VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Diane Maggipinto]

I'm so uncreative. I posted a while back about rates, and wish to do so again. Company does flash demos and actual interactive for patient education (that doctor or other medical professional buys for patient use). Wishes voice talent to lay down track, about 2500 words per module, no editing out breaths, no sweetening, just straight, roll-the-tape and read. Takes about an hour, potential client says, for present narrators to complete, and company has about 2 modules to produce a week (2 for ME? I don't know). I made a proposal based on my usual rates for narration, but too spendy, says potential client. No guarantee of minimum work per week, no higher first-hour fee, but minimum one hour per job, at $75/hour. (I countered $100/hour, no first-hour fee, no minimum guarantee of work). $75/hour is less than my studio fee per hour, let alone voice fees. My quandry is that it sounds pretty easy: fire up the equiment, bust out the straight read, collect the $, and likely do it in less than one hour given there's no editing (which I like but about which I'm such a stickler--who isn't??-and thus in which I engage lots of time). I know you can't tell me what to do; I guess I just needed to put it down on "paper" and elicit response. Thanks, smarties!
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

www.d3voiceworks.com

[Bruce]

Bettie, it sounds like an hour or quite a bit less actually if you make few mistakes and are a pretty good editor. If you like the idea of getting $75 for a simple kind of work that you do easily and well, and your schedule isn't jam packed with $300 an hour jobs, I'd say "why not?". If it's for a limited educational audience, not national broadcast, and 75 is all they're going to pay so someone's going to get the job if you don't take it, why not? I mean try for more, but if 75 is all they're offering...

It boils down to: what's your minimum per hour on onesey twosey kind of jobs with limited circulation? It's something you have to decide. I keep trying to push my minimum up as the years go by, but when things are quiet, and the wallet's feeling a little slim, I can adapt. Plus, what 9 to 5 job can you do from home that pays $75 an hour or more?

When your budget allows it, you can always bow out later.

B

[MichaelJ]

Bettie,

This job seems AWFULLY familiar. It's not diabetes education, is it?

[Diane Maggipinto]

No it's not diabetes (you say diabeTISS, I say diabeTEES) education but a host of medical topics from which the patient can learn via touchscreen and full narration. I've not heard back on my counter offer, so if there's no word today I'll call the guy (you know...that phone thing some use when overwhelmed with V123 auditions and thanks, but no thanks emails...?!). Methinks a conversation will help me glean information about the projects, company, and budget.
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

www.d3voiceworks.com

[MichaelJ]

I'm right on with Bruce. If someone will pay you a rate that is not altogether insulting to you, for a job that "sounds pretty easy", take it.

The fact that they're even willing to engage in a discussion about the rates, shows promise for the future with this client. If there is regular work to be done in the future, as you imply, then it would probably be in your favor ("favour" for our Brit friends) to accept the current terms and prove yourself worthy...then discuss "adjusting" the price later.

The diabetes (diabeTEES, per client request) project I mentioned earlier, started a couple years ago with a local production company. They used the project manager's voice for the initial spec work, but decided to enlist my services for a more professional sound. Originally, I went to their offices to record in a small office that had been (badly) retro-fitted with foam and a cheap microphone. Over time (as the project and MONEY grew), my fees increased--as did their need for more quality sound. Eventually, I was recording in my studio and sending the .wav files for them to edit.

{SKIP AHED TO THE PRESENT}

The current state of things is that I now exact my "standard" fees for BOTH the VO AND editing/studio time.

I have a [somewhat] regular gig, AND a happy production company that calls me for ALL their VO needs! (Granted...I do need to refer the calls for female VO to others, but they call ME for that referral!)

This is a really long post. Are you still reading? Is business that slow? If I keep typing, will you keep reading?

IMHO.

[Diane Maggipinto]

Here's some great entertainment: snarking at these types of jobs whose criteria and rates are ridiculous? Such as this one:


Very busy voice talent agency is searching for
Spanish speaking voice talent.

To be eligible for our talent pool, you must be able
to:

- work as a non-union talent
- return an email within two hours
- encode mp3's at 128 kbps or better
- accept a fee of $20 per spot for voice + translation
- provide clean, broadcast quality audio at all times
- sign a one-year contract, committing to the above.

The pay is modest, but the work is extremely low-
maintenance. No unpaid auditions. All sessions are
unsupervised.
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

www.d3voiceworks.com

[Deirdre]

Exploitation.
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DBCooperVO.com
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