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More than once, I’ve run across the attitude in our business that we “have enough”.
- Enough VO forums
- Enough VO FaceBook Groups
- Enough VO webinars
- Enough VO conferences
….there’s just “enough“… and adding another _________, will overload the marketplace, and make it unprofitable or ineffective for the existing _________.
That’s almost NEVER true.
The other day, I was asked to write a guest blog for the Voice Over Herald on the subject of 2014 VO Predictions. ‘Sounded intriguing, and I was tempted, but for the fact that I was hip deep in life, and had to pass on the offer at that time.
Hey, wait a minute!…what is the Voice Over Herald (VOH)?
Kurt Myers, the person who approached me, and the Editor and a writer for VOH, was open to the idea of my turning the tables, and profiling this new web-offering of voice-over news and information here on my blog.
A few emails later, I was the proud owner of the answers to my questions about the “Herald”. You can see them below.
You could say VOH is a direct competitor of this blog, or VoiceOverExtra, or VoiceOverUniverse, or Paul Strikwerda’s blog, or any of scores of other online voice-over forums, groups, and communities.
I don’t really see it that way. There’s room for everyone. Let the market, and other human, political, and capitalistic forces decide. (please no debates about rate structures).
VOH launched January 1st, and it turns out The VO Herald is being underwritten by The Voice Realm, but being run independently.
Kurt Myers and some of the other staff contributors I’ve seen so far, are (in my humble estimation) accomplished in web authoring, marketing, sales, social media and online publishing, but maybe are not quite as deep in voice-acting experience. ‘Seems to me, though, that they’re on a fast learning curve, passionate about this business, and are certainly producing a clean online publication.
Here’s the link to Voice Over Herald. Give ’em a look. Some of your colleagues have already written some guest blogs for them, and I hope there’s still a chance I can too.
I want to thank Kurt for his honest answers below.
CourVO
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1) What’s your background in the voice over industry?
I have only just recently moved into the field. Around two years ago I moved from an advertising agency in LA and started doing some marketing work for a friend who is a voice actor. I found it so exciting and everyone is so passionate about what they do. It gives me the energy to continue every day. I’ve started to dabble in auditions, but I think I need a bit more training. For now I’ll stick to blog posts and marketing.
2) Explain the VOH business plan, and where you saw an opening in the market to make such a site a success?
Voice Over Herald is an industry news site with daily updates. We saw an opening in that there was no real website that offered breaking news that was updated daily, in depth coverage of events and marketing news that affects voice actors. Sure there’s other out there, but Voice Over Herald is now the go to site for timely updates.
3) Who is your target audience? What sort of content can people expect to see over time?
The audience is anyone who works with audio. The content is going to range from reviews of audio gear and technology, to voice actor profiles, and a few other things we don’t want to give away just yet.
4) How do you hope to continue to fill the site with original and timely content?
We have a team of journalists working for the site. Some come from broadcast and voice over backgrounds, some do not. I think that sometimes having someone come in from outside the industry can bring another angle that some of the ‘insiders’ may miss. It’s been interesting to hear some of the comments from these journalists about having no idea the industry operated in the way it does. It makes me happy!
5) What can people find on VOH that’s not already available elsewhere on the web?
Daily updates have commenced from January 1. We know of no other site that offers this.
6) Are you accepting freelance articles from voice actors?…and are you willing to share, or must articles be exclusive?
We are accepting guest blog posts that voice talent can submit them self through the site. The only stipulation is that articles must be original, no less than 500 words, and all the other obvious things like no profanity. They must have some sort of clear message and not just a promotion of them self.
7) In January 2015, where would you like to be with VOH?
We want to be the number one source for voice over industry news online. We already have had extremely positive feedback from those in the industry who have been reading our articles. And we can only hope to continue that. We want input and feedback from everyone, because that is the way a business grows. I guess personally I would like to see Voice Over Herald sponsoring events, and being part of the community, offline.
