Whether you’re a seasoned voiceover artist or a new to it with little experience, there are a lot of freelance voiceover jobs that pay in this world — if:
- You know where to look…
- You know how to promote yourself…
- And you know how to differentiate yourself from your fellow other talents.
First things first, Choose Yourself. People are going to comment and give feedback and left and right about how you ‘should’ be doing things.
At the end of the day, you absorb what is useful. discard what is not and you decide how you’re going make the rules in running your business and getting it going. You morph and play and be the chameleon in finding the happy median that works for you.
That’s the art of life. In fact, come to think of it, finding the balance of what works for you is the art, and it applies to every aspect of your life.
That’s where this handy article comes in.
If you’re an open-minded freelance voiceover artist who wants to earn a full-time or part-time income doing what you love, this is the part two series of helping you set yourself up, find and land underrated voiceover jobs.
We’ve all heard, “luck is what happens when practice meets opportunity.”
So in whatever way you define success, the components of attaining success are preparation (training) + consistency + luck (the opportunity)
Are you Ready? To start, here are six things you should do to prepare for your freelancing voiceover grandeur:
1. Create a Voiceover Portfolio that Showcases Your Amazing Talent
“Do you have a voiceover demo / reel?” “What are some voiceover projects you’ve completed?
As a freelance voiceover artist, you’ll hear questions like these often.
And your answer?
Here’s a link to my website where you’ll find my demo and who I’ve worked with.
Many freelance voiceover artists who are just starting out, skip the whole showing prospective clients that you have experience and know what you’re doing.
2. Supercharge Your Voiceover Skills
Unless you want to spend your freelance voiceover career slumming through bottom entry-level job ads that pay peanuts, you need to level up your voiceover skills.
Because those high-paying freelance content jobs you lay awake dreaming about? People don’t hand them to just anyone.
They give them to the voice talents who:
- Realize the importance of the treatment of their recording space ensuring it has a low noise floor and has strong WiFi connectivity;
- Follow instructions
- Understand the importance of audio editing and submitting broadcast quality audio;
- Provide quick turnarounds deadlines for their video projects;
- Keep their voice in good health;
- Have excellent communication skills;
- Can connect with audience on an emotional level;
The good news?
With consistency and determination to train and learn, anyone can improve their voiceover skills.
3. Know How to Write a Cold Email / Pitch
Few people enjoy cold outreaching.
But you know what?
The ones who will do it have an edge. And the ones who are freakin’ good at it —— are never more than an email or two away from getting on potential clients radar and getting offered their next paid voiceover job.
So how do you get really crafting good cold emails? For starters,
- Do your Research
- Keep it Short and Sweet. Don’t beat around the bush. Tell them what you want and why.
- Share Why they should hire you? What’s your Unique selling point.
Just as importantly:
- Don’t write long emails.
- Don’t send generic pitches
- Don’t ignore their guidelines. A sure-fire way to have your email deleted, when there’s clear submission guidelines on the website and you ignore it.
For more pointers, check out the post 7 Mistakes and what makes a good cold email. And if you haven’t signed up for my cheat sheet and template click here.
4. Learn about Legal Side of Freelancing
One of the big, scary unknowns when you’re freelancing is how to handle contracts with clients along with other invoicing and taxes.
It’s daunting and many will choose to ignore it. But you need to be prepared. You need to know what goes into a contract, an invoice, how to deal with taxes.
At minimum, know the basics. Have a contract and invoice template ready. It’s better to have this ready when you’re slowly building your business instead of scrambling when you’re a fully booked voiceover superstar.
Consult with tax professional on what you need to know now based on where you’re at. For me, I get overwhelmed when too much information is given to me all at once. Thus, I ask for information based on where I’m at and what I need to do now, with a very basic idea of what are some things I need to be aware of when I hit the next level.
This helps me to better digest information, and it makes me feel less overwhelmed.
5. Ask for Testimonials
Have you already landed a voiceover job or two? Fantastic!
Ask the client to give you a testimonial. A sentence or two affirming their satisfaction with your work. Put this on your website. You can use this to land more voiceover clients.
Most voiceovers who do freelance work, often don’t ask for testimonials. I certainly haven’t and have missed out on opportunities and really need to do more.
So how should you ask for one? You know my philosophy!
Hi, “Would it be possible to get a testimonial for my website? I know you are really busy, but I’d really appreciate it.”
If it’s easier, I can also draft one up and you can edit as you wish?
6. Learn How to Craft a Killer Social Media Bio
If someone takes notice of your content, they’ll most likely check out your bio.
Because someone who’s checked out your content and like what they see are primed. They’ve seen and heard your work and want to learn about the magnificent voice behind the mic.
Ensure on your bio, there’s a call something that links back to where they can learn more about you and contact you.
A byline should highlight to the world your expertise. It should say to prospective clients, “if you like what you hear and see, you should hire me and see what I can do for you.” Take the time to craft a great one.
If you have IG, FB, YouTube, etc. a great tool is withKoji. It has so many features to help you showcase your content, demo and services in one link. What’s more, if you’d like to monetize, and have created a course or content where you’d like to start charging for digital products, there are many interactive posts that enables you to add this feature all in one place.
For more tips on how to find more under-the-radar voiceover opportunities, Click Here.
Photo by: Kyle Glenn
