Archive for September, 2008

The Good Ole CD

Posted On: Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 3:29 pm | By: David
Related Category: Education, Effective Marketing | 1 Comment »

Why a CD Demo Is A Critical Component For Building Success

Here is a question that I hear from time to time, typically from an individual new to our field…

Do I really need a CD demo or can i just email my demo as an mp3?

As technology and the availability of technology has increased, the ability to deliver your demo through some web-optimized method has become important. Services like the wonderful folks at voices.com also require you, in most cases, to be able to send your demo via the internet.

However, and this is a great big however, the prospect of singularly marketing yourself through a web based demo can significantly limit your chances for success.

The first thing to consider: What happens when you receive an email with an attachment from someone you don’t know?! In almost all cases it goes straight to junk!

Another thing to consider: It is very easy to hit the “delete” button. Hitting the delete button is much easier than ignoring a physical piece of mail.

I receive many demos on a weekly basis, and the vast majority of those demos are on a CD. In some cases we follow up with the person and request an mp3, but a CD demo does help set an individual apart as a professional.

My best suggestion as someone who is fortunate to both train voice over artists and produce professional voice over work: Give yourself every advantage by presenting your demo as both a physical CD, and as an mp3. By offering both methods of delivery, you’ll put yourself in a tremendous position for a broad range of work opportunities.

Additionally, If you’ve put together a demo and need CDs, they are not expensive. I do suggest that you stay away from making 500 or 1000 CD demo copies. Try to limit any CD order to 100 because your demo will change as you do new work. You don’t want to be saddled with 500 CDs filled with an old demo. (though they do make nice drink coasters)

Also, always be sure to package any CD you send out in a full size CD case so that the sides or “spines” of the CD can be labeled. This will make locating your CD easy when it is stored on a shelf with others.

Bottom Line… CDs are an inexpensive and critical component of your successful self-marketing efforts.

Enjoy What You Do!

David at Voice Coaches

Other Motivation

Posted On: Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 5:50 pm | By: David
Related Category: Motivation | 1 Comment »

Adopting an “Almost” All About The Money Attitude”

In addition to voice over training, a great deal of the work that I do involves hiring professional voice actors and producing them through a variety of material. because of this, you will certainly never hear me suggesting that the voice over field isn’t lucrative. Frankly for the effort and time commitment involved in a typical VO session, the income can be hard to beat!

but…

I do have to say that I have often found, particularly in new voice over artists, that the folks who are pursuing our field singularly for money, often struggle. Again, it is not because the field is not lucrative. In my experience, an initial struggle in building success is often the result of a lack of perseverance.

For this reason I always strongly recommend a secondary motivation to anyone pursuing this field. Income is a great first motivation, but when coupled with other reasons to stick with it, you have a serious recipe for success.

Here is my short list of reasons (other than money) to pursue voice over work. Don’t worry, once you get your first paying gig, there is little chance you will quit. These secondary motivations are designed to help keep you in it until that first job.

1. Because you think you will enjoy it!

2. Because you can picture yourself doing it!

3. Because you know other folks doing it are not better than you!

4. Because you have always wanted to!

5. Because you will regret never trying!

I would love to hear some ideas any of you have!!

Best Regards!

David at Voice Coaches

Recognizing The Difference

Posted On: Thursday, September 11th, 2008 at 1:54 pm | By: David
Related Category: VO News | 1 Comment »

Voice Coaches has the opportunity to work with a Television star who knows that voice acting & voice over training require some unique skills!

When our Administrative Director Kristen told me that I had a message from a John James, my reaction was something like, “imagine if it was the guy from Dynasty!” … turns out that it was!

From 1981 through 1989, Dynasty garnered serious ratings success as an ABC prime time soap. One of the leading characters, Jeff Colby, was played by actor John James.

When we met with John, he explained, like many of our voice over training clients, that he had always wanted to do voice over work. The thing that I found interesting was that John had approached us at Voice Coaches because he clearly recognized that there was a significant difference between the skill he had built as an actor, compared to the skill set needed to perform as a voice actor. He conveyed that he had many folks, including an agent, simply try to set him up someplace to make a demo. But he felt that it made no sense to make a demo prior to going trough specific voice over training. That’s what brought him to us.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with John, largely because he so highly valued the learning experience. As a very successful actor, it would have been very easy for him to come in with a “you can’t teach me anything” attitude. Instead, John was one of the most hungry-to-learn students we’ve worked with this year.

Through my educational and professional production endeavors, I have repeatedly met both types of people… the “you can’t teach me anything” folks, and the “I can’t wait to learn” folks.

My humble opinion… when you find yourself thinking you’re the king of everyone around you, it’s time to find some new folks to spend time around!

Listen to John’s demo on the “hear” page of our site.

Best Regards!

David at Voice Coaches

Inspiration To Many

Posted On: Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at 3:15 pm | By: David
Related Category: VO News | No Comments »

I have been fortunate to meet aspiring Voice Actors with an enormous range in goals. One thing that they have in common is that for some reason they were motivated to stop thinking about their goals and instead begin to pursue them. There are many potential motivations for this, but today I felt sincerely compelled to mention one. Our industry lost Voice Actor Don LaFontaine on Monday. Beyond his enormous professional success, he created increased awareness of our field. I am sure many of the clients I have been fortunate to work with were motivated in some way by Don and I feel compelled to post my most sincere gratitude and respect for what he brought to Professional Voice Acting. Historically there have been but a handful of individuals in any form of media or entertainment who were true motivators, and it is clear that Don LaFontaine is one of those few. The entire Voice Coaches family extends well wishes to Don’s family and friends, and to those who he inspired. His work will continue to inspire for decades to come.

Most Sincerely

David at Voice Coaches