VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

CarynClark · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 5:52 pm Post subject:

I too either bypass or bid higher.

I was simply stating the point that Bailey was making in that the leads on the site are not always as "qualified" as they think they are. Not all of them, of course, but some of them.
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 5:53 pm Post subject:

Agreed, some are way low. And we take every occasion we can to make fun of them here. Smile

I've never landed a gig by bidding higher, though I try all the time. Unless they REALLY want MY voice, they apparently always find someone who will do it within their stated budget.
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CarynClark · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 5:54 pm Post subject:

I don't generally participate in those discussions.
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Caryn Clark... The Hip Chick Voice!

"A positive mental attitude and having faith in your ability is quite different from being irresponsible and downright stupid." - Dave

Barry · Guest

For myself the positive approach to those low paying leads is simply laugh them off. Hey that gives me an idea....I wonder what would happen if I simply submit a snipet to each of those with the line...."your budget is" and then just have a laugh track. Hmmmm... Oh I really shouldn't. Rolls Eyes

TheVoiceOfBob · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 6:35 pm Post subject:

So how are the Voice Seekers going to find me on the Pay-to-Play sites if I can't submit my Demo Reel?
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Bailey · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 6:53 pm Post subject:

Frank F · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 6:54 pm Post subject:

Just before the Winter Olympics in 2002, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints made a BIG deal about being called "Mormons". They wanted to be called the "Church of Jesus Christ". Millions and millions of dollars, brilliant marketing concepts, and personal calls and visits to the press later - nearly everyone still calls the LDS faithful - "Mormons".

And, no I am not of this line of thinking or beliefs. This was just a good example which was relevant.

You can call excrement- a "rose" if you wish, but it does not change the smell.

Now, I have to say I have absolutely nothing against Stephanie and David - I think what they are trying to do is admirable and quite brilliant. I believe I have stated this many times; "I will continue to support Voices.com for their capabilities, presentation, and their admirable business acumen".

The above stated, until such time as "online voiceover marketing sites" begin to design their methods to emulate the more traditional brick-and-mortar talent agency style - they will all be lumped into the same pit and called "Pay-to-Play" sites.

Toodles

F2
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louzucaro · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:12 pm Post subject:

If you ask me, "pay-to-play" is only considered negative by people who think everything should be free.

If you want leads, you pay for them. That's the way it works. It's not a judgment, just a fact.

I happen to like Voices.com so far, so I have nothing against them, however if they don't want the term applied to them, they should stop charging.

Smile

Also, I posted another message as follows, but I'm not sure it'll make it on:

Deirdre · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:49 pm Post subject:

Bailey · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:05 pm Post subject:

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

Thanks, Deidre...

Your post set off a bunch of lightbulbs and warning flags. In otherwords, it was a good kick in the pants. I make a decent profit off of my Pay to Play investments, but not really. The hours I waste every year on those sites scrapping for a bit of visibility and a few clients could be better spent on real marketing and building real relationships.

Then again, I do have some nice repeat clients from the Pay to Play sites, but they found me a few years back. 2007 was pointless for me in the P to P world, imo. I feel like I'm invisible amongst the rabble on today's P to P rosters.
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Philip Banks · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 3:37 am Post subject:

If you are to treat anything as "marketing" then you must test, test and test. A number of people who market themselves as Voice Overs fear the truth. I have tested both Voice123 and Voices.com and both failed to demonstrate any real value in terms of marketing my voice, generating voice over work, generating leads for me resulting in voice over work, raising my professional status, raising my professional profile or giving me any return on my investment. For the majority on both sites the same is true, no evidence to the contrary is available.

Neither site, dare I say, no subscriber based voice over site brings anything to the business although I fully accept some people may earn money from them.

"But we have some of the top talent in the world writing articles for us?" Says who? Get voices to supply a list of Top Talents and compare with the regularly promoted Sages and then play spot the difference.

"We slave 27 hours per day for nothing to promote the voice industry." From today STOP. Do nothing for 1 month and see if anything happens, my guess is that no one will notice.

Should these sites be free? No and people do not object to them because they are not free they only complain because they pay up and get no work, the only reason for joining in the first place.

I do not have a hint of bad feeling towards anyone who runs a subscription based Voice Over web site, they're business people trying to make a living selling a dream or possibly a little more to individuals for whom the dreams are statiscally unlikely to come to anything. Owners of the sites doth protest too much but to be fair in the protesting stakes, most of the time, the average Voice Over doth nothing but protest!

If I put you in a nice seat at Old Trafford (home to Manchester United) amongst the capacity crowd of 76,000 on Saturday while a Premier League football match is being played and you get spotted as the next face of Estee Lauder that's not marketing, that's luck.

louzucaro · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 6:11 am Post subject:

Bailey,

My comments about negative connotation weren't directed toward anybody who doesn't like the pay-to=play sites, but toward the original article on Voices.com that seeks to get rid of the term becasue they feel it's unfair.

My point was that they shouldn't feel as though it's an unfair or inappropriate term, because it doesn't necessarily have a negative association, it's just a descriptor for services that require payment to be utilized or to be more effective, which they are.
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robert jadah · Guest

Stephanie's wonderful.
She has valid reasons for disliking the term, so I freely offer some alternatives:
- Scrip for Scraps sites
- Herd to be Heard sites
- Bob for Jobs sites
- Buy a Try sites
- Mumble Gamble sites, or maybe just
- Bucks for Yuks.

Just trying to be helpful here.