The economy's been tough on a lot of people, and while the voiceover industry is standing strong against the storm, many voiceover professionals have been feeling the burn. With the combination of unemployment, retirement, dreams of stardom, moderately priced equipment, and easier-to-use software, an unprecedented influx of new voices has flooded the market. This causes a few key problems for established voice talent: namely, an under-valuing of services and an ever-more-diluted talent pool.
But many of the established voiceover pros, being the motivated entrepreneurs they are, don't go down without a fight. While some continue business as usual, others decide to branch out and coach or engineer demos, some sell their knowledge or advice to those still willing to battle it out on the studio stomping grounds, and some publish ebooks or host online webinars ... all with the purpose of sharing or selling the hard-earned knowledge they've acquired during their service in the voiceover industry.
Knowledge is power. Opinions and assumptions are not knowledge.
In an industry with so many fresh faces, it's easy to sell snake-oil. Now take a product people are unfamiliar with, but one they know is crucial yet understand little about ... and you can sell snake-oil to the most established name in the market. I'm talking about websites.
Voiceover websites.
Oh, the drama. Do it yourself? Get your cousin to do it? Get a professional? It's the internet, right? It's easy! You've seen those programs that magically build websites with the click of a button! How hard can it be? Should I actually spend money on this thing or is it just a matter of reading a couple online articles and figuring it out?
My answer is simple. Ask a voiceover coach if people actually need professional coaches. Ask an engineer if you really need an engineer to fiddle with all those levels and click around the screen. With no prior knowledge or experience recording a voiceover demo, it is flat out stupid to think that you can just pull a professional demo out of your ass. A demo, sure. A professional, competitive demo ... no.
The same goes for websites.
There's been a recent trend of pay-to-watch webinars (pre-recorded, lol) dealing with the subject of websites ... in this case, VO websites.
Look, I don't care if you don't know the first thing about html, css, java script, or even graphic design (which is a WHOLE OTHER PART OF THE PICTURE), I can look passed someone with no knowledge of how a website actually works convincing people to pay them to give their advice on the subject. I don't think it's ethical, but times are tough, right? I don't mind paying for knowledge. But that's not knowledge ... that's an opinion. If I want an opinion, I'll check my twitter.
According to Dan O'Day, there's three ways you probably got your website:
(1) "You created it yourself, which means you have more technical knowledge than [he] does."
(2) "Or a friend or relative built it for you."
(3) "Or you spent far too much money on a professional web designer."
Those are you options.
I'm literally laughing out loud just reading that, because he mentions all the useless "bells and whistles designers use" and after viewing his website, it appears "color" is a bell ... or whistle.
He continues, "Most voi[z]eover websites that I've seen, that were created by designers ... are a complete waste of money." So ... only the websites made by actual designers were the waste of money? Do you know how much they paid? What did they get for their money? Do you have a list of designers who waste peoples' money?
Now, I know he's not talking about ArtistUpgrade. AU clients' records speak for themselves. So I'm not taking offense, so much as I find it hilarious that for $99, Dan will shed the light of truth upon the shady and shifty world of webdesign.
Dan also claims, "It's a 2.5 hour audio seminar and workbook with information your web designer will hate Dan for telling you!"
No, Dan, I don't hate you. I think you're hilarious.
This whole article aside: I won't pretend to know everything. If anyone DOES drop $99 to watch this pre-recorded online video, and they feel there's some really legit info being shared. I'd be happy to promote this myself. More so than I already have with this article.
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Dan O'Day's promo page, via Julie Williams of VoiceOver Insider:
http://danoday.com/voiceoverwebsites/
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Also, new toon coming soon (next week????? I hope)
Tystarr
Man oh man that Dan's site is uber cool!! - comment from 1992.
RicePirate
The problem is, he's been around so long, OF COURSE he's got a following, OF COURSE he's got weight in a Google search, OF COURSE he feels experienced enough to speak on the subject ... but anyone starting out, who isn't ALREADY an established figure in the industry, isn't going to benefit from avoiding professional help.