DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

Harlan Hogan and I are teaching our month-long teleseminar class, STARTING YOUR VOICEOVER BUSINESS: Everything You Need To Know To Turn Your Dream Or Your Sideline Into A Business, just once in 2010

The first class is on Monday. Registration closes this Friday.

If you’re thinking about registering, it might help you to hear more verbatim “reviews” from last year’s graduates…

Richard Caughey

“I have always been one of those folks who can do almost anything when I put my mind to it, although Motivation is sometimes lacking. That, I think is the most valuable tool looking back; I now know how to go about putting the knowledge into action.

“The last class was what I had been looking for the most, I think. The how to start, when to access legal and financial advice, and when to worry about it.

“I would like to thank both Harlan and Dan for their honest and sincere effort over the past month. Everyone must be instructed at some point in their life, in my case it seems to be an ongoing thing, but no one was born with all of the knowledge that is necessary to be successful. Thanks again for the push in the right direction.”

Tracey Buchholz

“Just wanted to thank you both for such a fabulous class.  It went above and beyond my expectations! You covered so much material, answered all of our questions and did it in such an engaging and enjoyable way.

“The bonus calls were fantastic, as well. And then, to have Jeffrey Fisher take the time to analyze our voices and give us his professional recommendations …that was just invaluable, too! There truly was so much offered to the students taking part in this class.

“I look forward to checking out the Facebook page regularly….thanks for setting that up, as well. Thanks again for such a wonderful learning experience.

“Now, I just need to take action. As Harlan says, ‘The work of voiceover work is getting the work!'”

Keith Filges

“I really enjoyed the info from the class. I did miss one class, but I loved the mp3 downloads so I was able to listen later. I learned that a lot of the stuff I did at the beginning of my career was actually dead on to what Harlan said to do, at least MOST of the things I did where dead on… a few things I messed up on but I guess I did OK setting up what I’m doing now.

“For the past 27 years I’ve been working at a pretty popular recording studio in St. Louis and I do all right getting the work; but the reason I took the class was that I want to try new things, i.e, getting more agency representation so that I can do more out of town work. So, now with the info I have I feel pretty confident on approaching new possibilities down the road.”

Linda Ristig

“Putting my faith in you both to deliver a realistic look at the world of VO’s was the very best investment of my time and money! These last four weeks have given me so many revelations, beyond the voice training technique and sound booth issues I’d been focused on.

“When Harlan mentioned last night about the elements of my new business being like an upside-down pyramid, something clicked inside of me. If the smallest amount of time is spent as the ‘performer,’ why was I spending so much of my time crafting it, to the total exclusion of thinking about the big picture?

“The ‘entrepreneur’ fledgling spirit in me was pinning too much hope in the P2P sites. I now see how important it is to self-market. Today, I’m shifting my focus to researching and contacting potential clients.

“My biggest stumbling block was the ‘management’ piece. If I begin to make contacts, how do I keep track of that effectively? The two sessions this week answered those questions. I’ve already looked up the two software programs discussed, and am enrolled in a teleseminar this afternoon for using ACT!

“You both stepped out of your daily routines to share what you know with us in such a respectful, candid, and thoughtful way. I want to express my thanks and gratitude for your time and energy. You thought of so many details, not just within the framework of the curriculum, but also by adding extra valuable sessions, to handouts, to mp3’s, to making a Facebook group, to live Q&A of the content.  You gave me far and away more than I ever gave you!

“The only final comment I want to share with you is this. Although everyone’s story for developing their opportunities is ‘situational,’ I now understand the concept that the real work behind VO is ‘getting the work.’ I truly listened and will take action!

“PS- Thanks for answering all my questions during the Q&A’s! The entire teleseminar experience was incredibly meaningful.”

Tom Verba

“Great course, Harlan & Dan!

“Class outline piqued my curiosity, answered many questions, allayed some fears. With some trepidation I took a chance and signed up. I’m glad I did.

“This course is a terrific nuts and bolts manual for starting a voice over business.

“The late start here in the East was a drag for me, but I committed to listening live. The Bonus Sessions were a real plus. Worth the extra time expended. I did listen to all three hours of Jeffrey Fisher’s voice evaluations. I gained knowledge about potential competitors for VO work (classmates). Though my recording was done at a professional recording studio, Jeff’s comments influenced my selection of home studio equipment. Your referrals to books and websites were invaluable.

“In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “If you come to a fork in the road…pick it up”. Now I will run with it. . . . Hopefully, I won’t poke my eye out.”

Melissa Freeman

“I adored the entire four weeks!!

“Toward the end of the class, I had asked you both ‘what next’…or how can we decompress post class after all the rush of wonderfully well-organized, smooth flow of substantively specific information, consistently faithful MP3’s and reminders of each class, well laid-out study guides, thrilling and bonus classes and was poised to extol its virtues when recording suddenly stopped — I’d actually felt rather numb. So naturally, I acted upon your suggestion and went straight to Facebook to check out the posts.

“As with each of the four Question/Answer sessions, the final night’s class clarified several questions I’d had about getting an agent and throughout the entire evening, I took notes (as is my practice) on all of your answers provided to questions posed by the students. Both of you are very entertaining and this is what also makes it just such a delight to be involved. I am totally aware of the fact that I was a part of something very special during these past four weeks.

“This was by far the best voice-over class, best seminar, best all around course in a creative field, period. It simply WAS more than I had anticipated an experience rare and adventurous into deeper look at what makes a successful business in voice-overs tick.

“What was totally refreshing is the crispness of the presentation, topics and details covered; I loved the nicely designed Study Guides too! The follow-up with a subsequent Q & A class dedicated solely to the previous night was great, and the entire class format was consistent and did not deviate or become randomized or lose ground and time retracting steps or jumping ahead on topics that were ahead in the course.

“The hands-on approach — despite its being  held via telephone — was totally beneficial and the nature and type of assignments really put us though our paces in the research and analysis of genres of voicing, branding, competition and I-net casting sites.

“The peak in this endeavor was being able to record ourselves and receiving a critique of our sound in handling the mic and our studio set-up and any hardware and/or software problems if any by a super expert in the field, Jeffrey Fisher. A wealth of help and fascinating information was bestowed upon us in those two hours of listening to all the students overseen by Jeffrey’s meticulous review with his highly perfected skill and talent for hearing everything and detecting a probable source for an anomalous noise etc.

“I also so appreciated the generous, valuable and incredibly interesting bonus classes; they were totally unexpected and they were phenomenal!

“I cannot thank you both enough for your hard work and dedication in coming up with such a winning, motivating course in voice-overs. More than that it certainly has given me more tools, wisdom and savvy, as well as to give me a huge push forward along the journey with preparedness — I wouldn’t have had as much confidence to move forward without the knowledge AND experience I’ve gained from the class. I would NOT have begun to set up a website yet, and it would certainly not be as far along as it is!

“Your Voice-Over As A Business class has reaffirmed my aspiration to be successful in this field. I am a creative person, I liked being in the animation; I even had a skirmish with doing some character voices at one point and now I am totally dedicated to striving to become a part of another really wonderful group of creative, talented people…Voice-Over People!

“Thank you, thank you so much again Dan and Harlan! They say that the number Five represents ‘change’, ‘celebration’ and ‘adventure’… and in the month of May, this Voice-Over Class was all that. (And more.)”

Elizabeth Stuart

“This class has been extremely informative. There was a considerably large amount of info, which I do appreciate. I will have to listen to the classes over again and study my notes and assignments.

“Thank you so much for your time and information. I had no idea you and Harlan had never provided this course prior! I’m even more satisfied with the fact that I gave you guys a chance, because there are a lot of hack-job ‘turn key’ classes out there. I’m never so quick to hand my money over for any reason. Harlan’s initial write up about the class convinced me that this was not another one of those types of classes.”

By now you might know Harlan Hogan and I are teaching our month-long teleseminar class, STARTING YOUR VOICEOVER BUSINESS: Everything You Need To Know To Turn Your Dream Or Your Sideline Into A Business, once more.

The first class is on Monday. Registration closes this Friday.

If you’re thinking about registering, it might help you to hear what last year’s graduates said after it was all over. Was it worth it? Or was it a waste of their time & money?

Here’s what they had to say….

Yvonne Meek

“The class was very practical and useful in that you didn’t ‘glamorize’ or try to hype us for our precious money.  Many other voiceover sites, etc. seem to make lots of promises and require lots of money to get started.”

We “forced” last year’s students to update us with their  “30-Day Success Reports.” Here’s Yvonne’s update:

“OK, so I am still stuck in my old, fearful and procrastinating ways but I did manage to secure a full production audio book project to be recorded in my fully equipped home studio.

“I will also be recording ‘on hold’ presentations for our Chamber of Commerce and Visitors and Convention Bureau.”

Hmm. That’s what she accomplished in the first 30 days after the end of the class while still being “fearful and procrastinating”??

Mike Achen

“What a great class this has been. It is probably the best $$$ I have spent on voiceover ever. And here is why I say that.

“1) You broke it down into four 4-week segments with each week keying in on vital aspects of the business of voiceover.

“2) Every week you added Q&A after the class to help us with our own areas we might be curious about. You also gave us bonus calls …enough said.

“3) You showed us what a workbook with an action plan might look like and gave us nuts and bolts examples each week of actions we can take to start and build our business.

“4) It is very obvious you both have the experience and know how to show beginning, intermediate, and expert VO actors how to ramp up our business with a hands on approach to making a plan, getting started, and following through.

“Thank you Harlan and Dan for a REAL class on how to start and grow my business. By the way, I booked a narration gig for a large public utilities company here in the inland empire right after Class 4. This was a result of ‘the work of voiceover work is getting the work.'”

Deborah Reast

“I want to thank you both for the time involved in hosting the class and the many hours you must have spent preparing and creating the ‘Starting Your Voiceover Business’ course.

“Certainly many of us have procrastinated in doing the ‘work of voiceover work’, namely contacting people and putting it all out there. Now that we know a lot more than we did four weeks ago, our confidence is improved and we’ll begin setting the voiceover world on fire!

“During the class I personally discovered that I definitely need to brush up and play around more with the technical aspect of recording. I don’t think any of us can get away with remaining unfamiliar with our home studio equipment. Since much of the work is no longer done at a proper recording studio, we all need to become more tech savvy to obtain projects and to do more work with an increased number of clients.

“It was very helpful to have the recording critiqued. I gained excellent tips during the class and the experience and knowledge you both bring to the table (in a humorous and irreverent way) will be extremely valuable as we build our businesses.

“The weekly worksheets were detailed and full of information which can be retained and used along our voiceover journey. This is my second business and it is a division of my first company, so much of my company accounting and legal aspects are already in place, however, during the last session I picked up two accounting ideas that I will begin using immediately. Anyone just starting out surely will have their business run much more smoothly because of the information they received in Module 4.

“Your willingness to begin the Facebook group, to be available to the students and to continue to create future courses shows your dedication to the business. We are very fortunate to have found you and I’m sure each of us also wants to make you proud.”

Norman Jacklin

“First of all, this was a high class series of great monetary value, important in these times. Harlan Hogan provided the meat and potatoes of the curriculum, carefully explaining a whole range of marketing and business practices with the skill of an experienced VO performer, adman and accountant.

“Dan O’Day was no slouch either and provided motivational thoughts, insightful questions and at times some humor. They provided numerous hours of instruction, question and answer feedback and bonus sessions with industry experts totaling, by my count, at least 25 hours for the total cost, a rare bargain.

“Second, they utilized advanced teleclass and downloading technology, where astonishingly, they were able to control class outbursts, silly questions, self aggrandizement and the general wasting of time, often unavoidable with this venue of instruction.

“Third and most important, their instruction was relevant, valuable, practical and doable as long as students were willing to get up off their chairs and take action, even if in small steps.

“Fourth, in addition to the foregoing, Dan O’Day established a face book page for student’s continuing and future questions and advice. The Duo even managed to have their friend and colleague, Jeffrey P. Fisher, review for voice quality and recording technique, over three hours worth of audio submitted by students.

“I’d say kudos and ‘props’ to these two for meticulous planning, having fun with their material and some dumb luck!”

Susan Smart

“First let me just say this, I think you guys are so wonderful to give us your time and knowledge, and anything worth having is worth paying for and I’m telling you that this whole experience was so worth it!

“Each and every class this month was awesome and the best things I’ve gotten out of the overall set are how to move forward and what to expect and something even better: ‘what is expected of me’ in so many aspects of the business.

“Sometimes when I don’t know what to do, I become distracted and start doing so many different things it takes me a long time, if ever, to get back to where I should be. These classes have allowed me to set a path/plan that I can refer to when I get sidetracked, so I’m back on track right away.

“The bonus classes were absolutely the best. Those alone were well worth the money we paid. The ‘How to get things done’ {bonus call} was exactly what I needed. I was so happy to get the Pro Tools Information and again, it was so timely it was like you knew I was fumbling with my brand new studio tools. The {secret bonus class} was also a good one, it really opened my eyes about {sorry — secret bonus!). Thanks Dan for all your hard work and effort on these.

“I was so happy when you announced this class as I’d been scouring the web for months and  found only a few places that have any real serious information. The compilation of the information in these classes has allowed me to get a plan together. I feel confident as I move forward with my plan that I know where I want to be going and I’ve learned a lot about how to get there.

“The audio evaluation was priceless, it covered exactly what I’d been wondering since I set up my studio. Mostly, how was the sound in my ‘closet’ and did I have the right mic for my voice? Thank you Jeffery, for answering those very questions.”

“Good God..."

You know how RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK starts out with a tremendously exciting action sequence and then throughout the movie keeps piling on the thrills?

That’s what this commercial is like. Except it begins horribly and then, astonishingly, gets worse and worse.

1. Advertising intersects common human experience.

When is the last time you encountered a talking hamburger and/or a talking sausage? How effectively does that little scenario connect with your life?

2. A talking hamburger? How original.

If that commercial was created by an ad agency (and not — as I dearly hope — by a precocious 7-year old child who has been allowed to watch Mad Men), now I will reveal a closely guarded trade secret:

It’s a national “branding” adaptation of an inane, cliched, paint-by-numbers blueprint long used by People Who Never Should Be Allowed Near A Radio Commercial.

Here, try it yourself. Just plug in whatever ad category you wish and see what happens:

VO 1:  Hey, buddy!

VO 2:  Wha…? Who said that?

VO 1:  It’s me. Your (         ).

VO 2:  My (      )?

VO 1:  Yeah. You know, you’ve been neglecting me, and even (        )s need a little attention every now and then. That’s why you should take me to (Sponsor), where they’ll (       ) me, (      ) me, and even (      ) me all for one low price. I mean, you wouldn’t want me to (      ), would you?

VO 2:  Well, no.

VO 1:  Of course not! That would be pretty awful. That’s why you should call (Sponsor) right away at 343-8874. That’s 343-8874.

VO 2:  What was that number again?

VO 1:  343-8874.

VO 2:  You know, for a (        ), you’re pretty smart.

VO 1:  Aw, well — Hey, get a load of THAT sweet little (       )!

ANNOUNCER:  For all of your (       ) needs, that’s (Sponsor) at 343-8874. 343-8874.

3.  Radio is a visual medium, and successful radio advertising paints pictures of the results promised by the product or service.

Maybe you pictured a talking hamburger.

Perhaps you envisioned a talking sausage.

But you didn‘t picture food grilling on your barbecue, smoke gently wafting toward your hungry guests who are delighted by the aromas.

4. A rain dance???

That comedic climax is so lame, so mind bogglingly stupid that my most scornful invective couldn’t begin to do it justice.

I mean, a rain dance??

But Here Is What Puts This Commercial In The Hall of Shame.

I heard that spot in Los Angeles.

5.  Special Note To The Guy From New England Who Wrote This Commercial: In this part of the country — in fact, in most parts of the United States — we don’t have “cookouts.”

We have barbecues.

Too bad the copy ran long and you had to cut the line about washing down the burgers & sausage with a delicious cold frappe, huh?

Among the many things you never learned about radio advertising: Speak the language your target audience speaks. If Californians have “barbecues,” why would you talk to them about their “cookouts”?

Okay, fine. The inexperienced, entry level copywriter who wasted Kingsford’s advertising dollars didn’t know that “cookout” is a regional colloquialism unheard of west of the Mississippi River. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know.

But not a single person down the line knew and cared enough to say, “Uh, guys? No one here says ‘cookouts'”??

C’mon, everybody. Let’s all get together and do a rain dance. Maybe the resulting storm will drown out of this 60-second embarrassment.

Illustration © 2010 by Bobby Ocean