It never fails for me to receive an email about once a month that goes something like this:
“I’ve been trying to break into the voiceover industry on and off for the last 5 years and I just can’t seem to gain any momentum or be able to find consistent work, any suggestions?”
Funny you should ask; as a matter of fact, I do have some suggestions. The first thing I notice when receiving emails like this are those three little words “on and off.” In almost every email, the person writing it to me is looking at voiceover as an afterthought.
That’s OK. … … if you want it to always be an afterthought.
In fact, many of my friends and colleagues love it being an afterthought. It’s great side income to supplement their “real jobs” during the day. They get home after work and if someone needs a voiceover, they do it and make a quick buck. If not, no big deal – they still have their regular paycheck.
However; if you want to make it a career. More than a side-hustle, then you need to act like it’s more than a side-hustle. I’m not saying quite your day job. I’m not saying work 14 hour days 7 days a week to bust your butt making a go of VO work.
I am saying; the top 3 reasons people fail at becoming a full-time voiceover artist are these three things. See if you’re doing any of them;
- They don’t set aside time EVERY DAY to advance their voiceover career. This could be through practicing, excercising your voice, marketing, networking, updating social media accounts etc. You HAVE to dedicate time every day, even just an hour a day – in order to advance your VO career.
- They don’t truly enjoy VO work. All too often, I see people trying to get into VO because it seems glamorous and fun. It seems like you can just work at home in your PJ’s and “read a couple of lines every now and then.” While, the PJ part is somewhat true; I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: VO work is for those that have a passion for it! It’s difficult, it’s frustrating, and it’s not an easy stay-at-home job. It takes a lot of work and self starting on days you don’t want to do ANYTHING.
- Not investing in equipment. Are you trying to be a professional VO with no industry-standard audio editing software, no high quality studio microphone and no sound-dampening material? I’m not saying blow out the walls and create a state of the art home studio – I mean heck, you’ve seen some things I’ll do (the 15/15 studio) – but there are some things you MUST have to be a full-time pro at it. Don’t be afraid to spend on those things.
