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Imagine, you are on a sandy beach enjoying the sun. You hear the waves splashing up over the rocks, the sound of seagulls singing a tune, and the laughter of children playing in the background. Suddenly, you hear footsteps walking toward you and then a voice appears asking to take your drink order.
Ah, the voice…deep yet comforting; bold yet soothing. You realize the power this voice has over you and you have the sudden urge to quench your thirst. Hiring a professional voice talent will captivate your audience whereby convincing them that they need your product or service.
While cost is a factor in any business decision, it should not be the number one objective when hiring voice over talent. Take car shopping for example. Do you look for the lowest price tag or the car that will best fit your needs? The same holds true with a well-versed and seasoned voice talent.
They can interpret a script to make it sound conversational and believable. A specialized voice talent will offer superior sound and quality, which comes at a cost. They take pride in purchasing top-of-the-line equipment and have expenses as with any professional business.
Occasionally, a client will take the less expensive route only to be dissatisfied with the quality of the talent and eventually hire a more experienced talent to record the voice over. Understanding the proficiency and skill that I have as a professional voice talent, the cost should not be a factor as the end product will result in exactly what you are looking for. Keep in mind the old proverb “you get what you pay for.”
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Hi Terry,
Very, very true!
For me, the most important factor when hiring or voice casting is whether or not someone is the best candidate for the job. If they fit the bill talent wise, are professional, can get the job done and possess qualities that personify our brand, that’s what matters most.
Perhaps we as an industry don’t give people on the outside enough credit, and for the most part, purchasers of voice over services ultimately want results that will go the extra mile and bring home desired results.
It’s simply not worth spending less initially and then more down the road when factoring in the cost of rerecording with a professional, the potential loss of revenue, wasted ad dollars and an unsatisfactory representation of a brand and the message conveyed.
Although there will always be people who don’t budget appropriately / desire the lowest common denominator, I believe the majority of people will pay for the value of the services rendered. It’s just a matter of education. Articles such as yours will do much over time to help
Keep going!
Thanks for sharing
Best wishes,
Stephanie
Well spoken Terry.
Developing a long-term relationship with a voice talent is also critical. Months or years later if you need a small patch or fix to the audio for an e-learning lesson it is terrific to get just that small clip fixed by the original voice talent. Having a long-term relationship, with someone I trust, creates that flexibility.
Yep, Steven Lowell of Voice123 has been writing in his blog recently that even the so-called “Pay to Play” sites like his are starting to see clients realise that a $25 voiceover sounds like a $25 voiceover.
Sometimes I wonder if voiceover is the new Life Coaching… a few years ago everyone I knew seemed to be reinventing themselves as Coaches. Most of them didn’t make it. Currently there seems to be an idea that anyone can make a living in voiceovers. I think time will tell us that this isn’t the case, and the perception will start to change back to how it used to be.
Things will get better, I believe, and there will continue to be a demand for those of us that do the job properly. We will be able to continue to command fees that enable us to eat and keep roofs over our heads. But we need to hold our nerve, people, and not let the price get driven ever-downwards…
Terry,
Nice Blog! I like your message here!
Perhaps we can collaborate. I’m actually looking to form a viable pool of talent via my website. Let me know if you’re interested.
Keep up the good work!
Lisa
Well done.
I have fought this war for decades. There seems to be a cycle. Client pick up a voice off the street and then come back to you when their client tell them the voice is not acceptable. It happened to me time and again, even before cyberspace existed.
All the best,
Yep. Agree with everything you’ve stated. Laurynda at Voices.com, I just have to ask: the roles that roll in through in at Voices.com for the most part are $100-250 cap paying jobs. Just confused about your post that we VO talents should try and garner the higher rate based on experience, talent, technical skills….
How do we communicate this fact to hiring authorities if they can specify pittance for our work? If we state our claim that we’re worth much more, but others send in lowball rates, then we’re compromised.
Seems to me that there should be some education on your end up front when businesses first inquire about hiring talent.
I really have wondered about this for some time now and would love your perspective.