Traditional Price per Minute vs. The Narrator Files Price per Page
As the voice of the course, eLearning narration often plays a central role in creating engaging, meaningful and effective content; it is the element of authenticity emphasizing important points and key concepts, and explaining jargon that may otherwise be difficult for learners to understand or remember.
Most developers of rapid eLearning are very aware of the pros and cons going into the decision to do-it-yourself or hire professional voice talent. So, in this article, we’re going to focus on professional narration. Specifically, how the differences in pricing structure can contribute to or hinder you in building your courses in a time-efficient, cost-effective manner.
Until recently, the accepted standard for estimating professional narration has been price-per-minute. Most service providers quote this way, and the costs associated with this pricing model can add up quickly. For example;
The general guideline for voice narration is 2 minutes per page of double spaced, 12 point font text. So 10 minutes of narration = 5 pages. At the industry average rate of $25 per finished minute, your cost is $250.
Pretty straightforward, right?
Well hold on for a moment. Other factors may increase your cost. If the talent reads more slowly than average or the script calls for pauses, such as between bullets. Before you know it, your script length, in terms of time, can easily increase by 50%. Unless your narrator is feeling very charitable, they are going to charge you for that extra time.
So we are left questioning what are our other options? The most transparent method of establishing a rate, from a client perspective, is to remove the cost barriers of price-per-minute and offer professionally recorded voice talent at a set price-per-page.
Case in point, The Narrator Files, where you’ll find top quality narration available in any desired audio format with fast turnaround at a fixed cost of $22 per 12 point courier, 1.5 spaced page. Those