In the month of March, I’ll be going to 2 of them.
I’ll be at Fantasticon in Toledo, OH on Sat. & Sun. March 11th & 12th.
Come see me at Artist Alley table A22. I’ll have all 6 Tercona comics with me.
On Fri. Sat & Sun. March 24, 25 & 26 I’ll be at Fan Expo Cleveland. My radio career started at Cleveland radio stations. Cleveland will always be my – home town.
I’ll be at artist alley table A815.
PLUS, you can get my NEW romantic comedy novel – The Taming Of Apriltoo.
Finally, don’t forget I’ll be launching a Kickstarter really soon!
The Kickstarter for comic #7 – You Can’t Save Everyone – will launch in April. I hope to reach 100 followers before I start. Right now, I’m over 50, so I’m 1/2 way there.
Recently I discovered I only spend between 5 to 6 hours in my studio working. That “work” can range from auditioning for a job, social networking, direct marketing, writing emails, or writing a blog for my website.
If you’re wondering how I figured out how much time I spent in my studio, it’s simple – I timed myself using a stopwatch on my cell phone.
A while back I wrote a blog about making a schedule and using your time wisely. Do you need to take your kids to school? Schedule it. Do you need to answer emails? Schedule it. Do you need to audition for voice jobs…schedule it. (You get the idea) Of course “life” can get in the way of a perfect schedule. So a few weeks ago I started using my stopwatch on my phone to see how much time I actually spent in my studio working. That’s when I figured out I only spend about 5 – 6 hours in my studio working. Of course, some days are longer than others and some are shorter. I might work 6 – 7 hours on Monday but only 4 – 5 hours on Tuesday. On average I spend around 5 – 6 hours working.
Once you figured out how much time you spend “working” then you need to add that to how much you make. If you spend an hour auditioning for jobs, 2 hours marketing, and the rest of the time doing a voice-over job but only made $50 for the 5 hours you were in your studio, then you made about – $10 an hour that day.
Or you could also look at it this way; Are you getting the most out of your time? I admit I can get distracted sometimes. I go to YouTube to copy my video demos to post on Facebook and then I see the thumbnail of a video I want to see. I tell myself, “It’s only 5 minutes, why not?” Or TikTok is a good time waster too. 60-second short videos can keep us very distracted! Somehow those 5 minutes turned into 30! So for me keeping a stopwatch going while I work has kept me more accountable for the time I spend in my studio when I should be “working” and not looking at cat videos.
Timing yourself while you’re in your studio working will help you figure out if you need to spend more time in your studio doing more work or making more money for the little time you have.
#1 – Every character in the Tercona world has a birthday. 2 characters in Tercona have birthdays in February.
Happy Birthday Tiffany Caldwell. (Feb. 2nd) Tiffany is the cheerleading captain at Bayville Heights High School. Wish Tiffany Caldwell a Happy Birthday!!!
Happy Birthday, Samantha Stern. (Feb. 11th) Samantha is a cheerleader at Bayville Heights High School. She’s stuck up and very selfish. Her parents own 6 businesses in town so she’ll probably get whatever she wants for her birthday. Wish Samantha a Happy Birthday!!
And #2 – we are 2 months away from launching the Kickstarter for Tercona comic #7 – You Can’t Save Everyone!
I now have 2 months to get at least 100 followers for my Kickstarter. Click the picture to follow the Kickstarter and be ready when it launches on April. 11th.
As you know, I’m giving Kickstarter one more try. My newest comic is Tercona comic #7 – You Can’t Save Everyone.
After school, on a cool crisp fall day, Tercona is needed to save people from a house fire that just happens to be the home of Britney’s uncle. She must act fast to save everyone trapped inside because the structure is falling apart. Tercona finds Britney’s 10-year-old cousin Teodora and brings her to safety but when she returns to the burning building to save Teodora’s father, the unthinkable happens. The house explodes! Tercona learns that even superheroes can’t save everyone.
The good news is, I’ve hit my first 10 followers already! Thank you for the first 10 followers on my Kickstarter.
Yes, I know 10 followers are not very many but the counter doesn’t even register until you hit 10 so I crossed one small goal. Now I need to bring this number up more.
To follow my Kickstarter for Tercona comic #7 – You Can’t Save Everyone – CLICK on the picture to the left.
As you know I had 2 failed Kickstarters. My first one in 2020 for Tercona comic number #3 failed. I was asking for $2000 and I only got $190. Last year, in 2022, I tried doing a Kickstarter for my book The Taming Of April. I was asking for $1000 and I only managed to raise $400 something by the last week so it failed too.
Now I’m giving Kickstarter one more try. (They say the third time’s a charm, right?) My newest comic is Tercona comic #7 – You can’t save everyone.
After school, on a cool crisp fall day, Tercona is needed to save people from a house fire that just happens to be the home of Britney’s uncle. She must act fast to save everyone trapped inside because the structure is falling apart. Tercona finds Britney’s 10-year-old cousin Teodora and brings her to safety but when she returns to the burning building to save Teodora’s father, the unthinkable happens. The house explodes! Tercona learns that even superheroes can’t save everyone.
The comic is fully done I just don’t have the money to get copies printed off so this is where the Kickstarter comes in. This time I’m hoping to raise a minimum of $500 so I can get the funds to print off copies of this comic.
This Kickstarter will launch in April so right now I need followers! In 2020 I launched without any followers. In 2022 I took 2 months to get followers and only got 45. This time I’m taking 3 months! From now January 2023 – April 2023. That should give me plenty of time to get enough followers so I can have a successful Kickstarter this time. I’m really hoping to get fully funded within the first few days. With enough followers, I can do that!
Click the picture below to FOLLOW my Kickstarter!
Click the picture to go to the Kickstarter for Tercona comic #7 – You Can’t Save Everyone and then FOLLOW it. The Kickstarter will launch in April!
Thank you for your support. With your help, the Tercona comics can continue for many years to come.
Here it is, the middle of December and I’m still undecided if I should try Kickstarter one more time or not.
Comic #7 – You Can’t Save Everyone – is fully done but at this time, I don’t have the money to have it printed. This is why I’m thinking of doing another Kickstarter.
As most of you know, I’ve had 2 failed Kickstarters. One for Tercona comic #3 in 2020 and recently for The Taming Of April.
In 2020 for comic #3 I was asking for $2000 I only got $150 and for The Taming Of April I was asking for $1000 and I only got $400 something.
I’m really leaning in this direction. I want to give Kickstarter one more try but…I’m scared I’ll fail again!
I even made a few memes to get people excited…if I do this. lol
If I did do another Kickstarter I wouldn’t start getting followers until January or February and I probably won’t launch until April or May.
I’ll make a final decision by the end of December. If I did a Kickstarter for comic #7 would you help fund it?
My book The Taming Of April will be published in March of 2023. This is a rated-R romantic comedy novel. Sex ‘talk’ but nothing too over-the-top spicy.
Can a wild girl find true love? Find out in The Taming Of April coming in March of 2023!
I’m slowly looking for ARC readers. In case you’re unaware, an ARC reader is Advanced Review Copy. Generally, I send you an advanced copy of the book and YOU post a review of it on Amazon, GoodReads or where ever else books are sold.
REMEMBER: The book doesn’t come out until March so I need to get a list of a few people now who might want to read this book and leave a review of it before it goes on sale.
My only requirements are: You must be OVER 18 to read this. (As I said, rated R!) and you must have an Amazon or Goodreads account. Or, if you don’t have either, you need to have a good following on social media so if you leave your own personal review on social media I can share your review with others.
If you want to be an ARC reader, send me an email or contact me via social media. I look forward to hearing from you.
Don’t get the wrong idea! YES…I want to make money doing voiceovers and selling comics but there’s a big reason for this blog, I promise.
In the past few weeks, I’ve been watching YouTube videos where someone voices / narrates a brief outline of a movie. Mystery Recapped is one. There are also Movie Recaps, Story Recaped, and a bunch more. I saw how many views these videos were getting and figured out there were probably making a LOT of money just from the views alone. We’re talking between $5,000 – $10,000 dollars or more PER VIDEO! So I made a NEW channel for my version of this type of video called Movie Rundown.
First, I posted 2 shorts, which didn’t take me very long to make and then I posted my first video called “2 Girls Get High Together” about the movie Fall. It took me a LONG time to voice and edit that 8-minute video! On Friday, Nov. 4th I voiced another video that took me hours to record. This video would probably be between 12-14 minutes long! It took me over 2 hours just to record the audio and I didn’t even edit the video yet!
When I woke up the next morning I thought…
What am I doing?I’m chasing money again!
So on Saturday, Nov. 5, I decided to scrap the Movie Rundown idea…for now.
Listen, I know I NEED money to make a living. I would love for all of you to buy my comics. (hint, hint…lol ) and I hate giving up on things but, I have a gut feeling this Movie Rundown is NOT the path I’m supposed to take.
November is National Writing Month. I should be writing!!!
In the summer of 2022, I wrote a LOT of outlines and summaries for different story ideas. There are so many stories I could be working on right now besides making videos. The Molock Powers, Vita: Villmark (Part 1) Vita: Earth (part 2) Vita: War (part 3) Vita: Invasion (part 4), The Legend Of Zelta Dusana, Yami: Kim Sweet and (believe it or not) there’s more…
I’m not a religious man but if I can come up with ALL these ideas in one summer God, the universe, SOMETHING, or SOMEONE is telling me…I’m a writer and I need to be writing.
So for most of November, I’m going to take a break from making YouTube & TitTok videos. I need to put all my focus and energy into what I absolutely LOVE to do. Writing!
The old saying in the voice-over industry is never to turn away voice work. I disagree with this and here’s why.
1 – What if the job isn’t for you?
I recently got an invitation to audition for a radio commercial on a freelance site. They wanted a guy who could read the script in Spanish! I don’t speak Spanish…let alone read it! I Turned that job down!
2 – What if the price is too low?
I was also recently offered a job way below my usual rate. Now for the record, I am willing to negotiate a little but if I charge $100 to voice an explainer video but the client wants me to come down to $25 for – just this one time – you can be sure the client will ALWAYS want me for only $25! I’m not going to do a LOT of work for a little bit of money! I Turned
that job down.
3 – What if you’re unavailable?
Thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks. Most of us are going to spend time with friends and family. I’m sure your clients are too. Some clients…need you available 24 / 7! I usually let my clients know when I’m going out of town and I’ll be unavailable.
4 – Are you sick?
I’ve only had to turn down a voice job 3 times in the past 10 years because I was sick. Only 3 times because this client needed their job done today and my voice did not sound the way it usually did. The other times I was sick I got lucky. My clients waited until I got better to finish the job.
So to answer the question, should you ever turn away VO work? I say yes – it is OK to turn VO work away…well, sometimes.
My best friend who owns an audio body shop told me some great advice. Nothing happens unless you make a connection.
What he means is, there is no way you’re ever going to do business with ANYONE unless you make some sort of a connection first!
Remember this simple rule, it takes 7 – 12 touches (or connections) before a business will remember you. So you have to think of different ways to connect with your clients that will not look like spam or sound pushy.
Here are a few connecting tips.
1 – I start by liking their business Facebook page or by subscribing to their YouTube page and making a comment on a video. These are small non-pushy connections and these days it’s better to create a personal connection than to just say right away “Hey, let’s do business.” Whenever someone sends me an email and says “I have a deal for you” I delete it right away.
Anyway, making a comment makes my connection more personal. It gets my foot in the door. I do this all the time. This way they SEE my name, Frank James Bailey when I post a comment on their video. If they want to look me up…they can.
2 – In about a week I’ll make ANOTHER connection by commenting on another NEW post or video.
3 – By week 3 I usually send them an email introducing myself. This will work very well if the company responded to the comments I made. (You see why I said like and comment first!)
4 – In week 4 I’ll make another comment on a post or video again. This way if they didn’t get my email they should know my name by now. After all, I’ve made a few comments on their posts.
5 – By the 5th week (or 5th connection) I’m sending out an email again.
6 – In the 6th week, if the business has a Twitter or Instagram account, I’m usually following them this week and “hearting” some of their posts this time.
7 – By week 7 I’m sending out a cold call.
There are many more ways to connect with people but this is my strategy and it’s worked for me so far.
Happy connecting and remember…nothing happens unless you make a connection!
