Voice actors are known for their supportive and enabling acts of kindness. As a community, most other freelance professionals don’t come close. But in one realm, voiceover talents keep their cards close to the vest.
Rates.
It’s not that we wouldn’t share information if asked. But almost no one ever does. Personally, I believe there’s a certain fear that we’ll find out we’re not asking enough compensation from our clients… or that we’re devaluing our talent and knowledge in the marketplace.
And then there’s that: THE MARKETPLACE. Whew, is that ever changing! Forces are at work in the business that have old pros shaking their heads. And yet, there are more opportunities for voice actors than ever. How much SHOULD you charge for that audiobook, that eLearning module, that 30-second national spot with five tags and a 6-month buyout? Should you join the union? How much should an agent take off the top? Those new 2-minute explainer videos?…what do I charge for that?
Well, we’re GONNA talk about it. “We” being WoVO. In a TweetChat. Today.
Be there at noon Pacific Time, and set your Hootsuite or Tweetdeck program to search for #wovochat. Myself and fellow World-Voices founder Dan Lenard are going to host some Q & A on the topic of rates. We don’t pretend to have all the answers, and that’s where YOU come in.
For an hour…it’s an open forum and free-for-all on the subject of pay, compensation and rates. We have a general idea of where we want to go. See the list of 10 questions we’ll address in Monday’s blog. Tchat.io is a site that seems to work especially well in this type of setting.
The hour goes quickly, and I bet you’ll see some of your friends there…like you…talking back ‘n’ forth in 140 characters or less. It’s a lot of fun, and I know we’ll all come away having learned something.
C U there!
CourVO
