We all have times when everything doesn't go quite as smoothly as it should. You do a job and complete in the fastest time possible because the job has been marked as urgent. The client says they're happy or maybe vaguely displays their happiness that the job is done and then you wait and no payment.

A few days go by and then a week and then a month and at this stage you are many jobs down the line away from that job, so much so that you can hardly remember anything about it. You realize, "Hang on! I need to do something about this!" You like to be nice to your clients but after anywhere between 5-10 emails of asking politely you start to lose it a little. The emails you have sent have not been working and not been loosening the tight purse strings of your client so you have to be a bit more demanding. The next email after not hearing a word from the client but they have the completed voice file in their editing studio also gets no response. So what can you do?

At this stage the client has all the strings in their hands once the voice file is sent the client that previously was all communicative can be struck dumb and emails and phone calls may not get you any further than just waiting to see if the client does pay up. By contacting them constantly and asking about money owed, what was once a perfect business relationship then becomes a disastrous affair of complaints and the reason they probably don't contact you back is because they may be busy and now feeling like they are dealing with a spoilt VO artist. All voice artists do their jobs to make money but clients generally deal with lots of people and they have their payment times and terms usually of which we are not aware of. So, rather than wait what can you do?

After the voice file has been sent - If you haven't asked for an upfront payment then really there is not much you can do apart from sending the occasional reminder email to try and get paid. The client will after a while get annoyed by your emails and a majority of them pay up because of this annoyance or constant reminding. This tactic can backfire badly if you are constantly hassling your client and don't expect a second job from them. But you need to get paid for work done. Your voice is your work tool. A lumberjack uses a chainsaw, a plumber uses a spanner as a tool and you use your voice to get your work done.

In an ideal world you do the work, the client accepts the work and in return pays for the job then gives you feedback. In the real world it can be much different and although almost all clients do pay and on time, there are times when you come into contact with some clients that are problem payers and bad communicators. The rule of thumb in my book is to be well communicative and to make it clear from the outset how the job is to proceed and if you can get half the money as an advance on the VO job, then this is all the better.

VO artists need to be careful when booking jobs or you could end up doing work for nothing and this will not go down to well with your accountant. Don't be afraid to ask as much information as possible about payment terms and payment days and always always keep the communication flowing and always try to be on good terms with your client.

When you are auditioning for many different voice over jobs it can be a bit of a waiting game. The person you could be sending your audition piece to could be an agent that is then sending this on to their client. Your client has a client and maybe even their client has a client. This slows the whole process of auditioning and finding out if you actually won the job.

It is far better to just have one person down the line assessing your audition piece and then giving you the answer as soon as they have listened to it. Most of the auditions I have done it goes to my client, that then sends me an email anywhere between 2 - 30 days later advising I have forwarded this to my client and then dependent on the deadline of the job, this could be another month waiting. It could be two months in total before you even get an OK. By this time you may have forgotten the job you auditioned for especially if you audition for 5-10 different clients a day. Always a good rule of thumb is to make a quick excel spreadsheet with the auditions listed from whichever website in the form so that you can have a quick easy reference.

It is not good practice for a client to come through and for you to say "Which job was that one?" Make sure you know your auditions because it is good for you to be on top of your game as well as good for the client so as to be dealt with in a completely professional way. Just a few simple things can ease your workflow and make it easier to quickly locate the information you need when you need it.

Of course, not all voice over jobs require you to play the waiting game sometimes it is as easy as sending your audition through to the client and they immediately come back to you. This usually occurs when the client has a very specific voice in mind and your voice fits the profile perfectly. In this case you can do the job and usually be paid a lot quicker than with more generalized voice jobs where the client is not so sure what type of voice they want and the client is using different voices to try out with a client.

One thing is for sure in the voice over world you need to have a lot of patience. Sometimes an immense amount of patience is required. Some clients just advertise  jobs to scout talent and to add them to their books for future reference and they don't tell you this. You wait for that particular job you applied for but later find out they are either putting the project on hold or they were speculating about the voice project in the first instance and it will never come to pass.

Keep auditioning and don't be impatient because some jobs can come back to you like a boomerang up to a year, maybe even two years later or more. They shelve you for a particular project but then your name or website address comes to their mind at a later stage. Those types of jobs are the best because they are searching for you, so the effort that is needed to get the job and the audition that goes with it may not be needed.

Good luck to all with your auditioning! Keep those vocal chords moist!

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Check out the project page on Spidvid to place your bid on the paid gig, send a message to Alan about it, or you can reply to this email if you have questions regarding this project, how getting hired and paid on Spidvid works, or anything else.

If you’ve ever wanted to work with an Emmy Award winner, now is your opportunity, good luck!