Have you ever been told that you have a great voice? Or have you ever been curious about looking into putting your voice to work for you? With a little bit of training, you just might be able to put that to good use and find voice-over jobs from home.
What is Voice-Over Work?
Voice-over work is when your voice is used and placed over animations, text, or just utilized in some form of media. You are usually given a script and your voice is recorded to be then later placed within the media projected that you were recruited for. A fun byproduct of landing a voice-over gig is potentially hearing your voice in a game, movie, tv-show, or even a podcast! There are so many companies and individuals looking for talented voice actors to utilize for their professional projects, which is why this is one of the most varied occupations you can explore.
How do You Train for Voice-Over Work?
One of the biggest questions you might have is “where do I get started with voice-acting?”. This is totally normal and like many other occupations, training is always a fantastic idea. There are a few ways you can go about getting trained:
- Guided Voice-Over Training – you can be trained by an experienced voice acting coach in person or online. This is a great way to get live real-time feedback as you are reading through sample scripts. This is also perhaps one of the most customized learning experiences when it comes to being trained.
- Voice Acting Webinars – at times instructors will arrange a group class setting where you can listen to best practices and offer feedback in a live chat setting. This is also fairly interactive and may suffice for learning from others on the same journey as well.
- Podcasts – this might be the most convenient way to train with voice acting. You can listen to podcasts while you work, go to the gym, drive, or even when you’re just unwinding for the night. The best part about it, is this is training “on-demand”.
What Equipment do You Need for Voice-Over Work?
If you want to find voice-over jobs from home, in addition to training and refining your craft you’ll need to make sure you have the right equipment:
- Microphone – a high-quality microphone is always a great start to your voice-over journey. You’ll want to make sure you get some basic accessories like a pop filter, and install some audio-recording/editing software on your computer.
- Headphones – feedback and evaluating your performance will be key. You can listen for inflection and tone much easier with a set of headphones.
- Soundproofing Material – Another great idea is to obtain sound-proofing materials to help insulate the “studio” you’ll be working from at home. Shutting out additional ambient noises is going to be very important to ensure you have a quality recording that is purely your voice.
Building Your Voice Acting Portfolio
To land consistent voice-over jobs from home you will need to have samples of your work to show your potential clients and add to your resume. Recording a voice-over demo is a great way to start building a selection of samples of your talents. A demo is typically a shorter clip that will showcase you reading a sample script. This is your opportunity to shine and you’ll want to ensure you have a very high-quality set of demos to present.
You’ll be able to find sample scripts to read online, or you can get creative and come up with your own! Your voice-over demos should be ideally pretty short so, under 5-minutes is typically a good length of time for a demo. You want to avoid having demos that are under 30 seconds long. That is deemed to be too short for you to make an impact on your listener/audience. You can group multiple “spots” together in one demo clip to add to the interest and variety.
How to Find Voice-Over Work from Home
You could find voice-over work from home in a variety of ways from gig sites, word of mouth marketing, or even from dedicated voice acting websites that will match you with clients. So, Voice over is one of the best ways to make money online, but where you find jobs online. Here are a few resources to consider once you are ready to begin:
Fiverr
One of the fastest ways to get started is by checking out a very popular gig site known as Fiverr. You’ll be able to set your rates, write up a great description of your services and expose your talents to a wide network of customers. The appeal of Fiverr is the low-cost and high availability of talent.
Upwork
Another gig site, but this one works a little differently. You are able to bid on gigs that you find, they are not guaranteed until they are accepted. Ensuring you build your profile out and create impactful offers for your clients will be important.
Voices
This site is more geared specifically toward the voice-over industry. You’ll be immersed in a network of actors, producers, narrators, and clients that are looking for your talent. There are two types of accounts – guest (free) and premium.
Voice Crafters
For the more seasoned voice actor, this site might make a great choice. Voice Crafters is a veteran on the scene since 2008 but they do require that you have at least five years of experience in order to work within their site.
Snap Recordings
Snap Recordings is another good website to earn money from home by becoming a voice talent.
Filmless
If you are looking freelance voice over job, Filmless is the righ one to check out. They curretly hire voice artist to work remotely.
In Conclusion
Working from home has become a more common setting for freelancers and full-time employees alike. The landscape with employment has changed-for the better! Having a business plan is a great idea when you are starting to search for voice acting work. The plan will help you stay structured, and will help you define some milestones and goals to keep you on track.
Brushing up on some marketing skills will also help you find your audience and potential clients. There is ample work to be found online and with the proper training, motivation, equipment, technique, and perseverance you can utilize your natural talents to find voice-over jobs from home.