I understand. People say you have a great voice. They’re probably right. You’ve practiced and practiced until you’re able to sound like all those great DJs you hear on the radio. Or you’ve finally perfected your “Homer Simpson”. Or maybe you’ve looked at all those quickie voiceover audition posts and can now sound like Morgan Freeman. Time to make a demo and cash in, right? Well…maybe.
Or – second scenario – you’ve been at this for years. You know the ropes. You’re a voiceover veteran and you know your own “cast of characters” inside out. You’ll be able to wow ’em with that classic demo of yours until your voice changes with age. Uhm…possibly.
Finding and booking voice work is hard enough. Even so, I marvel at my ability to make something hard…even harder. Too often, I keep putting out what I know I’ve done well in the past…or a laboured imitation of what I think sells today…instead of focusing on something that’s actually in demand at the moment! …and in a way that’s totally mine, something unavailable from anyone else (even Morgan Freeman, if it comes to that).
More often than not, I’m trying to sell refrigerators to Eskimos, or worse yet, trying to sell fake snow to someone who already has loads of the real thing available.
That embarassing point becomes even more ludicrous as I now notice I’ve had the benefit of plain advice practically handed to me, gift-wrapped! More than once! Just this week, a studio I’ve been happily associated with for years sent out a request for examples of specific types of voices, styles, and characters they’d been asked for by their clients. I compared what they wanted to what I had on my on Commercial Demo. By their list, I didn’t flunk out…but I was a lot further off than I want to be. And I remember another studio asking for the same type of specific stuff a few years ago. I didn’t follow up. I guess I figured my “vintage ice cubes” would still sell well enough.
Maybe you’re smart enough to have figured this out on your own. Good on ya. If not, maybe it’s time to start thinking more about what the buyers are interested in buying…instead of what you’re interested in selling.
Guess what I’m going to be working on in the next few weeks.
— over and out —
