The Recent Discussions on Budgets

I have recently been reading discussions about budgets, and for the first time, it seems to be a consensus across the board that 'something must be done.' When all sides of the story write equally powerful blogs, ideas, and thoughts, that lead to such a discussion, it is important to remember before beginning on the 'How to...' that you know what is the current state of affairs. It is commonly known that 'great power requires responsibility'.

In an anonymous online world, where it is so easy to blame a computer for one's failure because we all know the words 'bug' and 'glitch.', I see that the greatest responsibility falls on Voice123 to educate as 'to what actually happens behind their scenes'.

The step in the wrong direction is to create animosity among the online community of users. I offer up these simple facts, as a jumping point to know where the core of this current problem lies:

1. Finger-pointing does not solve anything. It never has, and it never will. All it does is give the lesser experienced a crutch to hold onto, so that they may blame 'someone' for 'something', and carry on the torch of those who are not sure how to 'quote their worth'.

2. Technology plays a large part. Truth is, you cannot force anyone to use the Internet, and for that reason you cannot corner them into decisions they wish not to make when using for the first time. The bottom line of a budget is not what you see in the project form, but more so, what it pays out from start to finish.

Ahead of time, as all online casting is fairly new, you deal with people who are simply not sure what to do. The technology has to work, and promote more usage of a website. As trust is gained, budgets will increase. Given the anonymous nature of the Internet, militant or aggressive behavior will leave one consistently unemployed.

3. There is a greater responsibility among those who have the experience to explain not 'what they should do', but 'how it is done'. I have experienced many things as a talent, and the one thing I know about the personality of this business, is that talents are 'listeners'. Talents listen to coaching, agent advice, ask many questions etc., and they do what they can as best as they have been told.

Online casting is so young, that you have a great deal of people who have not figured out the business end of it. This involves things like email etiquette, and negotiating extra fees. I have sat in on seminars where experienced people in offline casting stated, 'If you work online, someone will steal your work.', and these talents come to the site ready to offer nothing, give nothing, and expect nothing. The problem is...if one of them gets hired for saying, 'I will do it for free', it hurts everyone. I know of many 'voice coaches', but the business end eludes so many, yet plays a critical part. Online casting is 'do-it-yourself', so you have to know what to do, with the gut to follow through. 'Gut instinct' can only be taught by experienced pros.

4. Just because someone under-quotes, does NOT MEAN THEY WILL BE HIRED. I just had this discussion the other day with a gentleman from a site called quotacrush.com. He flat out stated that with the Internet, offering something for nothing is a good way to chase away customers.

I asked why. He stated, 'If someone does not have to pay, you get a buyer wondering how you make your money, and if they cannot see how, they think you must be scamming someone to get your money, and they do not wish to get involved.' To me that means, 'You get what you paid for.'

5. You think you are new to all of this? Welcome to the club. I tend to have this problem where I think, just because I have written something, that everyone will read it and learn. Unfortunately, the Internet does not work that way. I hear from professionals all the time, who preface their questions to me with the phrasing, 'I have been in this business for (enter a number) years...', but the problem is the Internet is 5 years old. The entire online community is fresh and new. Five years of a few spirited blogs, lots of discussions in forums etc. is not enough to educate both voice seekers and talents on how to quote, or yes, spend more money. Everyone is still in that, 'I'm not sure' phase.

The transferring of offline practices to online, does not work for one main reason: People use computers to save time, and talk to less middlemen, which costs them more money...most of the time for work they are not sure is really happening.

Going forward, I believe not-so-simple things can be done by talents, concerned about budgets:

1. Remember you are a business of selling your product aka. Your voice.
2. Treat yourself as your own agent.
3. Treat yourself as your director.
4. Remember you are an artist, too.
5. Remember, with a smile, that working online allows for great exposure with much less effort, and more opportunity.

With 'excess leading to the road to ruin', let us all be smart, down to earth, and remember that people are still behind machines, so we all have to set an example and protect what we have now to make for a better online casting future.

Check this forum out for future discussions. We can all lead a horse to water, but the best one's teach us how to make it drink.