When I started looking into becoming a voice over, one of the misconceptions I had was that it would be inexpensive. As a musician, I already had some of the “equipment” that I would need. A computer, a microphone, an interface to connect microphone to computer, and recording software. Now, in all actuality, many would argue that that is all you need. However, for me, it was not. I had found some free software online to use as recording software, Audacity. It took me a little while to find videos on YouTube that would teach me how to use that software, but I did find it and was able to learn just the very basics. I found I also needed a quiet space. With two children in our house, quiet space is something that we don’t have. I did find that I could use our bedroom closet for small bits of time throughout the day, so that had to do. I then tried to use the online sites to find jobs. I found this very frustrating as I had no idea what I was doing and quickly gave up for a while.
A couple of years later, I started researching Voice over again and quickly realized that I was going to need a mentor, an insider that could help me navigate this beast called Voice Over. I started looking for coaches within my state that would work with me online. I found one. He required an hour long evaluation session which coast about $125. Which I didn’t think was too bad. It is here that I learned that I would need to learn how to read voice over scripts. He offered weekly lessons over a 3-month period. The cost was $1,200. Whoa! Then I learned that I would need a specific starting microphone, one of a few certain interfaces, speakers to listen back to, a new space to work in. The money started piling up.
To keep this short, I will focus on other aspects of this later. As of know, I am almost $6,000 dollars into honing my skills as a voice over, getting equipment, and recording demos. I have yet to get a paying gig, but I believe it will come. It has to. If nothing else, I want to at least break even on this venture.