I hope that a way can be found to alert even more of the international voice-over communinty about Melroy D’Mello. It would also be good for his potential clients to know about his refusal to pay for the voices that they will pay him to use for their projects!

For my part, I’m generally willing to give new domestic clients (those here in the UK) 30-day terms, unless I smell something odd in the discussion phase, but if they pay late then I insist on prepayment for the next job. Anyone who fails to pay after a reminder gets a letter by registered post, politely but firmly threatening action, and most people don’t want a County Court Judgement against their name or their business. Another useful reminder to clients is that the voiceover business is quite a close-knit community and that word of bad creditors gets around quickly via word-of-mouth and online forums.

For international clients, who are harder to chase up if they were to go into arrears, I now usually insist on prepayment via PayPal, using a figure calculated to offset my losses in the PayPal fees (there’s a handy online calculator which will do this for you which I use a lot).

Personally, I think there’s a certain amount of flexibility required: I have some large clients who pay on 30 or 45-day terms, but they pay regularly and they pay on time to their cycle – and they make up a big chunk of my regular work, so I’m not going to insist they change their cycles just for me. It’s like the clients who won’t allow you to invoice until you’ve been given a Purchase Order – larger firms often don’t seem to have the flexibility to change their procedures on-the-fly. Interestingly, though, those who use PayPal and pay using a company credit card often seem to be able to circumvent this, and I wonder if there’s a change in attitudes just around the corner.

All the best from London!

Mike

1. Brush up your business skills. Go to a community college. Take a training. Get a mentor. Read up on marketing, advertising and sales.

2. Study the competition. What are they doing that is working? How do they do it? What can you learn from them
and how can you carve out a niche for yourself?

3. Learn another language. Oral aerobics will keep the muscles in your mouth in shape. Take acting classes. Get in shape. Join a choir.

4. Improve the way clients can find you, and make yourself less dependent on P2P’s and agents. If you don’t have a website, get one. Better still: learn how to design and update your own pages.

Personally, I do a few other things to compliment my voice-over business:

-I work as a translator; some voice-over clients ask me to translate a script and record it straight away
-On occasion, I work as an emcee (see my blog: http://nethervoice.com/nethervoice/2009/09/22/how-i-became-world-famous/)
-I’m also a wedding officiant: there’s nothing like marrying people! It’s a joy and a privilege.
-I conduct media trainings and platform skills seminars
-Every now and then I do on-camera work through casting agencies. It’s a great way to connect with clients that would not necessarily have found me as a voice-over talent.

As always your encouragement is highly appreciated. I just hope that some of the more established VO talents can take a good long look at how things are going financially for them and try to figure out if they need to supplement their income before its too late and the only option they have is to sell their assets.

Taji

The thing is, this article was written mostly for those established VO artists who work full time in the profession. I see them as the culmination of my efforts and where I would like to end up in a few years from now… but also I do not like to discourage the younger generation of VO artists because there has to be a constant influx or else the whole profession dies.

The ones that come in young and wide eyed will eventually wisen up. Yes they will do some damage… but nothing that will eventually won’t get repaired… and like I said i the article… don’t waste your time with the lesser paying clients who just want a job done for a budget and don’t care how well the performance is. For those guys… they deserve the lowest bidder.

A couple of random thoughts:

1. Some voice-over sites have done an excellent job of making it look so easy to start a new career. Do you have a voice? Do you have a computer and a mic? Do you have a credit card? Congratulations: you’re now a professional voice-over! People with experience and with no experience can compete on a level playing field. I know of no other profession where this is considered even remotely acceptable. This is setting folks up for failure.

2. It’s easy to underestimate what it takes to be an independent contractor. I have seen incredibly talented people go under because they had zero business skills. Celebrity Photographer Annie Leibovitz nearly avoided bankruptcy this year, because she couldn’t handle her finances.

3. Speaking of money: one of the reasons voice-overs can’t make ends meet is because they mess up the market by underbidding on jobs that already have a ridiculously low budget. In an effort to secure short-terms gains, these people ruin their chances for a long lasting future, and in the end, all of us are paying the price. It’s like global warming: this does not happen overnight and it’s man-made.

4. To the people who stubbornly, intentionally or foolishly make the above mistakes, I have only one thing to say: GIVE UP. You’re not going to make it. If you like to use your voice as a hobby, fine. Most people know that it’s ludicrous to audition for a Broadway musical if you have little or no training or experience. So, why do you think it’s any different in the world of voice-over acting? Stop auditioning. Read to hospitalized kids and people in retirement homes. You’ll find it much more rewarding than using your voice to sell silly things nobody needs.

I’m really sorry about your situation and I will do my best to let colleagues know about these guys and their incorrect business behavior.

Hope you get your money soon!

Saludos desde Bogota, Colombia

And Taji, congratulations on your GREAT blog. I’ve been reading it for months, but this is my first comment.

a) share information about known fraudsters who usually jump from site to site
b) set up a joint register of con-artists and non-payers open to the public

I hope that you are feeling better! For me personally, as soon as I think I am getting sick I double dose on Vitamin C, and I start my dose of Una De Gato. It is a combination of Cat’s Claw, Estragalus and Echinacea (not not a real cat’s claw – no bat wings or anythign like that). I used to take Echinacea & Cat’s Claw separately until my doc turned me onto this all in one concoction.

I also do the following daily but is good when you are sick as well. I sip Jasmine Tea with local Organic honey during the day (anti-bacterial properties in the Jasmine Tea) and Chamomile Tea with Organic honey at night (Chamomile relaxes the muscles & helps you sleep). The honey benefits are absolutely immense as I am sure you know – it’s an antioxidant and has cleansing properties for our body and health and cures many ailments and diseases… I also stay hydrated by drinking several glasses of water throughout the day with fresh squeezed lemon (boosts your white blood cell count and increases healing) a teaspoon of raw organic apple cider vinegar which has tons of benefits (cures allergies (including pet, food and environmental), sinus infections, sore throats, fatigue and so much more). I start off with a little warm water, mix in 2 teaspoons of honey – the warm water breaks down the honey – then add the rest of your water, vinegar and lemon so make it taste a bit better and I even a dash of cinnamon which helps with respiratory problems, its antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-parasitic, boosts your immune system & even helps with muscle & joint pains.

There are sop many other benefits that go along with my daily regimen. If you google the above you will see it helps with a plethora of other things as well.

I also carry Colloidal Silver with me every where I go & use it daily. I spray it in my eyes which goes directly into your blood stream. Spray it in my ears canal and let seep in. tip my head back & spray it up my nose. Plus, I spray it under my tongue then gargle it. It great for your general well being. But when you are sick – you can spray in in your throat – if you have a sore throat – provides immediate relief. Great for ear infections. Also when you spray it in your nose – works better then nasal spray.

Hope it helps. Google the above & I promise you it will change your life is you do these things daily. the only thing I don’t take daily in the above list is the Una De gato – that is only when I am sick or think I am getting sick to boost my immune system. Many times if you take it in the early stages you won’t even get fully sick.

Depending on your problem – I have lots of other remedies too. I only see a natural physician and I have never been happier or healthier! All the best!

It also seems that I am crabbier and crabbier in my old age… cause just now I rejected a paypal payment because the client did not respect my wishes and send it as a paypal echeck but as a paypal instant payment. (on incurs a transfer fee from paypal and the other takes 5 day to complete but no deduction).

So what I’m going to do is sit and write up a clear and concise Terms and Conditions sheet before I work with anyone… infact I think I’ll send it to the clients I already have and force them to sign it … since they are forcing me to accept their updated payment policies.

Thanks for your input Paul, always appreciated.

Taji

David made a number of excellent points. He’s right: some clients just can’t come to terms with the kind of money we get paid for what, to them, seems to be such little effort.

Voice-over professionals make what they do sound so natural and easy, no wonder why so many people believe anyone could pull that off. In reality, voice-over artists are no different than other performers or athletes. When people hear a great pianist play or watch a well-know sports star at the top of her game, they usually don’t think of all the years these pros had to put in, in order to get where they are now. As they say: it usually takes many years to become an overnight success!

Over the years, I have become more firm with clients that aren’t willing to pay reasonable rates, and more intolerant with ‘colleagues’ who operate as if they have no clue what those rates might be. I agree with David that we’re in the driver’s seat. That’s why I have clear Terms & Conditions, and if the client refuses to sign on the dotted line, that’s a big red flag. In general it’s always better to agree on the terms upfront. Trying to negotiate something after the fact is virtually impossible.

Having said that, I must admit that I am also willing to be a bit more flexible if I have established a longer term relationship with a client and if the project is more or less ongoing. But those projects are far and few. Trust is essential, but it needs to be earned first. I also have to admit that I have a weak spot for non-profits which, from a business perspective, I probably shouldn’t have.

Because people are working for a respectable cause, doesn’t automatically mean that they will treat you with respect. Being a nice and decent person and working for a charity are two different things. In fact, I noticed more than once that they will abuse the sympathy angle of the charity as an excuse to jerk you around (pardon the language). First they guilt-trip you into accepting a lower fee. Secondly, when it’s time to pay, there’s delay after delay.

What’s the best weapon to deal with these situations? Well, first of all we should educate ourselves, then our clients and our colleagues. If we proclaim to be a pro, we should act like a pro. Unfortunately, as David mentioned, this line of work is infested with amateurs who are willing to work for a few bucks because their mortgage doesn’t depend on it. Clients take advantage of that. Why? Because they can!

And did I mention the P2P’s yet? You know, the ones that put out handy dandy rate sheets and refuse to uphold these rates, claiming that it’s not their business to make sure their (paying) members get compensated fairly? In my opinion, this has contributed to the erosion of rates, and it has made it harder for voice-overs to put a reasonable price on their services. And with compensation going down, net 15 or net 30 is an interesting but insignificant point.