Gambling and voiceovers. What do they have in common?

First off, let me say that historically I’ve never been a big gambler. Until the past year or so, I’ve been to the track once (and won some 2 dollar bets, squeee!), been to a casino once, and entered a few poker tournaments (and won a decent-sized one so that was nice).

Since then, I got married in Las Vegas and have been to some casinos in NJ & CT. I still don’t consider myself a gambler, but it is fun! I mostly play the slot machines, which a friend classified as “expensive video games”. I like that perspective and it takes the pressure off of winning.

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Do you need to be lucky to be a successful voice talent? Absolutely not and I have talked about that in severe detail. I will say that both gambling and voiceovers share a common ingredient: hope. Hope that your time, money, and effort pays off.

Like gambling, trying to do voiceovers for a living is a risk. The odds are not in your favor and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If they do, they’re trying to sell you something. How do you increase your odds of “winning”?

Like gambling, learn to manage risk. Empower yourself with knowledge by understanding how it works. Learn the “rules of the game” as well as sound strategies & tactics (quality training, effective demos, a thoughtful marketing plan, etc.)

Also like gambling, only play with what you can afford to lose. Voiceovers, like any other business, requires capital and investment. I’ll never tell a voice talent how to spend their money, but if you don’t understand the rules and the risks, you will walk away empty-handed.

NEWS AND NOTES

Thursday, August 15th @8:oo PM EST: The Edge Studio “Business and Money 201” Webinar, ‘Rates’. In this one-hour webinar, I’ll talk about how to build an effective Rate Sheet, how to negotiate rates with clients, how to bill them, and how to make sure you get paid. Click here to sign up!

Thursday, August 22nd @8PM EST: Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar, ‘4 Words that will Kill your Marketing’. In this one-hour webinar, I’ll talk about your vocabulary can seriously damage, if not destroy, your voiceover career before it even starts.. Click here to sign up!

HAPPY HAPPYS

Happy Cheesecake Day and Walk on Stilts Day!



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Tom Dheere is a 20+year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a voiceover business & marketing consultant known as the VOStrategist and produces the comic book “Agent 1.22”.

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