Five Ways to Make Sure You Don’t Get Screwed as a VO Talent

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Now, I don’t mean to scare you…

Generally, this is a great industry, and people are very kind and helpful and supportive. 

But as with any industry where there is a large influx of people wanting to do “the thing,” voiceover is also full of people and companies ready to take your money…some of which are great. And others whose value offered in return is questionable at best. 

Whether you’re brand spanking new to the biz or have been in it for a while, here are a few things you can do to protect yourself, your money, and your voiceover dreams.

Five Ways to Keep From Getting Screwed In VO

You know how to Google your Tindr dates—and you should be doing the same before you accept work!

You know how to Google your Tindr dates—and you should be doing the same before you accept work!

  1. Background check your opportunities

    Question: How often do we see someone asking in the Facebook groups, “Hey, I got offered a job for a game show—is this legit?”

    Answer: Probably weekly. And no, it’s not. There is no game show job. 

    Any time a company approaches you with an offer that appears to come completely out of the blue or seems too good to be true, do your due diligence.

    Don’t let your hopes blind you to the scams.

    Google search the name of the thing and “scam” to see if it’s popped up before. 

    You can also ask your voiceover colleagues on Facebook, but be sure to search the Facebook voiceover groups first to see if someone else has asked about them (or warned against them). Most of the time, you aren’t the first and you won’t be the last!

  2. Vet your coaches

    My acting teacher, Raye Birk, was very much against what he called “commissary talk”…or gossip. So, I really don’t like to talk badly about people, and try to stay away from it. 

    However, I think there’s a difference between gossip… and getting the inside scoop on a person or service before you waste your hard earned cash. 

    Personally, I’m a fan of checking out people ahead of time by listening to them speak at conferences, on podcasts, finding any free opportunities to work with them a little bit, or at least getting recommendations from friends BEFORE I go spending any money. Not every coach is for everyone…so it’s a great idea to get a sense of their personality and/or coaching style before investing a lot of cash. 

    In addition, if you’re working with a coach, you should be their main focus of attention for the duration of the session. Things happen…emails pop up, client jobs can sometimes run over, etc, but any coach with integrity should be focused on you during the time you have booked, not answering emails, telling long-winded anecdotes, keeping their camera off so they can get other work done, etc. 

    Recently, I’ve also heard of a few instances of coaches who run the clock, keeping someone past the time and then charging extra. Personally, I would hope that the coach would say, “alright, we’ve got five minutes left, let’s wrap this up.” But if you haven’t worked with someone before, you might want to set some sort of reminder about five minutes before your session ends so you can end on time and not incur any surprise fees. 

  3. When someone shows you who they are, believe them

    Maya Angelou spoke these extraordinarily wise words. Someone might be extremely visible in the community, but if you have seen them treat others poorly or heard from multiple acquaintances that they’ve had bad experiences, you probably don’t need to test the waters yourself. 

    I believe in second chances. I love giving people the benefit of the doubt. 

    They were rude? Maybe they were just having a bad day. 

    They ghosted you? Well, they’re so busy with work, and they’ve got a lot going on in their personal life…I’ll forgive it. 

    But at some point, we shouldn’t have to invent possible excuses for someone anymore.
    Without an apology and visible change, bad behavior is bad behavior. 

  4. Know industry rates

    I’m not the first to say this, and I won’t be the last, but there are no “beginner rates” for professionals. If a client has chosen you, you deserve to get paid what the job is actually worth.

    Compete on quality and service, not on price!

    If you are getting work on any of the P2P sites, you’re going to be tempted when you get an email for a job where the rate is above four figures. But no matter what the rate is, look at the details, or you might just be shooting yourself in the foot! 

    I just saw one yesterday that was advertised as $1000…but it was for five videos. 

    $500 might be a great rate for an explainer video, but a terrible rate for recording an entire audiobook.

    It is our responsibility to know what industry standard rates are and to reject rates that are below what is reasonable. 

    Remember: you are running a business, and that business takes all sorts of investment of time and money outside of the hour long session with your client. You are not being paid $1000 for one hour…you are earning $1000 for the investment in your studio and all of the training, marketing and auditioning it took you to get that job. 

  5. Don’t agree to shitty usage

    Just as important as rates…possibly more…is usage. Clients and brand new VOs alike tend to think that payment is for the work done, but that’s only one piece of the picture.

    A session fee is the amount paid for the actual work of recording the voiceover; the usage fee is what you are paid for the use of the recording. It’s a copyright. They are leasing your voice.

    In some genres, usage is more important—broadcast in particular.

    I’ve heard some say, “Well, it’s not a big deal, because this client doesn’t want exclusivity…”

    Which is great until your agent wants to book you on a huge national campaign three years later, and you can’t take it because you have a conflict in that category.

    For industry standard rates and usage, always check the GVAA Rate Guide.

That ad COULD outlive you…

That ad COULD outlive you…

There are so many other ways to get screwed in this industry that I forgot to mention, like…

When we want something really badly, we are vulnerable.

Enjoy your voiceover journey without regrets—do your research.

Now go forth, and practice safe VO!

If your gut is telling you not to trust a person or situation, LISTEN TO IT!

If your gut is telling you not to trust a person or situation, LISTEN TO IT!