Voiceovers and Getting Sick

EDIT: It turns out that I actually did have COVID! At the time, nobody knew that losing your sense of taste and smell was a symptom.

I’m sick.

No, not THAT kind of sick that’s turned our collective lives upside down. When we landed in Hawaii last week I got clobbered with the worst cold I can remember. I was laid up for the entire trip and only started to feel normal on our last day of vacation, of course.

The good news is that we had a beautiful suite and an amazing view from our balcony so I ate every meal there save one. See?

BTW if you can get to Monkeypod Kitchen, try the lobster deviled eggs. They will change your life.

The bad news is that I spent too much time watching the crazy on social media, occasionally bringing out the best in us but most often the worst in us. The level of misinformation, hysteria, blaming, and shaming was highly disconcerting. I promise to do that less when we get home!

We flew home directly from Honolulu to JFK and took a cab home. Everything seemed pretty normal at the airport except for a few more people wearing masks than usual.

Today we hit two grocery stores to do a little extra stocking up since there is a chance NYC will get shut down. Lines were short and there were a few empty shelves but nothing too weird. We’re pretty well prepared since we made a few food runs before we left and I will neither confirm nor deny that we took all of the tissues and toilet paper from our suite. 😉

As to voiceovers, one booking got moved from a remote studio to me doing it at home but nothing else has changed. Oh, and VO Atlanta, which I was scheduled to speak at, was postponed. Bummer.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Remember the five categories of your business?

Cash Flow Tools Technique Marketing Health

As always, and especially considering what’s happening right now, Health is the most important with Cash Flow coming in second. Make well-informed choices using credible sources of information. For me, that’s the PBS News Hour and Notify NYC. If you live in New York City, text the word COVID to 692692 and you will get important updates as they occur. I would like to think that they have similar services in other areas so do your research.

If voiceover work slows down, you can’t go to your job, etc. now is the perfect time to brush up on your copy reading skills, research a new genre, craft a marketing campaign, or update your contact database. I will be announcing a few webinars (some for free!) very soon to help you out in some of these areas.

Until then; stay cool and stay safe!

NEWS AND NOTES

Thursday, March 19th @8PM EST: My next Business and Money 201 webinar will be ‘Tax Time!’. In this one-hour webinar, I’ll walk you through my day with the CPA and talk about how to make filing your taxes as a voice talent marginally less painful.

Tuesday, March 24th @8PM EST: My next Marketing 201 webinar will be ‘The Sales Funnel’. In this one-hour webinar, we’ll talk about what the Sales Funnel is and how to push voice seekers through it.

Wednesday, May 27th @2:00 PM EST: I will have a meeting table at the Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC) from 2:00-3:45 as The VO Strategist. You are welcome to book a FREE 15-minute consult with me there! We can talk about audiobook marketing, business, or just to chat. 🙂 Click here to book your free 15-minute consult.

Thursday May 28th @2:30 PM EST: “Learning to do eLearning”. Are you in town for APAC Week? Curious about eLearning narration? In this two-hour workshop you will learn what eLearning narration is, it’s sub-genres, narration tips, how much to charge, demo specs, and there will be live coaching! It’s $100 to attend, but if you use the promo code EARLYBIRD528 you get in for only $75! Seats are limited so sign up ASAP. Click here to register!

November 6-8, 2020: the Mid-Atlantic Voice Over (MAVO) conference in Herndon, Virginia. I have the honor of presenting yet again! In addition to the regular sessions (which will be announced soon) I will also be leading a special 3-hour Mastery Session. The topic: ‘Manage Your Money Like a VO Pro‘. These sessions fill up quickly so make sure you get your spot!

HAPPY HAPPYS

Happy Panda Day and Chocolate Caramel Day!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Just remember: it's not a skirt. The last man who called it a skirt got kilt. Cory Doctorow

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Tom Dheere is a 30-year veteran voice actor specializing in corporate narration and complex medical scripts. Known as a "street-smart professor," he blends a human-first performance style with a professional understanding of ROI and deadlines.

When he isn’t in the booth, he provides strategic business consulting at VOStrategist.com and produces the comic book Agent 1.22.