The Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

This should help you figure out what to charge per hour to make ends meet. Keep in mind though, as a voice talent, you will work less than most other types of freelancers out there, unless you have more to offer your clients (script writing, audio editing, etc.) You also don’t want to charge more than you’re worth. Don’t worry, clients will be the first to tell you if your rate is too high, but by then it already be too late.

The more you offer, the more you get paid (that is, if you’re jack or jill of all trades and also master of all of them). This is true with your voice as well. If you have a very bland and uninteresting voice (which sometimes is called for) you probably won’t get called again. Practice and you won’t have to worry about it.

Ok, post complete. If you’ve tried to subscribe by email in the past, it was broken (since the introduction of the new theme). Now it’s fixed! Subscribe by email and get new posts right in your email inbox!

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Script Collection

I was writing a script collection until I came across this AWESOME resource on Jeff Kafer’s blog.

There are thousands of scripts in this collection and they all seem really great. DEFINITELY take advantage of this resource for your demos.

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1. Five P’s of Voice Over Success: Practice Going off of the last post, People. If you have...

Sounds a little harsh, but it’s true. If someone finds you on your Myspace, Facebook, personal website (do you have one?), or they contact you by phone, are they going to be impressed with what they see or hear, or will they blow you off because you sound like an amateur?

There’s one way to prevent that: Practice.

I never say practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to voice over work. Practice makes persistence. You can’t always be perfect when it comes to voice over. Perfection lies in the ears of the producer or the client, not with your ears. Something may be perfect to your ears but completely wrong for the listener.

How do you practice using your voice? There’s a lot of great practice methods I use all the time.

Tongue twisters are great for practice. Practice speaking them technically perfect. Focus on the beginnings and end of the words at a slower tempo (like Rodney does in the video) and then speed it up little by little.

I mention tongue twisters first, because they’re a great warmup. After you are nice and warmed up, start working on some real scripts.

You might say, where do I find copy? Think of a product you like or a commercial you like and find it on Youtube. If you hear a commercial on the radio you like, find some way to record it and write it down. Don’t use these commercials in your demos, they are more than likely copyrighted and someone might come after you.

In a few weeks I’ll be coming out with my first collection of royalty free commercial copy. I’ve already started writing a lot of different kinds of commercials. I am quite the writer (as you know if you’ve read any of my posts) so these commercials won’t be the typical royalty free copy you’ll find, they’ll be good. These are different, you CAN use them in your demos and however you want, I don’t care. The collection will be copyrighted, but you are free to use them in your demos. Subscribe to my RSS feed to make sure you don’t miss the premiere.

Also, another great way to practice is to read aloud. Grab a good book from the library and just read it (aloud to yourself, into a recorder, or to someone else). If the person you’re reading to falls asleep, that might be a clue to something. Either pick a new book or spice it up a bit.

Practice really is important. I’m sure you hear that alot (even in this post), but it really is, no kidding. You have to suck it up and practice or you’ll probably never get any better.

If practicing is hard or gets old fast, don’t do it for long and take some breaks.

What some don’t recognize is landing a project and working for a client is practice within itself! It’s great. There’s no better practice than work itself.

Not getting any work? Practice! Market! Network! All these subjects are covered extensively in this blog. Sign up for the RSS feed and get all the latest updates to the blog. Working for yourself as a voiceover artist can be difficult without help. That’s why I’m here, to help you out!

Have fun practicing! Leave some of your favorite practice techniques in the comments.

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Paypal.

Paypal is a service that allows you to send and receive payment without sharing your financial information with anyone. I use it on my website to take payment from clients. (See the bottom of www.voiceofmichael.com). Since I am a business member of paypal, I can take credit card payments as well. There are different levels of paypal for different users, check it out and see what level of service is best for you.

Since every voice over person I know does work remotely (and sometimes never even meets their clients face to face), how do you expect them to pay you? If you’re waiting on a check in the mail, there’s a good chance it might not show up. Cash by mail? Forget it! Western Union? That’s getting desperate. You need Paypal so you can make money on the internet. It’s very secure, probably one of the most secure sites on the net. Go to their site and sign up right now!

There are other payment services on the net, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. Share other payment services you use in the comments.

Hope all of you had a happy holidays, I know I did. Be looking for the next post soon! Subscribe to my feed at the top of the page to get my posts delivered to your mailbox instantly.

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“Hello Michael,

Hope all is well. Just wanted to let you know about my new motivational and
inspirational album, ‘Better Than Before.’ It’s seven songs
geared toward the voiceover community. Music designed to keep you in a positive
frame of mind as you pursue your voiceover career. It’s a collection of
R&B, Pop and Gospel selections sung by me. You can purchase it at
www.rodneysaulsberry.com.

YouTube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-okWBRH8K0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrRx54eRJDg

Your web site is very impressive Michael. Not only does it promote you greatly,
it’s a great source of information for the voiceover community. Happy
Holidays!

Thank You,

Rodney Saulsberry”

Thanks Rodney, I definitely appreciate it and look forward to getting my copy asap.

All of you should too, it will make a great gift to yourself or an aspiring voice talent that you know.

Also, Rodney’s book “You Can Bank on Your Voice” and “Step Up to the Mic” are amazing resources for voice talent of every caliber, you should get a copy or two if you don’t already have one. There are some amazing tips in these books, trust me, I have both.

All of the aforementioned are available via his website: www.rodneysaulsberry.com

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Have you ever actually been on the other end, though? I imagine it’s pretty suspenseful and almost impossible to think while in the limelight under time constraints… wait a tick… something about this sounds very familiar.

Well, if you’ve played the voice over game before, you’ve played The Price is Right. As a matter of fact, you’ve been involved in every aspect of the game.

You juggle a lot of hats when you’re a self-represented voice person. One of those hats that is often dropped is price. Naming the right price can be incredibly difficult. In the heat of the moment it can be quite difficult to decide on a price to quote. Will the quote be too high? These are just a few of the questions that run through the mind when the question of cost arises.

So, what’s your answer? A matter of seconds is often all the time you have to think when a prospective client calls, wants to know your price, and they don’t want to wait. The people who are hiring you for voice work often have many things to do and they usually want to hire someone quickly and for the best price possible.

So, the best thing to do is have a list of your prices with you everywhere you go. I keep all of my rates in my phone. Granted, I’ve got one of those fancy computer phones that can make spreadsheets and really nifty stuff, but a lot of phones can at least hold plain text notes: just enough to have your rates listed. You carry your phone with you everywhere (to answer those constant calls from clients for more work) so why not have it hold your valuable information as well? If you can’t store that information in your phone or don’t know how, print out a small rate overview card from your computer and keep it in your wallet.

So, now that you know where to keep your rates, how should you set your rates to be both attractive (to yourself and prospective clients) and competitive at the same time?

I think the key is two words: know thyself.

You should know how much time and effort it will take you to complete a 30 second radio commercial as well as a 300 page audio book. You know how long it took to make your demos (you should have demos and you should know how long they took to make if you had a hand in the process). So the main question is “how much is your time worth?”. You really have to answer this question for yourself based on a few factors:

1) How much experience do you have? More experienced vo people can charge more because they are more skilled. If you have no experience, skip the rest of the steps.

2) Do you run your own studio? If yes, keep in mind the initial and recurring costs as well as some profit. If no, you have to at least recoup the amount you’re being charged to record, plus the gas and time it took to drive there, and then add a double dose of profit.

3) Are you going to edit the material yourself? If you are, keep in mind the amount of work that will take and the time that the editing will take to complete. You’ll want to figure that into the cost as well.

4) How will the client want the project delivered? If they want it by e-mail or FTP, no big deal, but if they want an overnight cd, keep in mind how much that costs, because it’s not cheap. You’ll want the client to pay for that, so make sure to tell them that in the quote. Find out if they want that first thing. If, by chance, they want it recorded through ISDN, you’ll need to book a studio that has that capability and make sure to figure in the cost (as in point 2).

So, now that you’ve considered most of the things you need to charge for (if you’re and experienced talent), a note for the less experienced: you won’t be able to charge much, if anything for your services. I’m not saying do everything for free, that is a HUGE mistake that can lead you down a dark, dark path. You just may not be able to charge what you want for a while. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you won’t be making what a professional will make for a while.

As far as charging goes, as in the actual price, what you need to do is think long and hard about your rates before you get asked by a client what your rate will be. While you’re doing free stuff, think in the back of your head “this is what I would want to charge for this”. Write it down if you have to. Once you’ve gotten an idea of how much you should charge for something, it’s time to start charging.

Don’t start of charging union rates, you’ll never book a gig. The only people willing to pay union rates are auditions that your agent sends you to. Most of you (including myself) won’t have to worry about that for a while.

The only reason I would look at union (SAG/AFTRA) rates is to get an idea of what kind of work is more expensive than the other. Or, you could take the rates and divide them at least by 3 if not more. This might be a good starting place if you are totally clueless about what to charge.

Always keep the client’s budget in mind as well. Sometimes you may not know it and you may have to guess. In that case, aim low and the client won’t be disappointed.

Good luck naming your price! Sorry this post took so long to get out, I wanted to make sure I wrote down everything I wanted to talk about.

More to come next time in part four of The Five P’s of Voice Over Success. Subscribe to the RSS feed above to have the article delivered to your e-mail inbox.

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Great opportunity for free publicity!

Next post: 5 P’s of Voiceover Success: PRICE is COMING SOON!

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It greatly saddens me to hear of the passing of the greatest master of the art of voice over the world has ever seen: Don LaFontaine.

Everyone knows his voice, it’s been heard on almost half of the movie trailers broadcast in the past decade. If you’ve watched Fox (the Simpsons, 24, House, or any of their shows) he was the voice of their commercials. In my mind and in the minds of many others, he was truly the greatest voice the world has ever heard.

A true master in every since of the word, the world that is voice over would not be what it is without his great contributions to the art.

Everyone will miss you Don. Thank you for your artistry and your contributions to the world of voice-over. You will live on as a true legend in my mind and in the minds of all other voice over artists the world over. Rest in peace.

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1) No matter what DO NOT CHANGE COPY! We are not copywriters (although we could write better copy in our sleep sometimes) therefore we should do what we can to make it SPICY.

2) Add inflection. Do not read the sentence in a monotone manner (unless the copy calls for that, of course.) Also, don’t span the gap between the Chipmunks and James Earl Jones. Too much inflection can be a very bad thing. I try to end the sentence on a different “pitch” than where I started. If the sentence is a question, the sentence should raise in pitch at the end. If the sentence is a statement, the pitch usually descends towards the end. There are no absolutes for inflection, in fact, it’s one of the elements that separates amateur from professional in the world of voice over. It often distinguishes a particular voice actor from another. Find your style and make it your own. Have different styles and make your life interesting.

3) Add dynamic phrasing. SLIGHTLY (and I do mean very slowly and gradually) increase or decrease the volume of words you speak. Similar to dynamics in a piece of music, words can be loud or very soft. Sometimes, and I do mean very rarely, a sudden change in volume is quite effective. I chose in one of my demos to include a piece of whispered copy. I think it makes the listener take notice. Some will hate you for making such a drastic change in volume, some will love it. Use your common sense to distinguish when or when not to use dynamic phrasing.

4) Change the speed up. Not only can dynamics and pitch be changed, but the speed of copy can also speed up and slow down. Tempo: the speed at which something is read or played. This requires a LOT of practice and experimentation. Different types of copy require different speeds. Once again, there are no rules set in stone for this idea, it is just something to get you thinking about the different ways you can make your time behind the mic and your listeners a little less miserable when bad copy strikes (and TRUST ME, it will!)

Leave some comments on techniques you use to bring life to dead or dying copy. Feedback is ALWAYS appreciated!

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How do you go about getting work? Well, first of all, you have to have demos. You have to spend time finding quality copy. Then, you (or someone you hire) have to spend time recording it, editing it, producing it, and distributing it before work even has the possibility of showing up.

You also must, like with any other job dealing with clients, do exactly that, deal with clients! Some clients are GREAT, others are not. Some want all of your time and some don’t want to give you enough detail as to what they want.

People misconstrue what a voice over artist does, and I know that contributes to my desire to be lazy. People think I have it easy and therefore, I start to think I have it easy. I procrastinate, and put off work, procrastinate, and then I get SO far behind it’s impossible to catch up.

The best way to prevent laziness is to ALWAYS BE DOING SOMETHING! Now, granted, I am a big proponent of taking breaks, but you can’t finish what you don’t start. Take some time today and make a list of things you’ve started in the past month that you would like to finish in 30 days. Make an action plan and get it done. There is no better feeling than a sense of accomplishment.

Also, don’t be lazy when you’re behind the mic. If you think you could read something better, do it again. You will make yourself look better and your client (more than likely) will appreciate the extra effort. Return business is the best business. Without repeat clients, you eventually struggle to find work. It happens to everyone, sometimes it’s caused by laziness. Don’t let it happen to you!

Lastly, I want to apologize to my readers for my lack of recent updates. I am getting married in less than a month and a half and I am preparing for a HUGE move. Pardon my slight lack of attention to this blog as I get my life ready for a big change. Once I move, the updates will flow more and more readily because I will have more time for blogging. Thanks for your understanding!

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