Voice Over Jobs Websites – 5 RED FLAGS
There are tons of voice over websites where you can find voice over jobs, opportunities for beginners, voice over work for pros and everything in between. Everybody, it seems, is trying to make money online and jobs websites have become a popular way to find voice over jobs opportunities.
So today, I'm going to give you five red flags to look for on the voice over jobs websites.
And stick around because at the end, I'm going to give you a bonus sixth red flag to look for, which just might be the biggest threat to your voice over business.
Red flag number one: Avoid the freelancer sites at all costs
The general freelancer sites like Fiverr, like Upwork, like People Per Hour, for (voice actor) pros and anybody that wants to be a pro voice actor one day are, quite frankly, trash.
They're not designed for professional voice actors. They don't have the best interest of the voice actor at heart. And more importantly, you can actually damage your career by being on them. "Well, surely you're making that up, Paul." No, I'm not. Click the link to the GVAA article, Why I Don't Worry About Fiverr Anymore.
These sites are full of lowball clients trading on price and price alone. They're just looking for the cheapest possible way to get the job done. They don't value quality and they demand the most hand-holding and maintenance and time and effort.
They will ask for everything and they pay almost nothing.
Now, are there occasional jobs that pay pro rates on these sites? Sure. Every rule has an exception. But again, if you intend to be a pro and build a solid base of clients who value your work and your worth, you're just not going to find a lot of them on these kinds of sites.
Now, if you're an amateur, a hobbyist, if you're just looking to do VO for fun or for a few extra bucks, then the general freelancer sites can be a great way to scratch that itch. And I support you. But if you're pro or you ever intend to go pro one day, treat them like nuclear waste.
Red flag number two: Flat rate pricing for all genres
Now, here's a site that's a great example of this VoiceJungle. Now, even before we scroll, we see the phrase "fast, affordable and guaranteed only $0.30 a word." And if we click on the minimums apply link, we see another huge red flag. "Pay once, use forever."
Why is that a problem?
Seems like a great way to simplify rates for the buyer, take the friction out of the buying process, and the complexity out of buying voice over overall.
But there are certain genres of voiceover work that you, as a professional should never license. Forever. Also known as in perpetuity or in perp.
For example, any broadcast or digital broadcast commercial work should always have a finite term: 13 weeks, 26 weeks, a year, two years, etc..
Why?
Because if you're the public voice of Joe's Cola, then Coca Cola is never going to hire you because you're already the public voice of Joe's. Even if Joe's doesn't require you to be exclusive to them, you will have locked yourself out of Coke, Pepsi, and any other soft drink maker, anybody else in that category for the rest of time, potentially costing you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your career.
It's called soft exclusivity and it's a real thing, baby.
Now, in some other genres, like e-learning, it's very valid to price your voice over services per word, but most genres are not best priced per word. Do you really want to get paid 11 bucks for a :15 commercial, even if it weren't in perpetuity? Okay, in fairness, VoiceJungle's minimums are $45 for up to 40 words and $65 for over 40 words. Still, if you're working for that kind of chump change, you're not a professional.
You're just someone with a mic and a mouth.
Red flag number three: "Rush delivery available"
And why is that a problem, you ask? Well, on the surface, it's not. In fact, it's a huge customer service asset and can not only help you provide excellent service to your customers.
Again, your customers, not the platform's. But it can also help you make more money doing it.
But here's the rub: Every promise made by the website is one you're going to have to keep and in VoiceJungle's case, you're not even getting paid extra for the two-hour turnaround. That's part of the rate, whether the client needs a rush or not.
And by the way, every other voice actor on the platform has to fulfill the same promise. So your competitive advantage is exactly zero. You're all just sheep waiting for the pen to open so you can graze on the same shitty grass.
When you rely on the platform to make the promises to the end client, you don't get the credit for fulfilling them, the platform does.
But if you don't meet the requirements that the platform sets out for the client, you bet your sweet patootie you're going to get the blame.
When you choose your own clients and build your own relationships, rather than relying on a third-party platform, you get to choose the promises you make to your clients. You get to choose how you fulfill them. You get to choose how to set expectations and how to exceed them so that you can consistently build client loyalty and consistent, reliable work.
Red Flag Number four: Price-Based Language
Here's another copy block from VoiceJungle.
"It's no secret that production budgets have shrunk. So you [the client] have to make smart decisions with your marketing dollars. To do that, you need a fast, affordable way to get a great voiceover. The problem is, many voiceover sites can be complicated, time consuming and expensive. We get it. We believe you shouldn't have to pay a ton of money for a great voiceover. We understand the frustration that comes with overpaying for a voiceover you're not thrilled with. Which is why we created VoiceJungle, to keep your work professional and profitable."
Clearly, their strategy is a lowball price play.
They're actively targeting clients who trade on price and price alone, and they don't give a flying fuck about appropriate rates for the voice actor.
Why in god's name would you participate in this?
Here's their strategy in a nutshell: Let's target lowball clients with tiny budgets and then take a cut out of that so that the voice actor makes even less.
Whenever you see price-based language like this, whether it's Fiverr or Upwork or VoiceJungle or Voices or whatever, run. There will always be a dollar store or a penny store. If you intend to support yourself and run a successful business, you can't do it on crumbs and scraps and trash.
Know your worth. Charge appropriate rates. And avoid platforms that trade on low prices.
Red Flag number five: Managed services
Many sites like Voices and Bunny Studio, for example, offer managed services. You'll see phrases like, "We'll manage your entire project from start to finish." "Save hours on freelancer coordination," and, "24/7 support available." In reality, they're just inserting themselves between you and the client and charging extra for being the middle person.
It's complete crap.
They all promise their clients that their talent are all experienced pros. So why not get out of the way and let the experienced pros handle the communication and the project? The answer is because now there will be nothing left for them to insert themselves in the middle of and charge extra for.
Adding that extra layer between you and the client only muddles and slows down the communication process. And if and when something does go sideways, do you think they're going to take accountability or do you think that they're going to leave the voice actor under the bus?
When you own your own relationships and manage your accounts directly, that's part of your rate and part of the service that you provide.
You should get paid for that, not the platform.
And BONUS red flag number six:
You're relying too much on the voice over jobs websites for the bulk of your work.
At best, using a voiceover-specific website to find work should only be one part of your marketing and business development plan. If you're getting the bulk of your work from the P2Ps, then you likely don't own the bulk of your own relationships. Your long-term survival and sustainability as a profitable business rely directly on your ability to develop relationships directly to start, own, manage and grow those relationships.
In fact, that IS your business.
The fact that you provide voiceover services is secondary.
Are you stuck on the pay-to-plays? Are you relying on them? Are you not booking consistently? Let me know in the comments, or even let me know in the comments if you disagree. Hey, we can do that here and still be civil.
Wow, what a concept.
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