Fred North has spent over 20 years building a full-time voiceover business on direct marketing - primarily retainer work with radio and TV stations. Now he wants to add a pay-to-play platform to the mix.

The problem? He has no idea where to start.

In this Summer Series episode, Marc Scott breaks down the four pay-to-play platforms worth considering in 2026, gives his honest take on each one, and explains exactly what an established voice actor needs to know before signing up for any of them.

Inside this episode:

Whether you're brand new to pay-to-play or an established voice actor thinking about adding it to your business, this episode gives you a clear and honest framework for making the right choice.

🎧 Subscribe to the VOpreneur Podcast on your favourite podcast platform - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen - so you never miss an episode.

🖱️ Fred North Website - https://frednorth.com

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

Book a free 15-minute consultation: https://vopreneur.com/free15min

Are voice actors now expected to be on call 24/7, travel with gear everywhere they go, and never miss an audition?

That's the question audiobook and narration voice actor Amy Tallmadge brought to Marc Scott after hearing some interesting conversations at VO Atlanta - and the answer might give you permission to actually enjoy your next vacation.

Marc gives his honest take on whether the industry has genuinely changed its expectations, or whether something else is really driving the always-on mentality that so many voice actors feel.

Inside this episode:

You get to decide what kind of voice actor career you want to build. This episode is a reminder that the industry isn't taking that choice away from you.

🎧 Subscribe to the VOpreneur Podcast on your favourite podcast platform - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen - so you never miss an episode.

🖱️ Amy Tallmadge Website - https://amytallmadge.com

🖱️ Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

Book a free 15-minute consultation: https://vopreneur.com/free15min

00:00 Summer Series intro

Did you know that roughly 50% of consumers are now using AI-powered search? And that number is only going up?

In this Summer Series episode of the VOpreneur Podcast, voice actor Cody Rock asks the question that every voice actor with a website needs to hear right now: what is the difference between SEO and GEO, and how can voice actors use both to get in front of more buyers?

Marc Scott breaks down the shift from search engine optimization to generative engine optimization - what it means, why it matters, and what he's actually doing on his own website right now to take advantage of it.

Inside this episode:

Whether you're an SEO veteran or you've never thought about search strategy a day in your career, this episode gives you a clear, practical framework for making sure AI recommends you when buyers come looking.

🎧 Subscribe to the VOpreneur Podcast on your favourite podcast platform - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen - so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH CODY ROCK

🖱️ Cody Rock Website - https://codyrockvoiceover.com

RESOURCES FOR VOICE ACTORS

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

Book a free 15-minute consultation: https://vopreneur.com/free15min

00:00 Summer Series intro

Is your voice over business down and nothing you try seems to be working?

In this Summer Series episode of the VOpreneur Podcast, UK voice actor James Brown asks the question that a lot of VOPreneurs are quietly panicking about right now: my business is down thirty percent, I'm marketing more than ever, what should I focus on to come out the other side intact?

Marc doesn't sugarcoat it.

His eLearning business was wiped out by AI in 2025. Trade pressures pulled his US clients. He lost more than sixty thousand dollars in income from clients who disappeared in a single year. And he's been doing the hard work of figuring out what comes next.

Inside this episode:

If your business has taken a hit and you're not sure what move to make next, this episode gives you a real, honest look at what one working voice actor is actually doing to level up when the market shifts beneath him.

🎧 Subscribe to the VOpreneur Podcast on your favourite podcast platform - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen - so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH JAMES BROWN

🖱️ James Brown Website - https://jamesbrownvoice.com

🖱️ Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott

RESOURCES FOR VOICE ACTORS

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

Book a free 15-minute consultation: https://vopreneur.com/free15min

00:00 Summer Series intro

00:53 James's question - business down 30%, marketing more than ever

02:23 Marc's e-learning business got wiped out - the client conversation

04:47 AI and trade wars hitting at the same time

07:05 Focus on what you can control

08:00 Starting over - the honest conversation Marc had with his wife

09:31 Getting back into serious coaching

10:00 New commercial demo - why commercial is still a safer genre

11:39 New corporate demo - what Marc is seeing on Voice123

13:57 Niching down your marketing sequences

15:30 Pivoting to the Canadian market

16:15 Booking his first audiobook - the genre he swore he'd never do

18:44 The thinning out - what happens after the COVID VO boom

21:06 Double down or get another job - the binary choice

23:22 Voice123 profile optimization - what actually moves the needle

25:43 Working with a coach on auditions

28:04 The money read - when what was booking stops working

30:27 The one thing top voice actors never stop doing

32:51 Final thoughts from James and Marc

Ever feel like you need a full studio setup before you can start showing up online? In this Summer Series episode of the VOpreneur Podcast, voice actor Laura Doman asks Marc Scott the question so many VOPreneurs are thinking: what equipment and software do you actually need to start live streaming, podcasting, and creating courses?

Marc's answer might surprise you — because he started with nothing but his phone.

Inside this episode:

Whether you're thinking about starting a live stream, launching a course, or just want to know what's behind the curtain of a working VOpreneur content operation — this episode gives you a real, honest look at what works, what doesn't, and how to build it up over time without blowing your budget.

CONNECT WITH LAURA DOMAN

🖱️ Laura Doman Website - https://lauradoman.com

🖱️ Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott

RESOURCES FOR VOICE ACTORS

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

Book a free 15-minute consultation: https://vopreneur.com/free15min

Spending $2,000–$3,000 on a voiceover demo is one of the biggest investments a voice actor can make, and one of the easiest to get wrong.

In this episode, Marc Scott shares five red flags that should stop you from signing on the dotted line with the wrong demo producer, drawn from his own recent experiences working with J. Michael Collins and the Demo Dream Team.

Inside this episode:

👉🏻 Why one-size-fits-all demo packages are almost always a red flag (and what to look for instead)

👉🏻 How to identify a demo producer you can genuinely trust (and why trust directly impacts the quality of your final demo)

👉🏻 What a truly collaborative process looks like from day one (and why generic scripts produce generic demos)

👉🏻 Why being directable in the session isn't weakness (it's how you get a demo that actually books work)

👉🏻 The non-negotiable: working with a producer who will accept your feedback before you sign off

Marc also shares the story of a One Password spot that made no sense to him in the session, and ended up becoming the source of his very first commercial booking after the demo dropped.

Whether you're producing your first demo or updating an existing one, this episode gives you a clear checklist for choosing the right producer and protecting your investment.

🎧 Subscribe to the VOpreneur Podcast on your favorite podcast platform — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen — so you never miss an episode.

The Demo Dream Team - https://demodreamteam.com

JMC Demos - https://jmcdemos.com

CONNECT WITH MARC SCOTT & VOPRENEUR

🖱️ Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott

🖱️ Marc Scott on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@MarcScottVO

🖱️ VOpreneur® on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@vopreneur

RESOURCES FOR VOICE ACTORS

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

Book a free 15-minute consultation: https://vopreneur.com/free15min

Want to use AI in your voiceover business without giving up control of how you sound, how you write, or how clients see you? In this episode of the VOpreneur Podcast, Marc Scott shares the framework that keeps his AI use sustainable: treat AI like an employee, not the boss. Then he walks through five practical ways voice actors can put AI to work — saving time, saving money, and getting found by more clients, even with zero technical background or SEO budget.

Inside this episode:

- How to drop your raw Google Analytics data into ChatGPT for a plain-English breakdown of what's working on your website (and what isn't)

- The same shortcut applied to Google Search Console — and why it's the fastest way to learn which keywords are actually driving traffic to your VO website

- What SEO and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) mean for voice actors — and how to position yourself to show up when buyers search inside ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini

- The right way to use AI as a writing assistant for marketing emails so they still sound like you, not a chatbot

- How to use AI as a brainstorming buddy for social media so "I don't know what to post" stops being the reason you don't post

Marc also explains why the $20–$30/month investment can pay back significantly when you're a solo voice actor competing against established names with decades of website authority — and why the voice actors who choose to embrace AI now have a ground-floor opportunity in generative engine optimization that won't last forever.

Whether you're an experienced voice actor looking to build efficiencies into your business, or a newer VO talent trying to figure out where to start, this episode gives you a clear, no-hype roadmap for putting AI to work — on your terms.

🎧 Subscribe to the VOpreneur Podcast on your favorite podcast platform — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen — so you never miss an episode.

🖱️ Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

If you need guidance with your voice over business or learning how to more effectively market, I can help. Book a 15 minute free consultation with me to discuss your specific needs. https://vopreneur.com/free

Got a new voice over demo? Or maybe you’ve had one sitting around that you haven’t really done much with?

In this episode, Marc breaks down how a single voice over demo can be turned into 50+ pieces of marketing content without overcomplicating the process.

Instead of posting your demo once and hoping for results, you’ll learn how to repurpose it into audio, video, and social content that keeps you visible and top of mind for weeks (or even months).

Marc walks through his exact strategy for:

Whether your demo is brand new or a year old, this episode will help you get more mileage, more visibility, and more opportunities from the work you’ve already done.

If you’re serious about marketing your voice over business more effectively, this is a must-listen.

🖱️ Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

If you need guidance with your voice over business or learning how to more effectively market, I can help. Book a 15 minute free consultation with me to discuss your specific needs. https://vopreneur.com/free

00:00 Turn One Demo Into 50+ Pieces of Content

02:51 Why Most Voice Actors Waste Their Demo

06:01 Turning Your Demo Into Video Content

08:45 How to Share Your Demo on Social Media

12:10 Building a Long-Term Demo Marketing Plan

14:56 Why Repetition Actually Works in Marketing

17:51 Common Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

For years, I told myself I wasn’t a commercial voice actor.

Not because I couldn’t be… but because I wasn’t booking.

That story became my reality.

In this fireside chat, I’m breaking down the three things I did that completely changed that… and led to multiple commercial campaigns running at the same time across Canada.

If you’ve ever struggled in a genre, questioned your abilities, or felt stuck in your voice over career, this episode is for you.

I’ll walk you through:

Plus a bonus insight that made an immediate impact in the booth.

If you’re ready to stop overthinking and start booking, this one matters.

🖱️ Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

If you need guidance with your voice over business or learning how to more effectively market, I can help. Book a 15 minute free consultation with me to discuss your specific needs. https://vopreneur.com/free

00:00 Fireside Chat: Booking Commercial VO

What's really holding voice actors back? In most cases, it's not talent. It's mindset, the stories we tell ourselves, and the lack of accountability to push through when things get hard.

In this episode, Marc Scott sits down with Billie Jo Konze — stage actor, voice actor, singer, podcaster, and accountability coach — for a candid conversation about what it actually takes to grow a sustainable voice over career.

From bowling to booking campaigns, this one covers a lot of ground. But at the heart of it is a simple truth: the people who succeed are the ones who show up, do the hard thing, and refuse to let their own excuses win.

What you'll learn in this episode:

🖱️ Billie Jo Konze Website - https://billiejovo.com

🖱️ Marc Scott on Instagram - https://instagram.com/marcscott

* VOpreneur®

* Get an instant $25 credit when you sign up for VoiceZam

* For voice over services:

* Join the VOpreneur Facebook Group

If you need guidance with your voice over business or learning how to more effectively market, I can help. Book a 15 minute free consultation with me to discuss your specific needs. https://vopreneur.com/free