VO Tips

Dan O’day, radio and voice over Guru is running a contest on his blog.

He posts an ad for Target that he says (and I completely agree) is completely awful, posts the general idea of the copy, and says rewrite and revoice it. So I did.

Here’s the result:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If you would like to participate in the contest, submissions can be made until the 8th, so you’d better hurry!

Good luck!

You’re really missing out if you don’t know about this awesome resource for scripts:

Script Collection

I was writing a script collection until I came across this AWESOME resource on Jeff Kafer’s blog.

There are thousands of scripts in this collection and they all seem really great. DEFINITELY take advantage of this resource for your demos.

“Surround yourself with the best people you can find…”

-Ronald Reagan

One of the most important (if not THE most important) aspects of being a voiceover artist is networking aka PEOPLE.

How does one go about making connections that can take you places?

Here’s another P for voice over success. Not one of the top 5, but definitely a thing that everyone who does internet business should have:

Paypal.

Paypal is a service that allows you to send and receive payment without sharing your financial information with anyone. I use it on my website to take payment from clients. (See the bottom of www.voiceofmichael.com). Since I am a business member of paypal, I can take credit card payments as well. There are different levels of paypal for different users, check it out and see what level of service is best for you.

Since every voice over person I know does work remotely (and sometimes never even meets their clients face to face), how do you expect them to pay you? If you’re waiting on a check in the mail, there’s a good chance it might not show up. Cash by mail? Forget it! Western Union? That’s getting desperate. You need Paypal so you can make money on the internet. It’s very secure, probably one of the most secure sites on the net. Go to their site and sign up right now!

There are other payment services on the net, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. Share other payment services you use in the comments.

Hope all of you had a happy holidays, I know I did. Be looking for the next post soon! Subscribe to my feed at the top of the page to get my posts delivered to your mailbox instantly.

If you have a blog related to voice over, let me know and I will post it in my blogroll!

Great opportunity for free publicity!

Next post: 5 P’s of Voiceover Success: PRICE is COMING SOON!

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Dear Readers,

I want to get to know you. As a voice over artist, I always have my audience in mind, but just a general idea, for me, is never enough. So, here’s what we do about it.

Here’s a chance to talk about yourself and your opinions and get rewarded for it.

This afternoon I had the pleasure of e-meeting Bettye Zoller, one of the great female voices in the world of voiceover. She has granted me permission to use her article “What Is A Voiceover” on my blog. Without further ado: Bettye Zoller’s “What Is A Voiceover?”:

What Is A Voiceover and How Do You Do It?

By Bettye Zoller

www.voicesvoices.com

btzol@aol.com

What Is A Voiceover?

If your answer to this question is no, you are in deeeeeep trouble.

15 years ago, no one knew what the internet was. Now, if you don’t have a website and you want to do VO, you’d better get one. Your best investment for your VO career is practice/preparation. Your second best investment is good equipment. Your third best investment is a killer website.

Like we talked about last post, don’t ASPIRE to be a pro, BE a pro. To be a pro these days you MUST have a website and it must be excellent. It has to look clean, easy to navigate, content rich, and has to leave its mark on the viewer.

So how does one go about obtaining an awesome sight? I am blessed enough to be able to run 3 of my own websites (not including blogs or social stuff). What if you don’t know HTML, CSS, Flash, or Java or any of that fancy stuff? You have two options: do it yourself or have someone do it for you. I have suggestions for both.