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Voiceoverview: A Must Have tool for voice actors

August 8, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

Do You Have a Tool You Can’t Live Without?

The first few years I ran my business, I used a CRM called Nimble.  I’ve said this often, but as a professional voice actor, whatever genre we work in, we wear a lot of hots. As a small business owner, tracking our clients, prospects, and outreach is essential to our success. Nimble offered some features that I needed, but to be frank it was way more complicated than what I needed and it drove me a little crazy. I almost felt tormented by it.

Clubhouse with Dani States and and Diana BirdsallAbout four years ago my world was rocked when Dani States created her amazing tool Voiceoverview. It’s a business tracker with a CRM component. At the time of its inception, Dani was then partners with my dear friend Joe Davis who everyone knows from Voice Actor Websites. That’s how I first heard of it. So, before I go into Voiceoverview’s amazing features and why you should sign up today, I should tell you a few other details.

Last Friday Diana Birdsall and I were lucky enough to have Dani join us on our Clubhouse panel. Dani answered our questions and those of our guests and I learned SOOO much! Even as a longtime user of Voiceoverview, who has VOV open on my computer everyday, I still learned from Dani during our clubhouse!

How Voiceoverview Began

Dani explained that she was home, on unemployment, and started working as a voice actor about eight years ago. In order to track her progress, she had created spreadsheets. Dani’s husband took it a step further, and actually created a dashboard for her. Dani began sharing this with her friends, and although they occasionally messed it up, Dani realized she had created something that would benefit the voiceover community as a whole! Dani then began chats with Joe Davis, who as I mentioned become Dani’s business partner.

The Beauty of VOV

Dani explained that Voiceoverview is a business tracking tool built so that voice actors can understand the scope and breadth of our business. As a professional voice actor and voice over coach, I cannot tell you how essential such tracking is to your success. As we chatted, Dani was saying that the difference between having a business and having a hobby is tracking and analyzing your data. Whether you got voice over work through rosters, agents, LOLB, and casting sites, you need to be able to see where you work is coming from, how your numbers change, and what genres you book from whom. VOV allows you to see and analyze just that. The biggest barrier to using this tool is failing to incorporate it into your daily routine. Dani explained that it should be open on your computer all the time, and Diana and I said that we both use VOV throughout the day every day. Finanaces should not be a barrier to use, as it is $9.99/month or $96/year and Dani assured us it will remain at that rate, so it really is quite affordable, especially relative to other CRMs.

VOV’s Special Features

VOV special featuresOne of the features I was super excited to learn about was the ability to duplicate a job! I had no idea that if you have another booking with the same client you can do this! Wow, my mind was blown. We talked about favorite features including integration with WavesApp for invoicing, allowing for seamless invoicing and tracking of payments. Dani said that Fresh Books and Quick Books are coming soon! We talked about the year to date and past year comparisons. We also talked about the top ten client feature. Not only can you see you work with your top 10 clients during this year and in years past, but when you click on it you can get a ranked list of all of your clients from all time! We also talked about the reports feature. As a user, you can run reports on any data: contacts, jobs, expenses. You can then export and extract the data. Lastly, we spent some time talking about job reminders settings, and as I go through me notes I realize that I need to log in and reset my own! These job reminders can be set to off, 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days. The features are remarkable and were created by a voice actor for voice actors.

Some Questions from our Guests

New voice actor David Jacobs said he is using Hubspot at present and asked Dani if he can import his contacts? David also wanted to know if he can connect his email for tracking purposes. Dani explained that if hi has certain components like full names and email then yes, she is happy to help import contacts. She also explained that at the moment there is not email tracking and she herself uses something called Cloze to do that. Diana and I chimed in and said we both switched to VOV from Nimble and are really happy with it as a CRM. Dani also offered sound advice that it is really important to start tracking your business as you build it so that when your business grows your system is already in place and you do not have to get used to a new one. You need to have the tools and systems in place to manage your business.

Philip Koloctonois wanted to know about contacts and if bulk reminders can be set to reach out every 30 days. Dani set at the moment that is not an option but she loved the idea and will implement it. She also said she is exploring integration with Cloze for such a feature, and it depends on their API.

How It Has Changed Dani’s VO Business

Understand what your are doingDani said she is far more motivated since she has this in place. She also has a goal of doing at least 100 auditions per month to continue to bring in new clients, and it helps her track that ratio. She also said that the invoicing feature has been huge for her. I can tell you that Voiceoverview has been a game changer for me too. I am not guessing and as my business trends shift, I understand why and where it is going. It helps me make informed choices about my marketing strategy as well.

Advice for Other Entrepreneurs Thinking of a Side Gig

Diana asked Dani if given the opportunity, if she would do this again and without a moment of hesitation she said yes! Dani just finds this so valuable and really wants to help people. Dani did not start out thinking that she was creating something that she could sell, she created something she needed and it turns out others do to!

Hitting a Goal for Subscribers and What that Means

I was surprised to learn on our Clubhouse that Dani does not draw an income from VOV. Instead, she continues to reinvest into her brainchild, to make it better and better for the voice over community. While she describes its existence as being like a small country, she is building something and it isn’t about Dani, it’s about us. She is creating something for all of us. I can tell you it’s amazing and my business would not be where it is without it. If you are not using Voiceoverview, sign up today. You can get a 30 day free trial when you create an account, and if you were in the clubhouse you can get an extra month free!

Filed Under: Business Management, Client Relationships, Marketing/Branding Tagged With: API, business tracking, Cloze, Clubhouse, CRM, Dani States, data, Diana Birdsall, Expenses, Features, Fresh Books, income, Integrations, Job Reminders, Joe Davis, nimble, Quickbooks, Reports, small business owner, Tracking, voice actor, voice over, voice over business, voiceover, voiceoverview, VOV, WaveApps

Why Maintaining Rates In VO Matters

May 9, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

Recent Negotiation Examples

As a working, professional voice talent, one of the aspects of my job that I dread is negotiating rates with clients. When I think about “living the dream” part of the dream of pursuing my passion for voiceover as a talent, coach, and demo producer does not involve the back-and-forth banter to iron out a rate before a job begins. Yet, this banter is becoming more and more necessary as the days of jobs with desirable rates simply arriving in my in-box seem to be fewer that past years.

Accepting LessLet me share two experiences that happened in the past week. Last week, I heard from an Indie Video Game producer that I worked with in 2016. They were offering me the same role I played then. I had detailed notes in my CRM that they needed a discount as they were trying to launch the game with a kickstarter campaign. When I quoted them this time a normal, mid-range rate, they came back to me saying they were shocked that my rated had gone up. They went on to say that the five other talents had agreed to the rate they offered and they wanted to pay everyone the same. I referred them to the GVAA rate guide, which I will discuss later, and reminded them of the terms of 2016. They came up to my rate for me and for the other talents.

On Friday at the end of the day I client I have done quite a few TV campaigns for sent me two scripts. The rate for both was pathetic for one. It was clear he wanted a buy out, meaning he expects usage in perpetuity, which is never good for voice actors. I responded saying that I’d love to help but that the rate won’t work. I sent some suggestions their way, and said that we need to find a rate that is fare for both of us. My hope is that tomorrow we can work something out and that I don’t have to walk away from a long time client. I cannot, though, work for the rate offered. Maintaining industry standard rates matters for multiple reasons, not just for you as a solopreneur working to make  living, but for the some total of our industry as a whole.

If We all Accept Lower Rates, Will Only Get Lower Rates

Your Value Doesn't DecreaseImagine a scenario where we all just stopped negotiating. Let’s say a client offers $200 for two TV commercials with no mention of the length of usage, and instead of trying to negotiate, sort out the details, and explain why buy outs don’t work for us, we all just said “sure.” The implications would be staggering. The clients, then, would assume there is nothing wrong with this sweat shop pay, and would assume that our years of coaching and on-going professional development, that our expensive studio equipment, that the service we provide, that none of it has value, and that the can continue to lower and lower the rates. Where will it end? How low will they go? I shudder at the thought, and fear that if we are not willing to walk away, these bargain basement rates will become more and more common. You must know your worth and be willing to stand up for it.

Sometimes Client’s Genuinely Don’t Know and Need to Be Educated

As hard as this is to believe, sometimes clients are not actually trying to drive rates down. Sometimes they genuinely have no idea where the rates should be set and it is up to us to educate them. I have had this conversation with many other voice talents, and this is often the case. Often those casting us have never worked with voice actors before. Perhaps they were tasked with hiring a voice actor by someone else, and they know nothing about it. It’s possible, especially in eLearning, that they come from Human Resources or Academia and they know little to nothing about casting. When this is the case, a conversation about rates becomes a wonderful opportunity instead of frustrating and contentions.

Imagine How much Less You would Make If you Took the bottom Number on Every Job

Think about your financial goals for the month. Then think about your financial goals for the year. Then think about that over a three year period. Imagine, then, what would happen if you made 10% less on each job? Worse, what if you made 30% less on each job? It’s not just about having money to live off of and pay bills, at such a large income reduction, it will also effect your ability to save for the future and for your retirement. As solopreneurs, every booking we get matters in and of itself and in terms of building our client base. Each booking also matters for the industry as a whole. We all impact each other’s earning potential.

Where can you find Guides for Industry Standard Rates

If you are looking for sources or rates guides, let me refer you to three:

  • The GVAA Rates Guide is extremely thorough and covers most of what you need: https://globalvoiceacademy.com/gvaa-rate-guide-2/
  • The Gravy for The Brain Rates Guide is very specific, allows you to search by genre and usage, and is also great for EU and UK clients:

    Rate Guide

  • The SAG rate guide cal also be extremely helpful: https://www.sagaftra.org/contracts-industry-resources/voiceover

Think About the End Goal: Earning a Consistent, Sustainable Income

In the end, we all want to earn a consistent, sustainable income. I remember hearing Bill DeWees, one of my first mentor’s in voice over, talk about this back in 2015. Yes! That what I needed, consistency. But a consistent income doesn’t just fall into your lap, it requires a rigorous blend of hard work and a willingness to negotiate. If you can’t stand up for what you’re worth, you’ll never get it.

Filed Under: Rates, Voiceover Tagged With: Bill DeWees, booking, buy out, buyout, client education, coach, commercial, Gravy for the Brain, GVAA, income, industry standard rates, negotiating, professional voice actor, rates, SAG, social medial, solopreneur, usage, video game, VO, voice over, voice over coach, voiceover, working creative

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