One of the things about VO is that nobody’s experience (AKA “the journey”) is quite the same as anybody else’s. Two people can sign up at the same pay-to-play site, for example, put up essentially similar demos, and do everything like each other, and one will succeed and the other won’t book anything.
Each voice resonates with each client in a unique way, often having more to do with what’s in the client’s head than the talent’s. That said, the trick in VO is figuring what piece of the advice you get from a given voice actor actually makes sense for you.
Are you looking at VO to be your one-and-only source of income? Are you quitting your day job? Or, are you retired and thinking of VO as a way to stay engaged? Are you pursuing a dream you couldn’t reach when raising kids and keeping a roof over their heads, but now you can?
How much do you understand about the VO genre you want to work in? Do you know how big or small the opportunities are in promo? In commercial? In audiobooks? What are the trends in your chosen fields? What skills do you have? What skills do you need to learn?
How long could you go “skydiving through your savings” before you just have to stop and get a job?
Each one of us has our own answers to these questions. Each one of us is on a unique path through VO, and just around the corner there’s a bunch of advice on what to do next. How do you sort through that advice? If you just blindly do what your advice-giver says, know that you results WILL vary from the advice-giver’s.
So, make your own way, your own plan. Of course, hope for the best, plan for the worst, and be open to unexpected opportunities. And seek advice—choosing the nuggets that make sense for your situation.
