ON HOLD MESSAGE FOR EASY LISTENING ARTISTS

Daniel John · **Voice Talent** Joined: 22 Jan 2007 Posts: 18

Anyone else audition for the gig that had "steve mcqueen" as a song title for an on hold music message?

i was told they loved my voice, and given a longer script..

i read it...

they vanished...

did they re appear for anyone here?

Tom Pagnotti · **Voice Talent** Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 220

Daniel:

I've often auditioned for jobs on V123 (or through another source) and not heard anything for weeks - only to be told in a month’s time that I won the gig. Then there have been those gigs I auditioned for and heard I got the job the same day.

I know it can be frustrating, but you can't dictate a voice seekers schedule.

My best advice is to do the audition and forget about it.

Tom Pagnotti
www.choicevoicepro.com

Daniel John · **Voice Talent** Joined: 22 Jan 2007 Posts: 18

It's been forgotten in a sea of auditions done today, that i shall forget tomorrow...the biggest gig i ever got on voice123 was one where i used a crappy computer mic in a pinch, read a testimonial, the client went nuts over it. i got steady work for a month, even pulled 400$ for :10 dry..on that same crappy mic...

ever since i switched to the good stuff, the gigs have dried up...LOL

John Zadikian · **Voice Talent** Joined: 31 Dec 2007 Posts: 42

I've been here only a month, received some 4 and 5 star ratings, some no ratings at all, but no gigs. I'd like to be of the do-it-and-forget-it mentality, but gee, I'd like to make a few bucks sometime Smile

Any tips on being more patient?

Melba Sibrel

Scott Pollak · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008, 16:59 (GMT) Post subject:

Wow, Melba! And Connie was bitch-slapping me in another thread for only charging $400 for a 20 minute narration that took about 2.5 hours of phone patch time!

My first job thru here was for a cd series of fun factoids. My total narrative ran about 40 minutes and I was paid... I think... something like $250.

The first jobs here seem to be the hardest ones to land, and often the ones we're most underpaid for. And it also comes in waves. I've had weeks here where I've gotten 3 jobs on the same day, followed by going a month (or more!) without a nibble! It happens.

If you're going to fret over the numbers, or worry too much about why you're not landing them, then you may be in the wrong business. In any form of 'entertainment' type of field - and yes, voiceovers does fall into that category - you will be submitting an excruciating number of auditions, competing against a large number of very talented folks, and you will generally not hear back from any of these auditions. It is truly primarily a numbers game. I think I have a super voice, but to 99 out of 100 potential clients, it's not what they want. So I just submit over and over and over and over and over and over, not thinking about it once I've clicked the 'submit' button, and then am occasionally nicely surprised when I get that 1 in 100 call.

If you're unable to do this, then seriously you may not have what it takes - emotionally - to be in this type of business.

Connie Terwilliger · **Voice Talent** Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 409

Scott - I was using the bunny fur gloves - for goodness sake! Wink

It really isn't my place to "slap" anyone for working at a rate that seems right to them. The right cause, the right moment in time, the right challenge - all great reasons to set the rate accordingly. But telling people what you made on a specific job is guaranteed to bring some sort of response.

I suggest the best course of action for all of us is to stop talking about what we were paid for anything. If someone asks about rates, point them to the posted guides for rates here, on TOS and on the AFTRA website. And that is just what they are - particularly on the non-union side of things - guides.

Now, that being said, I think there is a place to discuss various formulas for running your voiceover business like a business. Time spent doing the actual recording. Time spent editing. Time spent invoicing. Time spent bookkeeping. Time spent marketing.

What kinds of things can be done to reduce the time you spend doing each of these things. If you struggle during the actual recording - what can you do to improve that ratio? What kinds of scripts really screw you up? Will practice improve that, or should you be marketing yourself in a different area?

"Standard" advice on even the most basic things, like how long should it take to do a 60 second commercial or 20 minutes of narration copy is going to be the basis of much heated discussion.

Even when all recording was done at studios, there was no set answer to this question. It could take hours to do a National commercial with a really talented professional because of the number of directors. It could also take 5 minutes.

Does it take an inordinate amount of time to edit? Why? Do your recordings need a lot of clean up? Pops, clicks, lots of stopping and starting? Do you just need to work on your editing skills, or do your just hate it?

These same questions apply in bookkeeping and marketing.

But now with home studios, self-directed, people can spend lots and lots of time - perhaps far more than would have been spent in the past. Knowing your own ratio of time to finished product balanced with rate of pay is critical to being in business...ie. making a profit and paying taxes.

Allen Brown · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008, 21:36 (GMT) Post subject:

I'm in agreement with Connie only she said it much better than I could have.

This is the friendliest group of competitors I've ever known. It seems to be the nature of the entire industry. So many good, sharing people. But, remember that we're rival "companies" and in the US, rival companies do not cooperate on pricing for their mutual benefit. That includes public discussion and comparison of rates. (This will give Robert another chance to talk about those crazy Americans and our lack of free speech! Laughing

)

It's another case of the law not keeping up with technology. Internet message boards hadn't been invented when the collusion laws were written.

As Connie said, I think rate discussions are best dealt with in generalities and the suggested rate charts. I regret that I broke my own rule about this in a recent thread.

I hope any comments I've made about rates have been to encourage everyone to respect the craft and themselves. Charge rates that represent the value of your performance and boost pride within yourself and respect for the industry as a whole. If we give it away or work for peanuts, (other than for charity) we drive rates down across the board.

A bit of a threadjack here. Sorry. Embarassed

Melba Sibrel · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008, 00:11 (GMT) Post subject:

Scott, there may have been just the teensiest bit of exaggeration to my post above...sadly, not nearly as much as I wish! Laughing

It was me not knowing what I was getting myself into, doing a genre I had never touched before. But it was the first booking here after 6 months membership, that part's true. And it did take a long time to get paid. It was a learning experience that I actually laugh about. It was even funny at the time. Sometimes your "pay" comes in unexpected denominations! That's what makes life interesting, eh?

Robert Jadah · **Voice Talent** Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 2627

Deby Cedars · **Voice Talent** Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 1482

Daniel...I did not do a Steve Mc Queen audition. I did have the same thing happen to me with an adult cartoon character named Coco Lisa.

They contacted me and said there were 3 girls in the running....one of them being me....asked if I would read another script. I contacted them and said I would be happy to.......Haven't heard anything since......Did they decide not to do the project? Did they decide to go with another girl? Will I hear from them next week? Who knows.

I do understand your frustration though. Confused

Allison Scussel · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 928

There's so much love in this thread.

Happy Valentine's Day!

You know I love you all. Laughing

TTYL Allison

Randye Kaye · **Voice Talent** Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 4

Happy Valentine's day to you all, too! V123 is, to me, like match.com was when I was dating - just another great resource for gigs, but not the only one. It's all part of an overall strategy to keep yourself out there, and get a chance to show your stuff to people you might not have had the chace to read for otherwise.

This is my second time with a premium membership, and I am really pleased with the improvements since I left v123 years ago. Getting some great feedback, and some gigs, already! Nice to connect with the people on the other end, voice talent and voice seekers alike.

Set and it and forget it - do your best work, send it out, and if it's the right match it'll happen. Very Happy