VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Justin Louis]

Hi everyone, board newbie here. To give you a little of my background, I've been a jock for about 10 years now, having worked full-time in medium markets and part-time in a major market. I'm sure you know how radio pays, and lately I've become more serious about trying to get some V/O business onto my resume. I have a co-worker who has had some success with Voice 123, so I decided to give it a shot.

Now, having read through some topics here before joining, I've gathered that many here have suspicious feelings towards them but here's my question - do you think it's a good option for someone like me, someone who has been a broadcaster for a while but hasn't gotten into free lance v/o work yet (therefore doesn't really have a reputation in the v/o world). Someone who doesn't have a lot of money to spend for the more expensive voices.com. And someone who's just looking to get a little extra pocket cash?

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Justin

[bobsouer]

Justin,

Welcome to the VO-BB! As you've all ready discovered there are a number of threads in the board archives about this subject. I do want to point out that Voice123.com and Voices.com are basically the same price for the "Premium" level of service, $300 per year (rounded off). Some people love the sites and get a fair amount of work through one or both. Others hate them. Still others are apathetic. What you should decide is whether you have $300 of marketing money to spend that might not return anything to you for the coming year.

I hope these comments are at least a little helpful.
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Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Justin Louis]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the response and your thoughts.

What turned me off about voices.com was the multiple levels of membership. If I'm going to pay for a service, I want to have the same expectations as everyone else who pays. I don't like the impression that "you now have the opportunity to get work...BUT if you pay us more, you could get MORE work!" If I can make back my $300 investment from Voice123, I'll be happy. My co-worker hasn't struck gold, but she's gotten one or two regular clients, that would make me happy. For the same $300 on Voices.com I get the impression that I would have a similar experience, but I'd know that there are also people paying $2000 who are getting a better shot, and possibly gigs that I have the same skill to land. It strikes me as similar to going to a hot nightclub. You stand behind the velvet rope all night knowing that you may or may not get in, all the while the guys and girls who can slip the bouncer a benjamin are going right to the front of the line and taking a spot that could have been mine.

Does that logic make sense?

The way I'm looking at it is that I would like to get a small foothold and build my resume before I get illusions of taking over the world.

Again, I very much appreciate any input I get here, who better to get advice from than people who you aspire to be peers with?

Thanks!

[Philip Banks]

You pay to park your Cab on the Taxi Rank, the rule is that the customer takes the 1st Cab on the rank and as each Cab leaves soon it's your turn. Over the coure of a year you get you parking fee back and make a profit.

For the most part the sites you've mentioned provided Cab Fare jobs* but there are 5 to 6 jobs for every 100 drivers. As far as I can tell success on these sites is as much about luck as it is about anything. You may get lucky, it'll cost you $300 to find out. Neither site worked for me and yet elsewhere my career appears to be trotting along quite nicely.

Take $600 dollars and pay for one site and buy $300 worth of lottery tickets. Out of the two bets one may well pay off and at least the lottery jackpot will be worth having if you get it.

[Rob Ellis]

Welcome, Justin.

My background is very similar to yours, BTW.

Most of my regular clients have come from me picking up the phone and speaking with them and developing a relationship with them.

The pay to play sites seem to offer a quicker and easier route, and that may be true for a few, but most of us (at least me) still have better luck smilin' and dialin' (and e-mailin' and sometimes snail-mailin'---sorry for the slur I had a swallow of bourbon before this post)

I did okay with the P2P sites, but do much better with good ol'direct marketing as described above.

BUT my method is harder, more tedious and a lot less fun (not really, it actually is fun after the first call of the day is under my belt--but that first one---UGHHHH)

Your experience with internet audition/castings may be totally different. Hopefully you will get a variety of responses from the good members of this board to help in your ultimate decision.

Welcome to the VO-BB!

[Bill Campbell]

There are outstanding talents who don't make anything from these sites.
A very few might make 2-3k, usually from repeat business.

I'm going to go ahead and say it...most of these sites lure in people with marginal skills who don't have much experience in selling themselves to production studios, agencies, and companies. They think this might be an easy way to make money with their voice. It's not.

Send me your demo. I own a production house. See how easy that was?
Find people who hire voices and get your demo to them. I can't promise you any work, I let my clients choose their voices. But, if you have a style people like, you can get hired.

Good luck!
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www.asapaudio.com

[Lizden]

Hey Justin!
Welcome to the VO-BB!
(BTW, I'm in Northern NJ...where we had close to a Blizzard today!)

As an aside...I wouldn't worry too much about the Voices.com "Platinum" membership...I never signed up for that and have gotten quite a few gigs from that site (including a SWEEEEEEEET one today! )...as well as from V123....both one-offs and repeat clients.

As Bob said, you should look at it as part of your marketing/advertising budget that you are committing to your VO biz.

The thing is....with these sites you need to keep on top of the leads that are coming in and be able to answer those that are of interest to you as soon as possible.

If all you're looking to do is get "a little extra pocket cash" then you might not see a return on these sites as quickly as you'd like...but then again maybe you will!....Again it's a question of investment both in money and time....it's up to you how much of each you want to spend.

Hope that helps!
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Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
English/French Bilingual VO w/ ISDN
HireLiz.com / liz@hireliz.com

[Bailey]

Justin... Welcome to the VO-BB.
I can't add to the knowledge that you've already received in this thread, but I think you have made a step in the right direction by coming here.

I won’t comment on P2P sites... I could... but I'm trying to learn to be kind. But I will say that when I hitchhiked in the long-ago, it wouldn't have gotten me there any faster if I had paid to sit on someone's porch with my thumb out.
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"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044 .gif" alt="W00T" border="0" />
AOVA Graduate 02/2004 ;
"Be a Voice, not an Echo."

[Justin Louis]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their input on this topic . So far I've been with Voice123 for two weeks. I have yet to score a gig but I've gotten a number of "Likely Hiring", "Considering", and "Maybe" feedbacks (which don't pay the bills but hey, it's a start). I'm gonna stick with it for at least the 30 day "100% Satisfaction Guarantee" period, and evaluate my experience at that point.

If any of you would be willing to check out the profile and demos I have on there, I'd very much appreciate your feedback.

http://www.voice123.com/justinlouis

Thanks!

[craigcrumpton]

Justin, I don't consider myself the voice of experience by any means here (I still consider myself a beginner and merely bask in the glow of the wisdom provided by the industry pros here), but as an editor for a web directory related to voice talents and as a voice talent as well I have listened to hundreds upon hundreds of demos.

And since you asked for feedback on your profile and demos -- you do have a minor typo in this sentence under "My Voice Experience": "I have 10 years experience with voicing and producing radio commercial,".

As far as the demos, you have a great friendly, warm, nice guy quality and your demos definitely showcase that. I would suggest dropping the jingle from your commercial demo though. There are better alternatives for providing transitions. No since wasting precious time on something that's supposed to showcase your voice exclusively by throwing in a jingle that chews up 2-3 seconds -- especially when it's in the first 10-15 secs of your demo. From the many VO workshops I've taken plus the advice I've read on forums such as this one, you must impress in the first 10-15 seconds of your demo. Most agents and casting don't even listen beyond that, so having a jingle in there doesn't help.

[Jeffrey Kafer]

[Philip Banks]

If I pay you $300 to give me a job I'll do it for $300.

[Dan-O]

[craigcrumpton]

Thanks for the info, Dan. My reply was based on my personal experience, which as I stated previously still comes from what I consider to be that of a beginner.

On my acting resume, the section for my commercial/industrial work just says "available upon request" and to date no one has ever requested it. I do keep a separate list of my VO work and clients, but again I've never been asked to supply it for a client. And my website which hopefully will launch in the next month does have a client list and referrals, so I'm glad to see you've noted traffic from potential clients for that specific page on your site.

My opinion was also influenced by what I've heard through a couple workshops I've taken in the last year, where it may have just been the opinion of the instructor -- especially since it was related to character voice acting. And in regards to character voices, it's only been a demo reel and auditions through which I've booked work to date.
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[Dan-O]

Hi Craig,

You are very correct in terms of a paper resume. I think I have only been asked for one once. I kinda freaked out not knowing what one should look like. As for animation, I have no idea. Never worked in the field, so, again, you're quite possibly correct. My point of view comes from the commercial, narration, promo and trailer worlds. You visit any name talent's site in those fields and I guarantee you will see an up to date client list. Many have their latest projects available for viewing and all of it is provided to sell themselves to a potential buyer. Keep in mind, there are no absolutes in the business. We all use a process of elimination and education on what works for us and, more importantly, for the buyer.

Take care,

Dan