Double Dutch

If you’ve been around the voice-over block a couple of times, you know that Steven Lowell doesn’t always mince his words when defending the company he works for as Community Manager: voice123.com.

At times he can be rather undiplomatic, to put it mildly. Some appreciate his candor. Others not so much.

I know Steven to be extremely helpful, knowledgeable and a downright good sport when I poke fun at him in my blog. The picture he sent me of him in a tiny red bikini still haunts me in my dreams. Thanks a bunch!

This week, Lowell published “The Voice Over Guide,” consisting of ten well-written chapters packed with practical information for newcomers and seasoned pros alike.

After reading this free guide, I have gained a renewed appreciation and respect for Steven. This is a very comprehensive and helpful overview of what it takes to become successful as a voice-over artist and solopreneur.

It’s by no means a “Get Rich Quick” guide. It’s a “Build a Solid Career Slowly” resource that does not dumb down what it takes to make it in this competitive business.

This guide should be required reading for anyone who is contemplating the idea of launching a serious voice-over career. If you’ve already taken the plunge and you are wondering why your business hasn’t taken off yet, you need to start reading this guide now.

Not only that, you must take Lowell’s advice to heart and put it into practice, practice, practice.

Lowell’s Voice Over Guide zooms in on using the unlimited online possibilities of building a lucrative career as a voice talent. He takes a close look at marketing, making demos, making sure you get paid, and he busts a couple of myths along the way.

He makes no secret of the fact that online casting service voice123.com has been his bread, butter and jelly since 2007. Chapter Six of his guide is entirely devoted to his professional home, and that’s where Lowell demonstrates that he still is His Master’s Loyal Voice.

To me, that’s the weakest link in this guide. We all know that there are more Pay-to-Plays on the planet, and conveniently ignoring the competition does the uninformed readers a disservice.

Even after reading his exposé about the perceived advantages of the infamous SmartCast system, I am still as dumbfounded as before, at its “heuristic algorithm” that’s supposed to create a level playing field.

If we are to believe Steve,

“60% of auditioning voice talent book at least one job a month using voice123. Between 10% – 13% book at least five jobs a month.”

This is apparently based on

“Current averages in surveys”.

As a born skeptic I’d like to see independent verification of these numbers. Secondly, I’m not so sure a survey of a limited sample by the company itself can be taken at face value.

If -based on these numbers- voice123 is indeed confident that you and I will have a more than 50% chance of landing one gig a month using their service, I’d like to propose the following no cure, no pay system:

• Keep the tax-deductible membership at $295 per year, but don’t charge talent a penny until they start making money on the site;

• As soon as a talent lands a job and payment comes in, this money is applied toward the membership fee until it is fully paid off. In other words: the site makes money as soon as the talent makes money. Fair is fair.

This Play-to-Pay system creates the perfect win-win situation and acts as an incentive for the voice casting service to keep on providing quality leads at reasonable rates.

Anyone in favor say “Aye”!

Steven, are you with me, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Paul Strikwerda ©2011
www.nethervoice.com

Technorati Tags: Double Dutch Blog, Nethervoice, online casting, Paul Strikwerda, Pay-to-Play, SmartCast system, Steven Lowell, The Voice Over Guide, voice-over, voice123, voiceover, voiceovers

The voice-over market is a buyer’s market. Voice-talents are exposed; voice-seekers are protected. As voice-over pros, we want to work. We need to work. Sometimes we’re so happy to be picked out of a pile of 100+ auditions; it’s tempting to say “YES” when we finally get a break. But would we have done so, had we known the facts?

The World Wide Web has put me in touch with the wonderful, the wacky and the weird. Anyone can pretend to be anything on the Net. That nice guy you met online might very well be the next “Craigslist Killer”. Or he could be Prince Charming! How can you be sure?

THE VOICE-OVER AS P.I. (VoPi)
I have a question for you: do you think you should have to play Sherlock Holmes if you audition for a job on a site like voices.com? Aren’t you paying the staff to do their homework to make sure you’re not connected to some creep?

If you’re a member of voice123, you might have seen the following disclaimer:

Legal note: Although Voice123 tries to establish the legitimacy of all voice seekers, you are responsible for conducting your own investigation into any and all claims made by prospective voice seekers, agents and/or clients. You assume all liability for use of any information you find through Voice123, LLC, or any of its publications.

Good luck, especially if the voice seeker is purposely hiding his or her identity! As we have seen in the case of the founder of Newspapers for the Blind, the voice123 team responded after members had complained about the way they had been treated. Make no mistake about it: at the end of the day, “You are responsible for conducting your own investigation.”

Here’s the good news: the Internet is not only a place for con-men and convicts. With so much information in the public domain, we might as well use it as a tool in our fight against the frauds, the fakes and the phonies. My story of Newspapers for the Blind is the perfect example. Before I get into that, I have an admission to make.

A GOOD CAUSE
When I was young, idealistic and hopelessly naive, I honestly believed that people involved in philanthropy must be good people. It never occurred to me to do a background check on a charity. What can I say? Even Steven Spielberg thought that Bernie Madoff was a nice guy…

After my story about Will May, some of you wondered: Is his organization a real charity?

On its website, Newspapers for the Blind (NFBT) says it’s a 501C-3 Corporation. This is a type of incorporation that is used to set up a charitable corporation, founded with the intention of providing a service to the community, rather than making a profit.

Incorporating a company makes it a legal entity, responsible for its actions in the community. This is important, because it removes a great deal of the responsibility from the person who is starting the company.

One source puts it this way: “If you start a 501(c)3 company, you want the legal liability for possible damages to be the responsibility of the 501(c)3 corporation so that your personal possessions are safe from creditors.”

FACT CHECK
So, how do you separate the chaff from the wheat? The IRS web site has a search engine that makes finding a registered charity a piece of cake. The Better Business Bureaus* have a similar function on their website. In both databases, Newspapers for the Blind does not come up as a registered charity, and I have asked the IRS and the BBB to look into this. I also checked the Maryland Charities Database (the state where NFTB is based). Again: nothing came up.

But there’s a catch: Elisabeth Leamy, the ABC News Consumer Correspondent warns:

“ (…) even if the IRS really has granted non-profit 501C-3 status to a group, that’s no indication of quality. The IRS doesn’t have the time or staff to really scrutinize those who apply for charity status. I once investigated a company that earned 501C-3 status. The IRS overlooked the fact that the founder was a convicted felon who kept most of the group’s money for himself and didn’t even register with the state as required by law.”

In her article “How to Identify a Fake Charity”, Jamie K. Wilson recommends we carefully examine a charity’s website and look for the following signs:

• A board of directors numbering at least six people, with their credentials or regular job titles and place of employment listed
• A permanent street address in the United States or your own country
• A 501(c)3 statement
• Success stories
• An outline of this charity’s goals
• Downloadable financial statements that detail where money has been expended in the past
• Accurate statistics with verifiable and legitimate sources
• Good writing, spelling, and grammar

She concludes:

“Any charitable website lacking two or more of these traits is suspect. That does not mean the charity is fake. On the contrary, it might be very new and very legitimate, but without a track record. However, fake charities generally lack at least two of the above items.”

Steven Lowell of voice123 had this to say about Will May, the founder and editor of NFTB:

“Truth is…if he is rough to deal with, and pays, that is one thing. You get your money and never work with the person again. But to pose as a charitable organization, then not pay, and pull the routine that the people who delivered work must be the problem, when he in fact hired them…It is not a better business practice, and to some extent, illegal. I am not up to date on laws governing posing as false charity, but he did promise payment, and never came through.”

WHO IS WILL MAY
Again, using what is in the public domain, what can we learn about the founder and editor of Newspapers for the Blind? Let’s first see what Will May tells us about himself on his LinkedIn profile:

Interests: I like to sail boats and fly aeroplanes

Groups and Associations: Chief Medical Examiner of the Lesbian Fighter Pilots Association

May lists himself as the owner of Nevis LLC. A Nevis Limited Liability Company is based in the Caribbean tax-haven of Nevis. For $1495 USD, you too could become the proud owner of a Nevis LLC. It has a few benefits:

• Nevis does not impose corporate tax, income tax, withholding tax, stamp tax, asset tax, exchange controls or other fees or taxes on assets or income originating outside of Nevis.
• The owners and managers are not registered anywhere, which provides for complete secrecy.
• A Nevis LLC allows you to shield your assets from lawsuits, agencies, and financial creditors.
• Owners can manage the company without becoming liable for company financial obligations or legal liabilities.

THE LAST TYCOON
Voice-over colleague Juliette Gray worked for Will May and never received a penny. She confirmed what I had suspected when I questioned where the money for Newspapers for the Blind was coming from. Juliette wrote:

“One long conversation I had with him he told me that he had put a lot of money himself into it and he was a retired real estate tycoon from NYC.”

This is confirmed by the information May listed in his LinkedIn profile under “experience”:

“Chairman of Wm. B May & Company- Real Estate from 1982  – 2006”

This is not your average local realtor. The William B. May Company once was the nation’s oldest real estate brokerage firm, and it has been in the hands of one family for four generations. The website of the New York Real Estate Institute states:

“William B. May’s impeccable reputation has been built on a singular philosophy of integrity, trust, full accountability and integrated service. To this day, we pride ourselves on unwavering ethics, steadfast client loyalty, and competitive endurance.”

In a December 2000 newsletter, the company boasts:

“With age comes wisdom. The development of 57th Street at the heart of New York City was what first put William B. May on the map in the late 1860’s. At that time, we sold property to the Carnegies, the Fricks and the Vanderbilts.”

Today, the company is no more. Only the brand William B. May has survived. The business concept is owned by Broker Services Holding, LLC and it is operated as a franchise.

On his  LinkedIn page, Will May concurs that the company as it had existed, ceased operations in 2006, after -as he put it- “a tumultuous take-over fight”.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Gabriel Sherman is contributing editor at New York Magazine and a special correspondent for the New Republic. Prior to 2006, he was the media reporter at the New York Observer. In April of  ’05, he witnessed the demise of the venerable family firm.

When I read his article  “William T. May Sues Agency On Century 21 Ads”, a few things fell into place. This is how it begins:

“William Talcott May is the co-chairman of the storied real-estate brokerage founded by his great grandfather in 1866 and inheritor of the New York real-estate dynasty that bears his father’s name, William B. May.

But when the 44-year-old eccentric bounded into City Bakery on West 18th Street on a recent Thursday morning, wearing a fire-truck-red Scottish kilt and a navy-blue wool sweater, his broad, leonine cheekbones streaked with charcoal-hued face paint, he looked more Braveheart than businessman.”

If you don’t have time to read the entire article, here are some of the ‘highlights’:

• Mr. May studied economics at Duke University. He dropped out in 1982 after two and half years. At Duke, Mr. May was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, played rugby and co-founded the school’s polo club with 40 ponies he said his cousin won in a craps game in South America.
• After leaving Duke, Billy May -as he was known- returned to New York and worked in William B. May’s brokerage business while managing some of his own buildings. On the job he was stabbed and shot by tenants.
• As he was flying his private plane on 9/11/’01, he witnessed the entire disaster from 10,000 feet above New York Harbor. He told Gabriel Sherman: “I was on the radio to McGuire Air Force base in 20 seconds saying there had been a terrorist attack.”
• In December of 2001, the FBI and police arrested Mr. May for leaving six fake bombs at the New Castle County Airport in an attempt to highlight lax security.
• Between trial and sentencing, he served 31 days in solitary confinement. Mr. May received a felony conviction and four years probation for the incident.
• Mr. May’s attorney at the time, Penelope Marshall, said in reports that Mr. May was not medicated for his bipolar disorder.

Sherman ends his report from 2005 as follows:

“Mr. May, who says he has already spent $1 million of his own money to stanch the attacks on his family’s business, said he will not surrender until his family wins its name back. “I’m like a one-man pack of wild dogs when I get angry,” he said.”

LESSONS
You don’t have to be  a psychologist to realize that past behavior can -to a certain extent- predict future behavior. In the case of William Talcott May, knowing about his background made me understand where his Mr. Nice and Mr. Nasty type of behavior was coming from. I just hope that he doesn’t unleash his ‘one-man pack of wild dogs’ on me. I’m more of a cat person.

As I said before: I think that Newspapers for the Blind offers a terrific service. I sincerely hope that it will survive Will May’s erratic actions. Eventually, his karma will catch up with him.

INTERNET CASTING
As for our friends at the voice-over casting sites (sometimes known as Pay-to-Plays)… we realize that you don’t have the time or the resources to conduct extensive investigations. However, it would be very helpful if you would publish information on those individuals who have pulled a fast one, and share it with your members and with other voice-over casting sites. That way, scammers who are exposed on one site, won’t be able to set up shop at another site.

Instead, you have left it up to our trusted colleague Mahmoud Taji, to come up with a Scam-Alert for our industry. As much as I applaud his hard work, this should not have been left to the efforts of one blogging voice-over talent in Egypt.

As voice-seekers, we pay you in order to take advantage of your internet voice-casting service. We don’t want to be taken advantage of, because you choose to protect your voice-seekers from our phone calls.

Come to think of it… isn’t that how we used to do business? We simply picked up the phone and introduced ourselves to a prospective client. What would Sherlock Holmes call that? Elementary, perhaps?

Paul Strikwerda © 2010

www.nethervoice.com

*The BBB Wise Giving Alliance has developed Standards for Charity Accountability to “assist donors in making sound giving decisions and to foster public confidence in charitable organizations. The standards seek to encourage fair and honest solicitation practices, to promote ethical conduct by charitable organizations and to advance support of philanthropy.”

PS Is your accent preventing you from booking gigs and if so, should you change it? My next blog is about tweaking your twang!

Technorati Tags: 501C-3 corporation, Bernie Madoff, Better Business Bureau, Charities database, Gabriel Sherman, how to spot a fake charity, Juliette Gray, Mahmoud Taji, Nethervoice, Nevis LLC, New York Observer, Newspapers for the Blind, Paul Strikwerda, Pay-to-Play, Scam alert, Steven Spielberg, Stven Lowell, voice-seeker, voice123, voiceover, voices.com, Will May, William B. May company

Posting jobs under false names, not paying invoices and Jekyll and Hyde-treatment of voice-over talent… these appear to be the trademarks of William May.

Mr. May is the founder and editor of Newspapers For The Blind Organization,Inc,  a web–based service, offering a daily selection of newspaper articles for the vision impaired, read by voice-over pros. The site was quietly launched during the last quarter of 2009 (and should not be confused with NFB-Newsline®).

The idea behind Newspapers for the Blind (NFTB) is not new but certainly noble. The other two people involved, Dr. Edward E. Boas Jr. and Noelle Mills Adler, have impressive credentials. Dr. Boas is a Professor of Computer Science, Data Processing and Electronics at Cecil College in North East Maryland. Ms. Mills Adler is a past president of the Ladies Christian Union of New York City (now known as the LCU Foundation).

But it’s the voice-over professionals known as “newspapercasters” who are at the heart of NFTB. Newspapersfortheblind.org  raves:

“Our three dozen readers, culled from 3000 auditions, bring the precise vocal skills to reach and meet our unique audience.”

THE OFFER
At the beginning of September, last year, I became a member of this “elite team,” after auditioning for the following job posted on voice123:

Newspapers for Blind
This is a daily long term commitment to read a newspaper article into an MP3 for webcasting and free-phone service to the blind and hearing-impaired.

The files would want to be recorded from roughly midnight to 6AM US Eastern Time, so, geography may be important to readers.

The pacing of the delivery is painfully S-L-O-W, and the voice resonance is highly critical for the hearing-impaired. Tenors and sopranos need not bother; it won’t work for the hearing-impaired. Professor Henry Higgins diction is important; bite the words.

Voice-seekers name: confidential
Company name: hidden

I was absolutely thrilled to have made the cut. Regular gigs are hard to come by in this industry, but there was another reason why I was so excited. Some jobs we do for the money; others because it is the right thing to do. This was the best of both worlds!

THE AMAZING MR MAY
On top of that, the founder/editor seemed to possess an incredible drive and contagious enthusiasm to make things happen. His initial emails were personable, funny and encouraging. After I started reading leads from The Independent and The Times, he commented:

“My Cat; BraveHeart, loves your voice. She always perks up when I play your readings.  You have a fan.”

One day, I shared with him that I wasn’t feeling too well. He responded:

“Paul, hope you shake the cold…..just don’t shake this perfect voice, W”

This was clearly a man with a heart! One thing bothered me a little, though. Whenever I asked May if he intended to formalize the relationship and how payment would be handled, it took him months to come up with something that came close to a straight answer.

WORRIES
A month or so into the job, I had yet to be paid. Then I noticed that May had placed another job posting on voice123. Why would he be looking for new recruits? When I asked him about it, he answered:

“Please don’t worry about not enough readings for NFTB. Stick with me; I have to keep a Chinese Wall between the not-for-profit and other activities. There will be plenty of other activities to follow.”

He was right. Not only would I be recording and editing at least two articles a day, Will asked me and four other colleagues to record public service announcements for NFTB (a 501C-3 Corporation). I was tickled when he told me:

“Out of the 5, they chose your Public Service Message on 970 AM, New York.”

By that time I was on a roll. The only thing that was missing was a regular paycheck and eventually, that became an ordeal. I had to send out countless reminders, only to hear that my “address was lost” or that someone would be looking into it.

GIVE ME A BREAK
On November 15th, May surprised me with the following message:

“Lets let your money catch up with your readings; take a break.”

I responded:

“(…) As you know, I am very supportive of your charity, and I don’t understand why I should take a break. (…) If you do not have the money to pay me, you should have said so from the beginning. As a professional, I made my commitment based on your commitment. Financially, I plan ahead and make future projections based on assurances that have been made by my clients. Knowing that payment would not be forthcoming or would be seriously delayed, would have given me the opportunity to reconsider my commitment to NFTB, and possibly spend my time and energy generating income in other ways. (…)”

The answer:

“I had interpreted your last mail as unhappy. I was simply saying lets let the accounting, our weakest link, catch up with you. We have enough money, just not enough accounting bobbins.”

But on November 20th, I received the following email:

“Don’t count on any more readings in your planning; nothing to do with you.  We’ll catch up the accounting, and probably just wind things up.
May try to limp along at half or one-third normal see what happens.

(…)

Also, frankly, not enough users to merit all of the work; I’m working 18-20 hour days to throw 8-10 k out the window each week…what for.

I think we made sliced bread, when the world wants baguette.”

ANOTHER VOICE
The truth is that it was business as usual at Newspapers for the Blind. They didn’t miss a beat, and never have. I was sidetracked for no apparent reason, while waiting for my checks. And I was not alone:

Voice-over colleague Juliette Gray picks up the story:

“I was hired in November. They required reading articles (in my case from the London newspapers). These articles were long and the editing took ages. Then the person in charge decided because these people were also partially deaf that I needed to change my sound system. I did this willingly because I thought I had a steady job.

At quite a bit of expense I was ready to start working again and it was then he turned out to be a complete nightmare. We exchanged numerous e-mails, phone conversations, etc. and then he did a 180 degree turn – sort of like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Became impossible to communicate with and finally did get nasty in his final e-mail. Needless to say I never got paid.”

VOICE123
Steven Lowell handles the PR for voice123. This is what he said when I asked him about NFTB and Will May::

“When I first saw the job posted a while back, I was very excited because in NYC, I got some early voice over practice in the 90′s doing charity by reading books to the blind at a local church. It was something a coach recommended I do for practice.

The job made me think, ‘Wow! Good to see something like this again! Yet, what followed was an unpleasant experience of several talents with decades of experience, complaining to me that he was harsh and unfriendly to work with.

When reaching out to Mr. May to present that there have been problems, merely as a way to communicate feedback, his reply to me was, ‘Who complained? I don’t have the time to coach every talent to perfection….’

Before hearing my side of the story, voice123 heard from Juliette and 2 other voice-over professionals; one from the US, and one from the UK. As I was researching this article, I got in touch with other newspapercasters. Without exception, they asked me not to reveal their names, because they’re still hoping to get paid and they want to keep their job. But all of them told similar tales about Mr. May, and I wondered if voice123 had taken any action.

BANNED
As a rule, voice123 only investigates non-payment matters that are 60-days old. Steven Lowell: “This is because we do not get involved, and most payment disputes are resolved quite easily with a reminder email from me.”

Having examined concrete proof from email correspondence as to what had happened, voice123 banned Will May from the site. Unfortunately, that was not the end of the matter. Lowell:

“Mr. May posted the initial jobs under his own name. Once removed from the site, he began to use different names. During verification efforts by our staff, it was discovered who was posting the job. The staff at Voice123 has not changed in 2 years, and we have become very aware of ‘who is who’, and as such, have been able to catch people easily trying to repost after being banned.”

MONEY
Juliette Gray is still waiting for her paycheck, and she’s not the only one. I was lucky. Even though Mr. May still owes me a substantial amount of money, I did get paid for approximately two-thirds of my work.

For months, I asked May to pay the remainder of the balance, but he was MIA. When my knocks on his door became louder, he finally sent a very unfriendly email, accusing me of “futzing the dates” on my invoices. He wrote:

“I am in no great rush to go through hours of checking to deal with whatever might be outstanding to you. Checking truth versus falsehood is a nuisance.”

I responded:

“The invoices were sent on November 9th of last year, so you have had over two months to figure things out. I resent your remark that I “started futzing the dates”. My invoices accurately and faithfully reflect the work I have done for your organization at your request, and that’s the work I deserve to be paid for.”

CLOSING THOUGHTS
I think that Newspapers for the Blind offers a terrific service. The newspapercasters are dedicated and talented readers who can be proud to support their families by bringing the news to the blind and vision-impaired, day in day out.

The website has an impressive list of reputable institutions labeled as “dedicated listeners“. There is no doubt in my mind that the energetic editor has moved mountains to realize this project. Based on my email exchanges with him, Will May works night and day to keep the service up and running. I don’t know for sure,  but I suspect that he has invested a substantial amount of his own money into this worthy undertaking.

I also believe that people are not their behavior. From time to time, all of us do things that we are not proud of, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know any better. Just because we do something crazy, doesn’t mean that we are crazy.

Having said that, it is not okay to treat people the Will May-way, and voice123 was right to ban him from the site. Other sites have been alerted to make sure he doesn’t pull the same stuff. Furthermore: May needs to pay his talents. Without them, there would be no Newspapers for the Blind.

For now, I am left with one question: why would someone who is clearly invested in and dedicated to such a noble cause, turn from Mr. Nice into Mr. Nasty?

In my experience, there’s always a story behind a story. And believe me, in this case there is.

But that’s for another time and another day.

Paul Strikwerda © 2010

Technorati Tags: charity, Double Dutch, Dutch voiceover, Juliette Gray, Nethervoice, Newspapers for the Blind, newspapersfortheblind.org, NFB-Newsline, Paul Strikwerda, Steven Lowell, voice123, Will May, William May, William T. May

“Attention Voice-Mart shoppers… in aisle 7 you’ll find a fresh selection of promising audio book narrators, ready to read your epic 300-page novel for only $499.99. But hurry! Only today, they’ll throw in free editing. That’s right, a $199.99 value could be yours, absolutely FREE.”

The shrill sound of my phone woke me up out of a bad dream. So much for power naps! Ever since I had helped my friend Fernanda with her website, she regularly calls me because she wants to pick my brain about ‘the business’. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and sometimes I feel almost guilty to be the one who has to add the rain of realism to her parade.

The thing is, Fernanda is incredibly talented. I could listen to her voice for hours, and as it turns out, I’m not the only one. Not only is she blessed with amazing vocal chords; Fernanda has the uncanny ability to take you on a journey to a place where time and space no longer exist.

Her unique talent is only matched by her naiveté about the less artistic aspects of our work; minor details such as contracts, rates, self-promotion… you know, the boring stuff. In other words: she’s the ideal candidate to be taken for a ride. The other day it almost happened again.  

A GENEROUS OFFER
The phone rang. “Paul, I found this amazing project on-line. Can I read it to you?” Fernanda asked.

“By all means”, I replied. “Shoot.”

“Well, it’s for an audio book, she continued, “and they’re offering between 500-750 dollars.”

“Wow” I said. “Why so much? How many pages does this book have? Thirty?”

“Oh, I don’t know” said Fernanda. “Are you going to be a party pooper again?”

“It depends.” I said. “Any other information about this masterpiece? Is there a script for a custom demo? Do you know the word count? Are you sure these are not the memoirs of some perverted, monstrous mind?”

She gave me the web page with the job posting, and I glanced over the details… that were not there. The voice-seeker did offer a link to a page on Amazon.com, and lo and behold, we found the book. It was called “Ahead of the Curve: A Commonsense Guide to Forecasting Business and Market Cycles”, by Joseph H. Ellis*. Even the summary looked promising:

“Economic events are not as random and unpredictable as they seem. This book will help readers recognize and react to signs of change that their rivals don’t see—and win a sizable competitive advantage.”

“Alright. This doesn’t sound like the autobiography of a madman to me. That’s a definite plus”, I said. “Let’s find out who this Mr. Ellis really is.” Harvard Business Publishing gave us the answer:

“Joseph H. Ellis was a partner at Goldman Sachs and was ranked for 18 consecutive years by Institutional Investor magazine as Wall Street’s No.1 retail industry analyst.”

As soon as I read these words, my mind drifted off to a recent newspaper article that had somehow stuck with me:

“Goldman posted the richest quarterly profit in its 140-year history and, to the envy of its rivals, announced it had earmarked $11.4 billion so far this year to compensate its workers. At that rate, Goldman workers could, on average, earn roughly $770,000 each this year — or nearly what they did at the height of the boom.”

How many audio books would I have to narrate, in order to make what the ‘average’ Goldman worker would earn this year alone?

COUNTING PAGES
Back to the book. The Harvard web page also gave us another vital missing piece of information: we were talking about a 304-page hardback.

“Now, how long would it take you to read this book?” I asked Fernanda. “Two hours… a day… a week?”

She admitted that she didn’t really have a clue. That was my signal to go into my Sherlock Holmes mode.

“So far we have established that this guide is over 300 pages long. We don’t know anything about the actual word count, though. That will depend on the font, the font-size, the spaces and the margins. It’s amazing what some academics manage to fit on a page by using a 10-point font.

On the other hand, I’ve seen 400-page volumes packed with graphs and other illustrations, printed in a 12-point font, double-spaced and wide margins. In other words: the pages were filled with fluff.”

Fernanda sounded discouraged. “What do you suggest I do? Go to the bookstore and get this Guide? If I don’t put in a bid within the next five minutes, 4 dozen others will have jumped on this project and I might as well forget about it. And please stop with this patronizing Conan Doyle routine.”

“If I were you, this is what I would do.” I said. “Come up with an estimate, based on the assumption that the average manuscript is printed in 12 point Arial, double-spaced, margin-to-margin. According to the handy-dandy Edge Studio Words-to-Hours Converter, the typical reading time for such a page is one minute and forty seconds. Based on these parameters, how long would it approximately take you to read this book?

300 pages x 100 seconds = 30.000 seconds = 8.33 hours

The next question is: how much would you charge for a minimum of eight and a half hours of work? Here’s the easy answer: you are an independent contractor, are you not? Theoretically, that means that you can charge whatever you think you’re worth. If your name is Julia Roberts, you’ll probably get it. If you’re not, dream on.

Seriously, according to the same Edge studio rate card, audio books “usually pay ‘per completed hour (the length of the final product) rather than ‘per hour’ (the length of time you are in the studio).” This does not include the time you need to prepare yourself for the recording. I spent hours and hours reading and researching my last audio book. It was filled with foreign names; I had to practice unusual accents and I needed to get the script ready.

My scripts are usually packed with symbols and colors. Just as a singer would make notes on where to breathe and where to place accents, I do the same thing. Every character is highlighted in a different color, making it easy for me to change my voice and speech patterns. All of this takes time. Lots of time that you’re usually not getting paid for. 

UNION or NON-UNION?
If we were to take out  the table of contents, the footnotes and any other fluff, you’re probably looking at 8 completed hours on CD. New readers who happen to be AFTRA members, can charge $139.25 per hour, which would give you $1114. The AFTRA rate for experienced readers is $168.25 per completed hour, and that would leave you with a total of $1345 in your pocket.

If you don’t belong to AFTRA, the world you live in looks very different. Bear in mind, Edge Studio explicitly says that their numbers are “pure suggestions for less experienced, non-union talent. Rates reflect average and realistic rates being fairly charged within the industry, and do NOT include editing.” For audio books the rates are:

• Inexperienced narrator – $85 to $140 per completed hour
• Moderately Experienced – $90 to $175 per completed hour
• Very Experienced – $150 to $250 per completed hour

In other words: the very, very inexperienced reader could realistically charge $680 for 8 completed hours (8 x $85). Her colleague on the other end of the spectrum could charge $2000. But we’re not done yet. There are other sources we can use to determine your bid for this Wallstreet saga.

The voices.com FAQ reference rate page has an overview per project category. The indicated range for audio books is 500 – 10000 (even though they’re headquartered in Canada, I think this is in USD).

Voices.com even has a second list of “Average prices, rates and costs”. Based on this overview, the site suggests $300 for a one hour audio book recording session, plus $100 for each additional hour. Let’s say that you’d minimally need a 10-hour recording session to produce an 8-hour audio book. That would mean that this project would bring in $1200 (the client pays an extra 10% SurePay escrow fee).

To make things a bit more complicated, voices.com offers a third list of rates. The suggested rates for audio books in this overview are:

• 1 hr recording session: USD$125 (10 studio hrs. x $125 = $1350)
• Per finished hour of audio: USD$500 (8 finished hrs. x $500 = $4000)
• Per page rate: USD$125 (300 pages x $125 = $37.500)

If you’re still with me, let’s throw one more number into the mix, straight from the voice123 reference rate page. Voice123 clarifies:

“These rates have been calculated by surveying and averaging Voice123 non-union voice over talents with two or more years of experience as voice-overs. Prices in this document are averages for suggested minimums (base rates).”

The average rate per hour of work (regardless of the length of the audio delivered) for a project taking up to 10 hours is $164. So, if we once again assume that 8 hours of completed audio takes at least 10 hours of studio time; using the voice123 minimum rate, a talent could charge $1640 for this project.

GUESSWORK?
I’d be the first one to agree  that these numbers are based on a few assumptions, because the voice-seeker left out vital information when posting the job (either by accident or on purpose). However, the rates I used are in the public domain. “Fernanda, remind me, what book were we talking about again?”

“A 304-page guide, written by former Goldman Sachs partner and Wall Street’s No.1 retail industry analyst that “will help readers recognize and react to signs of change that their rivals don’t see—and win a sizeable competitive advantage.”

“And how much was the budget again?”

“Between 500 and 750 dollars.”

“How many responses did the voice-seeker receive so far?”

“Only 105.”

WINNER or LOSER
“How much do you think the client will end up paying for a narrator? Fernanda asked. “And is there a minimum rate per project?”

“Unless you happen to run into the person who put in the winning bid, you’ll never know,” I said. “But I would be very surprised if all 105 hopefuls would bid the $750 maximum. Can you even call it a winning bid, or is it more realistic to speak of a losing bid? Anyway, voices.com has a minimum project posting requirement for any job posted publicly, and this amount is $100. Voice123 doesn’t have a rate floor.

But let’s not turn this into another Pay-to-Play issue. It gets kind of old, and besides, these guys are only part of a huge market. Take a good look at a majority of the projects posted on these sites. With all due respect for the hard work they put in, I don’t think we’re exactly talking about the high end of the business.  

When it comes to determining reasonable voice-over rates, we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. If you really want to discuss what you should charge, there are two crucial questions you need to ask yourself first:

1. How much do I need to make?
2. How much do I want to make?

But let’s talk about that some other time. I think I need to get back to my power nap now.”

The comfortable couch was still there waiting for me. I rearranged a few pillows and curled up in a ball. As soon as I closed my eyes, a soothing voice whispered into my ear:

“Thank you for shopping at Voice-Mart. Please come again soon.”

When I woke up, I realized that I hadn’t told Fernanda how much she should quote. Thank goodness you’re still here! May I pick your brain for this one?

- What would you tell her?
- Given the specifics of this project, is a budget of $500-$750 reasonable?
- If yes, why? If no, what would be a number you could live with?
- Would you do it for less? Would you put in a higher bid?
- What do you factor in when bidding on a project like this?
- Do you ever use the rate cards quoted in this article; are these rates realistic, optimistic, outdated…?
- If there’s one thing you could change about this process, what would it be?
- What would need to happen for this change to be implemented?
- What’s preventing this from happening?

Paul Strikwerda © 2009 www.nethervoice.com

*the author of the book, Joseph H. Ellis, was not the voice-seeker who posted the project. However, this was a real project offered on a well-know voice casting site.

PS Is there a serious disconnect between what we need to earn to make a decent living, and what voice-seekers are prepared to pay? How did we lose our bargaining power? And is there a connection between price and pleasure?  That’s the topic of my next article!

Technorati Tags: AFTRA rates, audio book narration, audio book rate, audio books, breaking down audio book rate, Dutch voice, Dutch voice over, Edge Studio, Goldman Sachs, Julia Roberts, Nethervoice, non-union, non-union voiceover rates, Paul Strikwerda, Pay-to-Play, rates, spoken books, union voiceover rates, voice123, voice123 rates, voiceover rate card, voiceover rates, voices, voices.com rates

In July, something happened to me that had never happened before: I won a prize. Voices.com had asked members to write about their experiences with their service, and somehow, they liked my story the best. Here’s a quote from what I wrote:

“Two months ago, I decided to challenge Voices.com. My dollar-a-day membership plan paid off big time. With $2300 in the bank, I had earned more than 38 times my investment.”

The genuine article was posted on Double Dutch (and all over the Web). Thanks to this entry, I became the surprised winner of a $500 gift certificate to Sweetwater. So far so good, right? But, wait… is there something wrong with this picture? My winning entry sang the praises of a Pay-to-Play. You might have noticed that there’s even a voices.com banner on my blog. Yet, when you take a look at this blog, I seem to be “Mr. Critical” when it comes to these voice-over matchmaking sites. Could Double Dutch be accused of Double Standards? Colleague Steve Hammill put it this way:

“I must say that I had to chuckle when I saw your endorsement of a P2P site on this web page. It’s quite an elaborate endorsement.”

So, what’s the real deal with the Dutch dude?

At the time of my unexpected win, some blogging colleagues suggested that they would never take part in a competition like that, because they wanted to remain ‘impartial’. Even though I don’t agree with their assumption, I respect their point of view. I also believe that my writings have shown that my opinion is my opinion… no matter how sweet the waters may be.

INSIDER INFO
Let’s get personal for a moment. I happen to be one of those guys some psychologists eagerly label as “fixers“. A few weeks ago, I was looking for an item at my supermarket that wasn’t there. Yes… it was a product from Holland. What else could it be? Now, I could moan and groan about it for the next twelve weeks, or I could go the manager and suggest he stock this particular Dutch delicacy that nobody should live without. The first option was easier and would have taken less time. So, I picked option two. The manager listened to what I had to say and put in a request. Within a matter of weeks, I got a phone call that the item was on the shelves, and by the way…. how soon could I stop by to pick it up, compliments of the store?

It was a small thing that made a big impact. Now my friends tell me: “Stop talking about where you go grocery shopping. We get it, already!”

I happen to be a strong believer in bringing about change from within... one Dutch treat at a time. That’s why I Pay to Play. My P2P-memberships give me access to some of the inner workings of these sites, and that means that I can speak from experience when I write about them. I don’t want to be one of those armchair referees. I enjoy being out on the field, playing the game.

THE P2P ADVANTAGE
There’s no doubt about it: voice-over matchmaking sites have earned their place in the market. In fact, if you’ve been kind enough to keep track of my “ponderings” on this blog or on various LinkedIn-voiceover groups, this is a recurring theme. Every day, sites like voices.com save you and me time and money that we would otherwise have to spend on advertising, marketing and acquisition. The free podcasts, articles and expert advice are a treasure trove for beginners and old-timers alike. And occasionally, these sites even help you or me book a job. However, I’d advise any voice-over pro or amateur against totally relying on P2P’s for leads. I’m sure these sites would be the first ones to tell you that.

FAIR IS FAIR
Every medal, no matter how shiny, has two sides. I’m not one of those people who, blinded by one side, can’t see the other. There’s still so much room for improvement, and rather than being a winner or a whiner, I want to come up with ideas on how these sites can make their services even better. Sometimes they actively ask for my opinion. Sometimes I just can’t help myself, and I blog about it. At times, people even read these blogs and respond.

But let’s be honest: not all is well in voiceover land, but we can’t blame everything on P2P’s, and I don’t think I ever did. WE are part of the problem. A BIG part. Every time we take on a job for less than we deserve, we send a signal to voice-seekers that we’re willing to be taken advantage of. Every time we put in a bid that’s below what’s commonly accepted as reasonable, we’re telling our colleagues that we don’t give a bleep about the long-term consequences. We can’t force sites like voice123 to uphold minimum rates. It’s their business to run their business any way they want. They make most of their money from memberships and not based on how much we get paid per gig. That’s what agents do.

Last but not least, when we’re operating out of the bargain basement, we’re telling ourselves that our unique talent, our invaluable experience and our phenomenal skills are only worthy of a handout. If you truly believe in leading by example, is that really what you want to instill in your children? Of course I know that there’s much more to self-worth than a bunch of numbers on a paycheck. I’m not asking you to charge astronomical fees either, simply because you feel like “you’re worth it”.

All I’m asking for is that you please educate yourself by taking a good look at resources like these… many of them offered by the same voice-over sites listed in this article:

http://www.edgestudio.com/Voice-Over-Rate-Card.htm
http://www.voices.com/voice-over-rates.html
http://support.voice123.com/article/How_Much_Are_Talents_and_Voice_Producers_Charging_for_Non-union_Voice_Over_Work_Delivered_Online.html
http://www.aftra.com/documents/2009_Radio_Commercials_Ratesheet_Revised_5-6-09.pdf
http://www.voiceoverresourceguide.com/index.html

NOW WHAT?
Even the best information is totally useless if you don’t do anything with it. You have at least three options:

1. Show me that the rates listed in these resources are outrageous and out of touch with reality, and argue that you don’t deserve to be paid that much. OR…
2. Agree that these rates (no matter how average they may be) are reasonable, and stick to them when bidding and negotiating.
3. Don’t be involved in this discussion, but keep on complaining and watch from the sidelines as others are sticking their necks out.

SAVED BY THE UNIONS
Some of you have asked me: “How about the unions? Isn’t it their job to deal with remuneration? If you’re so unhappy with the current rates or the lowballing bidders, why not join AFTRA?”

I’d say: Well, if you can afford to be a union member, great! If you get paid union rates or above, even better! However, don’t walk away from your own responsibility by telling me that the unions are the only parties who can fight our fight, and that non-union members have to pay the price for not being in the union. Members are usually the first ones to tell you that things aren’t what they used to be, and that the presumed power of AFTRA, SAG, ACTRA, EQUITY and others, is fading fast. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the majority of Pay-to-Play users are non-union.

Do you remember these numbers? Almost 40% of professional voice-overs make less than $25,000 per year, even after having been in the business for 10-25 years. Over a quarter of those surveyed make less than $10,000 per year.  (Source: VoiceOver Insider magazine). I don’t see these people joining a union in the next few weeks. So, who else will stand up for the thousands of unrepresented voice-overs, who love what they do and who also wish to make a decent living?

Don’t expect SaVoa (Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists ) to go to battle for you. That’s not SaVoa’s mission. Article 2 of their STANDARDS OF BUSINESS CONDUCT clearly states:

“neither SaVoa nor its members shall collude to set or attempt to set minimum rates for voice over services.”

So, at the end of the day the ball’s back in your court… where it always was and always will be. We all choose what we want to live by, and what we’re willing to accept. The great thing about living in this free country, is the fact that in many situations, we can choose where we wish to draw the line. Sometimes it’s not so easy to see that one decision, no matter how small, has an impact on the whole. If you have any doubts about that, ask Rosa Parks.

CONTEST IN CONTEXT
And finally… here’s an update on my voices.com “success story”. I became a member on April 24th of this year, and I have no regrets. Stephanie Ciccarelli who handles the PR for “voices”, knows that my endorsement of her company was not motivated by a prize, but it was inspired by my experience at that moment in time. There’s a reason why there still is a voices.com banner on this blog.

It’s almost six months later, and I can tell you that I have landed exactly THREE jobs through voices.com. All of them were booked before I won my prize. It’s not for lack of trying. In fact, since I became a member, I’ve sent out a total of 378 demos; most of them custom-made, hand-crafted and with a touch of Dutch. I think I can do better, and I think sites like voices.com can do better. And that’s exactly why I share these thoughts with the rest of the voice-over community and beyond.

A RESPONSE
Voices.com has a dedicated LinkedIn Group for members who’d like to be involved. Whenever I write a new article, I post it under “news”, and that’s how many of you probably found out about Double Dutch.

Stephanie Ciccarelli wrote the following about my previous blog on her LinkedIn group page,:

“With regard to what has been posted re: “What Pay-To-Plays Don’t Want You to Know”, let me share the following:

These sort of postings in the Voices.com LinkedIn group are giving me cause for concern. I would request that articles deliberately questioning the integrity of services such as Voices.com not be posted in the Voices.com LinkedIn Group in the future. While the article may mention our company, or others in this space, it is unacceptable for me to let unfounded information as it pertains to Voices.com be shared through our own property.

I will be replying to the blog posting personally with my thoughts.”

I encourage you to read her thoughts in the comment section of my last post. I also urge you to share your thoughts on the following:

-Do you believe that I questioned “the integrity of services such as Voices.com?”

-Did I provide “unfounded information as it pertains to Voices.com?”

-Do you agree with Stephanie, that we should refrain from posting articles such as “What Pay-To-Plays Don’t Want You to Know” on sites affiliated to those that are mentioned in the article?

Paul Strikwerda © 2009
www.nethervoice.com

PS Are you having a hard time figuring out what to charge for your voice-over services? You’re not the only one! My next article will take you through some of the steps involved in bidding on an audio book project.

Technorati Tags: AFTRA, contest, Double Dutch, LinkedIn, non-union, P2P, Paul Strikwerda, Pay-to-Play, rates, SAG, SAVOA, Stephanie Ciccarelli, success story, union, voice-over, voice123, voiceover, voices.com

Imagine an international marketplace where suppliers and buyers meet. This business environment offers the broadest and most colorful selection from all over the globe. A fast and furious bidding process determines which supplier will sell to which buyer at what price.

Can you guess the name of this marketplace? Could it be eBay? Is it uBid? Voice123, perhaps?

TEAMWORK
Let me tell you what’s unique about this particular auction. It’s actually a cooperative, owned by about 5000 members who have united to organize their sales. Their aim is to achieve the best possible market position for its members at the lowest possible cost.

The auction I’m writing about offers a transparent market and an objective operation of the price mechanism. A fair minimum price is set for each product, based on normalized averages. If that price isn’t met, there’s simply no sale.

THE PLAYING FIELD
Here are a few other clues. The items that are auctioned off, are of some 20 thousand different varieties. And all of this takes place on the largest trading floor in the world – a conjoined complex of cavernous warehouses as large as 200 soccer fields. That’s roughly the size of Monaco! Inside, 22 million separate items are sold and distributed to buyers every weekday, mostly in Europe and North America.

The “Dutch auction method” is used for price determination. This process uses a clock, where the clock hand starts at a high price and drops until a buyer stops the clock to bid and accept (part of) the lot. The clock was invented in the 1870s by a cauliflower grower from Holland .

As a voice-over pro, fighting my own daily bidding wars, I’ll tell you what I like about this type of auction:

1. The element of collaboration. Although the members of the cooperative are competing against each other, they are working together. What a concept!
2. Vigorous quality control, based on the highest professional standards, is part and parcel of this business.
3. Set minimum prices (based on weighted averages of goods or services in a particular region during a given time period).
4. Products or services are sold to the highest bidder. Imagine that in our industry!
5. Transparency. Everyone involved knows immediately what the winning bid was and who won. Only if the quality is not as told, the buyer can complain. The products have to be paid directly.

BACK TO YOU
Of course you know where this is going, don’t you? I am going to ask you about the market place you do business in. But here’s the twist: you’re auctioning off your vocal versatility on sites like voices.com. You spot a project that might be a good fit. You record a free custom demo, and you put in a bid. Then you wait… To quote Dr. Phill: “How’s that working for you?”

Let’s go down my list again, and contrast and compare.

OWNERSHIP
1. As a member of the cooperative, you would be one of the co-owners of the business. You would elect representatives and a board that manages the daily affairs on your behalf. In other words: you could directly influence how your business is run. The board answers to its members, and every year it must give those members a detailed account of the state of the cooperative.

Compare that to the marketplace where you auction off your services. You are a member of that marketplace, are you not? Let me ask you this: do you have any say in how this business is run and by whom? And by “say” I don’t mean filling out a survey, or posting your praises on their website. There is a difference between giving feedback, having influence or actual power.

Do you get to see the balance sheet, at least once a year? And if an executive is underperforming, can you vote him or her off?

Do you work together with your colleagues to maximize results, or is it every man and women for him- or herself and against each other?

QUALITY
2. Can anyone offer their services on this voice-over marketplace you belong to, or is there a screening process based on professional standards? And once accepted, is there any type of quality control in place, to ensure that voice-seekers won’t be bombarded with third-rate ‘talent’?

PRICE
3. What does your marketplace do to promote fair trade, if anything? Are buyers (and sellers) educated about what rates are reasonable for different types of projects? Does your site set minimum prices, or is everything left to a market that has no bottom, no ethics and people who have no clue?

4. What if our on-line marketplace would operate like a Sotheby’s, where goods (or in this case services) would actually go to the highest bidder?

ACCOUNTABILITY
5. I saved the big one for last: Does your on-line auction site ever notify you of the winning bid? Let’s say a voice-seeker posts a project with a budget range of $100-$250. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know how much or little he eventually ended up paying? Don’t you want to know if the job ultimately went to an undercutting ‘underbidder’ or a habitual ‘lowballer’? Aren’t you curious to find out how successful this site really is in securing fair and reasonable deals for its members? Or is that too much to ask?

I recently read a comment from someone who regularly uses P2P’s to hire talent. He said (and I’m paraphrasing): 

“You should realize that when a job is posted with a $100 – $250 range, that over half the people who audition will offer to do it for $100. Another quarter will offer to do it for less.”

Mmm, any idea why you’re not having much luck, lately? Of course the voice-over dot coms could hit back and say: “That’s nonsense. Some people get paid even more than what the job was posted for.” My response would be: prove it! And don’t give me anecdotal evidence. I want numbers.

Am I wrong, or do you have a right to learn how many posted projects materialized into something concrete, and how many disappeared into thin air? And wouldn’t that information help you determine whether or not it would be worthwhile for you to join such a site? Why aren’t these facts available to the members who are paying for these services? What is it that these sites don’t want you to know? What are they hiding and why?

GOING DUTCH
My favorite auction is an open book. The FloraHolland flower auction is the international market leader in floricultural sales. Their auction building  in Aalsmeer is the second largest building in the world. With six locations situated close to the most important production areas in the Netherlands, 9 thousand growers sell just over one-third of all flowers sold in the world, which adds up to about 2 billion Euros each year. There are 125 thousand auction transactions every day. In other words, 12 billion cut flowers and over half a million plants a year. Business is blooming for this cooperative.

I wonder… is there anything we can possibly learn from this model? Isn’t it about time we add a touch of Dutch to our auctions? You tell me!

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

www.nethervoice.com

PS don’t miss the next installment: is it okay to endorse a voice-over website and criticize it too? Find out why I’ve been asked that “articles deliberately questioning the integrity of services such as Voices.com not be posted in the Voices.com LinkedIn Group in the future.”

Technorati Tags: auction, FloraHolland, flower auction, Nethervoice, Paul Strikwerda, Pay-to-Play, voice, voice-over, voice123, voiceover, voiceovers, voices.com

Ontario’s London Free Press called them “voice-over matchmakers”. Back in 2003, David and Stephanie Ciccarelli created Voices.com out of their condo. At the time this blog was published,  they had eight full-time staff and four computer developers on contract. David estimated about $11 million of business goes through the site annually.

If you’ve ever used their services, you know that Voices.com makes money from your subscription fees and from an optional 10% SurePay escrow fee on top of whatever the talent’s fee is, paid by the voice-seeker. According to the site:

“this Escrow fee is kept by Voices.com to cover the charges that we incur from holding the deposit for a period of time in a secure third party account”.

Stephanie Ciccarelli summarized my unease regarding audition submissions as follows:

“You’ve noted that many people are concerned to see that some of the past jobs they’ve auditioned for months ago have not yet progressed to awarding a talent, leaving them to wonder if a client is merely window-shopping or kicking tires, possibly also wondering if auditioning online is a waste of time.”

“According to a snapshot of statistics from the last four months (April 2009 through July 2009) tracking the completion rate of jobs posted at Voices.com, we can confirm that at any given stage, half of the open jobs are still being reviewed by their client and the other half are completed (that means a talent has been chosen), with over 2/3 of those completed jobs being verified and processed via SurePay.

Although this information is reassuring, we are aware that there is still room to improve and to grow.”

Stephanie cites a number of reasons as to why it appears that many voice-seekers on her site never seem to select a candidate. Allow me to paraphrase:

1. Some clients, regardless of their deadlines for finding talent, may not have a pressing need to have their voice over recorded instantly. In other words: they file away the auditions until they are ready to hire. Sometimes this could take many months, but eventually, someone gets the job.
2. Some clients use sites like voices.com, to find talent and they prefer to work with them off-site, leaving their job in an “Open” status (see the story of the Taylor family in my last blog). This explains why there are fewer “completed” jobs than there truly are.
3. Some voice talents and/or voice seekers don’t want to use the SurePay system. If that’s the case, the job won’t be registered as completed.

VOICE-SEEKERS’ PERSPECTIVE
So far we’ve heard the story from the perspective of a voice talent and from representatives of several pay-to-play sites. Be sure to check out Voice123 Steven Lowell’s comments on my previous blog. What do voice-seekers make of all this?

A former casting director for a nationally known ad agency gave me permission to share his (or her) thoughts as long as he/she would remain anonymous.

“Agencies will do a lot of casting for projects they “hope” will become a client. They will hold auditions and actors will hold their breath (after creatives fawn all over them), expect a hold or booking….alas: no call! Of course it happens that another is booked, but it does also happen that no one is booked as the agency did not get the account or budget was cut.

It also happens that an audition is used as a demo in pitch for the account and the performer never knows about it. Top brass may not even know this practice is going on at his or her agency. The Head of production is calling the shots without others in chain of command knowing anything about you (performer) being screwed. You may have been instrumental in getting an account. When time came to cast for account, you may be forgotten for a more high profile talent.

I protested this practice (to the shock of the production chief), but it was an uphill battle to have any effect on this practice I did make some headway. In short: we don’t have many options in regard to this practice. Many agencies or agents don’t participate in this practice, but it does happen.”

ISSUE RESOLVED?
There you have it. Were these answers satisfying to you? Were my initial concerns justified or were they a tempest in a teapot? Do you feel that the major pay-to-play sites offer enough accountability and transparency? Even though they’re not our personal agents, we are paying them to provide a service, so we should have some say in how our money is spent. What suggestions do you have regarding this issue?

Please keep in mind that I am looking for constructive ideas. It’s always easy to blame someone or something else for our own lack of success. However, there are so many things we can do to increase our chances of being spotted and hired. We should never completely rely on these sites to bring in all the work.

As you have noticed, sites like voice123, voplanet and voices.com are listening to us, and they don’t shy away from controversial topics. They are following up with job seekers, and they too have to work with ad agencies that are only using their service to test the waters.

And finally: as every matchmaker knows, no matter how carefully you select two interested parties, not every match ends in matrimony!

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

www.nethervoice.com

Don’t miss the next installment: “Why no one’s coming to your site“.

Technorati Tags: auditions, Nethervoice, Paul Strikwerda, Pay-to-Play, success, voice, voice-over, voice123, voiceover, voices.com, voplanet

“It’s the best thing I ever did”

“A total waste of money”

Are you new to voice-overs? When you ask fellow vo-pros what they think of voice-over casting websites, you better be ready for a heated debate! Especially when you’re getting started in the business, you’re probably trying to figure out how to spend your money wisely.

Are these sites an easy ticket to success, or a waste of time, energy and cash? Here’s my take on it.

EXPECTATIONS
1. People tend to get disappointed because of unrealistic expectations and not necessarily because “the sites don’t work”. However -as we have seen with Facebook- dissatisfied members can join forces and demand certain changes. We all know that some voice-over sites are more open to feedback than others. Ultimately, sites that don’t listen to what their members are asking for, will pay the price.

LEADS
2. Never fully rely on vo-websites for leads. These voice search engines should just be one tool in an overall marketing and lead-generating strategy. Nothing less, but certainly nothing more.

Personally, I make sure to have various streams of income. That’s why I spend part of my time as a Dutch/German translator, and part of my time recording voice-overs. Sometimes I combine both when reading copy I just translated!

RESOURCE
3. For me, the value of these vo-sites is not only determined by the number of jobs they generate. Voices-com, for example, offers an amazing wealth of information, from podcasts to blogs to rate info. It helps beginners to hone their craft, and it gives established talents the opportunity to generously share what they have learned.

Here’s the good news: you don’t need to be a full-paying member to benefit from this cornucopia of resources.

These voice-over superstores also give us a chance to scope out the competition. In a world that’s getting smaller and smaller, it’s good to know what colleagues are up to.

There’s so much great talent out there, and it’s not getting any easier to carve out a niche. Being able to listen to what others do, has given me a better sense of how to position myself in this overcrowded market.

MONEY
4. Much of this discussion about these sites has been focused on the cost of membership. Especially in this economy, is it really a worthwhile investment? One of the questions we should also ask ourselves is this: how much money and time could we potentially save by joining these sites?

If you’re like me, you probably didn’t get into this business because you’re a marketing genius. How much hard-earned cash would we have to spend individually, to get even close to reaching the client base these sites tap into each and every day? Most of us would rather spend time in front of a microphone, than drumming up new business.

In part thanks to these sites, we can focus on what we do best! Let them make the connections, do the legwork and promote our skills. And at the end of the day, they can even make sure we get paid. What’s that worth to you?

QUESTIONS
5. Now, don’t think for a moment that I believe these sites are perfect. Far from it. I worry about “artificial intelligence” matching voices to certain projects, excluding others.

I’m very concerned about the bidding war by talents who are played off against one another, deflating our rates from within. And I’m skeptical about sending in a demo when I see that 100 other hopefuls have just done the same thing.

But at the end of the day, it all comes back to the person who stares at me when I look into the mirror. Instead of blaming outside factors for my success or lack thereof, I ask myself what I can do to stand out from the crowd.

Here’s the thing: that’s something no site can or will ever be able to give you!

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

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