Way back in the day, voice over jobs were only given to members of various voice actors’ unions. All of these members had agents, so they had the connections to land the job, but they also had the ability to get into a recording studio with the help of their agent to record their demos. Once they landed the job, they were even able to use the recording studios for the work that needed to be done. Now in 2011, these same jobs that took special invitations, connections and resources before are not only being advertised all over the internet, you can even apply for them on the internet yourself. Yup, anyone can do it.
There are literally thousands of voice over jobs available on the internet today, but even better is that these jobs are no longer exclusive to members of the voice actors’ unions. In fact, ordinary people are now filling many of these jobs from the comfort of their own home. Therefore, if you are interested in providing voice over jobs, whether it is narrating a book or doing radio ads all you have to do is land the right job. Voice over jobs are not that easy to come by, you need to remember that the competition in this market is fierce, so knowing a few things to help get you started certainly doesn’t hurt. And mark this well: audio quality is as important as ever. Just because audio recording is easier and more accessible than ever does not mean that crappy voice overs are now somehow more acceptable.
One of the best places to go to find voice over jobs is Voices.com, but there are many other websites similar to them out there, all you have to do is search for them. Voices.com allows you to create a free account, so that helps keep your start up costs down. As soon as you get your free account set up, you can begin uploading your demos to help you land the job of your dreams. Even if you do not have any job experience you can still land voice over jobs, you just need the knowledge to do it.
One misconception that people have about voice over jobs is that you need the fanciest equipment to make the best recordings. This is no longer true folks! You can make quality recordings with a $50 USB mic and a computer, as long as you have some audio knowledge. Even if you have never made a demo before there are many websites out there that can help teach some of the basics about creating great audio. Home Brew Audio has some of the most amazing audio tutorials that you will find on the internet to teach you the key fundamentals. What you need to remember is that even if you have hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of equipment you can still produce horrible audio if you lack the knowledge necessary!
So if you want to try out a new career, visit Voices.com for some excellent «getting started» resources, including scripts for different types of demos. Then come on by Home Brew Audio for some recording tips, and start producing your demos. Upload those to your Voices.com profile and you’ve taken the first step! A paid membership in Voices.com allows you to receive dozens of job postings via e-mail every day. Start submitting auditions for these ASAP. I recommend that whenever possible, you record a custom demo for these auditions, reading from the audition script the job poster almost always supplies. And then be ready to be persistent and patient. It will feel pretty darned great when you get paid for your first voice over job.