This is a continuation of my interview with Steven Lowell. Steven is familiar to many voice actors. He’s got a new gig now with an online casting site that is starting to make waves in North America, (thanks in part to his efforts), bodalgo.com.
To view part 1 of the interview, click here.
Are their commissions, fees, escrow services or anything of the like?
NO! Enough said. I am just happy none of that exists because it usually affects how much a talent is paid. If a voice seeker feels he is paying the website, first, he will pay the talent much less.
You’ve got a lot of fans and followers in the voice over industry, Steven. Tell us about your specific role with Bodalgo and how you’re doing.
Thank you! 🙂 That really does mean a great deal to me, and even though the last few months were extremely difficult, and self-imposed, the messages I received constantly were, as my wife says, “A big slap in the face I did something right and should keep doing it.”
Now, my role at bodalgo is a little different. Many got to know me because of customer service, community, blogging, teaching, and social media management. At bodalgo, my main role is to attract jobs…good jobs. I will be blogging as usual, and managing social media (because I love the social aspect of this industry), but I am mainly a marketing manager for the USA with the purpose and task of attracting jobs.
One note on this…when I approached Armin, I even explained to him, “Look, I wont waste your time. If I find I am terrible at this, I will let you know, and not waste your time.” I did this for a reason. As Seth Godin once said, ” I would rather be an expert at one thing than mediocre at 10 things.” Basically, if I suck at this job, I wont waste anyone’s time, not even a customer who pays to invest in what I am doing. It’s not fair to anyone.
How am I doing…well….much better these days…Some voice talent may have heard about this, but I worked as an agent for a short period of time with a really good guy, who hired me right after I left V123.
I always thought “being an agent” was something I would love to do, but the agent-game has changed drastically. The way it has changed due to ALL websites opened my eyes to just how much voice talent control the voice-over industry these days. It also showed me just how little P2P websites really know about their place in the market. I was both stunned, and happy. Maybe even a little embarrassed?
After 3 months, I did find how much I missed using technology to do casting, and the social aspect of websites where people pay to audition. I also got lots of ideas, and my mind started thinking again, “Hmmm…how can we all make this better?”.
I know my way of thinking scares lots of business owners with successful operations, so finding work was difficult. I have 5 years of content from my old job hanging around out there. I also love challenges, teaching, and helping people work. I seem to work best when I am seen as the underdog. As bodalgo.com is the definite underdog in the US. All this to say, I am feeling good in this position
Is there anything else a voice actor needs to know about bodalgo?
Yep. Over the past few years, voice talent have discussed heavily; topics such as “audio quality” & “fairness”. People creating a profile on bodalgo have to know up front that we are setting some high quality standards, and we are doing this to position ourselves as a website that offers more than low-hanging fruit. If a profile has poor demo quality, or is not filled out professionally, it will not be approved.
We are a company that knows more damage is done to a customer when you lead them to believe what they have submitted will get them work. We are making the choice to avoid that issue. I know from experience the moral dilemma that exists when customers love customer service, but never actually get any work from a website.
Over a period of time, the website becomes “paying for moral support”, and in the wrong hands someone can make unethical use of that understanding.
One of my biggest goals when starting to work for websites was to be a part of something “global”.
I truly like “people” and finding out about them, and what they do. I find the voice industry fascinating, especially when learning about how voice talent work in different countries.
I think if that knowledge is shared, it will make for an even more amazing industry. I hope to use the blog as an avenue to show the world how global friendly voice talent are.
One last thing…The founder of bodalgo.com used to be a V123 talent. I personally kicked him off the website when I saw he owned bodalgo.com back in 2008. When I started here, I had to apologize for it. LOL I am a sports fan, always loyal to the team on play on. The same thing happened to me with Voices in January 2008. Who said these guys aren’t competitive? 😀
Check It Out
To find out more about bodalgo, and to determine if it might be a fit for your voice over business visit bodalgo.com. If you have any questions about the site, I’m sure Steven would be more than happy to help you.
QUESTION: What do you think? Is bodalgo an option for you?
