time - download & watch VO How-to Videos Use Promo Code GETMORE for 20% off 3 or more videos! Paid Links Grab Studio Gear VO Strategist Book & Gear Club This week's recommendation: microphone stands! When I'm on the road I always bring my trusty On-Stage DS300B Posi-Lok 7″ Mini Desktop Microphone Boom Stand. It's been my go-to mic stand when I travel for YEARS. It's small, the stand unscrews from the bases so it's easy to pack, and is practically impossible to damage. It's under 30 bucks and works perfectly when recording in your hotel room pillow fort. :) Want more studio gear & reading recommendations? VIEW ALL As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Keep Going - Work with Me Book a Strategy Session and get your VO business together! Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 25 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.

To Package or Not to Package...? Recently, a new student asked me about whether to invest in a demo package. You know, when you purchase a few voiceover lessons and then record a demo? FYI this student is brand-new to the voiceover industry and hasn't worked with a coach yet. Don't have time to read? Listen via Soundcloud above. "The goals you set are not what make your life. It’s the pursuit of the goals that make your life. And the character you develop. And the wisdom you acquire. And the people you touch. " - Tom This is what I told them... Unless you’re a voiceover savant, 5 or 10 lessons will not make you a proficient narrator in any genre. A demo package is not about learning the basics of voiceover narration. It’s about figuring out which sub-genres will be on your demo, writing/tweaking the copy together, drilling down on the copy, and getting coached on crafting a strong performance AFTER you have developed basic skills. The problem is that students approach a VO school or demo producer and say something like, “I only have enough money for the five-lesson demo package.” and they will do the best they can to get the student ready in five lessons. If after five lessons they think the student isn't ready, they will suggest more coaching sessions. Often the student will say, “But I don’t have any more money.” or “This is a scam! You’re just trying to get more money out of me!” so they go ahead and produce the demo. The demo doesn’t turn out great and the student has a demo that won’t help them get work. It’s a VERY difficult situation for everyone. Tip Of the Week Don’t invest in a demo package if you've just started your voiceover journey. Find out if you have any talent first! There are lots of coaches & schools who are happy to do a diagnostic to see if you have the potential to be an effective voice actor. Get ala carte coaching sessions with either with a reputable coach, recording studio, or voiceover school until both of you agree that you’re ready to produce a demo. Yes, that’s the more expensive route but I don’t want you to waste your time, money, or energy investing in a demo that won't serve you. If you're not sure whether a particular voiceover coach, studio, or school is reputable, contact me! I'll be happy to let you if I know of them, their reputation, and if I've had any interactions with them. NO BLOG for the next two weeks. I'm going to Hawaii, whoo-hoo! I'll see you Tuesday, March 22nd. Aloha! Join me at an upcoming event Here's what I've got going on in the next few months - register to attend and add your voice to the mix! Study on your own time - download & watch VO How-to Videos Use Promo Code GETMORE for 20% off 3 or more videos! Paid Links Grab Studio Gear Want more studio gear & reading recommendations? VIEW ALL As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Keep Going - Work with Me Book a VO Diagnostic and get your VO business together! Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 25 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.

Yes, most of your marketing is poop. Until about 10-12 years ago my voiceover marketing was poop, too. I used to market myself in one of two ways, often both: From a position of ego From a position of fear Don't have time to read this blog? Listen to it on SoundCloud! "Marketing is the art & science of building meaningful relationships" - Tom How does one usually market themselves in a poop-like fashion? When you market yourself from a position of ego, it usually looks something like this: LOOK AT ME!!! Aren't I awesome? Don't I sound awesome? Here's a fuzzy Instagram pic of me auditioning for a gig whilst violating my NDA! Cast me now, Now, NOW!!! When you market yourself from a position of fear, it usually looks something like this: I'm REALLY sorry to bother you but I've always been told I have a great voice but I've been too shy to use it and even though I'm a know-nothing newb I was wondering if you could possibly have the chance of having any work for me right now please I'll work for free I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! Tip Of the Week Don't oversell yourself Don't undersell yourself Don't think of it as selling at all! Market yourself from a position of value. Demonstrate your value as both a voice actor and a good human that they would like to work with. Yes, you should share your victories & milestones, but don't come off as a self-aggrandizing clown Yes, you should be modest and humble, but do it without apologizing or groveling Seek balance in your marketing efforts! FYI no blog next week! See you February 15th! Join me at an upcoming event Here's what I've got going on in the next few months - register to attend and add your voice to the mix! Study on your own time - download & watch VO How-to Videos Use Promo Code GETMORE for 20% off 3 or more videos! Paid Links Grab Studio Gear Want more studio gear & reading recommendations? VIEW ALL As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Keep Going - Work with Me Book a Strategy Session and get your VO business together! Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 25 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.

Many aspiring voice actors look for a mentor and that's a pretty good idea. The question is: when and why do you need one? To help answer that, let's establish the difference between a teacher, a coach, and a mentor. Teacher: a person who helps people to learn. Coach: a person who gives instruction or guidance. Mentor: an experienced and trusted adviser. A teacher can teach a class about the basics of voiceover performance, a coach can help you develop you skills in a particular genre & maybe help you produce a demo, and a mentor can help you navigate the voiceover industry and answer specific questions during your journey. Finding a mentor is a great idea once you get a handle on the basics of voiceover, have been coached up, and have produced a demo. A good mentor will help you figure out what NOT to do as much as what TO do. Avoiding pitfalls like signing with disreputable agents, avoiding overbidding or underbidding, and getting hosed by unfair usage rights are good examples of how a mentor can help you. Most importantly, a good mentor can be the right combination of drill sergeant, cheerleader, professor, and therapist for you just like an effective coach. Sometimes you need gentle ass-kicking or fierce handholding, you know. TIP OF THE WEEK If you're looking for a mentor, I have three suggestions. The first one is me! Duh. I just set up a new Mentorship Program on the VO Strategist website. Here's what the program looks like: Notice those tasty discounts for both 1-on-1 coaching and events I produce? Oh, and those discounts are good FOREVER, even after I'm no longer your mentor. If you want to learn more, just drop me a line at tom@tomdheere.com or schedule a free 15-minute consult. If I'm not right for you as a mentor, I happily suggest the World-Voices Organization (WoVO). One of the many benefits of membership is that you can get matched up with a mentor. Check them out! If you want more advice about finding a good mentor, here's a blog entry written by the fabulous Karen Commins. RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS Here is where I occasionally suggest stuff that may help your voiceover business. Some of these suggestions may include an Amazon Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you click on the link and purchase the item in question, I get a few cents at no extra cost to you. Today's recommendation: books! I strongly recommend reading The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win your Inner Creative Battles by Stephen Pressfield. This is the only book that made me nauseous when I first read it! It hit home with me on so many levels. It makes clear all the things you do that keep you from moving forward both as an artist and a person. Read this book, it could change everything! You can see more recommendations at my Studio Gear & Recommendations page. NEWS AND NOTES Here are most of the classes I'm teaching in the first quarter of 2022. Registration is open for most of them so you can sign up right now. More classes will be added soon so stay tuned...! THIS WEEK!!! Thu, Jan 13: Build Your Marketing Campaign Thu, Jan 20: Working Your Workflow (MAVO) Mon, Jan 24: Building a Winning Website (Edge Studio) Wed, Jan 26: Control 2022! Control Your Time! (VANYC) Thu, Jan 27: Smaller VO Market Mastery Sun, Feb 06: All Day eLearning & Explainer Intensive w/ Tom Dheere (The Voice Actors Studio) Thu, Feb 17: Get Your Act Together for 2022 Thu, Feb 24: Mastering Project Management Thu, Mar 03: Analyze Your VO Business Sat, Mar 19: eLearning Performance with Guest Coach Tom Dheere! (The Voice Actors Studio) Thu, Mar 24: Filing Your Taxes HAPPY HAPPYS Happy National Hot Pastrami Day and National Pharmacist Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 25 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22. Wanna hear this blog entry? Check it out on SoundCloud!

As 2021 is winding down and we're gearing up for 2022, here is some voiceover advice to chew on... There is a massive amount of voiceover advice on the internet. Some from reputable coaches & wise voice actors, others from predatory demo mills and sophomoric newbs. While many are happy to offer voiceover advice (some for exorbitant rates), most don't tell you the truth: the vast majority of people who try to do voiceovers for a living will fail. Hard. Most have limited talent, limited skill sets, limited resources, limited discipline, and a limited understanding of self. Most have massive egos, Imposter Syndrome, inferiority complexes, and a warped perception of how the voiceover industry actually works. And you know what? It doesn't matter. TIP OF THE YEAR This is probably the best voiceover advice I can give you... If doing voiceovers for a living is truly important to you, if it brings you unadulterated joy, then do everything you can to make it happen. Maximize your talent. Develop as many skills as you can as best as you can. But be smart about it. Be passionate but patient. Don't do it on the cheap. Do your research. Work with professional coaches and produce professional demos. There are a lot of aspiring voice actors out there with more talent, time, and money than you so if you're going to do this, do it right. And most importantly; ignore the critics and the doubters. Surround yourself with people who can help you be the best version of yourself. Do everything you can to be an effective voice actor. And if you fail, fail with no excuses. RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS Here is where I occasionally suggest stuff that may help your voiceover business. Some of these suggestions may include an Amazon Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you click on the link and purchase the item in question, I get a few cents at no extra cost to you. Today's recommendation: microphone stands! I heartily recommend the Proline MS235 floor mic stand. This is the first and only floor mic stand I've ever bought and probably the only one I'll ever need. It's sturdy, well-balanced, and very reasonably priced. You can see more recommendations at my Studio Gear & Recommendations page. NEWS AND NOTES Here is an almost complete list of the classes I'm teaching in the first quarter of 2022. Registration is open for pretty much all of them so sign up right now. More classes will be added soon so stay tuned...! Sat, Jan 08: Set Your Goals for 2022! (The Voice Actors Studio) Thu, Jan 13: VO How-To: Build Your Marketing Campaign Thu, Jan 20: Working Your Workflow (MAVO) Mon, Jan 24: Building a Winning Website (Edge Studio) Thu, Jan 27: VO How-To: Smaller VO Market Mastery Sun, Feb 06: All Day eLearning & Explainer Intensive w/ Tom Dheere (The Voice Actors Studio) Thu, Feb 17: VO How-To: Get Your Act Together for 2022 Thu, Feb 24: VO How-To: Mastering Project Management Thu, Mar 03: VO How-To: Explainers Explained Sat, Mar 19: eLearning Performance with Guest Coach Tom Dheere! (The Voice Actors Studio) Thu, Mar 24: VO How-To: Filing Your Taxes No blog next week! Enjoy the the holidays, be safe, and happy voicing! HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Games Day and Ribbon Candy Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 25 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.

How to follow up with voice seekers is a question regularly asked by voice actors. My question is; why should you follow up with voice seekers? To see if they got your email? If the email didn't bounce, they got it. To see if they read your email? You can use a CRM like Cloze or an email tracker like HubSpot to know that. To see if they clicked on a link in your email? Cloze can notify you of that, too. To ask them if they have any work for you? Never, ever do that. It smacks of desperation and it's just plain unprofessional. If they have an audition for you AND they remember you AND they think you're any good, they'll send it. To stay top-of-mind? Sure, but how to do that effectively? TIP OF THE WEEK Only follow up with voice seekers to demonstrate value and progress. If you have a new demo, send it to them. If you have something to celebrate like a big milestone (your 100th Explainer video) or an award (an Audie, etc.) by all means announce it. If you don't have any value or progress to demonstrate right now, don't bother them. If you want to write "just to say hi" or "just to check in", don't bother them. Oh, and if they don't answer your email, don't sweat it. If they don't even open your email, don't sweat it. I know for a fact that many voice seekers will never open our emails unless they have a project that we might be right for. There are millions of businesses out there that need good voice actors. Don't fixate of any one of them. Marketing is a numbers game. Keeping putting out quality content to as many voice seekers as possible and good things will happen eventually! NEWS AND NOTES Next week I will announce my VO Strategist appearances for the first quarter of 2022. More webinars! New subjects! New videos! Stay tuned...! Saturday, December 18th @1PM ET: VO Resolutions: Setting Goals for 2022. We are nearing the end of 2021 and the new year is quickly approaching. How can we set ourselves up for success in the voice over industry and enter 2022 feeling confident and ready for success? In this one-hour webinar, students will learn how to set realistic professional goals as a voice over actor and how to take the new year by storm. HAPPY HAPPYS Happy National Cocoa Day and National Cat Herders Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 25 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.

As a voice actor, how important is talent? How important is skill? Is one more important than the other? Let's define talent and skill in their simplest terms... Talent: aptitude, a natural ability to do something Skill: expertise, exceptional knowledge of a subject Most people think that success in the arts is all about having natural talent. That is not necessarily true. There are aspiring voice actors out there who have gobs of talent but lack the skill sets to be an effective voiceover business. There are also aspiring voice actors out there who are highly proficient in audio engineering or marketing (which are extremely important skills) but they lack the talent to be an engaging storyteller. You need both a certain amount of talent and a certain amount of skill to be an effective voice actor. How much of each? It mostly depends on the genre you want to be successful in and what you want your voiceover career to look like. TIP OF THE WEEK How do you determine if you have enough talent and skill to do voiceovers for a living? If you're considering becoming a voice actor, you must determine upfront if you have the talent to do voiceovers at all. If you do have some talent, you need to find out which genres of voiceover you have the talent for. There are great voice coaches out there who can help you make that determination. If you want recommendations, drop me a message. If you actually have the talent, then you must figure out which skill sets you need to be an effective voiceover business, which of those skills you already possess, and which ones you lack. I'm talking about stuff like the aforementioned recording from home skills,, marketing skills, etc. If you need help with that, book a Diagnostic Session with me. NEWS AND NOTES In the few weeks I will announce some of my VO Strategist appearances for the first quarter of 2022. More webinars! New subjects! New videos! Stay tuned...! Saturday, December 11th @5PM ET: The Voice Actor's Studio "eLearning Performance with Guest Coach Tom Dheere". eLearning, training modules, and instructional content is a leading category in voiceover opportunity! Every voiceover genre has a unique set of "performance rules." Get a clear understanding of what is required when voicing educational/training content. Don't miss three hours of script reading! You'll be sure to "learn" a thing or two and have a lot fun while doing it! Saturday, December 18th @1PM ET: VO Resolutions: Setting Goals for 2022. We are nearing the end of 2021 and the new year is quickly approaching. How can we set ourselves up for success in the voice over industry and enter 2022 feeling confident and ready for success? In this one-hour webinar, students will learn how to set realistic professional goals as a voice over actor and how to take the new year by storm. HAPPY HAPPYS Happy National Brownie Day and Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 25 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.

I've been recording a lot of revisions lately. It's been for clients both new and returning, both foreign and domestic. Before we go any further, let's make sure we're on the same page about what "revisions" means... My definitions of retakes vs. revisions hasn't changed since I last talked about it in this blog from 2017, but let's lay it out for those of you who have more recently arrived to the party. (is blogging a party?) “Retakes” are when you have to re-record audio because you made a boo-boo (a mispronunciation, misread, etc.). “Revisions” are when you have to re-record audio because the client made changes to the script after you have submitted the audio files. Revisions can happen for a number of reasons. For example: Facts/data have changed since the script was originally written The client forgot to send the script to their legal department for review (this happens A LOT) Now that the client heard what they wrote, they just don't like the way it sounds Anyway, many of my clients have been sending me a copious amount of revisions lately. I have charged them accordingly as per my Change Request Policy and it's mostly been smooth sailing. I think it's happening because the COVID-19 pandemic has displaced many employees. Since so many people are working from home now, lines of communication are not as efficient as they used to be so things are falling through the cracks. My theory is substantiated by the fact that lately when I've been live-directed, some of the clients on the line don't have the same version of the script. TIP OF THE WEEK As an effective voice actor, you need to have your Change Request Policy approved by the client BEFORE you record anything. This will save both you and the client time, energy, and headaches. You can see mine by downloading a free copy of the 'Voiceover Project Service Guarantee Template' at the VO Strategist Shop. RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS Here is where I occasionally suggest stuff that may help your voiceover business. Some of these suggestions may include an Amazon Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you click on the link and purchase the item in question, I get a few cents at no extra cost to you. Today's recommendation: audio interfaces! I heartily recommend the Steinberg UR12 USB Audio Interface. This thing is a workhorse! I've had mine for a few years now and I love it. It's small, sturdy, portable, easy to use, and very reasonably priced. I use it for recording both at home and on the road. It's a winner! You can see more recommendations at my Studio Gear & Recommendations page. NEWS AND NOTES Saturday, November 13th @2PM ET: The Voice Actors Studio "eLearning Performance with Guest Coach Tom Dheere!" eLearning, training modules, and instructional content is a leading category in voiceover opportunity! Join special guest coach Tom Dheere for a focused eLearning Performance workshop! Every voiceover genre has a unique set of “performance rules.” Get a clear understanding of what is required when voicing educational/training content. Soak up helpful pointers from Tom, a busy eLearning VO talent and coach, as he directs you on a variety of eLearning-specific scripts. Don’t miss three hours of script reading with Tom Dheere! You’ll be sure to “learn” a thing or two and have a lot fun while doing it! Sunday, November 14th @1PM ET: Edge Studio "Managing Your Marketing Mindset". You’re looking to book voice over jobs but you don’t know how to best market yourself as an actor. In this one-hour webinar, you will learn how to think like a professional marketer and develop a positive and sustainable mindset to set yourself up for success in the industry, while keeping clients coming back. November 12-14: The Mid-Atlantic Voice Over conference. I won't be speaking there this year but this is a FANTASTIC conference and I strongly encourage you to attend. HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Scrapple Day and Zero Tasking Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 20 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.

My buddy Dave Courvosier recently wrote an interesting blog post about how much effort you should put into editing auditions. Here are some quotes from the blog... I love this feedback from my agent with a request from the client for a second-round of auditions that stated: "...We have been getting this a lot but what I think might help is guys with fancy home studios need to send in their audition without any extra sound stuff That's why everyone is sounding too polished. Good for them for having an awesome studio but lets get it back flat so that they can hear the voice..." TOO POLISHED 'Kinda flies in the face of all the recommendations we often hear from coaches about delivering auditions that are ready for air. We need to examine a few assumptions, here. First, this is about editing auditions for commercials, not other genres. Second, many voice actors assume they need to edit, process, master, EQ, etc. the crap out of their auditions to make it sound as "good" as possible. This is not necessarily true. I think there are a lot of voice actors out there who use a lot of plugins and processing because their raw audio isn't very good. This can be for a number of reasons including a poorly treated space and a low-end microphone. I also think there are a lot of voice actors who enjoy the technical aspect of voiceovers (which is great) but they put a little too much mustard on their hot dog, if you get my meaning. FULL DISCLOSURE: I use zero plugins. Why? I have a well treated space so I don't think I need any. I'm also twitchy about plugins because I don't want my audio to sound tinny or over-processed. TIP OF THE WEEK You don't necessarily have to create "polished", broadcast-ready audio when you're editing auditions. The voice seekers want to know what you space sounds like since the odds are you will record the gig at home. Also remember that if you do book the gig, your audio may be edited together with another voice actor's audio. Don't make it harder on the engineer by doing a bunch of processing. It make it that much harder for them to match your audio with theirs. Don't let how you're editing auditions distract the listener from your narration. THAT is what is most important. When you're editing auditions; eliminate the burps, boo-boos, clicks, and huge breaths. Get the audio to no louder than -3 db. That's it! For the purposes of editing auditions, the rest is fluff. NEWS AND NOTES Saturday, December 4th @5PM ET: The 12th Annual NYC VO Mixer! (In NJ). Voiceover beginners, pros, or "adjacent" to the voiceover industry; come on out! Dress to impress! It's the "company holiday party". Please RSVP at the Facebook Event page as there is an attendance cap. Sunday, December 5th @9AM-5PM ET: "Kelly and Tom are Hanging Out at a Hotel". The day after the VO Mixer, we've rented a conference space at the hotel for voice actors to discuss the current state of the voiceover industry and share tips & tricks for success. Voice actors of all experience levels are welcome. It's free to attend but we do ask for a small donation to help cover the cost of the space. To RSVP, email me at tom@tomdheere.com. Saturday, December 11th @5PM ET: The Voice Actor's Studio "eLearning Performance with Guest Coach Tom Dheere". eLearning, training modules, and instructional content is a leading category in voiceover opportunity! Every voiceover genre has a unique set of "performance rules." Get a clear understanding of what is required when voicing educational/training content. Don't miss three hours of script reading! You'll be sure to "learn" a thing or two and have a lot fun while doing it! Saturday, December 18th @1PM ET: VO Resolutions: Setting Goals for 2022. Stay tuned for more info...! HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Pickle Day and I Love To Write Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 20 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.