- In the beginning....
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Todd Schick Productions Inc.
Trusted by Corporations large and small since 1998.
My first big corporate customer was The World Bank…..talk about pressure.
The paperwork alone for that one client was enough to make the average person walk away. NDA’s, vendor applications, security checks…..it seemed to never end.
It was through that first client that I came to understand not only the challenges involved in dealing with large companies, but also the importance of handling corporate accounts professionally.
Fast forward to today and never has there been a greater need for Corporations large and small to have reputable vendors for voice over services.
Indeed, Corporations availing themselves of VO talent services found on the internet today are putting themselves in legal jeopardy and getting ripped off to the tune of millions every year.
For instance, you’ll see websites with an air-brushed photo of a model in front of a microphone claiming that they’re “The World’s Source for Voice Over Actors” displaying the logos of large companies like Microsoft, Discovery, Cisco, etc.
The reality is, it’s all smoke and mirrors.
- Profiting from Ignorance
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Profiting from Ignorance
Many websites “present” as the authority on all things voice over – they are not. They are simply leveraging widespread ignorance of the voice over service, product and associated fees.
They’ll use your logo without permission to promote themselves. They will tell you a voice over project costs $1,000 and turn around and hire talent for $150.00.
That same talent you paid $850.00 too much for, could be a Union talent masquerading as a non-union talent, putting your company at risk of a lawsuit.
You could be a Canadian company paying another Canadian company USD; an HST nightmare for your accounting department.
The scripts you’re submitting? There better not be any sensitive information in it, because you won’t have a clue who’s looking at it….or using it.
Their project management? Non-existent, if not completely counter-productive.
The list is endless. Yet still, some of the biggest companies in the world blindly whip out their credit card and hand over their most sensitive corporate information without even thinking twice.
- An Industry of Mediocrity
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An Industry of Mediocrity
The voice over industry today is a cesspool of mediocrity created by P2P sites, which started appearing in 2003.
These websites sell subscriptions to anyone who wants to be a voice talent and in exchange, collect and distribute leads for work. Voice over talent “bid” for the job.
The problem is, good voiceover is very rare; few people provide all aspects of the service well.
So, there’s a lot of garbage out there. Everybody is undercutting everyone else, claiming that their garbage is better than anyone else’s garbage.
The fact is, it’s all garbage. Expensive garbage.
Most voice talent on the internet today “want” to be voice talent – they’re not professionals.
Let’s say you have a legal problem. Would you go to a website, post your job and hire a lawyer who bid the lowest price to represent you, or would you go with legal counsel that has a great track record and you know graduated from law school?
Hiring voice talent is no different.
The message to Corporations here is “be careful.”
Avoid the P2P websites that list thousands of talent and offer “professional voice talent services”. Nine times out of ten, it’s a scam.
Hire a voice talent like you would any other vendor. Get references, read reviews, do some good, basic research. This website is a good start. There’s a great deal of relevant, honest and forthright information on the voice over industry that every company looking to hire voice talent should know.
Share it with your friends and colleagues. Not because we need the business……but because it’s just the right thing to do.
You can find information on hiring voice talent here. Below, a short breakdown on our corporate services here at TSP.
- Integrity
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Integrity
We were the first company to offer voice over services on the internet in 1998. We invented and developed the business model. We are a federally incorporated Canadian company, registered with Industry Canada.
Our clients include some of the largest companies in the world, including the World Bank, all five major banks in Canada, Panasonic, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Yum Brands (Taco bell, Pizza Hut, KFC) and many others.
We don’t place their logos on our website.
For references, you can visit our testimonial page here.
- Male and Female VO Talent
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“Professional” Male and Female Voice Talent
Unlike websites boasting “thousands” of voice talent, we work with a small roster of talented people highly skilled at voiceover. This includes performance, recording and editing audio and administration.
Unlike talent who are listed on various voiceover subscription-based websites, these people didn’t “buy” their place on our roster, they had to earn it.
We also have a network of talent world-wide and offer multi-lingual voice over services in many languages including of course, French and Spanish.
- Recording services
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Recording services
Our recording and editing services are right up there with the finest brick-and-mortar recording studios in the major centers. I personally have over 30 years of recording experience. Here is a link with details on our voice over recording studio.
Many voice talent plying the trade on the internet today are recording from their homes.
So, aside from the fact that your sensitive corporate information could be compromised by a teenager who needs content for their school essay, there’s also the subject of audio quality.
Along with finding good, quality talent for voiceover, good quality audio is also hard to come by. Many companies are buying garbage audio and don’t even realize it. “Audio” is the product a corporation is purchasing from a voice talent, but very few companies ever bother to inspect what it is they’re paying for.
Today, when you hire voice talent on the internet, it’s the talent that does all the recording work. While this saves the corporation a ton of time and money, there’s also a lot of unknowns.
At minimum, your chosen voice talent should have a list of all their recording gear on their website and a picture of their studio. If they don’t have this information on their website, don’t purchase audio from them.
- Your important message
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How important is your message?
The funny thing is, many corporations today don’t fully understand the impact a good (or bad) voiceover can have on their product.
A story comes to mind of an established, well-known beer company here in Canada who came under scrutiny because an actor for their ads was arrested and charged for a pretty nasty offense.
My point is, whether or not the spokesperson for your company is in front of a camera or behind a microphone, your company’s brand and overall image is at the mercy of that performer.
It’s a well-known fact that a voice talent can make or break a presentation in 5 seconds. This goes for commercials, videos, e-Learning, corporate narration…it doesn’t matter. If the listener doesn’t like the voice or is otherwise bored, your important message is compromised.
- Why take the risk?
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Why take the risk?
Hire the right talent…..not just the one that sounds sort of nice. Hire someone you know is not going to get you into legal trouble. Hire someone you can trust to handle your sensitive, corporate information with the attention and security it deserves.
Regardless of whether or not you choose Todd Schick Productions for voice talent services, please do take the time to educate yourself.
There are more traps, pitfalls and scam artists in the VO industry than there are reputable talent. In particular, be very wary of large websites boasting thousands of talent at the top of the search engine results.
Best practice is to seek out the smaller, qualified vendors who have a “real” track record of providing the service – not a company who “claims” to be reputable.
On Google…..maybe page 2 or 3? That’s where you’ll find them.
That’s all I got. Thanks for reading and thanks for visiting!
