Any voice over artists out there?

[hybrid]

For many long years I've been told by peers that I have a great voice and that I should be in radio. That and fifty cents will buy you a Coke. I have often wondered what it would be like to have a way to earn a living (part or full time) using my voice. But it was always just a daydream.

Recently I started my journey to turn daydream into reality. I found suchavoice.com through a peer and made the financial commitment ($4500) to try to break into the field of voice over work. I go into this with eyes wide open, this is an investment that could have a return of zero. But I can afford to lose the money, and life is too short not to make a stretch every once in a while.

I have been working with a voice coach the past few months (Google Alan Schwartz, he is the male voice of iTunes among other work) and in two more months I will produce my demos with the help of a partner production studio in Richmond. It has been both fun and eye-opening. The challenge of course will be breaking into the field after the demos are produced.

I have a very established career in IT, so I have the distinct advantage of steady income as I attempt to develop this into a supplemental income stream.

My question is, are there any people on this forum that do voice work that can share their experiences in this field? How does it dovetail with your MMM ethos?

[gooki]

I only have experience of using a voice over artist. I've produced a dozen or so promo videos for various software. What I appreciate most is when we come back to you for a retake, or an extra sentence, being able to perfectly match your last recorded voice saves me a shit load of time. A quick turnaround is always appreciated as well.

Now one of our staff is an ex radio employee so we record the voice overs in a quite room at the office. It's surprising the quality we can get out of a cheap headset mic, noise reduction software, and a little bit of eq on the bottom end.

[iknowiyam]

You could get some practice with mics/radio/recording by reading to the blind over the radio. Idk if your state has anything like this: http://www.garrs.net/

I haven't done this, but I've thought about it. They seem very professional; a little volunteer work in voice could go a long way in resume-building. Gaining a reference from their studio couldn't hurt either.

[TechMike]

Please keep us in the loop and tell us how it goes. I'm in IT as well and have been told the same thing about my voice. I imagine something like the voice-over field is full of people who have dreams of making cash on the side speaking into the microphone, so I never pursued it much.

[bobechs]

Ditto on keeping us informed.

At the outset, I'd like to hear (heh-heh) more detail about what the startup money you are spending buys.

Is it lessons alone, or are there other deliverables that you are getting?

[gaja]

I have no idea whether this is legit or not, but it is run by Amazon so I would guess it is not a complete scam: http://www.acx.com/help/narrators/200484550?utm_medium=narrator&utm_campaign=hiwtable

[Quinny]

There was a post about voice over acting as a side hustle on budgets are sexy a bit ago...

http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2015/09/make-money-voice-over-actor/

It seemed to have some good ideas for someone looking to get into the business. I have no experience in the field but after listening to Jim Dale narrate the Harry Potter books have always been fascinated!

Good luck!