Acting Business Boot Camp

Have you been pinned? Have you gotten your avail check? Are you down to the final two and still waiting? You get told things like this. They loved you. You were absolutely down to the final two. And these words can feel wonderful until you realize that you have built an emotional home in the almost. It is sort of like you created the space to be second best. Almost Is Real Evidence Let's not minimize it. Being close is real evidence that your work is connecting. But here is the thing. Almost can become your identity. I am always close but I do not get there. Once that story takes hold, every near miss becomes proof. And that is what we want to be so careful of. From a casting perspective, when I have to tell an actor it was down to you and one other actor, what I am really saying is you were so great and I will definitely be keeping you in mind for future projects. It is not this one, but it is not nothing. I will tell you about a particular animation project where I was the second choice. I had a friend say sometimes there is a role that just gets you, and that was the one that really got me. But here is the thing. That was over 20 years ago and I have continued to work throughout the years. You will audition again. You will get a job again. And sometimes almost is not your identity at all. Almost is a detour sending you in the right direction. I was the first American to get into the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and that was a phenomenal experience. But only because I did not get into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art first. What Almost Can Do to You Actors start counting near misses instead of noticing the level at which they are competing. You are competing with incredible competition. You are really doing great. What starts to happen is we experience that final decision as losing something we never actually had. And when we feel like we have lost something we never had, we start creating that space for the almost. We start building an identity around it. I am the almost person. Or maybe you stop auditioning altogether to avoid any further disappointment. I remember that feeling. I would think, forget it, I am not doing this anymore. But here is the thing. That is not going to do a lot of good. Reframe It Without the Nonsense I do not want you to pretend you are not disappointed. But do not turn that disappointment into your reality. Being consistently in serious consideration is information. It means you are on the right track. Be the last one on the bus. Be the last one standing. Thomas Jefferson said the only time we ever really fail is our last attempt at trying. Ask yourself what is working in your auditions. What is within your control. And then keep moving. Almost is a location. It is a location in your timeline. It is not an identity. Being close means you are close. It does not predict the next room or the next audition. Do not build a mythology out of a casting decision. When you are close and you do not book, give yourself a defined period to be disappointed. Then record the useful evidence. What worked. Who saw you. What relationship deepened. Because if you were close, your relationship deepened. And after that, release that imaginary job. It was not yours to begin with. The Bottom Line Celebrate the level you are reaching without settling into the almost. Your job is not to prove the pattern wrong. Your job is to keep showing up as the actor who is capable of being in those conversations. Let me say that again. Your job is to keep showing up as the actor capable of being in those conversations. You are capable. You can do this. Want to Keep the Conversation Going? We have partial scholarships available right now for my two weekly classes. The Weekly Accountability Group meets every Friday at 12pm Eastern, 9am Pacific, and covers accountability, time management, business, goals, and follow-through. The Wisdom class follows immediately after and covers the deeper personal work, patterns, choices, what gets in our way, how to live with more freedom and have more fun being ourselves. If you are interested in applying for a partial scholarship, email me at [email protected] And if scholarships are currently full, let us know anyway and we will put you on the list for next time. As I always say, stay safe and treat yourself real well.

One of my students came to me with a question I think a lot of you are sitting with. They want to make commentary content. Real opinions under their real name. Maybe short form videos, maybe a Substack, maybe pitching some freelance pieces. But they are worried specifically about commercial voiceover. Not that the content would offend anyone. That some brands and higher-ups in production just do not want to work with anyone who reads as too political online, regardless of what the politics are. That is a very smart distinction. And I want to unpack it honestly. The Direct Risk Is Lower Than You Think A creative director is not watching a car commercial and thinking, who is that, let me go look at their TikTok. The odds that someone hears your read, Googles you, finds a heated video from last year, and pulls the job from you is pretty low. That argument is correct. But that is not really where the risk lives. Where the Risk Actually Lives The risk is reputational and relational. The industry is a small space. Agents talk to casting directors, casting directors talk to producers, producers talk to other producers. And the thing that travels through those conversations is not your demo. It is you. The one-line description of you. Oh that person? They are so great, super easy in a session. Oh that person? They are so talented, super kind. Oh that person? Yeah, I am not really sure what their deal is, they are kind of a lot online. That last one. Nobody even had to Google you and you still got filed in a drawer. And you will never know that happened. It is usually not about what side you are on. It is about how you are doing it. A lot of agents and casting people quietly prefer talent who read as a blank slate. Not because they disagree with you. Because a blank slate is easy. Any brand can project onto it. There is no friction, no extra conversation, no email to the client that has to explain something. Commercial advertising is one of the most risk-averse businesses on the planet. These are people who will hold twelve meetings about the color of a font. It Is Not Really Reversible You can delete posts. You can go quiet for a year. But impressions last. Screenshots exist. The person who filed you in that drawer is not going to check back in six months to see if you have changed. The question is not will this cost me a job. It is what do I want people to say about me when I am not in the room. Not All Voiceover Works the Same Way Commercial wants a blank slate more than anyone. But animation and video games are much more tolerant of public personality. In fact they sometimes want it because it creates a fandom. Audiobooks depend on the genre, but plenty of narrators have public opinions and a following because of those opinions. Indie narrative work, podcasts, documentaries, your own projects, a point of view can actually be an asset. It can be the whole reason someone hires you. So the first question is what work do you actually want? If your dream is national TV spots for a bank, your content strategy is different than if your dream is narrating climate nonfiction. Volume and Tone Matter More Than What You Post A voice actor who sometimes posts a sharp, well-written take on something they care about reads as a person with opinions. Totally normal, kind of refreshing. A voice actor whose entire feed is commentary starts to read as an activist who also happens to do voiceover. Not good or bad. Just a different drawer. Same goes for tone. Thoughtful reads differently than furious. Curious reads differently than dunking on people. You can hold the exact same opinion and come across as someone a producer wants in a session or someone a producer wants to avoid, purely on delivery. Which, if you think about it, is literally our job. What Cringe Actually Is Cringe is not having opinions. Cringe is not being earnest. Cringe is not posting about your kid, your dog, your divorce, or your garden. Cringe is a mismatch. It shows up in three ways. The first is unprocessed. Posting from inside the experience instead of the other side of it. There is a big difference between sharing a hard experience and live streaming your nervous system. The first builds connection. The second makes people want to look away. The second is performative. The post exists so people will see you having an opinion, not because you have anything to add. The audience can feel that. The third is engagement bait. The rage post, the hot take you do not actually believe in, the thing you know will get comments. It might grow your numbers. But followers are not clients. A thousand people arguing in your comments does not equal one producer who trusts you. Growth and reputation are not the same scoreboard. Five Practical Content Tips Build content buckets. Pick three to five topics you actually want to talk about. Every idea goes into a bucket. Buckets keep you from becoming one thing by accident and let you see the mixture of content you are making. Decide your ratio. Give yourself some loose structure. Maybe mostly voiceover, some personal, a little passion topic. Post on some kind of rhythm so your feed reflects what you decided and not what you felt at 1am. Match the platform to the message. TikTok is loud and fast and very public. Substack is slower with room for nuance. A small private account is different again. You do not have to choose between your values and your career. You can put your sharpest commentary somewhere with room for it and keep your professional facing feed more balanced. That is not hiding. That is choosing the right room. Give it a day. If you are angry or fired up, write it, film it, save it, and look at it tomorrow. If you still want to post it, post it. Most of the time you will edit it into something better. Sometimes you will realize it was a journal entry and not a post. Know what you want to be known for. Before you post anything, finish this sentence. When people think of me I want them to think blank. Then ask whether this post moves you toward that sentence or away from it. That is the whole filter. The Bottom Line Every post is a choice about where you want to be filed. You get to make that choice on purpose instead of letting the algorithm or your worst Tuesday make it for you. Have the opinions. Share the hard stuff. Just pick the room, pick the volume, and know what you want people to say about you when you are not there. Want to Keep the Conversation Going? The written version of today's tips is on The Actor's Index on Substack. And if you have a post sitting in your drafts that you are not sure about, reach out. Let's strategize together. [email protected].

Many actors believe that if they can just become what people want, they will finally book. And what happens is that shape-shifting becomes exhaustion. Full-on exhaustion. Actors walking into auditions disconnected from themselves, trying to perform what they think the casting director wants instead of just being truthful in the moment. As a casting director, I can read it so quickly. Whose Fault Is That I was maybe 17 or 18 years old. My manager told me I was not going to get a callback for a big project. And I said to her, but I did not get to show them who I really was. And she looked at me and said, well, whose fault is that? I still shudder at that. What a lesson. Why did I not allow myself to be who I really was in that room? Because I was trying to figure out what the casting director wanted for that project. And that sure did not work. The whole thing is that authenticity can be terrifying because you cannot control the outcome. Shape-shifting feels safer because you think you are going to get the approval. But when you go into an audition it is a collaboration. Here is what I think I can do with this script. Let us talk, let us change it around, let us have fun. You got into this business because it is supposed to be fun. And fun and joy is super high energy. That is where your dreams live. Fear is not where your dreams live. People-pleasing is not where your dreams live. Stop Asking Who You Should Be What happens over time is that actors stop asking who they are and start asking who should I be. How do you want me to be. If you have not seen Tootsie, go watch it. Dustin Hoffman plays an actor who says, you want me to be taller, I can be taller, you want me to be shorter, I can be shorter. That is exactly this. Authenticity risks judgment. It risks criticism. It risks visibility and vulnerability. Performing is often protection. But presence is vulnerability. And presence is what books the job. I have seen actors change personalities depending on the room they walk into. Trying to sound professional instead of human. Letting AI write everything for them without checking if it sounds anything like them. And in acting class, studying successful actors until they lose their own instincts. Those instincts are the most precious thing you have. Do not be another Dustin Hoffman. Do not be another Timothée Chalamet. Do not be another Viola Davis. Be you. There is only one of you on the planet. What I Remember as a Casting Director I remember actors who feel real and feel grounded. And authentic actors are easier to direct because they are connected instead of defended. The next time you do a self-tape or an audition, stop trying to sound impressive or actor-y. Be one degree more honest, conversational, and connected. Just one degree. See what happens. The Bottom Line That exhaustion you feel comes after performing a version of yourself that you think will be accepted. But sustainable careers are built on self-trust, not chronic approval-seeking. The goal is to become more of yourself. Want to Keep the Conversation Going? If you are not on the mailing list and want some free offerings, email me at [email protected]. As I always say, stay safe and treat yourself real well.

How to Actually Use LinkedIn to Grow Your Voiceover Business I know. I can already hear you groaning. Mandy, I am an actor, not a business person in a blazer who posts about synergy. I get it. But here is what I need you to understand before we go any further. LinkedIn is not a social media platform. It is a business tool. And that distinction matters more than almost anything else I am going to say today. Instagram is for your personality. TikTok is for your content. LinkedIn is for your clients. Start With Your Profile If your profile is not optimized, nothing else I am going to say really matters. Your profile is the first thing a potential client sees when you reach out. It needs to say immediately and clearly, I am a professional, I know what I am doing, and you should hire me. Your photo needs to be a real professional-looking headshot. Not AI, not a car selfie, not an avatar. We are battling bots left and right and you need to prove who you are. A selfie in your booth is totally acceptable. Clear, well-lit, people can see your face. That is the bar. Your headline is prime real estate and most people waste it by either just putting professional voice actor or listing every single vertical that exists. Neither one tells me what you do for the people who hire you. Instead of commercial, e-learning, corporate, imaging, everything under the sun, try something like voiceover actor helping brands boost engagement through authentic storytelling. That is who you are and what is in it for the client. Set your custom URL so it reads linkedin.com/in/yourname. Make it cohesive with everything else you use. Fill out your contact info including your email address. Use the experience section to include voiceover even if you have another job. By leaving it out you are signaling that you are not taking it seriously. Use your featured section wisely. A link to your website first, then maybe a Canva graphic with some testimonials or logos, then a piece of content you rotate regularly. And do not skip the audio clip feature. You get about 11 seconds and you have an extraordinary voice. Use it. Every visitor to your profile will already know what they are getting before they even reach out. Curate Your Feed Like a Businessperson Stop using LinkedIn like social media. Stop following other actors. I know that sounds harsh but no one is going to complain that you unfollowed them on LinkedIn, and if they do, that is their problem. If your feed is full of actors posting about their bookings and their new mic you are curating for your ego and not your business. The people you should be following are creative directors at ad agencies, marketing managers at brands, producers, content creators, e-learning developers, HR managers. Those are your people on LinkedIn. When you fill your feed with them you start to understand what they care about, what problems they are trying to solve, and where you fit in. How to Prospect Use the LinkedIn search bar with Boolean combinations. Creative director and advertising. Producer and media production. E-learning developer and corporate training. Filter by industry and location. Find the people who can actually hire you. When you connect, write a personalized note. Not the default. Mention how you found them, something real about their work, get to the point. Something like hi Sarah, I came across your profile, I am a voice actor and I would love to connect. That is it. Not a novel. Not even a pitch. Just a human being making contact. And post in groups. Not voiceover groups. Not casting groups. Business groups, content marketing groups, e-learning industry groups. Where your potential clients are hanging out. Engage there. Comment on posts. Show up as someone who understands their world. LinkedIn rewards engagement. The more active you are the more likely you are to show up when people search for you. My Favorite Strategy I scroll LinkedIn intentionally looking for videos from companies that do not have voiceover. Brand videos, product explainers, company culture reels. All of it just sitting there with music or text overlays and no voice. That is an open invitation. I screen record the video, write a short script, record it, drop it into iMovie or CapCut, and send it back. The email is short. Something like hey, I loved your video but I noticed it did not have voiceover so I made one for you to test. Here is the link on my unlisted YouTube. A/B test it. If you like it, let's talk. You are not just telling them you do voiceover. You are showing them work you actually did for them. Something they can use and test. That has made a huge difference in my business. The Bottom Line This is the long game. Building a client base through LinkedIn prospecting is not a week-long project. It is not a month-long project. It is ongoing. Some of what you send will go completely unanswered. That is literally how direct marketing works. But you are collecting data. You are learning what subject lines get opened, what pitches get responses, what kinds of companies are most receptive to what you do. The actors who build sustainable voiceover careers are not necessarily the most talented ones in the room. They are the ones who treated it like a business from the ground up and kept showing up. Want to Keep the Conversation Going? If you want a step-by-step checklist of everything covered today plus some extra LinkedIn goodies, send me an email at [email protected] and put LinkedIn checklist in the subject line. I will send it your way. I also have free classes every month, AMAs with Peter, a Substack with resources, email marketing courses, and business courses for voiceover actors. I am here to help. You just have to raise your hand.

Why Fear Gets Louder Right Before Growth Fear often gets louder right before growth. And sometimes it is not just loud. Sometimes it is a full-on horror movie. Because when I am on the verge of change, there is a part of me that gets angry about it. No, no, no. We like to keep it how it is, thank you very much. But actors mistake fear for failure when sometimes it means they are actually getting closer. The Blowback I call it the blowback. When I start to really go out there and do what I want to do, sometimes I get a blowback. The old stuff starts crashing back in. And the best thing I can do is stay prepared for that, because when I am taking really good actions that is often exactly when it happens. I need to stay steady in what I know to be true. Your Nervous System Is Wired for Familiar Suffering This is going to sound a little crazy but I find it to be true. My brain is wired for familiar suffering. The nervous system prefers what feels familiar, even if that familiar thing is struggle or self-doubt or self-deprecation. If it is familiar, that is what your nervous system wants. Think about actors who sabotage momentum after finally getting traction. You start to do really well and then you notice a part of you that wants to pull back. Or overthinking every audition after getting close to booking. Being pinged for a ton of roles and then suddenly getting in your own head. Your nervous system would rather keep you familiar than fulfilled. Fear is urgent and feels catastrophic. Intuition is usually quieter and more grounded. That is the difference. Journal Prompts What are you postponing because it feels uncomfortable? This does not have to be about your acting career. What have you been putting off? And this one is so good I have to say it twice. Is your fear protecting your future or protecting familiarity? Visibility and the Terror That Comes With It So many actors want visibility and fear it at the same time. Momentum can trigger imposter syndrome and fear of pressure. And those things are real. The move is to move before you feel ready. Take one action before your brain fully approves. I was watching an actor do a monologue recently and I noticed right away they were making sure they were ready before saying that first line. I told them, say that line when you are not ready. When you feel like you are falling off the cliff, that is when you say it. See what happens. The Thing I Want to Leave You With If you are afraid, it means that you care. And the bravest actors I know continue showing up while that uncertainty is still present. It really is that leap and the net will appear. Want to Keep the Conversation Going? I have a few openings for free consultations, one-on-one or through buddy coaching, where you and a friend work with me together at a significant discount. Email me at [email protected] As I always say, stay safe and treat yourself real well.