Five thoughts for the start of your voiceover week.
1.) Beware siloed advice in the voiceover business. When trying to figure out what advice and expertise is actionable for your VO business, consume a broad sample of opinions. It can be attention grabbing for an industry service provider or expert to espouse opinions that are disruptive or challenge the status quo. Sometimes those perspectives are indeed valuable new insights, but just as often they are outliers and could do your business more harm than good. What worked for one marketing superstar may not apply to you. What one production company executive took into consideration when hiring talent doesn’t necessarily apply to other buyers. What one agent looks for in a roster prospect may be completely different than the majority. Conventional wisdom needs shaking up from time to time, but it didn’t become conventional wisdom by accident.
2.) Give yourself a break. With the exception of certain commercial accounts and standard golden-handcuffs stuff like network promo, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is also often the slowest time of the year for voiceover. If you’re feeling burned out, now’s a great time to consider giving yourself a break.
3.) Give agents a break. Got shiny new demos or a recent high-profile booking that you want to leverage into new agency representation? Great! Just keep in mind that agents take holiday breaks, too, and just like the rest of us they tend to be logy with seasonal overindulgence this time of year. Hold fire until late January for best results if you’re thinking of submitting for rep.
4.) Prepping for 2023. Now, however, is a good time to be prepping your VO action plan for 2023. What worked for your business this year? What didn’t? Take stock, and begin creating a roadmap to improve upon what worked and pivot from what didn’t in the New Year, so you can hit the ground running when things start heating up in January.
5.) The robots can’t even draw fingers. In case you’re still freaking out about AI in voiceover, check out the Lensa AI portrait craze that has swept social media recently. Controversy over how it appropriates art from the internet aside, my takeaway? The thing can’t even render hands correctly. When it tries they look like the aftermath of an industrial accident. Lensa AI strikes me as a preview of where artificial intelligence VO and synthetic voices will land: Ooh, that’s fun! Now let’s go hire a pro to do it right.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10229623283516341&set=pcb.10229623284036354
Blasting off into ’23!
Thanks, JMC.
I love number two!
I adore number five!: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10229623283516341&set=pcb.10229623284036354
Blasting off into ’23!
Thanks, JMC
Thank you J. Michael. Great advice as always…merry almost Christmas to you and Anna and your kiddo!
Always great advice from you Capt JMC! See ya soon I hope :^)
Excellent as always.
Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your lovely family.
An ‘industrial accident’. Lol. Love it. And spot on.
Thanks for all you do for The VO community J. Michael. Have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to what you bring to 2023.
Terrific advice as always! Thanks J Michael.
Five outstanding thoughts for everyone in nearly every business to consider at this time of year. Thanks for everything you do for the VO community. Best wishes to you and your fabulous family.
Great advice! Happy Holidays to you and your sweet family!
Perfect timing for these truths!
All great, JMC, but especially #1. While differing opinions an experiences can be confusing, it is crucial to get a range and decide for one’s self.
Wishing you, Anna, and Tom a Merry Christmas and prosperous 2023.
Thank you.#1 is resonating soooo much right now. And Ahhhhhhhhh. Thanks for the “take a break” reminder!
Happiest of holidays to you, Anna , and the family!
-holly
I was thinking about #1 the other day, J. Michael. There is someone (a vo talent/coach) that I watch on occasion because he has a great performance tip every so often… but I always find myself shaking my head in disagreement when it comes to his business practices and what he teaches his students… even though he himself is very successful. I used to just assume that people that are more successful than I know what they are talking about, but now that I am at a place where I have firm business practices and beliefs, I can feel good about not blindly taking to heart every piece of his advice that I hear.
Thanks for all you do, JMC!