Biz: Career

OK, time to think and tell. How’d you do with your 2010 New Year Resolutions? And what’s on your mind for 2011? Please share in the COMMENTS. Veteran voice talent Tom Dheere starts with an exceptionally honest accounting of the past year …

Do you feel like your voice over career is in a mid-career slump? It happens to everyone – but not everyone has the advantage of voice actor/solopreneur Maxine Dunn as motivational cheerleader. If her three steps for “creating positive change” don’t help you immediately – like TODAY – well, maybe you’re just not trying …

Facebook has become a social and business bandwagon that’s rolling out yet another sweeping update, putting more about our lives online for all to see. What do you think about it? Voice actor Bobbin Beam starts off – and we’ll enjoy your COMMENT, too …

How is your voice over career affecting your family? Do you truly know? And how is your family affecting your career? Voice talent and trainer Deb Munro draws on personal experience for this advice on the challenge of keeping both your career and family …

This year counting his 78th Labor Day, active voice actor Bob Noble says that really, we experience 365 Labor Days a year, laboring in the fields of voice over – and motherhood. And be thankful , he adds, for the ‘Old Geezers’ still voicing and tipping their hats to ladies …

Most voice actors “love” the voice over business – not “like” or “admire” – but actually LOVE it, finds entrepreneurial voice actor Mahmoud Taji. Why is this so? Taji counts what he likes and dislikes about the VO roller coaster, and concludes that the big plus for him is “the simplicity of the thrill. Get in the car and hold on for dear life” …

The ancient concept of Yin and Yang is well known as applied to the sexes – the complementary opposites of female and male. But voice over veteran Paul Strikwerda sees it every day in this profession, too: our need to interconnect seemingly contrary forces. Like, should we specialize or generalize? Play it safe or experiment? It’s truly a balancing act …

A summer lawn and a voice-over career have a lot in common, finds seasoned voice actor Moe Egan. If the grass is greener on the other side of the street, it’s likely because your neighbors have devoted more preparation and care to it. Same with a VO career, say Egan – who shares these pointers for being a good career gardiner …

When you start your own voice-over business, you get to call the shots. That’s one of the reasons you decided to be your own boss, notes long-time voice actor Donna Reed. But how to keep that business going in tough economic times? Donna offers perspectives and tips …

“Fear can be a good thing. It can help you avoid situations that are truly harmful, keeping you away from the edge of the cliff,” writes popular voice actor Bob Souer. “But anxiety – groundless fears about what ‘might’ happen – is never good.” How true. And here, this master storyteller shares how anxiety shaped his 26-year path to full-time voice acting …