Blogs About The Voiceover Business

So you wanna get into voiceovers?
  Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to have the greatest voice in the world to work in voiceovers, sure it helps; but it's not necessary. In fact, some of the best known voices, out there, have some kind of speech affliction (lisp, stutter..etc). To be a successful voice talent all you need to do is make the story believable; make it sound like you're an expert in what you’re talking about, even if you haven’t the slightest idea in what it is you're saying: Just tell the story.
  There’s an array of categories available in the voiceover realm; narrations, audiobooks, commercials, on-hold messages, childrens material, medical material and so on. Can you do characters? What about production, do you have any interest in that? Production is the addition of music and/or sound effects to your voice recording for a finished project

First the legalities: 

• Do you have a name for your business?  After all, you’re looking to start a voiceover business and you’ll need a name for that business.  Write down a few ideas then research your choices and make sure that no one else is using the same name, even if it’s just 1 or 2 letters off (especially if you plan on using your name). Having a similar sounding name, with someone else, could easily prevent you from getting voice work.  Once you’ve got a name picked:
• Apply for a federal tax ID number (https://www.us-tax-id-number.com/).  Probably the most important part of the process.  Your tax ID number is just like your SSN (Social Security Number) only it’s for your business.  When dealing with clients they’ll ask for your tax ID, if you don’t have one they’ll ask for your SSN; and with the way things are these days, people are leery about giving out their SSN (for fear of identity theft). If you choose not to supply your SSN…your chances of working won’t be successful.
• Register with the state.  Getting your business registered is important, it tells the state that this is the name you’ll be operating under and would prevent anyone else from trying to register that name for themselves.  How will you register?  ‘Sole-Proprietor’ might be good to get you started; then there’s ‘Doing Business As’ (DBA)?  Maybe incorporation is a way to go.  Check with your accountant to see what’s best for you:  Yeah…lol.  You’ll need one of those, too (an accountant).
• Check with your financial institution (bank, credit union…etc). While not a necessity, at first, check with your bank about opening up a business account (checking/savings/business loans).  Find out what their requirements are; if they have fees or require minimum balances.  Sure, you can use your personal bank account but when the hundreds of millions of dollars start rolling in you might want to consider a business account.  Paypal is a good idea, too or any other form of electronic payent; open up a Paypal account under your business name; you can link it to your bank account so you can transfer money from Paypal to your bank account- electronically.  There’s no minimum balance required, on Paypal, but they do charge a percentage for most transactions- which is tax deductible.  Down the road- you may want to look into accepting a credit card as a form of payment.  And finally:
• KEEP A RECORD OF EVERYTHING.  I can’t emphasize this enough- COPY EVERYTHING. Applications, bills, receipts, certificates, agreements…EVERYTHING; and not just electronic copies...physical copies, as well. PRINT IT!

  It’s important to get the ‘legalities’ taken care of because it establishes your intent on operating as a business and it creates a footprint that can be easily defended should the need arise.  Any money that you spend to accumulate equipment and any other ‘business related’ expenses can be listed as a deduction on your taxes (including any classes or seminars you attend).  Do you plan to work out of your house?  Your mortgage/rent, internet; telephone bills and a portion of your utilities can also be deducted.  Let your insurance company know that you’ll be operating a business out of your house; this way, if there’s a unfortunate circumstance- you’ll be covered.  If you’re going to rent space- then all of those expenses are tax deductible, as well.

by Rich Brennan

Seasons Greetings...Happy Holidays...or Merry Christmas; whatever term you choose to use, this time of year is my favorite time because I can bring out the 'Santa' voice lol.  I really like putting on my Santa voice and I've gotten some really nice responses to it, as well.  It's funny how came to be: I was at a Holiday party a bunch of years ago when a 'Santa' commercial came on tv; the actor had a great voice, so I started to recite the commercial (I'm sure the 'eggnog' had alot to do with that...lol).  A few people looked at me and said: 'Wow that was good'.  So I worked on developing my 'Santa' voice.  

As with normal voice delivery your diaphragm plays a big part; however, for a 'Santa' delivery, it comes from much deeper than that. The best way I can describe it is:  'Right from the gut.'  

A short time later I voiced and produced a version of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' you can listen to it by clicking HERE.  Everytime I listen it brings a smile to my face, maybe it'll bring one to your face, too.

All the best to you and your family this Holiday Season and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

by Rich Brennan

    As I get older, each year, Veterans Day takes on a new meaning.  With the world as it is, these days, the military often conjures up the worst possible scenario: a grieving family crying as to why their loved one won't be coming home; or, a service member crying:  why me?  However, that's NOT necessarily the case; there are millions of reasons why someone joins the military; some want to follow in dad's footsteps, some want to persue employment in a field that can only be had with military training; some want to take advantage of the education that's available and some just want to feel what it's like to 'blow stuff up' ...lol (just to name a few).

    Contrary  to what you may have heard not everyone joins the military to go to war.  In fact, no one (that I know) has ever wanted to go to war.

    My own reason, of joining the military, was because my parents couldn't afford to send me to college; so, like many of my friends from the neighborhood I enlisted in the U.S. Navy.  As with alot of 18 yr old kids coming out of high school, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life; however, I had a liking to numbers so a bug was put into my head about being an accountant.  I took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test (ASVAB) and missed qualifying for the accounting field by 7 points.  What I did qualify for was:

Torpedo maintenence

Gunners Mate (care and mainenance of guns...lol)

Radioman

Electrician....and a few others.

    Thinking of what I could do with torpedo and gun maintenence and radios when I got out, I chose the electricians field.  Having completed all of my schooling I served, my 4 years, as an electrician. Some of my (now) Navy friends went on to make careers of the Navy, others did not.  

     Aside from being grateful for the education and world travel that I've gained, I'm grateful for the discipline, the sense of responsiblity and respect I learned from my military experience: something that's greatly lacking in todays youth.  It's that lack of responsiblity and respect that has created a sense of entitlement for people who (simply) haven't 'earned' what they think they're entitled to.  And it's because of my military experience that I was hired (and now retired) from being an electrician; which has afforded me the option of a second career as a voice talent/audio producer.  

The military shouldn't be looked down on (or frowned upon) as a life choice; but, as an experience that could enhance and enrich ones life:  It did for me.

Happy Veterans Day.

by Rich Brennan

I was given a :30 radio promo for KWKM (Power 95.7 in Show Low, AZ) for one of their Halloween events.  Right off the bat I had an idea, in my head, as to what was going into the production; spooky sound effects/music etc.  After recording the voiceover I started inserting various production elements.  When I was finished it sounded ok, but …there seemed to be ‘something missing’; you know that feeling, right?  So I said to myself…”this could sound better”.  I went back and started playing with some other production elements and found some that made the promo sound much better, even some that enhanced what I already had in place; I even replaced the music lol.

In production, there are no mistakes; only Happy Accidents.. lol (Thanks to Bob Ross for that term).

It works like that for most of my productions; experimenting with various production elements can make a finished production sound so much better; and it makes the client very happy, too.  And that's what really matters.

by Rich Brennan

Fall.  A picturesque time here in the northeast; the leaves will be changing, the temperatures are falling and that means it's time for the cold and flu season.  Being in the voiceover business- this is my most nervous time of the year because, when I get a cold, the first thing that gets affected is my voice:  Sore throat, hoarseness, coughing, etc... I'm pretty sure you don't want your audio production sounding like theres a frog crawling around in my throat, do you?  I didn't think so...lol.

Home studios are booming right now and the ability to write, voice, produce and deliver broadcast quality material without leaving the house is a beautiful thing.  However, at some point you'll have to go out and make contact with the world and that's where the risk of catching a cold comes in; and that's NOT a beautiful thing.  lol

I’ve already stocked up on ‘Airborne’ (they give your system a shot of vitamin C); so, the minute I feel that 'itch' in the back of my throat or hear a scratch in my voice, I’m prepared.  Every 8 hours I'll disolve a tablet in about 8 oz of water and down it; I also load up on lozenges and drink hot beverages.  Washing my hands more than usual is a plus, too.

Because, 'After it's all done and over with, what you're left with is:  JustMyVoice'

by Rich Brennan

When talking to people about what they do for a living, I've found that folks (often) have no clue as to what 'voiceovers' are.    lol...It happens all the time.  I mean, really, it's not one of those mainstream jobs that everyone aspires to:

"I'm a doctor"; "a fireman"; "in law enforcement"; "finance"...etc.

"What do you do? "

"I do voiceovers." 

"Voiceovers?  Cool...uhhh what's that?"  lol

That's usually about the same time when I"m asked..."Where are you from?" lol

Voiceover; voice over; or, voice acting is the phrase associated with hearing someone speak and not being able to see who's doing the speaking.  Whether it's live or recorded (notice I didn't use 'pre'? lol).  I point out radio and TV commercials; documentaries; animations; on-hold messages and any other recorded material where you don't actually see the person speaking:  That's voiceover.

Then...I usually get:  "...yeah...now I can hear it, just by the way you're talking."

by Rich Brennan

When I first heard George Carlin talk about this it made perfect sense to me.  Pre, the most mis-used word in the English language; you see it all the time in print and hear in commercials:  Pre-heat; pre-register; pre-lit; pre-recorded; pre-board (I really like that one); pre-wired…and so on.  My favorite is when I heard on a TV commercial for an electric wheel-chair- “…if you pre-qualify…”  I love that line.  So would that mean that if I don’t ‘pre-qualify’…I can still ‘qualify’?  lol.  Afterall, pre-qualifying means that you have to qualify….before you qualify, right?  It’s a 2-step process.  lol. 

Sure…you can preview something and have a premier or be considered prehistoric and even list something as being ‘pre-owned’; although that’s just another term for USED.  Putting ‘pre’ in front of a word only complicates things. 

Gone forever are the days of keeping it simple.

by Rich Brennan