Voiceover work can be extremely lucrative, but it is by no means easy. These days you don’t have to have a top voiceover agent to get work, you can find it yourself. Going into voiceover work as a trained actor gives you an immediate advantage because of the voice skills and character skills you would have already learnt. However, there is a lot to learn especially if you are planning on starting up your own home recording studio. The basic set up is pretty simple. You just need a laptop, a good microphone, some recording/editing equipment and your unique voice talent. I use a Macbook Pro, Adobe Audition, NT2A Rode mic and Scarlett 2i2 interface, which, minus the laptop, cost around £400 to set up plus around £20 a month for Adobe Audition, but you can spend as much or as little as you like. Price doesn’t necessarily mean better quality but avoid USB mics where possible. The quality won’t be as good, and your recording quality needs to be of a certain standard as the competition from other voiceover artists is so high. Once you have bought your equipment and soundproofed your studio space, you will need to learn how to use it all. You can find a lot of information online and there are many great online courses which will teach you everything you need to know. You will also need a great website. You don’t have to spend loads on a developer either. It took a while, but I created my voiceover website myself www.jadeashavoiceovers.com using wix.com. Most importantly you will need clients. Yes, lovely people that want to pay you for your wonderful talent. You can do this by signing up to pay to play sites, where you pay a monthly fee to access auditions, or you can directly email production companies and casting directors yourself. This is only skimming the surface. It takes real hard work and dedication to become a successful voiceover artist, like any business, but the rewards in doing a job that you love are more than worth it and it definitely fills that acting hole.
By Jade Asha
Author of Actorpreneur
Acting With Asha Podcast