In the week since the wonderful Mid-Atlantic Voice Over Conference, two words have been swimming around in my head: realism and holism. Being realistic and holistic are critical to having any chance of being truly effective as a voice talent. Break it down for me, Merriam-Webster…
Realism: concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary
Holism: a study or method of treatment that is concerned with wholes or with complete systems
Now that we have some working definitions, how does realism and holism apply to the voiceover industry?
First off, what are the realities of your voiceover career? What are the facts of your situation as an aspiring voice talent? Can you afford it? Do you have the time, talent, and patience? Which parts of your Systems of Thought are impractical or visionary?
As to being holistic about your voiceover career, it’s easy to get caught up in the minutia.
Get the gig! Get the gig! I’m broke! Audition all day every day! One day at a time! Ooh, what’s that voice talent doing on Facebook? I’ll try that! Or that!
Being “in the trenches” sounds all inspiring and romantic, but how effective is it if you can’t see the forest for the trees?
TIP OF THE WEEK
Here is the real reality of the voiceover industry. You are not alone. You have the same problems as almost everyone else that is trying to do this for a living and it’s okay. What’s not okay is not being honest with yourself about your actual talent level, your money, your time, your skill sets, and your self-discipline. All the coaching & conferences in the world cannot make up for these things if you don’t have them in sufficient amounts to be an effective voice talent.
How do you deal with this? Take a holistic approach to your voiceover career. It’s not easy to do, but it’s critical. How does your cash flow relate to your tools, technique, marketing, and health? Throw in genre mastery, workflow, and time management, too. Take a step back and look at them. Where is there conflict? Where is there harmony? What can you fix with more money? What can you fix with more time? What can you fix with the way you look at the world and yourself?
This is some hardcore, grownup **** right here. But taking a hard look at yourself is what you need to do to figure out what is really going on. Both you and your voiceover business will be better for it.
NEWS AND NOTES
NOW!: At MAVO 2018 I had the pleasure of being interviewed yet again by Paul Stefano of the VO Meter Podcast. You can hear that right here.
Saturday, December 1st @5PM EST: The 2018 Voiceover Holiday Extravaganza is a big ole’ holiday party to give voice talent an excuse to dress up and get their drink on. It will be at Hurley’s Saloon in New York City. It starts at 5PM if you want to have dinner but the party party starts at more like 7PM. Click here to RSVP.
Thursday, December 6th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar will be “Brand Yourself”. We’ll discuss the basics of branding, the Sales Funnel, and major branding boo-boos to avoid. Click here to sign up.
Thursday, December 13th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar will be “Goals”. We’ll talk about how to effectively set your sights on 2019. Click here to sign up.
March 29-31, 2019: I’m presenting at VO Atlanta 2019! Details to come…
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Peanut Butter Fudge Day and Entrepreneurs’ Day!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Any plan you can’t change is a bad plan. Herman Edwards
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 voiceover business consultant known as the VO Strategist and is currently producing the comic book “Agent 1.22”.
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