We wanted to let you know about 2 great new resources for the voice over community.
The first is our new web hosting company for voice over talent and performing arts professionals:
Artist Web Hosting.

We can think of no better place for voice talent and performers to set up shop. Experienced support professionals await new orders. We know audio. We know video. We know design. When it comes to getting set up we’ll be with you every step of the way.

Also – We have a new Media and File Transfer Agent set up for performers and creative professionals who need a little extra space and extra services that don’t come with places like YouSendIt…

Stop by and check them out. Let us know if you have any questions.

Also – If you’re and ISDN Talent you need to be listed here:

Even if you don’t have ISDN we have listings available for talent from all over the world, as well as for Source-Connect voice talent… So come on by and check them out..

The Coach…

Here’s a video describing the enhanced talent listings in our online voice talent directory. We just rolled out the feature and so far we’re very pleased. We hope you will be as well.

You can learn more about the enhanced voice talent profiles here.

I don’t have a lot of time to comment on this right now – but I promise I will definitely be back to fill it out a little bit.. Call me mean… Call me a jerk if you want… But this is not how you become a voice over performer.

This is the message that came with it…

Hello all! Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything, but I’m at my wits end. I’ve got some natural talent for doing voiceovers and potentially voice acting, but I’ve yet to get any gigs or jobs doing it. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, or where the best places are to get jobs doing such. I’m tired of letting my talent just waste away at me idly doing voices when I get bored. I’ve done some videos on Youtube where I use my voices but nothing ever seems to come of that. I’m married and dirt poor right now, so I can’t afford to pay for a professional demo or getting a full profile on websites such as voice123.com. Is there ANYTHING that I can do, or if any of you know anyone who might be willing to help a guy out, could you please help me? If not, can you at least provide advice or tips on getting my voice out there? Thanks.

Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks sending this message was a good idea… You can’t just put on a headset and become a voice talent.

I kind of feel for the guy… It’s sad… Really… What’s even worse is I’m sure some “voice over coach” will offer to train him for some money… It will NOT be me… But I’m sure someone will swoop in on him…

As a trial Internet-only offer, we’re now offering 10 week blocks of voice over training for $600.

The lessons are pre-paid and run 45 minutes instead of the usual 1.5 hours for 10 weeks.

Time limits are strict. Ultimately the real difference will be in the amount of material we can cover in the given period of time,  but otherwise the sessions are exactly the same as our longer classes.

This offer is for online Internet voice over training sessions only. Limit to 5 students or December 31, 2009. Whichever comes first. Please pay for your lessons at the MineWurx Store.

UPDATE:

Payment Screen for Live Voice Over Evaluations:

There have been some changes to the way we conduct our voice over evaluations. We provide, and have always provided these evaluations free of charge and will continue to do so with one major modification. We now provide two different types of voice over evaluation for prospective voice over students and voice talent; FREE EVALUATIONS via email and “fee based” evaluations which are live, in person or online and free for anyone who elects to take lessons with our studio after their evaluation.

Please read the following information carefully for a complete explanation and understanding of the new process.

We’ve linked to the new voice over talent directory over at our other web site and we’re off and running getting it up and running. It’s in a very raw form right now – but it’s working and is certainly at a point where people can stop by and take a look.

A lot of the information which is in the directory right now is subject to change here and there so don’t get used to anything you see. We’re still working on a few structural issues and then we’ll be open to new submissions. Right now we’re still trying to get all of the directory members listed – so give us some time before you start making more membership submissions.

As always – any questions – just ask..

MM

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. day.

A day to observe and remember a man, who wound up on the wrong end of a gun and was so tragically and prematurely ripped from the fabric of American culture some 40 years ago.

It would be an absolute disservice to ourselves, and to the memory of Dr. King, if his murder were all we remembered about him on this day. The day is not to commemorate his death, it is meant to celebrate his life. A life lived… and given attempting to free a people from the yokes of repression, segregation and inequality.

The price he paid while searching for the realization of his dreams, as well as those of so many others, though tragic, appears to have not been in vain – for tomorrow, with the swearing in of our nations first black president, we will witness a realization of those dreams in a way that many of us thought we would never live to see.

I am beside myself with the reality of it.

While Barack Obama has yet to spend a minute as the leader of the free world at the time of this writing, and being a politician we would be a bit foolish to anoint him a savior or a saint just yet, he is the embodiment of someone whose success is directly a result of their diligence, intelligence and articulate ability. When this is combined with his apparent reality and understanding of people and his ability to communicate with them, it places him on an eloquent plateau similar or equal to that of  the great civil rights leaders who came before him.

Call him what you may now with an understanding it may bear little resemblance to what history will call him in the coming years.  This is a very exciting time to be alive, to witness dramatic change and to reflect on those who came before us… who paved the way for the changes we have been so fortunate to witness.

I will certainly be waiting and watching.

It is with that being said that I re-link to an article I published back in May of 2006. It was hopeful then, an inspirational to some, and one of the things I reflect on a little now as I pull up a ringside seat to some long overdue history in this country. If you’ve never read it before, go ahead and look it over. So many of its words seem to ring a little more true right now…

http://www.thevoiceovercoach.com/voiceoverblog/ethnicity-and-regionalism-in-voice-over-is-your-race-or-culture-a-burden/