I get a lot of emails and an occasional telephone call from men and women who think they want to get into voice over acting. Usually it’s because someone (friend, family member, co-worker) has told them that they have a great voice and that they should look into voice over acting. Or, they read somewhere online that voice over acting is a super easy way to make loads of money, just for speaking words into a microphone.
So, they eventually arrive at the question of how to start “doing” voice over acting as a new part time job or full time career. And after some googling on the subject, a few of them land on my website and recognize me as someone who might be able to answer a few of their voice over acting queries.
Voice Over Acting Isn’t Rocket Science – How Hard Could it Be?
It’s funny how when it comes to most other potentially high-paying professions, people realize they can’t just rush into it and start making gobs of money in a few short months. But, for some reason, people think voice over acting is different. That it’s much easier than “real” professions. I suspect there are folks on the web who make it sound just that easy and are selling services to help people make it happen!
I recently shared some of my personal reflections on how my career as a professional voice over talent got started and has developed over the years into a successful business.
Over the weekend, I came across this article about guaranteeing financial success in your business and it really resonated with me. I think it is spot on in it’s assertion that to “love the journey” of entrepreneurship is the key to guaranteed success. This applies in any entrepreneurial endeavor, not just voice over acting, of course. It’s the journey and not the destination that you’ll be living for the duration.
Do we ever really reach the destination? And when we do, isn’t there just another destination waiting in the wings? It’s the journey – the day to day – the planning, the execution of the tasks, etc. that is where you spend the vast majority of your time. The destination can change during the course of the journey, so best to be open and joyful in what you’re doing day to day.
I know this is not a new idea, but always bears repeating because it’s so easy to forget and get caught up in thinking “I’ll be happy when I reach what’s at the end of my journey and I’m making lots of money” rather than focusing on finding happiness and contentment all along the way.
Published by Debbie Grattan on 12/04/13.
Debbie Grattan has been “doing” Voice Over Acting for more than 20 years, completing over 10,000 voiceover projects along her journey while partnering with hundreds of production companies, marketing and advertising firms, commercial voice-over recording studios and corporate/business clients around the United States and abroad. Check out Debbie’s Voice Over Acting Demos and request a Voice Over Services quote for an upcoming project.
Debbie –
I love it! You are spot on. Western society is especially focused on the results rather than the journey or hard work along the way.
Thanks for the small reminder, Debbie.
-John
Hey John,
Thanks for the comment. Indeed, we must find the joy along the way. And I prefer to think of the “hard work” more like “fun work”. There are always things to do that I may not truly enjoy, but I try to organize them into pockets of time that resonate with me, so they get done, and I don’t get bogged down.
-Debbie
Thanks Debbie, I need that phrase ‘love the journey’ today particularly. It’s now on my vision board! Sometimes I wish the journey had less detours… But such is the life of the entrepreneur.
Nicola
Northern Irish voice
http://www.nicolaredman.com
Hey Nicola – thanks for your comment. I think Vision Boards are terrific. They work in that great, subconscious sort of way, where you feel like you just order what you want in your life (like from the menu in a restaurant) and then it shows up….”magically”.
I wouldn’t worry about detours. they are all just part of the journey, and sometimes you don’t know that a detour is taking where you need to go, even when you don’t realize it. Honor what the Universe sets up for you. Even if you “pass” on some things, it will just keep re-ordering them in a different fashion, continuing to attempt to “fill your order.”
Hello Debbie my experience with doing voice over work has been slow although I know it takes some time. I’m a character actor who really dreams of doing cartoons or radio work ..any advice on how to progressively make my profile of work noticeable so I can get more opportunities in this wonderful field?
Hi Timothy – thanks for reading and for your comment. Animation is a VO niche that is highly competitive and there are VERY few who do MOST of the work. However, there are always new things being cast. I actually was contacted directly by a producer, and eventually became the recurring voice of a character on his animated series, “The Centsables,” without going through an agent, casting director, or any of the normal channels… so it can happen!
Like I tell most people, there is no ONE road to success. Having a specific goal is a great thing, and the more you focus on being that successful VO actor in character work, the more the universal forces will hear and respond to your vibrations. If that sounds a bit “new-age-ey” well, then I might encourage you to read some of Abraham-Hicks or anything you can find on “Law of Attraction”. This is certainly not a nuts and bolts way of making things happen (i.e.move to LA, take a workshop, send off demos to agents, etc.) but sometimes if we open up our vision to something beyond the obvious, and just ASK for what we want, and allow it to be delivered (don’t block the universe with faulty thinking or actions….”it’s too hard” – “I don’t have what it takes” – “I’m not good enough”….) then we can be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Now, if you want to be noticed online, (provided you have a website showcasing your VO talent) then you might look into SEO – Search Engine Optimization. There are lots of things you can do (or hire someone to do) to help your website be higher in the categories you wish to be searched in. Since I have no idea where you are in your career, it’s difficult for me to offer specific advice. But you can start here with these ideas, and see where they take you. Best of luck!