Why You Should Be Listed On Pay 2 Play Voice Over Websites
Having an online presence as a professional voice over actor is imperative. Many clients are searching voice casting websites by the thousands every single day. The process is quicker, offering a large number of talent and more affordable prices that traditional means. There is no denying that clients are attracted to sites due to these factors alone. When compared to the way this was done in times gone by, using voice over agents, hiring a studio and engineer, these additional services can add hundreds, and even thousands of dollars onto the final cost.
But many also believe that having a website and doing their own marketing is also enough. That’s fine if you are an SEO expert, know the ins and outs of marketing, have the time and money available to do courses and invest in web development, or learn how to build websites.
But wait….. you want to be a voice actor, not a web developer.
Voice casting websites exist for a reason. To place your demos and auditions in front of clients that are looking to hire voice actors.
For a fee you get auditions delivered directly to you. You record your audition, and you either get the job or you don’t. The website’s role is to get you the auditions. Not to do the audition for you and get you the job. You are paying for a service. Essentially the website is doing all the marketing work and web development to get your demos out there to the world.
Of course, you can do this yourself, once you invest all the time, energy and money into developing your marketing, SEO and web development skills. Oh wait…. You don’t have any interest in that. Sorry I keep forgetting that you want voice over jobs and auditions.
If you’ve scanned this article and are simply looking for a list of reasons why you should join a voice casting website, then here it is.
- These sites send you auditions almost every day.
- You are given a professional profile on the internet to showcase your demos with no web development knowledge needed.
- You are marketed to clients as a professional voice actor being listed alongside your peers and not someone who offers logo design for $5.
- Over 5,000 clients are listed in the big casting website’s databases. To build that database on your own would cost tens of thousands of dollars and take months, even years.
- Connect with clients internationally that you didn’t even know existed.
- In the past 5 years over 50 million dollars of voice over jobs have been cast online.
- These sites are not going anywhere.
Of course it’s not for everyone. Some people enjoy doing their own marketing and learning how to build websites. That’s great. But for those that want someone else to find them voice over auditions, just like traditional agents do, then voice over casting websites are for you.
Here’s a comparison of the top 3 casting websites:
| Feature + Website | Voice Realm | Voice123 | Voices |
| 12 month subscription: | $125 | $395 | $399 |
| Fee on jobs: | 15% | 0% | 10% escrow fee |
| Limits amount of auditions: | No | Yes | Yes |
| Talent bid against each other: | No | Yes | Yes |
| Talent can underbid peers: | No | Yes | Yes |
| Offers 24×7, 365 day support: | Yes | No | No |
| Payment within 72 hours of job closing: | Yes | No | No |
| Inexperienced talent can join: | No | Yes | Yes |
All of the top voice over coaches agree that you should be listed on at least one of the best voice casting websites. You’ll get daily auditions from agencies and production companies, and receive quality scripts.
Clients we interviewed for this article prefer the ease of having all their options in one central location. They can audition talent for free and present their clients with a range of options.
People prefer things in one location rather than having to visit multiple sources and websites. The same way comparison shopping works on line, and travel websites like Expedia. They present to the end user a range of options and centralize everything.
Lastly, what about the talent that pull in 6 figure incomes from these sites? It’s common to read complaints from talent who don’t book jobs on the websites, blaming the site. If the site wasn’t bringing anyone jobs, that would make sense, but when these sites are bringing tens of millions of dollars worth of voice over jobs they can’t be ignored. And some of these sites are doubling revenue year on year.
The one thing I have noticed though, is that the talent who are booking job after job almost rarely post about it in online forums. You only hear from the talent who don’t book jobs. Does that tell you something?
So unless you are interested in taking marketing courses, investing time in learning SEO and PPC, learning how to build and maintain websites, master social media and spending all the money associated with these activities, then having a profile at a voice over website is the fastest way to get auditions from top clients and your best option
my comments keep disappearing…
two comments, both were deleted. Asking you why you do not mention that voice realm is giving lowest prices than voices. Was this article a commission?
why was my comment deleted?
Is this paragraph initiated by voice realm? Because there are a lot of things that voices do and voice realm does not, like not being rude to voice talents and paying a somewhat normal fee. Voice realm is paying ridiculously low fees.
I agree that having a presence on a P2P website will bring auditions to your inbox. Cultivating client relationships, maintaining a VO career, or even booking a job from them is another story.
Even if you’re a talented working pro, you are still pitting your individual auditions against hundreds of competitors using a P2P site. I agree that these sites have done the marketing work and SEO to bring users to their sites. However, it’s hard not to get lost in the shuffle with so many other VO talents using the same strategy.
And there are voice seekers who prefer to actually find talent that they can communicate and deal with directly, as opposed to rifling through dozens of auditions (many of which may be WAY off the mark) and being removed from talent in the ways many P2P sites operate.
I maintain a presence in these places, to an extent, but not at the expense of mapping my own personal marketing strategy.
If someone is new to the VO business and just wants to get auditions, then P2P is a great place to find them. And let’s make it clear….auditions are not paying WORK. They take up a great deal of time and energy and only a tiny percentage may actually lead to a paying gig. If someone actually wants a career as a voiceover professional, then learning the marketing ropes of every other strategy out there (or at least hiring professionals to assist with web building/maintenance, SEO, social media, blogging, outbound marketing, etc.) is necessary for true and consistent success. But it requires time, tenacity, investment and actual work
This is perhaps one of the more discouraging articles I’ve read by your team, especially that last paragraph. Telling any working or aspiring voice over that it’s not worth their time and money to invest in anything other than a p2p site to maintain some sort of online presence is absurd in my opinion. Interesting topic though. Are P2P’s becoming the future of voiceover and online casting? Perhaps but let’s hope not the only resource. Most of them have the money and resources to maintain such a heavy online presence. Good for them. And yes, for some folks who don’t have agents, P2P’s are a great resource for opening many a door. But they’re not the sole resource. Someone with their own successful marketing campaign without the help of any P2P site can do just as well- in fact I know a few people (no hints)–and, by the way, do not have to have steep pockets. The thrill for me, as I’m sure for many of my colleagues who don’t use P2P’s is the fruitful payoff of results-driven marketing by oneself and not a corporation that owns them or allows them that autonomy. I see what you’re saying but telling people who want to be successful in this business not to waste their time investing in a website is just bogus, dude, when it’s different for everyone. Food for thought.