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Over the years I’ve heard the term “transactional relationship” but wasn’t exactly sure what it meant. It hit home last week while I was narrating the audio book “The Long-Distance Teammate“. The book referred to it briefly but profoundly so it spurred me to do some research. There is no official definition of the term “transactional relationship”, but it reminded me of when I had a part-time job at a store I had been a regular at for many years. I worked there for about 2-3 years and got pretty tight with the owner. You know, celebrating each other’s birthdays, our families got to know each other, etc. When my voiceover career got to the point where I didn’t need to work at the store any more, I gave the owner a month’s notice. When I told him, he said “OK” without even looking at me and all of the social stuff abruptly ended. It seemed that he only valued our friendship as long I was of value to his business. Since I no longer had value, the friendship was over. TIP OF THE WEEK Don’t be a gold digger! Don’t treat your relationships with clients, subcontractors, and especially fellow voice actors as purely transactional. I’m not saying you have to be real-life friends with everyone you work with, but don’t act like you’re friends with certain people just to get work, auditions, introductions, gossip, etc. It’s unethical and just plain shitty. BTW, the voiceover world is a very small one and we all talk… Focus on building long-term relationships in all aspects of your life. You have to give, think past yourself, look out for others, and always seek ways to pay it forward. NEWS AND NOTES Thursday, August 6th @8PM EST: My next Business and Money 201 webinar will be ‘Time Management’. In this one-hour webinar, we’re going to talk about how to keep your voiceover business on track on a daily basis. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Sunday, August 9th @1PM EDT: The Voice Actors Studio presents…’How to Manage your Money Like a VO Pro‘. This workshop is THIS WEEKEND! Since it’s virtual there are plenty of seats available. Thursday, August 13th @8PM EST: My next Marketing 201 webinar will be ‘Brand Yourself’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about the basics of telling the story that is your voiceover business. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. September 11-13: The 100 eVOcation early bird tickets sold out in six hours! Since it’s a 100% digital conference about all things voiceover business & marketing there is still room. HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Ice Cream Sandwich Day and Underwear Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a voiceover business & marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist and produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”.

Speculation is running rampant about the recently announced changes to the SAG-AFTRA Health and Pension plans. There are a lot of very nervous narrators out there right now and understandably so. Here is a link to the 2021 Benefit Changes Overview: https://www.sagaftraplans.org/health/2021-changes/overview. I won’t go into detail about any of it because nothing is set in stone and there are many, many unanswered questions. Online Q&A sessions are scheduled so if you have questions, please attend. The next one is Wednesday, Aug 19, 10:30 a.m. PT. Click here to sign up. FYI “This meeting is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing.“ TIP OF THE WEEK Speculation can be a killer. It’s okay to be concerned (and rightly so, this is a big deal) but keep a few things in mind: Any changes go into effect January 1, 2021 so there is plenty of time for information to be clarified and adjustments to be made. DON’T go to social media for facts. Nobody has them right now and emotion (as well as speculation) is running high. Find credible sources, seek facts, and look at them as objectively as you can. Have a plan. If the SAG-AFTRA health insurance or pension plan becomes nonviable for you, start doing research on alternatives NOW. Possible alternatives include: Your spouse’s or parent’s coverage The Affordable Care Act A state-sponsored healthcare exchange (if your state has one). Here is a list. The Freelancers Union COBRA, which is awful but better than nothing If you have any other suggestions for healthcare or retirement plan alternatives, please comment on this blog! NEWS AND NOTES September 11-13: There are still some eVOCation virtual seats left! Click here to sign up. 2020: Here’s a preview of the Edge Studio webinars I’ll be hosting for the remainder of the year. Dates & times to come…! Edge Studio Business & Money 201 Topics September: Cost/Benefit Analysis October: Workflow November: Managing Your Money December: Goals Edge Studio Marketing 201 Topics September: The Sales Funnel October: What Your Website Says About You November: Keeping Clients Coming Back December: Thriving in a Smaller Market City HAPPY HAPPYS Happy World Bratwurst Day and Serendipity Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a voiceover business & marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist and produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”. You can subscribe to his weekly blog and the monthly VO Strategist Learnin’ Stuff Notice here. #voiceactor #voiceacting #sagaftra #VoiceTalent #VoiceoverBlog #MaleVoiceTalent #voiceovers #voiceover #speculation

The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility is out! A few weeks ago I blogged about the power of dignity in reference to this book. Today let’s talk about humility. Humility: a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness. I’m not crazy about that particular definition. Like author Marilyn Gist writes, humility is not meekness and it’s not an absence of arrogance, either. Her definition is: a tendency to feel and display a deep regard for others’ dignity. She’s referring specifically to leader humility which is the theme of the book, but there are a lot of useful nuggets for us as human beings. An entire chapter is dedicated to how you treat others and a refresher on that topic is always a good idea, especially now. TIP OF THE WEEK How can we be humble as voice actors? Be grateful. Most people spend their entire lives working in industries that are low-paying, don’t line up with their dreams, or both. Being a voice actor is a privilege so always be grateful that you can take part in this amazing vocation and be a part of this incredible community. Be learning. You don’t know everything about anything, much less about being an effective voice actor. I’ve been pursuing this for almost 25 years and I learn new things about both the industry (and myself) almost every day. There is always another webinar you can attend, another coaching session you can take, another blog entry you can read. Don’t rest on your laurels and always be moving forward. Be mindful. Everyone is dealing with a LOT of stress right now, not just as voice actors but as parents, spouses, caregivers, etc. Everyone is dealing with this crisis in their own way. Some are laying low, others are taking to social media to share their thoughts & feelings, rant, blame, etc. Be mindful of what your fellow voice actors, clients, and agents are going through and offer to listen, counsel, strategize, or do whatever they need to get through this. NEWS AND NOTES September 11-13: There are still some eVOCation virtual seats left but it will sell out very soon! Click here to sign up. Sunday, September 13: My birthday is coming!!! To celebrate, I’m giving you a $13 discount on every video in the VO Strategist Shop from Monday, September 7th to Sunday, September 13th. Be sure to use the promo code TOMSBDAY2020 and you can use it on every video. Videos include ‘Working From Home’, ‘How do I Market my Demo?’, and the latest video, ‘Managing your Money like a VO Pro’. HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Cuban Sandwich Day and Dog Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a voiceover business & marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist and produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”.

Do you ever run diagnostics on your voiceover business? A few times a year I lead a workshop called “Cost/Benefit Analysis”. We talk about how your voiceover business is a machine. You design it, build it, fuel it, and run it. But how often do you analyze it? Maintain it? Make adjustments? Diagnostics help you figure out how your voiceover business works, why it works, and often most importantly, why it isn’t working. Are you happy with how you built your voiceover business? Did you have any idea what you were doing when you started? I certainly didn’t. Many new voice actors don’t even realize they need to run diagnostics and many veteran voice actors scoff at the concept. But if you build the machine poorly (like many newbs do) or fail to run regular diagnostics to maintain it (like many vets do) you’re going to have problems. TIP OF THE WEEK What kind of diagnostics can you run so see how well your voiceover machine is operating? Here’s one example… Bookings: this is an obvious one and you’re probably doing it on some level already, but I’m not talking about what percentage of auditions you’re landing. That’s a waste of time. You could be the best voice actor who auditions and may submit the best audition but you STILL may not get the part for reasons unknown. You have no idea how subjective or political the casting process is so I take no stock in booking ratios. What you CAN track is how much you’re earning per booking, which genres you’re booking, and how your marketing efforts effect (or don’t effect) your bookings. That’s a great indicator of how well your training, demos, and marketing are influencing your bookings. Other ways you can run diagnostics on your voiceover business include tracking your KPI’s, tracking your Portals ratio, examining your Client Churn, and many others that can give you a much clearer picture of how well your voiceover machine is running. NEWS AND NOTES Thursday, September 17th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar will be ‘The Sales Funnel’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about what the Sales Funnel is and how to push voice seekers through it. This webinar is capped at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up! NEW WEBINAR!!! Sunday, September 27th @2PM EDT: “The Practical Voice Actor: How To Make Informed Decisions About Your Voiceover Business” In this brand-new workshop, you will learn how to develop your decision-making skills so you can move your voiceover business in the direction you want it to go. You’ll also learn which questions to ask yourself and how to find the right answers in order to be the voiceover artist and business you truly want to be. It’s only $40 and virtual seats are limited. Click here to sign up! November 6-8: Mini-MAVO is getting closer! This year I will be presenting “Rates, Negotiating, and Billing”. Sign up here! HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Double Cheeseburger Day and Batman Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a voiceover business & marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist and produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”. You can subscribe to his weekly blog and the monthly VO Strategist Learnin’ Stuff Notice here. #voiceacting #voiceoverdemo #VoiceTalent #diagnostic #VoiceoverBlog #diagnostics #MaleVoiceTalent #voiceovers #voiceover

Voiceweave is a new way to market yourself as a voice actor. To quote their website: “Voiceweave allows potential clients to talk directly with you via Amazon’s Alexa.” If you own an Amazon Echo or have Alexa on your TV or other device, say “Alexa, open Tom Dheere voice over” and we can chat! You can also click this link to get there. Now you can ask me questions about my demos, rates, recording setup, and more. Pretty cool, huh? TIP OF THE WEEK Keep your eyes & ears open for new ways to promote your voiceover business. Whether it be Voiceweave, a new social media platform, a new casting site, etc. don’t be afraid to give it a try. You never know what is going to take your voiceover business to the next level! NEWS AND NOTES If you missed “The Practical Voice Actor” webinar this past weekend, never fear! The webinar was recorded and is available for purchase at the VO Strategist Shop. Thursday, October 8th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar will be ‘Workflow’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about how to manage your office, inbox, and Systems of Thought. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up. Thursday, October 22nd @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar will be ‘What Your Website Says About You’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about how your website can help you gain or lose clients without you ever knowing it. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up! Saturday, October 24th @1:30 PM EDT: Johnny Heller’s NEW ENGLAND VIRTUAL NARRATOR RETREAT 2020. I will talk about Time Management and Workflow. There will be many amazing audio book narrators, coaches, and publishers. It’ll be swell! Learn more and sign up here. November 6-8: Mini-MAVO is getting closer! This year I will be presenting “Rates, Negotiating, and Billing”. Sign up here! HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Corned Beef Hash Day and International Poke Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a voiceover business & marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist and produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”. You can subscribe to his weekly blog and the monthly VO Strategist Learnin’ Stuff Notice here. #voiceactor #voiceacting #amazonecho #amazonalexa #VoiceTalent #VoiceoverBlog #MaleVoiceTalent #voiceovers #voiceover #voiceweave #alexa

Online conferences have replaced in-person voiceover conferences in 2020 because of COVID-19. This has been on my mind a lot lately, especially since I spoke at one just last week and will speak at another one in a couple of weeks. BTW I had a BLAST speaking at Johnny Heller’s New England Virtual Narrator Retreat. There were almost 100 people in attendance and while I do miss seeing everyone in-person, I got to see lots of friends and meet some lovely new people as well. Will there be any in-person voiceover conference in 2021? I seriously doubt it. Nobody knows when there will be an effective vaccine that can be widely distributed so online conferences may be the only realistic option for the foreseeable future. I think that moving forward, most if not all future events will be combinations of in-person and online conferences and that’s a good thing. While they’re more technically challenging for the producers, there are many voice actors & speakers that can’t attend in-person because they or someone at home is at-risk for contracting COVID-19. Also, this gives conference producers the ability to attract attendees who either can’t afford an in-person voiceover conference (flight, hotel, meals, etc.) or have logistical issues of some kind (disabled, etc.) TIP OF THE WEEK I strongly recommend attending online conferences. You will have many opportunities to learn, grow, meet new people, make networking opportunities, and have fun. So why not start now? There is still time to sign up for Mini maVO 2020! Learn more about it at www.midatlanticvo.com. NEWS AND NOTES SOLD OUT!!! Wednesday, October 28th @8PM EDT: ‘eLearning Praxis (that means practice) and COSTUME CONTEST!!!’ Sign up here! Wednesday, November 11th @8PM EDT: “Agents, Unions, and your VO Business”. Curious about representation and SAG-AFTRA? Are they right for your voiceover business? Sign up here! Thursday, November 12th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar will be ‘Keeping Clients Coming Back’. In this one-hour webinar, I’ll tell you the REAL secret to client retention. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up. Thursday, November 19th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar will be ‘Managing your Money’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about what to do with your paycheck and how to manage your finances, credit cards, insurance, and retirement. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up. HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Greasy Food Day and Animation Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. In addition to voice acting, he is a voiceover business and marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist. When not voicing or talking about voicing, Tom produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”. You can subscribe to his weekly blog and the monthly VO Strategist Learnin’ Stuff Notice here. #voiceacting #mavo2020 #VoiceTalent #MAVO #VoiceoverBlog #MaleVoiceTalent #voiceovers #voiceover #minimavo2020

I often think about what it means to have courage as a voice actor. Specifically, the courage to start your voiceover journey. Here’s what I mean by that… I used to be a café manager at a certain major bookstore chain. Someone who worked under me wanted my job so she put up one of the employees to claim I harassed her. Upper management bought it and I was fired. It was humiliating and I felt powerless. I got a great lawyer who saw right through their BS. After a few phone calls I got a neutral reference and was eligible to receive unemployment benefits. The unemployment was huge because I was able to get by on that while I was building my voiceover business. It actually funded the creation of my first home recording setup. As a side note, that year (2005) I had only four voiceover clients and fifteen years later I still work with three of them. Crazy, right? Here’s the weird part. When I got hired by the company in question I had already been pursuing voiceover for ten years with little success. I got the job to finance my voiceover business and give me benefits & a flexible schedule. I already had my Mission Statement, Action Plan, and binder system in place but I was too much of a wuss to take the plunge. By late 2005 I had had it with the soulless corporate monster that was providing me dental coverage and planned to step down as manager and transfer to another unit as an hourly employee. The morning I was going to tell my boss, I chickened out. That very same afternoon I was suspended and fired a few weeks later. In the 15 years since, I have had the good fortune to build a successful voiceover business populated by wonderful clients and an incredibly giving & kind group of fellow voice actors, many of which I am proud to call my friend. TIP OF THE WEEK I lacked courage for many years and got fired for it. The funny thing is that if I had the courage to quit the day I got fired, I wouldn’t have gotten the unemployment benefits that funded my first home recording studio. What would have happened if I had courage that day? Would I even be a voice actor right now? These are the things I try not to think about! Courage is critical to having an effective voiceover career. Not just the courage to start your voiceover journey but the courage to take a hard look at yourself, admit your faults & flaws, and act to overcome them. We are constantly biased by our assumptions and views about ourselves. To fully admit who you are to yourself requires courage. You can’t be a better voice actor if you don’t! NEWS AND NOTES RIGHT NOW!: The “VO Meter Podcast” featuring yours truly! Click here to give it a listen. Thursday, October 22nd @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar will be ‘What Your Website Says About You’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about how your website can help you gain or lose clients without you ever knowing it. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up! SOLD OUT!!! Saturday, October 24th @1:30 PM EDT: Johnny Heller’s NEW ENGLAND VIRTUAL NARRATOR RETREAT 2020. I will talk about Time Management and Workflow. There will be many amazing audio book narrators, coaches, and publishers. It’ll be swell! SOLD OUT!!! Wednesday, October 28th @8PM EDT: ‘eLearning Praxis (that means practice) and COSTUME CONTEST!!!’ Sign up here! HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Spreadsheet Day and Apple Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK So take a few deep breaths and let yourself off the hook. See if you can approach the problem with an attitude of play. Michael Port Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. In addition to voice acting, he is a voiceover business and marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist. When not voicing or talking about voicing, Tom produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”. You can subscribe to his weekly blog and the monthly VO Strategist Learnin’ Stuff Notice here. #voiceactor #voiceover #voiceacting #VoiceTalent #VoiceoverBlog #voiceovercoach #MaleVoiceTalent #voiceovers #voiceover

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 funny or owning an expensive microphone. I’m talking about actual, practical competence. TIP OF THE WEEK Your worth as a voiceover business is a combination of the three P’s… Professionalism: the competence or skill expected of a professional. If you get quality training from an established voiceover coach you can comport yourself professionally even if you’ve never booked a gig. Preparedness: a state of readiness. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you book a voiceover gig. Have effective Systems of Execution in place so there no surprises and you don’t forget anything. Project Management: the planning and organization needed to complete a project. You must be organized and understand every element that goes into a successful voiceover gig. Of course you should focus on being a better narrator. That’s critical, but it’s not enough these days. Think your way through every step of the process of auditioning, producing, and billing. Create a checklist that you will adhere to on every single voiceover project. THAT will improve your worth. FYI the “Know Your Worth” webinar will be available for purchase very soon so stay tuned! NEWS AND NOTES Wednesday, November 11th @8PM EDT: “Agents, Unions, and your VO Business”. Curious about representation and SAG-AFTRA? Are they right for your voiceover business? Sign up here! Thursday, November 12th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar will be ‘Keeping Clients Coming Back’. In this one-hour webinar, I’ll tell you the REAL secret to client retention. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up. Thursday, November 19th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar will be ‘Managing your Money’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about what to do with your paycheck and how to manage your finances, credit cards, insurance, and retirement. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Click here to sign up. HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Scrapple Day and Sesame Street Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. In addition to voice acting, he is a voiceover business and marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist. When not voicing or talking about voicing, Tom produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”. You can subscribe to his weekly blog and the monthly VO Strategist Learnin’ Stuff Notice here. #voiceactor #voiceover #voiceacting #voiceoverdemo #VoiceTalent #voiceovers #voiceoveragent #voiceoverconference #MAVO #VoiceoverBlog #worth #MAVO2018 #voiceovercoach #MaleVoiceTalent #voiceovers #voiceover #minimavo2020 #value

There is a new healthcare option just for voice actors. It’s called Healthcare For Voice Actors, the brainchild of In Both Ears voiceover agent and industry advocate Stacey Stahl. I won’t go into detail about what they offer since it’s easier for you to check them out yourselves. You can do that at the Healthcare For Voice Actors website. Stacey put in a ton of hard work to provide another healthcare option for voice actors and I sincerely applaud her effort. Well done, Stacey! TIP OF THE WEEK Healthcare For Voice Actors could be a viable alternative for some since the SAG-AFTRA 2021 benefit changes may mean some members will no longer qualify for the healthcare option they offer. I strongly suggest you look into it but you need to do your due diligence. When doing your research, ask good questions like: Will your local hospitals and clinics accept it? Will your current doctors accept it? How does it interact with the ACA (ObamaCare), Medicare, and Medicaid? How does it interact with a Health Savings Account? Keep in mind that this healthcare option is not health insurance and laws regarding programs like this vary from state to state. I’m sure that Stacey as well as Redirect Health will be happy to answer your questions. Here’s to your health! NEWS AND NOTES Wednesday, December 9th @8PM EST: ‘VO How-To: Market Your Demo‘ Have a new demo? Get it heard! In this 90-minute webinar, we will discuss general marketing strategies and some specific tactics to help you determine how to get your voiceover demo into the right hands! FYI it’s $60 to attend, but if you have produced your demo with me or graduated from the Mentorship Program you get 50% off! Sign up here. Thursday, December 10th @8PM EDT: My next Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar will be ‘Thriving in a Smaller Market City’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about how to build a successful voiceover business without living in a metropolitan area. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Registration is open now! December: My final Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar of the year will be ‘Career Goals for the New Year’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about how to design your voiceover business model, craft a plan, and stick to it. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Registration is open now! HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Sardines Day and Jukebox Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. In addition to voice acting, he is a voiceover business and marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist. When not voicing or talking about voicing, Tom produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”. You can subscribe to his weekly blog and the monthly VO Strategist Learnin’ Stuff Notice here. #voiceactor #voiceacting #HealthSavingsAccount #VoiceTalent #VoiceoverBlog #MaleVoiceTalent #voiceovers #medicalinsurance #voiceover #healthinsurance #HSA

Demo marketing is a challenge. Most new voice actors who get their training and then produce a shiny new demo have absolutely no idea what to do with it. When I started doing voiceovers I was sort of lucky in that my coach gave me a stack of production company listings and I started cold-calling immediately. The bad news was that at the time (1995) there was virtually no other venue for demo marketing. There were no online casting sites, no social media platforms, no Meetup groups, no dedicated voiceover conferences, no auditioning or recording projects from home. My point is that voiceover demo marketing back then was much, much more difficult than it is today. The good news for you is that now there are many, many ways to engage in demo marketing. The questions that logically follow are: exactly how do you engage in demo marketing? Should you submit your demo to an agent? Which one? Should you put it on an online casting site? Which one? Should you submit your demo directly to voice seekers? Which ones? What should you say? These are all great questions that I know most of you have. Fear not! TIP OF THE WEEK There is no easy answer to these questions that can be posted in a single blog entry. If you do want to learn more about demo marketing, on Wednesday, December 9th @8PM EST I will host the webinar ‘VO How-To: Market Your Demo‘. It’s $60 to attend, but if you have produced your demo with me or graduated from the Mentorship Program you get 50% off. Sign up here. If you can’t make it, the workshop will be recorded and all attendees will get a copy. NEWS AND NOTES Thursday, December 10th @8PM EDT: My final Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar of 2020 will be ‘Thriving in a Smaller Market City’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about how to build a successful voiceover business without living in a metropolitan area. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Registration is open now! Wednesday, December 16th @8:30PM EDT: ‘Success in Online Casting’. In this Edge Studio webinar, I’ll help you understand the online casting site process, how to best utilize these sites, and how to stand out from the competition. Sign up here! Thursday, December 17th @8PM EDT: My final Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar of 2020 will be ‘Career Goals for the New Year’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about how to design your voiceover business model, craft a plan, and stick to it. This webinar caps at 25 attendees and sells out fast. Registration is open now! HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Cotton Candy Day and Lost & Found Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. In addition to voice acting, he is a voiceover business and marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist. When not voicing or talking about voicing, Tom produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”. You can subscribe to his weekly blog and the monthly VO Strategist Learnin’ Stuff Notice here. #demo #voiceactor #voiceover #voiceacting #voiceoverdemo #VoiceTalent #voiceovers #voicecoach #VoiceoverBlog #voiceoverdemos #marketing #voiceovercoach #MaleVoiceTalent #directmarketing #voiceovers #voiceover #voiceovercoach #malevoiceactor

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 move your voiceover business forward. Do you need to invest in more training? Upgrade your recording gear? Ask yourself those and the following questions… How much voiceover revenue do you think you can generate in 2021? How much money can you invest in your voiceover business in 2021? If you create a profit in 2021, what will you do with it? To help you keep your Cash Flow data organized, download this FREE template I created! NEWS AND NOTES First podcast interview of 2021! Check out me chatting with host Ian Kleinfeld on the How Did You DO It?? Podcast. Thursday, January 7th @8PM EST: the Edge Studio Marketing 201 Webinar ‘4 Words That Will Kill Your Marketing‘. It caps at 25 students and sells out fast so sign up ASAP. Wednesday, January 13th @8PM EST: ‘Get Your **** Together for 2021!‘ 2021 is FINALLY here! Now is the perfect time to create your business plan and set your goals for the New Year. In this online workshop, I will walk you through how to determine what success looks like for you in 2021 and how to make it happen. It will be recorded so if you can’t make it to the webinar you can still get the video! Thursday, January 21st @8PM EST: the Edge Studio Business and Money 201 Webinar: ‘Rates, Negotiating, and Billing‘. It caps at 25 students and sells out fast so sign up ASAP. Saturday, January 30th @5PM EST: The Voice Actors Studio ‘eLearning Performance’ Workshop. eLearning, training modules, and instructional content is a leading category in voiceover opportunity! Join me for a focused eLearning Performance workshop! HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Weigh-In Day and Winnie the Pooh Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor with over twenty years of experience narrating just about every type of voiceover you can think of. He also helps voice talents navigate the voiceover industry as the VO Strategist. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the epic sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22. #voiceactor #voiceover #voiceacting #VoiceTalent #voiceovers #VoiceoverBlog #cashflow #voiceovers #revenuegoals #cashflowgoals #voiceover

Data has always been in short supply in the voiceover industry. Nobody knows how many voice actors are out there, how much money they make, which genres they narrate, etc. A valiant effort is currently underway to address this issue. Beloved voice actor and good friend Carin Gilfry has created a survey on behalf of the Voice Actors of NYC. It’s an attempt to collect data on how the voiceover industry currently functions from a voice actor’s perspective. I myself took the survey and the questions are fascinating. Carin tells me that more surveys will be posted to drill down on the data that is collected from the inaugural survey as well address other areas that are in dire need of exploration. Knowledge is power! TIP OF THE WEEK Take the survey! It will go a long way toward collecting voiceover data. Yes, only a fraction of the voiceover industry will participate, but noticing trends and patterns could reveal some interesting insight into how the voiceover industry currently works. If nothing else, surveys are fun to do! NEWS AND NOTES Thursday, January 21st @8PM EST: the Edge Studio Business and Money 201 Webinar: ‘Rates, Negotiating, and Billing‘. It caps at 25 students and sells out fast so sign up ASAP. Saturday, January 30th @5PM EST: The Voice Actors Studio ‘eLearning Performance’ Workshop. eLearning, training modules, and instructional content is a leading category in voiceover opportunity! Join me for a focused eLearning Performance workshop! Wednesday, February 17 @8PM EST: VO How-To: Explainers Explained! What is an Explainer Video? How do you narrate one? Where do you get the work? These and many other questions will be answered in this online workshop! If you can’t attend the night of the event, the webinar will be recorded so you can watch the video at your convenience. HAPPY HAPPYS Happy Popcorn Day and Thesaurus Day! QUOTE OF THE WEEK Tom Dheere is a voice actor with over twenty years of experience narrating just about every type of voiceover you can think of. He also helps voice talents navigate the voiceover industry as the VO Strategist. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the epic sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22. #VoiceActorsOfNYC #voiceactor #voiceover #voiceacting #VoiceTalent #voiceovers #data #VoiceoverBlog #voiceovers #voiceover #VANYC