The voice over industry is like an underground universe helping the world go round. Voice overs being used for various purposes, from advertising to tutorials and even voicemail greetings.
Other than being able to flex and say you’re a voice over artist, there are actually various benefits to choosing this career path, some of which include a remote career, a rewarding job and a sense of flexibility that voice over artistry can bring.
Let’s go through some benefits to being a voice over now.
You get to work from home
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As a voice over, part of the job involves being able to record a production quickly, usually within a day.
If you choose to become a voice over, by default you’ll be working from home, unless a brand specifically wants you to record under their supervision – This helps things move along a lot more efficiently, especially for localisation projects that require voice overs in numerous languages. That said, you do have to ensure that you have your own home studio handy, which does take a bit of initial investment.
You could essentially do it from anywhere in the world, so long as you have your studio set up, complete with a sound-proofed room. If you’re on the go, you can even soundproof your car, a wardrobe, even record under a blanket, and achieve the same result as you would with a real studio.
Voice overs are among the few jobs that you can genuinely do on holiday, so long as you have a laptop and mic packed with you. So you get to work from home, but also from hotel rooms, which is one great benefit to becoming a voice over.
Flexible working hours
As well as being able to work from anywhere, voice overs also get to enjoy the luxury of working at times that suit them.
More often than not, when a voice over project is booked, a voice over is expected to have a turnaround of 24 hours. Now, if you have a project booked for the day, or even two, you essentially have the whole day to work on it.
Depending on your level of experience, you can get a project done within anything from a few minutes to an hour or two. Of course, if you choose to pick up an audiobook narration gig, then it’s fair to say you won’t have a 24 hour deadline, and it won’t take you a couple of hours, but you would have ample time to record too.
Not many get to pick their schedule and plan their routine fully as much as a voice over does. Arguably the only other profession with a similar dynamic has to be that of an author or illustrator.
One would also argue that the flexible hours serve as a great benefit to take up a voice over career, perfect for work-from-home parents and even those looking for a lucrative side hustle to escape the rat race.
Great earning potential
Voice overs actually earn a decent income, especially if they’re hired for long-term projects, such as an elearning course or audiobook project as mentioned earlier.
You’d also be glad to know that statistically, there is no gender pay gap between males and females in the industry. The earning potential is massive for the more experienced voices, ranging from hundreds to thousands per project.
Let’s give an example, say you have 3 30-second scripts to record for radio ads, and you’re able to knock them out in 2 hours. In those 2 hours, you could take home close to $1000, before noon.
Now imagine that for 5 days a week, every week for a year… It’s a lot of potential pay for something rather simple, being the recording of your voice in a certain tone.
Of course, it isn’t as black and white as recording your voice and sending it through, but with the more experience you pick up with time, the sooner you’ll be able to turnaround projects and do it like it’s second nature.
You don’t need any special educational requirements
One last benefit of being a voice over is that you don’t need to take any extensive courses, or know anyone in the superstar world to get your foot in the door.
Really and truly, you merely need a home studio, and a few examples of recordings using your voice. Ideally you want to have a corporate example, both a formal and informal version, and another example reading out an excerpt of a book, for instance. Of course, it’ll naturally take practice to record your first few script readings.
Then you’ll take those samples and scope out some voice over agencies, to submit your auditions. This will then help you with securing your first few clients.
Though it takes some effort and investment, it’s not something that costs a fortune, nor is it something you need to go through university education for either, making it something fairly achievable for the average joe.
Working a genuinely rewarding job
How many people can say that they genuinely work a job that they’re proud of? Not a very many people, speaking for the 90%.
Being a voice over is a rewarding and satisfying role for many. Not only in the sense that you build a massive portfolio of projects and brands you’ve worked with, but it’s also a job where you get your 15 minutes of fame without even having to show your face!
You can open up doors to more media-related opportunities, or even just enjoy the fruits of getting to live anywhere and get paid a great salary to do so. All from helping the world go round, from advertising, to online courses, narration of books for the auditorily impaired, or even being the automated voice of a train station.
It’s just a different type of flex.
Benefits of being a voice over
All this being said, there are a myriad of benefits to working as a voice over for a living.
That’s not to say it comes easy, as there are drawbacks to every career, but there is a certain amount of freedom that comes with not having to stare at a screen all day, or even having to be in the same country as your client.
A voice over career offers great salary prospects, flexible working hours and a genuinely interesting work environment that is truly rewarding. Think you’ve got what it takes? Invest in your studio and build your portfolio today!