What is ‘Productise’?
We’re gradually defining a range of ‘products’ based on common ‘asks’ from our clients.
Each product will outline the approximate script size, usage, method of recording (directed/undirected, etc.), the number of takes clients will expect, script complexity, and whether it needs to be read to time. In other words: All the variables we feel are needed to be able to cost something up effectively.
For example, one product might be a B2B online project of around 500 words for a smaller brand, with no paid online use, requiring you to self-record two takes (plus another take for style if the client has issues with the first two).
Each product will have an audition script and a costing methodology, such as a "cost for up to 500 words" and a "cost per 100 words thereafter". The costings you enter are for the specific ‘product’ only, allowing you to consider the type of project, complexity, and usage license.
You can specify a ‘normal’ costing and a ‘minimum’ costing.
We aim to secure your normal costing but may drop to your minimum costing for enquiries with limited budgets or special offers.
As usual, the costs you specify are what you’ll invoice us.
Alternatively, you can indicate that you’d like us to suggest fees to you, based on averages and your market positioning. There is no wrong way to position yourself, as it depends on how the market responds to your type of voice. If we suggest costings, you can review/change and then re-submit.
Costings are confidential and stored for our internal use only.
We ask you to record the audition script for each product: Record from the start of the script and continue for as long as you wish. (You don’t have to record the full script if you don’t want to).
What isn't Productise?
We don’t currently have plans to turn Productise into an online shop. Visitors to the website will see no changes due to Productise at the current time. Your clients can still book you direct as they do now.
The costings you provide will be kept for our internal team's use when clients approach us for castings, costings and session engineering.
Matt, Jack, Andrew and Gary will still undertake the process of understanding the client's brief, asking them all the questions we feel are important. We will then decide if it's within the scope of one of our products - it's important we decide this and not the client.
Then we will choose a curated shortlist of voices to propose to the client. This will likely include voices outside of productise as well, but those who have submitted details it means we can get costings to the client instantly - which we think will help stop clients shopping around, potentially losing them to sites like Fiverr (who give instant costs).
Why will Productise help?
We’re finding clients expect almost instant costs from us, a trend set by websites such as Fiverr. Clients also like to hear how the same script is approached by different voices, allowing them to choose a voice on a more level playing field. Additionally, our team can spend more time nurturing clients, getting more work, and working on the audio, and less time collating costs. It also means our team has greater awareness and confidence to pitch voices who perhaps we have little or no experience of working with before.
How can I see the Products and submit my audition sample and costs?
We’ve developed a portal where you can sign in and see if you’ve been invited to any new ‘Products’. If you choose to be part of a particular Product, you can record the associated audition sample and submit your costings. After you've submitted your samples/costings we will review your entry, add music to your audition sample, and make your product entry ‘active’, meaning we’ll begin presenting you as a potential option to our clients. The rates you submit will be locked in until the product is reopened for auditions or updates, typically every six months.
You can deactivate (and subsequently reactivate) your product entry at any time. Deactivating your entry means we will not pitch you for any new enquiries for this product. However, any existing enquiries for which you’ve already been pitched may continue to be processed.
We’ve named our portal the ‘Voiceovers Cloud’. Initially, it will be for Productise, but we plan for it to grow into an area where you can check the status of all the jobs we pitch you for, submit your invoices etc. Most menu options unrelated to Productise will be greyed out.
What do we want you to do now?
Please access the portal and enter the ‘Products’ section to review the products you’ve been invited to cost up/audition. Even though we’re at the testing stage, please submit real auditions and costings, as we will use the samples/information you provide when dealing with client enquiries.
Though if you realise you entered the wrong information or want to re-do your audition sample after submitting it’s not the end of the world, just email us and we can fix anything.
Also if you don’t wish to put yourself forward for a particular product, that’s fine too, just leave it on the list and it will remove itself after the submission deadline passes.
Due to the amount of information that we’re displaying/capturing, the layout is currently only suitable for desktop sized screens. We’ll be looking to support mobile layouts in the future. If you’re not signed in when you access the above link, you will be redirected to your accounts page to sign in. Once signed in, revisit the link above or click the menu option on the left of your accounts page.
Warning there might be some teething problems (bugs)!
If you can't upload your audition sample it's likely because lots of other voices are trying to do exactly the same thing, so please wait a while and retry.
Drop us an email if you have any questions or problems - we’re juggling a lot at the moment but will reply as soon as we can.
To access the portal, sign in to Voiceovers.co.uk and visit:
