If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you may have noticed that I’ve spoken a lot about creating your own products to sell online, but there are alternatives.
For example you may want to use your computer and microphone to record voice-overs for other people.
Huge Demand
There’s a huge demand for voice-overs and this is a great market to tap into if you want to quickly make a bit of extra money online.
Professional voice-overs can charge thousands or even tens of thousands to record a simple 30 second script.
In fact if you switch on the TV or radio you may hear the same voice ‘selling’ a number of different products.
Being A Voice-Over Artist
Voice-over artists (also known as ‘voice actors’) are signed up by talent agencies and command huge fees because they are the audio equivalent of Tom Cruise. Dependable and reliable… and producers know they will get a great performance from them every time.
To put it another way, these particular voice-overs are used over and over again because they are consistent, generally easy to work with and the best in their field.
Many celebrities also lend their voices to TV and radio adverts by the big multinational chains such as Tesco, Barclays and so on. These big name brands usually snap up a particularly hot celebrity on an exclusive deal so that only they – the client – can tap into that person’s celebrity status or talent.
Now obviously, that’s great for the celebrity who gets paid handsomely for voicing an advert or two, but what has this got to do with you?
Well, the point I’m making is that by offering your own voice to others it can help you generate a nice side-line income.
What You Need
If you’ve already got a computer and a mic the only other things you’ll need are a client, a script and your voice!
Websites such as Fiverr.com allow you to easily reach out to others by listing an online ‘gig’. This means you could offer *your* voice as a voice-over, for $5 per script.
OK, so it’s not exactly the megabucks that these celebrities get from the multinational corporations but don’t be fooled, those $5s can soon start to add up.
Just search “voice over” in the Fiverr marketplace you’ll see that some of the people who are listed have completed hundreds or even thousands of orders and have numerous happy clients.
Not bad for something you can do from home in your spare time, eh?
Your Voice Could Be Just Right
If you’re thinking that you need a ‘radio voice’ or perhaps a ‘movie trailer’ voice (you know the ones I mean, all deep and chocolately) then think again.
There are plenty of people around the world who are searching on Fiverr for natural, everyday voices just like yours to help them to promote their products, appear on their websites and so on.
Here’s a quick list of just some of things you could offer on Fiverr utilising audio:
- Radio Commercial Voice Overs
- On-Hold Messages
- Answer phone Messages
- Testimonials For Others
- Website Welcome Audio
- Audiobook Recordings
- Voice Overs For PowerPoint Recordings
It really doesn’t matter if you have a strong regional or even no accent at all, simply record a clip of yourself speaking, pop it on Fiverr and you’ll be amazed at how quickly those orders can start coming in.
A Few Handy Things To Remember:
– Put a limit the duration you’re willing to record. You don’t want to be recording hour-upon-hour of voice-work for $5. So make it clear that you offer a specific duration only. A good rule of thumb is either 30 seconds or 75 words. People can always order multiples if they have a longer script.
– Ask for a script! You’d be amazed at how many people buy your voice-over gig and also expect you to write the script. So make it clear in your Fiverr listing that your offer DOESN’T include scriptwriting. If you want to you can always offer the script-writing service as an additional ‘gig’.
– Ask for direction. The client may want you to deliver the script in a certain style, so don’t be afraid to ask them how they want/expect it to be delivered. For example you may want to ask them if they require a ‘hard sell’; a ‘soft sell’, or ‘easy-going’, etc. Professional voice-overs always ask this question, so be sure to follow their lead.
– Ask for guidance on difficult words. This is something you’ll want to do right at the start otherwise your client may keep requesting that you do a ‘re-take’ which means extra time and effort on your part. Therefore you want to keep those to an absolute minimum. Simply ask them to phonetically spell out any difficult words and pronunciations before you get behind the microphone.
– Limit the amount of re-takes. Yes, an obvious tip but you must make it clear from the outset that you will only re-record the script if YOU have made a mistake. If you don’t you could end up in an awkward situation or receive negative feedback as a result.
– Make great sounding recordings. Do all you can to provide quality recordings. Record in a quiet place where there’s no echo. The last thing you want is bad feedback because of poor sound quality as it will kill any future orders.
– Deliver on-time. Fiverr is a great place but it can also be highly frustrating to place an order and then have the provider disappear on you. So deliver on-time and your clients will reward you with positive feedback and (hopefully) repeat orders.
Final Thoughts
If you’re interested about using your voice to make money, I talk more about recording great-sounding voice-overs in my FREE ‘Audio Creation Course’ series. Sign up today by letting me know your Name & Email below.
