The Voiceover Boblog

Advice for those just getting started

Posted February 22, 2012 by Bob

My friend Corey Snow has prepared a video filled with cogent advice for anyone just getting started in voiceover. If that’s you, Corey’s video blog post So, You Want To Be A Voice Actor is well worth a few minutes of your time.

Category: General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (0)
Stop looking for the map to success

Posted February 21, 2012 by Bob

You may think there is a map to success in voiceover. And there may even be people telling you they have the map and are willing to share it with you. At a price. The price, of course, might be money; but it might be other stuff, too.

But, as Seth Godin describes in his blog post today The map has been replaced by the compass, the map is less and less important all the time. The map, even if it does lead to success in voiceover (or whatever other enterprise you’re pursuing) leads to yesterday’s success. Not today’s. And certainly not tomorrow’s.

Calibrate your compass. Make sure you know what direction you want to go. Make wise choices, but keep going in that direction. You’ll get there eventually.

Category: General | Comments (3)
Have you lost clients?

Posted February 20, 2012 by Bob

Edge Studio has published an interesting article titled 4 Reasons Why Voice Actors Lose Clients that’s well worth a few minutes of your time.

Category: General | Comments (0)
Quote of the day

Posted February 19, 2012 by Bob

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
– Winston Churchill

Category: General | Comments (0)
Freerice

Posted February 18, 2012 by Bob

With my thanks to The Simple Dollar for posting the link to Freerice. Freerice is a site that’s a true win-win for those of us in the voiceover work. Build your vocabulary and at the same time donate food to those who are hungry and in need.

Category: General | Comments (0)
Strategy

Posted February 17, 2012 by Bob

With thanks to my manager and friend Stacey Stahl.

Category: General | Comments (0)
Quote for the day

Posted February 16, 2012 by Bob

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.
—Janet Lane

Category: General | Comments (0)
How well do you impute?

Posted February 15, 2012 by Bob

Tom Asacker offers some excellent insights into brands in the recent post on his blog Does your brand impute? Well worth a few minutes of your time to read and then several more to think about how Tom’s thoughts apply to you.

Category: General | Comments (0)
What about me?

Posted February 14, 2012 by Bob

As you scroll through the tweets and Facebook updates from your friends in the voiceover business, you might be tempted to despair because it seems like everyone else is getting lots of work and you aren’t. A check of objective reality would quickly demonstrate that things are not always what they seem.

Now, I’m not running down anyone who excitedly posts about something they’ve recently booked or accomplished. I genuinely love seeing my friends do well. I’m just trying to say that comparing what you are doing by yourself with what 100 of your friends are doing in the aggregate isn’t an accurate or fair comparison. At any given moment someone else is always going to be a bit busier than you are. By the same token, at any given moment you are more busy that some others are.

What I’m leading up to with the above, is to revisit a point I’ve made previously about the value of generosity or selflessness. Seth Godin has written brilliantly about this subject in his recent post titled The sad irony of selfishness. Do not fear being generous. While you may seem to fall behind now and then as you pass along to others what you cannot or should not do yourself, in the long run you will gain more than you give. No, as Seth points out in his blog post, this isn’t guaranteed. But, isn’t all of life full of risks? And aren’t those who win big always those who also risk big?

(edited to fix typo)

Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (2)
New article at VoiceOverXtra

Posted February 13, 2012 by Bob

John Florian has just published an article I wrote called The Secrets To Becoming Exceptional for his excellent VoiceOverXtra site.

Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (0)
Spotlight on Kara

Posted February 12, 2012 by Bob

My wonderfully talented friend Kara Edwards is the voice for this commercial.

Fabulous work, Kara!

Category: General, People | Comments (1)
Harlan Hogan and Elaine Clark in NYC

Posted February 11, 2012 by Bob

You have an opportunity for an intensive 2-day voiceover workshop in New York with Harlan Hogan and Elaine Clark. Polish your performance skills with Elaine. Raise your business skillls with Harlan. Details are available on Erik Sheppard’s Voice Talent Productions blog.

Category: General | Comments (1)
Spotlight on Ed

Posted February 10, 2012 by Bob

My friend Ed Victor is the voice of this television promo.

Nice work, Ed.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
Quote for the day

Posted February 9, 2012 by Bob

This was forwarded to me today by my friend and manager, Stacey Stahl.

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.”
— Publilius Syrus

Category: General | Comments (1)
SAG Foundation Voice-over Summit 2012

Posted February 8, 2012 by Bob

The SAG Foundation presents an event benefiting the Don LaFontaine Voice-over Lab. The series of discussions on the art and future of voicever is broken down into two sessions. Each session is presented over 4 different days, starting February 21st. All the details are available at this special page of the SAG Foundation site.

Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (0)
How mobile are you?

Posted February 7, 2012 by Bob

This question could lead to a discussion about being able to record voiceovers while you are traveling, but this time that’s not where I’m going with this question. (I’ll come back to that one another day.) No, this time I want to point out that if you aren’t thinking about how your website looks on a mobile device, it’s time to start.. To get prime your pump, here’s an excellent article called Go Mobile or Go Home on the Fame Foundry blog.

Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (0)
Effective effects

Posted February 6, 2012 by Bob

There are a number of Effects that can have a powerful effect on your business if you employ them effectively. Seth Godin offers details, mainly from the point of view of a writer, on the Domino Project blog.

Category: General | Comments (0)
To boldly go

Posted February 5, 2012 by Bob

In the classic television series Star Trek, Captain Kirk famously used a split infinitive to speak about the mission of the starship Enterprise. In the real world, as Seth Godin points out in his blog post today In search of a timid trapeze artist, a willingness to take risks is a basic requirement for moving forward in the world today.

Category: General | Comments (0)
Spotlight on Rowell

Posted February 4, 2012 by Bob

My friend Rowell Gormon is the voice of the old chicken farmer in this Taco Johns commercial.

Wonderful work, Rowell!

Category: General, People | Comments (1)
Quote for the day

Posted February 3, 2012 by Bob

Silent expectations are the quickest way to destroy a relationship.
—Seleh Stivers

Category: General | Comments (2)
Spotlight on Rick

Posted February 2, 2012 by Bob

My friend Rick Riley is the narrator of this video about the St. Louis Cardinals, winners of the 2011 World Series.

St. Louis Cardinals Program Open from Rick Riley on Vimeo.

Well done, Rick!

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
What you believe is vital

Posted February 1, 2012 by Bob

Take a few minutes to read Dan Friedman’s latest blog post called What Do You Believe? These are sage words of advice that I hope you will both read and heed.

Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (1)
Spotlight on Matt

Posted January 31, 2012 by Bob

My friend Matt Cowlrick is the voice of this charming video.

Category: General, People | Comments (1)
Invite the Avalanche – part 6

Posted January 30, 2012 by Bob

Yesterday I wrote about the pitfall of being average. Now, let’s get very real for a moment. No one, no matter how talented and dedicated and industrious is going to be able to excel at everything. We’re all going to have areas of weakness and average-ness. Even in our professional lives, some things are going to be outside of not only our comfort zone, but our ability.

Having established that, here’s what I also know. You can be exceptional if you will take the time and exercise the humility needed to learn what you need to learn in order to become exceptional. Once you’ve begun this process, stick with it. The main thing that can derail you on your journey to being exceptional is to change directions or change focus. Doing so will derail your efforts every time. Needless to say, quitting will also derail you.

And once you’re on your way, here’s something you won’t hear from a lot of people. Don’t be afraid to say “no.” Know yourself, your strengths. You can’t please everyone. You really can’t be all things to all people. So don’t even try. Say “no” to the things that aren’t right for you. I do this all the time.

But, when you say “no,” keep in mind that this can still be a win for you. Refer a job that isn’t right for you to someone it is right for. In fact, when you do so, it’s a win for not just you, but your friend who gets the job and the client who gets what he or she needs. Do that often enough and you won’t know what to do with all the work you do have.

What? Turning down work leads to more work? Yes. Because at least some of those people to whom you refer work, will refer things back to you. And at least some of those clients you helped are going remember you, too and when they have something that is right for you, who do you think they’re going to call? Yep. You.

The more you concentrate on doing the work you are best at, the work you most enjoy, and turn down everything else by referring that work to someone else, the bigger your avalanche is going to grow.

(edited to fix typo)

Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (0)
Playing the averages

Posted January 29, 2012 by Bob

Average is just that, average. As Seth Godin points out in a piece published at Business Insider, being average not only isn’t good enough any more, it’s much worse than that. This is true in the voiceover business as much as it is in any other business. I need to keep raising my skills. So do you. This isn’t so much to get ahead as it is to simply keep moving.

The real secret to avoiding “average” however, is to be you. If you’re trying to be the next whomever, stop. Find your voice. Build your business around the things you love voicing. Not only will you be happier, you’ll almost certainly be better paid, too. Just as I am the world’s exclusive source for voiceovers by Bob Souer, you are the world’s exclusive source for voiceovers by you.

Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (0)
Caring matters

Posted January 28, 2012 by Bob

Seth Godin recently provided a superb analysis of why taking an attitude of truly caring for your clients is so important. Take a few minutes to read his blog post Who Cares? Then think about what he’s written. And after thinking, spend some time planning how to raise your level of caring. It will make a difference.

Category: General | Comments (1)
Thoughts about voiceover demos from Some Audio Guy

Posted January 27, 2012 by Bob

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
The Actors Library

Posted January 26, 2012 by Bob

While it’s not just for voice actors, there’s a ton of valuable information available for us voiceover types at Kristine Oller’s The Actor’s Library. Highly recommended. As is Kristine herself. Oh, The Actor’s Library is completely free!

Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (1)
Spotlight on Debbie

Posted January 25, 2012 by Bob

Last night was the premiere of a new documentary called “Incessant Visions -Letters from an Architect”, narrated by my friend Debbie Irwin. Debbie tells the story of how she booked this job on the Voice123.com blog Voice the Dream. Congratulations, Debbie!

Category: General, People | Comments (1)
Mission, no actually MoHos: Impossible

Posted January 24, 2012 by Bob

If you happen to be in Southern California on Tuesday, January 31st, check out MoHos: Impossible Joke Protocol. My thanks to Kevin Delaney (one of the performers) for letting me know about this event. Others featured during the evening are Bill Farmer, Richard Horvitz and the legendary Fred Williard.

Category: General, People | Comments (1)

Bob Souer

Subscribe by email

Search

Categories

Archives

Blogs & Forums About Voiceover

Career

Favorite Sites

Female

Help for Blogging

Male

Other Blogs

Information

Site Navigation: