Last month in Marketing 101, I pulled up my own ACX inbox in front of the class.

It was full of junk. "Voiceover opportunity." Voice actors wanted for "several upcoming commercial media projects." Names I'd never heard of, all asking me to move the conversation over to Telegram.

I asked the class if they were getting these too. One student said they'd started showing up a couple of weeks earlier, and they were getting more intense as time went on.

If you've been searching for voice over jobs from home, you are exactly who these people are looking for. So this one is about the unglamorous side of the business, which is getting paid for your work and not getting taken. I'll cover how to spot a fake message, why a real contract isn't the thing to be scared of, and why I take money upfront from new clients.

Three signs a message is a scam

The first sign is that nobody had a reason to message you. What I told the class was this. Unless you've specifically done something that warrants a message, or you've worked with that person before, there's a reason none of this is real. So before you reply, ask yourself one question. Did I audition for this person, or have I worked with them? If the answer is no, be very suspicious.

The second sign is that it isn't about audiobooks. This one honestly makes me laugh. ACX is an audiobook platform, and none of these messages talk about audiobooks. They talk about commercial advertising and "media projects." If these people were actually smart, they'd tailor the whole thing toward audiobooks. Nobody goes to an audiobook platform looking for commercial voice actors. When the pitch doesn't match the platform, that's your red flag.

Sign number three is that it wants you on another app. The ones I get look like this: "Hey, I'm looking to have a voiceover project. This is my WhatsApp." Or it's a Telegram handle. The whole point is to get you off the platform and somewhere else.

Please do not fall for this, everybody.

A real contract isn't the red flag

In another Marketing 101 class, one of our members asked a really good question. We've all seen the scammy messages in our inboxes. So if someone comes at you with an actual contract, should that make you suspicious too?

My answer was no. I have never been scammed with a contract in all these years, and I've never heard of anybody being scammed by someone actually offering them a contract.

The reason is all the work involved. To offer you a contract on ACX, the other person has to take a lot of extra steps. They need their account set up, and they have to link their book to that account through Amazon before they can even offer you the project. A scammer usually isn't going to go through all that when it's so much easier to send you a WhatsApp number.

That doesn't mean nobody has ever tried to scam people through ACX. It's been a problem since ACX started, many years ago. A contract is a good sign, just never a guarantee. ACX has its frustrations, and I've had mine, but they are always trying to make it better. Platforms change how things work, so check ACX's current terms before you rely on any of this.

Why I take money upfront from new clients

When I'm doing a job, especially a per-finished-hour job, and it's a new person, I will always try to get at least 25 to 50% upfront. There's a risk the author might turn around and say, "Eh, I don't want to do this anymore." And then you've done all that work and made no money.

Here's the split I use. Say it's a $100 job. I take $25 upfront, and then once it's finished and they've approved the final files, I take the other $75.

I don't do this with people I've worked with for a while. It's for new clients, when neither of us knows the other yet.

How I make it easy for them to say yes

Asking for money upfront can feel awkward, especially when you're newer. So I build it around something the author already has to do.

On ACX, once you get a book, you record a 15-minute sample first, and the author approves it before you record the rest. So I tell a new author that once they've heard the 15-minute sample and they like it and approve it, they pay me the 25%, and then I start on the rest of the audiobook.

That helps them feel better too. They aren't paying for nothing. They've already heard something they liked, and they know what they're getting.

How the money actually moves on ACX

One more thing I remind people of in class. ACX does not process per-finished-hour payments. You handle that payment with the author directly, separate from ACX.

Once the author has sent your payment, you confirm it inside ACX (it's a "Confirm payment" step on the book's production page). Only after you confirm does the audiobook move on to ACX's final quality check and out to retail. Until the money is actually in your account, don't confirm it. The book stays put until you do.

ACX explains the step in its own help centre if you want to read it before your first book.

Know your rates so a strange offer stands out

The other thing that protects you is knowing roughly what the work pays before anybody offers you anything. If you've never looked at rates, it's really hard to tell a normal offer from a weird one, and scammers count on that. Our voice over rate guide is a good place to start.

Learn the business side with us

This stuff isn't flashy, but it's what keeps you doing the work you love. Every Tuesday night at 8pm ET in Marketing 101, we work through the business side of voice over like this, live. Contracts, pricing, getting clients, the scam messages everybody's getting that week. Monday and Tuesday classes are recorded, so members can watch them back.

Free Class Week is Monday 12 to Thursday 15 October, and Tuesday the 13th is Marketing 101. Come sit in for free. There's no card and no sales call.

If you're ready now, your first month of CORE is $39.

Have a great week everyone.
Anthony