VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Bill Campbell · DC Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 621

My experience with V123...it's a very small part of our business....

My wife and I have made about 20K so far this year through V123.
We're both individual members.

This was based on around 30 auditions, total. So, maybe five hours of auditioning.

Most of that income was from five repeat clients. One of which is large production house in our area, They were looking for locals who could come to their facility, and found us on V123.

We're very selective about auditioning, and have a good sense of our strengths and weaknesses. This has resulted in a pretty high percentage of success.

The above said...I'm absolutely certain many of the "job" auditions are actually producers putting together "spec spots" in hopes of landing the work. Basically stealing your work so they can land the job. I can spot them a mile away.

My experience with V123 is pretty good, with little effort. But watch out for the people that just want some free VO.

Some jobs pay well, some don't. Dollar cost averaging.
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Chuck Davis · Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:00 pm Post subject:

At one point I did look at P2P's a a valid part of a total marketing plan. Sadly, now I think the emphasis has really shifted to a "price shopper" mentality for an even great number of voice seekers. Not only are the budgets lower, but the tendency for struggling performers to low-ball to grab the job has increased.

I used it a bit at first. Booked a nice national campaign that ran on the networks and cable for 2-years and paid quite well. I still do business with some of the contacts made through V123 but....it's time to move on.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 8:00 pm Post subject:

Not to change topic (just skid a little off the road for a moment), but it does seem that all of the India-based companies seeking to hire American voice talent have budgets remarkably similar to those found on V123 and voices.

One such company this week dangled a whopping $50-60 carrot for 90-second explainer video narrations.

That – and those "professional" voice-overs offered on fiverr.com – are sure not helping matters.

Course corrected. Back to original thread.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Adric83 · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 12:56 am Post subject:

I've been on V123 for about 3 months now, and I wanted to offer a perspective by someone new to it.

I'm constantly wary of it, and feel exhausted by it, and frustrated by it at the same time.

I'm new to the North American market, I have done VO back in Australia for a number of years but the size of the markets had limited me.

V123 has paid... okay. But then again I have little idea of what "okay" is here. I know what's too low for me, and I know what my TIME is worth, and so V123 is good when I have the time.

BUT

I have yet to build any kind of referral network, I've only been with my agency in town about as long and haven't booked with them yet either (I swear I'm not a hack!)

So V123 is the only thing keeping me busy and 'working' often.

(SEE! I kind of kept it on topic, continuing on from the people asking what the alternatives are)

Direct Marketing though...
I must admit I have no idea how to go about this aside from cold calling places like animation studios, production studios and video game companies.

... Or is that exactly what you do?

I'll stop the questions as I'm in dangerous danger of jacking this thread... and I haven't paid my dues to the Thread Jacker's Union. I'm no scab damnit!

- Bill

Lee Gordon · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 1:16 am Post subject:

I'm still confused as to why people focus on the low paying P2P jobs instead of just making copious use of the Delete key and concentrating on the relatively few bits of wheat, rather than the mountains of chaff.

In the past year I've gotten a couple of nice union jobs from Voice123 while throwing countless others directly into the trash.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
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Bruce · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:45 am Post subject:

The only way to win at P2P's (well not win, but at least have a better chance at winning) is be one of the first to audition, which means hanging over your email inbox all day, and to only select jobs you know you're perfect for. It's still a huge amount of time spent for very variable results.

I didn't renew my P2P a few months ago and a feel so much better. I lost a stream of income, but I've gained time to try better forms of marketing.

Marketing? I think I shall reveal "the Secret" elsewhere on this board.

B
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I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

Adric83 · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:50 am Post subject:

Lee - sadly not everyone, in fact I'd say a vast majority of the people on V123 aren't part of the union. And depending on where in the world you live, the market you're working in, etc. becoming part of the union can be hard.

I feel as though most of the people who are saying "Well, so long V123, nice knowing you, never had much use for you" are the people already long established with large client lists and agents and referral networks.

I have always seen places like V123 as more valuable for the clients you might get to know through it than anything else, which is a frustrating way to go about it to be sure.

And Bruce is right, there's a tendency to not want to stray too far from email, lest one miss that perfect gig, or get to it late (he's right, they're almost certainly not even going to bother listening to the 67th audition on a gig).

I'll keep an eye out for that "secret" Wink

- Bill

Lee Gordon · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:03 am Post subject:

DeadDillo · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:37 am Post subject:

Foog · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:46 pm Post subject:

A couple of months ago I had some oral surgery and put a hold on my email notices from V123 and voices. Now that I'm back to slaving away at the v.o. salt mines, I still can't bring myself to restart the email notices. I must say, it has been a MUCH better experience. When I have time and I am near a mic, I'll check for auditions. Often enough, as I fire one off another fresh one will appear and I manage to get in early enough. Gone are the days of nonstop annoying pings/beeps/new-mail-notifications coming from my laptop all day as the audition calls pile up. If I'm near the mic and have the time, I'm checking the sites directly, and if I'm not near the mic to begin with, chances are I won't get to it in time to be among the first 25 or so to audition so why bother with the notifications?

Stormtrooper 7 · Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 10:50 am Post subject:

As far as V123 goes, it has been pretty good to me. As for doing this part time for a while before moving to being more involved with it as a career, I have about 15 repeat clients that I still get regular work from and they all came from there. Overall the amount I have gotten from there over the past 4 years, especially from 2 of them that are really steady, I think that my kid's kids could pay the fee and I would still come out ahead. The others come in waves. There will be a while I will go through a slow period, like now, and then it all picks back up and everyone needs something at the same time.

But lately I have to admit, there is pretty much nothing great coming through them now. Most of the postings are about $100 bucks all the time. Some more, some less. Very few do I look at anymore. I used to get about 1 or 2 out of every 30 I put in, but now I don't see much to try for unless it seems to be worth my time and I have a free few minutes and nothing going on. It makes me wonder if this Premium Platinum thing has not nixed some of the better paying ones that I used to see. Seems that if you toss the coinage at them (undisclosed amount unless you call) you get access to everything before anyone else does. So that may explain some of it. Would I pay the extra whatever that me be? Not right now.

Has anyone else looked into that? Just curious.

paulstrikwerda · Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 1:07 pm Post subject: Making a living wage as a VO

If you ever want to make a living wage in the voice-over industry, you have to treat it as a business. That means you've got to price for profit or find another occupation. Remember: It's never about how much you make but about how much you get to keep, that matters.

Anyone can close a sale by cutting the price and go broke in the process. If enough people sell their service at rock-bottom rates, clients will conclude that this is the new standard. No wonder why VO-rates are steadily going down. You don't want to be part of that trend!

Many newcomers to the industry have asked me what I think of Pay-to-Plays. They also want to know how to run a successful freelance business. A month or so ago, I finally published a book about freelancing for voice-overs and other solopreneurs.

If you're interested in how to free yourself from low-rate voice casting sites, and build a real business, check out a few free sample chapters at http://makingmoneyinyourpjs.com

If you'd like to know what your colleagues think of the book, check out the 27 five-star reviews on Amazon http://amzn.to/1j6tcLF

I've played the Pay-to-Play game way too long, and I eventually cut my ties. Business has never been better.
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Paul Strikwerda
The ultimate European voice
website: www.nethervoice.com
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DeadDillo · Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 1:47 pm Post subject:

Paul, I read your book every day. (I love that the chapters are manageable.) There's some great advice in there for taking your career forward. I study it, make notes, re-read chapters and have been using it as my motivation tool to keep pushing. Thank you so much for writing it. Seriously!

I've been doing VO for corporate jobs as part of my full time work on and off for 20+ years. It was only recently that I decided that I should be making this a business of my own and focusing on this directly.

I'm happy that you have been able to cut your ties with the P2Ps. I am seeing this lately as the sign of a VO professional that has moved on to the next level of their career. However, for those just starting out - as this thread has illustrated - there aren't many alternatives.

I think the smart thing to do is diversify how and where someone gets the work. P2Ps shouldn't be the only venue. It should be part of a comprehensive marketing strategy that includes some of the tried-and-true approaches to freelance work, such as representation, local community networking, and (everyone's favorite) cold calling.

The market seems to be flooded with kids (for lack of a better term) that think they're voice artists and are willing to work for pennies on the dollar. And unfortunately, for someone just starting out in this industry, there is a very steep hill of garbage one needs to climb before they can reach a level where they can say "I don't need P2Ps anymore." I'm definitely not there yet.

I'm climbing hard and fast, but there is still a lot of mountain I need to climb.

EDIT: Here is a perfect example of the kind of work being offered. Three pages of script for five bucks. Currently, there are nine people who have bid on this project. Its stuff like this that is really disheartening.
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