Double Dutch

The Holidays are a great time to meet new people and catch up with folks you only see once or twice a year.

This season I noticed a new trend. I’d be quietly munching on a Christmas cookie, and a relative of a friend of a friend would come up to me with a glass of eggnog in his hand.

“I hear you do voices, right?”

“Well,” I said, “I’m a voice-over, if that’s what you mean.”

“You do books for the blind?” he wanted to know.

“No, not really. I….”

And before I could finish he continued:

“Because everyone’s been telling me that I have a great voice and I should be doing what you’re doing if you know what I mean. No offense, but it can’t be that hard. I bet you make some pretty good money. I said to the wife: “I talk all day long. I might as well get paid for it.”

“I wish someone would pay him to shut up for a moment,” said the wife, who had been listening to the conversation.

No matter where I went in these past few weeks, I’d always run into guys with eggnog, ready to show off their Sean Connery impersonation or some version of a “movie trailer man voice”.

All of them had three things in common:

1. They knew as much about a voice-over career as a rodent would know about the art collection at the MoMA.
2. What they did know was based on misinformation and unrealistic expectations.
3. They all wanted me to tell them how to “break into the business,” preferably in two minutes or less.

In order to make my Holiday experience a bit more enjoyable and less repetitive, I thought I’d prepare a short slide show debunking some common misconceptions about what I do for a living.

Instead of having to listen to grown-ups single-handedly reenacting entire SpongeBob episodes, I now hand them a link to my YouTube-presentation:

Have an inspirational New Year!

Paul Strikwerda © 2010
www.nethervoice.com

PS Be sweet: please retweet!

PPS Next up: Ted Williams: The Revelation behind the Internet Sensation

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“It’s the best thing I ever did”

“A total waste of money”

Are you new to voice-overs? When you ask fellow vo-pros what they think of voice-over casting websites, you better be ready for a heated debate! Especially when you’re getting started in the business, you’re probably trying to figure out how to spend your money wisely.

Are these sites an easy ticket to success, or a waste of time, energy and cash? Here’s my take on it.

EXPECTATIONS
1. People tend to get disappointed because of unrealistic expectations and not necessarily because “the sites don’t work”. However -as we have seen with Facebook- dissatisfied members can join forces and demand certain changes. We all know that some voice-over sites are more open to feedback than others. Ultimately, sites that don’t listen to what their members are asking for, will pay the price.

LEADS
2. Never fully rely on vo-websites for leads. These voice search engines should just be one tool in an overall marketing and lead-generating strategy. Nothing less, but certainly nothing more.

Personally, I make sure to have various streams of income. That’s why I spend part of my time as a Dutch/German translator, and part of my time recording voice-overs. Sometimes I combine both when reading copy I just translated!

RESOURCE
3. For me, the value of these vo-sites is not only determined by the number of jobs they generate. Voices-com, for example, offers an amazing wealth of information, from podcasts to blogs to rate info. It helps beginners to hone their craft, and it gives established talents the opportunity to generously share what they have learned.

Here’s the good news: you don’t need to be a full-paying member to benefit from this cornucopia of resources.

These voice-over superstores also give us a chance to scope out the competition. In a world that’s getting smaller and smaller, it’s good to know what colleagues are up to.

There’s so much great talent out there, and it’s not getting any easier to carve out a niche. Being able to listen to what others do, has given me a better sense of how to position myself in this overcrowded market.

MONEY
4. Much of this discussion about these sites has been focused on the cost of membership. Especially in this economy, is it really a worthwhile investment? One of the questions we should also ask ourselves is this: how much money and time could we potentially save by joining these sites?

If you’re like me, you probably didn’t get into this business because you’re a marketing genius. How much hard-earned cash would we have to spend individually, to get even close to reaching the client base these sites tap into each and every day? Most of us would rather spend time in front of a microphone, than drumming up new business.

In part thanks to these sites, we can focus on what we do best! Let them make the connections, do the legwork and promote our skills. And at the end of the day, they can even make sure we get paid. What’s that worth to you?

QUESTIONS
5. Now, don’t think for a moment that I believe these sites are perfect. Far from it. I worry about “artificial intelligence” matching voices to certain projects, excluding others.

I’m very concerned about the bidding war by talents who are played off against one another, deflating our rates from within. And I’m skeptical about sending in a demo when I see that 100 other hopefuls have just done the same thing.

But at the end of the day, it all comes back to the person who stares at me when I look into the mirror. Instead of blaming outside factors for my success or lack thereof, I ask myself what I can do to stand out from the crowd.

Here’s the thing: that’s something no site can or will ever be able to give you!

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

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