David H. Lawrence XVII has built a huge course business around the high-demand topic of voiceover work. Leveraging decades of success in radio and TV, he challenges the separation of art and business, showing students how to make money with their voice.

With decades in radio, acting in 100+ TV shows, and voiceover work all along the way, David H. Lawrence XVII began to get questions from people. They wanted to know how to get into voiceover work, what equipment is needed, how to make money, and much more. With classic entrepreneurial spirit, David created several courses to teach students how to succeed as voice talent. That modest beginning has now grown into 30+ courses, a team of coaches, and a vibrant community — all under the business name VO Heroes.

Fun Fact: David is regarded as the first podcaster, dating to 1994 when he sent out audio to subscribers over the Internet as a “Personal Netcast.”

In this episode Danny, Abe, and David talk about:

• How you should never let your looks, beliefs, or age hold you back (David’s first on-camera work was at age 50!)
• Building a course business that fits your lifestyle — or fits with your other business
• The ways David has built gamification and other support mechanisms into his courses
• How professional performers “work out” and how these workouts are built into his program
• Overcoming the perception that marketing is a “bad word”
• And more

After the discussion, stay tuned for Danny and Abe’s debriefing, containing their key takeaways.

“I have luckily been involved in communities and groups that have given us a joy of marketing rather than a fear or loathing of marketing… being at peace with understanding that you need to be able to market and price and invoice and collect.”

David H. Lawrence XVII

David Harvard Lawrence XVII is an American television and film actor, voice talent, network radio host, Internet entrepreneur, podcaster, demo producer, teacher, and author, best known for his role as The Puppetmaster on NBC’s sci-fi series Heroes. He was also the host of the daily The David Lawrence Show and weekend Online Tonight, both nationally syndicated radio talk shows that revolved around pop culture and the high-tech lifestyle. Today, in addition to his performance work, he runs his highly acclaimed online course business, VO Heroes.

The “XVII” in his name was a way for Lawrence to distinguish himself from previous David Lawrences already registered with the Screen Actors Guild. At the time, he was the 17th David Lawrence listed on IMDb, and appended the number to his name upon his own registry.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:
Mirasee
The VO Heroes website
David’s microphone
David’s website

Credits:
Guest: David H. Lawrence XVII
Hosts: Danny Iny and Abe Crystal 
Producer: Cynthia Lamb 
Executive Producer: Danny Iny
Assembled by: Geoff Govertsen
Audio Post Supervisors: Evan Miles and Christopher Martin
Audio Post Production: Post Office Sound
Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

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Music and SFX credits:
Track Title: Bossa BB
Artist Name: Marie
Writer Name: Chelsea McGough
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: Grace
Artist Name: Shimmer
Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

Track Title: Carousel Lights
Artist Name: Chelsea McGough
Writer Name: Chelsea McGough
Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION
Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

Track Title: Coo Coos
Artist Name: Dresden, The Flamingo
Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION