Earn money doing voice overs

Have you been told you have a great voice or that you should be on the radio, but not sure where to start? This guide will give you five things you can do right now to begin your voice over journey. After working in radio for 10 years as a morning show host and production manager, she left to pursue her love of the voice over industry and now helps others find success in their voice acting careers.

Follow her on Twitter TaraTylerVO. I wanted to write this guide because I hear this a lot. The great news is that even though the voice over industry is competitive, there is plenty of voice acting work out there for everyone. This guide will give you a good idea of where to start. Before you invest tons of money in home studio equipment and a demo reel, head to your local theater and jump on stage! I have worked with many people who have a great voice, and usually, one of two things happens when I hand them a script and put them behind the mic for the first time.

First, figure out what you like to do! Some people really love doing character voices. Some just want to do commercial, announcer, or presentation style reads.

Others really enjoy recording phone systems sometimes called IVR or Interactive Voice Response. Now, you should get some honest, professional feedback on your work.

There are a few options here. Before spending tons of money on professional recording equipment, I suggest finding a voice over coach in your area who will let you use their studio to start practicing and give you some feedback on your voice. Yes, this does cost money, but this investment is much smaller than what it will cost to set up your home studio step 4 will cover this topic , plus the feedback and advice you will get just on your first session is priceless. Now, if you already have some decent equipment at home something other than a USB headset.

See Step 4 , you can jump behind the mic and start practicing. This is a free option and you will get honest, but constructive, professional feedback. Just like fashion, trends in voice over demos change over the years. Back in the day, people liked flashy demos with sound effects and lots of compression and EQ, but today, all those agents and potential clients want to hear is you.

More than a great voice, they are listening for a great personality and if you are covering it up with tons of effects, you will be costing yourself jobs. Different jobs will require different demos. There are several reasons for this. They just want to hear commercials. I suggest making a demo in each of the categories of work you want to do. Another reason is that many clients will only listen to about ten seconds of an audition or demo before moving on to the next.

Our demo production expert Deb Munro recently wrote a great two part series on this topic. All this being said, VoiceBunny works a bit differently. You should upload a sample in each category commercial, audiobooks, etc.

Something to keep in mind, when a client hears your sample, they assume that you can deliver that same audio quality when they book you for a gig.

If you have a professionally recorded demo, but no way to deliver high quality audio for the jobs you do book, there is no point in auditioning or posting those samples. This is the big topic. There are blog posts, forums, and discussions in social media all about audio equipment and setting up a home studio.

My recommendation is to start small and reinvest the money you make into upgrading your equipment and set up. All clients, whether they are Pixar or just a guy who needs a voicemail message, expect crystal clear audio recordings. They are NOT going to settle for less than perfection. Does this mean spending thousands of dollars? Maybe, eventually it does, but not today.

5 Companies Providing Home-Based Voice Over Jobs

Many talents ask me for feedback on their audio. They are missing the most important part of their setup —the soundproofing. Microphones are going to pick up ANY noise or echo and amplify it. You might be in what you think is a silent environment, but your microphone works much differently than your ears! Because this is such an important topic, I went straight to the experts at Auralex. Their CEO and former voice actor himself! In music studios, concert halls and certain other settings, we often use acoustical products called diffusors, which reflect and redirect ambient sound without absorbing it, but these are not appropriate for use in voice over studios, because they promote room tone, which is not what voice over requires.

Broadband absorbers are absorptive panels that affect the whole range of frequencies, while bass traps are designed to primarily absorb frequencies below Hz. Properly chosen and implemented, these will tame your studio and make it sound fully pro. Not sure what to use in your studio?

Choosing a mic is like picking out a pair of jeans. I suggest heading to your local music store and testing out some. This little 5 channel mixer from Behringer is a good starter. Then, you will need a firewire or Thunderbolt cable to run from your mixer to your computer I recommend firewire or ThunderBolt over USB, although USB 3. What cable you need depends on the computer you are using and the audio interface you purchase.

You can get into mic processors, fancy sound cards, and much more. For discussions and recommendations on gear or if you have specific questions about your home studio setup, ask our community here in our Home Studio Forum.

I also highly recommend the East-West Audio Body Shop show all about home studios, audio engineering, recording, and much more! You can go back and watch old episodes and catch a new one each week. How do you find voice over work? The most valuable thing to a client even more so than money is TIME.

When you save the client time, you make them very happy. Here are some tips:.

Clients report listening to about 9 seconds of an audition before moving on to the next one. Of course, since I work for VoiceBunny and Voice In fact, when I started my voice over career years ago, Voice was so helpful to me that I begged to work for them! VoiceBunny is a great place to start because there is no fee to join the service.

You simply set your own rates and VoiceBunny adds the profit margin on top. I did a webinar that covers how to get started with VoiceBunny. I highly recommend checking out the video:. Voice Premium members receive opportunities to audition for voice over work every day via our SmartCast system.

SmartCast takes the information given by the voice seeker client and automatically invites the best matching voices for that project to audition. SmartCast will then begin inviting more people until the requested amount of auditions is filled or the client closes the project. Clients only get auditions from voices that match exactly what they asked for.

This encourages them to listen to all their auditions and come back to post more projects. Voice Premium members also have their profile shown in our search feature. This allows clients to book you directly just from hearing your demos on the site.

Check out membership options. All Voice members get a profile page, can upload 10 demos, and get a Voice Click here to get your free Voice profile. Click here to find out more about upgrading to Premium. Early in my voice over career, I scavenged the internet looking for any voice over work I could find—Craigslist, Elance, forums, etc.

What I found is that people who post on these kinds of sites have no idea what they should be paying for a voice actor or how the process should work. It was very difficult and time consuming because I had to educate these clients and then trying to collect payment was a hassle too. There is no one path to finding voice over success. Choose the options that work best for you and your career. Just like any career, you get out of it what you put into it. You can make voice over a part-time hobby, but just keep in mind that working with clients, finding work, auditioning, training, etc.

Veronica Belmont via photopin cc. Theme by Press Customizr. Your First Five Steps to Making Money with Your Voice. Your First Five Steps to Making Money with Your Voice Have you been told you have a great voice or that you should be on the radio, but not sure where to start?

Woman makes over 9, a month on Fiverr - Business Insider

How do I get started in voice over? Things you should know before you begin reading: You will spend money getting into this industry. Professional recording equipment, training, demos, marketing, etc. This guide will help you get started relatively inexpensively. You will spend lots of time getting into this industry. You will have lots of fun in this industry.

Your voice acting career is what you make it. There are so many different kinds of projects, from audiobooks to cartoons, to medical training videos and phone systems, you will need to find and focus on the areas of voice over you are good at and really enjoy. While it sounds like talking into a mic for a living is all fun all the time, just like any career, if you are not interested in your work, you will burn out quickly. Ask yourself why you want to do this.

If you know upfront what your goals, expectations, and motivations are, you will be more successful. Setting small achievable goals and placing deadlines on them will make sure you stay on track, even if you only want to do voice over as a hobby instead of a full-time career. Okay, ready to get started? Hone Those Acting Skills! OR They try too hard. They over enunciate all their words and try to imitate those old school radio announcers they grew up listening to. Here are some first steps you can take to prepare for your new career as a voice actor: Take an improv class at your local theater Attend an acting meetup in your area there might even be a voice actor meetup group near you!

Our voice actor community is a great place to ask for advice when selecting a coach. A coach should get to know you and your voice for a while before producing a professional demo. More on demos later. Volunteer to read for LearningAlly. Use the search feature to put in the keywords and parameters that you think match your voice. Figure out what it is that makes you really like or dislike a demo.

You can also listen to voice actors on Voice Get Some Feedback and Find Your Voice! A few things to think about: Breathing — are your breaths distracting? Do you take big inhalations or exhalations? Do you sound like you are running out of breath mid-sentence?

Take natural pauses — Just speak at your normal conversational pace. Unless you are voicing a monster truck ad or a really fast disclaimer, most clients just want a normal speaking pace. It will not talk back. Maintain the same volume throughout your read. Speaking at an angle on the mic instead of directly in front will help.

Do your warm ups! Warm up your voice, throat and tongue before beginning a session. Get Your Voice Over Demo Produced Just like fashion, trends in voice over demos change over the years. Set Up Your Home Studio This is the big topic. A quiet space to record in, away from traffic noises, appliances running, kids, dogs, etc.

Professional soundproofing materials microphone XLR cable most mics come with one mixer firewire cable computer recording software Soundproofing is as important as your recording equipment! Start small, then upgrade!

I use my walk-in closet and the clothes provide an extra layer of sound protection! Clothes are NOT enough though. Invest in legit soundproofing materials not the egg crate mattress topper you get at Walmart. I recommend the Auralex Roominator kits they sell on their website. These are designed to keep your voice from bouncing back off the walls. For example, if you are using a metal mic stand to hold your script while you record, cover that baby with a piece of carpeting or something to dampen that noise because your voice will reflect off of it.

Get your computer out of the room. Your microphone will pick up fan noise from your computer.

Unless you have a solid state drive that is completely silent, you will want to set up a monitor in your studio and run cables through your wall to a computer outside the room. You can use a wireless keyboard and mouse to control your recording software. This also cuts down on the heat of your studio. Trust me, once you get a lot of equipment in there, it heats up fast!

Choosing Your Microphone Choosing a mic is like picking out a pair of jeans. I know it is tempting because they simply plug right into your computer, but the sound quality is just not up to par with traditional mics that use an XLR cable. Use whatever mic makes your voice sound the best! Twisted Wave — very easy to use audio editor ProTools — This is the most expensive and most robust option on the list.

There are many others out there. Use the one that works for you! Here are some tips: Make sure you submit your audition in the requested audio format, labeled properly, and slated according to their specifications. But, when auditioning via other methods, it shows that you pay attention to detail and may actually help you land a job when you follow all instructions. A slate is the first part of an audition that usually includes the talent saying their name and perhaps the name of the project and number of takes included.

At this point, clients just want to hear your read of their script, all that stuff can be talked about later should they consider hiring you. It is far too tempting to just skip to the next audition instead of listening through your slate.

Make sure you meet all project requirements before auditioning. A client may request ISDN or phone patch, production services, etc. What you must remember is that sometimes you are not auditioning for the end client, but perhaps the ad agency or a production studio who is then relaying the auditions to their client.

Keep remarks short and sweet. There is no place to leave comments or remarks on VoiceBunny, but there is on other casting sites. Most importantly, you should thank them for listening and be nice. This is not the place to critique the script or complain about the budget.

Where to find voice over jobs Of course, since I work for VoiceBunny and Voice How to get voice over work with VoiceBunny VoiceBunny is a great place to start because there is no fee to join the service. I highly recommend checking out the video: Getting voice over work with Voice Get a Premium Voice Membership Voice Premium members receive opportunities to audition for voice over work every day via our SmartCast system. Getting work on other websites Early in my voice over career, I scavenged the internet looking for any voice over work I could find—Craigslist, Elance, forums, etc.

Conclusion There is no one path to finding voice over success. Never miss another post! Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts, contests and more! Categories Animation Character Voices Content Marketing Developer News Dubbing Elearning Gamification Growth Hacking Marketing Microphones Online Marketing Presentations Press Coverage Productivity Radio Sales Startups Travel Uncategorized Updates Video Video Games Voice actors Voice Over Technology VoiceBunny Voiceover Voices for Video Production.

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