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In this week's video episode of The Pro Audio Suite, AP's got his ears on the new Audio-Technica R70xA headphones, and the team dives into a full-blown can convo. He shares his first impressions after two weeks of use — lightweight, comfy, and eerily similar in tone to the Hi-X65s. But how do they really stack up against other studio staples like the KRKs, Austrian Audio Hi-X55s and 65s, Sennheiser HD280s, and even some vintage Audio-Technica ATH2s? From comfort and design quirks (hello magnetic straps and mystery cables) to 470-ohm impedance madness, gear abuse stories, and which cans sound great but feel like a head clamp, this is one juicy headphone shootout. Bonus: George nerds out on impedance math, Robert gets officially certified as “professional grade,” and an AKG suffers a tragic fate at VO Atlanta...R70xA Headphones – Worth the Hype?
Join George the Tech at VO Atlanta 2025 as he provides an exclusive demo of the much-anticipated Source Connect 4 software. George connects with Robert Marshall from Chicago to showcase the software's impressive features, including noise filtering, dropout restoration, and seamless session backups. Discover how Source Connect 4 enhances workflow efficiency for both voice talents and studio engineers, with improvements in transport sync, multiple connections, and uncompressed audio replacements. Stay tuned for an exciting sneak peek at the upcoming video camera integration, set to debut at NAB. Upgrade seamlessly if you're already a subscriber, or learn more at source-elements.com. @Source-elements 00:00 Introduction to Source Connect 4 at VO Atlanta 2025 01:10 Live Demo with Robert Marshall 02:10 Testing Source Connect 4's Reliability 04:44 New Features for Voice Talent 06:47 Enhancements for Producers and Engineers 08:47 Upcoming Features and Final Thoughts - We are pleased to announce our upcoming webinar, Source Connect 4 for Voice Actors with Robert Marshall, on April 14th at 3:00 PM PT! Are you feeling uncertain about the necessity of upgrading to Source Connect 4? Are you unclear about its new features and functionality, or what will happen to your existing Source-Connect 3 license? This webinar is designed to address all your questions and concerns, providing voice actors with the essential information they need to navigate this new version. JOIN US ➡️ https://link.georgethe.tech/y-sc4rm - Website: http://georgethehtech Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/georgethetech Instagram: @georgethetech Podcast: http://theproaudiosuite.com
In this episode, we dive into one of the biggest and most talked-about voiceover events on the planet — VO Atlanta. Andrew, George, Robbo, and Robert break down the experience from every angle: Is it still the king of VO conferences? What's changed post-pandemic? Who should (and maybe shouldn't) be booking flights for next year? The good, the bad, and the “interesting” from this year's event Tips for getting the most out of VO Atlanta if you go in the future Plus, a little side chat about conferences in general — when are they worth it, when are they not, and how they could be better. Oh, and don't miss the usual dose of questionable humour, honest takes, and hard-earned industry insight.
George is joined by Robb Smith from the 'Chewing the Fat' podcast. They discuss their experiences at the VO Atlanta conference, the significance of taking breaks during such events, and the benefits of networking. Rob shares his background in voice acting and radio, his role as a first contact guide at the event, and the inspiration behind his podcast, which focuses on mental health and positivity. They also talk about Joe Cipriano's inspiring story and experiences from his podcast. Tune in for a heartfelt conversation filled with insights and camaraderie from the world of voice acting. @chewingthefat https://www.chewingthefatbr.com/ 00:00 Introduction and Season Five Kickoff 00:32 On the Road at VO Atlanta 01:21 First Time at VO Atlanta 03:10 Background and Career Journey 05:48 Chewing the Fat Podcast 09:39 Concluding Thoughts and Farewells Website: http://georgethehtech Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/georgethetech Instagram: @georgethetech Podcast: http://theproaudiosuite.com
A thousand voice actors are about to descend on the Hilton Atlanta Airport Hotel for VO Atlanta. If you're one of them, this special episode is for you. This episode is packed with actionable advice to help you make the most of your conference experience. From purposeful networking and vocal care to leveraging AI for better note-taking and content creation, Marc Scott shares his top strategies for success. Don't just attend—thrive at VO Atlanta! Even More VO Atlanta Tips - https://youtube.com/live/C-RFXKVVn-w Vocal Warmups (and Downs!); How to Protect Your Voice - https://youtu.be/d-F5PFfdBA4 CONNECT WITH MARC SCOTT Marc Scott Website - https://marcscottvoiceover.com Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott Marc Scott on Facebook - https://facebook.com/marcscottvoiceover Marc Scott on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@marcscottvo Marc Scott on LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/marcscottvoiceover RESOURCES FOR VOICE ACTORS * Voice Over Marketing Playbook Visit https://voiceovermarketingplaybook.com * The VOpreneur Guide to Testimonials Visit https://vopreneur.com/testimonials * Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam Visit https://voicezam.com/marcscott * For voice over services: Visit https://marcscottvoiceover.com * Want VOpreneur Swag? Visit https://teespring.com/stores/vopreneur * Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group Visit https://facebook.com/groups/vopreneur EVERYDAY VOPRENEURS IN THIS EPISODE * Thanks to "Uncle Roy" for production assistance! Visit https://antlandproductions.com * Thanks to Christy Harst for VO contributions! Visit https://christyharst.com * Thanks to Krysta Wallrauch for VO contributions! Visit https://krystawallrauch.com If you need guidance with your voice over business or learning how to more effectively market, I can help. Book a 15 minute free consultation with me to discuss your specific needs. Book Your Consult KEY TAKEAWAYS Network with purpose, focusing on key connections. Engage actively in sessions to enhance learning. Take care of your voice to ensure participation. Follow common themes from multiple speakers. Create content to reinforce learning and share experiences. Be present and enjoy the conference experience. Leverage AI to summarize notes and create content. Implement learned strategies into actionable items. Don't let fear or nerves hold you back from participating.
(VIDEO PODCAST) Season 5 is here, and we're kicking things off with a VO Atlanta survival guide from the legendary Thom Pinto! Whether you're a first-timer or a conference veteran, this episode is packed with insider tips to help you network smarter, learn better, and totally own your time at VO Atlanta. Plus, we tackle the BIG question: How do you keep your cool when performing for agents and casting directors? Sign up for our show takeaways, resources, and drink recipes before episodes air here: https://www.speechlessvo.com/RESOURCES mentioned in this episode:VO Conference Strategies: Part 1Why Attend an Industry ConferenceVoice Over Conferences: Why? What? Where? When?Thom PintoCONTACT INFO:Podcast HomeWebsiteYouTubeInstagramEmail: SpeechlessVO@gmail.comPRODUCTION CREDITS:Music: Rick WilsonEditing: Hamza LatifWritten and Produced by Kim Wilson and Natasha MarchewkaProduction Assistant: Carolyn Robson
Tariffs are here. Will they impact the voice over industry? I didn't bring J. Michael Collins on the podcast to talk tariffs and trade wars, but it just so happened that the day we recorded, that was the story of the day. So we tackled it. We didn't stop there. We also talked trends voice actors need to watch in 2025 including shifts in commercial and political, the new "it read" that seems to be booking at the moment. How shifting demographics are opening up more opportunities for certain voice actors who may have felt a little left behind in recent years. A lot of ground is covered in this chat. We even had time to get to VO Atlanta and some insights into this years conference. If you're a voice actor looking to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry, you're going to want to dig into this one with a notebook! CONNECT WITH J. MICHAEL COLLINS J. Michael Collins Website - https://jmcvoiceover.com JMC Demos - https://jmcdemos.com J. Michael Collins on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jmcdemos J. Michael Collins on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jmcdemos J. Michael Collins on X - https://x.com/jmcvoiceover Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott VOpreneur® on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@vopreneur RESOURCES FOR VOICE ACTORS * Voice Over Marketing Playbook Visit https://voiceovermarketingplaybook.com * The VOpreneur Guide to Testimonials Visit https://vopreneur.com/testimonials * Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam Visit https://voicezam.com/marcscott * For voice over services: Visit https://marcscottvoiceover.com * Want VOpreneur Swag? Visit https://teespring.com/stores/vopreneur * Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group Visit https://facebook.com/groups/vopreneur EVERYDAY VOPRENEURS IN THIS EPISODE * Thanks to "Uncle Roy" for production assistance! Visit https://antlandproductions.com * Thanks to Christy Harst for VO contributions! Visit https://christyharst.com * Thanks to Krysta Wallrauch for VO contributions! Visit https://krystawallrauch.com If you need guidance with your voice over business or learning how to more effectively market, I can help. Book a 15 minute free consultation with me to discuss your specific needs. Book Your Consult KEY TAKEAWAYS The voice over market is experiencing a glut in the middle tier. Short-term impacts of tariffs on voice over are uncertain. Assertiveness is becoming a key trait in voice over reads. Demographics in voice over are shifting towards older voices. The average consumer's perception of advertising is changing. Buyers are adapting to demographic shifts in their marketing strategies. The future of conversational voice over is being redefined. Voice over trends are evolving, especially in humor and delivery. AI's impact on voice over is minimal at the high end. Marketing is crucial for voice actors to succeed today. Demos need to reflect versatility and current trends. Political voice over requires frequent updates due to shifting issues. Online casting companies are facing challenges in the current market. The VO Atlanta conference aims to bring fresh insights and speakers. Voice actors should focus on building relationships with agents. Staying informed about industry changes is key to success.
More than twice the size of any other conference, VO Atlanta offers more opportunities to connect with agents, casting directors, managers, leading voice actors and celebrities, and network with your fellow talent than you'll find anywhere else. Join me, Lynn Norris, and Jessica Mathison share valuable information on being a voiceover professional. VO Atlanta: www.voatlanta.me www.facebook.com/voatlanta Lynn: www.voicedbylynn.com www.instagram.com/norrislynn https://www.tiktok.com/@wigwednesday www.linkedin.com/in/voicedbylynn Jessica: www.jessicamathison.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicalmathison/ https://www.facebook.com/jessica.l.mathison https://www.instagram.com/jessicamathison_vo/ https://x.com/Jessi_Mathison https://www.tiktok.com/@jessicamathison_vo Stay connected with me: https://www.chonacas.com/links/
Paul Schmidt is a successful voice actor, community builder, and voiceover business coach. He's the creator of the VO Freedom Master Plan, the leading marketing program for voice actors, and the VO Pro Community, a private, global community for voice actors and audiobook narrators. Paul has been a voice actor for over 25 years. *In this Episode, we talk about: * * Paul's FAILED attempt at breaking into the VO business and how that helped him eventually find success * Direct Marketing * How to Know Your Value * Tips for Reaching out to VO Clients * VO Conference Tips * Two Books that have changed Paul's life Atlanta VO Studio Upcoming Training Podcasting for Voiceover Pros (https://atlantavoiceoverstudio.com/what-we-offer-workshops-podcasting-for-voiceover-pros-workshop/) Improv in VO (https://atlantavoiceoverstudio.com/what-we-offer-workshops-intro-to-improv-in-vo/) Animation & Video Games with Arianna Ratner (https://atlantavoiceoverstudio.com/what-we-offer-classes-acting-for-animation-and-video-games/) *Links Mentioned in This Episode: * VO Freedom Master Plan (https://vofreedommasterplan.com) VO Pro YouTube Channel (https://youtube.com/@vo-pro) Done For You VO Conference Calendar (https://welcome.vopro.pro/conference-calendar?_gl=1*whozb8*_ga*MTIwNTE2MjkyNi4xNzM5MzkyODE0*_ga_1JMW301KBV*MTczOTM5MjgxMy4xLjAuMTczOTM5MjgxNC4wLjAuMA..) VO Pro Website (https://vopro.pro) BOOKS Atomic Habits (https://amzn.to/4gDiJvt) by James Clear Go For No (https://amzn.to/40ZYlyW) by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz CLICK HERE for 15% off a Voice123 Membership ($359 tier and up) - https://bit.ly/3uPpO8i Terms & Conditions - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CcYMkdLxWfbmwbvu-mwaurLNtWYVpIBgkJpOQTYLDwc/edit?usp=sharing Looking for a VO MENTOR? Check out our Mentorship Membership for just $25/month - https://www.provoiceovertraining.com/300-membership Wanna do ANIMATION and VIDEO GAMES? Check out our class HERE (https://atlantavoiceoverstudio.com/what-we-offer-classes-acting-for-animation-and-video-games/) Learn more about VO Atlanta - https://www.voatlanta.me *LET'S CONNECT! * facebook.com/atlantavoiceoverstudio instagram.com/atlantavoiceoverstudio twitter.com/atlvostudio tiktok.com/@atlantavoiceoverstudio YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/atlantavoiceoverstudio Atlanta Voiceover Studio & ProVoiceoverTraining's Classes & Workshops www.AtlantaVoiceoverStudio.com www.ProVoiceoverTraining.com **Sign up for FREE weekly VO tips: https://bit.ly/AVSemail
"When I realised how much joy there was to be had in life, full stop, in your job and in people paying you to do something you actually enjoy, blew my mind. After 20 years of office work, I was like, wait, wait, I get to have fun and they pay me. I was really surprised by that." Ana Clements Ana Clements and I explore the journey of rediscovering passion, pursuing creativity and embracing reinvention at any stage of life. She shares how reaching midlife made her reflect on what she truly wanted - bringing her back to music, voice work and ultimately, audiobook narration. Ana also shares the impact of late diagnosis of ADHD on her life and discusses the significance of self-compassion, continuous learning, and the art of performing while staying true to oneself. Whether you're considering a career shift or simply need encouragement to take that next step, Ana's story will leave you inspired to trust your own path and embrace what makes you come alive. Award-nominated Ana Clements is a passionate speaker, coach, and professional voice artist. With over a decade in the industry, she has narrated audiobooks for major publishers, bringing a wealth of character voices to her performances in both British and Spanish. As the founder of Audiobooks on Clubhouse, Ana has built a thriving community where narrators and creatives connect and share insights. Since 2021, she has hosted weekly sessions, deepening her understanding of the challenges and lived experiences of a creative career. Ana has spoken at industry-leading events, including VO Atlanta, MexicoAudio, MAVO, One Voice Conference, and at many writers groups and workshops. A qualified coach since 2022, she works with narrators and authors, offering practical, insightful guidance that empowers them to push past self-limitations with actionable direction. Her creative coaching has been described as “helping others reach a point of clarity on who they are as creative professionals.” Connect with Ana: All of Ana's social media (LinkedIn, Instagram, FaceBook, Threads, etc.) are @AnaClements and her website is https://www.anaclements.co.uk Resources Mentioned: MOOC - Massive Open Online Courses https://www.mooc.org/ Personality Isn't Permanent by Benjamin Hardy The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander
Join Anne Ganguzza and Danielle Famble for the next BOSS Money Talks episode, as they share tips on how to manage both business and personal finances. From choosing the ideal business credit card to managing your everyday spending, The BOSSES provide the tools you need to enhance your financial efficiency. Anne and Danielle delve into the practical aspects of leveraging credit cards for business gains, highlighting the potential to earn cashback and travel points while simplifying your bookkeeping tasks. They discuss the art of planning large expenses and paying off balances to avoid interest traps, alongside sharing personal stories of their credit journeys. 00:04 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) At Anne Ganguzza productions. I focus on personal growth and artistic expression and can help you unlock the full potential of your voice. It's a journey of discovery and strategy and I'm here to help guide you every step of the way. Your story deserves to be heard. Find out more at anneganguzza.com. 00:35 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. 00:48 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast and the Boss Money Talk Series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and I am so ecstatic to be back again with Danielle Famble. Hey. 01:01 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Anne, I am glad to be back, happy to talk money and finances and being a boss with you. 01:07 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I love it. I love it, except Danielle. I just had to pay my American Express bill. Yeah, and I will tell you and the bosses I have a business credit card, which I think is the best thing since sliced bread and the reason why I love my business credit card maybe not so much for all the money that I have to pay on it this month, but mostly because I get money back. I mean, I try to strategically use that credit card to my advantage, for my business. 01:34 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Yeah. 01:34 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So I know I have a credit card and a couple of other tricks up my sleeve, but I have a feeling you have a couple of tricks up your sleeve that I would love to know about. 01:44 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Oh, man, If you want to get me to nerd out on anything ever, you chose the right topic Credit cards. Credit card points and miles is my jam. I'm wearing my nerdy glasses today, Just so excited to talk about credit card points. 02:01 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So fill us in on how we can take advantage, Because I mean, why not? Right? I'm excited, I'm excited. So I'll just tell you, my American Express gives me money back and I picked it specifically because of that. It gives me money back every month the more I spend with it and I thought, well, that's great. That just encourages me to always use that card to spend. And for me, I only have the one for my. Actually, I have a couple for my business, because I do have a bank account which then gives me a credit card by default. Okay, I've got a debit card, I've got a business debit card, but I also have a credit card with them which I don't use right now. But they are always touting oh, you can save 3% if you buy gas, that kind of thing. But I end up using the one card only because for me, my brain, it makes things simple right now to deal with, but I'm sure that I could be taking more advantage of other things. 02:53 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Oh, yeah, you talk about your credit card. I actually just opened up a new credit card for my business and when I open that credit card you get a certain number of bonus points if you spend a certain amount of money in the first couple of months of opening the card. 03:08 Mostly, really to— yes, yes, similar to my bank. Yeah, to incentivize you to use this card. Well, this particular card would give me I think it was 250,000 points to travel, and I was so excited about it because I have travel coming up to go to conferences and things like that and instead of using cash to spend the money to travel, I can use these points as another currency as a way to get to a conference or two or three, or travel or stay at hotels. So it's a way of utilizing the money that I'm spending anyway and having a different currency to be able to use it. And that's a way of utilizing the money that I'm spending anyway and having a different currency to be able to use it. And that's just sort of the beginning. You're talking about money back into your business, but I just I love talking about like points and miles because you're spending the money anyway for your business, right, and so you're getting this currency back to be able to do other things with it. 04:02 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So then let me ask you a question Are you looking always for deals, current deals with new credit cards, or is it just if it happens to come up when you make a purchase, sometimes like well, let's say, I go clothing shopping, sorry, and they'll be like well, you can save 20% on your order today if you open up a credit card with us. And there'll be a lot of times that I'll do that just because I want to save the 20%, and then I really don't have any intention of using it again. If it's a store I don't shop frequently, but I will absolutely do that. But now I also know that that does affect my credit score. It's not always a negative impact on the credit score, because I happen to have I'm very proud of the fact that I have a really good, almost perfect, credit score. 04:39 - Intro (Announcement) Oh, great yeah. 04:40 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) After many, many years. 04:41 - Intro (Announcement) And. 04:41 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I'm like. Well, I don't know, is that going to affect if I open up a credit card? How do you handle the credit cards? 04:46 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) So again, we've talked about this. For me I'm dealing with personal, totally separate than business. So, for example, with my business credit card that I just opened, I knew that I was going to have a lot of really big expenses coming up for the business and because I was planning that, I was looking for a credit card to be able to capitalize on the amount of money I was already planning on spending and had already planned and put that money aside to pay this. 05:14 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Okay, so let me ask you so, for example, not that I'm going to delve that deeply, but I'm thinking was this for travel for a voiceover conference, or maybe new equipment or something new for your studio, or maybe demos right, things that you would invest in, right for your voiceover business? 05:28 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) So, big ticket items like a demo or a voiceover conference would be a good opportunity to maybe look into this Potentially yes, I always give a caveat first with using credit cards at all, and you're talking about your great credit score and I'm proud to have really worked to build my credit score as well. To have a great credit score is making sure that you can pay the credit card off in full at the end of the month. 05:52 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Oh, thank you for saying that. Yes, I absolutely make it a point to do that every single month, exactly. 05:56 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Because if you don't, then you're actually kind of not really getting all the perks and having the benefits of having this credit card, because then you're paying this huge fee for interest and things like that. So for me, when I'm looking at credit cards be it for personal or for the business I want to make sure that I have the ability to pay it off. It's almost like using the cash that I already had on hand to pay off this bill and I'm getting this huge point value, or I'm getting points along the way. 06:26 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I love that you said that, because I will always, when we talked about our business accounts, our bank accounts, I am so thankful and grateful for that business savings account. Because that business savings account says to me I've got a big ticket item coming, I have the money that I can pay it all off at the end of the month, which I think absolutely is so important. And I'll be the first to admit I mean I have let my credit cards go. 06:48 I mean when I was younger and foolish, I let my credit cards go and have a balance and at one point there was a big balance on it and you end up spending so much money on interest that it's not necessarily an ideal situation, that's for sure, and especially if this is your business and I'm not saying that you have to wait to buy everything until you can pay it off at the end of the month. However, it certainly makes things a whole lot easier. 07:12 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Yeah, it makes things a lot easier and also you're able to plan for what's coming up. So you're being proactive about what you're doing for your business. Talk about, like big-ticket items buying a new booth or a microphone or demos Lord knows, they're not inexpensive and so these are things that you need to plan for, and by planning for it and having the financial resources able to pay for it, then really you're able to utilize other tools to get you a little bit more for the money that you are already planning on spending. You are already planning on spending. This is actually something I learned from a personal finance situation when I was trying to really understand like money and finances and learn about, like, how money works. 07:52 I learned in my own personal life that if I didn't have the cash to spend on something, I was putting myself deeper in a hole by spending additional money on interest because I really didn't have the money to buy that thing in the first place. Now I understand. You know, not everyone has the money to like pay everything off in full. I was at my grocery store and, ann, I will tell you they have pay over time at my grocery store. Oh man. 08:18 It's unreal and I get it. Times are tough and money can be really, really tight. Get it, times are tough and money can be really really tight. But I do think this is an opportunity for planning for certain big expenses that you can utilize, opening up a credit card or using your credit card to be able to get you things like protections for that device. You know, if you use a certain credit card, they may cover it instead of needing to get the extra insurance. 08:43 That's actually a really good point. Yeah, there are so many different things that you can utilize by using a credit card for let's talk about business for the business purchases that you're doing. 08:52 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So warranty like additional warranty or protection, so I wouldn't have even thought that actually, if you buy it with your credit card, does it give you additional protection? 09:00 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Yeah, yeah, and also my boyfriend was telling me that his debit card, his number, got like taken or hacked or something like that, and so they were trying to take money out of his account. But if that happens with a credit card, you're dealing with the bank's money, not your own personal money, so it's a little bit easier to get that money recovered if something would happen with it. 09:20 So there are so many different protections that can happen. And even you said you have one credit card for your business for bookkeeping we talked about bookkeepers and things like that. 09:30 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It's one ledger to be able to cross-reference and say, okay, this is what I spent over the course of time, and I mean I'm getting so excited right when I went to a conference. 09:42 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) I went to J Michael's Euro Retreat. Actually, when you and I met in person to Amsterdam, you know I flew there on points. My flight was totally covered by points and it was accumulation of points that I had spent by utilizing my credit card for all of the business expenses that I pay monthly. My Source Connect, my Zoom accounts, my all of this stuff. It's paid through a credit card. And then I had accumulated enough points to be able to fly for free Business class. 10:11 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It was nice. I love using my credit card to pay for all my monthly subscriptions because, again, my one subscription that I have for personal right, which is I have a subscription, peloton which is like $44 a month, which is some crazy amount, but I use it. So for me it's worth it and it's funny because the amount that I'm getting paid back on that credit card pretty much pays for about half of that. So it's kind of cool. I broke my monthly price down from $44 to like $24. And so it really works out. It's $24 a month. So for me that works. And so, if you can look for those creative ways. But like, how much time do you spend looking for deals or checking on the deals? Because a lot of times I think credit cards will have a deal and then it only lasts for a certain amount of time, right, and then maybe interest rate will go back up or maybe it won't get 3% or 4% on gas purchases. You won't get it anymore. So how on top of it do you have to be? 11:08 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) I think you would need to be on top of it. If that's something On a monthly, probably on a monthly basis. If that's something that you are planning on, for example, opening up a new card, for example, for me, I was ready to open a new card, and so I spent a couple of hours on Google YouTube like just checking around to see what was out there. 11:28 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So what do you Google? So, if you're searching for a new credit card, what do you Google? What's a smart thing to search for? 11:34 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) For this one, I was looking for business credit cards because again, personal and business. So there are some business credit cards you can get. You can just Google best business credit card in the year. And then, for the most part in Google, it'll tell you, like what options are available and it'll even give you potentially some hints if you were to go into incognito mode. When you're looking for new credit cards, the bonus points may be higher than when you just search for it normally. 12:04 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Oh, that's so interesting because you're right, because your information is in Google anyways. There's the tip of the day, Guys, we can go home now Because I think that's a great tip. Like you would I never would have thought of that to go in incognito mode, because then they're not necessarily going on information that they already have on you for that credit card and you might get better deals. 12:22 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Yeah, exactly. 12:23 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Because more than likely, they know that I have an American Express credit card that I've used online 100 billion times before. 12:29 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) So they're not trying to bring you in as a new customer because they don't know that you are or are not a current customer. 12:35 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So do your searching in incognito mode. 12:38 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) I love that, yeah, and that's actually exactly what happened to me. I was looking for this particular credit card and my first Google search said okay, great, 150,000 points. Wonderful when incognito mode, 250,000 points, same card, same everything. And I was like oh, what can I do with 250,000? 13:02 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) points. I would just say, personally, this doesn't matter. I mean, you could be shopping for studio equipment, right, which I always say. Vioboss has a great studio equipment list that you can certainly click on and buy. But when you are searching for equipment online, I mean you can even like do that in incognito mode, or if you're signing up on a website for the first time, a lot of times they'll give you an offer for, say, 15% on your first order, right, or whatever it might be, and so I might be going back to the same company that I already purchased something and I'll sign up with a different email address so that. 13:35 I can get that discount and that will actually help me to make that decision. Well, all right, I can save 15%. So, yeah, that's good, that's good for me, I'll buy it. So same thing with a credit card, right. So when you're shopping, pretend like you are a new person shopping for that, and I think you'll get a really good deal, yeah, and just look around and shop around Again. 13:54 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) When you're ready to make these big purchases is a good time to start looking to see I'm going to spend the money anyway, what can I get for the amount of money that I'm planning on spending? So that's a really great opportunity. But also there are ways to get deals or to get stuff for the points that you're already accumulating. In some ways it can be just cash back. In other ways it could be travel, which I absolutely love that because I like to travel anyway, and I'm going to be traveling for some of these conferences or staying at hotels. 14:27 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And hotels too, like, if you are, we're a Marriott vacation owner and so we try to stay at Marriott's whenever possible because we can get points with Marriott's, and so then when I go to a voiceover conference, I can use those points theoretically to either have a room if I'm not provided a room already, but if I'm provided a room, I can use the membership that I have to upgrade that room, yeah, and then get maybe a free breakfast or get access, get free water. Gosh knows that we need water all the time. 14:55 So, I'm always looking for that free water deal. I'm like, okay, I am a gold card member or I'm a Marriott club member and so I need my free water today. Right, yeah, so every time I go to VO Atlanta, they don't put water in the rooms anymore. And now they're doing a thing. Well, they do. I'm sorry, Excuse me. 15:15 There was one place that I went where they don't put water in the rooms they now have, like a place where you can fill like a refillable sort of thing, which I think is a great idea so that you don't have to waste the plastic bottles anymore. But at Vio Atlanta, at that hotel I had credit at the store so I would go down and get like the big because I drink a lot of water. I get one of the big bottles of water every day for my coffee machine. I don't love Starbucks coffee, so I'd make my own coffee. But yeah, there's so many cool things you can do with hotels and airfare. 15:40 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) And even having access to like, for example, you said, american Express. You have an American Express card. There is the American Express card that has access to what's called fine hotels and resorts. So you can book through that relationship and I was actually looking at that for a trip that I was taking and you get like free breakfast and early check-in and check-out and you get like an experience credit at that hotel. So you get more just by having the virtue of having this relationship, which then can possibly make your stay a little bit more comfortable. 16:15 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So you're saying the relationship with money can help you get more things? 16:22 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Yes, and have a different quality of life. 16:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yes, you can have a good relationship with your credit card, and I think that's a good thing. Have good relationships with your credit card, not bad ones. 16:32 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Exactly, and that actually is a really, really good point, because I grew up and I'll just have a little bit of a transparency moment I grew up hearing credit is bad, credit cards are bad, do not use it, and I actually didn't even get my first credit card until I was in my mid-20s because I was told that I didn't need it because it was bad and nothing good could come from it. But really it's a tool that can be used to enhance your quality of life, to give you more protections, if used properly. 17:03 If used properly, that's the caveat and understanding how it works and what the tool is to be used. That interest, if you're carrying interest, is a tool that can work against you so quickly because that interest rate for credit cards specifically, is so high. And you'll know what it is because you can actually log into your account and see what the interest rate is. This is not secret stuff and see what the interest rate is. It's not, this is not secret stuff. So if you go and you take a look at it and you see, okay, I'm spending 20, 25% interest Every single month, it's working against you. But then we talked about the savings accounts, right, and how much you can make in having interest when you have your money with some of these accounts. 17:48 So it can work for you but also interest, can work against you. If not, this tool is not being used and utilized responsibly and properly for what is needed for. 17:58 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, and it's so hard sometimes when you lose that control. I think it has to do with well, I don't know, maybe we talk about like we're talking about, you know credit cards and all that, and so I think, with all due respect, we do have to say we have to have a respect for it, for the credit card, a respect for the money so that it is being used responsibly, Because when it does get out of control and I will tell you, as a young girl, mine got out of control and I ended up having a huge balance and then spending this atrocious amount of interest on it and I, like you, was told that credit is bad. You should really just pay for everything. You should have the money right. If you don't have the money for it, don't buy it Right, which I agree with right. 18:37 I know where that philosophy is coming from. It was meant for protecting me. However, you still, I think, need to have the money before you buy it, but now you can use the credit card as a tool to get more right and to maybe get more value for that. So I think the idea, the premise, is still the same Make sure you have the money before you buy it. I mean, in an ideal situation you should have the money to buy it, Otherwise maybe not buy it and then use a credit card as a tool that has benefits and perks and all those other things so that you can get more value out of it. 19:11 Absolutely, yeah, yeah. So what sorts of things, danielle, do we have to watch out for when maybe we're using credit cards for our business or shopping for credit cards in our business? Are there any red flags out there? What do you? 19:21 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) recommend? I recommend having a business credit card, specifically one that is for business. You can get like what would be a personal credit card in your business's name, but that goes back to sort of mixing the business and personal. There are business credit cards for a reason. I would utilize a business credit card when you're looking to open up a credit card for your business, and it does need to be in your business's name. 19:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yes, I agree, I have both a business and a personal. Yeah, american Express and Costco. By the way, I have both a business Costco card and a personal Costco card. 19:58 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) Yeah, so just whatever is business and personal, they are completely separate entities. Your business, if you run your business in a certain way with like a LLC, for example, it has its own federal identification number. Yeah, so like it's really a separate entity. So if you're going to be looking for a credit card for your business, look for business credit cards, and I have found that business credit cards will offer certain protections for things that we utilize, things for business for. I even saw American Express Platinum has like a credit for the Adobe Creative Cloud, and so if you utilize, you know, adobe Audition, for example, then maybe that's something you know you want to use it for. So, looking for things for a business, looking for a business credit card, is the first thing that I would take a look at. 20:46 Second of all, be prepared to get a new credit card if you do have like large purchases that you're already planning for, going back to essentially having the cash on hand to justify the amount that you're going to be spending, so that you do not start paying interest on this card that you were trying to get you know value from? 21:05 And the other things that I would look at are is there an annual fee for the card Because you are spending money to have this card, and are you able to justify that annual fee with the benefits or the credits or the perks that you're getting by having this card? And there are plenty of cards out there that do not have an annual fee, and that's something to think about. 21:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I was just going to say. It used to be a thing where almost all the cards had an annual fee and then they started. And again, I think it's all a sell right, it's all a sell mechanism right. They started most of the ones. I won't even entertain the idea of one that has a fee, unless, of course, the benefits outweigh, and I haven't had a card with a fee for many years. I don't know what about you. 21:45 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) I have several cards that have fees. 21:48 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So then that means that the benefits, though, the benefits though are outweighing those fees that you pay every year. Okay, and especially, I think you're going to find that in a business credit card sense right the fees versus a personal card, because I think a lot of times personal cards people are looking for no fees right, they're looking to get the best deal possible. But for businesses, I think companies want to say, all right, for this fee we'll offer additional protection for blah, blah, blah. And it's very interesting because I never actually looked into. I have an American Express business credit card and just because of the simple fact that I got money back every month was enough for me, and I never really looked at beyond that what it offers. And so now I'm going to go back and look at the fine print and see what protections it offers and warranties and maybe additional deals that I'm not taking advantage of Exactly. 22:37 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) I mean one of my business credit cards offers protections on rental cars, so it offers that like you don't have to buy that insurance Exactly. 22:45 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So really which is a huge fee these days Exactly. Oh my gosh. 22:49 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) So, taking a look, it kind of becomes a little bit of a matrix of like okay, this covers this and this card will cover these things and everything else. And, like I said at the beginning of this episode, I get really nerdy about these things. So you know, I have a spreadsheet about all the different things that my different credit cards can provide for me in terms of bonuses and value. 23:10 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And now do you have more than one business card? 23:12 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) I now have a second business card. I just this week opened my second business credit card. Like you, I prefer to have everything streamlined on one card. 23:22 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Sure, but I couldn't say no to 250,000 points, I mean yeah, no, I get you and those points will apply. And then you know what? Here's the deal If you do open up an extra card and then you find out that it's no longer serving you with that value, then you're done with it. There's typically no penalty for not using it. 23:38 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) What I would say to that and for me this is always my calculus, personal or business opening up a new card is is there a downgrade path? So you don't necessarily want to close the account because that may work against you. But is there a way to go from a paid card to downgrade to a no-fee card, and so I always think about that when I'm looking at getting a new credit card. Is there a downgrade path to a no-fee card that I can open up instead? 24:07 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Now you just made me think of something different. Now, when I bought a car again, I was fortunate enough to have money in the bank and I could have paid cash for that car. However, I opted to put half down and pay the rest of the half on the finance plan, because the finance plan was 1%. I had 1% and it was like literally, I think, over the course of seven years, I paid $500 or something, I don't know. It was like a total of $500 to do that, and the reason why I did that was to gain better credit, because if you don't have any credit, you don't have any credit. 24:44 You know what I mean you can't get good credit if you don't have any credit. And so when my husband and I got married, we were trying to consolidate credit cards and pay off debt and get that out of under the way, but we realized that you do need to have some credit cards in order to keep good credit and for people to entertain business loans to you. So having good credit is an important thing for your business and, as a matter of fact, I happen to know that when we were buying a home and myself being self-employed right, they looked at my credit card. They looked at my business credit card because they wanted to see what do I pay on a monthly basis? How much money am I putting out? That was part of my certification that I could be part of that mortgage that we were going to get for this house, and so having good credit actually was working against me. 25:45 - Danielle Famble (Co-host) So what I was told and what I understood to be true about just avoiding credit was not going to serve me for the things that I wanted, in the long run, to buy a house or to get a really nice apartment or qualify for certain things, it requires having credit, and not having any at all was not helping me, and so utilizing credit cards as a tool and respecting it and paying off the credit cards in full or paying on time those kinds of things really do help. So not having credit at all really can hurt you, but utilizing it improperly can hurt you even more. 26:16 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So, bosses, use your credit wisely to invest in your business and to get extra value. So great discussion. Danielle, thank you so much for joining me today and again, I look forward to our sessions all the time. I look forward to talking with you about money bosses out there. Great big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl. You too can connect and network like bosses. Find out more at IPDTLcom. You guys have an amazing week and we will both see you next week. Bye. 26:48 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, Anne Ganguza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPDTL.
Steven Goard is with CESD NY/LA. He's voiced national commercials for Cheerios, Gatorade, Hanes, CDC, Pfizer, Moderna, Mikes Hard Lemonade, Principal Financial & many more. He's also been the promo voice for the NBA, NHL, ESPN, and Fox Sports, & narrated documentaries for ID Discovery, The Discovery Channel & the American Battlefield Trust. Steven's also the voice of ‘LEM' for Starry Soda™ by Pepsi® and Kang the Conqueror for Marvel Heroes Unite on the Australia Disney Wonder Cruise. In 2023, Steven created an animation series called The Uptown Chronicles. He breaks down how he went from idea to pitching! *In this Episode, we talk about: * * WHY create your own content * How creating your own content can help in YOUR voice over career * The CHALLENGES of creating your own animation * What Steven has LEARNED through the process See the TRAILER for The Uptown Chronicles HERE (https://theuptownchronicles.com/). CLICK HERE for 15% off a Voice123 Membership ($359 tier and up) - https://bit.ly/3uPpO8i Terms & Conditions - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CcYMkdLxWfbmwbvu-mwaurLNtWYVpIBgkJpOQTYLDwc/edit?usp=sharing Looking for a VO MENTOR? Check out our Mentorship Membership for just $25/month - https://www.provoiceovertraining.com/300-membership Wanna do ANIMATION and VIDEO GAMES? Check out our class HERE (https://atlantavoiceoverstudio.com/what-we-offer-classes-acting-for-animation-and-video-games/) Learn more about VO Atlanta - https://www.voatlanta.me *LET'S CONNECT! * facebook.com/atlantavoiceoverstudio instagram.com/atlantavoiceoverstudio twitter.com/atlvostudio tiktok.com/@atlantavoiceoverstudio YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/atlantavoiceoverstudio Atlanta Voiceover Studio & ProVoiceoverTraining's Classes & Workshops www.AtlantaVoiceoverStudio.com www.ProVoiceoverTraining.com **Sign up for FREE weekly VO tips: https://bit.ly/AVSemail
Anne Ganguzza and Tom Dheere reflect on their time at the Mid-Atlantic Voice Over Conference (MAVO) and show listeners how to align your conference choices with professional objectives and comfort zones. The BOSSES talk about embracing the vibrant energy of smaller conferences, where meaningful connections and enriching learning experiences await. Anne and Tom share personal stories that capture the joy of stepping out of the studio and into creative spaces filled with camaraderie and collaboration. Whether you're new to the scene or a seasoned pro, this episode is filled with invaluable strategies to enhance your career and make every conference moment count. 00:00 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey bosses, real Boss, Tom Dheere and myself have a very special deal for you guys. Tom, tell them what it is. 00:08 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) All right, anne. If you use the promo code BOSSVOSS that's B-O-S-S as in V-O-BOSS and V-O-S as in V-O-STRATEGIST, and the number 24, so that's BOSSVOS24, you get 10% off my 30-minute check-in, my one-hour strategy session and my one-hour diagnostic. 00:27 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And you'll get 10% off all coaching packages and demos on the Anne Ganguzza website. So, guys, black Friday starts now and runs till the end of the year. So everybody, get yourselves on that site and get yourself a discount. BOSS, VOS, BOSS, VOS 24. 00:43 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) BOSS, VOS 24. BOSS. VOS, BOSS, VOS, 24. BOSS, VOS, 24. 00:47 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss, a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. 01:06 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast and the Real Boss Series with the one and only Tom Dheere. Tom Dheere, yay, hi, anne, tom, I get to see you like. I just saw you at MAVO, which was so wonderful. We have to just meet each other at conferences, I feel like there needs to be a change to that. 01:27 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) You live in LA, I live in New York City, so you know we have some logistical challenges. 01:32 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I know, but I feel like we should be seeing each other more, because what a great time. 01:36 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Well then, they need to produce more conferences so we can hang out more, right. 01:39 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, I don't know. Well, I don't know. There might be some people that disagree with that, I'm not sure. Some people are saying that there's more conferences than are needed in this industry. But you know, I like people to have a choice. 01:51 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yes, and different conferences meet different needs. Some of them are different sizes, like Mavo is very boutique, like under 100 people, as opposed to VO Atlanta, which is wonderful in its own way, but that has 1,000 people and that can freak out a lot of people. And then one voice is like somewhere in the middle with attendance and there's different focuses. Some have a bilingual track or a Spanish track, some have an audio book track and some have a children's track, like Mavo did. So you just got to find one that's right for you, based on your budget, your professional needs and just your social comfort level. 02:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Sure, let's do a recap about Mavo, then, because it was my first year at Mavo, oh, and I truly, truly enjoyed it. It was, it was my first year speaking at Mavo and I loved it. It was small, it was intimate, and she had a boatload of great speakers there, and I really felt as though she worked her tail off to make it a nice experience for everyone. 02:50 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I agree, this was my fourth 2018, 2020, 22, which was virtual, and then 2024 now. So, like most conference presenters, they like to have people come every other year so they can mix up the speakers and the content, and I always have a lovely time there. Val Kelly, who's the producer of the Mid-Atlantic Voice Over Conference MAVO for short always does a lovely job and, like you said, she puts together a fantastic group of speakers. Like, considering the size of the conference, it's like, quality-wise, a disproportionate quality. Like the quality of speakers, considering the size of the conference, it's just such really high-end. 03:31 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Oh my gosh, Really high-end people. It was incredible high-end speakers, especially because you and I were there. Well, no, I'm sorry, I love it. I think her theme in the beginning was more character-based animation, because that's what she did, and she mentioned to me this is the first time she was going to have somebody coming in that was really talking about things other than character animation, and, of course, I did a general session on corporate, and then I did two mastery sessions which actually were oversold, which I loved on e-learning, and the other one was on acting for narration oversold, which I loved on e-learning, and the other one was on acting for narration, and I just loved the response of the attendees that were there to my classes, and so I had a great time while I was there, but I worked hard, and I will say, though, that the speakers that she had were amazing. 04:18 You were there, I mean, jessica Blue was there, everett Oliver was there I mean I'm just going on and I met some people that I had never met before in person, which was there. Everett Oliver was there. I mean I'm just going on, and I met some people that I had never met before in person, which was great Casting directors, andy Ross. I mean, I just had such a good time meeting new people and now I've got new resources. 04:35 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yeah, I had a fantastic time too. What did I teach? I did a breakout session or I don't remember what the name of it was. The term, but it was make taxes less. Taxing had a great turnout, with people trying to figure out how to file their taxes. As a voice actor, that was fun. 04:48 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, that's important. 04:49 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) It is important. I'm noticing a slight uptick in people going to conferences and wanting to get a little bit more understanding of the business side of voiceover, which and considering that's what I do as the VO strategist obviously I'm thrilled that people are expressing more of an interest to complement all the great performance training that they want to get and that they know that they need. But I also did one on smaller voiceover market mastery how to, if you live in a suburban or rural area, how you can thrive both online and in person. 05:15 But the one that was extra interesting is and we talked about this before we started recording is that I was the moderator for the AI panel. 05:23 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah. 05:24 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) And you were in the audience and you participated I was. It was very, very interesting and we had the board of the National Association of Voice Actors, or NAVA, as the panelists president, vice president, director of operations and a member at large and the conversation was very interesting. What I thought was interesting is that I read the room at the beginning, if you remember, and I said who here doesn't know the first thing about AI as it pertains to voiceover? And not a single person raised their hand. Now, maybe they were shy and didn't want to admit they didn't know anything, but I think a lot of them are now that it's been a few years that the voiceover industry has just become aware at all that AI has been permeating the industry long before we understood what was going on. People are making a point to educate themselves, and you have been a huge contributor to that with your VO Boss series. When you interviewed, was it 30 or 35 companies At? 06:15 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) least At least 35 CEOs of companies, of AI companies Some are of companies that don't exist anymore and some that do. So, yeah, and that was back. I think I started two and a half years, maybe three years ago, doing that and talking about how do you create a voice, are you ethical, are you, you know, how are you utilizing the voices and how do you feel about voice actors and treating them fairly and giving them compensation for that voice? And so it was something that I really have been on a journey to do, to research and educate myself, because I think, I mean, we're both educators, tom, and it's so important for voice actors to educate themselves about the industry, about the business and how they can run their business to coexist with disruptive technologies like AI. 07:04 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Right, right Were you in the room when J Michael Collins did his presentation. 07:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I actually was finishing up a mastery session and he was talking about trends in commercial, I believe, or trends in performance, since the new administration or the upcoming administration change. 07:22 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yes, that's why I brought it up, because I sat in on that and took a page of notes. He did a fascinating history of how you can line up who's president of the United States with trends in commercials and tone and what affects us as casting specifications. 07:39 So he made a lot of interesting points about those who voted for the winner and what kind of reads are maybe called for, and those who did not vote for the winner of the election and the type of reads that are going to resonate with them for the next few years. So I bring this up, bosses, because this is part of the value that you get out of attending any voiceover conference, much less going to MAVO. It's education, it's networking, it's the opportunity to meet great coaches like Anne, or get to know a casting director or someone like that. But also industry trends what's going on in the industry right now and how you need to adjust or adapt your understanding of the voiceover industry and how you can adjust your business model to adapt to what may change in the coming years. 08:29 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) One thing that I like to think about in regards to trends is trends. You have to keep your eyes and ears open and assess what you feel is happening in the industry, as well as what your clients are saying. And so, while I would never say this is the trend in black and white, this is what it's going to be or this is what's calling for, and then say that's it, I'm only going to practice that trend. I say be the actor, because when you're the actor, you can be versatile and you can cover any trend and so just know which ones seem to be resonating along with culture and the current status and the current flow of advertising. But also be that actor. Take that coaching, training that allows you to be the actor that can be versatile, that can follow direction, no matter what they want, because there can be trends all over the place. 09:19 So, for example, after the Super Bowl last year, there was the Poppy read. Right, there was that read. I was not asked for that poppy read very often, even though that was spouted as the latest and greatest big trend. So, again, my customers had their own specific direction for what I do. Also, it depends on genre right, genres that you're working on, and I feel that if you are a well-versed actor, you're gonna be able to adjust yourself to any trend. However, it is important that we all educate ourselves on what's current and relevant out there, because you probably don't want to be out there doing that old announcer read, although that's one of the reads that could potentially come back, or it can be a read that one of your clients wants, and a lot of times we get the gig with one read and then they direct us to something completely different, and so keeping your ears out and eyes out for trends is great, but also that age old advice that sage, wise advice to just get your acting skills in order, I think is absolutely still relevant. 10:20 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Oh, 100, 100%. And this is why you want to have good coaches that can help guide you through the voiceover industry, teach you the basics of voiceover, that are the evergreen content, like breath control or microphone techniques, script interpretation, and then obviously layering that with the genre training, like what you do with your e-learning and your narration training. And this is where the advantage of going to a voiceover conference is, for both attendees and for speakers and presenters like you and me, is that we can have conversations with speakers, other coaches, other casting directors. What's going on, what trends are you noticing, how have you had to adjust your teaching or coaching style to adapt with what's going on in the industry and how we can prepare for what's going on next. 11:06 And if there's one thing I noticed is that, yes, you are technically J Michael Collins' competitor and he is technically Everett Oliver's competitor and he is technically Nancy Wolfson's competitor. But like the level of camaraderie and the very from what I've noticed over many years free-flowing exchange of information. Well, you know the old thing the rising tide lifts all boats. So we're all happy to exchange information, Like if I go to the same conference that a Mark Scott does or a Paul Schmidt does, and Paul Schmidt. He was hanging out at the bar for this conference. He wasn't an actual attendee. 11:39 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) He was there he was living in the. 11:41 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) he lives in the area, so he's like yeah, let me go hang out with my friends, and it was. It was awesome to see him. 11:45 There was a couple of people that just showed up and just like, hey, what's going on? A couple of people that just came to hang out. We all are in these little booths talking to ourselves all the time in a vacuum and we have to build characters and connect and engage, but just to be able to stop wearing sweatpants all day, get out of the booth and just go, just hang out and get dressed up. 12:17 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I love getting dressed up. 12:18 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yes, and look fabulous, fabulous every day, and I actually got the chance to wear a suit which I haven't done in so long. 12:25 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I had costume changes, Tom. I had costume changes you know, I call them costume changes, but I love it. 12:31 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Like you're hosting an Oscar. 12:33 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I had a few of them, which is pretty cool. 12:35 Yeah, Right, Okay, and now it's hand-wearing and a lot of it is just the energy, right, the energy at a conference and the energy especially at a smaller-sized conference too. The energy at, let's say, a larger conference can be overwhelming, right, it's great and it's exhilarating, but it can also be overwhelming and stressful For something for a much smaller venue. I really enjoyed the energy because it wasn't like we couldn't hear each other over the loud din of thousands of people. We were all a close group that kind of gathered in the restaurant slash bar area every night and ultimately had a great time talking to one another, and I absolutely love it. And we did fun, crazy things, Like I actually have a little video that will be coming out. We all had everybody say the same line and be the actors that they are, and so I literally recorded multiple people saying the same line with their drinks in hand and that should be a cute little video coming out in a few days. Everybody just had a blast. Whether you normally do that type of a thing, it was just nice to see the improv and the acting and the laughter and just so much fun hanging out after hours or after the classes are done, and typically when I'm at a conference. 13:51 I know that for myself I don't know, Tom, if this happens to you too the more conferences I'm presenting, I'm very, very hyper-focused on my presentations because I want to make sure I'm ready and I've got the energy to teach a three or four-hour class, which some of these ended up being, and so I'm not always socializing late in the late hours because I'm like well, I got to get up early, but I noticed that none of it was overwhelming for me, so I was able to hang out and really visit with people later on in the evenings. That I typically do at larger conferences. Just because I find that there's so much noise at the bigger conferences, I get a little more stressed out quicker and I'm like well, I got to go to bed now because I got to make sure I'm up and I can do my class in the morning. I don't know what did you feel about that, Tom? 14:35 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yeah, I noticed the same thing because we were both at VO Atlanta this spring and, like I said, there's 1,000 attendees and probably what 50 or 60 speakers plus a couple of dozen staff. So it's an amazing, wonderful experience, but it can be a little overwhelming Canva presentations and making sure my outlines are just so and timing it a little bit to make sure I have time for Q&A and sidebars and stories and stuff like that. 15:05 So, I found myself staying. I was at the bar for a little while. I think I turned into a pumpkin around sometime between 10.30 and 11 o'clock at night, which I think is a yeah that was me. 15:15 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) That's a long time for me. Oh, really At home I'm usually in bed by nine, so I mean oh yeah, I'm like I'm a wimp. 15:22 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Back in the day. I'd be at the bar until two, three, four in the morning, but I just don't have the battery power for that anymore. Also, I'm hitting the gym in the morning, so like I was in the gym, Me too. Friday, saturday morning and Sunday morning I was in the gym at 7.30. Oh. 15:37 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I missed you those. I missed you those times because I was prepping for a nine o'clock class. 15:43 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Well, yeah, I didn't have any nine o'clock classes this time, so I had a little time to be able to go down. I just did like a half hour on the treadmill just to kind of get my steps in and get my circulation going, have a nice breakfast and then get some tea and make my way down. But I was wondering, Anne I'm sure there's a lot of bosses here who have never been to a conference before what would you suggest as some like voiceover conference strategies for someone that's never been to one? 16:05 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Ah, yes, for me I really like to get the most out of, and I'm like, probably sometimes the worst, I'm the worst offender because I'm so busy and I'm not looking at the schedule. But I would say look at the schedule, decide ahead of time, right, what classes look good for you, and and really kind of create your schedule before you get there. It's nice you can make last minute changes, you know, once you get there, depending on, like maybe somebody says, oh no, no, no, you really have to go see this talk or this presentation or I've seen this person before and they're really great and you might make changes then. But I think, really having a plan and of course, old school, I'm either a notepad to jot things down or I like to do notes on my phone a lot in order to get things from the presentation. I know that for me, because I've lost my talent to write, tom, I mean, I don't know like, do people like I can barely sign my name these days because I'm typing so much. So a lot of times what I'll do is I'll take a picture, like a screenshot, of the presenters or the screen, if they've got a display, and then I'll just jot down notes while I'm talking in my notes on my phone, or I'll just create right a note on my phone and I'll take pictures while I'm doing it as well. So now I've got the notes and I can take pictures and then I have that across all my platforms, and so that's kind of the way that I take notes for that and I also make sure nowadays to get people's contacts. 17:28 And, tom, I'm the old school. You probably saw my cards on the table because I purchased them for one other conference and I'm like you know what? I'm just going to leave them on the table. On the back of it I made sure that I had a QR code that basically, when you scan it, I'm right in your contacts in your phone. So it's got my name, yeah, it's got my name, my address. So it's no longer just like oh, it's a card that just has your email, your phone. It has a QR code that you can scan so that it automatically goes into contacts, and I find that that is super beneficial. Like all the contacts that I made, we basically just touched each other's phones or we called each other and then filled out information so that it went right into our contacts. Not so much exchanging cards these days, but I say always have some for backup. What about you? 18:11 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Well, for those of you who are listening to this, I just flashed my VO Strategist business card, which also has a QR code on the back. I also have I think it's hopbio, h-o-p-pbio, where you can kind of make a little mini type of website, and I have one for Tom Deere, voice actor, and I have one for VO Strategist. It's a QR code also, so people scan it and then they can see it's also linked, so it has all your contact information on there. You can even hyperlink your blog to it. So it's just kind of like everything that you are in like one little place. It's like one-stop shopping for marketing. As to note-taking, I have to let everybody know that Anne took a picture of some of my notes at a class at a workshop that she wanted to go to but she couldn't make it to, which is perfect. 18:55 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yep, I absolutely did, and I love it. I mean, it's now it's in my phone so I can refer to it at any time, which is great. 19:01 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I'll deal with your one of two things. I'll use Google Keep, which is a Google note-taking app. But what I've been doing more and more lately is that before I go to a conference and I pretty much know I mean I've got all my presentations, but then I look and see when I'm not presenting and what workshops I have time to attend and be a student of is that I'll set up in Google Drive. I'll set up a Google Doc and it'll just say, like 2014, mavo. So if you go into my Google Doc for those of you who have broken in you see I've got the year that I attend the conference and the name of the conference, so I can just see, in chronological order, every set of notes I've taken for every conference that I presented at or attended. So I'll often bring my tablet and I'll just be typing directly into the Google Drive doc that I had already set up. So when I get home it's already there. I don't have to do anything. 19:48 But I do take pictures of screenshots, like you do pictures of slides and what I'll often do is, I'll take a picture of the slide and then I will just copy and paste that picture into that Google Drive doc. So I don't have to transpose it either. 20:03 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Exactly that way, you've got your notes and your photos. Yeah, it's all together, so it's all together. 20:07 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) One bit of advice I will give our bosses who do attend a voiceover conference is find a note-taking buddy that looks like they're going to be presentations that you want to go to as like the primary ones you know, like if you want to go to all the ones about cartoons and video games. 20:27 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Like you were my note-taking buddy, yeah. Yeah, be a note-taking buddy, you were my note-taking buddy for Jay Michael's presentation Right. 20:33 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Because you're just like click there, you go, so like, but based on what you want to do. If you have a friend who wants to focus on business and marketing and tech and you want to focus the performance ones, they go to all the other ones and you just take notes and you just swap, yeah. 20:45 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, I'd like to really like give props to the business classes in the conferences, and I know because I used to teach business classes Sometimes I mean it used to be that they were the hard sell right. 20:56 And the funny thing is is I think what people need the most is business sometimes, because it's so easy to take performance after performance after performance classes. But your performance is wonderful in your studio by yourself. If you're not selling, if you don't have the business savvy, you don't have the marketing savvy and you're not selling yourself, well then nobody's going to see your beautiful performance. So I do want to give a big push for those of you that go to conferences, give yourself I mean I know you might hate business or you might hate marketing but do yourself a favor and sign up for a marketing session so that you can understand, like, how marketing has trends have changed or new ideas. I mean you could come out with one, just one new golden nugget for how to market yourself and that can make all the difference to get you seen or in front of a casting director, or in front of a talent agent, or in front of a new client and then, boom, it's been able to grow your business. 21:51 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Well as the person who teaches all the business and marketing breakouts and workshops and mastery sessions at all of these voiceover conferences. Obviously, I have a vested interest and I want all of you to attend my classes and take my content. But Anne is 100% right attend my classes and take my content. But Anne is 100% right. There is and I've noticed it over the oh geez, 13 years or so that I've been attending and speaking at voiceover conferences is that they tend to be populated by a lot of professional students. They just keep taking performance class after performance class. They don't take any business and marketing class and they never pull the trigger. They never go for it. 22:26 Now I can't speak to why any one of them can't or won't pull the trigger. It may be financial they can't leave their day job. It may be psychological they just have certain emotional mental blocks that are preventing them from pulling the trigger. But I say this in almost everything that I speak at is that your talent will get you your first gig with a client. Your project management skills will get you the next gig with the same client. Project management is all the stuff you have to do between the moment that the email hits your inbox and the moment that the check clears. So if you're able to use your talent to get an audition and book it, if you don't know what to do when it's time to press the red button and I'm not talking on a performance level, I'm talking on a technical and a business level you're useless as a voice actor and they're not going to come back. 23:11 So I speak at a lot of these and there's a lot of other great business and marketing coaches that presented a lot of these. I think it's really important for you to take the time yes, if there's a certain casting director that you want to meet, if there's a certain coach you'd like to connect with to see if you'd be a good fit for getting coached for them and booking a demo, which I know Anne experiences that all the time make it a point to go to one or two business or marketing related things, because it's not even just being about a well-rounded voice actor, it's about being effective at all, because if you don't know that stuff, you're not going to get anywhere. All the best video game and cartoon coaching in the world isn't going to get you anywhere if you don't know how to demonstrate your value, to get you those casting opportunities and if you don't have the business savvy to capitalize on those opportunities, yeah, I mean, I agree, a thousand percent, a thousand percent really. 23:59 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I mean, and I've seen it conference after conference and I used to teach the business classes early, early on, before I knew Tom, I used to do like social media classes, business classes, and it was interesting because people were just so drawn to like the character and the animation classes and those performance classes and I think you really just need to have I mean, this is one of the reasons why I started the VO Boss. It was really about the business strategies for voiceover artists and really that's what this podcast was all about to hopefully help educate in the business sense of it, business and marketing sense of things, because you can have the best voice in the world but if nobody knows about it, there you sit, there you sit, wow. So some good tips and tricks, guys. I highly recommend the Mabel conference. I know Val, she just works so hard at it and it really was a lovely conference and I hope I get asked to go back next year. 24:53 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I hope you do too, and I had a wonderful time and I always look forward to it, and hopefully I will get asked again as well. Hint, hint, val, if you're watching this. 25:00 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yes, Val, we love you Val. So yeah, I'm going to give a great big shout out to our sponsor, IPDTL. You too can connect and network like bosses. Find out more at IPDTLcom. Bosses, have an amazing week and we'll see you next week. Bye. 25:17 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, anne Ganguza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via ipdtl.
Val Kelly, the brains behind the Mid-Atlantic VoiceOver Conference, joins Anne Ganguzza in a special BOSS preview of MAVO. The BOSSES discuss Val's journey into voiceover, the challenges and lessons learned from organizing the conference, and the evolution of MAVO over the years. Her passion for the craft is evident as she discusses creating her own company to champion voice actors, offering a fascinating glimpse into the challenges and rewards of hosting a successful conference. The BOSSES shares insights on adapting to online events, the importance of providing educational resources for voice actors, and the exciting lineup of speakers and sessions planned for the upcoming conference. With a diverse lineup of guests, this year's conference is a great event for anyone looking to elevate their skills and overcome the industry's evolving challenges. VO BOSSES can save $75 by using the code VOBOSS at checkout when purchasing your MAVO tickets 00:01 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey bosses, Anne Ganguzza here. Are you ready to take the next step in your voiceover career? At Anne Ganguzza Productions, I specialize in target marketing, coaching and demo production. That gets you booked. If you're thinking about elevating your performance or creating an awesome demo, check me out at anneganguzza.com. 00:24 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. 00:43 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey, hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and today I am so excited and happy to be here with a very special guest voice actor and owner, president and very boss CEO of the Mid-Atlantic VoiceOver Conference, Val Kelly. Yay, hey, hi, val, it's so wonderful to have you here today. 01:08 - Val Kelly (Guest) Oh, thanks so much for having me on your show. I really appreciate it. 01:11 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Absolutely, and I'll tell you what I am so excited to talk to you today. Number one, first of all. So what does it take to be boss and CEO, not only just being a voice actor I know a lot of people that listen to the Boss podcast for us to be successful voice actors, but you're also an educator, which I love, and also to run a conference. Now my husband I'll just say my husband works, he's an event manager for multiple companies for many years and I know what it takes to run an event and it's no small task. So I'm excited to talk to you about yourself and what it took for you to become such a CEO of such a great event, and I'm excited. I'm going to let you talk, I swear I'm excited because it's my first year presenting with Amevo. So I'm very excited to do that this year and I'm already planning my wardrobe. 02:03 - Val Kelly (Guest) Oh my gosh, same same. 02:05 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) All right, what am I going to wear? So I'm very excited how many outfit switches. 02:09 - Val Kelly (Guest) Am I going to have Right? 02:11 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) exactly what are my costume changes. So let's first talk about you and how you got started in voiceover, because I know that you still are teaching, correct, yeah? 02:23 - Val Kelly (Guest) So I'm doing a little bit of everything. Yeah, nothing wrong with that, I'll tell you are teaching, correct? 02:26 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, so I'm doing a little bit of everything. Yeah, Nothing wrong with that. I'll tell you Nothing wrong with that, and especially if you're teaching, because that's just near and dear to my heart. 02:33 - Val Kelly (Guest) Yeah, absolutely. So I got started in voiceover in. About 1999 was when I first kind of stuck my foot in it a little bit and I didn't really know what I was doing of course, because back then there were only a handful of people that were really booking work. So basically, I just took a class and you know they were like oh, you have a lot of talent. Of course, like that's. You know, the typical thing when you take a class. They're like, oh, you should definitely do this with your life, you know. 03:06 And you're like, oh great, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Thanks for telling me what I wanted to hear. And then I took a class with these people for six weeks and then I recorded my first demo after six weeks, which was totally crazy. I had no idea what I was doing and it was a commercial demo, so I also really just had no concept of the technique or anything about what I was supposed to be doing. 03:30 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And probably even the industry, right? I mean being educators. Right, we know Like six weeks is really nothing. It may not have been every day for six weeks. Right that you were training. You were probably training once a week yeah. 03:40 - Val Kelly (Guest) No, it was like once a week yeah exactly Exactly. 03:44 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So yeah, being educators, we know it takes a while to acquire skills. 03:57 - Val Kelly (Guest) Yeah for sure. But I mean fast forward to basically 2011, when I just had my second daughter and I never stopped thinking about voiceover and I just said to my husband you know, I really want to get back into this, like I feel like I have a lot of talent to offer to this industry and I just really want to try and make something of it. You know, not give up teaching because I had been teaching French for such a long time and that's a big part of who I am as a person. 04:19 But I wanted to add this creative side that I have. I wanted to offer that as well. So I started training with a studio in New York and then just kept training with them for a couple of years with multiple coaches and things like that, and then it was probably 2010. 12 or 13 that I went to Voice Over Atlanta for the first time and I met so many people I think that's actually the first time that I met you and I was just so impressed by that whole event and everything like that, and so that really opened a lot of doors for me in the Voice Over world. I started booking more stuff after I went to that event and then a few more years passed and I just thought there's something here, like in this mid-Atlantic region, that's missing, you know, and I want to give back to the community in a way that's going to be helpful for other voice actors. 05:16 So I was flying to France actually on a trip, and I said to my best friend on the flight I was like what if I started my own company? And he's like, okay, he's like maybe you should get some best friend on the flight. I was like what if I started my own company? And he's like okay, he's like maybe you should get some more sleep on this flight. And I was like, no, but seriously. And he's like, oh, can we talk about this when we get to France? So the whole trip I was, you know, working and everything like that. It was for work, but I was also thinking, like, you know, I have a lot of ideas, like maybe I could really pull this together. So in 2014, I started Minute Landing VoiceOver and it was a real eye-opener, that first event with 28 people showed up for it. 05:56 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) you know Was your initial idea with your company? Was it to do specifically just the event, or was it just to start a company of your own to do voiceover? And it evolved. 06:06 - Val Kelly (Guest) I think my idea was to do this event but also to see where else I could take it you know what else could be offered through this company and then also to like expand it and kind of umbrella my own voiceover work underneath it, which ultimately it's separate from who I am as a voice actor. But that was something I kind of had to figure out a little bit later. But the first event was really great, even though it was tiny. It was absolutely tiny and I just I remember like calling you up and being like and what am I going to do? Like there's only 20 people signed up for my event, and you're like okay, val, okay, okay, let's send some email blasts. 06:45 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, I mean honestly, I think sometimes smaller is better. I have been at VO Atlanta since pretty much gosh every year, except for the first year, and there's something to be said. That's a big event and it got even bigger. But there's really something to be said for a small, intimate event and people can be overwhelmed by going to an event that is so large, especially those people starting out in the industry. So I think that your conference really serves a niche where it can make people feel more comfortable. It can be a first conference or it could be a 10th conference for them. There are just lots of people who feel comfortable in a smaller conference, a smaller environment. They feel that they get much more out of it. And so, yeah, with that first year being smaller, what did you learn? 07:28 I guess my question would be is and having organized my own smaller events not huge events, but, and also having a husband who works in the event industry, I know how much work it takes, especially when you want it to be a great conference and you want people to get something out of it. It's a lot of work behind the scenes that a lot of people don't see. What they see is a ticket price. And they say, oh, all they do is multiply that ticket price by the amount of attendees. And they say, well, you're making a ton of money. I mean, I don't understand, why is it so expensive? And I'm thinking to myself, oh my gosh, there are so many, so many things. 08:00 So let's talk about the evolution of this conference and things that you learned along the way. And had you planned an event before? I mean, did you love planning an event? Was it your first time? I mean, I liked planning my wedding and I thought, oh, I could do event planning. And then I'm like, well, you know what, it does take an awful lot of time. So what was going through your head when you're like, oh, it was fun to manage event, this is my first event. Was it your fifth event? 08:26 - Val Kelly (Guest) Yeah, that was my first, I mean, as you said, planning a wedding, which I did plan, my own wedding and that was a big. I loved it, it was great and I was very, very good at planning my wedding which I felt like was a good preparation for the first event, you know, I said to my husband I was like it's like planning a wedding every single year, except no one ever gets married. You know. And he was like yeah, okay. 08:51 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Except you to the event. You get married to your event. Yeah, yeah. 08:56 - Val Kelly (Guest) So yeah, I mean, I learned so much after that first year. I just learned so much about the business side of everything that I didn't know. You know, that was one thing. I wish that I had had more business training before I decided to start, because I had to learn everything. I mean, I had my friend help me figure out how to build a website. And that took. I mean just the countless hours of work that go into just trying to do everything yourself because you're starting out and you can't afford to hire anyone. 09:29 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Right, right. 09:30 - Val Kelly (Guest) And so those are the biggest lessons I've learned, I would say from the beginning until now is just every year I learn something new about the business and how to manage the money side of things. And you know, like you said, people look at the price and they go oh, she's making a billion dollars. 09:48 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And it's like actually actually no. 09:51 - Val Kelly (Guest) Actually no because I have to pay for the venue, I have to pay for all the guest speakers, I have to pay for the marketing and all the stuff that goes into it. 09:59 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And. 09:59 - Val Kelly (Guest) I do a lot of it myself, just simply for the fact that I am a small company. It's a boutique you know sized company and we kind of evolved into that whole boutique world where I had this idea Maybe this happened about five years ago where I said someone said to me, why don't you call it a boutique event? 10:19 And I was like, oh, that's cute you know, and that's how the whole thing kind of started and I was like, oh, that's cute, you know, and that's how the whole thing kind of started. And then I took it and really had to explain to people what does that even mean, you know? And just being a French teacher, it's like, well, when you think of a boutique, what do you think of? You think of like a high-end, smaller place where you're going shopping and you're buying super high-quality items and everything is planned down to to like every tiny detail you know, and that's kind of what I wanted to transfer to my event without being snobby about it, obviously, like you know. 10:54 So that's kind of how I delivered that message to people is just like think of it as a high-end boutique. You know you're coming in. 11:01 I'm hiring only the top tier talents that are in the industry, people that are not appearing at every single event every year because I want to offer something different, and once we had that, we kind of ran with in the conference as far as the number of people and just the organizational part of it and just understanding how things work. And then after that, 2018 was really great too. We skipped to 2017. And then in 2020, covid hit. So then we had to go from being what was supposed to be in-person event, switching it to an online event at the last minute, and that was totally crazy. 11:48 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It was so nuts, I'm sure that was a whole new learning curve for you, because online events are so much different than in-person events and, plus, I don't know if you had already like secured a venue. At that point I mean because typically the planning for events like this it runs all year. That point I mean because typically the planning for events like this, it runs all year. Right, I mean, you're planning for this event, you're planning the next year before the one is even done, basically. 12:12 - Val Kelly (Guest) So when we had to take it online, luckily because it was COVID and out of your control type of scenario I was able to figure it out in enough time to say to the venue we're canceling. And then I took it to a virtual studio in Baltimore and I had someone do like the live streaming for me because. I had no idea what I was doing. 12:37 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And I can vouch for that because myself doing mostly I mean after 2015, I stopped doing in-person events at my home and I started doing everything online and that live streaming. Back in the day, it hadn't really evolved or developed, and so there were lots of live streaming technologies that were just coming out, and so I literally yeah, I had to learn it myself, and then I also hired somebody to help me live stream it, and then I also wanted to do a hybrid event. So it was crazy having people at my house plus live streaming it online, and so that alone and especially if you want it to be a quality event right, that live stream you have to have good cameras, you have to have the ability for people to be able to switch between people that are presenting to the audience and just to make it engaging. Otherwise, one of the biggest complaints about COVID right and online teaching I'm sure you taught online as well was the fact that it was hard to engage, and I know that even today, people like they're fatigued by Zoom. 13:37 I still love it because I feel like Zoom filled a void for, let's say, just people that couldn't physically be together. I mean it was the next best thing. However, when you're trying to educate over an online platform, it really does become difficult or harder to engage people, and so running an online event you've got to be that much more paying attention to detail so that you can put on a great online event, and that is not a cheap thing to do either. To hire somebody for the cameras and that knows the technical backend to do the live streaming, to make the recordings right, you probably offer the recordings to be available for people who couldn't attend every session, and all that backend work on the website is crazy. It's crazy. 14:22 So I have a lot of respect for the fact that you were able to turn that around. And so, what year is it this year for Mavo? How many years has it been that you've been running? 14:31 - Val Kelly (Guest) So we've been in business since 2014. So, this is 10 years in business and it's actually our ninth conference this year, wow. 14:39 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So there's a lot to be said for that as well, for the longevity of it. I mean the fact that you know you didn't give up after the first year and you weren't frustrated, right, because it's tough, I mean, and you learn as you go. So you must have a passion for this conference and a passion for putting together something great, educationally resourceful for the community, which I, as a teacher with a teacher heart, I can totally appreciate and respect. That because it's one of the reasons why I started the VO Boss podcast. It's one of the reasons why I did the VO Peeps networking groups, because I wanted to be able to provide a resource. And I believe that that's where your heart is in terms of wanting to provide a resource for the community. 15:18 Because I know it's not about the money and I always try to strive to remind people that venue costs are not cheap. I mean my gosh especially when you're talking about wanting to host someplace. Decent rentals of ballrooms and just sites are so expensive it's along the lines of like tens of thousands of dollars, I would imagine to do that and especially when you're doing it over multiple days and then you're trying to provide reasonably priced rooms for people, and especially when you're keeping it on a smaller scale. It must be harder to find a venue that wants to work on a smaller scale with you. Is that correct? Or they get more expensive. 16:00 - Val Kelly (Guest) I think it's not so much the venue that is not willing to work with you on a smaller scale, it's just the difficult balance, I think is, if you're saying, okay, we're only going to have 120 to 150 people, well, the venue isn't going to lower its price because of how many people you have, because they its price because of how many people you have, because they don't actually care how many people you have. 16:24 What you end up paying for is the meals that you provide. So that's where the big, big expense comes in with any type of food that you offer, because it's based on how many people, and so it's really a difficult challenge of saying like, okay, if we're going to keep it this small, then we actually have to raise the price, so that I can cover all of my costs and at first people were like whoa, what the heck. 16:50 And I was like guys, like you have to understand, like if you want me to hire good people to come in, like great people to come in and speak at this event, they won't do it for free and nor would I want them to, you know. So it's like that's the biggest. Biggest expense beyond the venue is the guest speakers. 17:10 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) You know Sure sure, I know how hard it is to sell to this industry because I mean, I sell events myself, I sell coaching services and demos, and so you're selling to an industry where I think we all wish we had more money to spend. 17:23 I mean, I think that's just human nature, I wish we had more money to spend. But especially when you're talking about a creative industry where it is their own business, they're all their own CEOs, they're all entrepreneurs and everybody's kind of just as they go learning the ropes of the business, of it all, it astounds me how much people are willing to spend for, let's say, performance classes, but yet business classes, which I think is imperative for us as voice actors and businesses to be able to make a profit right in order to support, support your habit, support your business, to pay the mortgage, to feed the family, that kind of thing. And so business skills are essential. And I know that your conference in the beginning it was very much geared towards, I would say, more animation and character, but you've evolved it now, especially because I'm involved, you've evolved it to really include many more genres. So let's talk a little bit about what you're offering this year and maybe last year, what you've done to kind of broaden the offerings of the conference. 18:31 - Val Kelly (Guest) Yeah, I mean, I think what we had to do was really gauge over the years what the level of interest was with. You know, everybody loves a good animation guest speaker because they're so interesting and everybody wants to work for well, maybe not everybody wants to work for Disney Channel but you know you know, and so that's kind of always where my creative mind went and like where do my interests lie? 18:58 a little bit selfishly, but not really, because it's like I know a lot of people are also interested in that. So I would always try to go with a keynote that was somehow involved with animation, just so. 19:10 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It's a big seller. I know that, even A big seller. Yeah, it's a big seller. 19:15 - Val Kelly (Guest) So then last year we had Serena Irwin who is a casting director and she casts freelance for a lot of different studios and has been on Spongebob and she's amazing like, and I really tried to find somebody that was kind of off the grid a little bit for last year because I wanted to find a less mainstream type of person kind of, I guess I would say. And so it was really successful to have somebody who is a casting director, because getting that viewpoint for people like in the animation world, what are you actually looking for? You? 19:52 know, so for me that was very interesting, for a lot of people was very interesting. And then there have been certain years when we've offered a lot of you know know audio book stuff and it's not to say that we're not ever going to offer audio book guest speakers again. But I felt like for this year I wanted to kind of go in a different direction completely and I feel like having Tim Friedlander as the keynote is such an important thing because Tim is doing such amazing work for NAVA and the National. 20:23 Association of Voice Actors and I just have so much respect for him as a person and as an actor that I just felt like it was like the natural. That's what my creative mind was telling me to go in that direction for this year. 20:36 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It's very relevant to the times in our industry. He's done a lot of work with NAava, along with Karin and the board, and they've done a lot of really wonderful work and so they're going to bring a lot of value, I believe, to your conference, absolutely. So let's talk about who else you have this year that might be different besides me, I mean, but we'll talk about me in a minute. I mean, we can talk about you. 20:58 Well, I'm just super excited to kind of bring what I consider my specialties all of the genres, the long format narration, all the stuff that I think right now is really it's important to be an actor, no matter what genre we're talking, whether it's animation, whether it's promo. I mean it's important to be an actor, and even more so now, with all of the synthetic voice, the AI stuff that's out there. It's more important than ever that we hone our skills as actors, and so I want to bring that aspect to the conference to help attendees that are looking to really up their game in the narration, which is a large part of the non-broadcast market out there, and so I'm happy to be there doing. Do you call it a breakout session or a session? 21:45 - Val Kelly (Guest) A mastery session. 21:46 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) A mastery session. 21:47 - Val Kelly (Guest) Yeah, the three-hour sessions are mastery ones and I'm so excited about especially about your e-learning one, because that's a genre for me that I've always wanted to explore and I haven't enough, and you should. 22:00 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And you should because you're a teacher. 22:03 - Val Kelly (Guest) Yeah, it seems like a natural thing to kind of dive into that world a little bit. So I'm very excited, I'm very honored to have you this year and I think it's going to be really great. It's been a long time coming to actually be able to invite you and everything like that, and so I'm very very excited. 22:20 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, so I'm going to be doing two mastery sessions one on acting for narration, and that's all types of narration corporate, medical, all of the geeky narrations explainer and then also the other aspect of the narration genres, which would be e-learning or training. So I'm very excited to have one of each of those to address all those topics. And so, guys, in order to do this, you need to sign up for MAVO, and so hopefully you'll sign up and then you'll look for my mastery classes, but you've got a lot of amazing offerings this year for MAVO, so you want to talk about who else you have for mastery sessions. 23:02 - Val Kelly (Guest) I mean, we have so many great people on board. I'll just highlight a few of them because there's just so many. But Jessica Blue is coming and she's doing some sessions on dubbing live action dubbing and I'm so excited about that because I've never had the chance to meet her in person and we've never offered sessions on dubbing before at Mavo. 23:21 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) That's great. 23:22 - Val Kelly (Guest) So it's something brand new and very exciting for people. So she's amazing, so that will be really great. Ever Oliver is coming and offering a special teen program on Saturday only of the event, so that's for teens from ages 13 to 17. 23:37 Great and he's doing like animation, video game and commercial voice acting with them, so it'll be a great opportunity for kids to experience working with Everett, which is amazing and so much fun. Also, luanne Regis is coming and she's a casting director and she used to be a talent agent, and so she's going to be offering some great sessions at the conference as well. Just giving her from a casting director's perspective of what are we really looking for and I think that's what everybody really wants to know- is like what do I? 24:12 need to do to actually book this. And then, also really exciting, we have Daniel Ross, who is Donald Duck. He's an Emmy Award winning actor and it's so exciting to have him offering a mastery session on animation and making bold choices, which is so, so important in the character world of trying to book those roles when you have so much competition with everybody trying to also audition for them. 24:40 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So, yeah, I mean, there's so many people. 24:43 - Val Kelly (Guest) It's a long list. 24:45 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So how can bosses sign up for MAVO this year? Where do they go? What's the website? All that stuff. 24:52 - Val Kelly (Guest) Yeah, so wwwmidatlanticvocom, and they're going to click on MAVO events at the top tab and it will bring up all the events that we have going on. We have some like happy hours that go on virtually beforehand, so it 'll mostly be like every other week from now until the actual conference takes place and people can come to those happy hours online for free or they can like make a donation to Mabo if they want to. That's always an option like just to help support the company, but they can also certainly come for free and we're happy to have everybody there to just like network and chat. But yeah, everything is on the website the schedule and all about all the guest speakers and yeah, Fantastic, and you're going to be offering a special discount just for bosses. 25:43 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) For boss listeners out there, talk a little bit about that and how they can achieve that discount. 25:49 - Val Kelly (Guest) Yeah. So for the VO boss listeners, we're going to offer a $75 discount and you can just go to the website and click on Get Tickets and when you go to checkout you're going to just enter the code VOBOSS and it will take that $75 off for you on full weekend tickets. 26:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Awesome, that is so helpful, and guys don't forget to sign up for my mastery sessions and I'm also doing is it an hour long session too, which is for everybody at the conference. Oh yeah, there's a general session too, so that would be really great as well. Great Well, val, it has been such a pleasure chatting with you about Mayvo. I'm so excited and of course I'll just continue to plan my wardrobe. 26:33 - Val Kelly (Guest) Same same but. 26:34 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I'm so excited because you do have a wonderful lineup and I'm excited, of course, to see all of my friends and colleagues again. Wonderful lineup, and I'm excited, of course, to see all of my friends and colleagues again and I'm excited to work with the amazing talent that I know is going to be there in this boutique, wonderful, intimate setting for Mavo. So thanks again for joining me and I'm going to give a great big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl. You too can connect and network like bosses. Find out more at IPDTLcom Val. Thanks again, bosses. You guys have an amazing week and I'll see you next week. All right, take care, bye-bye. 27:12 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, anne Ganguza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vo boss comm and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPD TL.
In this episode of “How Do You Say That?!” sponsored by britishvoiceover.co.uk, Martine Richards joins Sam and Mark to talk about doing voiceover in the sweltering heat, scripts that appear to be one thing and turn out to be another, and how flapping and screaming is very common!Our VO question this week is all about how improvisation can make you a better voice actor!Get involved! Have you got a Wildcard suggestion that we should try or an idea for the show? Send it to us via Mark or Sam's social media or email it directly to podcast@britishvoiceover.co.ukScript 1This is Smithson Architectural Services. I'd like to introduce you to some of the specialised services that we provide. There's screen printing, handles, machine engraving, bronzing, bespoke and standard signage in all materials, specialised fabrication, sand blasting, CNC machining. We now have large custom-made bronzing tanks and we're able to achieve many different tones and shades of bronze to suit all tastes and requirements. Please speak with our Sales Team about your bronzing projects.Script 2Due to gender bias, women frequently get overlooked for management opportunities. Research has revealed that people identify different traits with different genders, and link management attributes like risk-taking and decisiveness with men. One study found that women are over 80% more effective than men in management proficiencies like stepping forward and pushing for results. Despite numerous research proposing that men and women are equally capable of working in leadership, women are promoted less than their male colleagues.**Listen to all of our podcasts here - you can also watch on YouTube, or say to your smart speaker "Play How Do You Say That?!"About our guest: Martine Richards is a British/Canadian actress and award-winning voice actor based in West Sussex. She's probably best known for her on-screen roles in SYNC and BBC2 drama DANCING ON THE EDGE. She is proud to be in the cast of Stonewall UK's vital campaign, which recently scooped up two British Arrow Awards. Last year, Martine's Gaming Demo won ‘Best Female Performance' at the UK One Voice Awards and, this year, she won VOPeeps' international scholarship to attend VO Atlanta. Some of her clients include: McCain, Barclays, Disney, Hoover and Pantene. Martine loves meditation, long walks in nature and a good VO social. Martine's Website @voice_actor_martine_richards on Instagram @MartineRichard8 on Twitter Martine on YouTube Resources: Click here for the Wildcard Generator and don't forget to think of an action your character can be doing!Martine talked about doing improv with Ace Ruele - the founder of...
One of the first places voice actors often look for auditions is on Pay to Play sites. For a fee, these sites let you audition for jobs from potential clients all over the world. But these sites can have downsides, including unethical business practices. Controversy over these sites has been highlighted at voiceover conferences and throughout social media. In this episode, the BOSSES delve into navigating online casting platforms and cultivating loyal client relationships outside of these sites. We discuss the investment of time and resources needed to be successful and the importance of evolving with the industry to avoid getting left behind. Ever-evolving AI technology challenges us to redefine our roles and strategies, and we tackle this head-on sharing insights into how we can adapt to remain indispensable. 00:00 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey VO Bosses. Ann Ganguzza here. Are you struggling to market that boss voice of yours? Well, let me tell you about the VO Boss Blast. With a custom vetted list and personalized emails, we can help you get your marketing message out to those who hire. Find out more at vobosscom and let's blast off together. 00:24 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. 00:43 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey, everyone welcome to the VO Boss Podcast. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza. Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and we are here with the Real Boss series with my good friend and guest co-host, Tom Dheere. Hey, Tom Dheere. 00:55 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Hello Anne Ganguza. 00:57 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Tom Dheere, it was so awesome to see you at VO Atlanta. I have to say. 01:01 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yes, the drive-by hug Right. 01:03 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I know and I saw you for like a split second, but still it was good for that split second to get the hug in. Absolutely, I know the two of us were insanely busy but getting back together since VO Atlanta. There was a big bomb dropped at VO Atlanta with the Drama, bomb. 01:17 Yeah, with the online casting panel, which began with an apology from the CEO of Voicescom. And so, hmm, let's talk, shall we? Let's dish, let's dish, let's, let's, let's fill some tea. So what were your initial? Were you surprised and what were your initial thoughts? And actually we should just recount for the bosses who were not there at VO Atlanta, the very first thing, on a panel of online casting with J Michael Collins, j Michael asked the acting CEO of Voicescom was he prepared to apologize to the voiceover community for the actions on behalf of Voicescom in the past few years, now that David Cicerelli has stepped down and indeed there was an apology. So, tom, were you there, present in the audience? 02:07 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Well, yes, I was there. I was asked to be there actually. Me too, me too Okay so you were part of that little group of people that were asked to make sure that we would be present at the online casting. Because then we could talk about it like this so then we could talk about it, or we could step up to the mic and ask some pointed questions. 02:23 But to give everybody a little bit of background is that Voicescom has had a pretty bad reputation for a good 10 years, Because I think the first great resignation was in 2014, which is when the interview with Graham Spicer came out and the article that somebody wrote showing how, you know, the same casting notice was posted on Voice123 and Voicescom, but the Voicescom was thousands of dollars lower. So they were caught kind of red-handed doing what many would consider some unethical practices. 02:53 Double-dipping, triple-dipping, Right so Jay O'Connor, who is the acting CEO of Voicescom, is also the son of the recently deceased Supreme Court Justice, sandra Day O'Connor, and he also works for Morgan Stanley. 03:10 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And Morgan Stanley was the company that put $17 million investment into Voicescom, not a voiceover company. 03:13 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Not a voiceover company. They invested that roughly six, seven years ago. So I'm assuming that David Cicerelli stepped down because he didn't come through on his promise to make their money back. So that's why they put one of their own people in there. So I'm assuming Jay's job is very simple make their money back. So that's just kind of the background. And JMC who I just had him on my Ask Me Anything said that one of the conditions of Jay appearing at VO Atlanta was that he apologized for the past business practices and behaviors. So it made me think about the word responsible. Jay was not CEO of Voicescom when all the interesting stuff happened. However, if you break down the word responsible, it's response able able to respond. 03:57 Oh, I like that Well yeah because, if you think about it, Jay is not guilty of the stuff that Voicescom did under their previous administration, but now he is able to respond to all of that stuff. So you know that late last year Voicescom signed the Fair Voices Pledge and altered their terms of service, the Fair AI. 04:19 Thank you Nava and Tim Freelander and Karin and all those wonderful people there. So what was extra funny is I was sitting next to Miranda Ellis, who's our buddy, who helps run VA for VO, and we were talking about it. We're wondering who's that guy up there? And then I was telling her about the whole Jay O'Connor thing and then JMC said and here is CEO of Voicescom, jay O'Connor, and we're like oh okay, there he is. 04:47 And yes, he did apologize. He gave them an F for how they handled the situation, but they said they're going to be working on moving forward and a lot of pointed questions were asked. I was surprised that he was there. I was surprised at the apology. I think he handled most of the questions from the audience pretty well, pretty professionally. 05:03 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I wasn't surprised at the apology. I mean, j Michael basically said are you prepared to apologize? And when you are a CEO of a company, I mean at some point, like I imagine, you're going to work that out politically correctly in front of an audience of thousands, knowing that we would be talking about this. What was he going to say? To be quite honest, I mean, I wasn't surprised that he apologized. I wasn't surprised that he took Jay Michael on it, because, guess what, there's business for him sitting there in the audience. 05:33 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Oh yeah, potential customers. There was a sea of potential customers in there and ones who had left the platform who now could be persuaded to return to the platform as well. I did make it a point to talk to him afterwards. I as well. I did make it a point to talk to him afterwards. I first said I'm sorry about your mother's recent passing. 05:46 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Oh, thank you. 05:47 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I say thank you on behalf of I know he's a person. 05:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) He is a person, yeah, Like he's just a guy. 05:52 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) He probably didn't know Voicescom existed, right? So, like he doesn't know about this stuff and we have to give him the benefit of the doubt, of course of the doubt, we have to assume he's an ethical, response-able person and I said hey, if you need some insight from boots-on-the-ground people, let me know. I gave him my card. He said thank you, he was very kind. So am I optimistic about Voicescom? Cautiously pessimistic? No, yeah, cautiously optimistic. So I'll say cautiously pessimistic. But you know what? I'll tell you something, anne. I rejoined in September of 2023 because they did change their terms of service, they did sign the Fair Voices Pledge and also, as the VO strategist, I have students who want to understand what's going on and if it should be used and how it should be used Yep. 06:37 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) completely agree with that. So if nothing else. 06:39 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I wanted to create an account to understand how the platform functions, how to feed the algorithm. 06:44 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) If we are going to be working with students I mean myself included. I mean honestly. I mean we have to know about these platforms so that we can talk about them and recommend them or not to our students. So I feel like I'm a member of Voice123. Now I will say that I was not able to stay for the full session at VO Atlanta because literally they scheduled that right in the middle of my X session, so after 20 minutes I had to leave and so I did not get a chance to speak to him myself personally. But I know a lot of people that I've talked to did, and Mark Scott also did a nice recap on his podcast about the conversation and his conversation with him as well, and myself and Law had a discussion about it as well on a podcast. So I think it's good that we're talking about it. But I'd like to go further, tom. I'd like to talk to you about pay-to-plays in general, what part they play now in the voiceover industry and where you might see them going in the future. 07:36 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) It's funny because maybe 15 years ago they were a disruptive force in the voiceover industry, not unlike AI right now, which is currently a disruptive force in the voiceover industry. And, like I've said about AI and you and I talked about this a couple of episodes ago when it comes to disruptive technologies or business models, you can fight it, you can ignore it, you can adapt to it or you can embrace it. So everybody has their own journey and their own path on how to define success as a voice actor and what they need to do. You want to do all high-end cartoons and video games. You need representation. You need to join SAG-AFTRA. You may need to move to LA or New York or Dallas and do a boots-on-the-ground thing. If you want to narrate audiobooks, that's a different track. If you want to narrate e-learning modules, that's a different track. The best way that I can illustrate this is talking about my journey on Voice123. I joined Voice123 in 2006. 08:47 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) no-transcript. 08:49 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yeah, I joined it the first year that I went full-time as a voice actor. I learned a lot on there. 08:56 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It wasn't my first year as a voice actor, but it might've been my second or third, and it was an opportunity. It was a new opportunity to get work, and I remember at the time. How else did you get work outside of if you had an agent? I did not have an agent at the time. I was working on the online platforms like Freelancer back in the day I mean, it was Freelancer, I don't know if it was Odesk. 09:18 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Odesk Elance, Elance. 09:23 - Intro (Announcement) I was on all those too. 09:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I was on all of those too, and then Voice123 came out and I joined in 2006 as well, and actually it worked well for me Although you have actually created a record of how well you've done on that platform throughout the years, and so I'm eager to hear about that. 09:42 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Sure. So for those of you who are listening to this, I'll just read this to you as best I can, but I've got a little slide up here. So I joined in 2006. There was only one tier, it was $200. That first year, I made $1,100. So a great return on investment. Next year, rejoined, made $2,750. So that was great. 2008, it went up to $300. I made $2,650. 2009, made $1,. I made $2650,. 2009, made $1950,. 2010, I made $13,000. 10:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) What changed. 10:09 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I got better at auditioning and I also landed a big textbook like a science textbook. So that was a big chunk of that $13,000. 10:17 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So let me ask you, in those years, in those early years, how many auditions were you doing? Were you doing 10 a day, 20 a day, as many as possible? 10:26 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I was doing a lot less than that. I was doing a handful a day, but also my direct marketing strategies were working pretty well, so it was complementing. So I was blogging and doing social media and posting on Facebook and Twitter and stuff like that, so it was part of a balanced breakfast, absolutely. 2011, made almost $8,000. 2012, I renewed, but I only made $350. Now what happened in 2012 is that my voiceover career turned the corner. I went full-time in 2006, but late 2011, all the seeds I'd been planting for all those years started to bloom. So I found myself auditioning a lot less because I was just booking a lot more as a result of my direct marketing strategy. 11:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Right and then also probably repeat clients at that time were starting. I was also getting repeat clients. 11:13 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) So yeah, so that was happening too. Now, in 2013, I did not renew. I made only $300 just from a legacy client. But the main reason I didn't renew is because there was a cultural thing going on in voiceover where a lot of voice actors were saying that if you are on a pay-to-play site, you are contributing to the lowering of rates, you are a bottom feeder, you're enabling predatory practices, and I made the dumbest decision in my voiceover career, which was I stopped auditioning on Voice123. It was a huge mistake. So, 2014, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, I made virtually nothing because I didn't have a paid account. 11:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) But also what happened in those years. Had you gone more to direct methods of marketing? Yes, okay. 11:57 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yes, direct marketing was my main jam. 2014 was, to be totally honest, and that was the year I made the most money as a voice actor. And then in 2015, 16, 17, 18, my income started fluctuating wildly $20,000, $30,000 rises and falls year over year. One of my top 10 clients replaced me with AI back then too. 12:17 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) In what year was that? 12:18 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) That was 2018, I think, A top 10 client. I was replaced by AI and then 2019, I made nothing. 2019 also, there was like a major downshift in my voiceover revenue because I noticed almost all of my direct marketing strategy stopped working. So did I all of a sudden become a lousy voice actor? Maybe Did industry trends change and my voice was out of fashion? Definitely not. It was becoming even more in fashion more young, energetic, friendly guy next door sound, which is still in demand. So, after contemplation and talking to friends and professionals, I rejoined for $888 in 2020. And now there was a tiered plan. 12:59 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, exactly I was going to say at this point bosses, pay-to-plays evolved. They used to be just one fee and it was usually around $200 to $300. I remember when Voicescom came on the scene it was the cheaper of the two, for $200, when Voice 123 was at $295, I believe, or something like that. And so then there was a bunch of people that joined Voicescom because they kind of undercut the competition, so to speak, which maybe we should have looked at that in the beginning and said, oh, look at that Now there's competition in the online community and online casting community because Voicescom was the second, I would say, largest platform to come out and they grew fairly quickly, I think because of that lower price point. 13:42 And they also did a bunch of good marketing, I would say, on Google. I think they did a bunch of Google ads and they had a bunch of. Seo that they were working on, and so they became really, really popular around that time. 13:58 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) So what happened in 2020 when I rejoined? So I rejoined like it was a Black Friday sale. Basically, I had one month and in one month I made $1,300. But here's what I noticed. Well, I made my money back immediately. But the other thing I noticed is that when you're on Voice123 and you can click on the client number, sometimes you can see an email address associated with that client profile and often it's the extension of productioncompanycom and I started noticing production companies that I used to work with or that on Voice123. So I was like oh, interesting. So apparently there has been a migration of ethical, well-paying production companies making quality content that had been slowly making their way to Voice123 and probably Voicescom too, because it's easier to curate a roster, it's easier to post an audition. 14:51 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Oh my gosh, yeah, you have hundreds and thousands of people of different voices on these platforms and it can be a little bit cheaper. I know that was the whole thing, because here you're not necessarily saying how much will it cost, right, when you have a direct contact, versus specify your budget, right? A lot of these pay-to-plays asked you to specify a budget and so if you specified a lower budget, you could still have hundreds of people responding to this, because it was like freelancer Odesk. It started to become the lowest bid, wins almost. 15:23 - Intro (Announcement) Yes. 15:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Like kind of thought, and especially when you're talking after the many years of online casting, it just then became a thing where, oh, I can get cheaper voiceover, and for a business, right, I can have lots of different voices I can choose from and it's probably cheaper. And so for a business, I mean really, where's that business decision, unless you've caught them right and you've become like a valued voiceover actor for them, that you've given them value over and over and over again. Now, all of a sudden, they have hundreds of thousands of people they can choose from that are credible, right, and they're cheaper. So business decision, tom? 16:00 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yeah, here's the thing about that too is like since 2020, since I rejoined, my gigs aren't $100 or $200. They're $4, $5, $6, over $1,000. 16:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Because you can specify that. 16:15 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Because I can specify that and that also tells me that there are ethical, well-paying production companies on Voice123 in addition to bottom feeders. So in spring of 2021, the algorithm changed All of a sudden. The auditions there was a lot less and they were a lot lower paying, so I didn't renew. 16:27 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, they redid their platform a couple of times completely. So that caused a lot of commotion in the voiceover world. 16:35 And, interestingly enough, tom, I just want to bring this up who else was sitting on that stage at VO Atlanta but Rolf Veldman, who was always the one from Voice123 that got a lot of heat from these conferences. But I love Rolf. I think, rolf, he took it year after year after year right as a person who was not necessarily in the voiceover business either, but he would show up and he would respond and he was, I believe, transparent, which then I gave him my respect for that Because, if nothing else, he was transparent. 17:11 He finally was on the stage and probably going wow, the guy from Voicescom is getting all the heat this year. 17:18 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Oh, he was grinning from ear to ear. He was eating it with a spoon. He loved it. So 2022, I rejoined again, but this time I joined on the $2,200 tier. So this was late March 2022. In that year, I made $12,000. And then 2023, which is my first full calendar year of being under the $2,200 tier, I made almost $19,000. 17:39 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) That's a definite return on investment. So. 17:42 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yeah, and as of this year, 2022, and today, as of literally today, April, I have made $6,200. 17:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Now is the majority of that from new clients or clients that are coming back to you. 17:55 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Well, that's the thing, it's a combination. So there's two sets of clients, you know, there's your audition and pray clients, and then there's your legacy clients. 18:05 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Audition and pray Yep, absolutely Right. 18:06 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Commercials tend to be audition and pray. Cartoons, video games tend to be audition and pray. E-learning, corporate explainer, more of the audio book. Often those tend to be non-audition and pray because often you join an e-learning roster or you join a telephony roster and you don't audition, they just send you work. So with Voice123, there's a lot of them. One particular one comes to mind I auditioned for a corporate, short, three-minute, corporate industrial about bananas in a grocery store. If you work in the produce department, how do you handle the bananas to make sure they don't bruise, how to display them properly, quality check and all that stuff. It was a gig. Three minutes directed session, $550. So I'm like okay, that's like right in the sweet spot for that. That's like perfectly fine For three minutes directed session, great. And then they sent me nine more without auditioning. 18:59 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. 19:00 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) So an audition in Prey see, that's what people think about Voice123 is that it's an audition in Prey machine. It is if you suck, and it is if you can't audition well, and it is if you can't deliver the goods once you audition and book the spot. So I do have a lot of new clients, but a lot of them, a lot of them, have come back for more. 19:18 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And with Voice123,. One of the big differences of the platforms is that you can take the client off the platform. They have never intercepted and I don't believe that they will, because I think that's Rolf's claim to fame and how they lasted right through the turmoil of people being angry at them was that you could always take the client off the platform. Now, voicescom does everything in their power to make you not take the client off the platform, and that is where they get into people labeling them as double and triple dippers. 19:50 So not only are you paying for that yearly membership fee and they also have different levels. But when you have a managed job or any job you cannot disclose, you won't know their email address, you cannot work with them off platform and people have been threatened if it's found out that they're working with them off platform. So thoughts on that business policy. Tom, what do you think about that? 20:17 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I'm going to answer that question with a question. Do you think voice actors should pay to audition for anything? 20:22 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, you know, yeah, that's a really, really good question. I mean, I don't think so. 20:27 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I don't think so to a point. 20:29 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I think they should pay for a platform that gives them opportunities. So that's a tough one, right? I mean should they pay to audition. 20:38 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Well, I think of it this way If you told me 20, 25 years ago that I would have to pay to watch a Yankee game on television, I would have said you're out of your mind. And now they have the yes Network, where you have to pay to have access to get the quality content that you want. That being a Yankee game and auditions are quality content and that's a subscription model of a lot of businesses today. 21:02 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Right, and even I've considered it for this podcast, right, all right, so you can get a certain amount of listens free, but there is quality content or maybe more in-depth content that you would subscribe to. 21:13 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) And you do keep it with subscriptions, like Patreon pages do, and things like that. Yes, it's a common business model. Here's another question Do you think voice actors should get paid to do auditions? 21:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, that's a good question. Not necessarily. It depends on if that gets used right, If their audition gets used for the job, if you're getting paid. 21:32 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Is it a demo or a scratch track? 21:34 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so. But now, okay, let's just say you pay for the option or you pay for the opportunity to get auditions. Should then there be an escrow fee? Right, and that's what a lot of people have the problem with an escrow fee. And should there be a managed services fee? And should there be a managed services fee? Now, anybody that manages a job, right that project, manages the job. A manager takes a percentage, an agent takes a percentage, but then on top of an annual fee right to audition, plus an escrow fee. Now, if you remember, tom, in the beginning Voicescom's escrow fee was an option and I believe is it still an option. If you want to do, because escrow was an option back in the early days, you could choose to have them hold the money or say I'm going to get my money guaranteed if I put it in escrow, and then you paid a fee for that. 22:27 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I think it's mandatory now. 22:29 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, yeah, so that's triple dipping to a lot of people right, Get rid of one of those fees, I mean do you feel that's right. 22:40 - Intro (Announcement) I mean, I think it's fair that it's either you pay to be on the site and there's no additional fees or being on the website is free and then they're taking a percentage of it, not both. 22:48 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Now, you weren't there for the Q&A. Our friend, miranda Ellis, who I was sitting next to in the audience, got up and she said I have a problem with the fact that one of the casting spec options is broadcast in perpetuity. And she said that's a big problem for a lot of voice actors because that can create permanent conflicts. She asked are you going to get rid of that? And he said no, because we would lose a lot of business that way. That's not a good answer. That's the only thing I was truly unhappy about with his answers, but he owned it. 23:17 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, honestly, I think that it's a responsible action for an online platform like that to like lead the way. Right, because here's the deal. Right, you're talking about consumer mentality. I mean in voiceover jobs, I mean if people are not used to. If you're a small company, you're not used to hiring a voice artist and you're not sure, like, how does that work? Right, I mean in perpetuity. I mean if you work for a company, right, and they hire you, you sign a contract, you're working full-time, everything you do for that company is property of the company, and that just became that same mentality. Right for the freelancers Okay, I'm going to pay you. 23:53 Work for hire yeah work for hire and I pay you and that's it, and that's where the mentality stayed for a lot of companies. I think if you are a large service provider to a voiceover, you should take the lead and do what's right and do what's ethical, and that to me would be like start it and say no in perpetuity. There's not an option for in perpetuity. 24:14 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Right. 24:14 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And that would be a nice thing. Otherwise we sit here and we fight, and we fight, and we fight like we've always fought right To get rid of in perpetuity. Do you think in perpetuity will ever go away, tom? 24:24 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I think it will always exist in some form yeah, I agree. 24:30 The thing that concerns me the most about it is that, like, if there's a casting notice and it says erotic, there is explicit sexual content. Everybody knows what that means. They know what they're getting into. If it's a casting notice for a political ad Democrat, republican or whatever you look at the script and you go oh okay, do I feel comfortable with this? You know what you're getting into. You can make a value decision. If it's these text-to-speech things, some of these casting notices, or if it's an online perpetuity, a lot of the voice actors don't know what that means. They don't know what they're getting into, and that's where SAG-AFTRA, nava and other organizations that's where the onus is on them to educate, to make sure that people are aware of what these things mean. That should not be the case. Voicescom should not have that option or the ability to modify the option. 25:16 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Exactly. You know what I mean Exactly. 25:17 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Because there's genres and sub-genres. You know like, if you want a public service announcement forever to technically broadcast and have that be in perpetuity, you can make a case for that. 25:26 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) You know what I mean. 25:27 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) But it's too broad and it isn't explained. There should be like a little button or a little like question mark or a little thing next to it. You click on that and it's like this is what this means. 25:37 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And voice actors should have been educated many, many, many years ago, right? And what does it mean when you deliver an audio file, right? This is where, okay, we're creatives, we're good at what we do, but we also this is where the business sense comes in. Right, here, have my audio. 25:53 And usually what happens is something bad has to happen for us to like say, oh shoot, I probably should have a terms of service or a statement of work or a contract for all our non-broadcast stuff. So all our non-broadcast people are like, yeah, sure, give me a hundred dollars or give me $500, give me a thousand, that's perfect. And then all of a sudden, they find that their voice is out there on TikTok, you know, I mean, I'm not saying that that was Bev, but things like that happen, right. Or it even happens today with agents that are looking after our best interests, where sometimes you'll find a commercial that was supposed to only be regional which is now in a different place. And how do we know about it? Not until somebody tells us about it. And so we should. Now, with the technology, there should be a way to voice print and tag our audio so that we know if it's not where it should be, and it's being used. 26:41 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) And they're working on that? Yeah, exactly, they are working on that, exactly. 26:44 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Wow, I really feel as though we should have a part two and a part three and a part four with this conversation. But wow, tom, good stuff. Thank you so much for sharing. I love that you shared the real numbers. I mean, anybody that knows me knows how much I love talking numbers because it really brings a level of realism to the bosses and I think that we all need to really see those numbers and it really helps to educate us on making good decisions for our businesses. So, thank you, tom, it was wonderful talking to you again and I look forward to the next podcast. Bosses, I'm going to give a great big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl. You, too, can connect and network like bosses real bosses like Tom and myself. Find out more at IPDTLcom. All right, have an amazing week, guys, and we'll see you next week. Bye. 27:33 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, Anne Ganguza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPDTL.
When Danielle Famble traded the bright lights of musical theater for the voiceover booth, she didn't just change careers—she embodied the essence of a true entrepreneur. Grab your headphones and join the BOSS, Anne Ganguzza, as we navigate through Danielle's remarkable journey, discussing how her roots in musical theater have equipped her with a unique resilience and CEO mindset for her flourishing voiceover career. From emotional trials to asserting her worth in the industry, her story is a masterclass in transforming her performing arts discipline into a voiceover triumph. We discuss the intricacies of a successful business mindset, emphasizing the need for mentorship, community, and the wisdom of collective experience. We uncover the secrets behind tracking progress, efficiency, and how a transparent approach to finances can empower artists, especially women and women of color, helping them to assert their worth and command the rates they deserve. 00:01 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. 00:19 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey, hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and today I am really excited to bring on a very special guest and Boss Danielle Famble. Danielle is a full-time voice actor with a performing background in musical theater and on TV, and transitioned from the stage to the booth in 2019. And since that time, she has voiced for amazing brands like Google, pepsi, etsy, prudential Hertz, the US Army and more, and she recently presented this almost viral breakout presentation at VO Atlanta, which I heard nothing but amazing things about, about how to build your business like a CEO With a CEO mindset. It was very, very well received and I am so excited to talk to her today about that CEO mindset. Danielle, thanks so much for joining us. 01:12 - Danielle Famble (Host) Hey, thanks for having me, anne, this is fun. 01:14 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah. So let's talk a little bit first about your career, because I feel like anybody that transitions into the career voiceover has to have an entrepreneurial mindset to begin with. Transitions into the career of voiceover has to have an entrepreneurial mindset to begin with, and so that really works well with being a boss. So tell us a little bit about your career and how you went from musical theater and are you still singing, I hope into voiceover. 01:37 - Danielle Famble (Host) Well, I grew up actually, I'm from Texas originally and my family, my parents, my grandparents they were entrepreneurial. My mom and dad had a water store. They sold water in the 90s Crazy. 01:50 Everybody needs it, right, everybody needs it. So they were good and my grandparents had like an afterschool snack truck. So I grew up around businesses and seeing my family, my parents, running businesses, and I'm also a middle child, so I love attention, I guess is the polite way to say it. So I always grew up, you know, singing in church or performing in school. So it was sort of a natural progression for me to go to school for musical theater, majoring in classical music and minoring in theater, and I knew, based on a trip coming to New York City in high school, that I wanted to do musical theater and move here. 02:31 So for me, I just I don't know I had this entrepreneurial background with my parents and my family and loving to perform, and realizing it took a while, but realizing, especially moving to New York, that this is a business and you have to market yourself and learn and do all the things that you need to do to run a business. 02:51 So my transition really was from doing musical theater, I performed on cruise ships and performed, you know, all over the country at theme parks and regional theaters, and then in 2020, the pandemic happened and I had this background of acting and performing, but I really wanted to figure out how I could make that background work with voiceover. So that's when I transitioned from like 2019 up to 2020, made that transition to voiceover and realized that my entrepreneurial background really helped because, unlike being on the stage for me anyway, I was able to look at what I could do with and without the help of agents and managers and realize that I could carve my own way myself with the help of reps, agents, managers, things like that. So it kind of just all dawned on me that my past and my upbringing really was helpful in creating this CEO mindset. 03:54 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Now, do you do anything outside of voiceover? Are you still in music or in theater as well? Or is it just something that you just fell in love with? Voiceover and that's it? You're just full force. 04:06 - Danielle Famble (Host) I kind of fell in love with voiceover and I'm full force. I will say I miss singing, I miss being on stage, I miss people. And so to fill my soul, I think what I'm now doing is I live in the New York City area, so going to the symphony or going to a Broadway show, I'm going to go tomorrow night to see my friend who's made his Broadway debut. So filling my soul in that way and maybe even getting back into singing lessons. 04:33 This is a new development. Yeah, that's, I think, what I'm going to be doing. But there was a lot of, I guess, trauma from growing up and it can be a hard business on your emotional state, and that part of it I don't really miss, and so I think it was a good voiceover Well, yes, that's true, that's true. I think I've learned how to navigate it better. 04:52 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, I think maybe that prepared you Probably Right, because I think that well, maybe people who are not familiar with stage and music and that is hardcore, facing like rejection or that type of thing, and so you have to really develop a thick skin and I think by the time you get to voiceover, maybe that helped prepare you in some way for that. But also, I think your experience from growing up with your parents and your grandparents who are entrepreneurs I mean I love that that was a great showcase. It was a great example for you as a young child to see that you could do anything. My parents were kind of the same way and I really attribute it to my entrepreneurial mindset, where there was a belief that if I wanted to pursue that and it was something that brought me great joy I could do that for a living and I could pursue that and be able to pay the bills by doing that. 05:45 So let me ask you, what would you say would be the biggest challenge that you faced in that transition, in creating a business for voiceover, because it sounds to me like you had a good idea of okay, I know that it's more than just performing right, I think a lot of people want to just go into their studios and do voiceover all day, but I think there's so much more to it, because you could be the best voice artist, the best singer, the best actor in the world, but if nobody knows about it, you can't get hired Right, and that's where I think your entrepreneurial business mindset has to come into play. So what was your biggest challenge when you transitioned from one career into the next? 06:24 - Danielle Famble (Host) I would say my biggest challenge was honestly recognizing that it was a business, because I wanted to jump in. The actor and the performer in me just wanted to get really good at how to perform in front of the mic and do the perfect read and the perfect conversational read, or at that time it was the we're all in this together read right. 06:44 So that was a hard transition for me to realize that there was more to this job than just talking into a microphone. Once I realized that I think it was mostly just needing to send out invoices and collecting the payment on time and answering questions that I just didn't know the answer to, and there were a lot of I don't knows and then learning as I went. That I think, was the hardest part, because at that time you don't know what you don't know, and part of running a business is realizing all the things that you don't know and having to figure out the answer to it or at least come up with this next answer, and then iterate as you get better? 07:22 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Sure, yeah, absolutely. So then what would you say was your most successful path into really making this more of a business mindset? Did you read a great book? Did you do a lot of research? Did you talk to your parents? What was it that helped you to really create that CEO mindset? 07:40 - Danielle Famble (Host) I would say getting help and finding a mentor. I coached with a lot of different people. I coached Facebook group Voice Actors of NYC to be invaluable because there are so many people who will offer help or resources or ideas. But not going it alone, I think, would be the best resources. Find your tribe, find a mentor, find someone who can help you, because it's so much faster for you to progress when you have other people to bounce those ideas off of. 08:28 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, absolutely. Now you talked a little bit about the importance of being able to scale your business and to be able to track your progress in terms of how to mark your success and how to move forward in your business. Can you talk a little bit about that? 08:44 - Danielle Famble (Host) Yeah, I noticed and I learned and I knew this from even my parents and grandparents the data is the most important thing that you can have to know where you are and where you want to go. So tracking my numbers was incredibly important to me, and I don't just mean income. I wanted to get better at how quickly I could do auditions, and so I was tracking how many auditions I was doing a day and I could tell by looking at the numbers if I was getting faster or more efficient. I care a lot about money and numbers and love to talk about money actually. 09:18 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Wait, can you repeat that? Because I love a woman who can— oh, I care a lot about numbers and money. 09:23 - Danielle Famble (Host) It is not a bad word. 09:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It is not a bad word. Thank you, Danielle. 09:26 I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I was so excited that you could say that I was maybe I was the only other person that said look, I love to make money and I love the challenge in how can I make more money? And so I think having a healthy mindset with money is very important. Let's talk a little bit more about that, danielle. I think a lot of it stems too from different mindset or different ideals that you have as you grow up Like. Is money a bad word or is money a good thing? And especially being female, can a female make a lot of money and is that a good thing? Let's talk about that. 09:58 - Danielle Famble (Host) Yeah, absolutely. I think there needs to be a healthy conversation about money with women, specifically For me I preach it women of color because sometimes, as women, we feel uncomfortable asking for what it is that we want, yeah, and what you're worth and what you're worth, and being able to say it with confidence and say this is my rate or can we negotiate on a rate? Can you do better with the rate that you've proposed? Having these conversations is important because me, as a business, I'm running a business and having business conversations with other businesses when they're asking me to license the use of my voice for their project. So I don't feel weird talking about business with a business. 10:43 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Sure, because that's what I'm doing, and money is the language of business. 10:48 - Danielle Famble (Host) So finding that level of comfort and being able to feel comfortable in talking about money, sure, and knowing that you are worth the amount that you've stated, or more, it's baseline, I think. 11:03 From there, that's when you can grow and feel more comfortable. 11:07 Another thing for me was getting over that starving artist mentality. 11:12 I feel like it's kind of glorified, especially when I was coming from a musical theater background. 11:17 I mean, I remember standing in line for hours on end waiting to sing my 16 bar cut so that I could maybe book a job that was going to pay me $300 a week at some regional theater and I was grateful and while that is fine and it happened and I needed it at the time, it's not where I'm at anymore. I couldn't do that anymore and that's one of the reasons why it was important to me to sort of figure out what else I could do outside of theater, because it was no longer aligning with how I wanted to live my life, because my life cost a certain amount of money and I needed to find other ways to live the life that I wanted and be able to pay for it. And that's not a bad thing knowing that it's going to cost you money, and I'm okay with asking for what I want and also saying no if it doesn't work out. No is a full sentence and if a number doesn't work for you. 12:13 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) That's great. No is a full sentence. I love that. It's a full sentence. 12:15 - Danielle Famble (Host) And if it doesn't work for you, be okay with saying no and holding by your no. 12:20 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, let's talk a little bit more about that, because I and holding by your no. Well, let's talk a little bit more about that, because I think that for a lot of people starting out in the industry, they're just afraid to ask for what they're worth, or they're afraid to negotiate. And so if a potential client comes to you and they don't have a budget to pay you what you feel you're worth, like what does it take? Like in terms of how do you get up the confidence to say no? And for me it's always been well, you only have to do it once, because once it works out in your favor, then it gives you all the confidence in the world. But tell me about your experience. Did you have an experience where you were scared to say no? Or you thought, oh my gosh, maybe I should do this job for this low pay? 12:57 - Danielle Famble (Host) Let's talk about that no-transcript, still want to do it, even at a lower rate? And if the answer is no, can I tell them no and have that uncomfortable conversation like you're saying just once, saying something like unfortunately, this number does not work for me or align with what I would normally quote. I wish you all the best, finding the right voice talent for this project. And then that's it. And I've noticed that when I do that, I've left my day open, my time open. Another job could come my way that pays me the rate that I'm looking for and that I need, or I can do something else, and maybe that something else is getting out of the booth, getting out of the house, going and seeing some friends or doing something that enriches my life, and there's no monetary value that I can put on that. 14:19 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, I think when you can enrich your life, it enriches your product, it enriches your business, because I think it all feeds. 14:28 It's just a wonderful, wonderful cycle and I love that you mentioned that you're going to go see your friend on Broadway and I feel like for me it's like I need to watch a great movie, because it really stirs up the creative juices and it really helps me to be even better at my job, at my business, and to be more creative, because that's what really we do for a living is we need to have that creativity, we need to bring that to life, and I feel like anything that you can do externally, even outside of voiceover, to enhance that is absolutely a good thing for your business. So, yeah, go out and enjoy life, because that's going to help your business. I like to think of that. Let's talk about your business and growing your business, because I think there's a lot of people that they get to a certain level where they're happy and then sometimes they don't advance or progress or they stagnate and then they're like but I don't know how to get more work. Or talk to me about growing your business. 15:26 - Danielle Famble (Host) Often looked at growing my business from a financial perspective. Again, I have no problem talking about money, and so for me growth looks like a monetary jump or incremental growth even. So I'm tracking how many jobs I've done in a month or per year. I'm tracking how much revenue I brought in. I need to know how much I need to pay in taxes, so I'm staying on top of that. 15:51 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Speaking of which, it's like almost April. 15:56 - Danielle Famble (Host) Can we talk about it? 15:58 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) This happened quickly, my goodness, yeah, yeah, now are you working? Just thinking of numbers, because you don't have a problem talking numbers. Are you doing your own accounting? Oh no I am not. 16:07 - Danielle Famble (Host) Oh, that's another thing, I think, outsourcing, outsource what you are either not good at or not passionate about. I agree, those are the things that I have outsourced, and one of the things I talked in my talk about was finding your different departments in your team. So I have a financial team and I have a bookkeeper. I have a CPA. 16:25 I have a financial advisor. It's an S-corp, my company and so there are so many different moving parts that I don't know and I need help with people who know better so that they can help educate me and I can make the right decisions, because we are working together and they are working with me so that we can move my agenda forward for where I want to be with my business and my life. So I'm not just doing as they're telling me to do. I want to know and I want to learn and I want to be with my business and my life. So I'm not just doing as they're telling me to do. I want to know and I want to learn and I want to understand. So finding people who have the heart of a teacher to be able to help me understand why I need to pay this much money in taxes or whatever has been really very helpful. 17:06 But in terms of growing my business, I look at it from a place of numbers and the finances, but I also have certain goals when it comes to I want to maybe have the non-broadcast side of my business be a certain amount of money, so that can be a specific goal, but typically I just look at the end of the year, going to the next year and see where I was and create goals typically financial goals in my business, and that's how I mark growth. Lately, though, it's been for me wanting to be a better business owner and entrepreneur and pushing myself personally. You talked about me speaking at VO Atlanta. That was my very first time speaking at a conference at all, and while I absolutely love talking about business and everything with my friends, I've never really said it in a room full of people, so I think that is a way that I'm hoping to grow as a person and as a business owner to feel more confident, sharing what I know and what I'm passionate about, and letting people know that that can be part of the growth as well. 18:08 It may not be something monetary, but it's something that I can mark as my own personal growth and that will help me be a better voice actor. 18:15 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, you know, what's so interesting is that because you have no problem talking about money, I think inadvertently, without you maybe even realizing it. What I love is that because you kept really accurate, probably track right of finances in and out and you goals and you actually wrote them down with numbers. I'm a big believer in writing things down and writing goals down and that helps you to manifest. I mean, yes, of course there's hard cold numbers, right, but also, I think, writing down goals and writing down an actual number, because so many people are afraid of the numbers I mean I'll talk about before I owned my own business. It would be maybe my spending right, you've got that credit card right, and I might be like here, have my credit card, and I wouldn't really look at the money that was going out. And the more you kind of are in denial of it right, the more right you're unaware, and I think that you need to be aware of the numbers, probably more so than most people. You seem to be really comfortable with numbers and I think that's something to aspire to for a lot of voice actors, because a lot of voice actors are not necessarily an accountant or like numbers or like doing the finances. 19:21 I don't like doing the finances either, but I also outsource. I have an accountant that I have on retainer and I am forced to look at those numbers consistently, in and out, and it helps me to set goals and it helps me to make those goals too. I think that's so important and I love that. That just seemed to be second nature for you, and now I think what you're doing is you're pushing yourself to let's do more, maybe more ethereal goals, personal goals, growth goals, like I want to speak at a conference, and that's a really lovely way for all of us to like, push ourselves to think outside the box in something that maybe doesn't come comfortably to us. And now, what else can we do? Because if we grow personally, we're also going to grow in our business. 20:03 - Danielle Famble (Host) Absolutely, and I really like your point about how your personal finances correlate to how your finances are going in your business, because that was, for me, as well, the same thing. I had to get good with my personal finances and once I was able to look at the numbers, look at my bank account every day. 20:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Look at the hard cold facts. 20:25 - Danielle Famble (Host) The hard cold facts of it and deal with that. Then that practice went into how I run the numbers for my business, because if I was a hot mess with my personal finances, how could I expect to be running a business that pays their taxes on time and doesn't have debt, and all that? 20:46 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) stuff, and just because you hire right or you outsource for your finances doesn't mean that you are not educated about it. Right, you have to be educated in order to manage anybody that you're outsourcing right, you need to be able to manage people, and you need to be educated so that you can manage it properly and make educated decisions, and so I love that. While I don't love to do financial I don't like to balance the checkbook on a day-to-day basis I certainly don't have a problem outsourcing to my accountant, and then we meet once a week, once a month, and we talk about, okay, inflows and outflows, and where did I spend my money? Where can I save my money? Where should I invest my money next? And I think that that is really. 21:23 I think taking the cold hard look at numbers financially is what is missing, with a lot of voice actors that just start out that especially think that, well, it's just talking behind the mic and so therefore, I don't need to invest. Let's talk for a moment about investment in your business, right, and outsourcing is one part of it. How important do you think investing is in order to have, maintain a successful business and grow your business? 21:48 - Danielle Famble (Host) It is vital to invest in your business and ways that you can invest in your business, be it the equipment, so your booth, or your microphone or anything like that the hard products and it doesn't need to be that you are investing a ton of money. I really, truly believe in grow as you go. So if you can afford a certain amount of money for a microphone or an interface or what have, you get that because you can always upgrade as time goes on. For me, it's very important to not have a lot of debt with my business, so I will buy what I can afford at the time and then I will upgrade. So that's very important. 22:26 And then also investing in yourself, because you are the product, so investing in classes or going to conferences or coaching or reading business books, taking business classes, getting outside of the world of voiceover for your education Not saying that there's anything wrong with the education in the voiceover community but we are also running businesses. So what kind of business education are you getting? Do you need to take a course on how to use QuickBooks or something like that? There are so many different ways to invest in the hard product and the soft skills that you need to run a business. Also, we said it already, but investing in help, because the help can be the education. So my CPA is helping inform me about certain things. I have a virtual assistant who I'm outsourcing some of the day-to-day work in my business and she's helping me and we're coming up with systems and processes to be a little bit more efficient every single day. So those kind of investments, when you're pouring into yourself and you're pouring into your business, that's how you can start to see your business grow quickly. 23:33 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Absolutely. I think investment is also something that scares a lot of people when they first get into this industry, and it is something that I think is absolutely essential. It's essential to be prepared to invest in your business and in yourself, and so that means, because I'm a coach and I work with students, and I have been doing it for quite some time I will encounter new students that will be like yeah, but can I just get my demo because I need to start making money in the industry, but yet they haven't really fully prepared themselves for investments that they might make, and that includes investing in themselves, investing in the possibility of outsourcing. I've had so many people say but I can't afford that right now. First of all, I always say don't quit your day job before you get into voiceover full time. Now let me ask you a question. I know that you are in musical theater, but do you also have an additional job at some point to help support your business or to be able to have money to invest in your business? 24:27 - Danielle Famble (Host) I was working at. So picture this I was working at, so picture this 2020. Yes, right, I was working a day job at the Apple Store, okay, and I was waiting tables at night at a comedy club, wow. So I was working two jobs and then auditioning and wanting to sort of move into voiceover around my two jobs. And the good thing was working at the Apple store. I had access to Logic Pro and I had access to buying certain equipment with a discount, so that job was very, very helpful for me to start acquiring what I needed the computers that I'm using, like all of those things. It was really helpful and I did not want to quit my job until I knew for a fact that I could be self-sustaining. 25:18 And even then I was 16 years old, with two jobs in high school. Like I have always worked a lot, so I do think that making sure that your job is not a hindrance your job can be one of the best assets that you have while you're growing your business, and even while you're in your business. Your job is an asset, so make sure that you treat it as such and you think about it as such Changing that mindset will be so helpful really. 25:45 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Absolutely. I think there's a lot of people who they're either they feel like they're stuck in a corporate job or they feel like that they can't do a job in another sector if they want to call themselves a voice actor. I'm always like, look, side hustles are what helped me to be able to invest and to grow my business, and it was a wonderful way to be able to have the money to invest in, let's say, outsourcing or invest in coaching or invest in a new demo, so that I could grow my business. And I did multiple jobs and I still like to think of my business like I'm not just full time voice actor. Anybody that knows me knows I have this podcast, I have the VO Peeps group, I love coaching and so I'm a voice actor. So I have multiple divisions of my business, just like anybody else would have in their business. So I feel like that there's no shame in having multiple passions and multiple divisions of your business if it can help you to grow. 26:43 - Danielle Famble (Host) Yeah, and it helps you stay well-rounded as well, like that job can be the thing that keeps you afloat so that you can say no, and that's bolstering you to maintain your standards and your rates that you need I love that it's an asset that can help you say no I'm just going to reiterate that to the bosses. 27:02 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) That was so important, right, because when you're out there, desperate because maybe you just gave up everything so that you could do voiceover full timetime and then you're possibly like desperate for a job and you'll accept low pay I love what you just said that your job is an asset and it can help you to say no when it's necessary. Right, so that you can have that money and you're not dependent on it to pay the bills or anything, so yeah, Fantastic. 27:26 What would be your top tip or the best advice you could give somebody just starting out in the industry to be the best CEO, the best boss that they can be? 27:37 - Danielle Famble (Host) I would tell people to make sure that you are educating yourself Education, I think, would be the biggest tip yourself by finding a mentor or a coach or someone who you can work with. That will help you where you feel that you need help or support Educating yourself on how to be a voice actor and do the type of genres that you're wanting to do. Educating you on how to run your business, if that's what you need help with. But I would say the first thing I always will tell people if they ask me like, hey, I want to be a voice actor, get in a class, take a class. Maybe it's a performance class, maybe it is a business coaching something, but take a class, because being an entrepreneur is just learning every day as you know, You've got to learn something new every day and be open to the fact that maybe you don't know and you need to learn. 28:30 So keeping your brain moldable and learning. Being in a class is the best way and it's low-hanging fruit because you're learning. You're not quite doing it every day all the time, quite yet. It is vital to find out what you don't know and then write that down, write down your process and then iterate on that process. Love it. 28:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Oh my gosh, Danielle, I could talk to you all day and I really, really appreciate you sharing these little nuggets of wisdom, and I feel like we could maybe do five podcasts at least. So thank you so, so much for joining us. How can bosses get in touch with you, danielle, if they want to follow you or be the boss like? 29:10 - Danielle Famble (Host) you, danielle, if they want to follow you or be the boss like you. Yeah, you can follow me. I'm on at DanielleFambul on all socials, and then you can go to my website, daniellefambulcom. 29:18 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Awesome. Well, it was definitely a pleasure. Bosses out there, I'm going to give a big shout out to my sponsor, ipdtl. You too can network and connect like bosses like Danielle and myself. Find out more at IPDTLcom. Bosses have an amazing week. We'll see you next week and thanks so much, danielle. Bye, thanks, anne, bye. 29:38 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, Anne Ganguzza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPDTL.
En el episodio de hoy me acompaña Andrés Salgado, a quien ya tuve la oportunidad de entrevistar en el podcast número 123, cuando estuvo a cargo de la dirección y producción ejecutiva de Xietoc Hija del Agua, un audiolibro cinematográfico, basado en el libro de Adalberto Anúdelo Duque. Si quieres saber más, te dejo el enlace en las notas informativas. En esta oportunidad, él nos va hablar de cómo su experiencia en el Voice Over Atlanta y del contenido de su charla acerca de los Personajes para ficción sonora y audiolibros desde la visión del director, que fue hace muy poco, el ocho de marzo. Yo le eché un vistazo a la agenda y los temas que se trataron allí y fueron charlas enfocadas a todo lo relacionado con la narración, la interpretación, las técnicas vocales, incluso cómo tener una visión de negocio siendo actor de voz, etc. Pero quién mejor que el propio Andrés Salgado para contarnos su experiencia allí y cómo fue su ponencia. “Timbre, altura, intensidad, ritmo, y volumen no son las únicas cualidades en la construcción de un personaje de voz para la ficción sonora y los audiolibros. Una revisión por las tendencias de la industria del audio en español para 2024 y algunas producciones que han logrado un reconocimiento global nos darán las pautas para que los actores de voz se conviertan en maestros de la interpretación del mundo sonoro vigente. Participa de una narración en vivo con tu propia voz y crea un personaje desde la visión del director”. Si te gusta Club Mundo Audiolibro, por favor no olvides dejarme 5 estrellas mágicas en iTunes o un Me Gusta en Ivoox y registrarte en www.clubmundoaudiolibro.com para que recibas toda la información que necesitas acerca del audiolibro en español. Muchas gracias por escuchar y ahora sí, voy con el episodio de hoy. Enlaces de interés: Episodio 123 Andrés Salgado Xietoc VO Atlanta Pinna Kids XIE TOC, HIJA DEL AGUA Andrés Salgado Adalberto Agudelo Duque La sintonía del podcast pertenece a la Biblioteca Sonora de Youtube.
We've all been there—faced with the decision to work with a business whose practices don't quite sit right. It's a crossroads that can define not just your career, but your character. The BOSSES tackle this head-on, discussing what it really means when corporations say "I'm sorry" and whether change follows their apologies. They also peel back the curtain on the pricing battles both in voiceover work and in the consumer world, questioning why we shouldn't always accept the status quo and, instead, fight for what's fair. This episode isn't just about the voiceover industry—it's a broader look at how we, as professionals and consumers, navigate the moral maze of modern business. 00:01 - Intro (Host) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. 00:20 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey, hey, everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast and the Boss Superpower Series. Hey, hey, everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast and the Boss Superpower Series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and I am back in the booth with the lovely, illustrious Lau Lapides. 00:31 - Lau Lapides (Host) Oh, hey Lau hey girl Nice to see you Love being back. 00:36 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I know I feel like it's been an age. I feel like we just haven't seen each other in a while, but yet we did just see each other at VO Atlanta and it was not enough time. The two of us were so insanely busy that I feel like I didn't get enough quality time with you or quality time with anybody oh goodness. 00:53 - Lau Lapides (Host) And that's really funny when you think about it, because when you go to a conference, especially those of us who are going in and we're speaking and we're facilitating, part of the reason why we go is not just to educate but also to meet people and talk and have conversations. And I'm telling you, between the sound, the noise factor, the lights, the running around, the coffee I don't know about you, but I'm taking many naps the coffee, I love it, I love it. The coffee, it's a lot, it's a lot on you at once in a very short amount of time. 01:27 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Right, but we did learn a lot, didn't we? 01:29 We did, we definitely did. 01:31 One of the panels that was brought up and I don't know if this discussion should be entirely about this that most of us are familiar with that in the very beginning of this voiceover industry emerged as a top player in the pay-to-play space who had some questionable business practices and ethics, and I think that that is a really wonderful topic to talk about your clients and business ethics and how you choose to work with your clients or not work with your clients depending on, let's say, their business practices or even your own. 02:07 Have you taken a look at your own business practices? Are they ethical? Where do you stand on that? And I think that here's the elephant in the room. So the CEO of Voicescom was present on a panel at VO Atlanta and the very first thing that Jay Michael asked him to do was to apologize to the community on behalf of his company on the way that he treated the community in terms of maybe double, triple dipping into the funds that voice talent pay to be on that platform, and I thought I'd ask what your thoughts are and what your knowledge is of Voicescom and their past business practices. 02:46 - Lau Lapides (Host) Right. Well, I think you know we're all in the know about that it's a large industry but it's a small industry. If you stay in this industry probably like many others, for your lifetime and you're in it, you really learn a lot and you know a lot and you know a lot of people. It's very in a facetious way. It's very incestuous in that it's a family-driven business where our friends are like our family and we treat our clients like our family and we really get to know one another quite closely. And one of the issues that we're talking about now, especially with Voicescom, is really just taking care of one another and being aware of best business practices that you want to have as your guiding light for your business. Right, and Voicescom really for a long time, has really gone down the path, the dark path, right. 03:33 The dark web or whatever they call that, a dark path, the deep path of nefarious business practices that have caught on very early and now I think most people know about it, unless they're just coming into the business. And you and I feel the same way. We're just not for it. We're not for working hard and working ethically and working with integrity and working for clients, but not doing it under fair practices. 04:01 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, you know, back in the day, voicescom, when they emerged actually, I believe the very first platform to emerge was well outside of freelancer and those types of platforms was Voice123. And I remember I was an early adopter of Voice123. And then Voicescom came along not too long after that and the owner of that company, the Cicerellis, david and Stephanie, I believe it's- yeah. 04:22 C Cicerelli, were well-known in the community and used to show up to VO Atlanta and the conferences, and they really made a stake in the pay-to-play and became a popular pay-to-play in the industry. And along the way, somewhere I can't even say exactly when it happened, but along the way there became like a fee that was known as the pay-to-plays developed. You would pay a fee to belong to it and so that would give you the opportunities to audition. And then there was this thing that they introduced called escrow, and escrow was if you wanted to make sure that you got paid, then Voicescom would hold that payment for you and then when the job was completed, they would then release that payment, and so as a fee for that holding right the escrow, they would receive a fee. 05:05 And so I remember at that time people were kind of like I think after a year or so of that, people started to question that Isn't that double dipping? It's like you're charging the talent twice, they've already paid to belong to the platform and now you're charging an escrow fee on top of that in order to hold the money. But it was a guarantee that you would get paid. So consider them like a bank right. So first of all, let me ask you your opinion of that. Do you think that that is a fair and ethical practice for a business? Oh, okay. And do you think that is considered double? 05:36 - Lau Lapides (Host) dipping. I do, I do, I absolutely do. You know it's funny. This was me in my early naive mind. I always thought of those platforms as online agencies in a certain way, because what they're doing is they're matchmaking. They're presenting clients to you that you're not going to get on your own, most likely You're not going to meet on your own, and they're presenting it in a way where they do not want you to go private with those clients. In other words, they don't want you to acquire those clients offline. They want you to stay within the platform and use them as the agents. So I'll call them an agency. They don't call themselves an agency, but that's the same premise, right? But a legitimate agency does not charge you anything to be with them. They're going to take their commission off your booking. So it's a totally different business model and therefore they're not an agency. 06:28 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So interesting. So I'm going to play devil's advocate here and I'm going to say not coming from the agency world, right, but coming from the business world, right, the escrow was an option. At that point, you did not have to decide to put money in escrow. But if you decided to put your faith in them and use the escrow model, they would then take a fee on top of that. So let's say it wasn't an agency, let's say it was a bank fee, right? Would you agree? 06:53 Then, if you thought of it that way and you weren't thinking of them as an agency, in order for you to belong to the platform, they provided you, maybe not matchmaking, but they provided opportunities for you. I mean, they were matchmaking through the algorithm, so to speak, but as a business, as strictly as a business, not thinking of it as an agency. As a business, they were providing you with opportunities. So you paid for that on a yearly basis or whatever, a monthly basis. And then if you wanted them to guarantee the money and hold on to the money because if the client didn't pay them, well, they still had to pay you then you would pay a fee no-transcript. 08:01 - Lau Lapides (Host) I don't want that service. I'm willing to take the incurred risk. 08:04 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And they allowed that Right. They allowed that in the beginning. I do remember that. 08:07 - Lau Lapides (Host) That is okay. I'll go down that road with them because I'm paying for a service, I'm paying for a platform service and those are valued leads. I get that, it's legitimate, it's valued leads, I'm getting bookings, perfect. But still the control is in my hands when they took that away, when they take that option away, then the nature of it changes in the mind of the consumer. So to me it's not an easy yes or no. It's more like how much control do I have when I'm working with that partner? Sure, sure. What do you think, annie? 08:37 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, I think, because I remember seeing it evolve right and it evolved slowly over time. So I think in a lot of instances they thought that the evolution of those policies and practices would not be noticed by the community. Now, I believe once they decided to not allow people to take customers off the platform, right, that became more of how were they going to enforce it right? 09:01 So, in order to, enforce it, escrow became like non-negotiable. It was a thing that they did, and so they took control of that. Now, a few years down the road, right then, it turned out to be managed projects. Now, on top of that, right as a service, they would manage the entire project, in case it was a larger project and you needed to cast, let's say, multiple roles or it ended up being a long-term project. 09:27 They would manage the project and then there was a fee on top of that. It was no straightforward fee. At this point it was okay. It was a separate negotiation between Voicescom and the client for a particular amount of money which they did not then disclose to the member or the voice talent that got the job right. Then they became the company that managed the job and paid the voice talent and paid their own employees to manage that job, which there is a certain overhead in managing a job like that. I've been a project manager yeah, they're casting. 10:01 - Lau Lapides (Host) They're casting, they're doing project management. They're taking care of the money. They're doing reach out for the leads. Exactly, they're getting the leads in right. 10:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So there's an additional fee. So now to some people in the industry not even thinking about that, it's triple dipping and your thoughts on that. 10:15 - Lau Lapides (Host) I agree. 10:16 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yes, yes, at that point, because there's no control left for the voice. Talent, right, yes, correct, I'm on that side At this point. When you don't offer the talent an option to opt out of escrow, now, theoretically you don't have to accept a managed job, right, you do? 10:31 - Lau Lapides (Host) not have to accept a managed job. 10:32 - Intro (Host) So, see how they played the edge. 10:35 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) They played the edge of, I would say, good business ethics and good business practices, but not unlike a lot of big companies out there who maybe you're not so privy. It's just because they're managing income that you are generating. Think about it right they took your choices away. That's what they did. Well, they really didn't take your choice away on a managed job. They did not. 11:00 - Lau Lapides (Host) Okay, but let me ask you this question I don't know how many tiers they have. I have a client that recently showed me something like six or seven tiers or eight tiers of options of different levels. Well, why aren't you doing that? On the other end, just give us the option of the tiers of involvement that we want to have you as a partner. So if I'm early, I don't know what I'm doing. I need all the help in the world. I might go for a higher tier because I'm going to want you to manage everything. I'm going to want you to bank the money. I'm going to want you to take care of me and hold my hand. But if I'm into it five or ten years, I don't need that because I know the practice, I understand how to take care of myself and take the calculated risk. But the option could easily be there. They're offering all these tiers for the membership itself. 11:46 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So I think, when it comes down to it again, I'm playing devil's advocate, right? I don't want people to say, oh my God, shelovesvoicescom advocate, right? I don't want people to say, oh my God, she loves Voicescom. But honestly, from a business standpoint, right, I do believe if you've not given the talent an opportunity to opt out of things, then you are triple dipping. However, they kept it right on the edge there where at one point and I'm not exactly sure, forgive me for not knowing this I'm not exactly sure about the escrow anymore. I don't know if that's an option or not anymore, if it's just it grow anymore. 12:15 - Lau Lapides (Host) I don't know if that's an option or not anymore, if it's just it's now like standard that they will pay you. I don't know if that was that ever an option, oh it was. 12:19 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It absolutely was an option. 12:20 - Lau Lapides (Host) That was a long time ago. It was a long time ago, that was early. 12:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Because I remember joining Voice123 back in 2004,. Maybe even earlier than that, I can't remember In the early 2000s, but it was an option. You did not have to choose escrow, and so I believe that if that's not an option anymore, they're definitely double dipping. And I think with the managed yeah, I mean absolutely with the managed. So there are people who say they should give up the yearly fee right for providing opportunities, or the membership fee, or they should give up the escrow or they should give up the managed fee. 12:56 - Intro (Host) Right Any one of those, and so. 12:58 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I do not know exactly what the new CEO at Voicescom said in the panel, because I had to go teach my own ex-session at the time, but he did indeed apologize on behalf of the company. So here's my question, laha what do you feel about an apology made? And of course, he was not CEO of the company back then? Here's my question, laha what do you feel about an apology made? And, of course, he was not CEO of the company back then? He had no prior knowledge of what was happening. He doesn't even come from a voiceover background. What is your thought about the apology? 13:24 - Lau Lapides (Host) Well, I treat it the same as any business and certainly as politics as well. I think he's a front man, I think he's probably a diplomat in certain ways, as a leader and someone who knows it is the right and ethical thing to do and what is expected of a community that he does not want to lose the partnership with. So is it honest? I don't know. Is it meant to be followed through? Who knows? And is there going to be a policy change? We will only know once we see it. It could be completely empty. It could be completely to satisfy the emotional feelings of talent which, quite frankly, at the end of the day doesn't mean very much if there's no policy change. So I say, wait and see. Does anything change after that? I think it was a good first move on his part. 14:13 It was a smart chess move. It was no skin off his nose. He probably doesn't even know what voiceover does for the most part. 14:20 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And everybody's like, well, he took a beating. And I'm like, well, I mean gosh. Remember Rolf a few years back from Voice 123. Every time he came on stage he took a beating. And I remember seeing Rolf this year and saying well, rolf, at least you won't get the brunt of it this year. And he laughed. 14:36 - Lau Lapides (Host) Exactly, and you know what, annie, I have to say. He said that's what a CEO does. Let me tell you, these Wall Street-type cats could care less. In fact, they plan those for their Saturday morning. They have a ball at Target practice. No one knows, no one understands, understands like what a boardroom is like unless they lived in a boardroom or lived in corporate America or lived in executive C fights. Like no one gets that. I remember my husband, who's now a CFO controller type. He said boy, when I was coming up the reins and I was already a controller at that I was dealing with ownership of a company and they would literally get up and throw a vase of flowers at me and it would hit the wall and crash. Literally, they would throw things at each other. 15:20 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So I really think— it's dog-eat-dog kind of. You know what I mean. Yeah, I think that. 15:24 - Lau Lapides (Host) that's like we want to feel as talented, satisfied that we got some comeuppance in the deal. 15:30 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, I'm sorry oh my God, I just rolled my eyes. 15:35 I mean, guys, I love the voiceover community Do not get me wrong but sometimes the drama, okay, I'm just saying we've got to remember guys, we are dealing with businesses, when we deal with these platforms and when we deal with our clients, they are businesses and in reality, in our own little bubble, we may think you know what I mean that, oh my God, yes, and I want. We may think you know what I mean that, oh my god, yes, and I want to say, you know, I'd love for everybody to be human and say, yes, they need to be good people and good humans and ethical. But gosh, it's not that way in a lot of places it's not that way, you have to open your eyes and be savvy and be smart. 16:08 yes, when you are dealing with businesses, that now for me and I would say a lot you too, I mean, do I want to deal with a business that I feel has questionable ethics and practices? No, I don't. I am fortunate that in my business I'm not dependent on that money, so I can choose who I work with, and I think that's the really wonderful thing about us in our industry that you can choose who you work with. Right and for me, that's always been where I felt like I won the corporate game If I was working for a particular company. And I work with a lot of students who they work in the corporate world and at some point they all want to get out of it because they don't feel appreciated or loved or they do a lot and they're working for someone else, and now that we have the option to work for ourselves first of all, I think we're the hardest CEOs, but also we have choices as to who our clients are. 17:03 So we can absolutely choose not to work with somebody who we feel that their business practices are questionable. That gives you more time to look for people who are right and get that business to somebody else. 17:14 - Lau Lapides (Host) Exactly. And to piggyback right onto that, I was talking to a client this week who is also in my agency as well and who said, listen, I have a friend and he's on Fiverr and he came to me and we're actually accountability buddies and I told him everything I thought about this and he said but Lala, I don't know, Did I do the right thing? What do you think about that? What do you think about that? What do you think about what? 17:34 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) he's doing To be a friend. Is somebody on Fiverr? Well, no what he's saying is. 17:38 - Lau Lapides (Host) He came to this person and he said what do you think of me being on Fiverr? I know that it has some dark imagery in the business and people are dissuaded away. What do you think? So I said and I had to be a diplomat as well, because I'm not here to wreck businesses and give businesses a bad reputation but here's what I said and I honestly believe this. I said listen, whether your friend goes on Fiverr or not, or a million other platforms or not, you're the accountability buddy, which is terrific. Keep them checks and balance and remember this. That exactly what you're saying, annie. 18:16 Your business is your business, it's yours, it belongs to you. It's private to some degree. It puts food on your table, it makes you happy and sleep at night. You're an artist, you're a business person, but you're an artist and I don't want to sit in judgment and jury of other artists. I don't want to censor their moves. I say you do what works for your business. 18:38 Now, if you want to go into areas that are illegal, criminal, whatever, I'm not going to go there. That's just not where I'm going to go. It's not what I do and what I'm about or what my personhood or brand is about. But I still. I don't want to judge anyone, I don't want to be in judgment of anyone, because I feel like they're the ones, at the end of the day, who have to get up in the morning and go through a whole day supporting their business, and I don't know what their lives are like. Right, they might be poor, they might have no money in the bank. They might say law, I can't even afford a simple ad in like you know whatever. 19:15 And I said, well, listen, you do what works for you and that's going to bring you to the next thing. I mean, that's just the way I roll. You know what I mean? It's the same discussion we've had about FICOR, about financial core. We get a lot of people. I just got an email this morning from someone who is in my class who said I went SAG and law. I need your help now. I need your help. I want to go FICOR. I'm a little conflicted. I don't know what to do, how to do it. I know the union doesn't want to talk to me about it, of course, right. And I say listen, you know there's pros and cons to every choice you make, but as a coach because I'm still a coach. I'm going to talk to you and educate you about what your choices are Sure absolutely. 19:56 And then you go and make your choices and I'll support you in the choices you make. It doesn't mean I agree with them. 20:02 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It means I support you Sure, absolutely, absolutely. 20:04 - Lau Lapides (Host) Right, and isn't that at the end of the day? 20:06 Annie where we want to go is like we're not always going to agree with. This has been a big ethical. For a week I had another from my roster. He emailed me about an AI company that reached out to him and wanted to work with him. He said number one is this legitimate? Is it a scam? And number two I don't like it. I don't like their rates, I don't like the usage. I don't like it. I don't like their rates, I don't like the usage. And I said, well, go with your gut. Yeah, absolutely Go with what you feel, Otherwise you won't be happy. Absolutely, Absolutely. 20:35 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Right and I'm going to say that I do believe that when a company is not acting in an ethical manner, I do believe it's important that people speak up and speak their mind about it, because that is the only way that change will become enforced, or change can happen, if there are enough voices that are raised up about it. So I do believe organizations like NAVA, even the Facebook groups and again, like I said, I say there's so much drama, but I mean we are creatives, I mean there is drama in our world, but I also want bosses out there to, yes, embrace your creative and embrace your drama, but also embrace the business aspect of things and try to understand that it's not an affront against you personally. 21:20 I mean Voicescom did they insult you personally by charging a fee? 21:26 I mean it can infuriate you absolutely, but it wasn't a personal attack. 21:30 However, it is up to you to educate yourself on the practices of any given business and then decide whether that is something you want to support or not. 21:38 And if you feel that you're being taken advantage of, absolutely, I say raise your voice. But I don't say raise your voice and stomp off like a spoiled little child. That's not getting your way, but raise your voice in an educated and smart way that can help to promote change, I would say, or promote awareness in the industry, which is what VL Boss I set out to do was to provide a resource for the community so that we could talk about things like this and it could be open and we could discuss and I will be the first to say there's many of you who know the VL Boss podcast from the very beginning and there was a question, there was a question of certain people that I had on my podcast whether they were ethical. Now, I was not educated at the time and that could be something that people may or may not believe is true. However, at the time, I was not educated about business practices no-transcript. 22:57 - Lau Lapides (Host) You're buying items, retail items from big box stores. Right? Let's say you're going to Target, walmart or a Macy's or Nordstrom's, whatever, and you walk in. I'm going to guarantee you you are paying 50% to 100% over retail in terms of the profit margins that they are charging you, but somehow, somehow, many of us go. 23:19 Well, you know, you know. And are you going to go to the manager and you're going to complain about that? The manager will say hey, with all due respect, ma'am, I don't make decisions. You got to go up. Are you going to spend all day? I'm asking a real question to the audience Are you going to spend all day, every day, fighting that good fight, even though you're right, you're right fighting that good fight to get to corporate, to get to the CEO, to make sure the prices come down, to make sure they're affordable? Probably not. 23:49 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I love that you brought that up. Law, probably. But one more thing. 23:53 - Lau Lapides (Host) I want to say and I'm not talking about boycotting, that's up to you. I'm not suggesting that in any way. I'm just saying we make ethical decisions every day of our lives, all day long. Where am I going to go to the gas station? Am I going to pay that for gasoline? Am I going to go to the gas station? Am I going to pay that for gasoline? Am I going to whatever? So everything you could be fighting, I think there is a level of toleration we have to find in our lives to stay happy and healthy, knowing we're being taken for a ride. 24:23 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, absolutely. I love that you made that comparison. That is so, so important, because I think we're in such a bubble and we think that everything's in front to us personally. 24:32 And it's not. It is business business in this country, I mean. So we ourselves are free to set our prices, right, we are free to set our prices. And so what if the tables were turned and somebody said, well, that's not ethical, I mean, in a very weird sense, right? If you think about AI and you think about synthetic voices and people's value of, okay, what is a voice worth? 24:58 Now, my human voice and my acting and my personal brand is worth a lot. That's where I will make that bold statement to say this is what I charge, this is what I'm worth, will make that bold statement to say this is what I charge, this is what I'm worth. However, there will be people who need a voice that may not see the value right for their project, for a human voice. They don't have a need for it, right, and they make that choice not to work with us. And so, again, we are in the free societies where we can make our price, in the free societies where we can make our price, and the rebellion against us, right, or the speaking up against us is hey, we don't have that budget or we don't feel the value is there to pay that amount of money for a voice. I mean, I hate to sound so cold, but that's just the reality of business. That's the reality of it. 25:48 - Lau Lapides (Host) When you deal with people and you deal with budgets, you're going to run up against the same thing. I had a client of mine in my roster that said law, I need your thought because I have a long, long, long time client and she's just not going to pay me what I'm asking. She's not going to pay me what I'm worth. She's not going to. What should I do? Should I walk away from it at this point, or should I stay with it, or whatever? We talked that through. But the point is, that's your world, that's our world, that's business. 26:14 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) That's what we do every day. 26:15 - Lau Lapides (Host) That's not going to go away. I mean, whether you call that unethical or not, I'm not sure, but thousands of years ago I'm sure, we were being overpriced for fish and beef and meat on the open market. You had to haggle, you had to negotiate, you had to figure out what you're willing to pay for that item, and there's also supply and demand. So when you have a tremendous supply, tremendous supply, you don't always have the demand to meet that, and so therein lies the ethics, exactly exactly. 26:46 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And supply and demand has a lot to do with paying me what I'm worth. I mean honestly like if there is more demand for our voices. 26:55 - Lau Lapides (Host) We can afford to pay Go higher, go higher. 26:58 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yes, if there is less demand, then you know what We've got to kind of compete in the marketplace. 27:04 - Lau Lapides (Host) Right, and let me qualify it by saying we're in no way suggesting for the listeners that you need to sell out or you need to do things you don't want to do or you're not comfortable doing. We're saying you live in a world, you live in a world and no one said that world is going to be fair. 27:20 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Oh yeah. 27:20 - Lau Lapides (Host) So fair practices, best practices, are ones that you set and your clients set, and you have what they call a meeting of the minds. And if you don't and you want to fight for it and it's worth fighting for, then fight for it. But just know you got to pick your battles wisely. 27:40 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Absolutely, because you could be fighting all day long, every day, yeah, and it can be exhausting. And in the meantime, if you're spending all of your time fighting those battles, then you're not making money in your business, right? So and again. I always bring it back to this right. I find value in this. For me, my Chanel lipstick is worth the money that I pay, right, and I always like to bring it back to my Chanel lipstick. 28:00 But in reality now I found that the quality of the Chanel lipstick has gone a little bit downhill, and so now I'm on the hunt for something new, right, that can give me the quality that I am willing to pay the price for. So, bosses, keep in mind, you will have clients out there that will go out there and hunt for that voice, right, that is the quality that they desire for their project. So you can be that voice and you can, at that point, charge, right. You can charge, as we were mentioning before. It is your option, it is your option and so, ethically, I think it is up to you guys out there to educate yourself right on business practices and then take a deep look at yourself, take a deep look at what it's costing you in your business Not necessarily, like, as Law was saying before, fighting every single day and taking up a lot of your time and energy in fighting that so that you have no time to have a business. 28:57 - Lau Lapides (Host) Yes, you want to choose your battles wisely and I always like to say I don't mind losing some battles and you will throughout your life but I want to win the war. 29:06 - Intro (Host) And what that means is I want to win my business. 29:09 - Lau Lapides (Host) I want to win overall my business practice and my goals. But that doesn't mean every day is going to be fair and every day is going to come out the way I want it to come out. And you know it's like I love Dunkin' Donuts and when I go through, if I get a donut, that donut is two or three bucks, is half the size now, and you'll say but Law, with all due respect, you shouldn't be eating donuts. Well, that's beside the point. The point is I have a choice. I'm not talking about health, I'm just talking for fun. Now I don't have to buy that donut. 29:39 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) You don't have to pay the money for that donut, but am I going to? 29:41 - Lau Lapides (Host) go fight the CEO over the size of it and the cost of it? Probably not, because it's not a battle that I really want to take up Wise words Law. 29:48 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Wow, what a great discussion. I really really enjoyed it so good. 29:52 - Intro (Host) Yeah, bosses. 29:53 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So remember, educate yourself and look deep within and pick your battles. So, all right, I'd like to give a great big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl. You too can connect and network like bosses, like Law and myself. Find out more at IPDdtlcom. You guys have an amazing week and we'll see you next week. Bye, see you next week, bye. 30:15 - Intro (Host) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, Anne Ganguzza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at voboss dot com and receive exclusive content, industry-rev, revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution, with permission. Coast-to-coast connectivity via IPDTL. 30:44 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey bosses, we are so excited to announce our audition demolition, our third audition demolition coming up September 20th. That is our live event F***. 31:00 - Lau Lapides (Host) Oh no, f***, oh no, you got to submit this for bloopers. 31:06 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah For OVC, yeah right, all right, stop Record.
[VIDEO PODCAST] It's our 100th! In this episode we list all the winners of our celebration giveaway. AND we go behind-the-scenes at VO Atlanta with J. Michael Collins. (This show dedicated to Maggie Pistner. All prizes from her Coaches or friends.) Sign up for our show takeaways, resources, and drink recipes before episodes air here: https://www.speechlessvo.com/ Sign up for our exclusive membership to join us once per month for a live conversation and VO business therapy. https://www.speechlessvo.com/speechless-community EPISODE SPONSORS & AFFILIATE LINKS: Please visit our sponsors! STUDIOBRICKS VO BOOTH TO-GO RESOURCES mentioned in this episode: The Voicecaster Keri Tombazian Debbie Irwin Thom Pinto Tina Morasco Joe Cipriano Voiceoverview Beth Chaplin Maggie Pistner's favorite book J. Michael Collins VO Atlanta CONTACT INFO: Podcast Home Website YouTube Instagram Email: SpeechlessVO@gmail.com PRODUCTION CREDITS: Music: Rick Wilson Editing: Hamza Latif Written and Produced by Kim Wilson and Natasha Marchewka Production Assistant: Carolyn Robson Natasha and Kim are both in StudioBricks booths
In this episode of “How Do You Say That?!” sponsored by britishvoiceover.co.uk, Scott Chambers joins Sam and Mark from Florida to talk about the US radio imaging market, being super tall, getting to grips with an introspective Mum (or Dad) and what happens when you lose your patience with kids!Our VO question this week is all about whether the US market wants British voices and vice-versa.Get involved! Have you got a Wildcard suggestion that we should try or an idea for the show? Send it to us via Mark or Sam's social media or email it directly to podcast@britishvoiceover.co.ukScript 1Female version - He's a good father. He's better with Sarah than I am, much more patient. He'll read her the same bedtime story over and over. And do all the voices. As if it's the first time. Never seems to get sick of it. It's nice to see him like that, happy and comfortable like that. He's a good dad. He can do no wrong in her eyes. A good husband too, I suppose. Maybe I'm being silly.You wouldn't think you could hate the sound of running water, would you? Maybe it's me has the problem. Dr, I'm afraid of the sound of running water. Everyone's afraid of something aren't they?Male version - She's a good mum. She's better with Sarah than I am, much more patient. She'll read her the same bedtime story over and over. And do all the voices. As if it's the first time. Never seems to get sick of it. It's nice to see her like that, happy and comfortable like that. She's a good mum. She can do no wrong in her eyes. A good wife too, I suppose. Maybe I'm being silly.You wouldn't think you could hate the sound of running water, would you? (laughs) Maybe it's me has the problem. Dr, I'm afraid of the sound of running water. Everyone's afraid of something aren't they?Script 2Remember…some of the best times of your life… haven't happened yet. And this is one of ‘em: (winners screaming) Win a thousand dollars, 13 times a day. Claim your share of half a million dollars, next.Grab the family. Get out of town. And head to Disney! Family 4 packs of tickets, every hour, on the hour.**Listen to all of our podcasts here - you can also watch on YouTube, or say to your smart speaker "Play How Do You Say That?!"About our guest: Scott Chambers has lent his voice to some of the most trusted global brands, including AT&T, Burger King, Coca-Cola, and many more. In addition to commercials, he specializes in radio imaging and promos... and can be heard on a number of radio stations in North America, as the imaging and promo voice. Scott is also an accomplished live announcer and host. Event clients include NASCAR, United Airlines, NGPA and others. He's served as a host at voiceover conferences like VO Atlanta and One Voice Conference in Dallas, TX and London, UK. Living far outside of major hubs like LA and NY, Scott prefers to take the small-town, big career approach. He lives on Perdido Key in Florida. Scott enjoys spending time with family, flying airplanes, boating, relaxing on the beach and world travel. Scott's Website
Imagine my surprise when I showed up to watch The Famous Online Casting Panel at VO Atlanta recently and found Jay O'Connor, the Interim CEO of Voices.com sitting on stage preparing to take questions. The panel did NOT disappoint. Thank you, J. Michael Collins for organizing it, and the Anna Collins for making it a part of the VO Atlanta lineup. A lot of voice actors have some pretty strong feelings about Voices[dot]com (myself included), and most of those feelings are not positive. Previous management seemingly did everything humanly possible to alienate the voice over community... their very customers... through unethical business practices. Many top talent abandoned the site, and representatives from Voices[dot]com were basically ousted from participating in industry events. Is that about to change? I'll confidently say, a first step has been taken. In this episode, I share a few thoughts and takeaways from the panel, along with a cautious optimism for changes to come that started with an apology to the community from the CEO. RESOURCES FOR VOICE ACTORS * The VOpreneur Guide to Testimonials Visit https://vopreneur.com/testimonials * Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam Visit https://voicezam.com/marcscott * For voice over services: Visit https://marcscottvoiceover.com * Want VOpreneur Swag? Visit https://teespring.com/stores/vopreneur * Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group Visit https://facebook.com/groups/vopreneur EVERYDAY VOPRENEURS IN THIS EPISODE * Thanks to "Uncle Roy" for production assistance! Visit https://antlandproductions.com * Thanks to Christy Harst for VO contributions! Visit https://christyharst.com * Thanks to Krysta Wallrauch for VO contributions! Visit https://krystawallrauch.com If you need guidance with your voice over business or learning how to more effectively market, I can help. Book a 15 minute free consultation with me to discuss your specific needs. Book Your Consult
There was a surprise, stealthy, mystery guest this year at VO Atlanta, and fireworks ensued! There I was, on stage in the main ballroom at VO Atlanta, getting ready to take my seat on The Famous Online Casting Panel. J. Michael Collins, the moderator, walks by and announces to the panel, “65 seconds!” I turn and a man in a blue plaid sportcoat holds out his hand and says, “Hi, Paul. I'm Jay O'Connor, Voices CEO.” And my first thought was, is this guy gonna curse me out? Stare me down? Take a swing? Takeaways: Jay O'Connor, the CEO of Voices.com, made a surprise appearance at Vio Atlanta and apologized for past transgressions. Enforcing GVAA rates for all jobs would help rebuild trust within the voiceover community. The practice of triple dipping, charging talent a subscription, 20% of the job, and clients for managed services jobs, was defended by Jay O'Connor. Engaging in open dialogue and listening to the concerns of the voiceover community is crucial for rebuilding trust. Leadership within the voiceover industry and advocating for voice actors is necessary for a stronger industry. Chapters: 00:00 Surprise Guest: Jay O'Connor 01:14 Apologies and History 03:09 Concerns for the Platform 04:35 Managed Services Jobs 05:56 Triple Dipping 06:25 Engaging with the Voiceover Community 07:10 Trust and Future Actions 08:07 Leadership and Rebuilding Trust 09:44 Advocating for Voice Actors _____________________________ ▶️ Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/InOzCGUtjm8 SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@vo-pro?sub_confirmation=1 The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://vopro.pro/vo-freedom-master-plan The VO Pro Community: https://vopro.app Use code You15Tube for 15% off of your membership for life. The VO Pro Podcast: https://vopro.pro/podcast 7 Steps to Starting and Developing a Career in Voiceover: https://welcome.vopro.pro/7-steps-yt Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://vopro.pro/move-touch-inspire-youtube Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vofreedom The VO Pro Shop: https://vopro.pro/shop Say Hi on Social: https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro https://www.instagram.com/vopro.pro https://www.clubhouse.com/@paulschmidtvo https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/ My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission.): Recommended Book List with Links: https://amzn.to/3H9sBOO Gear I Use with Links: https://amzn.to/3V4d3kZ As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro
VO Atlanta Re-Cap and what Newbies need to know... this week on the VO Life!
Fresh from his tour of VO Atlanta this month, ACM Talent Manager Jeff Umberger is in the studio to talk about his story behind the voiceover business. From his beginnings as an actor, to setting up his own talent group 'The Umberger Agency' to becoming a talent manager at ACM Talent in New York, Jeff discusses how he puts together what he calls "a partnership of careers". We also chat about the differences between commercial work and audiobooks; making the move from theatre, television and radio performance to voiceover success; what it takes to guide talent to their next achievement; safeguards for AI and your voiceover past; plus an honest vision of what the year 2044 might look like for voiceover performers! Bring along your love of all things audio and join us.About the Spotlight Conversations podcast:Tune in as I invite friends inside my cozy linoleum free recording studio to talk about all things media - radio, television, music, film, voiceovers, audiobooks, publishing - if guests know media, we're talkin'! Unscripted and nearly always entertaining, each guest gets real about their careers in the entertainment biz; from where they started to how it's going. Join us in my swanky studio where drinks are always on ice; music + media are the conversation starters. New episodes every other Tuesday. Social media links, website and more hereFollow and subscribe to my podcast hereA very special thank you to friends who helped bring the Spotlight Conversations podcast together:Booth Announcer: Joe Szymanski ('Joe The Voice Guy')Theme Song Composer: Mark Sparrow, SongBird Studios
Summary: This week on The Pro Audio Suite, we dive deep into the heart of Podfest with George 'The Tech' Whittam's firsthand account of 'suitcasing' and the power of networking without a booth. Discover the fascinating world of podcasting - from grassroots communities to the cutting edge of AI and chatbot technologies. Learn how every conversation could turn into a collaboration, and how the future of content creation might just be a chatbot away. Hosts: Robert Marshall, Source Elements & Audio Post Chicago Darren 'Robbo' Robertson, Voodoo Radio Imaging, Sydney George 'The Tech' Whittam, LA's go-to audio engineer Andrew Peters, Voiceover Talent & Home Studio Expert Special Thanks to Our Sponsors: Tribooth - the ultimate vocal booth for recordings at home or on the road Austrian Audio - crafting passion into every audio experience Featured Topics: Networking Without a Booth: George's adventures at Podfest, including the art of 'suitcasing' and leveraging community awards and events for networking. Podfest Insights: An overview of the Podfest community, ranging from solopreneurs to niche content creators, and the invaluable role of networking apps like Hoova in fostering connections. AI and Podcasting: A deep dive into the use of AI and chatbots in content creation, including practical tips for leveraging these technologies to streamline content creation and even author a book. The Future of Content and AI: Exploring the intersection of AI, content creation, and the ethical considerations of content ownership and creation. Listener Engagement: Inviting listeners to join the conversation on our Facebook group, suggest topics, or simply say hello. Episode Conclusion: Wrapping up with a look forward to the evolving role of AI in the audio and podcasting industry, and a reminder to subscribe and engage with The Pro Audio Suite community. #ProAudioSuiteTips #SuitcasingStrategy #PodcastCommunityInsights A big shout out to our sponsors, Austrian Audio and Tri Booth. Both these companies are providers of QUALITY Audio Gear (we wouldn't partner with them unless they were), so please, if you're in the market for some new kit, do us a solid and check out their products, and be sure to tell em "Robbo, George, Robert, and AP sent you"... As a part of their generous support of our show, Tri Booth is offering $200 off a brand-new booth when you use the code TRIPAP200. So get onto their website now and secure your new booth... https://tribooth.com/ And if you're in the market for a new Mic or killer pair of headphones, check out Austrian Audio. They've got a great range of top-shelf gear.. https://austrian.audio/ We have launched a Patreon page in the hopes of being able to pay someone to help us get the show to more people and in turn help them with the same info we're sharing with you. If you aren't familiar with Patreon, it's an easy way for those interested in our show to get exclusive content and updates before anyone else, along with a whole bunch of other "perks" just by contributing as little as $1 per month. Find out more here.. https://www.patreon.com/proaudiosuite George has created a page strictly for Pro Audio Suite listeners, so check it out for the latest discounts and offers for TPAS listeners. https://georgethe.tech/tpas If you haven't filled out our survey on what you'd like to hear on the show, you can do it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZWT5BTD Join our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/proaudiopodcast And the FB Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/357898255543203 For everything else (including joining our mailing list for exclusive previews and other goodies), check out our website https://www.theproaudiosuite.com/ “When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional.” Hunter S Thompson Timestamps (00:00:00) Introduction (00:00:43) Recap of Podfest Attendance (00:05:51) Networking at Podcast Conferences (00:09:20) Corporate Presence at Podcast Movement vs. Podfest (00:15:19) Legal Challenges with Chatbots Transcript Speaker A: Y'all ready? Be history. Speaker B: Get started. Speaker C: Welcome. Speaker B: Hi. Hi. Hello, everyone to the pro audio suite. : These guys are professional. They're motivated. Speaker C: Thanks to Tribooth, the best vocal booth for home or on the road. Voice recording and austrian audio making passion heard. Introducing Robert Marshall from source elements and someone audio post Chicago, Darren. Robert Robertson from Voodoo Radio Imaging, Sydney. To the Vo stars, George the tech Wittam from LA and me, Andrew Peters. Voiceover talent and home studio guy. Speaker B: Learn up, learner. Here we go. : And don't forget the code. Trip a P. That will get you $200 off your triboof. Now, George, you've been whizzing around the country like crazy. You went to Podfest. What were you actually doing at Podfest? : I was suitcasing. That's what we call it in the. Speaker A: Business, dealing people's suitcase. : Suitcasing. : Suitcasing is when you show up in an event that you didn't sponsor and you start schmoozing and handing out cards and selling your wares. Speaker B: Yeah. : You don't have a booth, basically. : You don't have a booth. Yes. Thanks to Jody Krangle. Thanks, Jody. Jody's was a sponsor this year. She actually got an award. She got a community award from the Podfest event, which was really cool. They also had an award show there. Every community needs an award. So they have their own awards event there. They call them life, I guess they call them like lifetime achievement award type awards. And Dr. Drew was there giving out the awards. He's a famous. He's a tv personality. He's been on numerous shows over the years. : He's kind of shilling stuff a little bit, isn't he? He's even like diet fed stuff. : So here's the deal. The podcasting community is an interesting one, right? So it's a mixture of a lot of solopreneurs. Right. Which is why I'm there. I'm a solopreneur. Then you've got a lot of people that have something to say that would not fly on traditional media. Right? Yeah. So extremists own whatever thing it is because it's your podcast. You can say whatever the heck you want. So you have a lot of people. I could saw a lot of people that were wearing don't tread on me shirts. : Yeah. Like survival. Buy all this food and stockpile it. And here's how to live in a hole for 80 days during the apocalypse. : So there was a represented. Some people on that community were represented. Then you had a lot of people that are women. Every interest group you can imagine there's somebody at the podcast Podfest because they want to. Either they have a podcast, they want to start, they want to learn about it, or they have one and they want to promote it, or they just want to get better at what they do and more efficient. So that's why they come. And I was spending my time bouncing between the expo hall and some of the different talks that were there, and there were many panels. So what's cool about this conference, which I think sets it apart from every other conference I've ever been to, is they use an app called Hoova, spelled like hoova Hova. And the Hoova app is a community app that lets you know exactly who's at the event, you know exactly who they are. You have their contact info, you can exchange info. It's kind of like the Namshow app on the phone. Did you use the Namshow app? Speaker B: Yeah. : I was going to say, this sounds just like the Namshow app, which was kind of annoying. : Yeah. Just not as crappy. Although the Namshow app got better, but it was terrible for a long time. But so now you have a way to contact every single person at the event. And so I'm looking at the app right now, and it says the total number of attendees was 1869. : Wow, that's pretty good. : That's not bad. : That's good. : Yeah. So definitely bigger than Vo Atlanta. They would like to be that big, I'm sure. In fact, J. Michael Collins from Vo Atlanta was there actually at Podfest with a booth. : But what kind of price? I mean, what kind of price? Vo Atlanta is really expensive to attend. So when you're talking about 700 people being at that show, you're still talking about a lot of coin. Was this one, like $100 a ticket, or was this $700 a ticket? : They do the thing, which a lot of conferences do, which is having a lot of different tiers. So you can start at, like, 200, and you can go up to $1,000. So the $1,000 ticket is a vip, and that's actually the ticket that I had, because Jody, as a sponsor, actually got a companion ticket, and she offered it to me, which was extremely kind. So I went as a vip, which was cool, because I could go to every single happy hour and all the special things where they give out, they have or d'oeuvres, and you can schmooze and stuff. And that was really valuable, because while I was in line for one of these, waiting in line for a drink, I met a voice actor. Sorry. I met a podcaster who runs a show about the chemical industry. And here I'm thinking, okay, that could be the end of the conversation. : Yes. : But I didn't let the conversation end. And instead I kind of dug in and said, and I came at it from an absolutely entrepreneurial mindset of like, okay, everybody has a need. Every industry has a need. Is there a need in that space that I can fill? Right. So by the time we got to the front of the line to get our drinks, I had already figured out a niche that I wanted to fill. She said, I'd like to have you on my show. I'd like to share this with my community. Let's work on maybe a package for the people that listen to my show. It was like all this came out of just standing in line. : Let me make sure I understand this. She's got a show about chemical engineering. : Chemical industry. Like, she does a show where the audience are people working in the chemical industry. : And you are co marketing with her. : Now, if she replies to my email, yes. Okay. So this is the thing. I also realize you go to these shows, these people come. It is an absolute, like schmoozegasm, right? You're meeting hundreds of people, making tons of connections, talking about amazing ideas. And then after that event, it is up to you. You really have to follow up. So one guy, he has a calendly link on his website. So he's like, hey, let's chat. So I immediately made a point with him. And I'll be talking with him as soon as he gets over. : Yes. : Yeah. Because that's the other thing that these conferences are for. I mean, that's certainly what I got from freaking Nam. : Yeah, I got my Covid by hanging out in Venice Beach a little more. Got it over. Got over a couple of weeks ago. So as soon as he's off of his thing, I'm going to be talking about his studio that we are going to build in Dallas. So that turned into another gig, hopefully. He seemed very keen. So for me, on a, b to b level business to business, I had made some really great contacts. And then on a b to c level business to what consumer? I handed out my card to a lot of people. And it was really nice because the vendors that I did know there, which was BSW and sentrance and yellow tech, all know me, or you have great relationships. And they were all willing to keep my cards at their table and I would just circulate the room and every time I stood near the table, someone would walk up and say, what is all this would. And they would often mention me and say, george is the guy that can help you. So it was extremely valuable for me to be there to network and connect with folks. And whether it turns into a true ROI, who knows? You just never know until the deposit comes. But I did make some really good, valuable connections there. I also hopefully endeared them to the point where they will involve me in the production of the show next year so that they will not have super loud PA systems blaring in a very large echoey room, to the point where you can't hear the person presenting or you can't talk to your vendor that you're trying to talk to because the sound system is blasting. : It's funny because podcasting is all about audio, but at the same time it kind of has this such a broad demographic because everyone is really like, I just want to have the podcast done. I'm not really about the process of podcasting. I just want it to be good. : Oh, yeah. And there's a lot of networks and producers at these events that want you to sign on with them that will get you ad dollars and do all the marketing for you. And there was quite a few of those companies there, too. But for me it was just learning about the community, who's doing it, who's producing it, how do they do it, what are the issues that they're having in producing it? And what was cool with the Hoover app is I was able to immediately, when there was an issue with the sound and it was too loud, I was able to immediately post something in there and get the attention of one of the organizers who within probably 2030 minutes was asking me, where are you? Let's talk. That's pretty awesome. I really love that. When I was at podcast movement, that was not happening. That was not going to get through to somebody. : How big is podcast movement compared to this one? : Physically? It's a bigger space. It was a larger space, more vendors, but I'd think in the actual turnout it probably wasn't all that bigger. But podcast movement attracts more corporate entities. So you had I heart podcasts from iHeart media and iHeartRadio. You had Amazon. You had all these very big brands know there to represent their podcast interests and hopefully find their new big hit show. So that was a very different thing. They were not doing that at Podfest. : So with these big companies that you're talking about, but they were looking for podcasts to put on their platforms. Is that correct? : At podcast movement? Yeah, they're there to schmooze with their big sellers, their big shows. They had what you would expect. They had beautiful sets with couches, and they spent some big time money, big. : Dime to be there. : And Podfest wasn't like that at all. Podfest felt a lot more like a voiceover convention with a smaller expo hall. And as Jodie told me before, it's much more grassroots and more friendly. : They both have like an educational thing. : Tons and tons of education. Like the one gentleman I'm going to work with named Larry Roberts. He had a 30 minutes thing on how to write your next book using Chat GPT, and it was an absolute paint by numbers. This is exactly how I did mine. Just do it like this and you can have a 200 page bound book in about a week, right? I mean, literally. Speaker B: Wow. : So I'm like, dude, I want that PDF. And he said, here, scan this QR code, download the pDf, right? So I'm going to use that because I have been gathering my own knowledge with my own custom language model to create my own chat bot. So now I actually have all the content that I would need to make a book. And that's the thing that's kept me from wanting to do a book, because the research and the time to compose a book is eternity in the pre Chat GPT AI era. But now I can very quickly outline a book and write the chapters with the help of a Chat GPT. And the beauty of it is it's my own knowledge I'm not scraping from anybody else. So that was a really cool revelation. So there was a lot to learn there. : I wonder if we could sort of ingest our podcasts that we've been doing for the last five years, of course, and then write a book from that. : Absolutely. : Interesting. : Yeah, I mean, it is frighteningly simple to do it. I mean, it is crazy easy. I could do it in two days. It just really is bizarrely simple. But you want it to be good, so there's going to be more time involved. You want to read the entire book, right? You want to make sure everything that's being written isn't garbage and you have to make sure it's factual, so there's time involved, but still, yeah, it wouldn't be that hard because we have, what, six or seven years worth of content on YouTube. Yeah, all that content is easily scrapable. You create a sitemap from all that content and you load the sitemap into a chat bot utility and you're done. I mean, that's how easy it is to build a chatbot from any content. : But where are you getting your initial chat bot from? Like, where's the infant AI Robert that I can go put on the server and start freaking feeding it? : Like Fargois, oh, what's the service I'm using for that? Wouldn't you like to know? Speaker A: We would like to know because we'd like to write a book, but yeah. : I'll do a book. : But for my, I think if I. : Was going to do a book, it'd be a coloring in. Speaker A: Yes, exactly. Dot to dot. : For my custom chat TPT, I'm using a thing called custom GPT. That's actually what I'm using as a service to build my chat bot. And it's extremely user friendly and they have all the right tools. You have to be a little bit savvy, but you don't have to be knowledgeable about code. You don't have to be knowledgeable about a lot of things because they have a lot of good content on there and how to do it. You have to learn how to write a Persona. Your Persona is literally, how is your chat bot going to talk to people? Is it going to be mean and abusive? You can make it do that if you want. You can have it be abusive and angry. You can have it be overly effusive. You can have it be friendly. You can have it be way too verbose. You can tell it exactly how you want it to behave. So I've been working on my Persona to make sure my chat bot is friendly but still gives very direct information and at the end always plugs my business. That's how it works. : You should give it a brief, like most of the voiceover briefs that we get, nonsensical sort of garbage that is impossible to understand. Speaker A: Voice tone should be a little more purple than blue. : Yeah, it'd be interesting just to make this thing follow you around. Like if you just videotaped every day and this thing ingested one day behind what you were, and then it just, whatever, this conversation here, all of it. : It'S just like, oh, yeah, no. By the way, there is a little device that you can slap onto your iPhone and it just lives on the back of the phone like a little barnacle. And it does that. It records every single phone conversation and then does a Chat GPT transcription of it. Speaker A: For what purpose, George? : It's the ultimate note taking device. I mean, literally every phone call you make is recorded and converted into notes and, you know, it has a mic, so it'll record what's in the room, but it'll also record what's coming out of the. Like. We're all going to have a Persona copy of ourselves. And when we die, that's going to live on in some form or another. Speaker A: Google. : That's going to be normal. Speaker A: That's what that is. That's already exists. You see the crap that it gets thrown at me, that tana and I have talked about in the kitchen? Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Speaker A: Listening. It's just crazy. : Absolutely. : Yeah. : I'll tell you the story. This is a really wacko story. This goes back to the 80s. Mick Fleetwood was in Australia, and he came in to do an interview, and he was sitting there with a little cassette recorder, recording everything. And after we'd done the interview, I said, were you just getting a copy of the interview? He said, no, I record everything. Every conversation he has. Speaker A: Everything. : So he was an archivist or a librarian type person? Speaker B: Yeah. : No, but when he gets home, he said, when I get home, I'd like to sit in the house and listen back to all the cassettes. Speaker A: He's got time for that. : And I'm like, fleetwood, I suppose, but I think there were a few things they did in the 70s. It's obviously come back to haunt him, I reckon. Speaker A: I reckon. : Absolutely. : Either that he was just very proud of himself and just really wanted to hear what he had to say. : It was so bizarre. : Yeah. In the same way, I'll watch our show occasionally or listen to the show. It's just a different experience to hear back what you were saying on the show, and I might pick up something you said that I didn't notice. You might edit and listen, and it's a different format than the way we did it, but at this point, I'm looking at, and I know we've gone off topic from Podfest to AI again, because this is the way the show goes, but it's like, I want to make sure I have my ip in my chat bot before somebody else does. I can't stop somebody from taking all my YouTube videos and putting it in their chat bot, but at least I can have mine and have it in my. Speaker B: I think you should be able to. : Stop somebody from taking all your YouTube videos and putting it in their chat. : Well, I could go into YouTube tomorrow and just say, these are all unlisted and they're gone. : No, I know that. But even though you have your stuff up there on a platform where it's basically monetized, and that's one thing that you should be allowed to do, having someone ingest it. It's like, still your ownership. They can ingest it, but they can't turn around a commercial chat bot. Speaker A: Well, I can. : Well, yeah, this is why New York Times is suing chat GBT, right? That's literally how the year started out. That news story came out and I was, hmm, I can't afford to sue anybody. That's never going to happen. But the least I could do is at least have my chat bot and at least put it out there before somebody else does and market it. I figured that's the best that I can do. I can't stop anybody from stealing my content. There's unscrupulous people in the voiceover world who would do that for sure. People that are just trying to make a buck and have content on their website. And people do it all the time anyway, just not to the scale of a chat bot. But that's going to be the thing of 2024 is making. : So what there's going to be, at some point, there's going to be lawyers or just like, for instance, we had a film, a commercial, and the producer was telling us that Ford sued the company. And it was like, why? Well, it turns out it wasn't really Ford. So essentially what they got sued for is the commercial had a cop in it and the cop was sitting in it. Crown Victoria. Because that's like your cliche cop car, right? So next thing you know, Ford gets a letter from some lawyer that just says, I can get you $200,000 signed here, Ford Ce, not CEO, some lower, who knows who signs it. Next thing you know, the lawyer now has Ford behind him and he goes and sues the director or the production company of the car for not getting a license to use their likeness of a car because it's so associated with police, and they extract $200,000 out of them. Speaker B: Wow. : So same thing. Some lawyer, some company is going to be there and they're just going to go through and be like, oh, crap. I can tell where this chat Bot has been trained, going to reach out to all the people that trained it. : We're also going to be replacing the lawyers with AI with a chat bot. : Yeah, it'll be a chat bot. That's exactly right. There's going to be a chat bot that's going to go see where other chat bots were trained, and then when it catches them, it's going to go send a letter of cease and desist, and you're going to be like, untrain your chat bot, which I don't even know if you can do. : Oh yeah, yes you can. I can go into mine at any time and just say, take that out of the database and it's gone. I can put an entire YouTube channel in my thing and go, I've done it. I put a whole YouTube channel in my chat bot. I didn't like some of the answers it was giving and I just took it back out. : Okay, so, so basically you'll get a cease and desist letter like that. Like remove this content from your chat bot. : That's probably what's going to happen. So you listen to the show and we will dribble on into AI land. : With no matter what the topic is. : That'S where we're all going. : Yes, it is true. : The next stop is the outro. Speaker B: Well, that was fun. Is it over? Speaker C: The pro audio suite with thanks to Triboof and austrian audio recorded using SourceConnect, edited by Andrew Peters and mixed by Voodoo Radio Imaging with tech support from George the tech Wittam. Don't forget to subscribe to the show and join in the conversation on our Facebook group. To leave a comment, suggest a topic, or just say g'day. Drop us a note at our website. : The pro audio suite.com. Close.
VO Atlanta is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! And if it is your FIRST TIME I have some advice for you from someone headed down for year THREE... and it may also help those who went before but felt OVERWHELMED by it all. Let's get to Atlanta and NETWORK and HAVE FUN!!!
In our chat with J. Michael Collins, he emphasizes the importance of using voiceover sites wisely and not overspending on memberships. He also highlights the significance of having a strong marketing game and reaching out to clients on a regular basis. He also talks about the benefits of search engine optimization for visibility and attracting clients. JMC emphasizes the importance of networking and building relationships in the industry. Finally, he provides some insights into what can be expected at VO Atlanta 2024. JMC Demos: https://www.jmcvoiceover.com/demo-production _____________________________ ▶️ Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/xp6c7Wy1TKA SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@vo-pro?sub_confirmation=1 The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://vopro.pro/vo-freedom-master-plan The VO Pro Community: https://vopro.app Use code You15Tube for 15% off of your membership for life. The VO Pro Podcast: https://vopro.pro/podcast 7 Steps to Starting and Developing a Career in Voiceover: https://welcome.vopro.pro/7-steps-yt Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://vopro.pro/move-touch-inspire-youtube Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vofreedom The VO Pro Shop: https://vopro.pro/shop Say Hi on Social: https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro https://www.instagram.com/paulschmidtvo https://www.clubhouse.com/@paulschmidtvo https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/ My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission.): Recommended Book List with Links: https://amzn.to/3H9sBOO Gear I Use with Links: https://amzn.to/3V4d3kZ As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro
Last year we started our Voice Over Conference Calendar here on the channel and it was a hit. I got a lot of feedback, comments on the video last year, and the video and downloadable conference calendar were both well received. So we're back this year with my 2024 Voice Over Conference Calendar. Again, this list is not meant to be exhaustive or definitive or comprehensive. This is simply my list of conferences I believe you should consider if you're putting together your plan for conferences for the 2024 year. Download the Calendar here: https://welcome.vopro.pro/conference-calendar-2024 APAC: https://audiopub.org/apa-conference VO Atlanta: https://votlanta.me VO Atlanta Spanish Track: https://www.voatlanta.me/voa2024/SpanishSpeakers VOcation and eVOcation: https://vocationconference.com One Voice UK and USA: https://onevoiceconference.com MAVO: https://www.midatlanticvo.com/ That's Voiceover: https://sovas.org The VO Breakfast Show: https://podbay.fm/p/the-vo-breakfast-show _____________________________ ▶️ Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/mR1wCMAe5tI SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@paulschmidtpro?sub_confirmation=1 The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://vopro.pro/vo-freedom-master-plan The VO Pro Community: https://vopro.app Use code You15Tube for 15% off of your membership for life. The VO Pro Podcast: https://vopro.pro/podcast 7 Steps to Starting and Developing a Career in Voiceover: https://welcome.vopro.pro/7-steps-yt Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://vopro.pro/move-touch-inspire-youtube Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vofreedom The VO Pro Shop: https://vopro.pro/shop Say Hi on Social: https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro https://www.instagram.com/paulschmidtvo https://www.clubhouse.com/@paulschmidtvo https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/ My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission.): Recommended Book List with Links: https://amzn.to/3H9sBOO Gear I Use with Links: https://amzn.to/3V4d3kZ As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro
My guest today can probably best be described as a force. When she's in the room, you know it. She is a successful voice actor. She helps people with branding and Linkedin and networking. And most impressively, she is what I call a moonshot taker. Please welcome to the podcast, my dear friend and work wife, Naked Jen Greenfield. _____________________________ SUBSCRIBE TO THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/@paulschmidtpro?sub_confirmation=1 The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://paulschmidtpro.com/vo-freedom-master-plan The VO Pro Community: https://vopro.app Use code You15Tube for 15% OFF your subscription for life. My Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://paulschmidtpro.com/move-touch-inspire-youtube Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vofreedom 7 Steps to Staring and Developing a Career in Voiceover: https://members.paulschmidtpro.com/7-steps-yt The VO Pro Shop: https://paulschmidtpro.com/pro-shop Say Hi on Social: https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro https://www.instagram.com/paulschmidtvo https://www.clubhouse.com/@paulschmidtvo https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/ My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission.): Recommended Book List with Links: https://amzn.to/3H9sBOO Gear I Use with Links: https://amzn.to/3V4d3kZ As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro
I've been getting a little discouraged lately about the voiceover business. We are hearing stories of lots of people potentially being allegedly hornswoggled by a particular coach. People are making up Zoom calls with celebrities that probably didn't happen. There's La Niña and war and unrest on the world stage and I'm feeling it all heavier in a way that I probably haven't since maybe 2016. So when that happens, one of the best strategies I've found to manage it myself is to go hard in the paint on my gratitude practice. Consistently practicing gratitude does a world of good for my mental well-being. It boosts my overall mood, it lowers my anxiety and my depression. And it's not just about feeling good. It improves my relationships, my sleep. It's good for the immune system. Lots of good stuff there. So, as we head into Thanksgiving week here in the States, I thought it would be a great time to remind myself and count down the top five things I'm grateful for in the voiceover business. _____________________________ ▶️ Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/1XZiR_bamBI?si=hJRUUIKynikzpvce SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@paulschmidtpro?sub_confirmation=1 DONATE TO NAVA: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=D4XNMT9WN46NW JOIN NAVA: https://navavoices.org/membership/ The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://paulschmidtpro.com/vo-freedom-master-plan The VO Pro Community: https://vopro.app Use code You15Tube for 15% your subscription for life. My Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://paulschmidtpro.com/move-touch-inspire-youtube Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vofreedom 7 Steps to Staring and Developing a Career in Voiceover: https://members.paulschmidtpro.com/7-steps-yt The VO Pro Shop: https://paulschmidtpro.com/pro-shop Say Hi on Social: https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro https://www.instagram.com/paulschmidtvo https://www.clubhouse.com/@paulschmidtvo https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/ My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission.): Recommended Book List with Links: https://amzn.to/3H9sBOO Gear I Use with Links: https://amzn.to/3V4d3kZ As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro
In this episode I had a great chat with the SUPER talented voice actor, coach, director, demo producer, J. Michael Collins. We talked about why he decided to be a Gold Level Sponsor for MAVO2023 this year and how he feels about the event. J. Michael is one of the most talented and kind professionals out there. It's an honor to have him support MAVO! With over twenty-five years as a professional voice actor, J. Michael Collins has worked with some of the biggest companies, brands, sports leagues, and organizations on the planet. In addition to his work in the classic, agency-based world of VO, J. Michael has established himself as a leading authority in the online casting marketplace and has become recognized as an industry leading voice talent coach and demo producer as well. J. Michael has won more than 50 industry awards as a voice actor, demo producer, scriptwriter, and casting director. Along with his wife and business partner Anna, J. Michael is the producer of VO Atlanta, the industry's largest and longest-running conference, co-producer of the One Voice Conference USA, and hosts voice actors each year at luxurious venues in Europe for the signature JMC Euro VO Retreats.For more info about J. Michael or to contact him, visit his website at: J. Michael Collins – Professional Voice Actor, Voiceovers, Demos & Coach (jmcvoiceover.com)"Live with Squacky" is sponsored in part by Mid-Atlantic Voiceover, LLC and Antland Productions. "Live with Squacky" is mixed and mastered by everybody's favorite VO Tech, Uncle Roy Yokelson of Antland Productions. Support the show
In this episode, Anne & Lau delve into the energizing power of generosity + how integrating it into your personal and professional life can be incredibly rewarding. They explore various ways to incorporate acts of kindness into your daily routine, emphasizing that giving doesn't always have to be monetary – it could be a service, a skill, or even just a few minutes of your time each day. They also discuss the importance of giving without seeking recognition, and how simple gestures can strengthen connections and relationships. Listen in as they share their own experiences, provide insights on how businesses can contribute to organizations like 100 Voices Who Care, and inspire you to unleash the transformative impact of giving in your life and the lives of those around you. Transcript It's time to take your business to the next level, the BOSS level! These are the premiere Business Owner Strategies and Successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a BOSS, a VO BOSS! Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. Anne: Hey everyone. Welcome to the VO BOSS podcast and the BOSS Super Power series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and I'm here with ah, the one and only Lau Lapides. Lau: Hey, Anne. Happy Saturday. Anne: Happy Saturday, Lau. How you feeling this Saturday? Lau: Awesome. As always. Excited to be here with you. Anne: Me too. Me too. And you know why? I was gonna tell you before I asked you -- Lau: I have a feeling. Anne: -- do you know why? Lau: I know what's coming up. I think you're gonna talk about giving today, giving, giving. Anne: I am. I wanna talk about giving. Yes. And I've mentioned this before, purpose beyond profit for your businesses. So, I mean, it's awesome to be BOSSes, right? It's awesome to be a business superpower and to be a BOSS. And I think a big part of being a BOSS is also understanding the power and the power and the grace of giving back. And I think that there are a lot of people who, if they had the opportunity, would really get a lot out of giving back. I mean, anybody who's given to a charitable organization knows how good that can feel. And I truly believe that today people want to align themselves with businesses who are about more than just profit. You know? That they stand for something, they believe in something, they do good, they give back. I just think it's a good thing to do in your business. And I know it's hard if we're just starting out, trying to get our careers going. And I know there's a lot of people who are like, well, I don't know if I have the money to be able to donate at this time, but I'm going to ask you guys to think about your purpose. Think about the positive outcomes that can come from giving back. Lau, what are your thoughts about? Lau: I am so into that, and I have to say, this isn't an elitist sort of thought process of, oh, I've made it to this amount of money. I'm grossing in my business, then I can give, or this or that. It really is not contingent upon how much you're taking in or how much you're making. Really, I think the truth is, as a business owner and as a human being, a citizen of the earth, I like to say, you should always take a very small percentage of anything that you're bringing in and give it away to the charity of your choice. And I always say to people who haven't done it yet, who don't know what it is, and it's a little scary to do that, just start really small. Like if you're going through a coffee line, like let's say you're going through the drive-through, pay it forward once a month and just pay for the car behind you, and see what that feels like. What does that do for you for that day? For me, it's very energizing, very inspiring, and very anonymous, which I also like too. It's really coming from the heart, not for recognition. Anne: I actually love that you said that. And there's a couple of different ways when you're giving, and I love the anonymous because I feel like when you're anonymously donating, you're really giving for the reasons coming from your heart. Now, of course, there are a lot of businesses who support different charities or support different organizations, and it becomes a public part of who they are as a business. And I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with that, especially if it's to the point of they're able to contribute, and it's not a thing where it's front and center, where it becomes like, this is who we are and this is what we're doing for so and so. But it becomes just a side part of what they do on a daily basis. And I love that you said start small because it doesn't have to be big. As a matter of fact, Lau, our sponsor 100 Voices Who Care has a really cool idea on how you can give and really make an impact. And basically it's a community effort where you can donate $100 a quarter. So that means $100 a quarter, four times a year, $400 total for the year. And essentially, if you can get 100 people together in that organization, they'll be 100 people, that can be a total of $10,000 a year -- Lau: Ooh, that's a lot Anne: — that can be given away. And so actually that's a large amount. So for you, making your $100 contribution four times a year, and then doing that just minimally, together with however many members that are contributing, can actually make a real difference. And then essentially these members get together, and they do their pitch for their favorite charity, and they say, well, I really like to give to this charity because I feel strongly about how they're helping animals, or they're helping needy people in other countries, or they're -- whatever they might be doing. And you'll be within this group making your pitch. And at the end, everybody votes on what charity that will ultimately win that money. And then what's so great about it is that, even if it doesn't go to the charity of your choice, it's going to a charity. Lau: Exactly. It's giving back to the world, to the people, the animals, the children, the environment, whatever your causes are, it's going in all of those directions. So in essence, you are personally involved with the giving to all of those different worlds. And to me, I'm about to actually join that organization, 100 Voices Who Care, and I'm very excited about that. Because I'll tell you, I'll be perfectly honest, I've been trying to find organizations to work with, and it's so hard to give money. It sounds ridiculous. But it's hard to get people to call you back. It's hard to find point people. It's hard to find anyone who has information about the organization. And I was very relieved to see this particular outfit at our conference recently that we attended. And I was like, wow, this answered all of my prayers as a business and also as a human being. Like, you're gonna take care of a lot of this for me, but I also have a voice and I can pitch an organization that I'm interested in giving a voice to. Anne: It's wonderful. Lau: That's exciting. Anne: And who's leading the organization, who was there at the conference, if you guys were there and didn't get a chance to stop by and see her, is Claire Dinsdale, who is a voice actor herself, and who is fronting that organization to help be able to give to charities. And it's just wonderful because it's something where I wanna feel like I can make a big impact, but I don't necessarily have a lot of money to give. But together we can really make a huge impact. And I think one of the things I thought long ago was the fact that if I was able to have an organization, let's say like my VO Peeps and my VO BOSSes, that now that I've formed this organization, there is this segment of it that I do want to be able to give back if I'm able to give back. And so it's one of the reasons I formed the VO Peeps Scholarship Fund and have been giving scholarships away for, gosh, close to 11 years. And again, it really is a matter of the community because I accept donations from the community as well as in-kind gifts. So it doesn't always have to be money either. It can be your time, it can be coaching time, it can be equipment, it can be all sorts of different things that you can donate that can really mean something to a person's career. And so that became a very integral part of the VO Peeps business model. And so I really encourage all of you BOSSes out there that if it is possible to either join an organization and get that feeling of being able to contribute to that organization, to give back, I truly believe it makes the world go round. Right? I mean… Lau: It's huge. Anne: Even if you're giving anonymously, I think it's just, everything comes back. I believe in good karma. I truly believe that it helps in the growth and positive reinforcement of the world and our humanness to each other. Lau: Hmm. So true. I mean, the karma of that, if you believe in karma, if you believe in that boomerang energy that what you put out into the world will come back to you — I mean, we wouldn't do it for that reason. But I do deeply believe in that. I absolutely believe in that. And I did wanna just give a super quicky anecdote, Anne, about a moment in time that's running through my head right now, where my daughter — and I hope she's not listening because she likes to be anonymous in everything she does — my daughter, about a year ago or two years ago, young kid, she was a young kid, teenager, she saw that one of the customers that came into a store she was working at desperately needed a walker and did not have the funds to get a walker, and was really, really struggling. And on her birthday, I -- this kind of blew me away — on her birthday, on my daughter's birthday, she decided to take the money that we gave her on her birthday and buy her a walker, which was a very expensive walker in the store. Anne: Yeah. Wow. Lau: And give it to her. And her and my son delivered it to their door. And I said, that's amazing. Are you sure you wanna do that? They didn't have any money saved, and that was good money for her to do something with. She said, yeah, I can't think of anything I really want or need, but this woman Sarah, needs to walk. And I would feel better giving it to her. Anne, she did that. Long story short, I was amazed. I'm trying not, not to get verklempt about it. Anne: What a wonderful story. Lau: I drive up the street now, Anne, and I see this woman, she lives in the area, crossing the street with the walker. And every time I see her, I just quietly, she doesn't know me, she doesn't know I'm the the mother. Anne: Yeah. Yeah. Lau: I think my daughter gave her that. Anne: Yeah. Yeah. Lau: And it's not about the walker, it's about freedom. And so I always think it's not about the money. If you give a dollar, if you give a million dollars, it's kind of the same, because symbolically what it's really giving to a person, confidence -- Anne: Sure. Lau: — energy, freedom, all sorts of things that you have to think of it in that way. Don't whittle it down to just monetary. It could be service you do, right? Anne: Absolutely. Lau: It could be absolutely something you own that's precious to you that you give to someone else. It could be anything. Right? Anne: Yeah. I love that story. That's such a beautiful story. Lau: Amazing story, right? Anne: Yeah. Lau: It's amazing. And that taught me a lesson. Anne: Yeah. And there's so much to be said for when you see someone in need, just being able to help them out, what it can do for you internally, mentally. And I think that of course, as we, again, we say over and over and over again, as we run our businesses, I mean, we are all human, and our businesses are very personal. It's a very personal and proud of our brand. So whatever we do outside of our job, right, outside of our business, affects our business in a lot of ways indirectly. And so I think being able to feel good about what you're doing and feeling good — and again, we're always talking about in our business, let's charge what we're worth. And I still believe in that. But I also believe that if you can help another talent out, or if you can help someone else out around you, then that is just going to contribute to the overall good of your business and of you personally. Lau: And I do think some of the best times to give, Anne, are not in dire times. I think we always connote that, oh, if someone's starving or they're in war, whatever, of course they need help in assistance. And of course we should assist them. But it's not the only time. Maybe there's a zoo or an animal farm that needs maintenance, constant daily maintenance to feed the animals, clean the animals, keep them, whatever. Or maybe there's the trees in the forest that need-- you know, we are big in terms of Israeli trees being planted every year. Anne: Sure. Lau: And we give money to plant new trees every year. so that we can grow that new forest. So thinking about what am I doing to maintain, what am I doing to provide a future for populations or for the environment? It's not absolutely only in dire, dire circumstances. Sometimes it's in good circumstances in order to keep it maintained and keep it healthy. Anne: Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think that really it is, it's something that I would say, if you haven't already put it into your business plan or into your daily life, really take some time to consider what can I do? What can I do to help give back? And again, as Lau mentions, it doesn't have to be monetary. I mean, it could be your time, it could be some other service that you can provide. If you don't have the money to donate, it could be your service. And that could mean just as much, if not even more. I mean, be a tutor for a child that might need help reading or there's just so many, so many things that we can do. I have to say, take a part of your workday. I wouldn't feel bad. You know what I mean? If we're busy and we're like, okay, we're focused on our work -- I think you should set aside a part of your workday to consider what am I gonna do to help give back? Maybe even it's something as simple as contributing to, I'm gonna say a Facebook forum in a positive way where you might be helping other talent. Gosh, I know, Lau, this has been going back and forth about people who ask questions in the forums. And some people get really angry about having to answer the same question multiple times. They're trying to pick my brain. And yes, I get that whole thing. But I do believe that as a good service towards people coming into the industry, you can give a little bit and give some helpful advice without sacrificing, giving away the farm. I mean, gosh, the VO BOSS podcast over and over I've said, it was something that I wanted to do to give back to the community, to just have a resource that people could go to. Lau: Exactly. Right. Anne: And so, a lot of my stuff that I do, I have that whole series on teachable moments that I put on YouTube. 'cause I love teaching, I love sharing. And yes, I will be the first person to say that. Yes. Some people, when they come to me for coaching, they say, well, I saw you on your videos, or I listened to your VO BOSS podcast. Gosh, Lau. I'm sure people talk to you about that too. I am so grateful for the people that come to me that say, I listen to your podcast religiously, or thank you for what you're doing. And yes, I wanna work together. So that's the bonus. Lau: I'm blown away. Bonus, bonus, bonus. Anne: That's just a bonus. Yeah. It wasn't the original intent. And I think that that is obvious too. Right? Lau: I'm blown away by that. Yeah. We get comments all the time about this wonderful podcast and it's like, woo! I feel like superheroes, we're spending our time together on a Saturday and doing our thing. But then when you hear and you see how it lands, how it affects people, how it has the potential to change someone's life — well, in essence, I mean, that's giving too. You're not giving physical money, but you're giving time. Time is energy. Time is value. Time is money. Right? And I do wanna mention too, another thing I tend to do, which is hard, I'm not gonna say it's easy. I take as many surveys as I can. And that's the thing that everyone hates and doesn't wanna do. And they get the survey from every hotel and every whatever. And I literally sit there and I think, okay, I have to do this for them. I have to do this. And then if it goes too many windows, too many pages, I can lose my patience. But if it can be done in five minutes, I will do it for them. Because I say, I know they need that feedback, and I'm the person to give it to them in a really constructive way. And that's giving of yourself too. Anne: And you know what? That's so funny cause you just reminded me because of VO Atlanta -- I'm just gonna say VO Atlanta is one example where the staff, I'm going to say the staff just ran their tushes off and bent over backwards trying to help me. And Lau, if you remember, you were a part of that one night when I was starving to death. And so the staff really went above and beyond. And I said to them, give me the email address of your manager. I will write an email saying how wonderful you were for me tonight. Please, I want to do that for you. And I'm -- Lau: I love that. I love that. Anne: — very much willing to do that because it helps. It does. Lau: It totally helps. You don't see it. You don't hear it, but you have to believe it's there. It's like if the tree's falling, do you hear it? Is it happening? Yes, it's happening. Yes, it makes impact. And yes, you don't always need the accolades, you just need the knowledge of knowing it's happening. And I noticed you neglected to mention that I had to threaten the whole staff at that Marriott to get you like some turkey sticks or whatever we got you. And that was my charity for that night. Anne: Yeah, you had to threaten everybody. But the person that came through, the person that came through for me, they bent over backwards. Lau: They did. They sure did. Anne: To help me. Yeah. They really did. Lau: They did. Anne: To get me that turkey sandwich. Lau: They went beyond, they went beyond customer service, beyond hotel service. That happened to me one time up in the Berkshires and it was a hotel, I think it was a Marriott. It was great. It was super great. And I needed baby powder one night. You know, maybe they thought I had a baby, which I didn't, but I needed baby powder. And my husband goes to the front desk and it's like 11 at night. Do you happen to have any baby powder? And the woman who has babies, young children who works at the desks said, we don't sell it here, but hold on, let me run to my car. She runs to her car and gets it from her baby in the car. This is a hotel rep. Anne: Yeah. Lau: And gives it to my husband and said, here, give it to your wife. I know sometimes when you need certain things, it's just good to have them. And I never forgot that. Anne: Yeah. Lau: I never forgot. That was so above and beyond to me. Anne: Yeah. Lau: Was so personal, so personalized -- Anne: Right. Lau: — to do something like that, you know, whether it's shoe polish or a toothbrush, or baby powder, whatever it is, it's the humanness of the connection and relationships we have together. Was that an extreme need for me? No, I could've lived without it. But the humanity of the honest connection between people is what builds the good juju in the world. Not always, here, let me give you physical cash. Let me help you and do something to make your life easier and it'll connect us for a moment. To me, that's worth everything. I love that. I love those moments. Anne: And it makes me think of our clients, right? Lau: Yeah. Anne: Sometimes can we extend a little bit to our clients once in a while? Do you know what I mean? Like if they need a favor or you know, gosh, they need a pickup like yesterday and is it three words, and they're ready and willing and able to pay, and you're like, you know what? No, it's okay. Like you're just building that good relationship. As a matter of fact, I'm the type of person, oh gosh, I don't even charge. I mean, unless they have completely new scripts, I don't charge. I embed in my price, I embed a certain amount of pickups to it. And if it's a company that I've worked with for a while and I've got a good relationship with them, I'm happy to extend a freebie here and there in a pinch for them, absolutely. Because honestly, the time it would take me to draw up the invoice and charge them and worry about all that, just, it wasn't even worth the time. So I do think that also in your businesses, you can extend goodwill towards your clients as well and not be threatened that you're not charging what you're worth. Lau: We used to call that in the olden days, don't nickel and dime people. Anne: Yes. Lau: And that means not just getting the pennies from someone, but also the bother, the energy, the exhaustion, the stress. Anne: Yes. That's what it is. Lau: Everything that surrounds that transaction. And you have to know intuitively, is it worth it quickly to do that or not? Is it better to just say, hey, let's not worry about that right now. Let's worry about the bigger picture right now of things, versus -- Anne: Let me get you your job on time. Yeah. Lau: That's a huge gift. Anne: Let me give this job to you on time. And I think -- yeah, absolutely. And I think that it's something that you can consider every once in a while. Especially if you've developed a great relationship with a client. Now, clients that nickel and dime you, well that's a different story. Lau: That's a different story. Anne: Yeah. That's a different story. So I think we have to make wise decisions, but I think for the most part, if you know your client, you're gonna know what the right decision is. You're gonna know if they're nickel and diming you, but I truly believe that a little goodwill can really, really go a long way. And that's personally in your business all the way around. And so, yeah. I like how you associate it with the stress that's wrapped around the request or the stress that's wrapped around the transaction. And I think alleviating as much stress as possible, I'll tell you that's my goal lately, Lau (laughs). Lau: And that's a great goal to have. Anne: I don't want stress. I don't want stress in my business. Lau: No, no one does. Anne: And I think stress or pain or -- I don't want any of that. I just want joy. I want joy surrounding my job. And sometimes that's tough to do, but I'll tell you what, it's so much easier when you are a BOSS yourself and you're in control of it, because you realize that you have control of those things. You have control over your goodwill towards your clients, your goodwill towards humankind, how you feel on a daily basis and how that translates into your performance, and how it translates into your business. It is absolutely up to you. And it's one of the things that I'm so grateful. I just love the fact that I'm working for myself. And I mentioned this to you just recently, Lau, that I don't wanna go through the stress of if I'm working for someone, why did I work so hard to build my own business? If I wanna experience stress like that? I don't. So anything that causes stress like that, basically I've gotta figure out what I can do to wipe that stress away. Lau: That's right. And to circle that back with that idea of giving -- and by the way, we have a great term. Most people know that I'm Jewish. We have a great Yiddish term called mitzvah. When you do a mitzvah, when a boy or girl turns 13, we have a bar or bat mitzvah. it means they are now an adult, and they really need to start thinking about giving, give, give, give, give back. Don't take, take, take, take, give, give, give, give. And that's the whole purpose of a bar or bat mitzvah. So the mitzvah of the giving is to de-stress, to relax, rejuvenate. Give someone the joy, the pleasure, the peace of mind that what they're doing is a life worth living, is goals worth having, and that you're there in their community to support them. I mean, I'd love to see that in the world at large. We'd have a better world if everyone could think in the way in which you are thinking. And as like, to de-stress someone is to give them a huge gift, whether it's a smile. It could be an emoji. It could even be like -- Anne: A compliment. Lau: A compliment. Like pay attention to someone else for a moment and call attention to something that they're doing really well or something that impresses you or something that delights you. 'Cause a lot of times someone might be thinking it and not articulate it. Anne: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Lau: So kind of motivate yourself to articulate those positives. And when you feel the negatives coming on, and you wanna criticize, and you wanna judge, just stop for a second. Like stop and think and say, do I really need to give that out to this person? Is it really necessary? Yep. Or would it be better to build them up? That's a mitzvah. Anne: Do I need to put that out? Do I need to put that? I love that. Do I need to put that out into the world? Lau: That's better than money. Honestly. Sometimes that's better than money to say, I recognize you, you matter. You're someone and you're doing something really awesome today. Thanks for doing that. Ooh. Oh my gosh. No one ever, no one tells me that. You need to tell people that. Anne: And I say, bring that into the booth. We'll just keep going. Lau, every time you mention something that's great. Now I'm like, (laughs). Okay, so, so can we bring that feeling into the booth? And I'm always talking to my students and I've found, I say it more and more is that copy, you need to serve the copy. You need to serve the person you're speaking to. Your delivery needs to come from the heart. It needs to come from a place of service. It's not about how good you sound doing it. It's a place of service. You're helping someone. And I think if you can take any script that you're doing, commercial, corporate, medical, whatever that is, and you have that place of service, that place of heart where what you are saying is going to benefit and help someone in the end, I really believe that that can be a major impact on your performance. And a good one, a good one at that. Because I believe that the connection that is formed when it comes from that place, right, that place in you really makes a difference in the read. It makes difference on the people listening to it as well. Lau: I just know personally for myself, when I'm able to give something whatever form it's in, I feel so good. Like right now, I just got a little hot in my like skin and I thought, ooh, am I having a hot flash? No, it's, I'm thinking with about all the ways in which we give, and I'm literally sweating right now because it's so fun to me, it's so exciting because it's not just about giving, it's about seeing how it ripples into the world and into their universe and ultimately your universe too is like seeing the water. Like when you throw the stone, it's the ripple effect of giving. Anne: Absolutely. Lau: I love that. That's so cool. To me, it's like a little artistic venture. You don't know where it's gonna go and how it's gonna land, but you just know you threw the rock out there, and you got the ripples going. And so it kind of got me all hot and bothered. (laughs) Fun stuff. Anne: What a great conversation. What a wonderful — so yeah. BOSSes, one more time, we're gonna talk about the 100voiceswhocare.org. Big impact. Simple mission, big impact, 100 Voices, one hour, $10,000 four times a year. So if you wanna find out more about how this all works, make sure you visit 100voiceswhocare.org and find out more. And tell Claire we said hello and we love her, and we love her as a sponsor of this show. So make sure you check out 100voiceswhocare.org. And of course, as always our sponsor ipDTL, we love them. Find out more at ipdtl.com. So everybody, have an amazing week and we'll see you next week, mwah. Love you, BOSSes. Join us next week for another edition of VO BOSS with your host Anne Ganguzza. And take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at voboss.com and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies, and new ways to rock your business like a BOSS. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via ipDTL.
With just about 4 months to go until MAVO2023 on November 10-12, I thought it was about time I shared some exciting info with you guys about this event! OurKeynote Speaker this year is none other than the incomparable Sirena Irwin!Sirena founded her company “Oh, Zeus” after many years of writing, producing,casting, directing and acting in content on various platforms. Her career in animation casting and directing began in 2017 after an 18 yearcareer as an actor in animation and a 2 year mind-melding mentorship fromlegendary animation director, Andrea Romano. She was originally givenopportunities at Dreamworks and Titmouse/Amazon and has since added CartoonNetwork, Warner Brothers and Nickelodeon to the mix. Sirena is consistentlycasting, voice-directing and acting for multiple animated series.She was nominated for an Emmy® for Voice Directing in 2021.You can see content she has directed and/or cast on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu,HBOMax, NBC's Peacock, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network and WarnerBrothers!I've said this before, but what I want to highlight here is that when I choose aKeynote speaker for each MAVO event, there is a lot of research and thought thatgoes into it! To me, the Keynote is where the inspiration for the rest of the eventcomes from! I wanted to have someone in this spot who has experience with boththe acting and the casting side of the industry. I was looking for someone who canoffer valuable insights to our https://www.valkellyvoiceover.com attendees and teach them skills that they can applyto their careers right away to help them book even more work. When I saw thatSirena meets all of those requirements AND has trained with Andrea Romano asher mentor – it was a no brainer! I had to get her to agree!! I had the opportunityto meet and take a class with Andrea Romano before she retired when she wasthe Keynote at VO Atlanta. She's an amazing, powerhouse director and having thechance to work with her was incredibly inspiring. Knowing that Sirena has beenmentored by her, made me want to meet her even more. So, now, here we are afew months away from MAVO2023, and I'm excited to have the chance to chatwith Sirena beforehand, so you guys can get to know her a little bit before theevent in November! This is PART 1 of this episode and Part 2 will be released next week!! For more info about Sirena, visit her website at http://www.sirenairwin.com/or you can follow her on Instagram @sirenairwinFor more info about the MAVO2023 "Get Inspired" VO Conference coming up on November 10-12 at the Westin Dulles Hotel in Herndon, VA, please visit our website at https://www.midatlanticvo.com and to register today visit our Eventbrite page at: MAVO2023 - "Get Inspired" Voiceover Conference November 10-12, 2023 Tickets, Fri, Nov 10, 2023 at 8:00 AM | EventbriteFor the month of July, you can get a $125 discount on General admission tickets if you enter the Promo code: JULY125 at the TOP of the page after you hit the tickets button on Eventbrite! This is for the pay in full option only! The option to pay on a monthly payment plan ends on July 15th. For more info about Val Kelly/Squackyvoice, visit her website at http://www.valkellyvoiceover.com or follow her on Instagram @Midatlanticvo @LivewithSquacky or @squackyvoice."Live with Squacky" was mixed and mastered by everybody's favorite VO tech, "Uncle" Roy Yokelson of "Antland Productions". Support the show
Jozlyn & Angela chat with Tilly Storm, host of the The Multiorgasmic Millionaire Podcast. We start off by chatting about Jozlyn's experience at VO Atlanta and how she has decided to level up her career with the support of her "Manbabe". Jozlyn met our guest while at Podfest conference earlier in the year. For many, their own bodies are a puzzle and feeling fully connected seems like an impossible task. We discuss the importance of feeling comfortable in our bodies and how sexual health can help you achieve that by discovering and truly embodying our truth and take control of our sensual narrative. Learn how to feel empowered by letting yourself feel and handle big emotions and recognizing how they manifest within your body. How do we align our millionaire mindset and our personal needs and desires? Leave Winter behind and walk into the Spring of your life! Tilly has been studying women's bodies and sexuality for over 20 years, first as a pre-med biochemistry major and aspiring OB/GYN, then as a doula and midwife apprentice, and now as a holistic sex and embodiment coach since 2017. She was voted one of the top 20 sex coaches in the world, and helps hundreds of clients step into their feminine and feel amazing in their body and sexuality.https://www.tillystorm.com/5daytraininghttps://www.tillystorm.com/tantric-sex-kithttps://www.tillystorm.com/jade-egg-practicehttps://s.pointerpro.com/pleasureassessmentSupport the showFollow all the Chaos - Website - https://www.keepingupwithchaos.net/ FB - https://www.facebook.com/keepingupwithchaospodcast
Episode numbers DO NOT matter and we don't care.... but we skip to 112 with the AMAZING Alice Everdeen who a few years ago embarked on a dual journey to not only beccome a successful Voice Actor using Fiverr for a springboard but also to live "on the road" in a converted school bus. Just a month or so ago I toured the BEAST while at VO Atlanta where she was a dual presenter and we finally met in person after a few years of online friendship and got to hang out... fish tacos and all.... ughhh! Alice has defied the norm, yet maintained top shelf clients, built a business OFF of Fiverr and continues to share her marketing strategies through her new venture shared at VO Atlanta. So grab a seat on the bus and listen to the journey and get some insight with Alice Everdeen... whether we like it or not, she's made it work for her and has ZERO regrets and is living life to the fullest!
The Party was SLAMMIN' at VO Atlanta this year! Not only was it filled with great company but overflowing with so much POWERFUL KNOWLEDGE from some of the BEST VO coaches and actors in all of the land! The energy is high, the people are one-of-a-kind and the chit-chats are pure gold! So, if you're ready to have some fun and gain some knowledge from this epic party, we are excited to share this moment in time with you, right here on The Middle Class VO Podcast! PARTY GUESTS: Mary Lynn Wissner: https://www.voicesvoicecasting.com/ Dave Walsh: https://www.walshvoiceovercoaching.com/ Scott Parkin: https://www.instagram.com/scottparkinactor/?hl=en Brad Hyland: https://www.americanvoicepower.com/ Tim Friedlander: https://www.timfriedlandervo.com/ **Jas Patrick: https://jaspatrick.com/** Bev Standing: https://www.bevstanding.com/ Scott Brick: https://scottbrick.com/ Steve Henderson: https://goodpipesvo.com/ Suzanne Freeman: https://www.suzannefreemanvoice.com/ Christi Bowen: https://www.christibowen.com/ Rob Reed: https://www.robreedvo.com/ Brigid Reale: https://www.realevoices.com/ Chris Brown YOUR HOSTS: Bobbi Maxwell: https://www.bobbimaxwell.com/ Kevin Kilpatrick: https://kevinkilpatrick.com/ OTHER GOODIES: National Association of Voice Actors: https://navavoices.org/ Gravy For The Brain: https://usa.gravyforthebrain.com/ TN Voiceover Studios: https://www.tnvoiceoverstudios.com/
If you're new to the voice over industry, there's a lot to learn. Luckily there are plenty of resources out there that can help you get your bearings and start building your career. Anne is joined by special guest Tracy Lindley, a voice actor & expert on utilizing LinkedIn as a marketing tool for voice actors. On LinkedIn, it's all about relationships—and not just with other actors. Remember to focus on fostering genuine connections and optimizing your online presence to attract potential clients. With persistence and the right strategies, you'll be well on your way to establishing a thriving career in voice acting. Stay engaged, keep learning, and watch your network—and opportunities—grow. Transcript It's time to take your business to the next level, the BOSS level! These are the premiere Business Owner Strategies and Successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a BOSS, a VO BOSS! Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. Anne: Hey everyone. Welcome to the VO BOSS podcast. I'm your host Anne Ganguzza, and today I'm excited to bring very special guest, Tracy Lindley to the podcast. Hey Tracy. Tracy: Hey Ann. How's it going? Anne: It's going great. So a little bit about Tracy. Tracy's been a full-time voice actor since 2014 -- we are kind of twinsies on that one -- and regularly voices projects for clients like Hewitt Packard, Realtor.com, iHeartRadio, Health.com, and many others. She is a well known expert in the field of LinkedIn and finding clients and is also a mom to four kids, ages 7 to 13, who also do voiceover. And she lives in the Midwest area where it's very cold right now. Tracy: Yes, I'm bundled up in a sweater. Anne: Well, Tracy, I am so excited to finally have you here on the show. I feel like we're like ships that pass in the night because I've been following you for such a long time, and I've seen you at conferences, but we've just kind of like passed each other by. Tracy: I bet I've been following you for longer because I remember when I was first starting out, you had a great interview on VO Buzz Weekly that I watched. Anne: Oh, I remember that. Yeah. Tracy: Yes. It was a wonderful two-part interview and I learned so much, and I was like, man, she is just dropping truth bombs on here. Anne: Well, thank you that I'm very honored about that. My goodness. But you, I mean, my gosh, you are just blazing this path to the stars with your career, and really in the last couple of years, you are absolutely the known person outside of being great in voiceover and talented, but also all about marketing and LinkedIn. And so I'm excited to talk to you about that today, because I was much more involved in LinkedIn a few years back. And then my business kind of, I have separate paths. Now, I'm not as able to keep up as much as I'd like on LinkedIn, so I'm getting ready to learn a whole lot, and BOSSes, I think you're gonna learn a whole lot from this wonderful, wonderful talent here. So let's get going. Before we talk about LinkedIn, tell us a little bit about your journey into voiceover. Tracy: Well, it started out with me just hanging out, washing dishes in my kitchen, listening to VO Buzz Weekly and other great podcasts like VO BOSS, which is on the resource page that I have on my website to recommend to other talent that are learning. Anne: Thank you. Tracy: Because you are always giving us value and you have since the very beginning, and I've learned so much from you. You are a wiz at marketing yourself and a great person just relationally. You know how to connect the dots and how to communicate very well. Anne: Well, thank you for that. Tracy: Oh, well you're welcome. I mean, part of the fun of being on podcasts is getting to tell people how much I enjoy them personally because I'm very relational myself, and I think think that if someone was just starting out in the industry, I feel like the best way to get started is to research. And that's what I tell everybody. Research, research, research. Read the articles, listen to the podcasts, watch the vlogs. Do all of those things. And there are some great paid courses too. I recommend all of that stuff because you can't just learn in bits and pieces so much. Sometimes you need to kind of put it all together, and we all connect those dots as we're going along in our journey. But I can't remember now what your original question is. Oh my. My journey. Anne: Your journey. Yes. Your journey. Because you've been doing this a long time. I think we started around the same time actually, and I was working part-time for a little bit before I went into it full-time. Were you always in it full-time or did you? Tracy: No. Anne: Okay. So you started part-time. Tracy: I was a claims adjuster for an auto insurance company. And I know you were, from your story, you were working on installing telephone systems, right? Anne: Yep, absolutely. Tracy: And that's how you got your start was hey, they needed a voice to be on the systems. And for me, I have a communication degree, and when I was in college, I had an internship at a cable company and one day the producer just handed me a piece of paper and was like, hey, you have a nice voice. Will you read this? I'm like, okay, sure. . So I read it, I get in there, it's no more than a small closet with foam in it in a microphone, right? So it's nothing fancy. So I go in there and I read it, and I just found that I have this natural sense of timing. I knew what 30 seconds should be. And that goes back even further to me just reading out loud to kids at the library when I was like 12, 13, 14. I just volunteered my time, and I was always like the babysitter that everybody wanted to come and hang out with their kids. So I have read to kids out loud several years of my life and still love reading out loud to my own kids. Reading out loud is such a skill that we don't realize we need to develop. Because when we're reading a book, you know, we're not gonna typically read out loud to ourselves. So sometimes it feels weird and it feels strange, but that's one of the best skills that we can learn when we're getting into into the industry. Anne: Oh yeah. That's like cold reading skills right there. And I remember myself as a youngster, I would always be that person that would raise the hand -- who wants to read out loud for the class? Tracy: Yes. Anne: Me. And I wrote books too when I was really young. When I was in kindergarten, I learned to write, and I started to write books and I read them to the first graders, and it was all about Nibbles the Bunny. But I think that maybe that was so long ago though. Tracy: Okay. I feel like -- Anne: That was like my start . Tracy: -- we have got to publish these books. The world needs to see Nibbles the Bunny. Anne: I'm telling you -- Tracy: Have you considered that? Anne: ? I wish. I wish that I had a picture of it or a record of what it was that I wrote, but I vividly remember drawing the bunny. I illustrated too. And then I wrote the books, and I was so proud to read them, and all of my career, and I know yours too, I think a lot of voice actors when they get into it, they're good cold readers, or they've always been like excited to read or perform in front of an audience. And it's wonderful for your cold reading skills. And then I think what happens is, as we really get into the acting of voiceover, then it becomes something where you don't wanna use that as a crutch. You wanna use it to get yourself to quickly get into the story, but then you need to act. And then if you're reading too much and then it's gonna sound like you're reading too much, but I digress. But I think it's a wonderful skill that everybody needs in order to just, you know, be quick on their feet. Once you get those script changes that come in like at the last minute, you've gotta be able to do a quick cold read and understand and comprehend that story so that you can then tell it back while you're voicing it. Tracy: Yeah. Yeah. And it's really important to have that -- that child doesn't have those inhibitions that we do as adults. So I feel like if we could just tap into our inner child, we wouldn't be scared of it, you know, because we can all get performance anxiety, especially the more and more and more people come into the room to listen to us perform, it just becomes so scary. So it really all comes down to just reading out loud, having fun with it, telling a story. That's what we're here for. Anne: Absolutely. Now this is a little earlier than I was gonna get into it, but you're a mom of four kids, so big family. I'm also one of four in the family. Actually through the pandemic I became one of six and that's just a whole 'notherpodcast where I found out I had a brother and a sister, which is a wonderful thing. But I loved being a family where we're close in age. Tell me about your family, 'cause they're also doing voiceover, and I love how you just talked about how we need to be kids, we need to feel uninhibited. And so do you work with your kids and then also learn from them as well or be reminded of that as well? Tracy: Oh gosh, I'm always learning lessons from them. And a lot of those lessons involve being patient and being a good communicator, breaking down what I need from you and saying it nicely. . Anne: Oh yeah. And hey, that works in marketing too, right? . Tracy: Yeah, that's true. I mean direct communication, but doing it kindly is I think a big key to marketing effectively. Anne: Yeah. Tracy: But my kids are always teaching me stuff. Like last night, my daughter, she's nine, she's the middle daughter'cause I have a son and then three girls. Anne: Okay. Tracy: So the middle daughter is right in that sweet spot. You see a lot of auditions that come through 8 to 10, 8 to 10. So she's right there. She's also recently started taking vocal lessons. They do coach as well. Martha Khan is an excellent teacher for kids. Love her, my kids love her. But my daughters, all four of the kids actually take piano lessons, so -- Anne: I did too. Tracy: Oh yes. It's great. We need that musicality. Anne: It's so wonderful. Yes, absolutely. And I use that musicality when I coach as well because there's a melody to conversation. There's a melody in which most people are trying to achieve that natural, conversational, authentic, and there's a melody to it, believe it or not, if you break it down, so. Tracy: Were you a vocalist as well? Or are you still? Anne: Yeah, I mean I don't sing professionally, but you know, I sing in the shower, but for the longest time I was in choir for all four years of high school and went to the all-states and the all-counties and absolutely. I still love, love to sing. And it is something that, and playing piano, understanding where your notes are and being able to read music, it greatly helped breaking down the performance of a conversation. And so yeah. It's the basis of how I teach a lot actually. 'cause there's a lot of people who are musical that come into this industry. So piano's wonderful. Tracy: Yeah, they really have an advantage. I took lessons, uh, piano lessons for seven years as well. And I definitely see a lot of legato, staccato. Anne: Yes. Tracy: Those are pretty big themes in what we do. Anne: Yeah. Tracy: And also understanding how to translate what the client is saying. I actually see sort of musically in my head. Anne: Oh yeah, there's a rhythm. There's definitely a rhythm to it and a beat. And also the emotional part of it too, right, the emotion that gets put into it and the passion that gets put into it. Words are notes and really it's phrasing is very similar, right? We don't breathe in the middle of our phrases when we talk. It's not like I'm going to talk to you like this. You know, , it's, yeah. There's just a whole composition to it and, and I believe in my demo production too, it's a storyline from beginning to end. So it's amazing how much music plays into, at least how I identify and can work within voiceover and also coach it. Tracy: Yes. Imagination too. We've got to again tap into that inner child where we're able to let ourselves go into the story and become the character. Anne: Oh yes. Tracy: My daughter and I both have -- my older daughter, my 11-year-old, she loves like fairy tales, princess stories, anything that involves, you know, that kind of fantasy world. And right now I cannot get her nose out of this book that she's reading. It's the Ella Enchanted author. I can't remember -- her last name is Levine. Anyway, caught her reading by the light of the nightlight last night when she's supposed to be sleeping. But that kind of joy for the story Yeah. Is what we need as adults. And that's another thing that I was talking to my daughter last night with the auditions is that --'cause they needed her to do some giggles. And sometimes it's hard to get kids to laugh on command, and I'll tickle 'emand I'll do whatever I need to, but I'm just like, pretend you're having fun with your friends. I want you to think about the best day. I want you to think about when you do your gymnastics and you just, you love life and let it bubble up and come out of you. So she's still working on that. She's a little nervous in front of the mic still. But it's all part of the journey. So I do learn a ton from my kids. That's a great question that I don't think everyone's ever really asked me before. Anne: Oh, and you know what's so funny is that when I was teaching, of course I worked in high school, I learned so much, probably more from the kids than they might've learned from me. I mean, my hope was to inspire and motivate them, but boy did I learn a whole lot from them. It's why I coach today because I really feel that give and take, and I can completely understand when you're working with your children. Like it's such a wonderful give and take when you're experiencing that together, and you're learning together and you're guiding her and hopefully getting her super excited to just excel at voiceover, and so great for you. Now how do you find the time? There's the, the question probably everybody asks you, because I was part of a four child family and I know how busy my mom was. She was constantly carting me everywhere to my piano lessons or whatever that was. I also rode horses, but it was a crazy busy time for my mom. So how do you do it all? Tracy: I just really think time management's important, but also just understanding boundaries. I have worked for many years without my kids being away and with having really limited childcare hours. Because I love my kids and I want to spend time with them. So everything I teach, I say do it in the cracks of life. There's always little windows and bits, and if you can take that, you can actually concentrate it and do more in that time. I've found that since my kids, all four of them, are in school full-time, I have to really reign myself in and plan my day more consecutively to where I'm using it more effectively. Because when I just had two hours and a day to work during nap time, boy, I really hustled. And I really focused on marketing on LinkedIn. That was the thing that I needed to do. I have not enjoyed endless auditioning. That's not something that really floats my boat. I don't love it. Anne: I don't either. Tracy: I do auditions. Yeah. And actually, actually I joined Bodalgo. Anne: Did I say that? Yeah. Don't either. Tracy: We have to do what we have to do. Anne: I know. Tracy: But I don't hardly audition on Voice123 because there's just so many and there's so many people. But I do love of course agents, I will audition everything that I feel is appropriate -- Anne: Yes. Absolutely. Tracy: -- for my -- absolutely. So agents, current clients that maybe they need three choices to send to their end person. Yeah. Or some of the different production houses that I'm part of, they'll need auditions and Bodalgo. But really that's it. Most of the time it's directly communicating with the client 'cause that is where I really enjoy. Anne: Yeah, I love that. And you know, that's so interesting 'cause I feel that we're kind of like soul sisters in that area because right now, the way that I have -- I'm doing a lot of things. I mean, I'm doing this podcast, I'm doing a VO Peeps group and I also coach and I do voiceover, so I don't have a ton of time to devote to auditioning. And so for me it was more about the direct marketing. One of the things that I developed because I didn't have a ton of time, was the BOSS Blast, which was a direct marketing to a list. And that makes total sense that for you, you would go and use LinkedIn or use whatever social platform that worked for you to get those jobs directly because that kind of bypasses a lot of times the need for an audition. And also I, I would imagine, I'm gonna talk to you about that, like what search engine optimization has to do in LinkedIn that helps you get found, and people maybe reach out to you, and then if they hear your demo or you've got samples up there, I would imagine that then they just say, have an inquiry and say how much would it cost to do this? And for me that's the time saver where I don't have to audition. And it's not that I won't audition, but it's just that I don't have a ton of time. So I had to get more efficient at my marketing. So then let's talk about LinkedIn. Now, why LinkedIn, first of all for you and not some other social platform? Tracy: Well, I mean the other ones are fun, but when people think about business, they think about LinkedIn. It is the number one most widely used business social media platform. So naturally that's where I was gonna go because I'm not interested in getting followers and being popular online. I'm just here to build those business relationships and grow my business. And I did it. I mean, I would market to as many people as I could. My goal was 20 people per day, new people that I would reach out to. As a young person in my career as a young mom of little kids, I knew my time was limited, so that's where I focused. I said I'm gonna market to 20 people per day. And I kept like a little, just a paper, like a written, handwritten notebook where I would write down names and dates, and then I would, you know, make a note back if someone contacted me back. But it was just a visual tool to show me that I had actually accomplished something that day. And now I have a resource in my LinkedIn marketing course, the VO Edge, that's called Five Daily Reach Outs. Because 20 is a lot, and I realize that's a lot. So, but five, anybody can do five. And that's why over the years I've learned from people like you, people like Natasha Marcheska, people that know how to break a big task into little tasks. If you do that, you can accomplish so much more because you're not gonna get discouraged. And to have a plan. I guarantee that you don't wake up wondering, I wonder what I'm gonna do today. You know what you're doing because you are super organized. Anne: Well, I think you have to be, right? And especially for us to be successful and to continue to grow in our businesses. I mean we have to be, because we've got a lot of things that we're doing. I mean, you're a mom of four, you're a voice talent, you're running a online -- is it an online course and is it live as well? Tracy: No, it's just online. Anne: That's a lot -- okay. Tracy: It's online only. And I did that to save myself time. I really put a lot of thought into planning out the different modules and lessons and I tightly edited them so there's no wasted time because I don't like my time to be wasted. And I didn't wanna do that to anybody else. So it's about two hours of content overall. And I also do like a little introductory pump up video to kind of get people excited and motivated to do that module and that lesson. But yeah, it's totally, anybody can do it in their own time. It's on demand, and you can go revisit it anytime. It's all videos and there's some downloads too. Anne: And I imagine 'cause creating curriculum, of course being an educator, right, for the longest time, I mean, it takes time to create good content. So for you to keep that up to date and keep that as a successful online course, congratulations. First of all, I know how much time that takes and how much effort it takes to get really good content and a really good course online that people can really get value out of. Now do you do any special coaching? I'm sure people are coming up to you and go, please, can you just help me with my profile, or do you do any type of individual coaching as well? Tracy: Yeah. I'll do one-on-one and so I'll do like a private consulting session for an hour, and we'll go over, typically we'll start with the profile. And I always ask, Hey, please send me any questions in advance, the things you really wanna know because I'm not gonna waste your time and we're gonna go quickly during this hour. Anne: Good. Tracy: But I don't do a ton of that because the course is so comprehensive that most people get their questions answered through that. Anne: Awesome. Tracy: And I really do direct them towards the course because then it doesn't take up my time. Anne: Right. Tracy: But I love working with people as you know, it's so much more fun to get to know people individually during that hour. So I mean, I made a friend by the end of the hour and I love that. Anne: Yeah. It is. The only thing is, is that as you keep trying to -- and for me, I'm, I'm very business minded, right? And for me, if I'm not growing then I'm stagnating and that's not necessarily where I wanna be. And so personally in my business, I'm always looking to grow in one way or another. And so every week, every month, every year, I'm looking at how can I grow my business? And so your personal time is probably the most precious time that you have. And so for example, I can't coach any more people. I cannot do any more one-on-ones because I'm one person, and I simply don't have the hours in the day to do everything that I wanna do. So it is important to be efficient. So let's talk a little bit more about the LinkedIn. You're using the free version of LinkedIn, right? Tracy: Right. I've never done the premium. Anne: Okay. You've never even tried it? Tracy: No. Anne: Okay. Tracy: It's just so robust, I don't need it. Anne: Okay. Tracy: You do get limited on the number of connections, but what I've taught people is that you can put your searches in and then bookmark it. And that way you can just keep going back to that page, and it doesn't keep ding you for additional searches. Anne: Oh, got it. Tracy: So that's a big secret that a lot of people. Anne: We can go home now. That's it. That's a . That's it. That's the nugget. Tracy: But I mean, what you mentioned earlier about optimizing the SEO, so let's talk about that. Anne: Yes. Tracy: That is one of the key things. And you're great at that on your website. I know that. Anne: Oh, thank you. Tracy: Well, you come from a tech -- Anne: It's lot of work. Yeah. Tracy: -- background. Yes. Yes. And it's additional content. Anne: But it's worthy. Tracy: Yes. Anne: It's definitely worth it to spend the time on the content because it brings people to your site. And I imagine people on LinkedIn searching for voiceover talent, like you want them to reach your profile. Tracy: Right. Anne: So yeah, let's talk about what do you do to enhance your SEO for that? Tracy: Well, so there are three steps in what I teach with LinkedIn. And the first step is optimizing your profile. So that's where you must start. Do not start reaching out to people if you haven't completely shined up your profile and made it the best it can be. So obviously that would be the base step in step one. So step one involves just putting yourself forward authentically. One of the things that I really harp on is how there's so much inauthentic, spammy marketing, and you can stand out by being authentic. I consider my life messy. People know that I have four kids and I don't hide it. I put all over my Instagram, I just posted one recently about going Christmas shopping with the kids, and it was just, I did not wanna go. It starts off with me making a face, you know, like I don't wanna do this. And I used like the circus theme because sometimes that's how I feel like I live in a circus. So I allow people to get a glimpse into my messiness. And I feel like that's actually been a boost to my brand, because I'm relatable and we all have messes. So why pretend to be perfect? So when you create your profile, though, you are your most businessy self on LinkedIn. So I'm not nearly as messy there. I will be all kinds of messy on Instagram and Facebook. But here on LinkedIn we're a little bit more put together. We wanna make sure that people know we can handle the work. We're not gonna flake, we're dependable. So key words that emphasize those kinds of business ethics are key. And also speaking from a one-on-one perspective, don't make it sound like, Tracy Lindley is a full-time voice actor, that kind of thing. You wanna say I am. So you're speaking to the first person. I tell people to look at it as if you were at a networking event and you're meeting someone for the first time and they say, what do you do? So you've got a big picture back here where you're giving an overall view of who you are, 'cause they asked, and if they're visiting your profile, that's kind of like asking what do you do? Let me get to know you a bit. And then when you get down to the experience section about being a voice talent, then that's when you get into more of the nitty gritty like clients, agents, those kinds of things. Anne: Do you put examples and demos on there as well in your profile? Tracy: Oh yeah. That's key. Anne: Media? Tracy: I mean, why would you wanna hire somebody that doesn't have any examples at all of their work? Anne: Right. Tracy: And don't make 'em go looking on your website. That wastes their time. Everything that we do needs to be client-centered, and it wastes the client's time to take them to your website or some other source. You should put it right there on LinkedIn. Put all your best examples. And a lot of times people are starting out brand new. Like if you've coached someone and they've just created a demo, and they have no body of work, they can take that demo that you've created with them and turn it into a video and display that on LinkedIn. Anne: Videos are effective. Tracy: Yes. And you can't really do an MP3 on LinkedIn. You have to do some sort of video. So sometimes people do SoundCloud, but I don't find that very effective 'cause it's just a static picture. And I think even a very simple video is fine. Some people do make it look like all these clips of commercials, which is really cool, but it's also costly. And if people are bootstrapping their business at the beginning, it's really easy to create a very simple video with your picture and just a few things, contact information on the back. Contact information is huge because that's our call to action is contact me. Anne: What about your feed on LinkedIn? Are you posting to the feed on LinkedIn? Are you creating content? Because I know a big thing, gosh, a couple years ago when I was looking back into it was creating content and posts like short blog posts in LinkedIn. Is that still, is that effective? Is that, what are your thoughts on that? Tracy: You know, video's really taken over. Blogs are still fantastic and also they can link back to your website, which boosts your SEO, but really video is king right now, and those are the things that are gonna get the most engagement. But you can't just get on camera and talk about nothing. You have to give people something of value. And you have to to keep it short. So when I post videos, I try to keep 'em less than two minutes, 90 seconds if I can. You know, it just depends. I'll do it in one, two, no more than three takes. And if I can't get it in three takes, just forget it. I'll come back later. Because mm-hmm. I want it fresh, I want it off the cuff. Anne: Yeah. I agree. Tracy: I want it to be as authentic as possible. Anne: Yeah, I agree. And so the big question is, and I know most of, a lot of students will, well what do I post? Or what do I talk about? Like what do you talk about? Do you talk about voiceover? I don't think the intent is to do a hard sell on hire me, I do voiceover. What are your thoughts on creative videos that would bring value? Tracy: Well, I'd say touch on things that make us human, touch on things that make us a business person. So one of the best videos I ever did was talking about how I am extra, and at my kids's school I was doing the announcing for the volleyball game, and I was told after that, hey, you know, you don't need to commentate so much about the volleyball game, you know, just do the sponsors and say something at the end of the match. Okay. But I didn't, I just would say something after like every point. I think it did get a little annoying. I did learn from that, but my point was I just couldn't sit there with this microphone and not say things. So I just realized I am extra and I made a little video out of that and about rejoicing in being extra. And so -- Anne: I love that. Tracy: Yes. So many people relate to that. And that kind of thing that brings us together as humans. it makes us who we are. And I was the kind of girl that went door to door selling cookies in the neighborhood and asking if I could rake your leaves and things. I've always been a go-getter and I know you are too, Anne. And when you're a go-getter in this industry, you can't just sit back and do the minimum. Anne: Yeah. Agreed. Tracy: That was my video. Anne: Agreed. Well, I love that. So now outside of LinkedIn, right, and of course BOSSes out there, I totally encourage all of you just go take the course, just do it. LinkedIn is just one of the best resources for getting work that I can think of. I guess my last question before I ask you, the big question, which is I will get to that, is let's talk about templates or how do you reach out to somebody in a cold contact? I feel like cold contacting people is difficult. That I know. And so how do you wrangle that in reaching out and not being considered spammy? Is there a tip or two or three that you have in reaching out to people? Tracy: Sure. My biggest tip is to look for anything that you can use to find common ground. So when people are just starting out using LinkedIn, one of the best ways to reach out is by geographic area. So you could reach out to folks in LA, I can reach out to folks in Kansas City, and that way we have that in common already and we know that. And that's an easy thing to put into the search terms when we're using the search features of LinkedIn is geographical area. So that's one thing. But another thing, I encourage people to look through their profile and find something that they can relate to. Maybe they mention a cat or a dog or kids, or I like to watch the Chiefs, whatever. Find something. If they've written any kind of personal about section, usually you can find something interesting there to comment about. But as far as templates, I am pro templates within reason, I do think that it's good -- if you're gonna kind of write similar things each time, I don't think we need to reinvent the wheel. So I do encourage people to write templates, but personalize like the first sentence and always say that person's correctly spelled name. Anne: Oh yeah. . Absolutely. Tracy: Like I bet people spell your name A-N-N. And you're like, uh... Anne: Yes. All the time. All the time. They do. Tracy: And I always get, yes, T-R-A-C-E-Y is how people end up spelling my name. I'm like, there's no E. . We don't like that. Anne: There's no E. Absolutely. Well, what wonderful advice. Now in addition to LinkedIn, what would be your best business tip for people just getting into the industry on how to establish their business or get work and be successful? Tracy: I would say the best thing is to start local. Start with who you know. I think I'm hearing from your story that people who were your first clients were people you actually knew in your life, and they were in mind too. So when you are truly ready to hang out your open for business sign, which means you've got a great website, you've got a great professionally produced demo, you have enough training to where if someone says, I need this, you can give it to them-- your sound quality has to be top notch, you have to have a low sound floor, no buzzing, no echo, all that stuff, and you know how to use your equipment, including source connect. If you say that you have source connect -- okay. If you have all that stuff, then you are ready to start hanging out your sign and telling people on Facebook and Instagram and whatever that you're doing voiceover. And chances are there's someone in your life who needs voiceover, especially if you have a decent personal social network. And that's kind of how it happened for me was I was personally connected to someone that owned a marketing firm, and he was one of my first clients. My alma mater hired me to do a short documentary. There were some little IVR things that I did, and it just kind of snowballs. Anne: Absolutely. Tracy: Yeah. And then I felt confident. I'm like, okay, I have a little bit of work here that I can showcase. It may not be any brand names that are super sexy, but it's work, and it sounds good and it looks good, so let's put it out there. So that's what I started doing. It builds on each other. Anne: It's amazing how important local can be in establishing relationships. Also, relationships that keep coming back as you nurture it. I have so many repeat clients that I've had for years because like you say, communication is key, and nurturing those relationships are key. And a lot of them started off locally. And I think that that is something people don't think of. And that also locally helps when you're advertising like where you are voicing from, like voicing from Southern California or Orange County, California or Los Angeles area. Even just putting those words on your website help for people to find you because most of the times when people are searching using Google, it's automatically got localization turned on. And so if they're searching for voice talent, it's gonna search locally first. And so you wanna be up at the top of that search. So, great advice, Tracy. I wanna thank you so very much for joining me today. Yay. My bucket list checked off. Tracy: Oh, me too. This is so fun. And I'll see you at VO Atlanta in March. Anne: I know, I'm very excited. How can people get in touch with you and where can they go to get that course again? Tracy: Okay, so my website, if people wanna check out me or my work or whatever, that's tracylindley.com. And the course is @thelinkedinedge.com. Or if you wanna just look at the one for voice actors, it's thevoedge.com and it'll take you right there. Anne: Perfect. Tracy: And I'm happy to answer questions. Contact me on Instagram. My handle is @TracyLindleyVO, pretty much everywhere. Anne: Awesome. Tracy, thank you so much again for joining me. I'm gonna give a great big shout-out to our sponsor, ipDTL. You too can network and connect like a BOSS. Find out more at ipdtl.com. And also, I want you to understand about your chance to use your voice to make an immediate difference in our world and give back to the communities that give to you. Visit 100voiceswhocare.org to commit and find out more. You guys, have an amazing week. Tracy, thank you again, and we'll see you next week. Bye. Tracy: Bye. Join us next week for another edition of VO BOSS with your host Anne Ganguzza. And take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at voBOSS.com and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies, and new ways to rock your business like a BOSS. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via ipDTL.
VOBS TECH TALK #100!! Voice Over Body Shop is THE place for the latest VO Tech and know how! As we celebrate an amazing 100th TECH-TALK episode we run gamut of stuff you need to know , or at least hear about, Like: The new CEntrance PASPort VO Presale starts April 10th, use coupon code “VOBS” Rodecaster Pro II: It's great, but who is it for? Ryan from Rode was a delight to talk with at VO Atlanta. WAVES Audio, everybody calm down, they heard you, perpetual licences are available. Rode NTH-100, a very comfortable acquired taste ATH-M50x-STS headphones test And some Basic Basics - Every room is different. Plus, YOUR submitted questions! Do Not Miss This VOBS! Catch the Replay all week on Facebook, Our website VOBS.TV or listen to the podcast. We love our fans and donors for your continued support. VOBS can't be here without YOU and our other great supporters: Voiceoveressentials.com, VOHeroes.com Sourceelements.com, VoiceOverXtra.com, voiceactor.com And World-Voices.org
This interview really is a gem for anybody approaching the voice over industry, full of captivating points of view, advice and fascinating exchanges, with industry-leading talent, coach, and demo producer J. Michael Collins.He has worked with some of the biggest companies, brands, sports leagues, and organizations on the planet.In this episode, we talked in depth about the evolution of the industry to a place where talents can go out and find their own work, as well as the importance of diversifying, the fledgling market of voice synthesizing and voice models, and the growing diversity and representation in voiceover for Latin American and BIPOC talents, among many other things.J. Michael is a 50-time Voice Arts Award winner as a voice actor, demo producer, scriptwriter, and casting director. Along with his wife and business partner Anna, J. Michael is the director of VO Atlanta, https://www.voatlanta.me/ the industry's largest and longest-running conference, he's also co-producer of the One Voice Conference USA, and a gracious host to a small group of voice actors each year at luxurious venues in Europe for the signature JMC Euro VO Retreats.He also shared with us a little glimpse behind the curtain of these huge conferences, and how they brought back the Hispanic program by integrating the Spanish language content essentially into the main conferences. He also highlighted how we not only learn about our jobs in conferences but most of all, we create tribes and connections within groups of people who then are the ones that hire us and who can become our friends too, which is priceless.If you're interested in coaching and recording a demo with J Michael, contact him at jmcdemos.com or jmcvoiceover.com. He will also be happy to chat with you via email Jmichael@jmcvoiceover.com*Try out Squadcast for seven days at no cost and discover the best way to record your podcast interviews or conduct virtual meetings with the highest sound quality.https://squadcast.fm/?ref=lapizarra*Don't forget to subscribe to La Pizarra and on social media and get access to all of the episodes, download them and share them on social media. Your comments are welcome!** Visit https://www.nickymondellini.com to learn more about the host, actor, and voice talent Nicky Mondellini.Nicky Mondellini is an internationally known actor with more than thirty years in the entertainment industry. Her voice can be heard on national TV commercial campaigns, radio spots, and streaming platforms. She has been the host of La Pizarra since 2020.Her on-camera work includes 14 Mexican soap operas, drama shows, feature films, and short films, as well as musicals and classical theater. She has also hosted daytime TV shows in Mexico and the US.Follow Nicky on:Instagram @nickymondellini Twitter @nicky3ch_nicky Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nickymondellinivoiceover LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/nickymondellinivoiceover
VO Atlanta 2023.... thank you Anna Collins for taking over our SUPERBOWL EVENT and making it truly a year to remember. Today we have snippets from many attendees who came for the first, second or ninth time and their feedback on the changes, excitement and every other emotion that was VO Atlanta. Thanks JMC for the intro anCreators & Guests Troy Holden - Host d to all of you who sent me audio! THIS COMMUNITY ROCKS! See you next year and thanks for being a part of my VO Life!!
What Was VO Atlanta Like? Dan and George made their way to the Peach State to take in the sessions, camaraderie, VO services, new tech and the hoopla of the largest voice over conference on planet earth! We talk with Organizer Anna Collins about what it takes to run an event like this and with George's daughter Elijah who participated in VO Atlanta's unique “Kids Only” VO Track. Plus we show you some of the fun had by all. Catch the Replay all week on Facebook, or listen to the podcast. We love our fans and donors for your continued support. VOBS can't be here without YOU and our other great supporters: Voiceoveressentials.com, VOHeroes.com Sourceelements.com, VoiceOverXtra.com, VOICEACTOR.com And World-Voices.org
VO Atlanta has wrapped up again for another year, and George was there wearing THREE hats, representing George the Tech, Tri Booth, AND The Pro Audio Suites' new interface, the PASport VO. Built by Centrance, but conceptualized by The Pro Audio Suite and YOU. It's the first-ever interface designed exclusively for Voice Artists... Keep an ear out, as we will be launching it shortly with a limited run of 100, and a fairly juicy prize for one lucky VO artist who opts in! A big shout out to our sponsors, Austrian Audio and Tri Booth. Both these companies are providers of QUALITY Audio Gear (we wouldn't partner with them unless they were), so please, if you're in the market for some new kit, do us a solid and check out their products, and be sure to tell em "Robbo, George, Robert, and AP sent you"... As a part of their generous support of our show, Tri Booth is offering $200 off a brand-new booth when you use the code TRIPAP200. So get onto their website now and secure your new booth... https://tribooth.com/ And if you're in the market for a new Mic or killer pair of headphones, check out Austrian Audio. They've got a great range of top-shelf gear.. https://austrian.audio/ We have launched a Patreon page in the hopes of being able to pay someone to help us get the show to more people and in turn help them with the same info we're sharing with you. If you aren't familiar with Patreon, it's an easy way for those interested in our show to get exclusive content and updates before anyone else, along with a whole bunch of other "perks" just by contributing as little as $1 per month. Find out more here.. https://www.patreon.com/proaudiosuite If you haven't filled out our survey on what you'd like to hear on the show, you can do it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZWT5BTD Join our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/proaudiopodcast And the FB Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/357898255543203 For everything else (including joining our mailing list for exclusive previews and other goodies), check out our website https://www.theproaudiosuite.com/ “When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional.” Hunter S Thompson #rode #rodemicrophones
All links - linktr.ee/barbarafaison Week 14 - What New Things Are You Doing? How are you doing? I must say, I was energized and exhausted after last week's VO Atlanta conference where I was in person with over 800 people. That's of a lot of peopling... Yes, I do believe that is a well know made up word. My version of it is... being around people and having to be engaged. In my earlier decades, I loved being out and about so much that I would have changes of clothes in my car and I would be ready for an impromptu salsa dancing outing or meeting up with friends. You might be thinking... Barbara, you are an extrovert. Yes, that can be true and I also have become more of a selectively social extrovert. I found this happening before the pandemic. I enjoy people AND I also enjoy being alone or at home. I call this selective extrovertness, yes, another made up word. we can do that now, it's 2023! I knew I would need to do something to get myself back into balance after 4 days of some serious peopling. So I scheduled my second Float session at True Rest Float Spa. What is a Float Spa? Well, you can find out more here . I am not paid to promote them, I just like trying new things. Imagine being in a pod, that looks like something from outer space or a big white egg, in salt water. The amount of salt and solution allows you to float effortlessly. Inside the pod you can have music pumped in or go for silence (my choice) and you can have a light on or off (my choice) to allow your senses to be deprived of stimulation. My session was for an hour and afterward I was offered tea, water and oxygen (free for the first session, $10 for the second session). Being deprived of all stimulation was what I was looking for, and it was lovely. In December they had a two floats for the price of one special and I went for my first float on December 20th. I know the first time I do something I can be so in my head about what to expect that I may not be fully engaged. I remembered listening to Brene Brown, author and researcher talk about FFT's - Freaking (EFFing) First Times on her podcast, Unlocking Us. She talked about giving ourselves grace when we try new things for the first time. I gave myself grace through the float and I am sure that was I why I got more than one float session. I knew the first time I would REALLY be in my HEAD about what to expect. The second time I was able to relax more in my session. I knew what to expect and was able to be more present. As I floated in the pod, I practiced my breathing and I think I took a nap. It was just what my nervous system needed to reset deeper that just meditation. Will I float again? Possibly. They have packages for you to schedule regular floating sessions if you desire. Last week I knew I needed something to really shift my energy to get back to my regular routines. The float session was just what I needed and I'm grateful to myself for being willing to try new experiences. To see a quick video of my pictures click here. When we do new things our brain becomes stimulated and we can become more creative and less fearful. What's something new you've tried? Let me know by replying here or messaging me on social media. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/barbara-faison/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/barbara-faison/support
We recorded LIVE at the VO Atlanta 2023 Conference in front of a great studio audience! Featuring guest interviews with Lee Goettl, Milena Tinoco, Paul Vinger and Eric Allison. https://www.vometer.com https://www.paulstefano.com http://www.dailyvo.com/ https://www.vocationconference.com/ http://studiobricks.com/ https://www.jmcvoiceover.com/demo-production/ https://www.voiceactorwebsites.com/ https://www.audiopub.org/ https://globalvoiceacademy.com/ https://timpaige.lpages.co/podcast-demos/ https://www.voiceoverxtra.com/ https://www.kaybess.com https://www.vocationconference.com/ https://www.jamiemuffett.com/ https://www.bobbergen.com/ http://www.debbehirata.com/ https://lotasproductions.com/ https://www.vonorth.com/events/v-o-north-2019 https://tracylindley.com/ https://www.voiceoverxtra.com/ https://www.tremosley.com/ https://www.margueritegavin.com http://www.rexanderson.net https://www.soundandfurycasting.com/ https://www.amandarosesmith.com/ https://www.jeffreykafer.com/ https://heathercosta.com/ https://audiobookboom.com/ https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/ https://www.audiobook-voice-over.com/ https://www.avenshore.com/ https://www.highgravityproductions.com/ https://www.romanceaudiobooknarrator.com/ https://www.onevoiceconference.com/ https://www.gravyforthebrain.com https://www.high-score.co.uk/ https://www.natalienaudus.com/ https://www.thedeepvoiceguy.biz/ https://www.ctctalent.com/ http://www.nataliarosminati.com/ https://nadeemkhaled.com/ https://www.marajunot.com/ https://www.ajmckaycreative.com/ https://www.castvoices.com/ http://www.judyscheer.com/ https://www.nataliehitzel.com/ https://www.americanvoicepower.com/home.php https://www.onevoiceconference.com/ https://www.vocationconference.com/ https://ultimatevosurvivor.us.launchpad6.com/TheUltimateVOSurvivor/ https://centrance.com/portcaster/ https://www.vorep.net/ http://www.ariannaratner.com/ https://www.midatlanticvo.com/ https://drdialect.com/ https://www.hillaryhuber.com/ https://www.storylight.net/ https://www.marleyaudio.com/ https://voatlanta.me/ https://en-us.sennheiser.com/ https://www.joelfroomkinaudio.com/ https://voatlanta.me/ https://www.ahabtalent.com/ https://voice123.com/ https://voice123.com/thebooth/how-to-get-into-voice-acting/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=direct&utm_campaign=vog-revamp&utm_content=vo-meter https://voice123.com/thebooth/the-state-of-ai-voices-report/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=direct&utm_campaign=ai-report-21&utm_content=vo-meter https://www.onevoiceconference.com/event/one-voice-conference-usa-2021/ https://www.malonezone.com/ https://www.dareevoiceover.com/ https://www.homevoiceoverstudio.com/ https://www.danlenard.com/ https://www.joannepickard.co.uk/ www.belaircreative.net https://www.anneganguzza.com/ https://www.voboss.com/ https://www.stephanienemethparker.com/ https://www.andiavoiceover.com/ https://www.gregjakegibbins.com/ https://www.noveencrumbie.com/ https://www.michelleleevo.com/ https://landonbeachbooks.com/ https://scottbrick.net/ https://twinflamesstudios.com/ https://danereidmedia.com/ https://www.georgethe.tech
J Michael Collins joins us today, not only to perform a cold read challenge, but to chat about all of the great things happening at VO Atlanta this year! The countdown has begun and we are just weeks away from this epic voiceover conference! Listen for the information and the laughs!! PLUS, find out how JMC responds when social media trolls "THROW SHADE.” If you haven't grabbed your ticket yet, be sure to get it while you can, because you aren't only going to gain knowledge to further your career as a voice actor, but you are going to create memories and relationships that you will cherish for years to come! Not to mention, we are really looking forward to seeing you there!
The biggest event in voiceover is coming up. VO Atlanta 2023, new this year, March 23rd through 26th at the Hilton Atlanta Airport, the traditional venue. But this year, under the new direction of new owners J Michael and Anna Collins. Also, the 10th-Anniversary edition of VO Atlanta. I got a chance to sit down with J Michael this week and talk about the improvements, both in the creature comforts and in the actual meat of the conference, the programming and speakers, what tracks are going to be available this year, and what some of the challenges were to be able to put this year's conference on. This is our interview with J Michael Collins. _____________________________ ▶️ Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/-e-tNQ-pTlg VO Atlanta Website: https://www.voatlanta.me/ SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@paulschmidtpro?sub_confirmation=1 The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://paulschmidtpro.com/vo-freedom-master-plan My Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://paulschmidtpro.com/newsletter The Paul Schmidt Pro Podcast: https://paulschmidtpro.com/the-pro-podcast 7 Steps to Staring and Developing a Career in Voiceover: https://paulschmidtpro.com/7-steps-signup Say Hi on Social: https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro https://www.instagram.com/paulschmidtvo https://www.tiktok.com/@paulschmidtpro https://www.clubhouse.com/@paulschmidtvo https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/ My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission.): For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro Video editing and color correction by my dear friend, Humberto Franco - https://humbertofranco.com/
Julie talks with J. Michael Collins (a.k.a. JMC) about what’s new at VO Atlanta 2023, coming up soon in March. JMC pointed out that some of the “X-Sessions,” which do deep dives into a particular topic, are filling rapidly, and that signing up sooner than later is a good idea. To learn more about VO...
With over twenty-five years as a professional voice actor, J. Michael Collins has worked with some of the biggest companies, brands, sports leagues, and organizations. In addition, J. Michael has established himself as a leading industry authority & demo producer. Along with his wife and business partner Anna, J. Michael is the producer of VO Atlanta, the industry's largest and longest-running conference, co-producer of the One Voice Conference USA, and hosts voice actors each year at luxurious venues in Europe for the signature JMC Euro VO Retreats. Check out our BONUS questions with J MICHAEL on the AVS YOUTUBE CHANNEL where J Michael shares how to get the most out of a VO conference YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/gGPFePt8Rfs LEARN MORE + REGISTER FOR VO ATLANTA HERE: https://www.voatlanta.me/shop/ (Don't miss Mike & Heidi's Breakout Session on creating a sustainable VO Career, Heidi's X-Session where we will create your PERSONAL BRAND KIT, the Atlanta Panel and Julie Shaer and Casey Holloway leading some Kids sessions) CLICK HERE for 15% off a Voice123 Membership ($359 tier and up) - https://bit.ly/3uPpO8i Terms & Conditions - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CcYMkdLxWfbmwbvu-mwaurLNtWYVpIBgkJpOQTYLDwc/edit?usp=sharing Follow Atlanta Voiceover Studio Here: facebook.com/atlantavoiceoverstudio instagram.com/atlantavoiceoverstudio twitter.com/atlvostudio tiktok.com/@atlantavoiceoverstudio Atlanta Voiceover Studio & ProVoiceoverTraining's Classes & Workshops www.AtlantaVoiceoverStudio.com www.ProVoiceoverTraining.com **Sign up for FREE weekly VO tips: https://bit.ly/AVSemail
Will a recession impact voice over? Is there a ways to recession proof your voice over business? Are some genres safer than others? You can't turn on the TV or open the internet without hearing panic and fear about recession, inflation and a bear market economy. But what does it all mean and will it impact your ability to earn a living as a voice actor? In what is unquestionably the most intellectually involved conversation I've ever had on the podcast, JMC and I dive into all things economics and offer up plenty of advice and strategy for navigating what's to come in the voice over industry and in your business specifically. We even look ahead to VO Atlanta 2023! J. Michael Collins - https://jmcvoiceover.com JMC Demos - https://www.jmcvoiceover.com/demo-production/ Instagram - @jmcdemos Twitter - @jmcvoiceover ----- Marc Scott on Instagram - @marcscott RESOURCES * One Piece of Advice Free eBook https://marcscottcoaching.com/onepieceofadviceebook/ * Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam Visit https://voicezam.com/marcscott * Need a little marketing help? Download a FREE eBook - 5 Steps to Marketing Like a VOpreneur Download now at https://marcscottcoaching.com/5marketingstepsebook * For voice over services: Visit https://marcscottvoiceover.com * Want VOpreneur Swag? Visit https://teespring.com/stores/vopreneur * Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group Visit https://facebook.com/groups/vopreneur EVERYDAY VOPRENEURS IN THIS EPISODE * Thanks to "Uncle Roy" for production assistance! Visit http://antlandproductions.com * Thanks to Christy Harst for VO contributions! Visit https://christyharst.com * Thanks to Krysta Wallrauch for VO contributions! Visit http://krystawallrauch.com If you need guidance with your voice over business or learning how to more effectively market, I can help. Book a 15 minute free consultation with me to discuss your specific needs. Book Your Consult
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