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VoiceOver.biz Isn’t The Solution You’re Looking For

World-Voices created VoiceOver.biz to be a talent directory… and that’s exactly what is is. A talent directory… just like they said.

Just like they’ve repeated.

Repeatedly.

It seems like every time Voices dot com does something disruptive, the cries go up, once again, for World-Voices to turn VoiceOver.biz into the solution and savior we’re all looking for.

It’s still a talent directory.

Just like they said it would be.

VoiceOver.biz Isn’t The Solution You’re Looking For

Online casting isn’t going away. This is something we’re all too well aware of. However, if online casting is going to remain fair and lucrative for serious voice actors, admittedly, we may need an alternative to Voices dot com.

VoiceOver.biz is not it.

A searchable database of professional talent has a place and purpose. But it’s only going to take us so far.

The reality is, most people seeking a voice want the quick and easy fix.

Like it or not, Voices dot com offers that. Post your project. Collect auditions. Hire. The end. Heck, if you want, for the low low fee of 40-80% of your budget (unbeknownst to you, of course) Voices dot com will even handle the entire deal for you!

VoiceOver.biz doesn’t do that.

Nor, do I suspect, will it ever.

Unless someone is planning to infuse tens of millions of dollars in the VoiceOver.biz bank account.

Remember, Voices dot com didn’t become the juggernaut they are, for free! There are, quite literally, tens of millions of dollars on the books to build the infrastructure and help them operate and grow daily.

At the end of the day, the success of your business falls on you and how you choose run it.
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There are a couple bigger issues at play, as I see it.

1) People misunderstand the purpose of World-Voices. While the organization will act as an advocate for the industry as a whole, it is not in their mandate, as I understand it, to help you or me find and book voice over work.

2) VoiceOver.biz was not created to replace casting sites as your source of voice over work.

3) A talent directory is meant to provide a searchable database for voice seekers looking for professional talent. It’s not meant to be a casting site for you to find voice over work.

4) Stop expecting other people, sites, organizations, companies and sources to find voice over work for you. Including World-Voices and VoiceOver.biz.

5) Voices dot com, or any other casting site, should NEVER be your primary source for income in the first place, and if it is, let this wake up call be the gentle nudge you need to take back control of your business, do your OWN marketing, find your OWN work and build your OWN client base.

How Are You Running Your Business?

I’ve built a six-figure voice over income with my own blood, sweat and tears. I’ve not relied on casting sites, VoiceBank, agents, or anyone else to find those opportunties and convert them. I do my own legwork daily.

My business is MY business.

This is why these “disruptions” have had little to no impact (thus far) on me or my business and why (to this point) I’m not sweating them too much or freaking out.

Can there be tools and resources to help us? Sure there can! Resources like being listed in a free talent directly such as VoiceOver.biz can be one of them. Heck, even casting sites can be one of them.

Just remember, each of them are SINGLE tools in your toolbox.

At the end of the day, the success (or lack thereof) of your business falls on you and how you choose run it.

If you choose to give away control to outside entities (like casting sites, VoiceBank, etc…) then you’re allowing your business to be run by their rules, and you can’t act surprised, hurt or p’oed when the rules change and you take the hit.

Not if you let it happen.

Want to learn more about World-Voices and how they’re advocating for our industry? Or, better yet, want to become a member? Visit http://world-voices.org

Disclaimer: The opinions shared in this blog are those of the blogger (that would be me). They are not endorsed in any way by World-Voices or VoiceOver.biz
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Pro Tips for Using Voice123 SmartCast

It’s no secret how I feel about casting sites. If you’re going to use them, they should be ONE tool in your toolbox. Not the WHOLE toolbox. If you really want to build a sustainable business, you’ve got to do your own marketing and build your own client base.

To succeed in online casting, you need to understand how it works. Nobody understands this world better than J Michael Collins! At least a couple times a week I’ll get asked about how to use SmartCast on Voice123. Part of me thinks it’s one of life’s great mysteries… you know, like the Caramilk Secret! However, if anyone can help us better understand the feature, J Michael is that individual. I’m so happy he agreed to share some of his wisdom with us!

Understanding SmartCast

Since Voice123 first arrived on the scene about a decade ago, their proprietary casting algorithm, known as SmartCast, has perplexed and bedeviled the voice talent community.

SmartCast was designed with the intent of avoiding the cattle call phenomenon that befell most other online casting sites, requiring talent to use their auditions wisely in order to achieve maximum benefit from the site.

While the details of the algorithm have evolved over the years, one fundamental principle remains: SmartCast is meant to discourage you from auditioning too much, so that jobs aren’t saturated with unqualified auditions, and so that each talent has the opportunity to book work through Voice123.

What does “too much” mean? Voice123 representatives have repeatedly stated that talent should audition no more than a handful of times per day. In extreme cases, SmartCast has dramatically reduced the flow of auditions to talent who were doing as few as 3-4 auditions per day. Most talent report being able to submit 4-6 daily without running into trouble. Exceed that number, and the system is likely to reduce your access to opportunities.

You can also track the feature in “My Stats” that shows the percentage of auditions you have submitted compared to similar talent. If this number rises over 200%, you are likely to see fewer auditions from SmartCast.

SmartCast does take other factors into account, such as the feedback you receive from buyers on your auditions, (the star rating,) and your bidding practice, however these are negligible. At VO Atlanta 2016, Voice123’s chief stated that audition ratings account for 2% of the algorithm. In other words, it is all about quantity. Do too many, and you’ll be shut down.

There are two workarounds if you find SmartCast too limiting. Voice123 offers a Platinum membership level for $4,950/year, payable in three installments, which turns off SmartCast and allows you to audition as much as you like. It also gives your priority in searches done through the site.

If that’s too rich for your blood, you can always open multiple Premium accounts in order to have more opportunities. This is not an exact science, but some talent have reported success, and it is not against Voice123 policy.

Bottom Line? Use SmartCast wisely for best results. Even if you limit yourself to 4 auditions per day, that’s 20 per week. Top talent book 7-10% of the time, quality everyday full-time pros book 3-5% of the time, and talented newcomers book maybe 1%. If you fall into one of these categories, you’ll book some work over time. It may not be much in terms of quantity, but as we all know the real money from online casting is made by building relationships and generating repeat business, so even booking a few clients per month should lead to sustainable income in the long run.

Happy Booking!
J Michael Collins

With over twenty years as a professional voiceover artist, J Michael Collins has worked with some of the biggest companies, brands, sports leagues, and organizations on the planet. In addition to his work in the classic, agency-based world of VO, J. Michael has established himself as the leading authority and top-grossing talent in the online marketplace, and has become recognized as an industry leading talent coach and demo producer as well.

J. Michael was the winner of the 2016 VoiceArts Awards for Outstanding Radio Commercial-Best Voiceover, Outstanding Political Announcement-Best Voiceover, and was the producer of 2016’s Outstanding Narration Demo.

For coaching and demo services visit jmcvoiceover.com

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Tips For Getting Started With Voice123

Last week Voice123 offered a really great deal to subscribe to the site. Basically, you could get a premium membership for half price. For a lot of people, myself included, it was too good of a deal to pass up.

Given all the frustration and constant negative change occurring at one of the other major casting sites (that shall remain nameless), Voice123 offers a much more fair alternative if you’re looking for some new opportunities.

If you’re one of the ones that signed up, here’s a few quick tips to help you maximize the potential the site offers.

Thanks for sharing this post from Marc Scott's Voice Over Blog.

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Let Me Clear Up Something About Casting Sites

It would seem I’ve built up a bit of a reputation for myself as Mr Anti Casting Sites. After sharing some thoughts on the subject via my blog, and also in panels at VO Atlanta and the Midwest Voice Over Conference, and having countless conversations with other voice actors via email, social media and in person, it’s time to set the records straight.

Do I have issue with the way certain casting sites conduct their business? Yes.

Have I ever told anyone to not use casting sites ever? No.

Are there certain casting sites I recommend using over others? Yes.

Do I look down upon those who choose to use casting sites? Absolutely not!

Let Me Clear Up Something About Casting Sites

From the very beginning the only thing I’ve said repeatedly is if you’re going to use the casting sites…

A) Use them as ONE tool in your toolbox, not the only tool.

B) Make sure you educate yourself on what you’re signing up for. (Read Terms of Service)

C) Evaluate your audition to booking ratio and return on TIME investment.

Online casting isn’t going away. This is truth, whether we like it or not and regardless of how you may feel about any or all casting sites. It’s just the reality of the world we live in.

Just like Amazon crushed the brick and mortar book store and iTunes killed the record store, casting sites are replacing what were formerly considered traditional forms of finding and booking talent.

It is what it is. It’s not going away.

I’m A Casting Site Member

bodalgo voice over casting siteI’m a member of bodalgo. A proud member, in fact. I fully support Armin, the site he’s built and the model he’s using for his business. After a couple Online Casting Panels from recent conferences, I’ve even given some consideration to giving Voice123 another shot. I had great success with them when I used them years ago.

But make no mistake, these sites will NEVER replace my own marketing efforts. I’ll NEVER rely exclusively on them for leads and bookings. I’m not going to spend countless hours a day auditioning feverishly for every opportunity that requires a male voice.

My business is MY business. I’ve built it on my terms of service, not anyone else’s. It will remain this way.

What Works? What Doesn’t?

No matter what you choose to do, you must evaluate what works for your business model. If it’s casting sites, great. If it’s not, great.

Marketing works for me. I’ve built a great business. I’m connecting with new people all the time. Finding new leads and opportunities every week.

A good financial planner will help you spread out your assets. This is how you protect yourself. With a well balanced portfolio, if one area starts to under-perform, it’ll balance out in another area. You shouldn’t have all your eggs in one basket.

This goes for your savings and your voice over business.

The Bottom Line

I’ll continue to speak out against casting site practices I find unethical and immoral. If I find out talent are being blatantly ripped off or taken advantage of, I’ll shine light on it. At the same time, if I find sites that are listening to talent, supporting talent and using business models that benefit all parties involved, (like bodalgo) I’ll shine light on that too.

Do your research. Do your math. Most importantly, never let someone else (individual or casting site) dictate the terms of your voice and your voice business.

Thanks for sharing this post from Marc Scott's Voice Over Blog.

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The Voice Realm Speaks About QUICKcast Part 2

QUICKcast The Voice RealmLast week I conducted an interview with Kurt Myers of The Voice Realm regarding their new QUICKcast feature.

Their new feature has certainly created a level of controversy within the industry, as many voice actors were less than impressed with the rate structure.

If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out the interview here – The Voice Realm Speaks On Their New QUICKcast Feature

After the interview was published, a number of talent reached out with further questions. They contacted me directly, left comments on my blog and communicated with staff from The Voice Realm. The following is a response I received from Kurt Myers addressing some of those comments.

Follow Up

the voice realmKurt Myers: We understand at first the $55 rate can be seen as dropping to the lowest of low. However the majority of voice talent on all voice over sites where auditions take place audition anywhere from 15-30 times to land one job. This is from information I’ve been told over the past few years from at least 50 voice talent that I’ve spoken to about these voice over sites.

Take this example. Let’s say a voice talent auditions 20 times to land a $200 job. That’s $10 per audition when you break down time spent recording.

QUICKcast has no audition. You get the script and record.

So unless a voice talent gets every single job with each audition they do, then I think QUICKcast isn’t as bad as it first appears.

The whole site is not going this way. It is one tiny fraction of our bookings in the past week.

The average booking in the past week at The Voice Realm was $412. From what we know on other sites publicly released data theirs is around $250.

We have had 5 QUICKcast bookings at an average of $85 per booking. Remember $55 is the lowest QUICKcast rate, we promote add-ons to increase the rate during the booking process. Of those 5 bookings only 1 was $55. So within the first week of the feature being public we’ve actually seen the average price for a booking increase. The prior week was an average of $386.

To further clarify how the site brings in jobs to professional voice talent, the majority of bookings at The Voice Realm are made through Private Auditions. The clients comes to the site, auditions a voice, then hires them.

I hope that clears some of the misconceptions up.

Kurt Myers
Business Development Manager
The Voice Realm

If you have any further questions, comments, or concerns, please visit www.thevoicerealm.com to speak with their customer service department.

QUESTION: Are you a member of The Voice Realm? What do you think of QUICKcast?

* I am not an employee of The Voice Realm. This blog post is shared for informational purposes. *

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