We recently received this email from a lady (we’ll call her “Penny”) that regularly receives our FREE voice over training videos, blog posts, and tips.
Mind you, there is NO charge for MUCH of the great voice over information that we give away for FREE on this website…
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“Hi Terry,
You know people think that people should get training and pay money.
I have been told in the otherwise, if someone has talent, it is recognized. If a person is gifted with their voice, then this is the person that will make money in the business if properly represented.
I think it is a shame that you are charging people, because the economy is so bad right now.
I wish you all the best, but I cannot afford training, so I guess you can count me out.
Sincerely,
Penny”
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Now, let me ask you this?
What if we applied Penny’s philosophy to other professions? What if your Doctor or Dentist got “free training” on how to do surgery on you? How confident would you feel putting your life in the hands of someone that didn’t really need to sacrifice anything to get their education?
Some of the most talented people in the world sacrifice years and years of their lives, studying and practicing before they break-through to having a successful career.
The reason Penny can’t (or won’t) pay for training is because she thinks she deserves to get something for nothing. Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t work that way – and for those of you out there that think it does, you better check your “reality-o-meter”.
A very wise man once said something to the effect that, “You reap what you sow” – and this is a fundamental truth that makes our world go around.
I feel sorry for people like Penny who don’t want to plant any proverbial seeds. They don’t want to do the work, or take a risk, or pay their dues – they think that it should all just be “handed” to them because they are “talented”.
This is why she will probably never have prosperity – not because she is not a nice person, or a talented voice actor – but simply because she does not understand how money, trade, and this industry works.
We’ve spent thousands upon thousands of dollars (of our own hard earned money) to get this website up and running. How long do you think we could afford to keep doing this – if we didn’t charge members a few bucks for all the insider’s information that’s taken us years to gather and develop, and instead just gave it away? (Answer: NOT LONG!)
One more thing… If you tried to get this kind of training at a college or trade school – you would spend as much money on gas just driving there, as you will spend being a member of Voice Over Club.
Thanks Penny, really, thanks for helping us to see why some people make it in this world, and others just complain about how it “should be”.
…We welcome everyone’s comments below.
Hi Terry, I can understand where Penny is coming from, however, as with any business you must invest in it before you can reap the rewards. Having been in radio for over 10 years now I felt I had the talent but I can say that it wasn’t until I started to pay for professional training that I started being taken seriously as a voice actor. There are things I’ve learned about myself, my voice, my style and the business that I’m certain I wouldn’t have learned without training. Yes I have trained with you (and I’m saying this for free), but I have also paid for training elsewhere. While it was difficult for me financially, I found a way to make it work because it was my dream and it has paid off. I not only have recouped my costs for the training, but am growing a viable voiceover business.
I would like to point out to folks like Penny that I totally understand how hard it is to invest in training, however, one of the reason’s that I paid to train with Terry Daniel is that before I ever hired him as my coach he posted free videos, blogs and lots of helpful information about the voiceover business on social networking sites that have totally helped me in my voiceover business. This was all free of charge.
Again, I’m not getting anything to say this, but I would like to say that if you are really serious about getting into voice acting, though you may have talent, training is a must. And in my experience with voice coaches, Terry if fun, knowledgeable and very reasonably priced.
Just my two cents,
Paul Hernandez
Thanks Paul! I appreciate the comments. :-)
In reading Penny’s letter, I really feel her frustration. I can see, too, that much of it comes from an innocent misunderstanding regarding the word ‘talent.’ People sometimes use the word ‘talent’ when they are actually talking about skill. To succeed in the voiceover industry it definitely helps to have talent, but talent alone will not allow an actor to book jobs consistently. An actor may have the most beautiful voice ever heard, but if they haven’t learned how to use a microphone professionally or to analyze copy they will most likely be overlooked in the competitive voiceover marketplace. It’s helpful to remember that training programs teach skills, not talent. If Penny were to understand this, she might feel a whole lot more comfortable about wisely investing capital in quality voiceover training.