I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—if you want to start a business, you have got to invest in yourself.
Money invested in the right training and equipment is essential to starting a business.
I know that things are tight for many people out there right now, but if you’re just beginning your VO journey, many free or very reasonably-priced resources are currently available, especially if you are just dipping your toes in and aren’t *quite* sure if this is for you yet.
Throughout the Covid crisis, there have been even more free and low-cost options than normal for getting practice in VO…webinars, Zoom lectures, Instagram challenges, and workouts galore! The first few weeks especially, I was overwhelmed with all of the options. While things have calmed down a little bit, you can still find resources out there to get started and dip your toes into almost any genre or aspect of the VO business.
Some of these resources will continue as the world begins to open back up, but some of them are time sensitive.
Want to get started this weekend? Here are four different ways to explore VO without breaking the bank:
This weekend:
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MAY 16 & 17 Beginners Guide to Working as a Voice Artist Webinar, FREE
SUNDAY, MAY 17 “Navigating VO Marketing in 2020,” $6 suggested donation
MONDAY, MAY 18 Two Hour VO Workshop for Novice VO Talent, $100 (limited to 5 participants)
TUESDAY, MAY 19 VO Peeps Peer Workout, FREE
Ongoing:
Cliff Zellman’s VO Auto Chat: Free once monthly, limited number of participants
Long Island VO Takeover: No current offerings available, but if you live in the Tri-State (NJ, NY, CT) area, it’s worth signing up for their quarterly newsletter to hear about upcoming events!
VO Weekly Workout: The OG of VO workouts, get real feedback from industry pros on your reads! $10
VO Peeps Weekly Peer-Led Workout: A brand new offering from VO Peeps $10
Atlanta Voiceover Studio Virtual Industry Pro Workouts: Once-a-month live workouts with industry pros, $25
Belles Bootcamp VO Workout: By donation during lockdown (normally $30)
Gravy for the Brain: Free resources, or you can buy individual workshops for as low as $35 (or pay a monthly fee for full access to all of their resources)
Voice actor Lisa Biggs has been offering all kinds of free or low-cost webinars, from animation voice training, to marketing yourself on LinkedIn. And she’s delightful!
Jonathan Tilley offers free webinars pretty frequently, almost exclusively about the business side of things (marketing and social media are his passions). The best way to hear about them is to sign up for his email list. His “Inner Circle” is a paid monthly membership site that offers all sorts of business resources including live meetups, online courses, email templates, and more. Something to consider if you’ve moved on from training to business-building.
Find my complete guide to getting started in VO here.
Remember:
All of these people are running businesses, and using these giveaways as sales funnels to their paid resources, so there will often be a sales pitch at the end.
But don’t feel pressured to buy immediately after taking a free workshop just because your brain feels the urge to reciprocate.
These free introductory offers are great ways to vet potential coaches, demo producers, and other business pros you might want to work with in the future. You get to see what their personality and work style are before making a huge investment. It’s a win-win!
Just make sure to shop around, do your research by asking others in the industry, and trust your gut before making the leap to spending a huge chunk of change.
Have a great weekend, everyone! Next week I’m going to be posting about goal setting, and what I learned about achieving great things from watching the documentary film “Free Solo.” Watch over the weekend if you want some motivation for climbing your own metaphorical mountain, and join me back here next week!