Would you believe me if I say I know a magic pill on how to succeed in the voice-over industry? The truth is, I know about one.
To start a successful voice-over career, you need the right mindset. In voice-over, it is about understanding the difference between reading text to the microphone and delivering the message to listeners. Understanding clients’ needs and working on project success. Spending for adequate equipment and investing time to learn new voice techniques. Seeking the ways to promote yourself to move your career further actively.
You
You got this idea to try yourself in voice-overs. You may want to make a few extra dollars added to your income. Or you a kid or teenager who wants to make your own money instead of asking parents for allowances. Or maybe you are a stay-at-home parent or for any other reason staying at home person who has time and wants a working solution on how to use the time while at home, and start making money. Or you a parent who wants to get a child to the acting industry.
Whatever reasons you have, it is your motivator to start a voice-over journey. It will become your responsibility to take voice acting business seriously and deliver promised quality voice-over to the customers.
Doing business as a freelancer in voice-over no doubt exciting. You are making money from home. Any day. But it means that you are working any day. Customers from different time zones all around the globe will contact you at the time of their convenience. You will be waking up to an inbox filled with requests, and you may be sending them audio files late in the evening. It all depends on your schedule. It is not bad; it is what it is.
People cooperating from other countries know that their messages are answers delayed, and don’t expect your reply when you have midnight. It will become a matter of your habit to do the first thing in the morning to reply to work-related inquiries. Sometimes the timely response can make a difference between you having a job or audition or not. All you need to stay consistently available for customers who want to work with you. If you can’t work now or can’t give them your full attention at the moment, do not delay communication. Letting them know your availability will hold their interest to you.
You need to invest money. For many people, it could be something they have never done before. Therefore it can be challenging to accept that fact you need to buy voice-recording equipment.
I was not an exception. I emphasizing this fact because the equipment needs to be purchased must be right for the job and professional. It doesn’t mean you must buy the most expensive, the least costly is fine. But not the cheapest.
The differences, reasons and recommended setup is explained in Microphone setup for beginners to a voice-over from home. I want to emphasize that this step must be done, and better do it right from the first time, so you don’t have to pay twice.
Platforms
You find first voice-over jobs on VO marketplaces where customers come to hire freelancers. There are many websites marketplaces to find VO work but only a few worth attention. Those were overviewed in Top websites to find voice-over work.
Each platform allows you to get a job, and some will allow you to connect with a client. They have different approaches and business models, and you need to be familiar with what can you do on one platform, which may not be allowed on the other. It is very important to learn their policies if you want to succeed and not waste your time. Accept their rules and conduct your business in accordance.
You will get a chance to prove yourself what you capable of. Build your profiles to promote your strength. Communicate clearly to avoid not fitting projects. You will have to determine your voice-over profile and accept jobs fitting your voice. Otherwise, your reputation could be hurt, and customer trust won’t be established. You need to grow a proof of your best voice capabilities. Guided instructions on how exactly to increase your income and build the credibility of your profile are given to everyone who joins Blueprint To Voice-Over Freelance
Follow the trends in your branch and keep your profile updated. Stick to a particular kind of voice-overs, like narration or character play, and grow your name in this field.
When you gain proof in a particular area, customers will be looking specifically for you. You will be able to raise your rates above the average and enjoy more interesting bigger jobs. But before that happen, you will work on establishing credibility and building your proof based on previous jobs.
Clients
Being a beginner freelancer in any craft, including voice-over, you need to build credibility and proof working with almost any client. You will start from lower rates, smaller projects, and customers who want to save money but demand high quality. And that’s fine. You must have in mind that every client is important and treat them equally regardless of project size or money amount you earn. Simply keep them happy and thrilled to leave you the best review.
That should drive your motivation at the beginning, which will pay you back afterward. Having excellent reviews from previous customers will be your proof and simplify your life in the future.
So brace yourself and get ready to meet all kinds of customers. They may be asking for extra fast delivery; they may have not speaking well your language; they may be asking for small extra favors. They may not be bringing best-paying projects; you must never sacrifice the quantity for quality. Regardless of anything, you must always take the best care of them, so they feel like they treated above the standard. And they won’t have a reason to leave you a bad review.
If you strive for the best quality and communication, you easy climbing above most of your competition and start getting better and higher-paying jobs.
More prominent clients look for proven resources; they don’t want their projects put at risk. The feedback you earn from the past projects shows them you are the right person to hire. You have to make sure you are capable of delivering what you’ve promised.
If you say you can do character read or change voices, make sure you train this treat and proven to act fo different roles sustainably. Invest your time in learning the techniques and practicing. Invest in coaching.
Team
Being a freelancer voice artist means frequently being all team in one person.
That includes being a sound engineer. Knowing how to set up equipment and recording space is required to know at least at the basic level. You need to know how not to make mistakes. Your familiarity with the software you are using must be at a good level to perform processing recordings, working with audio files, adding effects, overlaying tracks, etc.
Master your process, so it becomes an automated action. Then doing necessary pre-delivery manipulations, gains, equalizations, clearing from unwanted sounds should not take a long time. It will be a big time-saving difference between your first jobs and then.
Being freelancer also means you are your own marketer. You need to know how to promote yourself using all available resources at all places where your potential customer can be. It includes the freelance platforms you are using. By understanding how they work and what they offer, you have to know how to maximize your exposure and utilize their capabilities.
Use all the available resources and space to talk about yourself, to post your demos, etc. That is the crime not to use these opportunities to talk about your skills at a place where customers look for talents.
Keep in mind to effectively use that given space, you should think like a client. Use the keywords describing the best you wish to be discovered for. Different platforms can use other approaches and have different kinds of customers regularly searching for voice-clients on them.
Definitely read the terms of use. It is a bitter pill to swallow when you see the effort you put into building your brand being gone. You can be restricted from any voice-over marketplace if you not following an important rule or haven’t read a crucial paragraph from their policies. Being from another country or in a younger age category can stop you from continuing business on the platform.
At some point you will want to make your own website, that is the right thing to do. It is not that hard (link to how to www), but it also must be taken seriously. It is yours. So you can and have to use it whenever you can. Even everywhere else the others can dictate rules, your website is yours, and the rules are yours. You are not limited for short demo and a few characters long descriptions. Talk about your passions, show all of your talents you have all the space to impress.
Your website is a place where you send customers who want to know more about you. Send people met offline, not to your Fiverr account, but to your website. Make them your clients, not someone else clients. Share your www whenever it is not prohibited; on social media, professional sites like Linkedin, forums.
Grow your own database of clients; they are one most valuable asset after your own voice.
The journey of becoming a voice-talent is not long or hard. It is done one step at the time, and I gladly guide you through these steps in Blueprint To Voice-Over Freelance
You will see how in a relatively short period of time from a newbie in VO, you go to a real actor.
Start now – there is no reason to wait any longer!