There is nothing wrong with posting pictures of your home studio on social media but many skip the most critical part of the process of becoming a working voice actor. Learning how to do it! Buying gear and building your home studio should be a very exciting part of building a career but if you decide to throw acting skills on the back burner, you will be in trouble.
Imagine having a good mic, preamp, headphones, monitors and your space is treated well. You're ready to start auditioning and booking work! Oops, you have no idea how to read a commercial script. Oops, you have no idea how to get into character for a video game script. Oops, you have no idea how to execute an eLearning script. How will you ever use your new shiny TLM-103 if you can't perform a commercial script the way you're hearing it on radio or television? Simple. You can't.
Coaching is vital if you truly want to make a go at voiceovers. Occasionally, cynical new talents will balk at my consistent messaging on coaching because I am a coach! I understand the skepticism but if this is you, call any talent agent in the country and ask them how important coaching and getting a professional demo is. Not one will advise you to start working on your home recording booth first. Instead, they will all recommend training and professional demos. Yes, I am a coach but my advice comes from my own failures and successes over the last 30 years and I am telling you right now; Don't skip the performance skills coaching. I made this mistake years ago. I spent a ton of money setting up my home studio, hoping clients would magically appear or start calling! I didn't realize at the time that I should have spent my money learning the ACTING part of voice acting. I learned my lesson.
My business took off once I learned how to read commercial and narration scripts like a professional. I worked with a few coaches in Minneapolis, who helped me with my voiceover business and niche. Not to mention helping curb my radio announcer-like delivery!
Now, I am not here to castigate those who consistently post pictures of their home studio on social media. It is exciting. I get it! But nothing makes a talent agent or coach happier than when new talents start booking work. I never want anyone to get frustrated or quit because they can't book work and more times than not, it's because they decided to take too many shortcuts and skip the coaching process. Personally, nothing makes my day more than one of our students booking work and actually being able to use their gear and recording booth!
Every talent must create their path and I never want to come across as someone who claims that if you don't go through training, you won't succeed. That is not the case, but your chances of booking work and getting on a talent agency roster will be minimal should you decide to skip the coaching and demo process. Research other professions like photography, music, on-camera acting, professional athlete and more. Training is highly recommended if you want the best chance to succeed. I want your microphone to be more than just a shiny decoration in your office.