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todd ellis
A Zillion
Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Posts: 10532
Location: little egypt
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 Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 7:44 am Post subject: |
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Chat4scat.com is gonna be my new website!
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?
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robert jadah
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| Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 8:03 am Post subject: |
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Todd, other possibilities would be Lip4Zip, Shill4Nil, Talk4Nought, or Babble4Rabble; none of which reflect your talent and rates.
There was a $5.99(!) guy on e-bay. Full :30, produced, same-day: $5.99.
He was outed by a chat site with a spoof ad that was posted for all to hear.
Darned if he didn't turn out to be surprisingly good.
He joined the discussion, and complained about some guy undercutting him with $2.99 (!!!!) spots.
And - to the unionized talents - we are those slimy low-ballers.
So it comes down, of course, to what we think we're worth.
And I can only feel sorry for those who peg that figure at $30 for what would cost $1500 in the professional marketplace.
(The $5.99 guy has been converted and brought safely to the flock, by the way. The search is on for the $2.99 guy.) |
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BenWils
The Thirteenth Floor
Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 1324
Location: In a Flyover State
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| Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 8:06 am Post subject: |
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Some very good comments made here, which have made me rethink my rate structure. After all, I have a mortgage too and two cars to pay for, a wife and a little cat and a dog.
:15 - $4.50 plus a pack of gum (Wrigley's of any flavor is good)
:30 - $11.75
:60 - $14.45 (plus tax)
Long form narrations of any length (even audiobooks) in a hot booth with little air and a director saying..."can you go up at the end of corporate culture...it just sounds better to me...better yet can you give me an ABC on that take...I really want to get it just right" - $60 or $50 and a pair of movie tickets.
But wait....there's more.... I will beat any rate lower than mine by $4.50.
Good luck....and remember, we're all in this together.
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Ben
"To be really good at voiceover, you need to improve your footwork and hip snap." |
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todd ellis
A Zillion
Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Posts: 10532
Location: little egypt
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| Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 8:08 am Post subject: |
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i've said it before - and i'll say it again - there will always be those out there who charge less and those who charge more ... all i can do is charge what i'm comfortable with, be as good as i can be and let the gigs fall where they may.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?
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Yoda117
M&M
Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Posts: 2362
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 8:34 am Post subject: |
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Hey Ben... with your $4.50 guarantee, does that mean that the guy doing spots for $2.99 would have you owing $1.51?
You know, using the government's business plan of constantly losing money just doesn't work for most small businesses. 
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Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor
Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones |
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BenWils
The Thirteenth Floor
Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 1324
Location: In a Flyover State
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| Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 10:28 am Post subject: |
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Yes Jim, but I still get the pack of gum to offset the cost. I think I'm okay with that. 
Shoot, I can't have gum sent via Paypal, though.....awww geeez!
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Ben
"To be really good at voiceover, you need to improve your footwork and hip snap." |
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Bailey
4 Large
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 4336
Location: Lake San Marcos... north of Connie, northwest of the Best.
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| Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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| robert jadah wrote: | | The $2 barbers know they aren't ready for the big chair yet. |
That is an understatement... that's why they are the $2 barber, they are still learning and their business attitude for "barbering" is not yet fully refined.
| robert jadah wrote: | | But if you trust your ability and value this craft, but still Chat for Scat, then you're devaluating yourself. |
I think we're talking apples and oranges here. Trusting your ability and valuing this (VO) craft, has nothing to do with (those who) "Chat for Scat". If you trust in your VO abilities and value your VO craft/artisanship, then it is up to YOU to make sure that YOUR economic future is secured by an adequate "client base".
You can only complain about those that undercut the industry... you can't stop them. A "seasoned" barber... with a good client base... has nothing to fear from a $2 barber. How many haircuts can he do in one day?... and at $2 a pop, he'll have to work his butt off to make his first $100.
And if Don LaFontaine were to decide to do voice overs for a year at $30 a pop... it wouldn't even cause a ripple in the industry. The line of clients would be way too long... and by the end of the year, people would be sick of hearing his voice.
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"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044  .gif" alt="W00T" border="0" />
AOVA Graduate 02/2004 ;
"Be a Voice, not an Echo." |
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richgates
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bobbinbeamo
M&M
Joined: 05 Mar 2007
Posts: 2468
Location: Wherever I happen to be
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| Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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Rich, thanks for this...(Top 10 signs) It's so funny...and TRUE! I am printing a copy for myself and feel compelled to share this with others
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Bobbin Beam
www.bobbinbeam.com
blog.bobbinbeam.com |
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mcm
Smart Kitteh
Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Posts: 2600
Location: w. MA, USA
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| Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 6:38 am Post subject: |
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On a recent trip to the library I came away with a bunch of books I hadn't been looking for but that sounded interesting including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freelancing. The author said that to figure out your rates you should add up all your expenses (he gave an example list) including the usual stuff like mortgage and groceries and not forgetting all the periodic stuff like insurance, taxes, health care, college tuition payments, social security, retirement, add a margin for profit (e.g. 15%), also figure a reasonable number of hours per day that you work, and calculate a minimum hourly rate on that basis.
That Ten Reasons list is funnay. In a grim sort of way. |
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dagoldenknight86
Guest
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| Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 8:23 am Post subject: |
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| For someone new it's hard to turn down the low paying spots because you need the money. I think I'm worth more then I'm getting paid. But I'm not in the position to pick an choose. |
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jrodriguez315
A Hundred Dozen
Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 9:57 am Post subject: |
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| Moe Egan wrote: | | I am making a very decent wage, paying my mortgage and feeding my family doing voice work. I am contributing a valuable commodity to some very significant companies, and some really cool small start ups, and I do a lot of pro bono work for causes I believe in. |
Hey Moe, that's that ticket man. I can respect that totally.
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Joe Rodriguez, Bilingual Voice Actor | The Voiceover Thespian Blog |
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Diane Maggipinto
Spreading Snark Worldwide
Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 6679
Location: saul lay seetee youtee
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| Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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Dateline: Salt Lake City May 4, 2007
I was merely out of town. Unavailable. He needed me within two hours. Couldn't help. And couldn't get back to the client to talk with him until I was back in cell range. No biggie. When I left a message, I asked him to call me back with details, as this area (pre-feature advertising/content at movie theatres) is prolific, here anyway. But the money is not...
Here is client's response, recorded on a Motorola V710 cellular phone and transcribed on a relic of a computer, like circa 2003
(ed. notes in italics and parantheses):
"I ended up going to voiceworks 123.com (??me thinks a combo of my business name and the v123 model) and put that spot up for bid and I put it up for a hundred bucks. That's what [television station](which owns a chain of theatres in SLC) let me do. You're right, it is a theatre function and that's what I got thru [account executive] was that additional budget. (??? additional what? what's additional??!) so that's where we were and I had 7 or 8 bids on that thing within like 6 hours so I just stopped the bidding and picked one that had already come through. So that's what was happening there and I'd love to use you all the time and I know you want to get more than a hundred bucks but sometimes these quick things are just---spit it out and get it back and make a hundred so...
You're awesome...talk to me..talk to me? ha! I'll talk to you soon."
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!
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Deirdre
Czarina Emeritus
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 13024
Location: Camp Cooper
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| Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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It nearly looks like part of the machine of loosing your Time.
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DBCooperVO.com
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Diane Maggipinto
Spreading Snark Worldwide
Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 6679
Location: saul lay seetee youtee
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| Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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yeah. utah's not far from that. 
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!
www.d3voiceworks.com |
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