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Don’t Look Now…

August 29, 2011 By 2 Comments

…but the year is seriously catching up.

Why is the year divided in “quarters”, instead of “thirds”?  Well, if we DID have 3RDS…this is the end of the second one!

I call it the advent of the -EMBER months. (with the exception of October).

Regardless, the end of Summer and the onset of the busy fall season always brings two emotions for me:  excitement and mild panic.  I love the change of the seasons, and September signals the end of what can typically be doldrums of Summer business.   When school starts (as it does here in Vegas today), people for some reason get more serious about their enterprises, and the  marketplace always seems to heat up.  That’s the excitement.

The mild panic is in recognition of the fact that there are only four months left to the year, and my procrastinations are mounting!

The ole “to-do” list is too long…and it’s the 3rd or 4th to-do list I’ve started!

Here are a few suggestions for countermanding the unfinished items piling up in your VoiceOver business:

  1. Who among your clients are dragging their feet with payments?  Maybe a gentle reminder is in order.
  2. Are you keeping up-to-date with accounting?  Better done incrementally now, than all-at-once next tax season!
  3. Time to dust-off the demo?…maybe upgrade it to something with more modern content?
  4. What cold-calls, emails, mailers, or other prospective-client approaches are left undone right now?
  5. Have you engaged with ANY coaching this year?  There are still plenty of opportunities to reserve a place.
  6. Needed Software upgrades?…and when’s the last time you backed-up your hard drive?
  7. Have you reached out in service lately?…volunteering your time, talents, or resources to a pro-bono cause?
  8. Is this when you will finally update that head-shot, bio, and newsletter?
  9. Are your Social Media profiles current?  Nothing will peg you as “clueless” than to have something out-of-date with THAT.
  10. Have you asked a trusted sound engineer to evaluate the quality of your day-to-day sound lately?

I could go on…but you probably have your OWN list of neglected duties.  I hope this may have jogged your mind a little.

Share.  What have I missed that we could all benefit from?

CourVO

 

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Expert vs. Student

August 22, 2011 By 6 Comments

Which one are you?

Oh, you’re an expert?…you know absolutely everything there was, is, and will be about your specialty!  Wow!

  • You could write the definitive textbook, and speak off-the-cuff at virtually any venue on the subject for which you’re an expert?
  • Furthermore:  you obviously feel comfortable with people calling you an expert.  (BTW,  I’m treating the word “guru” synomously, here).
  • You unabashedly accept speaking engagements, paychecks, and invitations to do teleseminars, webinars, and write books in your area of expertise.

I’m being sarcastic and cynical here to make a point.

Later this week, I’ll be contributing my part to a 3-part webinar on the value of social media for voice actors.  I am no expert.  I doubt there are ANY experts in social media, although many like to say they are, in promotional materials.

I more like to think I’m a STUDENT of social media.  It teaches me.  In fact, to my way of thinking there is one immutable word that stands between expert and student.

HUMILITY.

Sometimes I like to think I’m an expert, and then I get blindsided, T-boned, or undercut by someone or something from out in left field that shows me how little I really DO know.  Ever had that happen?  Uh-huh.  ‘Thought so.

So if you are so wonderful that you’ve actually paid money to hear what Terry Daniel, Trish Basanyi and Dave Courvoisier have to say about what they THINK they know about Social Media…then it is my responsibility to do all in my power to tell you all that social media has TAUGHT me.

But expert?  Huh-uh.  Student.

CourVO

More info on the webinar at VoiceOverXtra

 

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8 VO Clichés We Love to Hate (…and why we could be dead wrong)

July 27, 2011 By 8 Comments

Do you know what “jaded” means?

It means:  “worn out or weary”…as in: we’re too close to VO, and so immersed in it the culture that we’re over-exposed to it.  We view as — tired — the very things that identify us to our non-professional audience.  Those identifiers become trite or cliché.

But are they cliché to the people we need in our work?…the clients, the prospects, the listeners?  Probably not.

Are they cliché to producers, agents, studios?  Maybe.

(Using my best Rod Serling imitation)
Submitted for your approval:

8 VO Clichés We Love to Hate (…and why we could be dead wrong)

1) NEVER use a microphone in your branding logo or on your website.  Really?  What is the first thing someone visualizes when you tell them you’re in voiceover?  Yup.  A microphone (or headphones…the 2nd most cliché image)  CourVO comes clean:  I don’t use one in my marketing materials.

2) EVERYONE TELLS ME I HAVE A GREAT VOICE…can I make it in voice overs?  The knee jerk answer is:  “It takes more than a good voice to make it in voice-overs.”   It’s a good answer…but let’s face it…Everyone’s FIRST reaction to Ted Williams was “he should be in voiceovers.”  A great voice WILL get you in the door…but without anything to back it up…you’ll not succeed.

3) Male VO’s have predominantly blues, browns, and blacks on their websites, and Female VO’s use predominantly pinks, purples, and pastels.  9 out of 10 times.  Seriously.  Go look around.  We all revert back to the colors of our infancy when we design VO websites.

4) More/Better equipment will not make you sound better.  Ahem…yes it will.  But…to be honest…only to a point.  So spend no more than $300 on a mic, and use the rest to build a better booth.  Your ROI is much higher.

5) You’ll never go anywhere in VO without being Union or have an Agent.  That’s only true if you have the singular focus of national radio/TV/promo/film work.  In which case you should add:  You have to live in L-A or NYC…and even that’s becoming more of a myth.  There comes a threshold where unions and agents become a serious consideration.  Until then it’s a wash…or not:  SAG/AFTRA talks could result in the most compelling argument yet for joining a union.

6) You must constantly stay COACHED. Well, the coaches would surely like you to believe this, and their is an undercurrent of this wisdom in almost every known profession.  But the bottom line is:  Are you getting work?  Are you staying busy?  Are you making enough money?  If so, then you’re probably OK….until the bookings stop.

7) No need to post a photo of yourself on your voice over website.  (see #8)

8) You must post a photo of yourself on your website.  (see #7)

Honorable mention:  Having ISDN will not bring you more jobs.  Yes it will… if you’ve lined up a bunch of ISDN jobs…your agent sends you ISDN work, you can afford it, and you’re in demand.  Accept all those caveats, and yes, ISDN will bring you more work.

Did I miss something?

CourVO

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235 years

July 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Call me a sap, I don’t care.  I’ll take the ridicule.  I’m an unabashed American. Today I celebrate….and wish you and yours the best on this special anniversary of the birth of our country.

I’d like to say I can imagine what things were like 235 years ago.  That’s difficult.  But what I know with certainty are the things I see before me in 2011, and I am blessed beyond what I deserve.  So is this country.

The best thing I can do to honor the sacrifices of the revolutionaries of 1776 is to be a great steward today.

Below is my recording of a short poem written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1904.

Blessings!

CourVO

CourVOisier Reads July4th Poem by CourVO

Filed Under: Ramblings/Off-Topic, Ruminations

VO’s Grandest Illusion

June 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

We’ve all been there.  Years of practice, coaching, voicing, speaking, reading…over and over and over again, and we start believing our own newspaper clippings.

We start believing everybody wants to hear us speak.  They actually enjoy hearing us.  Who wouldn’t?  We’re so…practiced.  So accomplished with the spoken word.

But the illusion doesn’t stop there.  Not only do people want to hear our voice, but they actually want to hear what we have to say!…as if our pleasant voice makes our words important!

Luckily, rejected auditions, non-replies from clients, and frowns from voice coaches keep most of us on the straight-and-narrow.

I also have the added experience of having read news for 30 years, which has trained me in brevity and a concise delivery.

Attention spans today do not brook much patience with long drawn-out personal stories.  Even story tellers need to be frugal with their words too.  Most people just want us to get to the point.  Get the point?

OK, rant over.

CourVO

 

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Poynting the Way

June 12, 2011 By 2 Comments

For the past week, I was at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida.  It’s a center for journalistic studies with a rich history, and a proud tradition.

The week-long seminar I attended was titled: “Digital Strategies for Today’s Newsroom Managers”.  I’m not a newsroom manager, but MY newsroom manager keeps telling me I’m a leader in the newsroom…and they appreciate my interest in social media, so off to St. Petersburg I went.  Boy did I learn a lot!

Poynter 2011 (Dave, second row, 3rd from the left)

I learned that traditional media everywhere are struggling to discover what their role is in the new world of digital.  3-and-4 screen technology, cloud-computing, smartphone apps, dwindling print readership, blogging, paywalls, hyper-local coverage, and measuring audience were just some of the topics discussed.

I learned that newspaper readership is dropping, and TV viewers are defecting…that people want their news when they want it, and that they aren’t willing to wait till the morning edition of the newspaper comes out.  They aren’t even willing to wait until the 5, 6, or 11 o’clock news comes on.  I learned that CraigsList has killed newspapers’ most lucrative and dependable revenue stream, and that even loyal and middle-aged news viewers’ eyeballs are moving to FaceBook for their news.  I learned that the most likely platform for people to get their news in the near future is the smartphone.

That’s great, Dave…but what does this have to do with VO?   Well, last I heard some of the most lucrative jobs in voice-over came from TV and radio…both of which are besieged by the trends of our digital future.  When those jobs go away, so do lots of VO opportunities.

VO is, by design, woven into the fabric of popular media, and our fortunes are tied to TV and radio, and yes, even print.  That’s kinda crappy, ’cause we have little control over how those media establishments are reacting to the changes.  Some of our clients will survive, even thrive in the new world.  Others will go away.

If I may, let me just float 5 salient viewpoints that have relevance to what it is we voice actors do, and should keep doing if we expect to continue to be a part of the media world.

1)  Engagement This is a hugely important concept in the digital media world of the future.  In case you don’t know…Social Media is setting the pace on much of this, and social networking is NOTHING if it’s not about engagement.  Engaging the audience =attracting and holding fast to your viewers/listeners.  Continuing the conversation, responding, replying, and maintaining interest in the subject at hand.
FOR VO’s: What are you doing to engage your clients, your listeners, your agents, your coaches, your peers?  Did you answer that email, that comment, that question?

2) The Story continues… No longer does ANYTHING disappear from public view anymore.  It’s all in the digital record.  The story lingers much longer than before, inviting comment and feedback.  There’s a never-ending shelf-life to digital data.
FOR VO’s:  Your first demo?  It’s out there.  That spot you did 3 years ago?  Is it still running?…and did they pay you for it?

3)  Content Counts This never changes.  In fact, if anything, the digital future demands even better content.  Do you write?  Are you a producer or director or coach?  Are you contributing mediocrity, or does your product have consistent quality?
FOR VO’s: Your input on scripts, your interpretation, your commitment to the client’s product makes a difference.  Make it better.

4) Excellence Building on point #3, the consumers of digital media don’t want a future where YouTube’s shaky videos and questionable value rule the world.  There IS a market for excellence.  The best of ANY market offering can command the best price.  A digital future is a quality future.
FOR VO’S:  Don’t think for a minute that you can “slide” on that read.  Hold your standards high, and impress your clients.  You’ll get more work in the long run.

5) Measurement Matters Digital products — by their very nature — lend themselves well to metrics.  “1′s” and “0′s” are easy to count, and there are more ways to count them than ever before.  Digital is not a platform that brooks sloppiness.  Media outlets of tomorrow CANNOT afford to ignore the numbers.
FOR VO’s: Do your bookkeeping.  Number your invoices.  Get a Google Analytics account. Check your traffic.  Count your visitors and backlinks.

CourVO

 

 

Filed Under: Careers, Ruminations, Training/Education Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Keeping the Pace

May 10, 2011 By 1 Comment

Ever since the worm turned and the “old way” of doing voiceovers became the “new” way of doing VO business, it’s been tough to keep up with the march of technology.

For decades, talent living in major metro areas reported to various professional studios, auditioning in person, and surviving on an agent/union paradigm.  Of course,this still happens today, mostly in NYC and LA.

ISDN survives too, although people have long been predicting its demise.  Such will be the case for many years, while the business of voice overs moves through its fits and starts, ever-changing with the times and the technologies.

In the meantime, an emerging wave that comprises the lion’s share of voice over work in the 21st century occurs in private studios all over America.  These are studios typically built by the talent themselves, and populated by equipment cobbled together using whatever knowledge and resources they have.

In addition to the process of recording and sending sound files, much of the rest of the business of voice overs is also conducted online, or at least on a computer, often by one person – the voice over talent.

That means the process of marketing, promoting, advertising, accounting, bookkeeping, mailing, invoicing, editing, and follow-up all occurs in a digital world.  That’s not necessarily a problem, but that world keeps changing and developing at a break-neck pace.

So, the question:  how to keep abreast of the changes that will make up the new paradigm of VO, and what changes are those?

Clearly, Social media is not only one of those new technologies, but also the one that helps you understand the OTHER changes taking place in the industry.  Why?  Because Social Media sites that cater to voice-over business people personify the stream-of-consciousness that keeps you in-the-know.

FaceBook, Twitter, online forums, LinkedIn, YouTube, and ning sites like VoiceOverUniverse now make up the new (and continuous) Town Hall Meeting where people share, engage in Q&A, comment off-the-cuff, and create conversations and relationships.

Those online sites are typically where you will first see notice of new equipment, where to buy, how much it costs, and how to use it.  Consider, for instance, the weekly EWABS online video webinar conducted by George Whittam and Dan Lenard.  EWABS stands for East-West Audio Body Shop, and the hour-long Sunday evening event is free, and can be viewed on UStream effortlessly.

Newsletters, blogs, and teleseminars on equipment and services abound in the VO world these days (see http://courvo.biz, for instance).  VoiceOverExtra is an incredible resource for all manner of VO info, including equipment.  LinkedIn VO Groups have thousands of subscribers (see:  Working Voice Actor Group administered by Ed Victor), and FaceBook has a number of extremely active VO Groups (see: Voice-over Friends, administered by Dave Courvoisier, Voice-Over Pros, administered by Terry Daniel, and Voice Artists United , administered by Chris Kendall – among others).

While many of these sites could be termed “niche”, they are also welcoming and inclusive.  ‘No such thing as a “dumb question”, and newbie concerns are encouraged.

Even more so, a Yahoo Group that caters to VO professionals has been going strong for years, and has an active, and highly-regarded membership that knocks around issues that range from equipment to software, marketing, demos, and freelance rates.

So how do you keep up?  Join. Belong. Engage in the conversation.  Pay-it-forward, and you will receive in return.  Ask questions.  Provide answers.  Be a part of the community, and enjoy the benefits of association with like-minded souls.  Everybody has something to give in the milieu of online discourse.

CourVO

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VO-MOtivation

February 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sometimes you can OVER think things.

Other times, you really SHOULD take a moment to think things through.

Today’s American rarely thinks through their motivations…so driven are we to produce, achieve, accumulate…or just NOT get left behind.  The urgent supersedes the important.

Since late last Summer, I’ve watched voice talent pro Amy Snively get motivated.  I really should find out what spark ignited her.  Because I want some of it.

Snively (rhymes with lively) is the driving force behind FaffCon.  To her credit, she’s surrounded herself with really smart, capable helpers, and she knows how to delegate, ask, cajole, and otherwise convince people to pitch in.

Her single-minded dedication to making FaffCon a success (two times over, now) prompts me to think about motivation.

I’m not gonna get too philosphical on you, here…but walk with me…willya?

This exercise may help you in choosing VO directions.

THE THREE HUMAN NEEDS DETERMINING MOTIVATION

Competition-Driven:  The need to achieve, produce, compare status, and out-do the next guy.  (NASCAR driver?)

Power/Money Driven: To heck with the competition…this motivator is the need to control and enjoy influence over others. (politicians?)

Community Driven: The need to belong, contribute, associate, and build relationships.  (mentors?)

We all have some combination of these three, but it seems to me the voice talent I’ve met exhibit a wealth of the third determiner….and Amy seems to have an overflowing cup of it.  How cool is that?…’cause it benefits us all.

Amy is creating a community of community-oriented voice-talent.  That’s what FaffCon is at its core.  VO givers..giving.

Competition drives me to be better…
The need to have money to live comfortably is strong…
But nothing makes me feel more humanly fulfilled than helping someone else.

No wonder Snively rhymes with lively…

CourVO

P.S. Abraham Maslow is the father of Modern Management, even though his main work came out during WWII.  A lynchpin of his theory of work motivation is: “Human needs arrange themselves in hierarchies of pre-potency. That is to say, the appearance of one need usually rests on the prior satisfaction of another, more pre-potent need. Man is a perpetually wanting animal. Also no need or drive can be treated as if it were isolated or discrete; every drive is related to the state of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of other drives.”

To read more about Maslow, see his Theory of Motivation.

Filed Under: Relationships, Ruminations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Spectrum

February 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sunday afternoon, I had back-to-back phone conversations with two VO hopefuls.

One is a former TV broadcast videographer colleague, and the other was referred to me by a VO friend who told me: “…he’s thinking about getting back in the business…”   (both have “great pipes” BTW)

In actuality, the latter is a broadcast veteran of 25 years in earlier years –  national and international — this guy has a resume that’s off the charts.  He’s a Navy combat veteran, has a journalism degree, and has lent his voice to projects for some of the world’s most respected and recognized companies. Currently, he’s an internet software security expert.  The FBI uses his expertise.  I could go on and on…. and yet, he’s thinking about getting back into VO.

My videographer friend is a smart guy, a little more laid-back…descended from a Native American tribe in Wisconsin, and currently works in his father’s family business.

With him, I was explaining the finer points of sending big files as attachments to e-mail.  With the other guy, I answered questions freely from what I knew about agents, unions, and sea-changes in the business in the last 8 years.

The interest is inevitable.  VO appears to be an esoteric, inexpensive, alluring and mysteriously sexy career path.  We all get the endless approaches from people who’ve been told they have great voices.

I’m still a newbie, yet I’m glad I got in when I did…the rising tide of hopefuls is determined.  I wish them well, but I also don’t mince my words:  there’s hard work ahead to succeed.

What did I do when I got off the phone?  I cut some more auditions…and planned for a coaching session in a few weeks.  No one is so safe they can just “coast”.

CourVO

Filed Under: Careers, Ruminations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Forget NYC & LA

December 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

People everywhere (in so-called “Flyover States”) are making successful careers in voice over.

Case in point is Kelley Buttrick, of Bishop, Georgia.

Read her inspiring “everywoman” story in the online version of the Athens, GA Newspaper.

No, she may not be landing network TV promos or highly-lucrative national ad campaigns (yet), but she’s representative of probably 90% of us hard-working VO stiffs out there who make up the backbone of the VO market.

Flyover THAT.

CourVO

Filed Under: Ruminations
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