Are job posters becoming more demanding/arrogant?

Question

Is it my imagination? Am I seeing more demands for ISDN/phone patch for the lowest budget jobs (eg $100-$250)? Also posters with "attitude" (eg, "strongly will not accept higher bids . . .")--this one a $100 budget for 650 words? I see jobs on other sites for $15-$20 for 6-7 mins. Sure this is a competitive industry, but where's line between competition and exploitation? I pass on these jobs but it's still irksome--and another argument for marketing independently of P2P's. Just sayin'.

Answer 1

Hi Loretta -

Having played on sites like these for years, I've experienced the whole range of clients - from experienced producers who understand and work with a reasonable budget to bottom feeders who are trolling for the lowest rate.  I'm actually glad when a poster is openly arrogant or unrealistic with their budgets.  Makes dumping them from the job postings quick and painless (because working for them won't be).  On a site like this, there are a great number of very new, inexperienced talents who would work for ANY money.  The arrogant producers who want an ISDN line for a hundred bucks will get them.  They will get what they pay for.  The talent will gain a valuable lesson too, and will most likely never respond to a job for that low a fee again.  I've noticed that the lowballers and jerks get very low responses, so in time they may learn their lessons too.  I use this site because it sends me far more potential clients than I would reach on my own.   If you do market independently, try doing both and set up a good tracking system, so you can break down your job rate and income from all sources.  Then you'll have data for your marketing strategy in the future.  Personally, I've done this for almost 30 years, and I've never built a client base as fast as I have with this service.

Comments

Deborah--
Deborah, thanks for response. As always, your comments are clear and reasoned. In one year on this site, I've landed exactly one gig. I suppose that when/if my stats improve, I'll have a different outlook. Meanwhile I'll keep using ALL available resources. Wishing you continued luck with your career--Loretta

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Hello,

Thank you Deborah for your response. You addressed some very good points. You are essentially your own agent when using Voices.com so you have to be mindful of what you would like to audition for and what not audition for.

Although, if there ever is a job that is some what questionable, just feel free to contact us or use the "Report Abuse" link located at the top right hand corner of each job.

Check out this article on How to Think Like An Agent
http://blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/2010/02/how_to_think_like_an_agent.html

Best,

Ashley