Dear Voices.com,
I was recently asked by an aspiring VO artist what was so great about P2P sites. My answer mattered because this guy actually went through the trouble of building a studio in his home, and he is thinking of going online with his talent, -which he is slowly viewing as a business. Trouble is, he's also an actor, and used to dealing with the old "agency representation" model of getting work. So he has reservations about this "new" (can we even really say that now?) platform.
Where to even begin? Do I need to educate him on the web altogether?
How can I reassure someone skeptical that not only my highest paying gigs but also my most prestigious gigs have not come from any of my many reputable agents, but rather from my strong online presence?
These buyers found me online! I actually brought these great gigs to my agents, so they could negotiate them for me! Talk about a reversal of roles....
In my opinion Voices.com is the prime example of why having a profile with a reputable P2P site is key to a successful VO Business, and you have become an essential part of my marketing mix.
I single you (Voices.com) out versus any other P2P out there because of the time you spend on SEO for relevant rankings: the interlinking you do, the blogging, the newsletters, the affiliate sites, (and God knows what other magical Internet strings you are pulling), make you a force to be reckoned with on the Google search engine. These days no producer is unaware of you. It's often "the" place they go to find talent. This is a Google fact us VO talents can get lots of mileage out of.
I can tell the streamlined platform makes it easy to find relevant talent, send them a direct audition and/or just hear demos without getting anyone involved (who wants to do that anymore!).
But the irony is, that we voiceover talent pay to be a part of Voices.com, because we feel we can audition on the site every day and have an actual shot at booking a job.
But in reality, it's not the auditioning I get the most out of (sure I do okay when I do have time to audition), but the fact that I am in there in the first place, with my bio and tagged demos: producers and businesses can actually find ME, read testimonials and rate me after they work with me. And no one takes a percentage! This doesn't mean I now get to be lazy, on the contrary; I still have to go out and there, target my market and get jobs for myself, but it certainly makes me more accessible and THAT is a huge part of my success.
In this platform, I am in control; I get to post a bio with keywords reflecting my business, I can tag my demos (again with keywords reflecting my business), thereby increasing my own SEO, with virtually no knowledge of the Internet. This works wonders, especially if I know something about my brand (entirely other discussion I wouldn't even attempt without a "branding" pro like Nancy Wolfson). And I know first hand that the effect is even more powerful if I can throw my own effective website into the mix.
So my answer to my friend?
With the old agency model, I don't pay, but I also have no control over MY business. And in this market, I would NEVER leave THAT in someone else's hands. Not with the incredible jobs and annual income that found me online in the past couple years.
Yours truly,
