I recently was approached by a person who wanted to translate some of NarratorsRoadmap.com for their site. I decided to share my response here with the hope it inspires others to create your own original material. Also, long-time readers know that I re-purpose my writing as often as possible to extend its life and broaden the audience for it.

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I didn’t just gather info for my site. I wrote most of it, which took considerable time and effort, not to mention the years spent in gaining the knowledge to start with.

Everything on my site is my copyrighted material with a few exceptions:

• A good number of the links and most of the embedded videos point to copyrighted info on other sites. Many of the articles and videos I link to are mine!
• Some narrators and producers have generously given me permission to republish their copyrighted words in my Knowledge Base articles.

Copyright owners have the rights to control how their work goes forth in the world, including:

• reproduction
• distribution
• performance
• display
• derivative products like translations

My aim is to create more content, not translate what I’ve already done.

If I decide in the future to translate the site, I would hire the translators and own the translated text. Such translations would only appear on my site.

I therefore am declining any request to translate any part of my site.

Note: I hold the same policy about my blog articles on this site but have given permission for my articles to be re-published as written and with link and attribution.

However, I would encourage you to think about how you could create and share your own original material. 

We all have unique experiences, views, and ways of expressing ourselves, even when we’re talking about the same topic. You could write a blog, produce a podcast, create videos, design inspirational/informative graphics, etc. You could create a variety of things as it suits you and your purpose.

When I worked my day job in IT, users and my peers considered me an expert. I helped other system admins solve technical problems and taught the users how their software and hardware worked.

I began working in VO in 1999 and started my first advice page on my site in 2002. I have been writing my blog since 2006. As I shared posts, people in the industry got to know and trust me through my blog. Soon, people began referring others to my blog.

NarratorsRoadmap.com is an extension not only of my blog and advice I’d given online and in emails for years, but of my personality and whole approach to being of service.

My point is: If you start creating and sharing your own content, you never know where it will lead!

I found Austin Kleon’s book Show Your Work! 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered to be VERY helpful and inspirational in connecting the dots about growing an audience. Basically, he contends — and I agree — that If you can think of ways to document things about your work processes, an interested audience will make its way to you.

Let me know if you create something along these lines. I may want to link to you!