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Had to log in to my old Upwork account to fix something and browsed their VO and copywriting openings for a bit and.... $5/500 word VO? Absolutely fuck you. Let& #39;s break that down...
1. You need a base level of audio quality to get considered. That means a soundproof (or close enough) room wherever you live (not guaranteed/a luxury), recording equipment (not cheap), editing software/hard drive (not always cheap), samples (takes time/energy esp if unpaid)
2. Once you have the gig, you need to rehearse with the script a few times, perhaps even mark it up/rewrite so it& #39;s easier to read along and find your flow, make sure your emphasis/pauses are happening in the right places, make sure you can pronounce everything. 30m-1h
3. Recording! Depending on how sound-proof your "studio" is you may need to pause around external noises (neighbors, roommates, partner, pets), you& #39;ll need to do a few takes, you may even (god forbid) mess up. 30m- 1h
4. Import/editing. You won& #39;t always have a full take clean, especially if it& #39;s a quick turnaround and you have 8 more of these and you& #39;re getting paid shit for all of them. You may even need to rerecord a segment or two. 30m-1h
If we take the quick estimate, that& #39;s an hour and a half, or $3.33/hour. If we take the higher quality, longer estimate, that& #39;s 3 hours, or $1.66/hour.
That doesn& #39;t even take into account if they need you to make a different edit/send a different version, which many do
That doesn& #39;t even take into account if they need you to make a different edit/send a different version, which many do
And if you refuse to make edits (not in your original agreement/contract), they can withhold payment because according to them, they didn& #39;t get what they wanted. You could dispute that, but it& #39;s $5, so what& #39;s the point. And your recording is good so now they just get it for free
I used to make ok (never great) money doing VO scriptwriting and VO recordings on sites like Upwork, but it has long functioned with minimal/no moderation, and that shit& #39;s exploitative and reinforces that your hour is worth nothing but also you should be so lucky to get work
And we aren& #39;t even unpacking the hustle culture/ Fiverr "eats coffee for breakfast, lunch, and dinner" nonsense. We& #39;re just talking about freelancer marketplaces where 9 out of 10 posts are actively exploitative but when you& #39;re broke and desperate you can& #39;t afford to fight back
It& #39;s fucking bleak. Freelancer sites, moderate your postings. There should be some minimum pricing tier (ESPECIALLY if you& #39;re taking a cut- that $1.66 an hour is often just $1/hr with that fee). Get a working freelancer& #39;s board together to advise you on what& #39;s fair
If someone wants to advertise basically volunteer work, they can go to a non-professional& #39;s site, like Facebook or Craigslist, somewhere where people aren& #39;t there for the sole purpose of finding paying work. There& #39;s a place for volunteer/barter/exposure work.
And freelancers, talk to each other, especially if you& #39;re new. Lean on resources like @freelancersu and don& #39;t let yourself or your fellow freelancers get exploited because exploitation is all there is, and hey, you need the work so bite the bullet and be grateful
