How to Make Money as a Voice-Over Artist

The interesting fact about modern living is your ability to make money with your God given gift. Some people are born with nice voices and mastery of a particular language.

Using your voice to earn income could be a huge money maker for the gifted. Voice over acting is a lucrative career choice for people with good voices.

Before you jump into the entertainment world you need adequate training.  Other considerations are voice coaching, type of equipment and securing gigs.

A major criterion is passion for the business and hard work. There is also serious competition in the industry therefore proper branding is essential.

Things to Consider

Things to consider before venturing into the industry include finance, versatility and passion. You would spend money on training, equipment and seasons.

You need do develop your voice and fine tune the acting skill. You should join an association, take online courses and study profession voice thespians. You need to purchase professional equipment and get feedback from other professionals.

Voice Projects

Creative arts and entertainment has become huge money makers for practitioners. There are many voice related projects to consider.

Common voice related gigs are television host, newscaster, vocalists and singer. Other voice over acting jobs includes radio presentation and audio book making.

You could try becoming a Master of ceremony, record for phone systems, medical training books and cartoons. More projects are dialog recording, multi-media projects, audio podcasts.

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Voice Jobs

• Television host
• Newscaster
• Vocalists
• Singer
• Radio presentation
• Audio book making
• Master of ceremony
• Record for phone systems
• Medical training books
• Cartoons
• Dialog recording
• Multi-media projects
• Audio podcasts.

Voice-Over equipment

You need the right equipment to develop your naturally given talent. The voice-overs are common in commercials, foreign films and documentaries.

To achieve quality voice-overs you need to invest in appropriate equipment. Consistent training and fine-tuning your skill is essential to success.

Purchase only high quality equipment to capture and control your sound. There are different types of equipment and editing software to consider.

The type of voice-over you want to do dictates the equipment you need. Some equipment’s are ideal for multimedia projects, audio podcasts and video projects.

Essential equipment include microphone and fixed microphone stand. Headphones, pop filters, acoustic treatment equipment and audio interface.

The audio interface is an external device used to connect a professional microphone to a computer. Outboard gear includes dynamic processors, channel strip, microphone preamplifiers.

You need a de-esser to suppress harsh sounds, pop filter to filter plosive sounds associated to certain letters such as S or P. More equipments are acoustic panel kits, isolation filter, closed-back headphones, regular headphones, adhesives, headphone amplifier.

You need a studio-monitor to monitor the sound and video editing software.

Voice-Over Equipment List

• Microphone
• Fixed microphone stand
• Headphones
• Pop filters
• Acoustic treatment equipment
• Audio interface
• Computer
• Dynamic processors
• Channel strip
• Shockmount
• Handheld portable recorder
• Compressor
• Microphone preamplifiers
• De-esser
• Acoustic panel kits
• Isolation filter
• Adhesives
• Headphone amplifier
• Studio monitor
• Video editing software.

Functions of Software Plugin’s

Audio software plug-ins controls the dynamics of voice-over recording. It blends the recording voice-over into an audio mix. It is ideal for post production to achieve favorable results.

Types of Microphones

There are different kinds of microphones that capture different frequencies. You have the low budget USB microphones used in computer ports.

Although USB microphones are cheap and easy to use they are dependent on type of computer and are not as versatile as other microphones.

You also have the dynamic broadcast microphones used by radio broadcasters and large diaphragm condenser microphone. Dynamic broadcast microphones are perfect for plosive sounds and easier to operate than diaphragm condenser microphones.

However the large diaphragm condenser captures the highest quality sounds. They are used in music studios to capture upper and mid-ranged sound. And don’t forget you reliable handheld portable recorder.
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Types of Microphone Stands

The voice-over actor should present the vocals through a microphone placed on a stand. This allows free expression gesticulations during the recording.

Common microphone stands are the floor stand, desk stand and studio arm. You should consider installing a studio recording vocal booth to prevent sound reflection.

The booths are usually padded with a sound absorbing material from top to bottom.

Sound Effects

Adding sound effect to your presentation gives it lots of depth. It shows are more professional arrangement and composition. Imagine a wildlife documentary without audio vocals and background sound.

You are not permitted to use commercial music without obtaining permission from the copyright owner. There are many way to obtain appropriate sound for your productions.

You could record them in a studio or purchase or use royalty free music. There are lots of sound effect DVDs and CDs to aid your production process.

Training Tips for Voice-Over Artists

Work with a recognized experts or voice coach to gain a competitive advantage. They could tutor one-on-one, phone coaching, videos or through other methods.

 Voice-over is about practical speech using correct pronunciation. The words should be clear, audible and nice.

Start the process by gaining confidence in your ability. Your speech should be fluid without odd sounds or pronunciations.

Use good breathing techniques, keep hydrated, get regular rest and add meaning to words. Before putting voice to tape, warm-up your vocal cord, avoid stressful situations, alcohol and master sight-reading.

Try to relax and practice often. Don’t forget to perfect your breathing, take natural pauses, handle plosives and fade outs.

Produce your Voice-Over Demo

Different jobs required certain types of demos. Create demos according to the category or niche. Make sure the demos are high quality and the audio is clear and crisp.

Setup a Home Studio

To setup a home studio you need to purchase professional equipment. The sound studio should be sound proof and audio recorder the best quality.

Create a dedicated space; install sound proofing material and microphone. Use an XLR cable, fire-wire cable, recording software and a good computer.

How to Find Voice-Over Work

You have gone through the training, purchased essential equipment and you even have an agent. The question is how to find voice-over work.

True your agent is saddled with this responsibility but you can do your bit. You can focus on online auditions or offline auditions.

Offline involves your talent agent, commuting, contracts and agent commissions. Online involves free/ paid membership, commissions or outright purchases.

Voice-Over Jobs on YouTube

Find jobs on YouTube Channels by searching for quality videos without voice-over. The video production you choose should have huge number of subscribers.

Before contacting such company try to conduct research to ascertain if they can pay for your services. Send them a message through the listed contact address or website.

Use Google Search Tool

Another method is to use google search tool to find clients based on your niche. Click only on organic search results and avoid the top paid ad results.

Once you have found your ideal match reach out to them through email and make it short. Present a demo only if requested or add a small one in subsequent mails.

Join Voices.com

Become a member of voices.com and land big gigs. You need to signup for a free account and gain instant access to jobs.

You need to complete your talent profile, upload voice demo and narrow your talents to specific niche areas. To access and respond to public job offering you might need a premium account. The account attracts a yearly membership fee of $399.

Use Podcasts

You can convert regular blogs to podcasts. Once you find a blog send a demo of a recent post and pitch your services. Most bloggers have active social media accounts become a follower and reach out to them.

Amazon ACX

Many publishers convert their books into audio format. They need a good narrator to help accomplish the task.

A good place to start finding clients is Amazon ACX. To find clients on ACX signup using an Amazon account and add audio samples.

You upload your audio book samples and select payment method. Use the ACX titles search to accept audition.

There are two formats they use per-finished-hour or royalty share. Most job offering are royalty share and the voice–over artist only receives a potion of sales.

This is only profitable if you leverage on establish publishers with huge fan base. Once you have found a title upload audition and review the audit script/directions.

Join VoiceBunny

Only a small percent of voice-over practitioners get accepted at VoiceBunny. They conduct a test on the applicant focused on industry knowledge and response time.

Signup is free and they make money through margins. Work placement involves either finding voice-over work or clients booking.

The client could employ your services based on your uploaded demo and rates. To create an accounts apply to VoiceBunny and take the test.

Once you are accepted on the website customize you profile, set rates and sign an agreement.

Find Advertisers

A good place to earn regular income is through companies that advertise. To find them look at newspaper and magazine advertisements.

Such companies have should interest in marketing their products or service. Find out if they have any television advertisement or radio ads.

If they don’t have any radio ads pitch an ad to them using one of their products. You would be surprised at the amount of work you get.

Join Backstage

Backstage is a platform for performing artists such as movies, documentaries and TV commercials. You also find video games, audio book jobs on the website.

You can signup as a member and search for a job related to your industry. Membership fees range from $20 monthly to $140 annually.

Use filters, select compensation and paid only in the result. Check the compensation section and see the audio book narrators rehearsal and production date/location.