WEBCAST: You're On the Air...How to Really Make It in Voice-Overs! Click the links below to listen to some sample demos from our students. Sample Narration Demo Sample Commercial Demo Sample Web Demo Click Here for your Free Voice Evaluation by Dan Levine (An honest evaluation of your potential in the industry) Frequently Asked Questions If you have any questions that are not answered below, please feel free to chat live with someone at Such A Voice. If the icon says OFFLINE, please email your questions to ben@suchavoice.com. Q:  Don't clients in small markets ask you what you've done before? A:  Basically, it's the big city agency people who ask that question. By soliciting your demo in smaller markets, you are marketing yourself from a position of strength. YOU are in the driver seat, and the clients in those markets earn political points with their clients by using talent in larger markets. So, rarely will they ask that question. Plus, if you have a great demo, then you have a major headstart in terms of impressing them. Q:  How small of a market is too small of a market? A:  NO market is too small of a market. If you are new to voice-overs, the rule of thumb is this: The smaller the market, the easier it is to get the work. Q:  Will the union ever let you join if they know you're doing non-union work? A:  Absolutely. All the union wants is your money, and you're a member. However, if you join and THEN you do non-union work, then you are violating a legally binding agreement. At that point, the union will be well within their rights to terminate your membership. There is a way around this. Many voice talent these days are joining the union as a non-voting member, allowing them to do both union and non-union work. This is part of their Financial Core (Fi Core) membership. Q:  What if my voice isn't that spectacular, but has some interesting qualities nevertheless…can I still do this? A:  The main thing about your voice is that you need to be a marketable commodity....the kind of voice companies can use to convey their message, whether it's a technically perfect voice or not. Many so called "average" voices do voice-over work for lots of reasons: they are believable, they are important sounding, or they are distinctive in one way or another. I have also seen people with "OK" voices get work because they market themselves well. HOWEVER....it is important to have a totally "appropriate" sounding demo...one that cleverly shows how YOUR voice WILL assist the client in their mission. Q:  If I am a member of the union, can I still get voice-over work? A:  Yes, if you have a great demo and some kind of other experience in related fields such as theater you can market yourself to agencies that work primarily with union talent. It may be a little tougher to get in the door but this can work if you carefully devise an intuitive marketing plan. If you are from a large city, try to find union agencies in cities smaller than the city in which you live. Q:  What is the most important skill that a voice-over artist should have? A:  People today love “real” sounding voices. The most important skill you can have, is to read a script and sound totally natural and real. Turning what you’ve got “inside you” into a successful niche that attracts clients, is something that a skilled demo producer/coach can help you to achieve. Q:  I live in a small town and there are not a lot of radio stations near by. Will I be able to find work? A:  Radio stations generally have their own staff and are not looking for outside voice talent. However, if a town has at least ONE radio station or TV station and if there are companies and/or organizations that want to advertise their products or services on that station or production companies making videos and films, then there is a need for voice-over talent in that market. Q:  Should I make a voice-over demo myself? A:  ABSOLUTELY NOT! Your potential clients are in the business of production themselves and know an amateur demo when they hear one. A professional produced demo can make the difference between you becoming wealthy as a voice-over artist or getting no work at all! If you needed a triple bypass, would you do it yourself? Would you fill your own cavity? Putting a great demo together is an art that takes a great objective ear and a keen sense of aesthetics. Q:  When is a good time to join the union? A:  Once youve become successful as a non-union voice-over artist and union agency creative directors find out about you and start knocking on your door, then you might want to think about joining AFTRA. However, if youre making 6 figures doing non-union work (and it is very possible to make that happen) youd have to give up all those clients when you join the union. So it is important to be quite certain that the union work will be there for you when that time arrives. Of course, you can always join the union as a Financial Core member if you want to retain your non-union work and still be able to take union jobs. Q:  How do I know what my voice-over niche is? A:  Call our evaluation line and Such A Voice will get back to you. We have heard countless voices and are able to pick out voice niches for each voice. We will also evaluate you on your potential in the industry. Please feel free to hit the back button on your browser to review any part of the video that you'd like.