I’m reflecting on my experience at VO Atlanta while I’m waiting to board the plane home.
First off, I was honored to be asked to speak again at VO Atlanta. Gerald Griffith is a class act. He and his team put together another fantastic conference. I had a blast at the sessions I presented and was thrilled that I could help voice talents improve their business model. I got to hang out with some old, dear friends and made some new ones. Three words: board game night!
I attended many of the wonderful, enlightening sessions presented by the voiceover industry’s top pros, coaches, agents, and demo producers. Being that this was my 20th voiceover conference (more or less) I’ve listened to pretty much every topic many times over but I’m always up for new insights as well as keeping up with industry trends.
One thing in particular struck me. In one session (forgive me but I can’t remember the presenter’s name) an agent was asked about what kind of spots should be on your demos. She said;
Your demo should be everything that you want to book.
This should seem obvious and that’s exactly what I tell my own demo students. For some reason, it smacked me upside the head when it comes to me as a voice talent. Are my demos everything that I want to book?
I currently have seven demos but only two (Commercial and Medical Narration) were professionally produced. The rest I put together from work I’ve booked over the years. I’m not an aberration, BTW. You would be amazed at how many veteran voice talents produce their own demos from existing work.
Do I book work directly my demos? Some of them, yes. Sometimes I book work from auditions. Sometimes I book work because I’ve worked with the client in the past and they know what to expect.
I bring this up because the agent said your demos should be everything you want to book, not everything you have booked. Is everything that I’ve booked stuff that I wanted to book? Well, yes because I’m happy to book any voiceover genre, but that feels a smidge desperate. I’ll start reflecting on that after I unpack…
TIP OF THE WEEK
Reflecting on the fascinating point the agent made;
Do you know why you want to be a voice talent?
What exactly does success look like for you as a voice talent?
Exactly what kind of work do you want to book?
Which genres bring you joy when you narrate them?
What are you current demos comprised of: everything you want to book, stuff your coach thinks you can book, or stuff you already have booked?
Start reflecting on that and see if those answers line up with your current business model.
NEWS AND NOTES
Sunday, April 7th @3PM EST: I’m speaking at the Voxy Ladies webinar ‘Manage your Money Like a VO Pro’. Click here to sign up!
Thursday, April 11th @8PM EST: Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar, ‘Workflow’ Click here to sign up!
Thursday, April 25th @8PM EST: Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar, ‘Keeping Clients Coming Back’ Click here to sign up!
Thursday, May 30th 9am-3pm EST: “The VO Tech Deep Dive and eLearning Extravaganza!” 338 West 23rd Street, New York, NY, 10031. This all-day workshop will consist of two classes: in the morning Amanda Rose Smith will dive deep into audio engineering (from studio creation to mastering files) and in the afternoon I will run an intensive “Learning to do eLearning” seminar covering everything you need to know about the world of eLearning and Corporate narration (which includes live coaching). Tickets are on sale now!
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!! September 13th-15: VOcation NYC! This is a shiny new conference which is all about the business and marketing side of the voiceover industry. There is an incredible lineup of presenters who specialize in the marketing and business side of the voiceover industry, including keynote speaker J. Michael Collins. Go to VOcationconference.com to check out the conference and click here to register!
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Sourdough Bread Day and World Backup Day!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Tom Dheere is a 20+year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a voiceover business & marketing consultant known as the VO Strategist and produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”.
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