VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Bish]

Hey Jeff... can we stick a fork in this thread and call it done yet?
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[Mandy Nelson]

I've been following this all day and thought the fork should have come out sooner BUT I want to say something now that I've thought about it.

I, too, have been at this profession for a long time and have only had one client who didn't pay (I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!). That said, I have several clients I contract through who find the jobs, send me the script and then pay me when I invoice. It works lovely and I don't have to worry about scrounging for work or chasing payments. I know that no matter what happens I will get my money. Perhaps this site is like that? Admittedly I haven't researched it yet and only heard about it when it came up here so I could be wrong.

On the flip side of that, these clients who do the work that gets me the work don't charge me to do my job. So I keep them, even if the rates aren't going to make me a millionaire. They rarely ask me to audition, and auditions are for the big names with big budgets who are looking for their signature voice. They charge their fee which pays for me and covers their overhead and profit. These clients are why I don't go to P2P. I sure wish there were more of those out there. But then, I guess they would be more like agents, wouldn't they? duh!

That's my two cents. My coins are tarnished but they've been paying the mortgage for a long time.
_________________
006 member of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Mic. Bonded by sound.

Manfillappsoc: The Mandy and Philip mutual appreciation Society. Who's in your network?

Have you seen my mic closet? ~ me to my future husband

[Quicksilver]

I've only been at this a couple years but do this full time now and will add on that I've never been stiffed. And being in the early stages of full time VO I work with a lot of small, start up clients that could get away with it but none have yet.

Most business owners are more stand up than they get credit for and trust begets trust. I often pay for services from freelancers before they perform the work. Why? Because it starts the relationship off on a good foot and they usually work extra hard to return the favor and do the job promptly. And I've never been stiffed in that direction either.

Drew

[Ed Fisher]

Never been stiffed.

However...I did have a couple of clients go belly up on me while owing me money. (bankrupt)

But...them's da breaks...and, really, is simply part of the cost of doing business.
_________________
"I reserve the right to be completely wrong."

[LaurenVoiceRealm]

Lol sorry I guess humor doesn't come across on forums.

The point I was making is that it's not a perfect world and we know first hand that there are voice talent that will try and take a client that we have introduced them to and bypass us.

We have spent thousands of dollars on research groups with voice talent and this was one thing that was spoken about. I think you would be very surprised to know how many professional voice talent out of the 12 we interviewed *would* try and take communication and payment away from a website if it meant not having to pay commissions etc.

Whilst I won't get into specific numbers/details, it roughly costs between $15-$30 to bring just ONE paying client to the website to book a voice. So I'm sure you can do the math and see that we would need that client to book a few jobs before we start to make a profit after expenses. And if it's easy for the client and voice to find each other away from the site, then we would be out of business in no time.

Yes it's easy to say voice talent won't try and bypass the site, but there's also the factor of the clients Googling and finding the talent offsite after we spent $15-$30 to bring them to the site. It's fact it happens! We still come across it constantly. So I could only imagine the extent of it if we did list full names.

Other sites I'm guessing don't worry so much because they charge over $350 for 12 months, so it's not really an issue.

We offer an alternative to paying $350+ per year.

I guess you've just given us an idea that we could have that option as well if voice talent want it!

In reality things happen very differently than what you think they do.

Voice talent at The Voice realm receive a script, record, upload and get paid quickly.

Here's some in their own words (with their full names):

http://www.thevoicerealm.com/blog/this-female-voice-talent-means-business-and-lots-of-it/

http://www.thevoicerealm.com/blog/male-voice-talent-dan-taraborrelli-is-an-example-of-online-voice-over-success/

http://www.thevoicerealm.com/blog/male-voice-talent-john-mcclain/

Lauren
_________________
Voice and Client Support
The Voice Realm
www.thevoicerealm.com

Here to be a part of the community and get involved in some great conversations with people passionate about the voice over industry.

[LaurenVoiceRealm]

Also I believe open dialogue is healthy, so not sure what closing threads achieves. Isn't that the reason for forums? Mature and constructive debate?

Lauren
_________________
Voice and Client Support
The Voice Realm
www.thevoicerealm.com

Here to be a part of the community and get involved in some great conversations with people passionate about the voice over industry.

[Bob Bergen]

I am biting my lip so hard it's bleeding!!! I have started posting many a time with my 2 cents, only to delete each time. Let's just say there aren't enough hours in the day for the amount of opinions I'm not sharing.

[Bailey]

[Deirdre]

Have received an alert that this thread has "become embarrassing for all involved."

I don't do much around here these days, but I can still stick a fork in a thread.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB