VO Pro: The Business of Voice Over and Voice Acting
Voiceover Business Strategies That Work
The VO Pro Podcast is the go-to show for voice actors who want to grow their voiceover business without relying on casting sites or waiting for agents to hand them work. Hosted by voice actor and business coach Paul Schmidt, this podcast delivers no-fluff, tactical advice on how to market your voiceover services, attract high-quality clients, and build a profitable VO business in a world of AI-generated voices and shifting industry standards.
You’ll learn practical voiceover marketing tips, how to master direct marketing for voice actors, build a solid client base, and use tools like email outreach, SEO, and strategic positioning to stand out. We cover how to price your work, optimize your VO website, and navigate topics like AI and voiceover with clarity and confidence.
Each week, we bring you insights and strategies from Paul, and interviews with working voice actors, coaches, casting directors, and experts who understand the business of voiceover from the inside out.
If you're a freelance voice actor looking to take control of your career and actually get booked, this is the podcast for you.
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Audible, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, SoundCloud, Deezer, Podcast Addict, Castbox, and RSS, and wherever you get your podcasts.
You’ll also find helpful information including my free Move Touch Inspire newsletter for voice actors at https://VOPro.pro/mti
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Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vofreedom
Episodes
201 episodes
The ONE Thing that Changes EVERYTHING in VO and LIFE
There’s ONE thing, one hack, one great secret to growing your VO business. And this one thing is so powerful, it works for not only growing your VO business, but it works for improving your physical fitness, your mental fitness, your emotional ...
Contracts: To Use, or Not To Use... THAT Is the Question...?
Today, we're talking about the importance of using contracts for voice actors and outline the benefits and protections they offer. This episode emphasizes the need for clear expectations, protection of rights, payment security, scope management...
Overcome Common Objections and BOOK the Gig
Even the most talented freelance creatives…. voice actors, video producers, writers, graphic designers, developers, social media strategists, etc… run into common customer objections that can get in the way of or even completely derail closing ...
Voices.com Finally CAVES - NAVA Announces fAIr Voices
Tim Friedlander, president of NAVA, the National Association of Voice Actors, discusses the recent victory in which Voices dot com amended their terms of service to address the use of voice actors in AI voices. Tim credits community efforts and...
Surviving in VO – Growing Relationships & Income Streams
Over the next five years, one in four jobs is expected to undergo significant changes due to AI, digitization, green energy, and supply chain modifications. While AI may not pose an immediate threat, slow economic growth, supply shortages, and ...
Voice123's Rolf REACTS: Voices.ai & the FUTURE of VO
▶️ Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/gGpSG7xAVgM SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@paulschmidtpro?sub_confirmation=...
Voices.ai Is Here - IS the AI Voices Sky Falling?
David Ciccerelli and Voices have finally launched their AI product called unshockingly, Voices dot ai. It’s here kids. It’s like the lump of coal you’ve been waiting to get in your stocking for years now. Except Santa-relli has been telling you...
Will ChatGPT TAKE OVER Voice Acting?!?!?
ChatGPT. AI. Text-To-Speech. Speech-To-Speech. Are the digital boogeymen here to decimate our business and take our lunch money? Today, we’ll look specifically at ChatGPT and AI in the larger sense… apps like Revoicer, Respeecher, and Speechelo...
GVAA Rate Guide: CRAZY Origin, Present & EXCITING Future Plans
The GVAA Rate Guide creator, David Toback tells the crazy story of how the guide that our industry depends on was an accident, how he founded it with Cristina Milizia, what it is, WHY it's so crucial for talent to use it when quoting profession...
You DESERVE Better Voice Over Rates: Worthiness
Do I deserve fair and reasonable, professional rates for my work? You’re either feeling deserving of fair rates or you’re not. Today we’re going to talk about why you’re not getting the rates you deserve, what to do about it, and how to identif...
Get Paid ON TIME: Freelance Billing Practices that WORK
One of the biggest pains for freelancers and voice actors who work directly with clients is getting paid on time. It seems everyone I know has outstanding past due invoices, or worse yet, has been completely stiffed by a client. It’s rare, but ...
Voice Over Career Suicide – AI, TTS, VO Contracts, & More
Today, we talk with Robert Sciglimpaglia, noted VO attorney and voice actor, who warns us how to avoid bad voice over contracts regarding AI, text to speech, synthetic voices, and more. We recently told the story of one voice actor who’...
DIY Voice Over Demos – DON’T DO IT!!!
There are lots of coaches here on YouTube, one in particular, and even Voices.com who will tell you how to make your own DIY voice over demo, and I’m here to tell you in your best interest, ESPECIALLY if you’re a beginner, DO NOT make your own ...
"AI STOLE My Voice!!!" - Voice Actor Remie Michelle Clarke
One of the scariest aspects of being a voice actor in modern times is AI, artificial intelligence, synthetic voice, and text to speech. Most of the discussion has been around the question of, Well, what happens when AI steals our work? ...
VO Atlanta 2023: NEW THIS YEAR with J Michael Collins
The biggest event in voiceover is coming up. VO Atlanta 2023, new this year, March 23rd through 26th at the Hilton Atlanta Airport, the traditional venue. But this year, under the new direction of new owners J Michael and Anna Collins. ...
WOW! Voices.com NEW Rate Guide vs. GVAA
Today, we’re going to go over Voices' new rate guide and compare it to the GVAA so that you’ll know exactly the differences between the 2 guides, where exactly Voices' rates are substandard and stick around because we’ll also show you where the...
Top 7 Beginner Voice Over Marketing MISTAKES to Avoid
One of the most common marketing questions I get from voice actors is, “How do I differentiate myself? How do I set myself apart? How do I make myself different?” We’re going to start by flipping that question around and asking, “How do ...
SHOCKING REAL CALL with an EXPLOITATIVE Voice Over Producer
What you are about to hear is an actual call about an exploitative practice that is too common in our business. It is a prime example of a tiny number of producers who purposefully seek out younger and/or less experienced talent and knowingly e...
7 Truths U MUST Know B4 You Get Started in Voice Acting
Welcome to 7 TRUTHS U MUST Know B4 You Get Started in Voice Acting. If you’re wondering how to get into voice acting, today’s video is essentially all the stuff I wish I had known when I was starting out in voice over, and the stuff that you sh...
How To Drive AMAZING Voice Over Client Experiences
How do you provide an exceptional customer experience? So good that it drives loyalty among your customers and generates repeat business? It all starts with understanding and identifying customer needs. Today, we’re going to talk about understa...
A Dialogue with Voice123: Can We CHANGE the P2Ps?
What if we could really change how the P2Ps work? What if we could have a real dialogue with the people that matter, the decision makers, the policy makers, at the online casting sites? What if we could make actual recommendations directly to t...
Voice Over Conferences 2023 CALENDAR: VO Atlanta and More!
So I thought the first video of the new year would be a good time to lay out the voice over conference 2023 calendar for you, including the big ones like VO Atlanta but also some smaller boutique conferences like MAVO. Now, if you’ve ne...
Voices.com CHANGES – For The Better or Worse?
In my last video, I Offended Voices.com and Here’s How, David Ciccarelli, the Founder and CEO of Voices, asked me to lay out the facts of my assertion that they put profit before talent. I laid out five facts that detail their ...
I OFFENDED Voices.com. And Here’s WHY…
In my last video, My (No Gear) Voice Over Christmas Wish List, one of my wishes was this: “I wish all of the pay-to-plays were ethical, but the chief offender here, of course, is Voices.com, but they're certainly not the only ones that ...
My (No Gear) Voice Over Christmas WISH List
Christmas is right around the corner and of course this is the time of year voice actors get the steamy undies for all kinds of gear on their Voice Over Christmas Wish List – mics, interfaces, pop filters, cables, headphones, preamps, compresso...
