Double Dutch

“It will look so good on your resume”
“This might lead to regular work”
“We’re a start-up business”
“It’s such a small project”
“This is an Indie film”
“It will only take a few minutes”
“You’re new and we want to give you a chance”
“Even if you don’t get the job, it’s still great practice”
“You’d be perfect for this… I wish we could afford you”

If you’ve been an active job-seeking member of the voice-over community for… about two weeks, I’m pretty sure these ‘teasers’ have been thrown out at you a few times. They’re getting old quickly, don’t you think? Or are you still falling for them? Be honest!

These days, clients are getting even more efficient by leaving these phrases out. Now it’s just:

“Manhattan-based attorney’s office in need of a male voice for their website. Budget $100.”

Are you kidding me? These attorneys won’t even pick up the phone for 100 bucks. So, why do they expect us to work for a hand-out? Is it perhaps because many of us call ourselves voice-over ARTISTS?

MISCONCEPTION ONE: Artists don’t work. They just enjoy their hobby.

My wife, a phenomenal professional flutist, had just finished an exhausting wedding gig: a ninety minute Mass followed by a two-hour cocktail party. All in all she had had two breaks: one to rush from the church to the banquet hall, and a ten minute bathroom break during the reception.

When she came back to get a refreshment, some guests looked at her as if she was stealing from the buffet. One of them even walked up to her and whispered: “Aren’t you supposed to be playing?”

At the end of the engagement, the mother of the groom walked her out and said it had been “lovely”. She sighed: “I used to play the flute. It must be wonderful…. being able to play music all day long.” When my wife discretely asked for the paycheck that should have been handed to her at the beginning of the day, the groom’s mother looked shocked. She said: “Are you telling me you’re actually getting paid for this?”

Some people just don’t get it, do they? Whether we’re musicians, writers, web designers or voice-over artists, the opportunity to do the things we’re passionate about, should be enough, don’t you think? Well, why don’t we ask Alex Rodriguez about that? Perhaps he’d be satisfied with getting the keys to the Big Apple and a fat World Series ring.

MISCONCEPTION TWO: All you need in this profession is a computer, a microphone and an Internet connection, and you’re in voice-over business. Small investment. Huge ROI (and you can even do it in your PJ’s!).

Well, well…haven’t we heard that one before? If it were that easy, tell me who is paying for your:

• marketing
• advertising
• bookkeeping
• hours spent finding work
• taxes
• overhead
• continued education
• attorney
• sick days
• paid holidays
• vacation
• union dues
• health insurance
• dental insurance
• disability insurance
• life insurance
• business insurance
• unemployment
• retirement
• invoices that never get paid
• … and all other joys that come with running your own business?

BREAKING EVEN
Remember, all of the above (and more) has to come out of that job that you almost accepted for $125. Do you even know how much money you need to make in a year, just to break even? How about in a month? How much per week… per day? That’s just to cover costs. How about making a profit? How about saving a little for a rainy day or for college?

If all of this is a little overwhelming and intimidating, let me reassure you. This does not have to be your life! If you don’t have the drive now, do not waste any more time. If you’re not prepared to run your career as a for-profit business, you still have plenty of options… to name a few:

1. Stop posing as a pro and leave the market place to those who are willing to be professional. Stay an amateur instead. No pressure.
2. Get a ‘regular’ job with benefits

GET REAL
However, should you decide to become a professional solopreneur, start acting like one! Don’t do anything else before you take the next step: figure out what your basic minimum hourly rate must be, based on cost, billable hours and the profit you’re comfortable with. Depending on your input, this could take 5 to 20 minutes of your time. How do you do it? By using this simple on-line rate calculator, developed by one of my favorite websites: www.freelanceswitch.com.

RUNNING THE NUMBERS
Of course it would be a little presumptuous to tell you what to do. Some people just don’t want to spoil their hopes and dreams by facing reality. These are the folks that purchased a house they can’t afford because they thought they could swing it. And now they’re paying for it. Some people are more comfortable playing the victim or playing the blame-game. Others use excuses such as: “I was never any good with numbers”.

Sorry, but I’m not buying it! First off, this rate calculator is so easy, even I can use it. Secondly, you can always ask a friend to help you out; find a mentor, hire a pro… There are business coaches out there who’d love to have your voice on their AVR in exchange for their advice. It’s often better to have an impartial opinion from someone who is not in love with your dream. Have a business lunch with them and bring your calculator and a note pad.

Third, make a small investment and get “The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed” by Joseph D’Agnese and Denise Kiernan. This was the first book about money matters that I actually enjoyed reading. It felt like I was getting advice from friends who knew exactly what situation I was in. Joe and Denise offer very practical, down-to-earth strategies in a language anyone can understand, and they’re actually very funny too!

FINE DINING
So…. next time a voice-seeker holds up one of those carrots I started this article with, imagine yourself walking into a restaurant and telling the waiter:

“I can’t really pay you full-price, but if your food is any good, I’ll be sure to spread the word about this place.”

Please let me know how that worked out for you.

And if that did not go over so well, try going into Home Depot, hoping to get 75% off that professional pneumatic drill. 

“And why would we do that?” asks the manager.

And then you utter the magic words: 

“Well, it’s only for a small project….”

Last but not least… Would you be willing to do me one last favor, please? Once you’ve figured out your desired and minimum hourly rate, look at that $100 voice-over project again, that you were just considering. You know, the one that “will give you great exposure”.

Now look at your hourly rate again.

Get it?!

Paul Strikwerda ©2009

www.nethervoice.com

PS Many thanks to artist N.C. Winters for the comic strips. Find out more about the work of N.C. at the artist’s site and at Freelance Freedom.

PPS A Dutchman visiting the US offers some refreshing insights as he holds up the mirror: Only in America.

On January 14th, 2008, a team a of scientists from the California Institute of Technology and Stanford University, published a paper called:

“Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness.”

It was the result of research I would have loved to be part of. The hypothesis was that the price of a wine affects the way a person experiences it in their pleasure circuits in the brain. It should answer the age-old question: does an expensive bottle of Bordeaux taste better because of the price tag?

The theory was put to the test using functional MRI scans of people while they tasted wine samples they thought were from different wines at different prices, when in reality they were the same. What a mean thing to do! Lead author Antonio Rangel, associate professor of economics at the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences at Caltech, said he was “shocked” when he saw the results.

What determines the price of wine? Here are a few factors:

• Profit the wine maker & distributor & seller wish to make
• Resources used
• Expenses such as production cost, labor, transportation, promotion, overhead, taxes
• Skill level of the wine maker
• Uniqueness and positioning of the product
• Market demand and market value
• Experience: the older the wine, the more expensive

SHAKESPEARE
Since this is a blog about the art of voice-overs and not about vinification, here’s my question: “Shall I compare thee to a Chardonnay?” Well… that’s a rather risky idea and I’ll tell you why: a nice bottle of Chardonnay is probably richer and more expensive!

Let me give you a taste from the bottom of the barrel:

Craigslist: “You have an awesome British accent that Americans go crazy for. I want to have an awesome British accent as the voice of the message on my voice mail. It’s really simple and shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes (at most!). Compensation: $20.”

Virtual Vocations: “Voice talent – 60 second recording. You need to be British or sound British. You need to be able to record this at your home with your computer. P.S. I’ll happily pay you for this. I was thinking $5 to $15 by PayPal, since it’s pretty simple.”

Odesk: “Voice over is for a 20 page presentation naration. If your bilingual that will be the best if you able to do only on just mark it in your letter and make you price in concideration. $50 fixed”

LOW AND BEHOLD
Mind you: I did not make these examples up (I use my spelling chekker… well, most times). Is it just me, or is there a serious disconnect between what you and I need to earn to make a decent living, and what these voice-seekers are prepared to pay? Of course you can always argue that these examples are extreme. But are they, really? Here’s my challenge:

Sign up for Odesk; go on Craigslist, VirtualVocations and similar sites, and report back to me in a few weeks. And please, don’t limit your search to voice-over jobs. Ask your friends in IT, copy writing, translation and graphic design to join you in your quest for fair compensation. You might be as surprised as Antonio Rangel. We’re not talking about incidents. We are dealing with a serious trend.

But if you want another example, here it is: the project I mentioned in my last blog, the 304-page book by a former Goldman Sachs partner. The client was offering between $500 and $750 for a recording that would take at least ten hours, if not more. Not one single reader of this blog got back to me and said: “Wow, that’s a phenomenal payday!” Nevertheless, how likely do you think it is that this producer found his narrator for even less? Four letters sum it all up: V E R Y.

GAME TIME
Did the rules of  the game change, and nobody bothered to tell us? Go back a few years. How did we put a price on our services in the past? Remember the days we actually had direct contact with the voice-seeker? A personal connection has always been a pivotal part of any business relationship. It’s the grease that makes things go smoothly. Doesn’t it all begin with building trust? How do you do that, if your client is purposely hiding his identity? It’s impossible to do your own background check to find out if this company is even legit. These days, you can’t even be sure your demo is nothing but a time-wasting test balloon for a campaign you’ll never be part of.  

But let’s continue our flashback. With the rapport going, we could start talking about the requirements of the job. We could ask simple questions such as: “What sort of a read do you need? Who’s the audience? What kind of person is the narrator?” It was an opportunity to go beyond the vague descriptions we’ve gotten accustomed to. Descriptions such as: “Male voice. North-American. Middle-aged. Non-Union.” How much help is that?

In the old scenario, we wouldn’t have to second-guess the word count, what market our commercial would play in and details about a possible buy-out… things that anyone needs to know before putting in a serious and realistic bid.

And finally, with all the blanks filled in, we could talk money. We could educate the voice-seeker about the going rates; the value we’re adding and why we’re worth it. We could discuss a reasonable time-frame for the project and counter objections about our fee, and do the back-and-forth that’s part and parcel of the sales process. It was give-and-take. Negotiate. Communicate. And now? Now, you and I just type a few numbers into the “Your Fee” box and send our hopes and dreams into cyberspace. Someone once said: “Change is inevitable. Progress isn’t.”

NOT ALONE
Social Media Consultant and freelance writer Deb Ng believes that independent contractors have dropped the ball when it comes to setting rates. Deb writes:

“Did you know many freelance writers won’t give a rate quote to a client and would rather the client set the rate? There are many reasons for this:

• The freelance writer doesn’t know what to charge

• The freelance writer is afraid of bidding too low

• The freelance writer is afraid of bidding too high

• The freelance writer is unsure of the “going rate”

• The freelancer lacks the confidence to request what he deserves”

and she continues:

“Do you know why so many web masters pay $1, $3 or $5 for an article? It’s because they can. They believe it to be a going rate. Since so many freelancers accept the client’s terms and price, the client is able to dictate the payment. If less writers accepted these rates, employers would be forced to pay more money. If you want to break out of the low paying rut, you have no choice but to set higher standards.

By letting someone else set your rate, you’re doing yourself a great disservice. Writers should have an idea of what to charge before embarking on a freelance career. If you enter into it with the mindset that you have to take what is offered, you’ll never be paid what your worth. Remember, you’re freelancing because you want to take charge of your career and your life. How can you do this without knowing how much to charge?”

IN VINO VERITAS
Antonio Rangel and his team discovered that people who were given two identical red wines to drink, said they got much more pleasure from the one they were told had cost more. Brain scans confirmed that their pleasure centers were activated far more by the higher-priced wine.  

One of my favorite BBC programs is “Dragon’s Den”, where “cash-hungry entrepreneurs pitch for investment from some of Britain’s top business brains.” A young business woman made an excellent presentation, and the multi-millionaire investors we visibly impressed with the product and her poise. However, she walked away empty handed.

What was her mistake? She had low balled the amount of money needed. Peter Jones, one of the investors, summed it up like this:

“What a shame. If you had asked for more, I would have taken you seriously.”

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

www.nethervoice.com

PPS Do you know how much you’d need to make to break even? Read the next installment for the Double Dutch recommended freelance rate calculator.

What’s the link between a rice beverage and voice-over work?

In a recent “Taste the dream” contest, Rice Dream offered prize winners the chance to experience their dream job for 3 days. As you can see, the ad agency that came up with this campaign thought that our line of work qualified as a ‘dream job’, because they put a picture of a voice-over person on the milk carton.*

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love what I do for a living, but since launching my business  nethervoice, I have received several emails, asking me for a reality check. Most of them go like this:

Dear Mr. Nethervoice:I am James Kumbatani, the grandson of the late Mr. Oshia Bumbayashi, grand chief of the Olali tribe. Mr. Bumbayashi left me in charge of his personal fortune valued at seven million….

Sorry, wrong email. Here’s the one I was looking for:

Dear Mr. Strikwerda:

I am an aspiring voice over artist and my dream is to break into the business. People have told me that it’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you agree? What did you bring to the table that -in your opinion- gave you an edge over other voice-over professionals? Thank you for your time.

Penny Whistle

This is what I wrote back:

Dear Penny:

Great voice-over talents make what they do sound so natural and easy, no wonder why so many people believe anyone could pull that off in a heartbeat. In reality, voice-over artists are no different from other performers or athletes. When people hear a great pianist play or watch a well-know sports star at the top of her game, they usually don’t think of all the years these pros had to put in, in order to get where they are now. Long before I became a full-time voice over pro, I learned some things that -as you put it- gave me an edge.

1. Sight Reading: thanks to the never-ending encouragement of my mother, I’ve always been an avid reader. During my days as a news anchor for Dutch International Radio, I got used to reading last-minute news flashes and intros without skipping a beat. Today, I can print out a script, glance it over and take it into my sound booth and press ‘record’. A few minutes later, my demo is on its way to the client. If I’m working on an actual job, however, I apply a different strategy (see 3 & 4).

2. Foreign languages: growing up in Holland, I was exposed to many different languages and accents. I speak Dutch, English, German and some French & Portuguese. I also know some Latin and Hebrew. Unlike many Europeans, Americans usually aren’t polyglots, and I do my very best to take full advantage of that. Knowing how to pronounce unfamiliar names of people and places has been a great help in my career. Some clients like working with me, because I’m able to record the same commercial in four different languages.

3. Translating & Proofreading: I also work as a proofreader/translator, and I’m a professional nitpicker when it comes to scripts. Last-minute submissions often contain slips of the pen, and my clients are always grateful when I spot those mistakes and correct them. It shows them that I’m not just reading anything people put in front of me. It’s a great opportunity to show my clients that I care as much about their reputation as they do.

The other day, I was recording a Dutch commercial and the director asked me to translate some last-minute additions right there and then. No problem! I regularly receive international copy that was translated with the help of translation software. That’s usually a BIG red flag! I often end up correcting the work of a robot before I start recording a script that was supposedly ‘translated’.

4. Journalism: as a former newscaster, checking my sources has become second nature. Sloppy copywriters have handed me scripts with incorrect website addresses, wrong phone numbers and even company names that were misspelled. I always verify the information provided, no matter how reliable the source. Another thing I do is research the company I’m dealing with. Not only does it give me a feel for the corporate culture, I also check in with the Better Business Bureau and research the reputation of a particular business.

A word of warning: even though a company might have a good BBB rating, things could still be fishy.

A few months ago, I was approached by “European Immigration and Translation Consultants” in Florida. This company asked me to translate a birth and a marriage certificate. They received my work the very same day and they thanked me by writing out a bad check. Of course I ended up paying a fee to my bank. I asked for a money order instead, with the penalty added to the bill, but the agency refused.

After some more research, I found out that the con-sulting company was run by a con artist who was wanted by the Canadian authorities. Of course I filed a complaint with the BBB, but the company never responded. All the bureau could do was giving them an “F” rating and close the case.

5. Here’s the last thing that I believe gives me a bit of an edge: my love of music. As an amateur musician, I developed a sense of rhythm, diction and melodic lines that is very helpful when it comes to getting into the groove of the music in a commercial or a narration. As a cornet-player and  singer, I’m blessed with increased lung capacity and breathing support. Singing is great gymnastics for your voice. It’s a fun vocal cord workout that not only gives you the stamina to complete a long recording session; it also enhances voice projection, diction and flexibility.

Penny, if you’d like to learn more about this business, I suggest you read Harlan Hogan’s “Tales and Techniques of a Voice-Over Actor”. In it, Harlan quotes Dick Moore of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFTRA.

Moore says that of the eighty thousand AFTRA members the union represents, no more than a hundred people do most of the voice work.

So, in order to stand out, not only do you need to be outstanding at what you do; you also need to bring something special to the table. There are thousands of hopefuls out there, and all of them believe they have a fantastic voice.

Ultimately, it’s what you can do with that voice that makes all the difference.

Best of luck to you.

Now I’m off to have a cold rice beverage.

Cheers!

Paul Strikwerda © 2009
www.nethervoice.com

* this contest has expired

Every generalization is a lie, including this one. But can I be blunt? As far as social networking sites go, there are at least two kinds of members: Users and Contributors.

Users aren’t really on a site to share their thoughts and ideas. For them it’s purely about self-promotion. You know them… They are the people who leave a one word comment in your response box, followed by a link to their website.

As far as I’m concerned, that has nothing to do with networking. It’s just part of a shameless SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. The idea being that the more you plug your site into the World Wide Web, the more the Google and Yahoo spiders are going to like you. Whooptie Doo!

Contributors are the people who actually have something to say. Their mindset is “WE” instead of “ME”. They network because they are into giving and not into taking. True social networkers offer thought-provoking insights, priceless tips and genuine support. They make sure that others can learn from their mistakes and not have to reinvent the wheel over and over again. Ultimately, that is a win-win strategy.

I am convinced that those of us who offer value are getting noticed. Maybe not directly by web crawling software, but by the colleagues, agents and potential clients who are reading our comments. It might not lead to immediate work, but at least we’re planting some seeds by getting ourselves out there as we share our experiences and know-how.

If you ask me, that’s how we should really make “the Net” work!

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

www.nethervoice.com

Do you get hoarse after a long recording session? Does your throat hurt? Have you ever lost your voice?

Voice-over coaches often advise their students to take acting classes. That’s an excellent suggestion, but I can’t tell you how much I have benefited from singing lessons.

VOCAL WORKOUT
Just as every sportsman (or woman) has to train each day to keep those muscles strong and flexible, we as voice-over artists are vocal athletes. We have to do everything we can to keep our voice in great shape. For me, singing is the preferred exercise routine that gets me ready for that marathon recording session.

SACRED SOUNDS
For many years I was a member of a choir specializing in the ancient art of plainchant. Gregorian chant is just about the oldest western classical music known to mankind. The fragile, meandering unison melodic lines of certain songs can seem deceptively simplistic. Most of the vocal techniques I use today date back from my time as a member of this choir. We sounded like this:

This is what we sounded like…

Here are just a few things I learned from being in a choir:

* effective warm-ups

* the right posture

* voice projection

* diction

* word coloring

* supportive breathing

* text interpretation

* taking directions

ADDED BONUS
In our profession it’s so easy to become a recording recluse. In the old days, we had to go to a studio to do our work. We’d actually see the people we were working with and really connect. Nowadays, we’re often home alone, locked up in a dark whisper room, glued to our computer screens and we text, twitter and blog till we’re blue in the face. Rumor has it that some of us have even started “talking to the hand”. In this case that hand looks very much like a microphone…

Here’s a suggestion: get out there and join a choir! It’s not only a fun-filled feast for your vocal chords; it’s the perfect excuse to get out of the house. You’ll meet lots of interesting people and you’ll even get a chance to perform in front of an audience. Most of us rarely get a chance to observe how people respond to the fruits of our labor. I’m telling you, it’s a thrill to see audience members magically moved by marvelous music. And it’s an amazing experience to fill a void with the sound of many voices blending together in (hopefully) perfect harmony.

RESOURCES
The National Center for Voice & Speech has a terrific site called “Voice Academy”. Although it’s mainly geared toward teachers, many of the tips apply to voice-over talents as well.

If you love to twist your tongue, I have the ultimate site for you. It has 2790 entries in 109 languages.

And for those of you who are already a member of a vocal group of some sorts, I hope you’ll forgive me that I’ve been preaching to the choir…

Paul Strikwerda © 2009