Jump to content

8 second voiceovers / adlets


Paul_losc

Recommended Posts

I am currently starting an internet audio advertising service which can be seen at http://www.tel24-7.com These 8 second adlets are played either as the visitor enters (Instant ad)the website or via a audio ad tag (Tag ad)visible on the site. I need to have some quick and easy way of generating these adlets to a professional standard. The general format for the instant ad version is for example " Come to Joes bar... Press 1 for details" The Tag version does´nt have the "Press 1 for details" part.

 

I am not looking for FREE adlet generation here.As the advertisers will pay for the service. I am looking for a bank of talented people who can offer the service to our potential advertisers. If you like, you can make an adlet or voice over advertising yourself and we can play it on the system. FREE advertising.

 

If you feel you can help with either a simple voiceover or full adlets, it would be much appreciate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No , I was looking for people to make the adlets or voice overs as and when I get audio ad advertisers, if I can get a group of artists to give us a sample of their voices/ their previous work, Our advertisers can then choose which voice they wanted and provide the text/ message needed. I can then pass this on to the artist for them to produce the voice over. Its important for us, to gather a group together so that a variety of voices can be choosen from, which can be formed into a voiceover media bank for our advertisers can browse through.

 

I suggested that the artist provide an advert advertising their voiceover services, but anything that demonstrates their talents for our potential advertisers would be good. An Example: We operate a search engine,I made the following ad http://www.tel24-7.com/audioads/pan/panadlets/PANindexcia.mp3

 

Artist : Janet

Message : "A human moderated search engine producing quality results for those who want rapid web navigation, press 1 for details"

Mood: Informative, Web site reference: http://www.indexcia.com

 

now you can see why we need help !

 

This would give the artist the type of voice over required. or after seeing the website, any other ideas that they may have. Hopefully this explaination has made it clearer. Many thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now comes the really hard questions...

 

What exactly does the VO Artist get out of this? Will being able to offer impressions as well as a voice change this? What kind of turn around time is expected? Will the customer be allowed to hire us for other possible VO work or will that have to go through your company? (IE: Non Competition clause) Dry or Produced? etc...

 

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

MADcHATTER

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Paul,

 

If what you are looking for are voice talents with home recording studios who can record for your clients in exchange of a fee (to be negotiated according to the website/company it's for), then have a look at my website: www.clairedodin.com

You'll find voice demos in French and English.

I can't produce the ads, but I can provide dry reads in both languages and translations into French if needed.

If you want a custom demo to show your clients on your site, just provide me with the script and 'll record it.

I've attached an English medley.

Thanks!:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To the madchatter and others..

 

The VO Artist firstly gets paid. Normally by Paypal which is by far the most convenient method of payment. How much I hear you say. On this point I need feed back.

If I explain the service's goals perhaps it may indicate to you the potential of the system. Imagine when you surf websites instead of seeing google text ads you see audio ads or inline videos, and if our part of that market is minute, then we will still be more than happy.

 

Therefore the number of required voice overs could be huge. The take off curve will be dependant on the initial costs of producing the ad. A text ad costs nothing as there is little skill and everyone can produce one. Not so with the audio ad. But how many 8 second voice overs can you do in a day? Talking to some other artists, they produce simply vo work for as little as $5. but i need to have feedback on this point as a balance between the artist and the number of ads placed. What is the normal rate? ( about 15 words)

 

"impressions and voice change" These additional skills can only enhance your chances of being picked by the advertiser. So if you can offer many voices or speak like "Ringo Star" fantastic, that could be just what the advertiser is looking for. These characteristics may well be a key factor in producing a sequence of ads. So in short, no it will not change the cost of the ad Through us. As I want to keep the mechanism for ordering an ad to the most simple method possible.

 

This brings us to "The customer hiring you direct" for us this is perfect, I can understand that repeat work is mostly gained by forming a relationship between you and the client. We do not want to become a vo or adlet suppliers. Our attutude is that the artists are helping us to get the advertisers onto the system. The advertiser will be able to gain your details if you choose to expose them, (some artists may want to remain anonymous) and has the opportunity to contact you directly. I can see that repeat advertisers will probably want to work with the artist as their confidence grows and more complicated adlets commissioned.

 

The rights to the work carried out on our behalf is transferred to the advertiser upon completion, After all they have paid for it. and regulating copyright infringements is fruitless anyway. They say that copying ones work should be onsidered flattery. You just need to be one step ahead all the time. If the advertiser comes directly to you then its up to you to make an agreement with the advertiser.

 

I woud like to establish on the site a media talent bank where the artist details can be viewed and samples of their work browsed, making it a one stop shop.

 

Turn around times can be specified by the artist. as long as the advertiser know how long they have to wait there should be no problem. This hopefully will mean the artist can group the recordings together or produce them at their convienence.

 

Ok They were simple enough questions, bring them on !

 

I just need feedback on the price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

True voice talent never put a price on their websites. If you do that, you are basically saying that's all your worth. If you put $5, then that's all you're worth and that's the perception. If you're fine with that, cool, but that's not everybody.

 

This brings the question, do you want an announcer or a actor? $5 reads or basic 8 second reads are more along the line of an announcer. you can't really get a lot across with 8 seconds.

 

As far as gear goes...that's up for interpretation. You don't use a $10 mic, but you can some decent gear these days in the 100's of dollars. yes we all know there's more expensive gear, and it couldn't hurt, and god knows producers are anal on that sound they want, when the average joe hears it on air, squashed and processed to death, they won't really care, but you don't have to drop a suitcase full of money to get something reasonable.

 

I won't do $5 reads for the reason above. I'd rather do something for free quite frankly. I do my weekly program for fun, and I don't quit my day job. when money is involved, too many people can get too demanding too quickly. don't need that crap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replys here, and yes you cannot get much information across in 8 seconds. The $5 figure is one that i had seen on another website,

 

However no one has yet come back to say how much they would charge ! What is the fair price for this service ? Strange, because forum members are actually doing the service for free now, and because i will be using them commercially I am offering to pay.

 

I could have just came to the forum and started to request free voice overs, instead I wanted to reward forum members for their time, effort and help, I even suggested that artists produce their own ad that i would advertise for FREE, Create a creative media bank on the site with links to artist's websites, This is hardly a commercial exercise.

Comments are most welcome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the subject of pricing...

 

Many VO people who are members of the union set the average price for a 15 to 30 second VoiceOver is around $50 USD. I personally an NOT a union member so I charge half that. My Prices are always negotiable. Many of the Union Scales are set in such a way that they can charge more for a VO depending on type, location, time or market place it will be played in.

 

For example: a standard 30 second promo in say Atlanta playing on a local AM Station during the day might cost about $50. That exact same promo played on an FM Station in NY City at night is closer to $200.

 

Personally I do not distinguish any difference. I may post a pay rate similar to most, but this is only for reference. All my rates are negotiable.

 

The problem I see here is charging only $5 for each of these ads. As you say after costs and everything else, that breaks the sharable portion down to a fraction of that. Then, of course, comes the inevitable "PayPal" charges. So it would make sense to set a "Pay Limit" before sending any money. (IE: You wouldnt spend $1.34 in Paypal charges to send $5) I have gone down this road before. If the limit is set at say $100, we'd have to hit that mark before a payment would be forthcoming. If we get close but no cigar, we never see a dime! (I've gone thru this with everything from promoters to online Sales Affiliate programs to even my stream provider (Live365 screwed me on that one by $3.50!)

 

And lets not forget the inevitable "Taxes"!

 

So the idea might be sound, but the logistics behind it are what may need to be reexamined. For $5 a pop you need to show 3 things. #1 a market place clamouring for it, #2 a sound business plan and organization for distribution of income and costs associated and #3...some kind of proof that after accumulating a substantial amount the site wont be closed and the VO artists getting nothing. Going into business with anyone on the internet is a risky proposition. And as with anything, if it sounds too good to be true...it usually is!

 

MADcHATTER

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the subject of pricing...

 

For example: a standard 30 second promo in say Atlanta playing on a local AM Station during the day might cost about $50. That exact same promo played on an FM Station in NY City at night is closer to $200.

 

MADcHATTER

 

Over the past few days, i have spoken to quite a few VO Artists. Most of them have very different ideas on their pricing,and terms of use, Time restrictions Etc. This makes offering a simple unified pricing structure very difficult. As you say the same promo can cost a different amount depending on its usage and who you are.

 

I find this concept strange, If I went into a store to buy a kettle, I would not be asked how much are I was going to use it, or how much money I have, as this would affect the price. All I know is that the store is not the only one that I could go to and if they did not offer value for money then I would go elsewhere.

 

If I was a VO Artist and coke cola asked me to do the voice over, I would jump at the chance and only charge the normal rate. Why you ask? Being known as the voice of coke cola would probably atract other national clients and if there were enough of them I could raise my overall charges, its would be a case of supply and demand. Top fashion models a prime example.

 

I have therefore adopted the store approach, where the advertiser can choose the artist of their choice based on what is on offer and at what price. The media talent bank I talked about structure has been made and can be seen on the tel24-7.com site and would welcome artists to join and setup a free advertising page.

 

Looking at the various payment structures, recording times Etc. I come to the conclusion that the 8 second ads originally proposed do not allow the advertiser to accertain the best value from either the VO artist or be long enough to get their message acrossed to the enquirer. I have made alterations to the system to allow variable length ads.

 

"Going into business with anyone on the internet is a risky proposition. And as with anything, if it sounds too good to be true...it usually is! "

 

MADcHATTER

 

I fully agree " once bitten twice shy " When I buy the kettle I do not expect to take it home to try it first. I know what it should do, Heat Water ! I pay before i take it away. If I buy 100 Kettles they may open an account for me, but until they know me they will not offer that facility. the same applies here.

 

So to conclude, The price of the vo/ promo service will be that negociated between the advertiser and artist directly or through ourselves.

 

Hopefully "this still sounds too good to be true". Once again thanks for all thoses that have contacted me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...