Where to Find Voiceover Work
A valuable nugget I heard from a veteran voice actor when I was starting out was:
Your job is auditioning. If you get cast, that’s just the cherry on top.
It was helpful to reframe my thinking that way, because it made auditioning less of a chore and more of something I enjoyed. I began to enjoy the puzzle of each audition, as well as the hunt of finding a new pool of potential clients.
Here are some websites and ideas I’ve used to find some good work in voice over. Ah, a quick note though. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather sites that I’ve used to varying degrees in my career, and my thoughts and experiences with each.
Overview
If you’re in a rush, here’s a quick breakdown of the sites that I go into more detail discussing further on.
Voices.com
This is where I do a large amount of my business. I like it because they give me access to every job that I might be suitable for, what they call “JobMatch.” This results in me getting a pretty solid number of audition opportunities averaging between $300-$750 per job, though they can go up to five or even six figure jobs in rare cases.
Additionally, the timelines on the auditions are less aggressive than some other sites, meaning I don’t feel pressured to submit immediately after receiving the audition notice. (Though generally speaking submitting ASAP increases the chances your audition will be listened to.)
The way the JobMatch algorithm works is that when you post Demos to your profile page, the ways in which you ‘tag’ your demos starts to build out a more detailed picture of who you are and what your voice might be best suited for. For example, if I post a demo for an Audiobook and tag my narration vocal style as “Gritty” and “Brooding,” the algorithm will then match me to job postings where the client is looking for “Gritty,” “Brooding,” as well as Audiobooks.
When a client views auditions, they’ll see them in order of “JobMatch” percentage first, then in order the auditions were received—i.e. 100% matches, then 90%, then 80%, etc. This means if you get sent a job posting, but are only a 50% match, your audition will be very late in the cue and you may not want to waste your time. (Additionally, if you disagree with the 50% match, you can use that info to update your demos to match higher down the road.)
Membership costs $499 USD/year, and Voices.com takes 20% from each contract. Some don’t like this, but personally as a freelance VO talent, I appreciate the protections the website affords in the work (making sure I get paid, and that there is no breach of contract) and I just set my rates to compensate for the 20% as best I can and it doesn’t bother me.
Voices123
Alongside Voices.com, this is the other big pay-to-play site out there. Their memberships come in tiers which offer you more and more exclusive access to job postings depending on how much you pay. The standard subscription is $395/year as of this publishing, with premium memberships going up to ~$5,000/year. They also offer a 1 month free trial, so it’s definitely worth giving it a try and seeing if you like the experience.
Voices123 serves only as a matchmaking site, and unlike Voices.com doesn’t take the 20% commission from your job. This means that they’ll connect you with clients, but that they don’t offer you the same protections and payment processing as Voices.com does. Not a huge issue, but something to be aware of. You can make sure you’re not taken for a ride by having the client sign this contract template before you start any work. You’ll also need to invoice them yourself when the work is complete.
(Check out my article on working with clients for some ideas on decent invoicing apps I’ve used.)
Personally, I haven’t enjoyed my experience on this site as much as some of the others. The main reason being the site’s algorithm makes you more ‘discoverable’ based on the number of your auditions that are shortlisted or ‘liked’ by clients. This incentivizes being very selective about what you submit for, making sure client’s on the site aren't receiving tons of spam auditions, but it also means that taking risks on isn’t really rewarded. When I was starting out, I didn’t really know what kind of jobs my voice was particularly suited for, and auditioning for everything I could was a big part of my learning process and development.
That said, many pros I know love the site and swear by it, so give the 1 month trial a go at the very least. You’ve got nothing to lose there.
Bodalgo
This is a European based platform that is really lovely in my humble opinion. They operate similarly to Voice123, in that they just connect you to clients and the rest is up to you. I find that competition per job is a bit more on this site than others (often 100+ submissions per job), which means getting your audition in sooner rather than later is a good idea. That said, the site lets you see which of your auditions have been listened to and shortlisted, and most all of mine have been despite the large number of submissions.
Additionally, jobs I’ve booked on this site have led to quite a few repeat contracts—which is fantastic.
Contracts here in my experience average between 250-500 EUR or USD.
Their monthly fee is 39.90 Euro, six months cost 199.90 Euro, and the annual fee is 349.90 Euro.
One important thing to note, is that if you’re operating in the US, you’re going to have to deal with international transfer fees when invoicing a majority of your clients through this site—which can add up. Make sure you check out what those fees are beforehand so that you’re saving yourself some cash. (I’ll try to put some of my solutions in a future article.)
I was surprised at how awesome LinkedIn was for finding work, but it’s honestly led to some of my best paying and long term client relationships. You can set up alerts for job postings featuring “Voice Over” or “Voice Talent” etc. and apply whenever they pop up.
The clients posting jobs here often tend to be production companies looking to build a roster of voice talent to pitch to their clients. Once you’re on their roster, when these production companies are making an ad for…say, Microsoft for example, and your voice might be perfect for it, they’ll pitch you directly to Microsoft for the job (sometimes even without you having to audition).
Your profile is free, which is nice. (There is a Premium option, but it’s not really necessary.) Keeping your profile updated with every job that comes your way, is helpful to boost your visibility on the platform. I’ve found it’s also helpful to have a personal website that’s updated as a sort of “proof of concept” for yourself, essentially a living resume to show clients that you’re the real deal.
Upwork
This is where I got my start. In my opinion, this is a great place to build out your resume, hone your skills behind the mic, develop your personal workflow, build out your client relations skillset, etc. The site has also led to some of my better long-term client relationships.
Contracts here tend to be smaller on average than other sites, ranging from $50-$150 a job, but can jump into the $1,000’s. Pay attention to the fine print in the posting however. It may be $50 per fifteen second clip, and they're asking for 8 clips, which is a $400 gig masquerading as a $50 one.
The site works similarly to Voices.com, Voice123, and Bodalgo in a couple of ways. Clients will post jobs that you can submit proposals to, and you can also publish “Projects” where clients can hire you directly. For example, I have a “Project” for Audiobook Narration, and another for Commercial Voice Over.
In exchange for contract protections and service fees, Upwork takes a fee from each contract’s payment, starting at 20%, then after the first $500 on the contract that drops to 10%. The site also uses “Connects” for proposal submissions, which cost $0.15/each. Each proposal will ask between 1-6 Connects for you to submit, which essentially acts as a control so people don’t spam proposals on the site. If you are asked to interview for a job after submitting a proposal, you’ll get a return of some Connects. For me this quickly translated into never paying for additional Connects.
Fiverr
A cousin to Upwork, you’ve probably heard of Fiverr before. Here you post a profile, offer your services, and wait for the work to roll in. This site is ALL about marketing. You’ve got to have an eye catching thumbnail for your posting, and you need to foster that 5-star rating by any means necessary. This translates to taking every job that comes your way—no matter what—for the first few months you're on the site.
In other words, to get started you will have to charge almost nothing for a while to establish yourself here. This can be great when you’re starting out, as the pressure to perform might be lessened when you’re charging $5 is far less than if you’re working on a job that pays thousands of dollars.
Once you’ve got a decent rating, and your confidence has grown, you can start charging more fair wages for the work you’re doing. Fiverr has a great system where you can set the base rate pretty low to start, but charge for additional features which will pad out your contracts. Kinda their version of “would you like fries with that?”
For me, I didn’t have much success on Fiverr, partly because I wasn’t too keen to do work for such little money. However, I have friends that make well into six figures annually on the site, so if you’re willing to put the work in it can be very lucrative. They also offer a PRO tier for talent that have promise on the site, where you can charge higher rates for your work.
Fiverr takes a 20% cut per gig you sell.
Agents
This might be a broader topic, but if you’re able to secure an agent to represent you in your voiceover career, they’ll actively send you auditions and put you out for jobs. These tend to be higher profile than you would be able to find on the pay to play sites above (though not always), because casting agencies will contact talent agencies directly with jobs that you often wouldn’t otherwise be able to access.
Agents take a 10% commission for their work, and in return will help negotiate your contracts to make sure you’re protected and well compensated. Often agencies will negotiate their 10% fee in addition to your pay.
It so happens that at some point in their careers many people, including myself, are under the impression that once you’ve got an agent you’ve made it. It’s important to note that while having an agent is sometimes considered a mark of a bonafide professional voice talent—that it gives you credibility and access to high profile work—having an agent won’t guarantee your success. A lot still depends on you, the same way that it always has.
Having representation presents a lot of opportunities and can relieve a lot of the burdens that come from trying to do everything yourself, but I it’s important to remember that agents are business partners not a business solution. Like I said, a lot is still up to you, but two heads are certainly better than one.
Direct Outreach
The last thing that I highly recommend, is to hunt around for opportunities! Similar to LinkedIn, snoop around for animation studios, audiobook publishers, ad agencies, anything that you’re interested in dipping your toes into—and reach out. Finding the “Contact Us” page, and introducing yourself can never hurt. Sure, 95% of the time you might not hear anything, but those few times you get a hit can lead to great client relationships.
Honorable Mentions
Other places to check out that might fit you well:
Happy Hunting
Those are a few of the ways that I’ve found work for myself. If you come up with any other great places to look, let me know! Good luck, and happy hunting!