Voice Over Business

If you are interested in pursuing a career in the industry, a voiceover recording studio is more important than purchasing any single piece of equipment. You may have a fantastic voice that can read many genres, including corporate narration, commercial, eLearning, or animation. However, even if you have a superb microphone, you can have many background noises bleeding into your recording if you don’t have a quiet space. 

Noises such as cars or airplanes passing by, your family walking around the home, or the sound of your air conditioner running will be distracting to the listener. Additionally, you may increase the risk of your clients being unhappy with the final product. There is a lot of buzz online within the community about this topic, so let’s chat about what you need to know to create your own voiceover recording studio.

The Ideal Space

A professional recording studio is the best space to record your voice over. The top choices are professional studios with a custom booth, a sound engineer on hand, and tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Some voice actors rent out professional studios and perform their jobs there, but that isn’t a sustainable option.

Evolution of the Voiceover Recording Studio

In the past, voice actors led their careers relying on recording in professional studios. They would receive their auditions from their agent, audition time and date, and drive to the studio to record their audition. If selected, the talent would return to that studio or another to do the final recording. The audio quality would be excellent, but time, energy, and money were required to work this way. Living in the digital age, voice actors have moved their studios into their homes. Up to the year 2020, only about half of the voice actors had home studios. Once the pandemic hit, voice actors were forced to acquire a home studio as quickly as possible if they wanted to continue working.

My First Recording Booth – The Closet

Luckily, I had already had a booth set up. That was one of the main reasons I considered voice acting, the fact that I could do it from home. The word “booth” is interesting because my first recording space was actually a closet within my house. I did much research when starting in voice over, and many online stated that the most cost-effective option was to use an existing closet within your home and retrofit it into a working voice over booth. So as the millennial in me, that is what I did.

You want it to be quiet in any recording space with no noise bleeding through and no echoes. Otherwise, you get a boxy sound—vocal isolation and sound absorption, not complete soundproofing. When your recording is acoustically treated with the right equipment, your recording will sound crisp, clear, and professional. This will make the editing much more manageable.

Building From Scratch

I emptied a closet, purchased some studio foam from Amazon, and started nailing in each 12” x 12” piece until I covered most of the walls. I also bought a moving blanket from Amazon to cover up the closet’s back wall. Moving blankets are a cheap and effective way to dampen noise and reverberation.  Once that was complete, I added a carpet to the floor. Next, I added my microphone and a music stand and went to work. It took a few weeks of trial and error to get the best sound to my ear. 

After many months of still doubting my sound, I decided to hire George Whittam, one of Hollywood’s top sound engineers, to check my sound quality. I sent him a few raw (unedited) recordings, and within 45 minutes, he had my sound in tip-top shape. If I could do it again, I would have hired him months earlier to give me the utmost confidence when I recorded every audition and went into each live-directed session. Nevertheless, he said my booth sounded great but needed minor adjustments within my editing software. 

Your Voiceover Recording Studio Doesn’t Have to Be Beautiful

That first booth was not a pretty sight. It was pretty unappealing to the eye. The colors were orange and black (not my favs), and it was dark, small, and stuffy. I had to keep open the door frequently during long live-directed recording sessions because the temperature rose quickly there. It was a place I did not to be all day. I felt it was a tomb!

Though that closet was a sight for sore eyes, it was pretty profitable for me. I was able to record thousands of auditions, work with hundreds of international clients, and it allowed me to leave my regular full-time job and pursue voice acting as a real career. I also recorded commercials seen on network television there. It’s funny when I think about it. One would never know that I recorded that in a dingy closet from my home. I think only five clients have ever asked me where I record. My reply was “a professional studio as approved by a top Los Angeles sound engineer.” That was all they needed to hear, and I got the job. 🙂

My Voiceover Studio Version 2.0

Eventually, I decided it was time for an upgrade. So after a lot of research, now I have a portable voice over booth. I did much research online to find something within my budget that would still allow me to record good quality broadcast voice over, and my priority was to find a booth that was comfortable to stay in during long sessions and not overheat.

More voiceover booths are available on the market than ever before as the digital landscape has evolved. I settled on a Vocal Booth to Go, a portable unit initially designed for the artist on the go. But, it works as my main booth. I purchased the 4×4 booth and placed it in a walk-in closet within my home. I nailed up two moving blankets onto the left and right walls of the closet to dampen the noise. Then I added my studio foam from my old closet to the back wall and placed the 4×4 booth inside. So, in effect, I have a booth within a booth 🙂 It’s a little hack that works quite well. 

The last time I checked, my dB was -55, which is pretty good. I love the Vocal Booth because it’s a PVC frame with moving blankets as the “walls.”  The color is white, which is light, bright, and refreshing. My old booth was quite dark and felt like a tomb. This new space is much bigger and gives me room to move my arms and legs, which is especially necessary for animation work and leaves me with energy at the end of my day. I also now have room for a desk, chair, and a monitor to do my daily work.

Your Voiceover Recording Studio is Up To You

Whether you are a diverse voice talent or a niche specialist, your recording studio can be customized to your needs. It would be unreasonable to assume that every voice talent has spent thousands of dollars on their booths because it doesn’t matter what it looks like. It’s about how it sounds and feels to you, the talent. 

The next article will discuss some of the top-rated voice over sound booths available today.

“Oh, you’re a voice actor? That’s so cool; how can I get into that?” I get this question monthly from friends, family, and acquaintances. I thought I would write an official article on this topic to refer whoever is interested in starting a career in voice acting to a single resource with all the information they require. Before anyone is interested in diving into this fantastic, fun, competitive, and crazy industry, here are four main components to consider. 

• #1 Background  and Experience
• #2 Business Ability
• #3 Artistic Ability
• #4 Technical Ability

Background and Experience

Most voice actors fall into this industry from previous roles and backgrounds. While some children live on cartoons and dream of being the next Daffy Duck, that isn’t the usual trajectory. Most grow up and get into the world of business, technical roles, or acting. Each background is unique to giving the new voice talent the skills they need to succeed in their new career. Many feel that their knowledge isn’t sufficient to make them successful. However, when you begin to peel back the layers of your experience, skills, and background, there are things you can use in your new career.

If you were a manager in a previous role, you are undoubtedly organized, have good time-management ability, and can set goals and prioritize throughout your workday. If you had a technical role, you are detail-oriented and have a high aptitude for learning new hardware and software tools, and can break down complex problems into more manageable pieces. If you have an acting or musical background, you can perform at a moment’s notice, understand rhythm, pitch, and dissect a script quickly.

Business Ability

The ability to run a business is important for voice acting. Voice actors don’t usually belong to a single company or enterprise. They are entrepreneurs running their own businesses. It is imperative to inherit professional skills to run a successful business. I have seen voice actors fall flat after only a few months because they don’t want to do the tedious paperwork; they just want to act. That can be possible if you score an agent who provides you with endless opportunities and auditions, but that’s just not how it works in today’s age. You need to hunt down the options. Voice acting is selling your voice to buyers. Agents are just one tool in your voice over prospecting toolkit.

How to Develop Voice Acting Business Ability

A business is broken down into various departments:

• Sales
• Marketing
• Accounting
• Legal
• Customer Service
• Finance
• Business Development

You will need to become proficient in all these aspects. This doesn’t happen overnight but slowly but surely, and if you are committed, it’s possible to run your business like a well-oiled machine. So get out a pen and paper and start brainstorming which skills you possess? Have you worked in customer service in your past? What about accounting? Do you know how to draft an invoice? Have you sold anything before? Make a list of all your skills, and you’ll come to see you know more than you think. If you need more help, research your local business school or online learning programs to take a course in achieving business skills.

Artistic Ability in Voice Acting

The second most crucial ability is artistic. But, wait! Shouldn’t this be the first? Well, no, talent can be learned, trained, and crafted, but the majority of voice acting falls under the business ability even more than the acting itself. Auditioning and recording jobs for clients is a small fraction of all the other tasks involved in running your voice acting business.

I will say that some have a natural ability to act or perform, and that certainly comes in handy and will set you apart from the rest. This talent will help you to book better jobs. However, if you don’t follow up with them for payment, send them marketing emails, and audition again and again you will not be successful. 

How To Develop Artistic Ability?

You can work with a Voice Acting Coach, join an improv class, attend an acting school, or take drop-in acting classes. All of these are ways to train your artistic ability. The best actors in the world never stop coaching, and neither do voice actors. There are different coaches for different genres, so be sure to research which coach is right for you and the genre you are aiming to perform in. It’s always beneficial to start with a Commercial coach.

How to Develop the Technical Ability for Voice Acting

To be a successful voice actor, you need technical skills and know-how to use voice acting hardware and software. Examples include a microphone, computer, Logic Pro X, Adobe Audition, Audacity, and Izotope RX7.

This skill can be quickly developed by taking online or in-person courses. You can also ask around if any of your friends know of the hardware and software, and they can show you how to use it. If you are willing to learn the required business, artistic and technical skills you will be well rewarded with the opportunity to work with amazing people, and projects!

Whether you’re a lone voice over artist or a well-established company with hundreds of employees, the goal is the same. You need sales to survive and thrive. Without sales, there is NO business. But how do you get more business to your B2B or B2C customers? Well, here is the short answer, you need to market! But with so many tactics available, how do you know which voice over marketing strategy is the right fit for you? Over the next few blog posts, we will be highlighting the top 5 most effective methods. These are very current and popular strategies that are sure to spark your creativity.

Get started with the first effective way to market your product or voice over service.

Let’s Get Personal!

However you market your talent, this means it needs to be personal to your customers. Some may argue it is easier to do with small businesses, but even large-scale corporations can be effective in this category. For example, a few years ago, Coca-Cola embarked on one of its most successful campaigns. Do you remember the personalized bottles with people’s names? I’m sure you do! Everyone, even myself, was running out looking for a bottle with either my name or my friend’s name to surprise them with a little gift. This was a relatively simple yet, highly effective way to market. They had us, and we did the marketing for them. People were tagging the bottle on Social Media left, right, and center, which got the word out.

Customizing Your Voice Over Marketing

The voices you use in your campaigns can also help you Get Personal to your clients. Are the voices you use disconnected to your audience? Or do they draw the customer in? Gone are the days of the big, booming announcer voices. Watch a little TV today, and you will come to realize most of the ads use softer, more conversational voices. Nobody wants to feel sold too. They prefer to feel like a friend describing this new cool thing. Those are the voices that reign on the small screen, and this is a great way to get personal.

Set Your Small Businesses Apart

Small businesses can do the same. Every marketing email sent and phone call should be done with the customer in mind. Never send an email with the heading “Dear Client.” Take a few extra minutes to log onto their website and social media accounts and get to know the individual you email. Find some sort of common ground. Do they like cats? Did you go to the same school? Do you like the same sports? In a sea of impersonalized content out there, a little bit of personalization goes a long way, and THAT is what will set you apart. 🙂

Authenticity and Voice Over Marketing

With that said, not only do you need to be personal with your clients, you also have to be personal. That means being authentic in every way possible. Some of the most successful and legendary people in history are always authentic! For example, Elvis Presley, Andy Warhol, Princess Diana, Martin Luther King Jr, Albert Einstein. Many people viewed these individuals as radical, vulgar, deranged, or mad. But they are some of the greatest artists, activists, and scientists of all time because they were authentic! How can you be original? Once you identify this, it will help set you apart, and your marketing will become more strategic and targeted.

Social Media Deep Dive

Take a quick look at your company profiles, whether social media or your website. Is it basic or boring? Is it just a bunch of corporate mumbo-jumbo? Would you want to hire you based on your current marketing strategies? Is it tailor-made to your clients? Do you stand out above all the rest in your voice over niche?

These are essential questions to ask yourself. Once you identify your current social media profiles, there is usually room for improvement to get personal. So don’t be shy about posting your favorite moments. That picture of your kitty sleeping in the window, those excellent seats you got for the basketball game or that beautiful sunset you saw the other day. Once potential clients feel they are connecting to an actual human, then long-term relationships form.

Voice Over Marketing That Builds Relationships

So, what have we learned? Well, being personal is the difference between making a sale and keeping a long-term client. This is why the art of building relationships is a vital skill that most companies look for in their sales staff. This is why so many deals occur on the golf course, right? So don’t be shy, get personal, and enjoy the benefits that will come from it. Just don’t take it personally, ok? 😛