VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

todd ellis · Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:00 pm Post subject:

Melissa - I'll agree with all you said (quite well, I might add) with one caveat. Sometimes we CAN teach the "talent seekers". I recently got a e-learning job on V123 where I bid well over the budget - and asked the guy to call me toll-free and I would explain why. Believe it or not - he actually called. He had no idea that 2+ hours of finished audio meant 6 or more hours of work. After we talked - he agreed to my price, I got the job and he got the read he wanted. Exception to the rule, I guess.
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Glenn Moore · Been Here Awhile Joined: 24 Jan 2005 Posts: 241

Jeffrey Kafer...I listened to your demos on your website. You have a lot of talent and you are far from "suck." However, I may be blind but I did not see a commercial demo on your site. Maybe that is what you need to round out your services. I think you have lots of potential with your style. I don't hear any announcer...just natural "everyday guy" types of reads. And that is good.

TC · Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:15 pm Post subject:

Those of you who are making good money from V123: Are you booking a lot of any specific kind of work in particular -- like audio books or hard sell commericals or e-learning or whatever -- or is it spread pretty evenly across the board?

I joined V123 almost a year ago and have yet to book a single a job. Since it seems like about half the ads I see ask for a "James Earl Jones" sound (and offer $100 for it), I've always assumed that it's the deep-voiced guys who are getting all the work.

asnively · Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:42 pm Post subject:

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:20 am Post subject:

MelissaVoicer · Guest

I'm very impressed with those of you who have been able to teach clients. I'm going to add a line to my future auditions: "Call my friends on the vo-bb, who will convince you to pay me more for this job." Laugh

In answer to the "type of work" question: I don't get any one type of job from them...but I haven't really paid much attention either. Again, I hardly ever apply for voicemail stuff..unless it's a whole IVR system...so I think maybe mostly short narrations: web site or marketing stuff.... and commercials.

OH WAIT! I DID teach a client: I just remembered...last week, I bid on a $100 job that turned out to be a national informercial spot instead of a local thing, and I made her go $600! I used the rates they have posted on V123 and said I was still waaaay under those, and she told her client that they were getting a deal!

TheVoiceOfBob · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:58 am Post subject:

It's interesting following this thread and the others that have dealt with V123 and Voices.com. It "seems" like feast or famine. Either people are making pretty good money, or nothing.

Those of you that have had good luck with these sites, how much time do you spend to make your custom demo? How much "effort" do you put forth?

I'd really love to hear a few examples of WINNING custom demos from some of you. Would that be possible? I monitor those sites all day, but at work so I can't jump on the custom demo ones until later. Perhaps if I had an example of what won it for a customer on a job I also bid on, perhaps I could learn from that. I think we all could.
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MelissaVoicer · Guest

I spend hardly any time...if it comes at a time that I'm already going in the booth to record something else, I add it in. I do about 20-30 secs of the script, change the name of the business so they don't steal it Smile

and then I have standard answers that I copy and paste into the audition depending on the type of project it is.

jrodriguez315 · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:25 am Post subject:

I've had a free account on Voice123 for a long time and mostly used it as a place to host my demo file. The generally negative information I've read about ones chances at actually making money from those sites has been so negative that I've never seriously considered upgrading to a paid account. The information on this thread however, has got me thinking that perhaps these services are worth the investment.

I'd like to know, of those of you who do make a good portion of your income from these services, do you spend a lot of time monitoring your emails and trying to get into that top 50 auditioners? As a person who still has a day job, that would be rather difficult for me.

P.S. - Despite all the information on this board regarding V123, I really do appreciate this particular thread. Thanks to all those who have taken the time to share your experiences with V123, Voices.com and other sites like them.
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MelissaVoicer · Guest

I think it would be a long shot to get jobs of v123 and still have a day job just because if Patrick Stewart himself (yes, I'm a trekker) auditioned in position number 200, no one would hear his demo! There are those who post their jobs later in the day, but I do think USUALLY you must pounce on them within the first 20-30 minutes. I do not sit and stare at my computer, but I'm on here so much of the day working anyway, that when it's convenient I bring them in and voice them.

jrodriguez315 · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:33 am Post subject:

tackerman · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:35 am Post subject:

I've got a home studio but my day job keeps me out of it. Wink

MelissaVoicer · Guest

soundbooth, mic, preamp, audio converter, computer with Adobe Audition... ftp site, web site.......

todd ellis · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:41 am Post subject:

Melissa wrote:

ConnieTerwilliger · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:42 am Post subject:

Befor you audition for ANYTHING you must think like the client and try to understand what it is they are trying to do with the project. OK, some clients don't really know what they want, so you have to help them.

Don't audition for everything. Know your strengths. Know that what you put on the demo shows those abilities AND is something that would work for the client's concept.

This is self evaluation - a skill that you need at any level of the business.

And also remember that this is a very subjective business too. When I was producing, I had a general idea of the voice range I wanted in my project (mostly corporate communications, training and marketing stuff) and I would zip through House CDs listening to the first few seconds of each voice on the disk...downselecting to a few who had the right basic "souncd." From there I would listen to the whole demo. If it was a high budget job, I would ask those selected folks to a casting session - this was before people had thier own studios and could do this electronically. But mostly we cast off the demos.

You have to think like a producer. Don't send them something that just isn't right for their project. And do send them something that will stand out amoung the other many dozens they will be listening to. If you have a unique sound to your voice, you are ahead of the pack. If your rhythm is unique (and appropriate) for the script, you are ahead of the pack. If you don't know what sets you apart, then your reads will not stand out.

Give 10 people a script and 9 of them will read it at the same pace, pausing in the same places, inflecting the same words. The person who really connects with the script and offers something "different," yet still "right" (remember all of this is subjective to a degree - but we all know when something works, don't we?) is more likely to get the job. Before you hit the send button, you need to know that your demo is going to be among the ones that grabs them.

The session I'm doing at V.O.I.C.E. is about Self-Evaluation - for the newbie, for the person with their first demo and for the working pro, You must know yourself, your competition and where you fit. THEN you will start landing some of those jobs.
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