Once you realize how vast the world of voice-over is, it can be hard to narrow down which genres to get into and find inspiration. They all seem like so much fun! The reality is, there isn’t enough time to become an expert in everything. You have to start somewhere, so why not make your passion your paycheck?
The advice often given to writers is, “write what you know.” I’m going to give the same advice to you about voice-over; “voice what you know,” or a modified version; “voice what you are passionate about.” What do you do in your spare time? Play video games? Then look into voicing characters for those video games. Go to museums? How about voicing the audio tours? Watch movies? Look into ADR looping or trailer work. Read books? Audiobook narration may be your genre. Watch documentaries? Then that may be a great niche for you! Volunteer teach at your kid’s school? eLearning might be your way to teach and get paid too. Listen to music on the radio? Pandora and Spotify have voice-over actors on their rosters to voice their commercials. Radio imaging is another genre that’s super fun! Are you always eager to watch awards shows on TV? You would probably love to get into live announcing! If there was one product you couldn’t live without, what would it be?
Each one of these areas of interest can turn into a voice-over job, a genre to pursue, or even a client to market yourself to. The best example of marketing to a specific client was done by one of our fellow voice-over actors named Kelley Buttrick. She is extremely passionate about Jeep. So passionate that she developed a marketing campaign all around being hired to voice for Jeep. Kelley explains, “When considering marketing strategies, I asked myself, what it was I really wanted. The answer? To be the voice for a brand I love, and I love Jeep. This campaign is a passion project requiring me to not only manage a 6.4L HEMI V8 engine’s worth of moving parts, but also to balance that with my full-time job as a voice-over talent.”
You can read all about it here.
You have so very many choices when it comes to building your voice-over business. Why find inspiration in the path that intersects your passion with your profession so that your “work” never really feels like work? Best wishes with your voice-over journey!
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