Do I invest in ISDN or an Internet Audio Program?

I was sent this link in response to a forum topic I started on Voice Over Savvy: ISDN vs. Audio Over IP.

I think ultimately Thomas Gass is right: the different technologies may be better suited for the different types of voice services provided. And that’s OK. I’m primarily discussing all this because I have a genuine interest in the technology. It’s the geek in me. But I do get plenty of work now, none of which requires remote sessions — so really I could never justify the cost unless I wanted to expand my services and pursue the kind of work that requires ISDN.

That day may come. In fact, this month I’ve been contacted by two separate studios interested in my bilingual voice services, but needing talent with ISDN capabilities. One is eager to work with me regardless. The other one I just responded to last night. We’ll see what happens. It’s all good.

Well, more on my new research project will follow in upcoming blogs if I pursue this, but in the process I found this nice video blog of Joe Cipriano’s ISDN session for West Wing promos. It’s great to see a pro at work — and how nice of Joe to show us his equipment.

A writer can’t provide an account of every word or action of a particular character. That’s not a script; that’s a diary. Creating the backstory, if one is used, is therefore the job of the performer. Many actors in fact create elaborate backstories, giving a character a made-up history to add depth and color to their performances. Often the shorter the role, the more detailed the backstory. If you think about it, that makes sense. With walk-ons or short supporting roles, there is less opportunity to see the character’s history unfold, less time to convey anything about the character. Believing the character has conflicted relationships, tragic experiences, or quirky obsessions can infuse the moment with more than the words or actions supplied by the writer.

Voice actors can be even more challenged in their efforts to develop a character, often having less than 60 seconds to convey any depth or dimension — and all without the benefit of body language or facial expressions. A backstory can therefore be a great character development tool, not only providing an effective way to flesh out a character in a short amount of time, but also enhancing the overall creative process, and making it more enjoyable — as Ace of Cakes reminded me today.

I’m not going to go out and triple my fees, but I do recognize that there needs to be a better balance between the clients’ need to save money and the voice talent’s need to cover the many expenses of maintaining a business, and a life.

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.

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.