Making Money in Voice-Overs by Terri Apple

Introduction
Welcome to the wonderful, lucrative, challenging, and creative world of voice-overs.
If you’re reading this book, you’ve probably listened to voice-overs on television commercials or heard announcers or actors on radio spots and thought to yourself, “I could do that.”
Maybe you’ve even looked at some magazine advertisements and tried reading the text of the ad—what we call the copy—aloud. If you have, you’re already on the right track for the commercial voice-over world. Just being aware of the marketplace and listening to the different voice-overs styles used in various ad campaigns can help you begin to understand the nature of the business.
Voice-over work has become an extremely popular option for people considering what to do for a living. (Know many other jobs where you can make six figures and not have to dress up?) In fact, doing voice-overs has become such a popular career choice that many professionals in other fields have turned their part-time dabbling in voice-overs into full-time careers. (A doctor friend of mine recently gave up his medical practice because he made more money, and spent less time working, by doing voice-overs.) Yet as rewarding as this career can be, it’s also very challenging—and it can be tough to break into. Trying to make a go of it in voice-overs isn’t a decision you should make lightly. After all, doing voice-overs means doing a kind of acting. You can have a wonderful speaking voice, but succeeding in voice-overs requires you to know how to apply that God-given talent in professional situations.