If you want to read a good article regarding talent agents, check out Agents: Traditionally They Don’t Promote, But Hybrids Bring Change written by Jennifer Vaughn, a respected voice over talent, also from Florida. Her article appears in Voice Over Xtra, a reliable voice over resource site.

Vaughn’s article helps to clear up the old misconception that talent agents are talent promoters. Traditionally, they haven’t been. Even if they provide the hybrid services she discusses, those tend to be one-time publicity events. For the most part, talent agents only hope to connect a particular job to a particular voice actor in their talent roster (someone they represent). For that particular job, they may sell you.

Only a publicist will promote you to the hiring public at large. This is why top celebrities tend to have both talent agents and publicity agents. A seasoned publicity agent will have solid media contacts and a genuine knack for promoting you: knowing how, where, what and when to promote.

Of course, not many of us can afford a publicist. So, I guess we can turn to the Internet and look for ways to become our own publicists. In fact, a search on Amazon.com, turned up How to be Your Own Publicist by Jessica Hatchigan. It was right above How To Be Your Own Therapist. Hmmm — add to cart.

Really, no billing policy you put in place will give you grief if you’re guided by a few basic goals:

Make it as easy as possible for the client to pay;
Stay organized;
Always be polite;
Expect to be paid for your services.

First, I never send any job without an invoice. The invoice says “due upon receipt” and always includes a written notice that I retain copyright and there is no permissible use of the voice over work until I get paid in full. The main point here though is to bill clients while the job is fresh and on their minds, like upon delivery.

I also want to make it as easy as possible for a client to pay. I have all my contact information, the name of the payee for checks and PayPal email address on the invoice. I send all invoices by email in PDF form and the email includes my PayPal link. When I worked corporate, any invoice I got by email was something I could immediately shoot over to bookkeeping, bypassing the delay of inter-office mail. In the last two years, I’ve only mailed one invoice (saves stamps, trees and time).

Even then, things can get screwed up. A great client recently flipped the numbers in my address and a check took a while to get here as a result. Generally, a late payment is really just an overworked bookkeeper or some clerical error, so you want to be nice about collecting — but try not to feel submissive or apologetic. Just be matter-of-fact. You’re a business owner; you did the work; you collect your fees.

I very often see payments same day and only accept checks from frequent corporate clients. They’ll take between 15 and 30 days. Sometimes they need a bit more time. I’ve never been stiffed, but it can happen to anyone anytime — I frankly think that gut feelings can help guide you, but I also pass on any work from someone who doesn’t provide verifiable contact information and something other than a gmail, yahoo or hotmail free email address.

Way back when I worked for a sole practitioner, I did the collections on his legal fees and we had a good track record with built in incentives: discounts for early payments (within 15 days) and late fees for anything over 30 days. Clients, even corporate ones, like to save a buck.

I’ve been playing around with the idea of adding a billing policy on late fees. We are entitled and many businesses recoup the extra accounting work they do to collect past due fees by adding late charges. If I were to do that for my voice over clients, I wouldn’t penalize a client’s tardiness without rewarding promptness, so I’d probably want to include a discount for early payment ($5 off before 15 days; $5 added per month over net 30).

This is really the tedious but very necessary part of the voice over business. Obviously, we all have ourselves and probably our families to support. So while I often provide voluntary pro bono work for non-profit organizations, especially those focused on the needs of children, I have never appreciated involuntary pro bono.

What is SaVoa?

In the last several weeks, I’ve helped organize a peer-based accreditation program by voice over artists for voice over artists. We formed a not-for-profit organization, SaVoa Incorporated, which is dedicated to:

• Enhancing the voice over industry,
• Raising public awareness about the profession, and
• Supporting education for voice overs.

Through accreditation, SaVoa wants to recognize those voice over talents who have achieved a level of competence in the voice and technical skills needed to provide professional voice over in today’s market. We also hope, through the program, to promote a sense of community, honor ethical business practices and facilitate access to products and services that interest voice over professionals.

SaVoa uses all its members, accredited voice over artists, in its peer review process, which evaluates new applicants seeking accreditation and membership in SaVoa. This is a first step: to show the hiring public that professional voice overs value skill, competence and professionalism in their own industry. Details about SaVoa’s accreditation program are published at SaVoa.org.

What is accreditation?

Strictly speaking, accreditation is recognition of a level of professional competence; it distinguishes an individual or entity as being creditable and reputable.

Few industries burst onto the scene with glowing reputations for skill, competence or professionalism. In general, this kind of reputation must be cultivated. The film industry, music industry, medical and legal professions, for example, all realized some time ago that, when an industry collectively cultivates a reputation of professionalism, that reputation passes on to members of the industry. These members gain a leg up in establishing their own reputations through their associations with the industry as a whole.

The film and music industries achieve this primarily through self-recognition in the form of publicity-generating awards programs: Oscars, BAFTA Film, Golden Palm, Grammy, CMA Award, and so forth. The medical and legal professions do this primarily through licensing, certification and accreditation. In fact, no doctors or lawyers today would attempt to build their reputations without lauding their various associations, certifications, accreditations, and of course required licensing, with countless professional organizations, institutions and regulatory entities.

What is a voice over?

Unfortunately, voice overs barely have an identity, let alone a reputation. How many of us have had to stop and explain what we do to a family member, friend or stranger we encounter? Despite the fact that few individuals around the world never hear a voiceover, fewer still recognize the term or can define it. In English-speaking societies, voice professionals have a further identity crisis since the advent of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for mass consumption — which competes with us for Internet attention.

Even when the profession can be easily defined, it’s still not recognized. In its nearly 80-year history, the Academy Awards has yet to establish a category for voice overs in film, despite the ever-expanding popularity of animation and CGI and the otherwise notable work of countless voice actors. This is particularly ironic since the term voice over originally came to us through the film industry. (It was the term used to designate the off-camera voice heard over the onscreen action).

I’m not saying accreditation will lead to an Academy Award. On the other hand, we’d have a better chance of lobbying for that type of recognition as a group. The point is: enhancing the voice over profession by raising public awareness and recognizing professionalism and competence among voice overs isn’t something we have to attempt to accomplish alone. Certainly, to benefit the profession as a whole, each of us must manage ourselves and our businesses as professionally and skillfully as we can. But one voice can’t raise the level of awareness as effectively as all of us working together, while we provide voice overs.