I just spent more on Halloween candy than some of you got paid for your latest voice-over gig. Ain’t that sweet? Not really! Talking about money ain’t funny. We don’t want to admit publicly that we put in a low bid, just to get something going. Something is better than nothing, right? The guy said it would look good on your resume. His law office was brand new, so don’t you want to cut a start-up business some slack?
And before you know it, you’ve talked yourself into something you’re not too proud of, but what the hay. A week later you open the local paper. Your destitute attorney won a major lawsuit, and he’s getting ten percent of a very nice six figure settlement. Meanwhile, you’re still waiting to get paid. Life is not fair….
Now, as the personal coach told you: in the face of adversity, some get bitter and some get better. You’re gonna get better for sure. But how? How do you avoid getting ripped off by undercutting colleagues and clients that make Mr. Scrooge look like a philanthropist?
Here’s what you do: first you take a step back to analyze the situation. Come one…. pour yourself a nice glass of grape juice and read my latest article… It will only take you a few moments, and by the time you’re finished, you’ll know all about the research Antonio Rangel did that answers the eternal question: does an expensive bottle of Bordeaux taste better because of the price tag?
Cheers!
Paul Strikwerda ©2009
www.nethervoice.com
October 29th, 2009
NOTICE THE SHIFT?
If you are one of my regular readers, I’m sure you have noticed a shift in the past couple of months. Since I started my company Nethervoice, I have turned my Double Dutch Blog into an extension of my website. So, instead of having one platform in the blogosphere, I now have two: one at VoiceOver Casting and one on my own site. I guess that’s part of the “Double” in Double Dutch. VoiceOver Casting has been a great launch pad for me, and it will still be a place where I feel among friends. So, don’t worry… this is no goodbye!
However, in terms of branding, I think it’s important to have a clearly defined, single identity for Nethervoice. Much to my surprise, my blog has become an integral part of that identity. Since the start of my new site in July, thousands of new readers have found me, and that number is growing by the day. I have found a renewed passion for writing, and the journalist in me discovered opportunities to stir the pot of all that’s cooking in the voice-over world. And if it’s up to me, I will continue to rock the boat every now and then… with your help, of course. This site is only as strong and relevant as our connections.
COMMUNITY
I firmly believe that a sense of community is more vital than ever. When the economy is doing well and there are plenty of opportunities, it’s easier to be more or less self-reliant. But when the going gets tough, and when there are more talents and there’s less work than ever before, the pressure is on.
Let’s be honest. The voice-over market is pretty much saturated at this moment. You don’t need a degree in economics to realize that a greater supply in a weakened market can only mean one thing: tumbling prices.
The best way to speed this process up, is to have suppliers engage in a furious bidding war. Darwin would have named it: “Survival of the Cheapest”. Isn’t that exactly what is happening? And if you don’t believe me, why is it so hard to buy products that are not “made in China”? Before we know it, all of us will be replaced by speech synthesis technology. It’s almost as good as the real thing and I bet it’s a lot cheaper.
STRAIGHT TALK
A week or so ago, I had a long conversation with one of the people at a voice-over website that shall remain unnamed. I asked him why they were still posting $50 jobs on their site. He gave me two reasons:
1. It’s a free market; it’s not up to my site to set or uphold minimum rates
2. As long as there are people who are willing to do these jobs for $50, this site will post them. He then added: “Believe me, there are plenty of people willing to do these jobs for fifty dollars.”
Now, I could just filter these low-budget jobs out. End of discussion. But that does not solve the fundamental flaws in the system. If we leave things to market forces, we will end up with a “survival of the cheapest”, and in many respects, we’re already there.
The market has no morals. The market does not care about what is fair and reasonable. That’s precisely how and why we ended up in this economic crisis. And that’s exactly why there’s such a thing as a minimum wage (which is not even enough to sustain a family), and why governments all over the globe are proposing and imposing new rules, regulations and oversight.
I have a feeling that a lot of these low-budget jobs are snatched up by amateurs. Now, I don’t mind losing a job to a talented amateur. I do mind losing a job to an amateur charging 20% of my minimum rate, because for this person “it’s just a hobby”. Their voice-over work doesn’t need to pay for the mortgage, health insurance, college tuition, pension plans, car payments, groceries and so on and so forth. And by the way: most of these things have gone up while our rates are steadily going down.
STANDARDS
Any organized profession that takes itself seriously has minimum standards, it offers continued education, it does research to further the field and stands up for its members to make sure that they get paid a fair wage. What makes our line of work so different? Is it because so many of us aren’t unionized or otherwise organized?
Perhaps the instrumental word is “organized”. The question is: are we just a bunch of freelancing, every man and woman for him- or herself, and may the best win-group of people? In that case we are throwing ourselves into the hands of the lowest common denominator, as voice-seekers watch us fight over a $50 dollar bone. I think we could and should do much better than that. We haven’t gone to the dogs yet, or have we?
DOOM & GLOOM
Well, if you’re looking something a bit more lighthearted, my latest blog might just do the trick… And if you happen to be a Cyril Ritchard, Peter Cook or Steve Martin fan, you’re especially in for a treat. A Dutch treat! What else did you expect?
continue…
October 5th, 2009
It’s time to take our voice-over fate into our own hands! Pay-to-play is here to stay, but there are more ways to let voice-seekers know that we exist. If you’d like to hire a PR-firm, go ahead and do that. But if money is tight, you might want to think about that option for a little while. If you’re looking for an agent, you have my blessing too (not that you need it). However, that’s still putting your destiny into someone else’s hands. How about creating a stellar website that will drive business to your doorstep like a powerful magnet? But do yourself a favor and don’t make the classic mistakes I talked about in my last blog.
Ideally, this is what I would like you to do: take a critical look at your current website and be brutally honest. If this were a shop, would you come in and stay for a while? More importantly: would you buy after browsing? And last but not least: would you come back for more?
I have looked at quite a few voice-over websites in the past couple of weeks, and you know by now that I wasn’t exactly impressed. Sometimes it felt like I was walking into the reading room of a library. A few of you felt inclined to respond to my comments and told me that they have no idea and no skills to turn their site into something special. Here’s the good news: you don’t have to be a brilliant professional website designer to bring some color to your online emporium. Once you make the big bucks, I would definitely go to a pro, but when I decided to create a new site dedicated to my voice-over work, I wanted to see what I could do on a very modest budget.
My site is by no means perfect and I’d be the first one to point that out. However, when I type the words “Dutch voice-over” into Google or Yahoo, I am very pleased with what I see!
And for all of you who are wondering how to kick your site up a notch, you should really check out… (continue)
September 4th, 2009
Paul Strikwerda