voice acting business plan

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Making a 2023 Voice-Over Business Plan

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If you’re reading this article, it might be because you’re just like me: your 2023 New Year’s resolution is to grow your voice-over business! I’m wishing us all much success this year, whether you’re just starting out in the industry or you’ve been here for ages. But in order for my well-wishing to be truly effective, it’s time we put our nose to the grindstone and hammer out our 2023 business plan. I know what you’re thinking – Hannah, we’re actors! We’re creatives! I can’t just create a whole business plan from scratch, I should be behind the mic making scripts come to life! I know how it is; but at the end of the day, for us to be truly successful in voice-over, we need to treat ourselves like the business that we are – and the best way to get serious about achieving your goals this year is to start with a business plan. Simply put, a business plan is a written statement of a business’s goals, and strategies to achieve them. There are lots of different ways to do this, and there are tons of templates online you can use to stay organized. In general, your typical business plan consists of seven steps. Let’s go through these together using parts of my 2023 business plan as an example! Step 1: Write an Executive Summary 

Make a plan and connect the dots!

This is our introduction to our voice-over business – you can think of it as an elevator pitch. We’re trying to summarize what we do and sell, and we might add an overview of our strategy for the year here too. Mine might look like this: My voice-over business is called Hannah Trusty VO. I am the sole employee, I’m going to be based out of my home studio in Boston this year, and will be working full-time. I’ve been professionally trained in commercial, narration, and character acting. This year I am going to devote more time to auditions in animation and video games, work on expanding my vocal range to offer new voices to clients, and aim to add five new clients this year. Start with the basics, and then you can bring it home with answering this question: Why does my business matter? Step 2: Write a Business Description This is where you can start to really dive into your marketing goals. Who are we selling ourselves to? What parts of this industry do you want to focus on? What makes you different from the next guy? If you need help with this part, think about what your coaches or clients may have said about your voice. Positive feedback you’ve received might help you think about how to position yourself in voice-over. Also, consider what you actually want to do with your voice. As I stated in step one, I want to do more animation this year. My target market is going to be places where I can audition for character roles, new casting directors I’m trying to connect with, or maybe even an agency I want to apply for. Step 3: Market Analysis This may be a little less straightforward for us actors, but spend some time researching other actors you admire. What roles are they getting? What do their demos sound like? What do their websites look like? You can use your peers as both inspiration and as competitive analysis. Are you up to par with their branding? What is going to make you stand out here? Step 4: Operational Structure How are we going to operate on a daily basis as a voice-over business? This part of your plan should be straightforward, actionable, and realistic goals for your daily performance. I work as a voice actress full time, so my operational commitment will look like this: I will commit to working 4-8 hours daily, five days per week. I will prioritize ongoing projects every morning, allocate one to two hours per day to auditioning, and spend my final hour of my workday reviewing my branding across different platforms as well as marketing myself to potential clients. I will spend 30 minutes per week making social media posts. I will allow myself time to relax and rest on weekends 🙂 Step 5: Product Design What is it that we’re actually selling here? Our voices! Our personality! Our work ethic! Write down what types of voice-over work you are strongest in. Think about your demos as an example of this – I’d recommend listening back to them and jotting down adjectives to describe your voice and talent along the way. Again, think about what makes you a strong actor and different from the next guy. My top “product” would be: Smooth, warm, & enthusiastic audiobook narration; cheerful young female characters; raspy teen boy characters; serious, stoic heroines; loud, angry teenager voices; and high-speed, friendly commercial reads! This will help us know where to focus our auditioning and marketing efforts as well. Step 6: Raise Capital While this is more straightforward for a business selling tangible products or running a brick-and-mortar, we still need to consider what sort of investments we’re going to be making in order to make our business successful. Are you going to take on specialized coaching this year? Revamp your home studio? Join a new pay-to-play auditioning website? Think about all the things that will come out of pocket this year and write down what they are and how much they cost. This will be an important page to return to throughout the year. Keep this info accurate so you have an easier tax season in 2024! Step 7: Future Performance With all of this in mind, how much do we expect to profit this year? What is our monetary goal for 2023? If you’ve already been working as a voice actor in years past, you’ll have a good understanding of what’s to come. If you haven’t, focus on setting realistic goals for yourself and detailing how you plan to achieve them (X amount of auditions weekly, setting aside time to email potential clients, etc.). While all of this may seem tedious, I promise it’s worth your time. Reflect on your voice-over career, set goals that are within your reach for the year, and get specific about how you’re going to achieve them! Coming into the new year with a plan is going to put you leagues ahead of the next guy. Once you’re finished, celebrate with cheers to your future successes! 

Check out our free PDF with pro-tips from real working voice-over actors here !

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How to get into voice acting

Written by Guy Michaels

"I've been voicing for 25 years and have worked with thousands of voiceover artists at every stage of their career.  I've taken on board an enormous amount of experience, mine and theirs and Voiceover Kickstart is the result.  It's designed for you the voice actor who wants to create, develop and sustain a healthy voiceover career."

"Creating a voice acting career is not easy but it's not rocket science either.  If you have the time and energy, dedication and desire then you can start a voiceover career.  Read on....." - Guy Michaels, Director of Voiceover Kickstart

Get Trained

Get equipped, how to get into voice acting in 2024.

Do you want to know how to get into voice over work ?  Perhaps you have been voicing for a while but just not getting enough voiceover work to feel confident to call it a ‘voiceover career’ – maybe it feels more like a hobby?

Learn how to be a voice actor with the help of Voiceover Kickstart, voiceover expert Guy Michaels and our wonderful voice acting community.

Put your purse (or wallet) away

• What qualifications do you need to become a voice actor?
• The skills of a voiceover artist VIDEO
• Voiceover artists needed

How do I improve my voiceover skills?

How can voiceover kickstart help.

• What does a voiceover artist actually do each day? VIDEO
• What tools do I need to be a successful voiceover artist?
• What about voiceover demos or voicereels?

Websites for Voiceover Artists

Recording equipment for voiceover artists, recommended hardware for recording voiceover, recording software for voiceover work, recommended software for recording, editing and processing voiceover, how do i find voiceover work.

• Next steps to start a voice over career

Common questions about starting a voiceover career

Becoming a voice actor, get trained.

Find your feet in this exciting but competitive world!

As a freelancer working in voiceover, remember you are your own ‘Head of Finance’.  So don’t be tempted to simply spend money on courses, coaches, equipment, subscriptions or anything until you feel ready.  And yes I include my stuff in that.  Like a passive gym membership, there is simply no point in becoming a member of any organization unless you are prepared to get as much out of that investment as possible.  The same goes for voiceover coaches.  Of course, any business requires investment but the biggest investment you will ever make is your time.

Besides, as you can see from my free voiceover training resources , the script library, the podcast and more, lots of my guidance is freely available.  If you want to take your career to the next level and become a full member we are not going to stop you….but do have a word with your ‘Head of Finance’ first!  Check out our selection of regular live online voiceover classes

What qualifications do you need to start voice acting?

None.  Yes that is the simple answer. It’s more about what skills you need. What skills do you already have and what do you need to develop?  Aspiring voice actors should spend time considering their existing skills at the very beginning of their new career path.  A successful voice acting business takes dedication in all three of these areas:

It’s a process of identifying your strengths and weaknesses.

The Skills of a Voice Over Artist

Here’s a short video on the essential and desirable skills of a professional voice actor:

Voice over artists needed!

If you were to see an advert declaring ‘voiceover artists or voice actors needed’, would you be confident to apply right now?  Voice over jobs can be found in many ways and I cover this in the free course.  A 21st-century voiceover career demands a balance of skills in all of the three areas above.  You’ll need to be skilled in all three areas to survive, and committed to a professional development plan in all three areas to thrive.  Great voiceovers in the 21st century are about more than just the voice part.

Great voice but weak on marketing?

‘Got business savvy’ but technically challenged?

Love the tech side of voice acting but not feeling fully in control of your voice?

No matter how you feel reading this, the encouraging thing is that all of these skills can be learnt and developed.  With professional guidance you can accelerate this learning and save time and money , pushing your voiceover career to the next level.

It’s obvious but voice actors need to consistently work on their voices to stand the best chance at securing voice over work.  Nothing beats time spent reading out loud, every day perhaps for just 15 minutes.  Take any and every opportunity.  Also, ‘listen’.  Seek out voiceover performances (commercials, audiobooks etc) and really listen.  What are they doing?  Can you mimic or model?

In time you’ll find your own style but being aware of voiceover all around you and focusing on developing your ears in tandem with your mouth is essential.  Remember, voice acting is ‘acting’ so you’ll need to work on your acting skills too!

If you don’t have any acting experience then it’s advisable to take acting classes.  If you develop your character voices this can open up a whole other world of voice acting jobs.  Be careful to strike a balance when comparing your vocal skills to those of other voice talent. The voice acting industry needs those who are great at character voices as much as it does those are simply excellent at using their own voice in a natural and conversational way.

Many voice actors make a living out of using a voice very close to that of their daily ‘normal’ voice. So remember, if you can do different voices, accents or have a whole set of highly developed character voices that is useful but certainly not essential to make it in the voice acting industry.

Choose some scripts from our voiceover script library to practice with.

Stretch yourself with increasingly difficult tongue twisters .

Record yourself and playback.  You don’t need professional recording equipment for this, your phone, tablet or computer will have a built-in recording app.

Oh and you don’t have to have the perfect voice (whatever that really means) but you will be the perfect voice for some projects and that is what matters in voice overs.

A quick note on audio books.  They are hard work so if you want to go down that route, bear this in mind.  I’ve often encountered wannabe audio book narrators and when I ask ‘ have you ever read a 100,000 word book out loud? ‘,  the answer is an inevitable ‘no!’.

There’s lots to learn so that you can achieve really decent results when recording voiceover from home.

Try not to be daunted by the technical side of voiceover.  Many Voiceover Kickstart members who didn’t know a thing about microphones, interfaces etc are now experts at running their own home-studio for recording voiceover jobs.  In addition to our regular Home Studio 101 sessions, we have a section in our community for Home Studio Feedback dedicated to refining your recording quality.  Access the free VOICEOVER STUDIO TIPS

Before you even purchase your recording equipment, YouTube is full of tutorials and reviews.  But take care as not all advice is good advice or entirely relevant to you at your stage.  You may find that you need to wade through hours of rubbish in order to learn practical technical skills that are really relevant to recording voiceover in a home-studio setting.

At this point in this guide, hopefully you are realising that voice acting requires not only voice talent but a whole set of skills.

Starting a voiceover career = starting a business.

You don’t simply become a voice over artist overnight. Owning a microphone and knowing how to read out loud might be two of the basic requirements but there is so much more to a successful voice acting career than that.  Successful voice actors balance their time and energy developing expertise across a very wide range of areas that support their business as a whole.  You must do the same.

Although within our membership we have specialist advice on branding, marketing, social media, websites, productivity, launching and sustaining your voiceover business , again YouTube can be a great resource for more general advice on running a successful business.

Working with a voiceover coach

Like every industry, ‘Voice Acting’ is full of ‘experts’.  There is endless advice out there on microphone technique, equipment to use when recording voiceover, marketing tactics and more.  The problem is this:

Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media channels are rammed with groups where, in the main, it is like ‘the deaf leading the deaf’ when it comes to advice on home-studio quality.  At the other end of the spectrum there are the ‘seasoned pros’ who don’t want you in their ‘playpit’….yes that’s an actual thing!  I remember reading a quote from a highly successful Canadian VO who stated ‘get the hell out of my playpit’.

Essentially what he meant was that although he had enjoyed a very healthy career and the financial gain associated with that, YOU have no place entering the ‘VOICEOVER WORLD’.  Preposterous.

My response to the majority of the old-guard of voice acting who moan endlessly about the ‘new way’ and the very fact that so many ‘newbies’ are entering what they regard as their world is that everyone has a beginning to their career, everyone has to start somewhere.  They did not start at their current level of expertise or income.  Once, they were just like you. They did not know how to start a voice over career, they learnt as they went along.

Prove them wrong and succeed in voice acting by having a Continuous Professional Development aspect to your business, improving your skills on a daily basis and your career year on year.

Working with a voiceover coach can sometimes help you to make better career decisions.  My advice though is to be careful, at the very early stages, to not spend too much money. Instead, absorb everything you can for free first.  You can be frugal and create the beginnings of a voice acting career.

Often it’s useful to work with a ‘voice coach’ in addition to a ‘voiceover coach’.  The reason being is that unless you come from a highly trained and disciplined acting background you’ll need to learn the mechanics of the voice.  A voice or vocal coach can help with this.

A voiceover coach on the other hand can help you with techniques at the microphone and guide you towards a successful career in voiceover.  Just be mindful again to have a chat with your Head of Finance (you) before parting with cash!

If you would like to work with me, there are options for personal online voiceover coaching for both members and non-members.

Like any training body or community, Voiceover Kickstart can only give guidance.  Although this article is focused on how to start a voice over career, the actions suggested both here and within our membership are yours to take.  Our full members that are active in the community, keeping themselves accountable and dedicating time to professional development are making major progress.  But Voiceover Kickstart or a 121 voice acting coach cannot do the hard work for you.

If you want to develop your knowledge and skills across a whole variety of voice acting topics, we can help you to do this.  In addition to all of the other free or low-cost resources, we also have The Recorded Voice PODCAST covering the wider world of voice acting.  Voiceover Kickstart strives to remain fresh and relevant in the voice over industry.  Our members are made up of highly experienced professional voice actors through to new voice talent.

We don’t just teach you how to start a voice over career, but instead how to develop and sustain one.  More on how to improve voiceover skills

What does a Voiceover Artist actually do each day?

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Be ready with the essential tools every voice actor needs!

There are some essential tools for working as a voice over artist these days but this does not mean that you have to spend loads of money.  Voiceover Kickstart gives guidance on how to save money when launching your voiceover career .

“I want to learn how to start a voice over career but what equipment do I really need?”

What tools do i need to for voice acting work.

As a pro voiceover talent you’ll need to:

• Provide samples of your voice (voiceover demos)
• Create shop windows where people can hear these (website and social media channels)
• Record your voice to a decent quality for both voiceover auditions and paid voiceover work (home studio equipment and software)

Voiceover demos or voicereels?

In order to find voiceover work, you’ll need professionally produced voiceover demos.  These contain recorded examples of your voiceover skills.  They are your calling card, your portfolio.

Demo reel EXAMPLES produced by Guy Michaels at VOICE-REEL.com

(please note that I produce just a small number of bespoke voicereels each year, it’s not a conveyor-belt service and I’m usually booked way in advance.  If you are looking for a voiceover demo producer and want to work quickly then ask around or do a google search for ‘voiceover demo companies’)

When you’re looking to work with a Voiceover demo producer there are a number of things to take into consideration. Will you be working with them remotely or on-site in the studio? What is their experience level?  How much will it cost and what help will they give you in terms of sourcing material so that you can create a voice over demo that stands out from the crowd and really truly represents you?  The voice over industry is evolving, so working with the right demo reel producer can really help you to make your mark and help you to become a successful voice actor .  You’ll probably need a commercial voiceover demo at least to begin with.  Check out our Free Voice Over Scripts .

Try to get some recommendations so that you know that the person you’re going be spending your money with is really good at what they do. It’s really important to work with the right demo producer, someone that you click with, connect with, and having listened to their produced work you understand what kind of thing you’ll end up with.

Now if you are at the very early stages of your career and you are yet to develop your ear it can be very difficult to discern the difference between bad quality recording and truly professional recording quality.  There are plenty of so-called demo producers out there who will happily produce a demo for you at low cost but remember this is a very important investment for your voice-over career so you might need to save up and wait to work with your chosen producer.  You don’t need to spend thousands but you’ll probably be better off avoiding the bargain basement producers.

Although, as mentioned, voice acting has become easier to enter as a career opportunity, voice acting itself is not for everyone. As you can see from everything covered in this guide, you really must have determination, focus, drive and willingness to work as your own boss. It can be an exciting and varied career but overall I would say that it has been my determination and stamina that has helped me to create a decent income in the voice over industry.

MORE on Voiceover Demos (and why you should record your own)

It’s essential to think about how you’re going to be representing yourself online. A website created to show off your voice-over skills acts as your shop window.  In a similar way to your demos, you want your website to be professional and to leave the potential clients in no doubt as to whether they should book you and pay you for your voice-over skills.   Your potential clients don’t need to be experts in web design to be able to spot the difference between one you have thrown together yourself or a professional one.

The client or the potential client rather needs to feel confident in the product, in the service that they will be parting with money for.  Also, a website needs to keep ‘breathing’ – it needs to be active and regularly expanded upon and updated.  If your site is your shop window and you neglect to keep it alive then your shop gradually retreats down a virtual dark and lonely alley in Google.  This might be something as simple as writing a short blog on a monthly basis or updating with samples from work you have recorded.

At Voiceover Kickstart we have a specific programme called Branding for Voiceovers which can help with all of this .  A high-quality website that attracts clients can be one way to find voice acting opportunities.

The voice-over home studio is a must. The vast majority of voice-over work worldwide has been moving to the home studio model for many years now.  Since the beginning of the Covid situation, this need has further increased.  You don’t need to spend thousands upon thousands to create a recording studio these days but you will need to invest some money.  A voice-over artist needs to be able to record for audition purposes and also to be able to deliver the final product to the client. You can do this from the comfort of your own home.  To start off with you’ll need a microphone and interface, a microphone stand, a pop filter, a pair of headphones and probably your existing computer (Mac or PC).

At Voiceover Kickstart, you’ll learn professional sound recording techniques to enhance your employability.

Let’s go through each of those items that you need to create your home studio for voice-over.  There is the potential again here to needlessly spend way too much money.  Advances in technology have made decent quality microphones really affordable.  I’ve made some recommendations for specific voiceover recording equipment below.  Microphone models used for voiceover will be subtly different from each other but not necessarily ‘better’.

You need to think about your own budget, how much can you afford to spend?  There are a number of different types of microphone used for voice-over and we cover this in our VOICEOVER STUDIO PRIMER session (FREE to all members).  While you’re at it, check out our selection of live Voice Over Events .

Two very common styles of microphone used are the side-address condenser microphone which uses an XLR lead plugging into an interface or its USB equivalent which plugs directly into your computer. USB microphones are very convenient because they plug directly into your computer however I would recommend going for the XLR option which would need an interface.  Although there are some very decent USB microphones released in recent years from recognised manufacturers, there certainly are advantages of going down the XLR microphone and interface route. In a nutshell, you’ll have greater control over the input of the signal and the output of the signal being recorded.

Like with microphones, advances in technology have made it far easier to purchase an interface in recent years. In professional studios, it is not unheard of to spend perhaps $5000 or more on the module which will amplify your voice but with the likes of the Scarlet 2i2 from Focusrite or the Audient iD4 and others, you can record decent quality for under $200.  Believe it or not, in the right environment you can set up a recording studio for voice-over work for around $600 in total.  These interfaces convert the analogue signal (your voice) into a digital signal which can be recognised by the computer.

Here are some basic hardware and software recommendations.  No matter what you’ll read on voiceover forums from ‘experts’, as long as you have a decent computer already, it is perfectly possible to keep to a budget of £500/$600 to get started .  This will cover the purchase of quality equipment that should last for years.  Many voice actors make the mistake of spending far too much money on shiny gear thinking that it will automatically make them sound more professional.

My personal recommendation for a future-proof mic that will last and do everything you need it to do:  sE Electronics X1S

(the box that enables you to plug a microphone in and ‘interface’ with your computer)

Audient iD4

Focusrite Scarlett Solo or 2i2

You’ll also need:

• an XLR to XLR microphone cable (a common 3-pin cable)
• a microphone stand
• a pair of closed-cup headphones
• a pop filter
• a decent computer/laptop that is ideally less than 5 years old and runs fast

There are many options when it comes to choosing software to record voice-over.  A key consideration is that unless you come from a professional music production background you’ll probably want to keep it simple.

When recording voiceover from your home studio you really don’t need the fully-fledged ‘studio in a box’ type software.  So what that means, is if your interface came with a free copy of ProTools First (lite) or equivalent just throw it away.

Why?  Because you’ll likely waste many hours trying to work out how to use it.  The big guns of audio recording software often known as Digital Audio Workstations like ProTools, Cubase, Logic and more, have so much functionality that is unnecessary for recording voice-over from a home studio.

You are unlikely to ever need to emulate a vintage guitar amplifier or synthesiser and the interfaces on these types of software can be overwhelming.

You simply want to record a single mono track of your voice and do some editing and perhaps gentle processing prior to sending this off as an audition or for a completed project for a client.  So keep it simple.

Another thing worth noting here is that the client will not know what software you are using so it really doesn’t matter if you are using free offerings such as Audacity or GarageBand.  Other options to look at are Ocenaudio and Twisted Wave.  I would recommend looking at Adobe Audition because although you have to pay through their cloud service it certainly offers very useful functionality for recording voice-over from a home studio.

Whatever editing software you use, it really just needs to be simple and easy for you to use on a daily basis, so do try out a few different types.

So if you are using one of the free options or one of the major players in pro-audio, fine, so long as you are comfortable with using it and can edit quickly.

The higher-end software such as Pro Tools, Cubase and Logic have a pretty steep learning curve because, after all, they are really designed for multitrack work (recording full bands etc). My system for recording Voiceover is powerful enough to handle a 48-piece orchestra….which is frankly ridiculous as in most cases I am only ever dealing with a single track – that of the recorded spoken word.

The free software such as Audacity or Ocenaudio are more than capable of producing quality recordings .  I am not recommending Audacity though, as in my opinion it is old-fashioned and clunky and has terrible noise reduction processing, which when applied without the ‘developed ear’ can often ruin recordings.

If you can, download a trial version of various software options and get to grips with them before purchasing as everyone has their preference.

MYTHS BUSTED!

All usb microphones are rubbish..

This is quite simply not true.  Some recent USB microphones are almost identical to their XLR (3 pin connector) counterparts.

I need to spend $1000 on a microphone.

No. You. Do. Not.  Modern-day microphones from reputable manufacturers are capable of capturing very decent recordings of your voice in the right environment.

As mentioned in the video above, Environment and Technique are key to producing quality voiceover recordings.

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Create, develop and sustain your voiceover career

You’ve nearly made it to the end of this article!  Hopefully, you are now a bit wiser about how to start a voice over career.  Do you still want to?  Maybe it has put you off?  There’s work to do but if you action as many as possible of the voiceover career tips on this page you’ll be a few steps further ahead than someone who doesn’t.

Do you really have a voice for voiceover?

Let’s not forget your number one tool.  Whether you want to work as a full-time audiobook narrator, in commercial voiceover or voice acting for games you need to take care of your voice.  In our membership, we’ve got a 10-part programme dedicated to just that:  Vocal Care for Voiceover Artists

Sorry if this is a question you have been asking and searching for the answer to.  It is a very vague question!  Voiceover is a gigantic industry and voice over jobs can be found in numerous ways.  You must know what kind of voiceover work you are looking for.

To know that, you must be aware of your natural strengths.  The Voiceover Kickstart programmes and weekly recording challenges in our community (THE LOUNGE) will help you to define and understand what you are good at and what you might need to work on.

Remember you’ll need to be ready with your demo reel ready for potential employers to hear examples of your voice over talent.

Are you a natural storyteller?  Then perhaps you could be an audiobook narrator.

Do you have a professional and educated sounding voice?  Maybe you should be targeting professional firms to voice their explainer videos, business narration or technical/pharmaceutical eLearning modules.

Are you brilliant at character voices?  Well, have you thought about how you could work in Gaming or Animation?

So, am I a Voice Actor, Voiceover Artist, Voiceover……..what do I call myself?

Even the terminology can be confusing.  You’ll see people working in this field that use various titles all pretty much meaning the same thing when it boils down to the actual job:

Ok so you could argue that we are all voice actors in this business and that the craft is ‘voice acting’.  However, sometimes the idea of ‘acting’ suggests ‘performance’ or ‘pretend’ whereas in fact so much of the work delivered by voice talent these days is ‘functional’.  What I mean is, and not to downplay the skills involved, but sometimes if we think of a project as acting, we can go too far in terms of the performance.

I’ve worked with voice actors who sound like they are desperately trying to find the pathos, narrative and character arc in a telephone menu!

Approaching every voice over project as an acting role can lead some to overdo the performance.  This brings us to the question of ‘do you need to be an actor work work in voice over?’.

No, you do not.  Although of course there is great value in learning and developing the skills of an actor, I know and work with many voiceover artists who certainly do not consider themselves actors in any way and are very happy working in the more functional and business fields of corporate voiceover.

Finding a voice-over agent

Do you need a voice over agent to land voice over jobs?  Having a voiceover agent can be useful. But it is far from essential these days. I do not have an agent and yet work consistently. Many of my colleagues who are with a major agent might just do one really nice job every few months but they get most of the work themselves.

It’s not that Voice Agents are irrelevant, it’s that their relevance to you as the Voice Artist is diminishing. They know it too. Or at least the more clued up ones do. Having a voice agent is the most passive part of your quest for work.

Yes, there are some really good agents who if you are lucky enough to sign with, will be actively seeking work for you. In reality, the mid to low-level agents have the same access to work as you do as a solo voiceover artist.

If you do sign with an agent, don’t then take your foot off the gas thinking that you are made and that from herein you’ll be inundated with well-paid and exciting work – that is rarely the case. Having an agent is desirable but not essential.

They are an avenue to work that runs in parallel with your own very focused efforts.  Agents will often know casting directors and may have connections that would otherwise be difficult to make on your own.

As a voice over actor, there’s one thing that has opened up the playing field: Voiceover Directories.  These function as a matching service between those who can provide voiceover and those who are seeking it – and these days this includes a very wide range of client types and there’s work in most sectors.

Purely as a result of improved tech and connectivity, these have come to dominate the industry in recent years and although many pro VOs will turn their nose up at them, they serve a purpose.

For example, an eLearning client is rarely going to go through a city-based agency coupled with an expensive studio – these P2P systems mean that clients can find you and you can work with them no matter the geographical differences.

You could be in Canada, whilst the client is in South Africa – this happens all the time. As VOs we often have clients throughout the world.

Pay to Play sites require you to subscribe to have full access to the work. With more and more high-street names and corporations turning to these for their VO needs it seems silly to ignore them. If you are just starting out it can be confusing; it can feel disconnected; it may even feel awkward setting rates for your VO talent.

But you want to work and these open casting calls in which you submit auditions are a way to develop your natural talent as well as accessing paid work.

Once booked, it is quite common to be asked back by the same client – then you start to build a relationship and potentially regular work. Think long-term here. You may not make a quick return but for a few hundred dollars per year it can open up thousands of dollars of opportunities from the job postings you can access – but only if you are professional and strategic.

Note that many of the jobs will insist that you have your own recording equipment.  So go ahead and Google these sites, read as much as you can. Sign-up for a free profile and consider the investment. You’d probably only need 1 or 2 very small jobs to cover the subscription cost. Oh, and never pay full price as they always run offers!

These directories provide voice artists with ways to find some premium voice acting gigs and entry level voiceover jobs too.

Direct Relationships

This is really the golden egg or holy grail of voiceover careers in the long term. It’s all about relationships and you simply doing a fantastic job every time. If they book you once they like you, if they book you twice they love you. We need to start creating connections and building relationships. As the VO you need to do all you can to maintain that professional impression you give at every stage.

A professional voice actor will often consider all of these routes to voice over work. There’s one thing that will really help though, and that is having access to a professional recording studio. These days it can often be the difference between getting the job or not.

Whether or not you invest in the recording gear needed and the time to learn the technical ropes needs careful consideration.  Voiceover isn’t always a full-time career. Voice actors often work in the voice over industry alongside another area of work.

As a freelance job it means that you can be relatively free to decide upon your own hours. But bear in mind that although you could choose your own hours you wish to work from week to week, the running of a business will demand unpaid hours.

RESEARCH and TARGET

Let’s just think about one lucrative area of work and how we may approach creating these connections, building relationships and securing voiceover work. Once we’ve considered this single area we can then apply the same approach to the hundreds of other VO markets.

EXPLAINER VIDEO PRODUCTION COMPANIES

Try this in a moment: Google ‘explainer video production company UK’ (or wherever you are based). You’ll easily find a number of companies that require Voiceover on a daily basis. You want to connect with the person who books the Voiceovers. Before just diving in and ringing them with a “hello I can do your voiceovers” call, think strategically.  How can you appear on their radar?

There’s a list of suggested actions below but before you do all of this make sure you have put the required effort into your branding as a professional voiceover artist. When you are contacting them and seeking work you are then giving them directions to your ‘shop window’. Everything about you, your site, your demos, how you write about yourself etc must be as perfect as it can be.

Even in your early days, this will help you to feel confident when you do approach. Remember the value of any client relationship goes far beyond the single job itself. Do a great job; be indispensable.

STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO CREATE AND DEVELOP YOUR VOICEOVER CAREER STRAIGHT AWAY

Vocal skills.

• Read aloud each and every day to improve your voice acting skills.  Take any opportunity you can including volunteer work such as Learning Ally
• Use our free voiceover script library to practice
• Increase your intake of water – high levels of hydration are essential for voiceover work.  Every time you speak you are losing moisture.
• Learn all you can about the vocal mechanism – look after your voice.
• Enrol on an acting course and take classes in improv and take opportunities for trying your hand at real voiceover script work.  We have regular script workout sessions in our membership.

BUSINESS SKILLS

• Get your tools in place: a range of voiceover demos, website, social media accounts etc
• Get organised – using a CRM (a way of notating interactions with clients/leads).
• Consider a session with a voiceover career coach to help you decide upon the next steps specific to you.
• Research voiceover directories such as Voices.com , Voice123, Bodalgo, and others…

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Download some recording software (free versions to begin with) and get your head around the basics of audio editing.
• Consider your budget for recording equipment and look at the recommendations above.
• Attend our Home Studio sessions to save time and money in these early days of your voiceover career.
• Listen.  Listen to voiceover recordings and aim to develop your ear to be able to tell the difference between great and not-so-great audio.

How long does it take to start a voiceover career?

In this article I’ve tried to cover how to start a voice over career, but how long does this all take?

Well I’ve worked with many hundreds of new voice actors and the answer varies wildly.  It really depends upon how much time and focus you are willing to put in.  As you’ll see from the above and in my free voiceover training resources , there are so many aspects that make up a successful voice over career.

Some individuals will be quicker than others to achieve some level of traction and this could be because they come from a certain employment background or have an existing set of skills that need to be refined rather than learnt from scratch.

Often it’s the technical side and the business and marketing that take the most effort, especially in the first year or so.  Saying that, at Voiceover Kickstart we have members who have created a voiceover career in under six months whilst others are taking it at a slower pace.  It’s up to the individual.  Remember, voiceover can work as a very flexible and often lucrative part-time career choice.

It’s worth checking out other voice actors, so do spend some time looking at voice actor websites and listen to their voiceover demos.

What are the downsides of a voiceover career?

Then main one I can think of is isolation.  A large amount of the work is on your own.  Some love this (me included) but if you need to be around folk all day in your working life then it might not be the career choice for you.  At least, not on a full-time basis anyway.

As you are working on your own, you’ll need to be disciplined and highly organised.  You’ll need to give yourself a pat on the back from time to time and inspire yourself to take action.  One of the main aims of Voiceover Kickstart is to help with this in the form of its thriving and very supportive community.

How much money does a voice actor make?

It’s an important question.  It’s a question that often comes up during discussions on how to start a voice over career.

Voiceover artists ‘can’ make a surprisingly high amount of money each year.  If a non-voiceover were to look at an invoice where the voice actor looks like they are being paid $1000 for 8 words….this is clearly exciting but in the main unrealistic.  Yes those jobs exist and in fact, voiceover jobs that are astronomically higher than that but you have to always take into account that you are running a business.

A self-employed business has feast and famine periods and whilst it’s easy to get excited over a seemingly high rate (for very little time) there will be a lot (A LOT!) of unpaid time simply running the business.

What about audiobook narration work?

Two great places to start are Getting started in audiobook narration and the article How to get into audiobook narration | Voiceover Kickstart

For more on how to start a voice over career (and sustain one!) check out our other voice acting resources and more info on Voice Actor Training .

Do you want to pursue voice acting?  Voiceover Kickstart doesn’t just cover how to start a voice over career , our content, resources, guidance and community are designed to Supercharge your Voiceover Career. If you want to learn more about how to start a voice over career, then access the free voiceover training resources  or jump right in a become a FULL MEMBER today!

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How to start a voice over business.

How To Start Voice Over Business. This post is part of our series on how to become a voice actor . You might have a remarkable voice, but if you don’t get clients then you don’t have a business, you have a hobby. Starting of with good focus on developing a voice over business is critical to success.

What you will learn in this post.

• #1 – Getting Off To The Right Start.

#2 – Developing A Winning Mindset.

#3 – what you need to get in place..

• #4 – The Business Plan – One Pager.

#5 – The Marketing Plan.

• #6 – Create Your Own Unique Brand.

How To Start A Voice Over Business.

What is a voice over business? and why you need to care.

Setting out to be independent, to enjoy the freedom of controlling your own destiny is exhilarating. But, the thrill and thoughts of freedom have to be tempered by the reality of getting your voice over business setup. There are a lot of things to consider and do. This can all seem a bit overwhelming as you set out on a new career path.

Learning how to start a voice over business the right way can save you a lot of time and money. There are lots of rookie mistakes people make that can hold them back from winning clients and thriving in the voice over industry.

We’ll cover the main points in this post, but if you want to get your business off to a good start, it is worth becoming a Gravy For The Brain member.

#1- Getting Off To The Right Start.

Before you start to jump in and start doing lots of things it is worth developing a plan. We don’t advocate creating a massive plan. Just a simple one pager will do. Businesses, if single person ones, that plan are over 60% more likely to succeed. That means taking time to think about your goals, not just as a business but your life goals. If you align your life goals to your business you will be more motivated to succeed.

Life goals not only involve planning your finances, your pension and disposable income. Your life plan involves what you want to do with your life. Quite a big question, but if you can think of it as what would I look back on in my life and be remembered for.

A good place to start is to sketch ideas out first. Then when you have these the next question to answer is how can my voice over career help me reach my life goals. By marrying up your life goals and your business goals you are well on your way to succeeding.

When you’re in the middle of trying to get your voice over business of the ground it can be overwhelming. Everybody at this point can suffer from self doubt and question if they are doing the right thing. This is in fact one of the defining points for many people as to whether they quit or go on to succeed.

Instead, trust in the power of your own pursuit. Trust that by showing up on your behalf, and taking bold, consistent action toward what you want, that energy is going to come back to you in clear and surprising ways.

Because here’s the reality:

You can either stand up for yourself and passionately pursue what you want, or you can throw up your arms and say “why bother?” and nothing will change.

Developing a successful voice over business starts with your mind-set. Your point of view serves as a filter and guide for how you engage with your business as well as your personal life. A positive mind-set, combined with talent, skills and business knowledge, is a powerful way to develop an interesting and dynamic voice over career.

Choosing to live in that mind-set and implement strategies that that grow from it lead to a successful and fulfilling voice over career. As a voice over actor you live on projects. Now you can let fear rule the fact that as each projects comes to an end you have to have another job. Or you can embrace the methods that strengthen how you build bridges and effectively see each project as a stage to the next. Building a voice over business also means finding and winning clients that use you on a regular a basis.

There will be times when you fail, when you fall over. As a child we know we have to do these things to learn and develop. We do not fail we merely learn. Each setback is not a setback it is a point of reflection for you to learn how to improve. Seize this mind-set and you will make more connections, build more relationships and get more work. Do this and your voice over business will quickly thrive

Everybody approaches starting a voice over business differently. But the building blocks for any successful voice over business, in fact any business are the same. The most important part about starting out in any new career is to learn about the market, the opportunities and the challenges. If you do this then you are already prepared for some of the challenges ahead and to seize the opportunities when they present themselves.

Here is a list of some of the things you need to get in place for your voice over business.

#1 – Branding, branding, branding

Before you start getting a logo designed or business cards printed just stop and take to develop your brand. You need to stand out in a crowded market and that means putting over you personality, skills and identity clearly. If you just look like another voice over, or worse look unprofessional, you are unlikely to get work or repeat work. It is vital to create a good first impression and look like you offer a high quality service.

• #1 – Business plan.
• #2 – Logo and brand identity.
• #2 – Website.
• #4 – Business email.
• #5 – Business cards.
• #6 – Financial plan.
• #7 – Bank account.
• #8 – Social media presence – register on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin.
• #9 – Home recording studio.
• #10 – Home recording equipment.
• #11 – High quality demo reels.
• #12 – Home recording software.
• #13 – Marketing plan.
• #14 – Marketing system.

That might look like a small list, but in fact there is a lot to do in getting all of that in place for your voice over business.

#4 – The Voice Over Business Plan – One Pager.

How to define the future for your voice over business

One of the most important aspects of developing your life and your career is to develop a plan. When developing a plan, you need to follow a simple formula, abbreviated “GOST,” which stands for “Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Tactics.” Each element is essential to the success of the plan. Let me take you through each of the four steps.

How To Setup Your Voice Over Business – Goals

A goal is a broad primary outcome. if you don’t have a goal in life, you are spending your life running around and not achieving anything for yourself. Goals tend to be long term so think about them in terms of between one to three years. Some goals you can set around for your voiceover business might be.

• How much money you want to earn (in a year)
• The type or brand of client you want to work with
• An agent you want to be listed with
• A rate of pay you want to achieve
• A new sector of the market you want to gain experience in
• To get onto national TV

How To Setup Your Voice Over Business – Objectives.

An objective is a specific and measurable milestone that must be achieved in order to reach a goal. Each objective will start with a verb. Here are some good ones: increase, deliver, sell, work, find, decrease, speed up, earn, learn. Start an objective with one of these words, and then use numbers to make it measurable. This way you will start to things of the things that you need to do to achieve your goals.

Objectives then are more detailed, measurable and use a smaller time frame. If you haven’t already hear it then use SMART to set your objectives

• S – specific (include what is to achieved).
• M – measurable (how you are going to measure it).
• A – achievable (can you do this given the time frame and resources you have).
• R – relevant (will it help you achieve a goal – is it relevant).
• T – timed (how long will it take, when will you achieve it).

So if you want to earn $100k in a year and each job pays $500 you need to achieve 200 jobs in a year. Before you set this as an objective you would check if it is realistic e.g. if you are earning $200 per job at the moment it might take you more than a year to achieve this because you need to increase your rate of pay a lot.

How To Setup Your Voice Over Business – Strategy.

A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve an objective. Strategies tell you how you’re going to get there, the overall direction you are going to take.

You need to realise that the most essential and valuable thing that you have to bring to your life and to your work is your ability to think, to act and to get results. We all have a limited amount of time – it is called being time constrained. So given the time we do have what is the best way to achieve an objective – in other words what is the best strategy. As an example if your objective is to earn $100k per year you might have a number of different strategies open to you:

• Get more business from existing big customers do bigger jobs ($1000 instead of $500).
• Win bigger clients (increase rate of pay so average goes up to $600 or more).
• Work more – do more auditions (do more auditions and more work overall).
• Convert more opportunities (improve how you convert more auditions to work).

How To Setup Your Voice Over Business – Tactics.

A tactic is a task you do in pursuing an objective associated with a strategy.

Tactics are the small steps you have to perform to achieve your strategies. Tactics are your daily “to-do” list, that give you the momentum towards achieving your objectives.

Tactics are also about the tools you use to help you get things done. Tactics are about: what concrete action needs to be taken and how effectively can you achieve them. So if you wanted to work with bigger clients a set of tasks might be:

• Draft list of potential clients.
• Research agencies and companies they use.
• Research contacts.
• Research who I know who knows them.
• Get contact details of the person who buys voiceover.
• Find out what they share on social.
• Share some of their stuff on social.
• Get introduced at networking event.

How to make sure you regular review your plan.

A common mistake by people is that they do not review their progress regularly. They might be doing well but don’t recognize how well or what needs to change in their plans.

The key point is that plans are not static, they often need to change and be adapted as your working life changes. If for instance you suddenly land a big long term contract, you might want to revise your goals based on what the client offers you in terms of future employment.

The best way to review plans is to put a regular set of dates and times in your diary. Time when you know you will not be busy with work. This may mean you take time out on a Monday morning to review your goals and objectives.

What is critical though is to do a review. Don’t be tempted to let that time be taken over by work or other appointments. It is your time to check that you are on track and heading in the right direction.

Useful Tool To Help You Plan Your Voice Over Business

LIVEPLAN LivePlan is a cloud-based solution that helps you generate a solid business plan, even without any knowledge of how to put one together. LivePlan guides you through the entire process with video and text instructions.

The voiceover industry has many different niche types of work. Voiceovers are used across a wide range of industries and for many different reasons. As a result the demand for voiceover work is driven by different media and media channels.

NICHE SECTORS FOR VOICEOVERS The main types of voiceover niche sectors are:

• Commercials.
• Movie Trailer.
• Audiobooks.
• Animation films and series.
• Phone Message.
• Training videos.
• Explainer videos.
• Documentaries.

Each of these types of voiceover work involve different types of clients, each of which may have different reasons for buying voiceover services. Some examples of buyers include: creative directors, voiceover casting directors, voiceover talent agents, ad agency executives, TV network producers and video game developers. As a voiceover artist you need to learn what drives these professionals, what their day-to-day work life involves, what they look for in vocal performances, and how they like to be contacted.

Now you have done the hard work and got the foundations in place you are on your way to taking your voiceover career to the next elevel. The next step is to market yourself. Marketing though is not a one off activity, it is a consistent set of actions that over time build your brand.

Imagine if a business launched a new product and only advertised it once. The chances are the company and the product would fail.

There are some rules to marketing that you need to follow:

• Consistent – make a mantra to consistently develop your brand, your business each day of the week.
• Connected – make your marketing connected. Join up your website, PR and social media to create a bigger impact.
• Relevant – be relevant and focus on having a service rather than a sales mindset.
• Authentic – Be you. You are your own unique brand so be true to who you are and demonstrate you personality.
• Creative – think like an entrepreneur and develop unique ways to be interesting and relevant to potential customers.
• Experiences – your brand is about telling your story and creating vibrant and memorable experiences each time you interact with people/

So the key is to create a simple and manageable schedule – a blueprint for how to market and develop your personal brand.

FOCUS ON OUTCOMES

Too many voiceover actors focus on the wrong things and as a result feel as through they aren’t getting anywhere. They keep doing auditions but not building success.

The most important thing is to focus on the right outcomes and that starts with people not jobs. If you treat your career as a series of transactions with people, and not relationships, you will fail.

Relationships Build strong lasting relationships with people that value you and your talent.

Reputation Build a credible reputation that people share and endorse. Your reputation is the cornerstone of your brand.

Resume Your relationships and reputation will deliver the results that help build your resume.

If you focus on being you, on using your creativity and having an entrepreneurial mindset you will:

So what are the methods to connect with the right people, the communication methods that work? The next sections will help you understand each of the main methods to connect and build leads with clients.

There are lots of ways to get work as a voiceover actor. The key is to plan your marketing so that you know exactly what you are aiming to achieve.

Once you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve you can start to think about the best marketing methods that are suited to your  goal.

There are six main ways you can promote yourself and each has pros and cons that you should consider. Some, like social media, take more time to develop. In contrast cold calling can be a very quick way to get work.

Marketing is part art and part science. So be prepared to be creative and come up with ideas that make you unique and help you stand out.

TIPS FOR BEING CREATIVE:

• #SET ASIDE TIME TO BE CREATIVE
• #IF OFTEN HELPS TO WORK WITH OTHERS
• #INITIAL IDEAS SHOULD NOT BE JUDGED
• #USE STICKY NOTES TO CREATE A BOARD OF IDEAS
• #ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED THE IDEA STAGE
• #FILTER IDEAS BASED ON TIME, POTENTIAL (High/Low) AND EASE TO IMPLEMENT
• #SHORTLIST AND SCHEDULE

#6 Voice Over Business – Create Your Own Unique Brand.

What is personal branding.

Your personal brand is important …but what are you really doing to develop yours? If you’re serious about getting ahead, you’re probably taking action in a haphazard, no-method-to-your-madness sort of way. But the truth is, that’s not good enough.​

Companies all over the world create a brand identity to communicate who they are and what they represent. In a similar way personal brands like Oprah, Beckham, Jay Lo, JK Rowling and many others brand themselves.

To stand out in a market, a business must develop its own brand identity, based on identifying how it fits to the market and to customers. A brand must be packaged and communicate so is different from other products.

Developing a brand is equally important for a person as it is a business. A personal brand needs to be as carefully crafted if it is to provide a strong connection to potential clients.

Personal branding gives you a unique position in an often crowded marketplace. It also provides a distinct visual identity that is easily recognisable.

Branding on a business level is common, but today branding is becoming just as important on a personal level. After all, you will have to compete with many other to win the attention of clients. Clients though do not make decisions rationally, they are influenced by perceived value and this is based on how people package and brand themselves. Improve your personal branding to stand out and deliver a high quality professional image.

AN EASY WAY TO CREATE A POWERFUL VOICE OVER BUSINESS BRAND

Strong brands maintain their reputation and loyalty by fulfilling their brand promise. It’s not just about being different, it’s about the difference the brands make, the qualities they have, the feelings people get from buying and using them.

The unique mix of qualities you have combined with your values form the foundations for your marketing. Strong personal brands succeed because they recognise, and add value, to their customers. The brand you create needs to consistently fulfil it’s brand promise and add value to your clients.

This workbook is a guide to help you focus on your strengths and identify your own unique value. By using this guide you create a powerful personal brand and that will accelerate your voiceover career. The guide follows an eight step process as follows:

• Set Your Goals
• Identify Your Values
• Find Your Strengths and Weaknesses
• Identify Your Personality
• Define Your Value
• Create Your Brand Promise
• Create Your Brand Identity
• Write Your Brand Story

Your Voice Over Business

At Gravy For The Brain we are helping lots of people develop their talent and establish themselves in the voice over market. Creating your voice over business is only one of the many ways we can help you. Join as a member and we will hold your hand and help you on this exciting part of your life.

For more information on voice acting visit our series of posts on how to become a voice actor

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How to Become a Voice Actor – Learn How to Get Into Voice Over Acting

We have put together the most comprehensive list of voice acting resources on the internet. This includes voice acting classes, marketing help, home studio information, podcasts, demo producers, conferences and a lot more.

Browse our continually growing collection of free voice over scripts. We have assembled thousands of voice over scripts for voice actors to use for practice. Including Commercial, Narration, PSAs, Imaging and Video Games.

Our voice over script timer helps you figure out how long a script will take you to read. Simply enter your script into the text field. The time it will take for you to read your script will be instantly calculated for you.

What is a voice actor?

Let’s start with the basics. Any time you hear a voice and don’t see the speaker, that is a voice actor. Voice actors are performers who lend their voices to a wide variety of projects. This can include animation , audio books, commercials, narration, e-Learning, video games, trailers, promo, documentary, IVR and much more. A voice actor is first and foremost an actor. Acting skills are a must have, but there is a lot more that goes into being a successful voice artist. It requires technical knowledge, marketing abilities, a home voice over studio and all the various aspects of running a business. Most successful voice talent have spent time training with coaches, have professionally produced demos of their voice and are always honing their abilities.

Tips on how to get into voice over

The voice actor market is continuing to grow, thanks to the increased need for broadcast, animated and digital content. From e-learning courses to smartphone games, to online ads, there’s a wide range of opportunities for talented voice actors. Learning how to become a Voice Actor means understanding the voice over industry, working with a voice over coach on voice over training, getting some good voice over demos produced and a great website to show off your new voice over career.

If you’re interested in becoming a professional voice actor , you may be wondering where to start – and whether this could be a rewarding career for you. Read on for our top tips on how to get started in voice over.

The Voice Over Marketplace

Understand the voice acting marketplace. historically, voice actors often worked with agents who worked with casting directors (to manage the process) that were hired by advertising agencies or larger production companies who in turn were creating a product for an end clients. It’s still a great way to get work if you can sign with a good agent. But today’s online marketplace has changed the dynamic. Now, talent-seekers and producers often work directly with voice actors. This has brought more competition to the market, making quality voice actors hard to find.

That said, you need to stand out from the rest of the pack, and that means investing in yourself — after all, you are the business. Here’s how:

Voice Actor Training

Invest in training. You may have tons of natural talent, but education and training will set you apart from hobbyists, introduce you to key terminology and best practices, and help you deliver the quality your clients expect.

There’s a wide array of courses and coaches to choose from. Ask yourself:

• Does this program or person offer case studies, testimonials or other results?
• Do they specialize in the type of voice over market I’m interested in (e.g., commercials, video games, e-learning)?
• Is the subject matter thorough and comprehensive?
• Is it a mix of theory and hands-on practice?
• When can I expect to make my investment back?

When you’re evaluating options on how to become a Voice Actor, don’t underestimate the value of getting personalized feedback from a real person. Many voice over coaches can advise you on how to read copy. They’ll pick up on things the average listener might be aware of on a subconscious level. This could be the inflection when you end a sentence, or the excitement in your voice when there should be concern.

Voice over coaches can also help you connect with your target audience — for instance, an e-learning spot for seniors might need to be read at a slower pace.

Voice Over Business Plan

Having a business plan will help you map out what your voice over business is going to look like, how it will function and what steps you will need to take at each stage of your business development .

Voice Over Equipment

Get the right equipment. Do you need the highest-end studio setup? Not necessarily. But you should have the hardware and software it takes to produce clear, crisp recordings. You don’t want a hiss in your audio to take away from the character and nuance in your voice. You also need a dedicated, enclosed home studio with sufficient noise-canceling capabilities. Voice acting is not a business you can run from your kitchen table.

The good news is, you can build a nice home studio for under $4,000. Here are the basics you’ll need to get started:

• Audio mixer and booth
• Audio mixing software
• Room or closet with acoustic treatment material on the walls

As you get further into the field, you may want to upgrade your equipment, but make sure you’re paying for quality items that will make your job easier or help you become more marketable.

Voice Over Demos

Creating voice acting demos. Different genres of voice acting require different terminology, vocal characteristics, personalities and stamina. For instance, longform narration for audiobooks requires hours of recorded copy, while 30-second Pandora spots might only take an hour to record. Video game voice acting can require screaming and other sound effects, while corporate content will feel more tame and subdued.

Examine the different genres and what they entail, then focus on a few to start. You’ll need a demo for each industry you want to break into, and a quality demo can cost $1,000-$4,000. The most cost-effective approach is to pick a few genres that seem interesting and a good fit for you.

Voice Over Branding and Marketing

Put your best face forward. If you want to be treated like a pro, you have to show up like one. In today’s competitive voice acting market, you need to convince clients that you’re the best pick. And that starts with projecting a strong, distinctive, unified image across all your client touch points.

For example, many actors question why they need their own voice acting websites, when there are many platforms where they can advertise their services. But when you send potential customers to a talent platform, you’re just inviting them to compare you with thousands of competitors. By investing in your own branded website, you signal to customers that you’re not just dabbling — you’re serious about your profession.

Think like a business owner. It’s true that voice acting is an art. But to succeed as a professional voice actor, you also need to treat it like a business. As a business owner, you’ll need to get involved in everything from accounting to marketing to customer service. And depending on your goals, you may need to file legal documents to incorporate your business. In order to thrive as a business owner, you’ll need to stay flexible and willing to learn new things.

Keep in mind that the most successful voice actors have an entrepreneurial spirit and are self-starters. They listen to clients, adapt to meet their needs, and always look for ways to get better and learn more. The voice acting market is rapidly evolving, and the best voice actors love the challenge of staying current in the field.

The bottom line: Voice acting is a dynamic, rewarding profession with a solid employment outlook. To be a successful voice actor, you’ll need to adopt a business owner’s mindset, harness your passion through training, invest in quality equipment and project a professional image.

When it comes to marketing yourself online, we’re here to help with professional, customized, mobile-optimized websites for voice actors. Best of luck in your new voice acting business!

Voice Over Business Tools and Resources

We have launched a comprehensive list of voice over resources including casting, training, home voice over studio, demo producers, conferences and a lot more. Make sure to check out our Voice Over Library of resources.

Voice Over Tips, Tricks And Articles

• The Essential List of Voiceover Tools 
• Acoustic Treatment vs Soundproofing for Home Voice Over Studios
• How to Move your Home and Voice Over Home Studio
• Digital Interfaces – Another Critical Part of your Voice Over Audio Chain
• Basic Audiobook Editing Techniques

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• Voice Over Marketing

Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Voice Over Business

by tvr_admin ·

The industry of voice over has grown more competitive over the years but more diverse due to revolutionary marketing demands for new technologies and advances and trends in the voice over industry. Whether you are a freelance voice talent, sound engineer, voice over casting director or producer you have to realize that you run a business of providing service. As a voice talent, think yourself as the business. Then how do you package and sell your services? Like any other business industry, you need to draw up a marketing plan or strategy to structure your business and understand the rates of financial returns for every investment (equipment, technology and acting/voice training) you spend on.

First, let’s define what marketing is —- these are all plans, strategies and activities to sell a product or service to a target audience.  The following is a basic framework or template of a marketing plan:

The next step will be to provide the details to your marketing framework. The following points and questions specific to the voice over market should help you develop the details for each item of your marketing plan.

After you have outlined the details of your marketing framework further sort this out to two levels – Strategic and Tactical. Often these two words are intertwined in any business plan but, are distinct in terms of implementation. It is not enough or substantial to think of strategy and tactics as long and short-term plans as both defines on how you will achieve your goals and objectives.

Strategy is your bridge to getting from where your business is right now to where you envision it will be. Strategy is your general resource and allocation plan. Tactics show how you specifically and tangibly will achieve your business goals. These are your specific set of activities to achieve your business goals. Most industries frame their tactics as activities aligned with each strategy. What are some of the elements of these two marketing levels?

Remember that once you realize that your voice talent/skill is your business then you understand that focusing on the quality of your business – you are your brand, is your best marketing strategy.

Tags: marketing voice over for beginners voice over professional

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Corporate Structure for Voice Acting Business

As a voice actor, it's important to consider the best corporate structure for your voice over business. The right structure can provide legal and financial benefits, impact your tax situation, and influence your business's overall growth potential. We explore various corporate structures available for voice acting businesses and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. After reading this, we have you have a better understanding of which structure might be the best fit for your unique voice acting business.

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the simplest and most common business structure for voice actors just starting. In this structure, there's no legal distinction between the business owner and the business itself. The owner is personally responsible for all debts and liabilities, but also enjoys all the profits generated by the business.

Advantages:

• Easy and inexpensive to set up
• Complete control over business decisions
• Fewer regulations and paperwork
• Business income is taxed at the owner's personal income tax rate

Disadvantages:

• Unlimited personal liability for business debts and obligations
• Difficult to raise capital
• Limited growth potential
• Lack of continuity in case the owner is unable to run the business

Partnership

A partnership is a business structure where two or more individuals come together to jointly own and operate the business. Partnerships can be general, where all partners have equal rights and responsibilities, or limited, where some partners contribute capital but don't participate in the day-to-day operations and have limited liability.

• Easy to set up and manage
• Shared financial responsibility and decision-making
• Increased access to capital and resources
• Business income is taxed at the partner's personal income tax rate
• Unlimited personal liability for general partners
• Potential conflicts between partners
• Limited life of the partnership if a partner leaves or dies
• Difficulty transferring ownership

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a hybrid structure that combines the limited liability protection of a corporation with the taxation benefits of a partnership or sole proprietorship. This structure is a popular choice for voice actors who want to protect their personal assets while maintaining flexibility in their business operations.

• Limited personal liability for business debts and obligations
• Flexible management structure and decision-making
• Pass-through taxation, where profits and losses are reported on the owner's personal tax return
• The option to be taxed as a corporation if desired
• More complex and expensive to set up and maintain than a sole proprietorship or partnership
• State-specific regulations and fees
• Potential self-employment taxes on profits

Corporation

A corporation is a separate legal entity from its owners (shareholders), which means the corporation itself is responsible for its debts and liabilities. There are two main types of corporations: C Corporation and S Corporation.

C Corporation:

A C Corporation is a separate taxable entity and pays corporate income tax on its profits. This structure is more suitable for larger businesses with multiple shareholders and significant growth potential.

• Limited personal liability for shareholders
• Ability to raise capital through the sale of stock
• Continuity of the business, independent of its owners
• Complex and expensive to set up and maintain
• Double taxation, where the corporation pays taxes on its profits and shareholders pay taxes on dividends
• Increased regulation and record-keeping requirements

S Corporation:

An S Corporation is a special type of corporation that avoids double taxation by passing its profits, losses, deductions, and credits through to its shareholders, who report this information on their personal tax returns.

• Pass-through taxation
• Eligibility restrictions, such as the number of shareholders and type of stock issued

Cooperative

A cooperative is a less common business structure, where the business is owned and controlled by the people who use its services or the workers who operate it. In a voice acting cooperative, members contribute to the business and share in its profits based on their level of involvement or investment.

• Democratic decision-making process, with each member having an equal vote
• Members share the profits and benefits of the business
• Potential tax benefits, depending on the cooperative's structure
• Complex to set up and manage
• Slower decision-making process due to democratic nature
• Limited access to external capital

Choosing the right corporate structure for your voice acting business is a crucial decision that can significantly impact your business's growth and success. Each structure has its advantages and disadvantages, so it's essential to carefully consider your business's unique needs and goals before making a choice.

For voice actors just starting or those who want to maintain complete control over their business, a sole proprietorship might be the best option. Partnerships and cooperatives may be more suitable for voice actors who want to collaborate with others and share resources. LLCs provide a balance between personal liability protection and taxation benefits, making them an attractive option for many voice actors. Finally, corporations are ideal for those looking to raise capital and grow their business on a larger scale.

What is the best structure for a voice over business?

The best structure for your voice over business depends on many factors, including where you live, each state has its own regulations and fees.

It's always a good idea to consult with a legal or financial professional to help you determine the best corporate structure for your voice acting business. With the right structure in place, you'll be well on your way to building a successful and thriving voice acting career.

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SAG-AFTRA pulls League of Legends into video game strike over VO studio's conduct SAG-AFTRA pulls League of Legends into video game strike over VO studio's conduct

Formosa Interactive, an audio outsource studio that's worked on League of Legends, has been accused of trying to bypass rules of the ongoing voice actors' strike.

September 24, 2024

SAG-AFTRA has called for a strike against League of Legends and filed an unfair labor practice charge against Formosa Interactive , an audio production company that has worked on Riot Games' flagship title and dozens of other games.

In its press release, the performer's union accused Formosa of trying to "subvert" the strike that started in July . It alleges the company tried cancelling one of its struck video games shortly after the strike began.

Per SAG-AFTRA, Formosa was told it could not cancel that project, after which it allegedly transferred the game to a shell company and subsequently sought non-union talent.

Formosa is one of the companies alongside EA and Insomniac Games that previously bargained with SAG-AFTRA before the strike. Before now, League was an unstruck game because Formosa had agreed to SAG-AFTRA's strike rules.

As a result of this new strike, the game's voice actors have been called on to "immediately cease providing covered services" for League.

In addition to Riot, the company has worked with PlayStation ( Helldivers II , Ghost of Tsushima ), Ubisoft ( Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora ), and EA ( Dead Space 2023, Apex Legends ). Beyond games, Formosa specializes in post-production audio (including sound design and voiceover work) across movies and TV.

SAG-AFTRA says the company's actions are "egregious violations of core tenets of labor law. Transferring union work to a 'non-union' shell company is an impermissible and appalling attempt to evade a strike action and destroy performers’ rights under labor law."

The video game strike so far

Before SAG-AFTRA performers began striking, they attempted to bargain with companies and secure better working conditions and wages. Some studios have agreed to these terms as the strike has continued.

But the primary argument has centered on generative AI. The controversial technology was previously cited as a serious point of contention, and SAG-AFTRA had fully prepared to strike if the companies refused to budge on suggested AI protections .

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's chief negotiator, called Formosa's violations "beyond the pale, and won't be tolerated by SAG-AFTRA members. It will be held accountable, starting with an immediate strike of League of Legends ."

The Interactive Media Agreement's negotiating chair Sarah Elmaleh also decried Formosa for "evading and abandoning the union performers who bring their immense talent and experience to beloved characters."

"Such regrettable choices are unnecessary when our union committee and staff are as collaborative and excited to create protected work as our performers love to collaborate with game makers, and love this work," she concluded.

Game Developer has reached out to Formosa for comment, and will update when a response is given.

Read more about:

About the Author

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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Follow our news, recent searches, exclusive-meta's ai chatbot to start speaking in the voices of judi dench, john cena, others, source says, advertisement.

NEW YORK - Facebook owner Meta Platforms is planning to announce this week that it has secured deals with actors including Judi Dench, Kristen Bell and John Cena to give voice to its Meta AI chatbot, a source familiar with the company's plans told Reuters on Monday.

The new audio feature will offer users the option to select a voice for Meta's ChatGPT-like digital assistant from a list of five celebrities, who also include Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key, as well as several generic voice options, the person told Reuters.

The social media giant is set to announce the audio capabilities at its annual Connect conference, which starts on Wednesday, the person said.

Meta is also expected to unveil a first version of its augmented-reality glasses at Connect this year and to discuss its road map for other hardware devices like its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which last year became its first product to include an audio version of the Meta AI chatbot.

The celebrity voices will start launching in the U.S. and other English-speaking markets this week across Meta's family of apps, which include Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, the source told Reuters.

Bloomberg first reported earlier this summer that Meta was in discussions with celebrities about using their voices for AI projects.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a promotional video featuring Cena on Instagram last week, showing the two men and several others engaging in stunts while wearing the Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

Meta has been racing to push out generative artificial intelligence products to its billions of users, as it competes against Microsoft-backed ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Alphabet's Google to dominate the emerging technology. As part of that, the company has been adding capabilities to its chatbot and pushing to make it a more prominent part of the experience of using its apps.

OpenAI showed off a similar audio feature for its chatbot in May, but quickly ran into trouble when actor Scarlett Johansson accused the company of making it sound "eerily similar" to her even though she had declined to lend her voice to the project.

Meta's assistant is currently capable of engaging in text chats and generating images in response to user prompts. The company last year experimented with bringing star power to the project by launching text-based "character" versions of the chatbot inspired by celebrities like Paris Hilton and Snoop Dogg, although those never appeared to gain traction with users.

Meta has since shifted focus to an AI Studio product that enables content creators on its platforms to create chatbot versions of themselves.

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