Voiceover work has been around for forever. Heck, radio was around WAAAYYY before television and they had radio ads so voiceover work has been around for a long time. Voiceover work has seen an increase in popularity recently however. I think this is in part due to the popularity of animated movies with big Hollywood stars doing the voices. I also think it's in part due to the culture and everyone wanting to be famous.
Not everyone is cut out for acting or singing but many still want to be in entertainment or be in the spotlight and voiceover is a great way to do so. Though voiceover probably has less competition and maybe a few less people interested as opposed to acting and singing and other entertainment jobs it's a very competitive industry and a relatively small one. It's really a handful of voiceover artists doing most of the work and these days many actors have taken a lot of the gigs. Jim Halpert from the office is doing Esurance commercials, computer commercials, vacation commercials and much more. Al Bundy from Married With Children is doing a lot of voiceover work. Much of this work has gone to professional actors. I think if you really pay attention to commercials you'd be surprised how many voiceover voices will sound very familiar to you even if you can't pickout which actor is doing them.
Some people seem to think hey I have a good voice I'll get into voiceover. It's not that simple. Yes you sorta have to be blessed with a good, unique, etc voice to get into this work but you also have to work on your voice. Pronunciation, annunciation, emotion, etc.
What kind of voiceover work do you want to get into? Do you want to read script for commercials or do you want to be in the more creative side of it doing voices for animated movies or cartoons?
The name of the game is exposure, exposure, exposure. You want to get your name, voice, and work over for as many people to see and hear as possible. This means even doing free work just for the exposure, doing gigs on fiverr to build a name a customer base and a portfolio. Setup a youtube channel and showcase your work.
Alot of people want to run out there and start applying for work immediately. At the very least you'll need a demo or you won't be taken seriously but you really should have a resume and portfolio of your work as well.
Get out there and do work for free. Many businesses or even website owners, people who run youtube stations, make small independent documentaries, etc need voiceover work but have a low budget or can't pay but are happy to give you credit for your work in the credits. Get out there and try to do work like this as not only is it something you can add to your resume and a project you can add to your portfolio or for a demo but in addition to this anyone who sees this work may like your voice and be interested in hiring you for other work.
Another thing you can do is setup an account on Fiverr.Com. Fiverr is a website where people can hire people for voiceover work, web design, or pretty much anything for $5 a project. After Fiverr takes their fee you only wind up with $4 so your not making much but at least your making something and building a portfolio as well. A sample of work you've done. It's also something to add to your resume. I'd recommend any aspiring voiceover artist start on Fiverr. You should also setup a youtube station both doing voiceover work as well as commenting on the industry, offering advice to newcommers to the industry. This will get your channel attention as well as get people visiting your channel. It also shows you know about the industry.
This isn't meant to be a fully encompassing guide telling you how to build a voicover booth or portable voiceover station, how to apply for gigs or any of that, just some introductory advice to help get you started. Hope it helps.
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