As staffs get smaller and smaller and smaller, it gets harder to get good production of commercials on radio stations. Commercials make up 20% or more of the time on your station's air, so having the best quality material you can get is really important.
The issue, especially in smaller markets is where does the talent come from? The morning guy can only read so many ads. The sales guys are, well, sales guys. In many markets, you may not even have a production director anymore, swept away in the yearly cuts.
So where do you get good production cheap?
You can barter it. But the demands on inventory some syndicators charge in barter time is truly theft. Then again, doing barter commercials to get more commercials just seems so wrong.
The other thing you can do is outsource your voice overs.
Here are two services you can begin using today to get good quality work at pretty low rates. Fivrr.com has a few pretty good voice over gigs available for purchase most anytime. The talent working here varies from pretty good, to the "I want to be a DJ" types, but for $5 it is a great way to add a different sound to the ads on your radio station. $5 is the base rate. Some gigs even provide full production services for a few dollars more.
The second way I've used is elance.com. One of the world's biggest database of freelancers, Elance is a great way to search a wide variety of talent. Many of these voice over people are pros who are always looking to pick up a little extra cash.
You simply post your job, say you are looking for someone to occasionally read an ad for you. Determine whether you will pay by the hour or by the job. And wait for the proposals to come back to you.
I posted a job on Friday and had 93 responses by Monday morning. There are all kinds of voices, styles, and types to use for your needs.
Two things to note. One, you will need a cash budget to make this happen. It doesn't have to be big, but it does need to be cash. If your boss won't come up with the money, suggest he add it to a sales package.
No really.
I was able to hire a big market sounding non union voice for $20 per :30 ad. Any sales person should be able to get a $20 talent fee.
Second, it will take longer to turn around production, so your planning needs to be better than the "I need it tomorrow" variety. Don't be afraid to negotiate your offers. Fire back with a number you can afford and see what happens. Rates on elance.com vary all over the place.
The quality of the ads on your station can play directly into your stations revenue. It will give your copy work a breath of fresh air rather than running around the station trying to find someone to do that 5 voice ad that was just submitted. Plus you can get real regional or international voices instead of an attempt to impersonate an accent. A French speaking person doing English. Oui. An Aussie doing their form of English. Right on ya mate.
Elance.com and Fivrr.com are great ways to make your station ads sound better for not much money.
