The Not Silent Voiceover Blog Archive: 2012

A Legacy of Professional Voice Acting Insights & Industry Evolution

2012 was a watershed year, marking the moment where nearly two decades of "seed planting" finally resulted in a massive professional harvest. Between 2011 and 2012, my voiceover revenue nearly doubled. While the numbers were significant, the cause was clear: it was the culmination of a journey that began with cold calling in 1994, went full-time in 2006, and was supercharged by the peer-to-peer breakthrough of FaffCon 3 in late 2011. These entries document the exact moment a long-term strategy turns into a sustainable, high-growth engine.

Key Topics and Career Milestones from 2012

The 18-Year "Overnight Success"

In 2012, I reflected on the long game. The success of this year wasn't an accident; it was built on the relationships developed at the first NYC VO Mixer in 2009, the early adoption of Voice123 in 2006, and the technical foundation of home recording. 2012 was the year all those disparate threads (marketing, networking, and performance) finally wove into a singular, powerful career.

Community & Connection: The FaffCon Effect

If 2011 was about the discovery of my voice over village at FaffCon 3, 2012 was about the application. I reflected deeply on the impact of FaffCon 4 and 5, exploring how peer-to-peer learning was far more effective than traditional top-down coaching. 2012 also featured Voice 2012, where the camaraderie of the industry was on full display.

The Digital Shift: SEO, ACX, and P2P

The "Great Debate" over ACX and Pay-to-Play (P2P) sites reached a fever pitch in 2012. My entries from this period took a pragmatic stance: rather than fighting the tide, I focused on how to use these tools effectively without sacrificing professional standards. This year also marked my early experiments with VO SEO and the realization that a voice actor’s website is their most powerful employee.

Technical Mastery & The Craft

I spent a significant portion of 2012 documenting the technical "how-to" of the job, including:

• Audiobook Production: Creating a definitive checklist for long-form narration.

• Mobile Recording: Developing a workflow for recording on the road (a necessity that has since become an industry standard).

• Dialect Retention: Exploring the mental gymnastics required to maintain consistent dialects during long-form narration projects.

Resilience: Hurricane Sandy

In late 2012, the VO community in NJ and NY was put to the test by Hurricane Sandy. These posts document the reality of running a home-based business during a natural disaster and the incredible way the "Good Karma Network" showed up to support one another when the power went out but the deadlines remained.

Featured 2012 Topics

• Mindset: "Having a Spine in the Voiceover World" and "Jerk or Fool: Choose."

• Business: Adopting CRMs and the "Power of YouTube" for talent discovery.

• Performance: Why every voice actor should consider community theater to sharpen their timing.

Reflecting on 2012?

2012 was the year I realized that "planting seeds" isn't just a metaphor, it's a business model. The jump in revenue this year proved that if you focus on relationships and infrastructure, the growth follows. These lessons formed the backbone of the VO Strategist philosophy I teach today.

From my village to yours, this is Tom Dheere, the H is Silent, but I'm Not.

Thanks For Reading!

To learn more about me, hear some samples, or download my demos, just go to www.tomdheere.com.

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Tom Dheere is a 30-year veteran voice actor who has narrated virtually every genre of the industry, from high-stakes corporate narration to complex technical medical scripts. Known as a "street-smart professor," Tom blends a human-first performance style with a CEO’s understanding of ROI and project deadlines. When he isn’t in the booth helping brands find their resonance, he mentors new voice actors and produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.