July 25, 2024 • 21 mins
There are hundreds of apps out there to help run our voice acting businesses, but finding the right ones can be like finding a needle in a haystack. After a lot of trial and error, I’ve found a set of tools that works for me.
In this video, I’m going to break down why I prefer these specific apps, what the learning curve is like, and how much they’ll set you back.
Center Stage Design: https://centerstage.design/
App Links:
https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm
https://quickbooks.intuit.com/self-employed/
https://www.paypal.com/us/home
https://wise.com/
https://www.squarespace.com/
https://www.openai.com/chatgpt
https://www.audacityteam.org/
https://www.adobe.com/products/audition.html
https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx.html
https://www.adobe.com/acrobat.html
https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro
https://www.onlysocial.com/
_____________________________
▶️ Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/BzSc3XNnXls
SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@vo-pro?sub_confirmation=1
The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://vopro.pro/vo-freedom-master-plan
The VO Pro Community: https://vopro.app
Use code You15Tube for 15% off of your membership for life.
The VO Pro Podcast: https://vopro.pro/podcast
7 Steps to Starting and Developing a Career in Voiceover: https://welcome.vopro.pro/7-steps-yt
Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://vopro.pro/move-touch-inspire-youtube
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vofreedom
The VO Pro Shop: https://vopro.pro/shop
Say Hi on Social:
https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro
https://www.instagram.com/vopro.pro
https://www.clubhouse.com/@paulschmidtvo
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/
My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com
GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com
Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission.):
Recommended Book List with Links: https://amzn.to/3H9sBOO
Gear I Use with Links: https://amzn.to/3V4d3kZ
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro
Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of apps that you can use to help you reduce yourtime and effort in running your voiceover business.
So today, I'm going to give you a set of tools that I've found that works very well forme, a digital...
toolkit, if you will, and I'm going to break everything down for you based on what I use,what those apps are, what the learning curves for each of those apps are, and what they'll
(00:28):
set you back financially every month or overall.
Now, how do I say this?
While I'm making recommendations on what works for me, let me stress this.
It's way more important that you pick tools that work and work for
Whatever that is it's way more important to you use the proper tool than it is whichspecific tool you use for example Dawes Whether it's Adobe Audition audacity Pro Tools
(01:01):
anything else Reaper you name it.
They all do roughly the same thing They all produce high quality digital audio The trickis finding the one that works for
If you're a carpenter, it's more important to use a hammer than it is which hammer youuse.
All right.
All that said, let's talk about the first piece of software, which is the most importantand probably the least sexy of all the software we're going to talk about today.
(01:29):
And that is CRM software, customer relationship management.
Let's start with HubSpot sales.
free.
I use HubSpot sales free and it is literally the backbone of my client managementpractice.
It has a ton of features.
Yes, even the free version.
You've got email tracking, there's a calendar scheduling tool, there's contact and companymanagement.
(01:53):
It really does everything you need it to do.
And yes, it's still free.
In fact, it's the best free CRM that I've ever seen.
Now, is it voiceover specific?
No, it is not.
But I still think it's the best
free CRM out there and beats most other paid CRMs.
The learning curve, at least for me, is super easy.
I find the user interface really intuitive and there's a ton of tutorials and supportavailable.
(02:19):
You do not need to be a technical whiz to use HubSpot and I would encourage you that ifyou're looking at CRM software, you shouldn't have to be a technical whiz to use any of
it.
HubSpot's got a ton of resources including a community built around the software.
They have webinars from time to time if you ever get stuck and their customer support isoverall very good.
(02:41):
And the best part is, if I haven't mentioned it before, and I know I have, it's freefolks, it's in your price range.
Yes, there are paid tiers and I will share something with you.
I was up to the $500 version of HubSpot several years ago because there were a bunch ofdifferent features that I felt were...
absolutely crucial to my business development practice.
(03:03):
I am now, because of other software that I use, back all the way back down to the freeversion and we'll tell you what other software that is in just a minute.
But I can't recommend highly enough HubSpot Sales Free CRM.
It's free, it's robust, it'll give you everything you need to manage your clientrelationships.
Next up, yeah this isn't sexy either but it's absolutely necessary, accounting.
(03:26):
Let's talk
QuickBooks Self -Employed.
Now this app in and of itself saves me dozens of hours every month because it istrainable, meaning you can set up rules within QuickBooks Self -Employed to automatically
track and categorize your expenses and your income.
The self -employed version of QuickBooks is designed specifically for freelancers so theyknow from whence we come.
(03:52):
And lastly, and this might be the biggest reason to use it, it simplifies tax season likeyou have no idea.
You can track your mileage and use that to further inform your taxes.
You can use it to send invoices, although I don't, I use another program which we'll talkabout in just a second.
The mileage tracking feature is especially useful if you're driving to clients, torecording studios, to networking events, heck, you may even drive to a conference.
(04:20):
All your professional mileage is tax deductible and there's a great tool within QuickBooksself -employed to help you do that.
You can separate business expenses from personal expenses.
You can hook all your accounts into QuickBooks so that all that information is automatedand flows into QuickBooks.
And as you train it, it becomes really adaptive being able to categorize your expenses andyour income.
(04:41):
And maybe the best part, during tax season, it'll generate all the needed reports for you,like your Schedule C,
which you can pretty much generate with the click of a button, which your accountant willlove.
And it even estimates your quarterly taxes so that you're not caught off guard eachquarter when it's time to write that check.
The learning curve is, I would describe as light to moderate.
(05:03):
I feel like it's pretty intuitive, but it does take a little time to tool around and learnall the features and benefits.
But QuickBooks is no fly -by -night operation.
They've been around a while, so they've got plenty of customer support and videos andtraining materials available for you as well.
QuickBooks Self -Employed starts at 20 bucks a month.
And while I'm a little annoyed that it's doubled in the last few years, when I startedusing it several years ago, it was $10 a month.
(05:28):
It is powerful software and it is worth every penny, even at 20 bucks a month.
And maybe the most important reason to use an accounting software tool like QuickBooksSelf -Employed is for accuracy.
When it comes to your bookkeeping and your taxes,
You do not want to be inaccurate.
The folks at the IRS frown upon that vigorously.
(05:52):
So get yourself a good tool for accounting and bookkeeping.
Next up, PayPal.
I mentioned I use a tool for invoicing.
In fact, I use two, and I'll talk about that in a second, for all my domestic invoicing.
For anybody in North America, generally I'm going to send them an invoice through PayPal.
PayPal's invoices are customizable.
(06:12):
You can put your company logo in there.
If you have one, you can customize it a little bit for look and feel.
The great thing about PayPal is just about everybody can use it.
That's why I use it for invoicing.
There are lots of payment options for clients, whether it's a credit card, whether it's abank transfer.
or they can use their own PayPal account as well to pay you.
(06:33):
The learning curve is stupid simple.
If you've ever sent money online, you probably have already used PayPal, so it would be atwo -foot putt to use it for your invoicing.
The other great thing about PayPal is there is no subscription.
They do take a per transaction fee, but there's no monthly fee.
And I've researched a lot of payment providers and whether it's PayPal or Stripe orwhatever invoicing you use, the fees are all similar.
(06:58):
So pick the one that works for
and use it.
Now for international invoicing, I will use a service called WISE.
It used to be called TransferWISE.
It's now just called WISE.
That's it.
W -I -S -E.
Now the reason I like it for international clients is the exchange rates are good and thefees are lower than traditional banks.
(07:19):
This is one of those cases where, yeah, the fees actually are less.
WISE is super simple to use to send and receive money internationally.
clients you can bill them in their local currency which is very cool and when Wyseconverts that into for example US dollars it does so as I mentioned at competitive
exchange rates that not only saves you money but it makes things much much easier for yourinternational clients.
(07:43):
Learning curve is pretty easy pretty straightforward and last but not least Wyse is supertransparent about their fees so you always know exactly what you're paying which is
Let's move on to CMS, Content Management System.
In other words, what platform is your website on?
I use Squarespace.
I have for several years and I absolutely love it.
(08:04):
It makes building, if you're so inclined, and maintaining a professional website a walk inthe park.
Perfect for showcasing your demos, making those available and downloadable and all thegood things that demos should be.
It's great for blogging if you're so inclined.
Essentially, it's a platform that's easy to use and can really cover any use case that youneed when building your website.
(08:26):
The functionality in Squarespace is stupid simple.
It's essentially drag and drop.
So if you're not tech savvy, if you're not a website coder or designer, you can produce asolid website in most cases without writing a line of code.
Now that said, there are also pro designers and developers that can help you with yourSquarespace website if you're looking
(08:49):
an exceptionally professional look and I suggest you do.
One of which I'll mention is Nadine Charlson of Center Stage Design.
Nadine is not just a web designer, she's a voice actor herself.
Her designs for voice actors are marvelous.
She can get you up and running in Squarespace in no time.
And I'll put her link in the show notes and description below.
(09:10):
And lastly, Squarespace recently bought Google domains.
So if you want to manage your domains in the same place where you manage your website,
Squarespace makes it stupid simple to do that as well.
Squarespace starts at 25 bucks a month and moves up from there.
I think I'm paying $40 a month for my voiceover website.
I think the business plan is $36 or $40 or so.
(09:31):
And with that you get, for example, professional email and much more in -depth analytics,which I'm into.
But all in all, $36 or $40 a month to me to have the ease of use and to have a greatlooking award nominated website, by the way.
It's well worth it
Next up, research and writing.
Chat GPT.
(09:52):
Wait a minute, the F -U -A -I guy uses chat GPT?
Yes, I do.
Why?
First of all, and this is important to me, I'm not robbing any other professional of thework that I do on chat GPT.
It is simply a first draft research and writing assistant for me.
That's not work that I was ever gonna outsource in the first place.
Secondly, I've spent a lot of time training chat GPT.
(10:15):
to write in my voice.
And third, even though I've put that time in and it does pay off in terms of time saved, Istill edit heavily the work that I produce first in ChatGPT to make sure it's in my voice,
to make sure I'm using the words that I would normally use, etc.
Now all that said, it still saves me a ton of time and effort.
(10:36):
I get people all the time asking me, my god, Paul, you produce a ton of content.
How do you get it all done?
Well, that's one of my cheat codes.
It's particularly useful for writing emails, marketing materials, getting content ideas.
Heck, I even use it to create my content calendar from month to month.
And it's a great research tool as well.
I'll me an example.
(10:58):
Yesterday, day before, I had a Romanian prospect reach out to me about a project.
And one of the stipulations about working together was that I register for what they calla Romanian fiscal registration number.
A what?
So I use ChatGPT to not only tell me what that was but to walk me through the process ofjust how you go about getting such a number.
(11:22):
So it's super useful for learning about stuff you don't already know about.
The learning curve is pretty easy to get started.
You just type.
And the great thing about generative AI programs like ChatGPT is that they store yourhistory.
They learn from the interactions that you have with
Now ChatGPT does have a free option, but there are also paid options as well.
(11:45):
I happen to pay for the ChatGPT advanced option, which is 4 .0 right now.
And it has faster response times and extra features that I actually use.
Maybe the paid plan doesn't make sense for you.
The free plan is certainly robust enough.
All right, let's get into the meat of what we do.
Audio production.
For this, I use two main apps, Adobe Audition and iZotope.
(12:08):
Rx full disclosure the reason I use Adobe Audition is because I've been using it for along time in fact way before Adobe bought it it was called cool edit Pro and that's when I
started using it Adobe Audition is a pro grade DAW meaning it has a lot of advancedfeatures and you can get down a lot of rabbit holes very easily
For me it makes sense because I've been using it for a long time because it integrateswith other Adobe software I use like Adobe Premiere Pro to produce these videos and Adobe
(12:37):
Acrobat which we'll talk about a little bit later.
So I have the Creative Cloud Suite which is one subscription that I pay one monthly feefor and I get access to all of Adobe software.
All that said, if you're brand new to audio production, if you're a newer voice actor andyou're just starting out, I recommend Audacity.
Number one, it's free.
(12:57):
Number two, it's open source.
It is a great starting point for those who are just becoming familiar with DAWs, digitalaudio workstations.
And just because it's free doesn't mean it's not powerful.
I know several voice actors still using Audacity to this day just because it works forthem and they see no need to move up.
(13:18):
They can do everything they need to do to produce professional sounding audio.
If you're new, start with Audacity, move up to something else like maybe Adobe Audition orsomething else that works for you later on.
The second app I use is Isotope RX.
Now they generally come out with a new version every year or two.
I think the current version that I'm using is Isotope RX 10, I want to say.
(13:40):
And it's a powerful tool for cleaning up audio.
For example, reducing a little bit of room echo when I'm not in the booth and I'm out hererecording a video at my desk.
It's great for that.
I have very clicky K's and occasionally some mouth noise, which this mic picks up more sothan even my Sennheiser.
And I'm able to clean that up in a iZotope RX10.
(14:01):
Now, if you're going to use any processing software like iZotope or any other, I highlyrecommend partnering
with a professional audio engineer like George the Tech, like Jordan Reynolds, like TimTippett's, like Emily Harrison to make sure that you're dialing in the settings in that
software in a way that makes it sound better and not worse because that's very easy foryou to do, especially if you're brand new.
(14:27):
I don't even mess with that stuff and I've been doing audio 25, 30 years.
Learning curves, audacity, pretty easy as Dawes go.
Adobe Audition, a little bit steeper curve and I'd say
iZotope RX is moderate to high and you should probably get help from an engineer to usethat.
Costs.
Audacity, as we mentioned, is free.
Adobe Audition starts at $29 .99 a month if you just subscribe to that one piece ofsoftware.
(14:52):
You may want to look into Creative Cloud if you're going to use Adobe Acrobat, AdobePremiere, and iZotope RX varies, but generally the cost is around $2 .99.
Speaking of Adobe, document management software, I highly recommend Adobe
It's the standard for PDF and document management.
If you're signing contracts or agreements, sending proposals, getting or sendingsignatures, it is to me easy to use and indispensable.
(15:21):
If you've ever had a client send you their contract in PDF form and you go, well, I haveproblems with this contract.
I'd like to make changes, but it's in PDF.
I can't do that.
It's exactly why you need Adobe Acrobat.
You can take that PDF.
and then convert it into a Word document, which you can then modify and redline and eithersend it back to them as a Word document or reconvert it back into a PDF to have them sign
(15:45):
it.
You can combine multiple documents into a single PDF and the eSignature function of AdobeAcrobat is just so easy to use and so falling off a log simple.
I highly recommend that as
Learning Curve is simple, easy to use, straightforward.
There are advanced features, but you don't need to use those to get started.
(16:07):
It's super functional even without the advanced features.
There's lots of tutorials online for Adobe Acrobat.
Their customer support is fantastic.
There's nothing not to like here.
And if you're going to buy Adobe or subscribe to Adobe Acrobat as a separate program, itstarts at $19 .99 a month.
Again, it comes along with the Adobe Creative Cloud if you subscribe to all
(16:28):
Adobe software.
All right, next up lead generation and outreach for this.
I highly recommend an app called Apollo .io.
Apollo .io is a powerhouse.
And the reason is it is the only software of which I am aware that has integrated leadgeneration and outreach.
(16:48):
What does that mean?
It means that you can find proper leads and reach out to them all within one piece ofsoftware.
I find the search capabilities within Apollo to be far and away better than those inLinkedIn.
Not only are the search parameters much more granular, but you can also automate youroutreach efforts to a very large extent.
(17:10):
Now the biggest drawback about Apollo I .O.
is also its biggest strength.
It is incredibly powerful and with that comes a very steep learning curve.
In short, it's pretty hard to use at first.
It's a lot to
But once you get the hang of it, it can become your most powerful tool in your businessdevelopment strategy.
Palo is also what we teach and what we recommend in the VO Freedom Master Plan.
(17:34):
And I can't tell you because of that steep learning curve how valuable it is to have acommunity of other users around you to help you when you have questions.
So yes, incredibly powerful on one hand, daunting to learn and use on the
Apollo does have a free plan, is to be honest, essentially useless in air quotes, otherthan the fact that it'll give you a little bit of an idea of how the user interface works.
(18:02):
And you can poke around a little bit and kind of get a feel for what Apollo is.
Paid plans start at $49 a month.
I use the pro plan, which I believe is a hundred dollars a
And yes, I am an Apollo affiliate, so if you would like to, you can use that affiliatelink in the show notes and description.
While Apollo, like any business tool, is an investment, what you get back in terms oftime, energy, and results is absolutely worth it.
(18:30):
And finally, let's talk about social media management.
I use an app called Only Social.
I've got a lot of social media accounts.
There are some that I do not have, but I have several and only social allows me to managethem all under one roof.
You can schedule posts, you can track engagement, you can analyze performance.
(18:50):
It's essentially one stop shop.
One of the most essential features is obviously you can plan and schedule your posts inadvance.
You can also track the vanity metrics like likes and comments and shares.
And that tells you that gives you some feedback to figure out which content is actuallyhitting with your audience.
The learning curve is I'd say easy to moderate.
(19:11):
It's pretty simple to use, but getting a hang of all the features takes a little bit ofpoking around.
But OnlySocial also has tutorials and customer support to help you as well.
Now OnlySocial generally is a starts at $29 a month, but very often they have anopportunity for you to buy out a lifetime plan.
(19:32):
generally at about $198.
That's what I did and it's one last subscription I have to pay for monthly.
Now remember, these are the apps that I have found over time to work for me.
But the key to your success is finding out what works for you.
I've given you this list as a good starter point, things you might want to investigate,but I'd encourage you to take advantage of free trials, experiment, and do your due
(19:58):
diligence when you're researching these apps.
That said,
You can't spend a week researching a CRM, right?
At some point, you're going to have to pick one, try it, move forward.
The other thing to keep in mind too is when you're vetting these programs, if you're justwaiting in now and putting your toolkit together, take a look, and we mentioned this
before, but take a look at how these tools work together, how they integrate with eachother.
(20:22):
Read the reviews, look at the tutorials, ask friends and colleagues and people in thecommunities that you're a part
whether it's on Facebook or Veo Pro or whatever it might be, ask them what they use andhow they like it.
Your Veo business is a business and just like a carpenter, you have to invest in toolsthat will save you time, money, and energy.
(20:45):
You never see a framer driving nails with a shoe, do you?
These tools work because the time and effort saved is more than the monetary costinvolved.
That's why they call it an investment.
For more information on the VO Freedom Master Plan, on the VO Pro Community, for all ofthat and our Move, Touch, Inspire newsletter which comes out weekly for voice actors, go
to vopro .pro.
(21:07):
Thanks so much for your time and watching the video.
Thanks for the conversations we have here on YouTube in the VO Pro Community, in the VOCommunity at large.
The more we talk, the more we listen, the more we exchange information, the more we haverational dialogue about what's going on in our industry.
the better, stronger industry we will have for all of us.
(21:27):
Thanks for your support.
We'll see you again very soon.
There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of apps that you can use to help you reduce yourtime and effort in running your voiceover business.
So today, I'm going to give you a set of tools that I've found that works very well forme, a digital...
toolkit, if you will, and I'm going to break everything down for you based on what I use,what those apps are, what the learning curves for each of those apps are, and what they'll
(00:28):
set you back financially every month or overall.
Now, how do I say this?
While I'm making recommendations on what works for me, let me stress this.
It's way more important that you pick tools that work and work for
Whatever that is it's way more important to you use the proper tool than it is whichspecific tool you use for example Dawes Whether it's Adobe Audition audacity Pro Tools
(01:01):
anything else Reaper you name it.
They all do roughly the same thing They all produce high quality digital audio The trickis finding the one that works for
If you're a carpenter, it's more important to use a hammer than it is which hammer youuse.
All right.
All that said, let's talk about the first piece of software, which is the most importantand probably the least sexy of all the software we're going to talk about today.
(01:29):
And that is CRM software, customer relationship management.
Let's start with HubSpot sales.
free.
I use HubSpot sales free and it is literally the backbone of my client managementpractice.
It has a ton of features.
Yes, even the free version.
You've got email tracking, there's a calendar scheduling tool, there's contact and companymanagement.
(01:53):
It really does everything you need it to do.
And yes, it's still free.
In fact, it's the best free CRM that I've ever seen.
Now, is it voiceover specific?
No, it is not.
But I still think it's the best
free CRM out there and beats most other paid CRMs.
The learning curve, at least for me, is super easy.
I find the user interface really intuitive and there's a ton of tutorials and supportavailable.
(02:19):
You do not need to be a technical whiz to use HubSpot and I would encourage you that ifyou're looking at CRM software, you shouldn't have to be a technical whiz to use any of
it.
HubSpot's got a ton of resources including a community built around the software.
They have webinars from time to time if you ever get stuck and their customer support isoverall very good.
(02:41):
And the best part is, if I haven't mentioned it before, and I know I have, it's freefolks, it's in your price range.
Yes, there are paid tiers and I will share something with you.
I was up to the $500 version of HubSpot several years ago because there were a bunch ofdifferent features that I felt were...
absolutely crucial to my business development practice.
(03:03):
I am now, because of other software that I use, back all the way back down to the freeversion and we'll tell you what other software that is in just a minute.
But I can't recommend highly enough HubSpot Sales Free CRM.
It's free, it's robust, it'll give you everything you need to manage your clientrelationships.
Next up, yeah this isn't sexy either but it's absolutely necessary, accounting.
(03:26):
Let's talk
QuickBooks Self -Employed.
Now this app in and of itself saves me dozens of hours every month because it istrainable, meaning you can set up rules within QuickBooks Self -Employed to automatically
track and categorize your expenses and your income.
The self -employed version of QuickBooks is designed specifically for freelancers so theyknow from whence we come.
(03:52):
And lastly, and this might be the biggest reason to use it, it simplifies tax season likeyou have no idea.
You can track your mileage and use that to further inform your taxes.
You can use it to send invoices, although I don't, I use another program which we'll talkabout in just a second.
The mileage tracking feature is especially useful if you're driving to clients, torecording studios, to networking events, heck, you may even drive to a conference.
(04:20):
All your professional mileage is tax deductible and there's a great tool within QuickBooksself -employed to help you do that.
You can separate business expenses from personal expenses.
You can hook all your accounts into QuickBooks so that all that information is automatedand flows into QuickBooks.
And as you train it, it becomes really adaptive being able to categorize your expenses andyour income.
(04:41):
And maybe the best part, during tax season, it'll generate all the needed reports for you,like your Schedule C,
which you can pretty much generate with the click of a button, which your accountant willlove.
And it even estimates your quarterly taxes so that you're not caught off guard eachquarter when it's time to write that check.
The learning curve is, I would describe as light to moderate.
(05:03):
I feel like it's pretty intuitive, but it does take a little time to tool around and learnall the features and benefits.
But QuickBooks is no fly -by -night operation.
They've been around a while, so they've got plenty of customer support and videos andtraining materials available for you as well.
QuickBooks Self -Employed starts at 20 bucks a month.
And while I'm a little annoyed that it's doubled in the last few years, when I startedusing it several years ago, it was $10 a month.
(05:28):
It is powerful software and it is worth every penny, even at 20 bucks a month.
And maybe the most important reason to use an accounting software tool like QuickBooksSelf -Employed is for accuracy.
When it comes to your bookkeeping and your taxes,
You do not want to be inaccurate.
The folks at the IRS frown upon that vigorously.
(05:52):
So get yourself a good tool for accounting and bookkeeping.
Next up, PayPal.
I mentioned I use a tool for invoicing.
In fact, I use two, and I'll talk about that in a second, for all my domestic invoicing.
For anybody in North America, generally I'm going to send them an invoice through PayPal.
PayPal's invoices are customizable.
(06:12):
You can put your company logo in there.
If you have one, you can customize it a little bit for look and feel.
The great thing about PayPal is just about everybody can use it.
That's why I use it for invoicing.
There are lots of payment options for clients, whether it's a credit card, whether it's abank transfer.
or they can use their own PayPal account as well to pay you.
(06:33):
The learning curve is stupid simple.
If you've ever sent money online, you probably have already used PayPal, so it would be atwo -foot putt to use it for your invoicing.
The other great thing about PayPal is there is no subscription.
They do take a per transaction fee, but there's no monthly fee.
And I've researched a lot of payment providers and whether it's PayPal or Stripe orwhatever invoicing you use, the fees are all similar.
(06:58):
So pick the one that works for
and use it.
Now for international invoicing, I will use a service called WISE.
It used to be called TransferWISE.
It's now just called WISE.
That's it.
W -I -S -E.
Now the reason I like it for international clients is the exchange rates are good and thefees are lower than traditional banks.
(07:19):
This is one of those cases where, yeah, the fees actually are less.
WISE is super simple to use to send and receive money internationally.
clients you can bill them in their local currency which is very cool and when Wyseconverts that into for example US dollars it does so as I mentioned at competitive
exchange rates that not only saves you money but it makes things much much easier for yourinternational clients.
(07:43):
Learning curve is pretty easy pretty straightforward and last but not least Wyse is supertransparent about their fees so you always know exactly what you're paying which is
Let's move on to CMS, Content Management System.
In other words, what platform is your website on?
I use Squarespace.
I have for several years and I absolutely love it.
(08:04):
It makes building, if you're so inclined, and maintaining a professional website a walk inthe park.
Perfect for showcasing your demos, making those available and downloadable and all thegood things that demos should be.
It's great for blogging if you're so inclined.
Essentially, it's a platform that's easy to use and can really cover any use case that youneed when building your website.
(08:26):
The functionality in Squarespace is stupid simple.
It's essentially drag and drop.
So if you're not tech savvy, if you're not a website coder or designer, you can produce asolid website in most cases without writing a line of code.
Now that said, there are also pro designers and developers that can help you with yourSquarespace website if you're looking
(08:49):
an exceptionally professional look and I suggest you do.
One of which I'll mention is Nadine Charlson of Center Stage Design.
Nadine is not just a web designer, she's a voice actor herself.
Her designs for voice actors are marvelous.
She can get you up and running in Squarespace in no time.
And I'll put her link in the show notes and description below.
(09:10):
And lastly, Squarespace recently bought Google domains.
So if you want to manage your domains in the same place where you manage your website,
Squarespace makes it stupid simple to do that as well.
Squarespace starts at 25 bucks a month and moves up from there.
I think I'm paying $40 a month for my voiceover website.
I think the business plan is $36 or $40 or so.
(09:31):
And with that you get, for example, professional email and much more in -depth analytics,which I'm into.
But all in all, $36 or $40 a month to me to have the ease of use and to have a greatlooking award nominated website, by the way.
It's well worth it
Next up, research and writing.
Chat GPT.
(09:52):
Wait a minute, the F -U -A -I guy uses chat GPT?
Yes, I do.
Why?
First of all, and this is important to me, I'm not robbing any other professional of thework that I do on chat GPT.
It is simply a first draft research and writing assistant for me.
That's not work that I was ever gonna outsource in the first place.
Secondly, I've spent a lot of time training chat GPT.
(10:15):
to write in my voice.
And third, even though I've put that time in and it does pay off in terms of time saved, Istill edit heavily the work that I produce first in ChatGPT to make sure it's in my voice,
to make sure I'm using the words that I would normally use, etc.
Now all that said, it still saves me a ton of time and effort.
(10:36):
I get people all the time asking me, my god, Paul, you produce a ton of content.
How do you get it all done?
Well, that's one of my cheat codes.
It's particularly useful for writing emails, marketing materials, getting content ideas.
Heck, I even use it to create my content calendar from month to month.
And it's a great research tool as well.
I'll me an example.
(10:58):
Yesterday, day before, I had a Romanian prospect reach out to me about a project.
And one of the stipulations about working together was that I register for what they calla Romanian fiscal registration number.
A what?
So I use ChatGPT to not only tell me what that was but to walk me through the process ofjust how you go about getting such a number.
(11:22):
So it's super useful for learning about stuff you don't already know about.
The learning curve is pretty easy to get started.
You just type.
And the great thing about generative AI programs like ChatGPT is that they store yourhistory.
They learn from the interactions that you have with
Now ChatGPT does have a free option, but there are also paid options as well.
(11:45):
I happen to pay for the ChatGPT advanced option, which is 4 .0 right now.
And it has faster response times and extra features that I actually use.
Maybe the paid plan doesn't make sense for you.
The free plan is certainly robust enough.
All right, let's get into the meat of what we do.
Audio production.
For this, I use two main apps, Adobe Audition and iZotope.
(12:08):
Rx full disclosure the reason I use Adobe Audition is because I've been using it for along time in fact way before Adobe bought it it was called cool edit Pro and that's when I
started using it Adobe Audition is a pro grade DAW meaning it has a lot of advancedfeatures and you can get down a lot of rabbit holes very easily
For me it makes sense because I've been using it for a long time because it integrateswith other Adobe software I use like Adobe Premiere Pro to produce these videos and Adobe
(12:37):
Acrobat which we'll talk about a little bit later.
So I have the Creative Cloud Suite which is one subscription that I pay one monthly feefor and I get access to all of Adobe software.
All that said, if you're brand new to audio production, if you're a newer voice actor andyou're just starting out, I recommend Audacity.
Number one, it's free.
(12:57):
Number two, it's open source.
It is a great starting point for those who are just becoming familiar with DAWs, digitalaudio workstations.
And just because it's free doesn't mean it's not powerful.
I know several voice actors still using Audacity to this day just because it works forthem and they see no need to move up.
(13:18):
They can do everything they need to do to produce professional sounding audio.
If you're new, start with Audacity, move up to something else like maybe Adobe Audition orsomething else that works for you later on.
The second app I use is Isotope RX.
Now they generally come out with a new version every year or two.
I think the current version that I'm using is Isotope RX 10, I want to say.
(13:40):
And it's a powerful tool for cleaning up audio.
For example, reducing a little bit of room echo when I'm not in the booth and I'm out hererecording a video at my desk.
It's great for that.
I have very clicky K's and occasionally some mouth noise, which this mic picks up more sothan even my Sennheiser.
And I'm able to clean that up in a iZotope RX10.
(14:01):
Now, if you're going to use any processing software like iZotope or any other, I highlyrecommend partnering
with a professional audio engineer like George the Tech, like Jordan Reynolds, like TimTippett's, like Emily Harrison to make sure that you're dialing in the settings in that
software in a way that makes it sound better and not worse because that's very easy foryou to do, especially if you're brand new.
(14:27):
I don't even mess with that stuff and I've been doing audio 25, 30 years.
Learning curves, audacity, pretty easy as Dawes go.
Adobe Audition, a little bit steeper curve and I'd say
iZotope RX is moderate to high and you should probably get help from an engineer to usethat.
Costs.
Audacity, as we mentioned, is free.
Adobe Audition starts at $29 .99 a month if you just subscribe to that one piece ofsoftware.
(14:52):
You may want to look into Creative Cloud if you're going to use Adobe Acrobat, AdobePremiere, and iZotope RX varies, but generally the cost is around $2 .99.
Speaking of Adobe, document management software, I highly recommend Adobe
It's the standard for PDF and document management.
If you're signing contracts or agreements, sending proposals, getting or sendingsignatures, it is to me easy to use and indispensable.
(15:21):
If you've ever had a client send you their contract in PDF form and you go, well, I haveproblems with this contract.
I'd like to make changes, but it's in PDF.
I can't do that.
It's exactly why you need Adobe Acrobat.
You can take that PDF.
and then convert it into a Word document, which you can then modify and redline and eithersend it back to them as a Word document or reconvert it back into a PDF to have them sign
(15:45):
it.
You can combine multiple documents into a single PDF and the eSignature function of AdobeAcrobat is just so easy to use and so falling off a log simple.
I highly recommend that as
Learning Curve is simple, easy to use, straightforward.
There are advanced features, but you don't need to use those to get started.
(16:07):
It's super functional even without the advanced features.
There's lots of tutorials online for Adobe Acrobat.
Their customer support is fantastic.
There's nothing not to like here.
And if you're going to buy Adobe or subscribe to Adobe Acrobat as a separate program, itstarts at $19 .99 a month.
Again, it comes along with the Adobe Creative Cloud if you subscribe to all
(16:28):
Adobe software.
All right, next up lead generation and outreach for this.
I highly recommend an app called Apollo .io.
Apollo .io is a powerhouse.
And the reason is it is the only software of which I am aware that has integrated leadgeneration and outreach.
(16:48):
What does that mean?
It means that you can find proper leads and reach out to them all within one piece ofsoftware.
I find the search capabilities within Apollo to be far and away better than those inLinkedIn.
Not only are the search parameters much more granular, but you can also automate youroutreach efforts to a very large extent.
(17:10):
Now the biggest drawback about Apollo I .O.
is also its biggest strength.
It is incredibly powerful and with that comes a very steep learning curve.
In short, it's pretty hard to use at first.
It's a lot to
But once you get the hang of it, it can become your most powerful tool in your businessdevelopment strategy.
Palo is also what we teach and what we recommend in the VO Freedom Master Plan.
(17:34):
And I can't tell you because of that steep learning curve how valuable it is to have acommunity of other users around you to help you when you have questions.
So yes, incredibly powerful on one hand, daunting to learn and use on the
Apollo does have a free plan, is to be honest, essentially useless in air quotes, otherthan the fact that it'll give you a little bit of an idea of how the user interface works.
(18:02):
And you can poke around a little bit and kind of get a feel for what Apollo is.
Paid plans start at $49 a month.
I use the pro plan, which I believe is a hundred dollars a
And yes, I am an Apollo affiliate, so if you would like to, you can use that affiliatelink in the show notes and description.
While Apollo, like any business tool, is an investment, what you get back in terms oftime, energy, and results is absolutely worth it.
(18:30):
And finally, let's talk about social media management.
I use an app called Only Social.
I've got a lot of social media accounts.
There are some that I do not have, but I have several and only social allows me to managethem all under one roof.
You can schedule posts, you can track engagement, you can analyze performance.
(18:50):
It's essentially one stop shop.
One of the most essential features is obviously you can plan and schedule your posts inadvance.
You can also track the vanity metrics like likes and comments and shares.
And that tells you that gives you some feedback to figure out which content is actuallyhitting with your audience.
The learning curve is I'd say easy to moderate.
(19:11):
It's pretty simple to use, but getting a hang of all the features takes a little bit ofpoking around.
But OnlySocial also has tutorials and customer support to help you as well.
Now OnlySocial generally is a starts at $29 a month, but very often they have anopportunity for you to buy out a lifetime plan.
(19:32):
generally at about $198.
That's what I did and it's one last subscription I have to pay for monthly.
Now remember, these are the apps that I have found over time to work for me.
But the key to your success is finding out what works for you.
I've given you this list as a good starter point, things you might want to investigate,but I'd encourage you to take advantage of free trials, experiment, and do your due
(19:58):
diligence when you're researching these apps.
That said,
You can't spend a week researching a CRM, right?
At some point, you're going to have to pick one, try it, move forward.
The other thing to keep in mind too is when you're vetting these programs, if you're justwaiting in now and putting your toolkit together, take a look, and we mentioned this
before, but take a look at how these tools work together, how they integrate with eachother.
(20:22):
Read the reviews, look at the tutorials, ask friends and colleagues and people in thecommunities that you're a part
whether it's on Facebook or Veo Pro or whatever it might be, ask them what they use andhow they like it.
Your Veo business is a business and just like a carpenter, you have to invest in toolsthat will save you time, money, and energy.
(20:45):
You never see a framer driving nails with a shoe, do you?
These tools work because the time and effort saved is more than the monetary costinvolved.
That's why they call it an investment.
For more information on the VO Freedom Master Plan, on the VO Pro Community, for all ofthat and our Move, Touch, Inspire newsletter which comes out weekly for voice actors, go
to vopro .pro.
(21:07):
Thanks so much for your time and watching the video.
Thanks for the conversations we have here on YouTube in the VO Pro Community, in the VOCommunity at large.
The more we talk, the more we listen, the more we exchange information, the more we haverational dialogue about what's going on in our industry.
the better, stronger industry we will have for all of us.
(21:27):
Thanks for your support.
We'll see you again very soon.
Popular Podcasts
Monster: BTK
'Monster: BTK', the newest installment in the 'Monster' franchise, reveals the true story of the Wichita, Kansas serial killer who murdered at least 10 people between 1974 and 1991. Known by the moniker, BTK – Bind Torture Kill, his notoriety was bolstered by the taunting letters he sent to police, and the chilling phone calls he made to media outlets. BTK's identity was finally revealed in 2005 to the shock of his family, his community, and the world. He was the serial killer next door. From Tenderfoot TV & iHeartPodcasts, this is 'Monster: BTK'.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.