How can I get auditions for voice acting?
What a great question! You ask "How do I get auditions for voice acting?" And I'll answer it right here! It's actually pretty easy, as there are a wealth of voiceover auditioning opportunities available online.
How can I get auditions for voice acting? - Audition on the Voiceover Marketplaces
Voiceover Marketplaces are those online sites like Voiceovers.com, Bodalgo, VOPlanet, ACX, Voice123.com, and Voices. They all consist of a membership fee (except for ACX) which you would pay to join and be able to receive voiceover audition alerts for incoming voice acting jobs where your voice or other stated criteria (by you, such as desired pay, voice type, gender, ethnicities, voiceover genres) would be a match. It's up to you to select all of these things, and then it's up to you as a voice actor to get auditions for voice acting by deciding which site(s) to pay the membership fee to, in order to join.
Recommendations (and cautions!) abound online (and off) in regards to which sites you should or should not join. Ultimately, the choice is yours. But before we dive into the voiceover marketplaces, or "pay to play" sites, as they're formally known, let's talk about direct marketing a bit, and places to get work for voice acting.
How do I get auditions for voice acting? - Direct Marketing!
There are many many places where you can do direct marketing and find or book your own clients such as on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Alignable, Indeed, Upwork, Freelancer, Jam-pan, and even Craigslist. Just simply searching on a day-to-day basis and making yourself a marketing schedule to go by each day, ticking your boxes to ensure that you have looked in that particular area, can keep you on a great track to success. Ultimately, you need to make sure that you are always on the hunt for voice acting jobs. Voiceovers is a very reactive business and line of work – so anytime an audition comes in, be prepared to run to your studio and commit the time needed to conduct that audition and send it expediently to the recipient so that you stand a chance of being heard early in their lineup, before they potentially develop “audition fatigue.“
But with direct marketing, you’re always putting irons in the fire, you’re always looking out there on the Internet to see who might have need of your services – and so many people do. So many! Whether it’s for this genre or that genre of Voiceovers, there are so many businesses out there in need of a great voice to tell their story. You could be that voice!
So keep looking - and most importantly, find creative ways to look for voice acting jobs. As a voice actor, but as a human trying to connect with other humans, always be allowing, sensitive, and kind, when you approach your prospective client online. Never force your demo reel on them, never bombard anyone with a massive message telling all of your features or why they should choose you as their voiceover artist. Always highlight the benefits to them and make sure that you are clear that it’s not about you selling them on you, it’s about you solving their problem that they might have.
How do I get auditions for voice acting? - Back to the P2P's
Now back to the voiceover marketplaces. They all have membership fees, with the exception of ACX, which is free. You pay a fee to have your profile listed and searchable and then also to receive audition listings via email that you can try out for. Some sites operate a bit more ethically than others, some sites don’t quite operate ethically really at all. Choose carefully. You also need to make sure that you are bidding correctly, properly valuing your voice acting services and not undercutting other voice actors or voice talent out there by seeing an audition that comes in with a range of $300-$500 and intentionally bidding $150 just so that you can get the job. In so doing, you are thereby lowering the expectation in the entire industry on the part of the client: telling the client that you'll do work for little to no money. The truth of the matter is that you're bringing the bar down on an entire industry of voice actors when you do that. In reality, you’re worth far more. Always remember that.
As you were wading through all of the auditions, make sure that they fit with your focus and your target voice acting niche so that you are not expending unnecessary energy into genres that are not necessarily the right fit for you. If you like video games, do video game voices. If you like e-learning, do e-learning. If your thing is commercial video voiceovers, do those. If it’s audiobooks, stick with those. Focus on your favorite niche and then try to nail it. This is merely a recommendation for MOST people. Some people like to do all of it.
How do I get auditions for voice acting? - Bring in passive leads!
You could also post ads yourself, not to do so much direct marketing but to "reel in" interested parties. You can do this by posting posts on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. that incorporate hashtags that an interested party may actually use to search for someone like you. You could also post ads on Craigslist, for example, for $5 a month per ad per city. You can also, believe it or not, search on Craigslist in the "Jobs" and "Gigs" categories for voiceover work, and become a successful and professional voice over artist that way!
There are LOTS of ways to receive and connect with voice acting clients! Email me with any questions to [email protected]!
Go get 'em.
Sincerely,
Joshua Alexander
Seattle Voice Actor & Voiceover Talent for hire
[email protected]
206.557.6690
www.saysomethingjosh.com
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