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Time to kiss Voices.com goodbye?
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Bruce
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Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 7921
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 1:41 pm    Post subject: Time to kiss Voices.com goodbye? Reply with quote

We kind of knew this was going on, but now it's worse. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but didn't they used to give partial refunds when you quit before your time was up?

And for those of you who are still making good money from Voices and not burning through a lot of time there, you don't need to read this. We know you're in a blissful minority and we're very happy for you. Smile

For the rest of us who might still be signed up: Paul Strikwerda on Voices.com latest way to tell you they don't love you.

I quit a couple of years ago and I'm still so glad to be out of that trap.

B
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todd ellis
A Zillion


Joined: 02 Jan 2007
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Location: little egypt

PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

great read --- thanks to paul ... and to bruce for bringing it to the party!
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Scott Pollak
The Gates of Troy


Joined: 01 Jun 2010
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Location: Looking out at the San Juan mountains

PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I dumped voices.com years ago and never looked back.

So the female platinum member there auditioned 700 TIMES IN A YEAR?? And landed 16 JOBS????

* sigh *
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Mike
Nasty Brit


Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 475
Location: Tomorrowland

PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 11:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, If it’s a trap, it’s a trap of your own making. Voices.com neither a panacea nor snake oil. It’s just a tool that you may or may not find useful. And I’m not convinced that it (and the other one) has somehow decimated the VO industry like some Canadian zombie apocalypse.

But highlighting someone who does 700 auditions a year for a booking rate of just over 2% is less an example of the evils of Voices.com than it is an example of how not to run your VO business.

Admittedly, this is an opinion formed several thousand miles from where the action is from someone who is regularly absent...so..

Just sayin’


Mike.
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Jen Gosnell
A Hundred Dozen


Joined: 14 Jan 2010
Posts: 1288
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mike wrote:
But highlighting someone who does 700 auditions a year for a booking rate of just over 2% is less an example of the evils of Voices.com than it is an example of how not to run your VO business.

Sounds about right to me. Something more than just voices dot com is off there.
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Lee Gordon
A Zillion


Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 6843
Location: West Hartford, CT

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scott Pollak wrote:
And landed 16 JOBS????


What struck me was that, according to Paul, from those 16 jobs, the woman pretty much broke even. If every one of those jobs paid just $250, she would have recouped her $2500 plus more than a $1000, even after deducting the SurePay fee. So she was averaging around $150 a job. Hardly worth paying a premium to gain access to, even if you believe the site has value.
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11046
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you Mike, "the voice of reason" - Cue standing ovation!

Given the same set of circumstances one person will make a zillion whilst the other will complain that they didn't get the breaks. Sh*t happens. Here are the choices, throw yourself into it or plant Roses in it and sell them to lovers.

No pay to play site has really done anything of any significance to the Voice Over business but blame shifting just feels so right.

Last year in LA during my "how to be as awesome as me" lunch I concentrated on how everyone could do things to make more money as VOs. At no point did I mention, look as if I was about to mention or appear to know anyone who had mentioned any of the pay to play sites. My mistake? I paused for breath and then one or two pounced, the POINTLESS debate was up and running. 15 minutes later I had to drag the dogs off the corpse. If you ask Amy or Larissa, they will tell what I said.

"You REALLY have to stop this!"

The reason most people "don't get" from VO work is because they don't get anything from anything except excuses, they suck, they're easily distracted, they believe they are "owed", the market is saturated with all of the former and for every solution they have another 2 problems warmed up and ready to go.

Now, this really works. Any time ..ANY TIME I do not have enough VO work on a day I want to work I place a piece of paper on my right hand speaker, written upon it "26 Bluebird". Without fail I get booked for 3 jobs.

Enjoy life -Think of the alternative
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NorthEndVoice
Contributor IV


Joined: 24 Jul 2005
Posts: 148
Location: Virginia/North Carolina/Florida

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 6:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Easiest way to book a session...??? Just make an appointment (i.e. doctor...dentist...haircut...etc...) that you've been trying to make for weeks. The only available one is ...say...1pm. You make the appointment. Within approx 38 seconds, you will be called and booked for a session starting at 105pm that absolutely cannot be moved.
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11046
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Walk the Collies and answer the phone at the point furthest from home works fabluss too!
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Deirdre
Czarina Emeritus


Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 13016
Location: East Jesus, Maine

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Learning how to Not Waste Time is apparently a key component of trying to stay sane in this biz.
Last year I toted up my audition-to-booking ratio for video games thru an LA agency I freelanced with. It was 300-to-1.

Did I rend my clothes and smear my face with ashes? Yes. (figuratively) Did I shake my fist at the heavens? Yes. Did I think I should quit the biz? Yes.

What I ultimately did was stop auditioning.
For the most part.
I do entertain auditions but it's about 10% of what it used to be.
Am I still able to support my family? Yes.

My means of getting work is much more about whom I know than anything else.
That works, and so do I.


...and hey, Mike Rhys, it's about time you showed up here. Just sayin'. Smile
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Bish
3.5 kHz


Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 3738
Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh lookeeee... a P2P discussion. I have to join in Smile

I'm off the P2P sites. Best decision ever. The cost/benefit equation was just not working out for me... and if you're not counting you time as part of the cost... then you're an eejit!

While I have a far more philosophical approach to P2P sites now, they are still an entity that cannot be ignored. This particular move by Voices is telling because, by offering this ultimate platinum service, it further devalues the services offered to regular $400 members by skimming off the prime jobs for their elite. It's must also be pissing-off their regular ($2.5k) platinum members who now have their service degraded to second tier! But that's of a concern to paying subscribers... not me thankfully.

However, a far more egregious move is the growing amount of money they skim as a middle man (on top of their subscriptions and 10% commission). There are many, many, well-documented stories of a job coming to a talent for (say) $500 when the client has paid Voices in the region of $1000. The client thinks he's getting a $1000 talent when his auditions didn't even hit that pool of people.

It is naive of Voices to think that these conversations don't take place between the talent and producers. We can be accepting of (or at least resigned to) the way they treat talent... after all, it's our choice and we can walk away. But taking money from the producers affects us all. If a producer has $1000 on the table then I want it (less agent fee if they got me the gig)... not $450 after the parasites have had their slice... and for that amount, I may not have even gone for the gig, which removes work from my pool of opportunities. What's more, is that they are actively hard-selling to clients and production houses taking them out of the regular "agent" workflow... which further erodes my opportunities!
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
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todd ellis
A Zillion


Joined: 02 Jan 2007
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Location: little egypt

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

bless his heart.
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captain54
Lucky 700


Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 744
Location: chicago

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the people that run the P2Ps are in it to make money…. plain and simple.. those sites are not public services for the betterment of the VO Community. It is obvious they are re-structuring Voices.com more for the higher end user..

If you are making 5 figures plus off of any one of those sites, than 5 grand subscription fee is pocket change.. Apparently, people ARE making 5 figures on those sites, or else the powers-that- be at V.com wouldn't think they could get away with charging it..

They are changing their business model…that's the bottom line.. the answer? don't renew. and move on.. I don't think it's worth it to cry about it..

A higher end Lamborghini can fetch close to 7 figures… the higher end hotel rooms and run you 5 figures PER NIGHT.. are they worth it? The answer is. if you can afford it, it's worth it.. if you can't afford it, it's not worth it… it's that simple.. But to cry about the cost of Four Seasons stay, or the price of Lamborghinii. is just a waste of time..
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richvoice
Been Here Awhile


Joined: 12 Aug 2008
Posts: 217
Location: Tucson, AZ

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I chose not to renew at voices.com earlier this year. I've neither seen nor felt anything since then to make me believe I made a mistake; on the contrary, everything I've read since then -- like Paul's post -- has convinced me I made the right choice.

From past threads, I know that others feel differently, and that's fine. I can only control my own business decisions, and that's as it should be.
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Lee Gordon
A Zillion


Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 6843
Location: West Hartford, CT

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



P-l-e-a-s-e stop beating me!
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