VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Philip Banks

For the person with the right voice and GRRRRRRRRRRREAT marketing an income of millions is jus' waitin ! How does that work for us mere mortals as oppose to the celebs who command 6 or 7 figure fees for VO work?

This is not about opinion or anecdotal evidence. Tell us what you know, not what you think.

"The top VOs make millions a year!" So millions = More than 1 million, let's be conservative and make it $2,000,000 per year.

Very biblical we'll break it down to "give us this day our daily bread". The top VOs take holidays and there are public holidays plus the odd day off here and there. Most of us will work 5 days per week, 46 weeks of the year if you "play the avearges". What, on average, do the Top VOs need to generate every working day to get $2,000,000? $8,695.66.

Who IS doing it? Who simply believes the myth? I suspect the answer to the latter point is that most of us believe the myth.

I still believe in Santa Claus but I don't let it influence my career decisions or stimulate my jealousy gland.

Scott Pollak · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:33 am Post subject:

Where have you seen it said that the top VOs make millions a year, Philip?
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Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:59 am Post subject:

Specifically a number of the TV interviews usually talking to or about the LA greats and of course the posts and blogs by those "who know" about such things. You really don't have to look too hard to find something.

Your question is at the crux of this issue (of course it's really a non-issue) and that is the number of people who are talking themselves UP, the job UP and others UP.

I love the title Pat Fraley gave to his audio book class "The Billion Dollar read" ..........GOOGLE "Irony".

Diane Havens · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:07 am Post subject:

Well, the "$200 an Hour Read" just doesn't have the same impact, does it?
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Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:40 am Post subject:

Although for most working VOs tis the stuff of dreams Smile

Other classes "If I knew how to audition successfully I wouldn't tell YOU"

"NO, I've never managed to get a movie trailer gig either"

"How to get an agent and then wonder why you bothered"

"Make money with your voice - The art of the threatening
phone call"

There is a great class on how to be a winning VO talent using social media and SEO but when I Googled it I found nothing.

bransom · DC Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 650 Location: St. Louis, MO

I assume it's possible to hit those billing numbers but only by a very, very few people. I'd also assume that most of them are on the "daily network promo" merry-go-round (a' la Joe Cip). Or maybe they're one of the three trailer guys that actually work a lot.

A young person would probably have a better shot at making it on an NBA team (American basketball) than making it to that level of voiceover. A better shot at being struck by lightening, too.
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Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:32 am Post subject:

I dscovered a great way of making money out of the great tradition of auditioning.

A few weeks ago I decided to clear out a corner of my office as it was piled high with stuff I no longer used. This is what I did.

Every time I did an audition for a VO job I took an item off the junk pile and put it on ebay. Fast forward 3 weeks.

Jobs resulting from auditions ZERO so revenue ZERO
Contents of Paypal account due to ebay junk sale $1400. Seriously! Happy bonus ...SPACE!!!

Lee Gordon · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 12:40 pm Post subject:

The top VOs really do make millions.

Donald Trump does commercials. He makes millions.

Tom Hanks and Tim Allen and Robin Williams supply some of the voices for major animated films from Pixar. They make millions. Some of it from voicing over.

There must be tens of others.
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 12:46 pm Post subject:

Diane, I'm stealing your punchline for my next voice-overload comic.
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jsgilbert · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 12:56 pm Post subject:

There is an easy way to become worth a million dollars doing voice over.

Start with 2 million.
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Scott Pollak · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:09 pm Post subject:

So explain to me - because I'm kind of slow - why we pontificate so much (while spending SO MUCH free time on forums like these ) about why our profession is so lousy and so hard to make a living at?

I honestly don't get it.
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Deirdre · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:33 pm Post subject:

Maybe because of stuff like this:

http://www.gametrailers.com/episode/gametrailers-tv/120?ch=1&sd=1

Start paying close attention around 3:30.
The director is Chris Borders!!
I love that guy.
I haven't had the chance to work with him on a game yet, though.

Guess I'm not playing games with the right people.
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Philip Banks · Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 1:14 am Post subject:

The key is FORUMS LIKE THESE. It's what they're all about.

Most people joined to either benefit from SEO, find work or get an ego massage in the Critique section but they soon move on leaving people to chat about VO related stuff.

Some of us, me included have moved beyond the I LOVE MY JOB AND I MUST SELF-PROMOTE to discover PEOPLE....REAL PEOPLE.

In life as in my work I try not to waste too much time with the crushing bores or the glass half empty brigade.

What a lot of smart people do in any business is see clearly why something isn't working or is unlikely to work, deconstruct it and then include the things they have learned during the process to help them make it MORE likely to work. I don't have a coach or do any kind of formal on-going education for my job but believe me I really do learn something new and useful every day.

If we are always pontificating on how bad things are what happens when we say how well things are going?

Several weeks ago I posted on a Facetube VO group that at close of business on the day in question I failed to meet a target by 5p (8cents). Yes, I was going for 7,000 British pounds and hit 6,999.95. The numbers in the post were true but what I did was used the post to get a laugh off of every line as I pontificated how life was unfair, cruel fate and asked for a little help from my friends.

If you saw the responses from my genuine friends you would have seen lots of people really entering into the spirit of the post; having fun with nonsense.

CUE EMAIL - Heading was I WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU DO THAT! I was told by the person that my post had genuinely p*ssed off a lot of people or simply made them jealous. That's sad but there's nothing I can do about that. The interesting part of the email was that it went on to tell me that they wanted me to explain how they could get from where they were to 6,999.95 ($11,000) ..........

Success in any field comes from not what makes us the same but what makes us different. Anyone having the same conversations with the same people about the same tired issues will find success eludes them... Dare to be different ...Dare to be you.

Jen Gosnell · Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:54 pm Post subject:

Karen Souer · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:07 am Post subject:

Seconded! Some very good thoughts Smile

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