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Michele Koch

Voice Actor

5 Ways to Save Money When Hiring a Voiceover

Voice Over Business

 Maximizing the value of your voiceover budget

When you hire a voiceover actor for your project, whether it’s for a commercial, explainer video, in-house narration, or even on-hold messaging, you want to project a professional sound, but also manage your budget. As a professional voiceover actress, I don’t like to see clients spend more than they need to. I’ve put together five tips to help you stay on budget while working with voiceover talent.

  1. Get your budget right. You are hiring a professional, so expect to pay appropriately for those services. There are resources to help you put together a reasonable and fair budget for you and your voiceover professional. Check out the GVAA Rate Guide and Gravy for the Brain. These are industry standard rates and will also help you understand
  • usage (broadcast, social media, in-house)
  • length of exposure (3 months, 6 months, 1 year)
  • rates for markets (smaller markets are lower than rates in, say, New York, L.A., or Chicago.)

Keep in mind, if your budget is not consistent with industry standards, you’ll likely be turned down by professionals. You may waste time looking for someone to hire who will accept your rate, and then not be satisfied with the results.

  1. Know what type of voice you want. Decide in advance the type of voice you’re looking for: female, male, non-binary, POC, millennial, middle age, or senior.  Also identify the tone you’d like, such as authoritative, conversational, warm and friendly, energetic, or quirky. Knowing what characteristic voice you want will save time in direction and communication, as well as the cost and hassle of re-dos.
  2. Finalize your script in advance. Script changes cost you money. Voice actors will typically charge a session fee plus a re-recording fee for major script changes. I’ve had clients who completely changed their minds on the script, and unfortunately that meant they had to pay a lot more. I was thankful for the business, but didn’t like having to bill my client twice.
  3. Rush jobs. You can’t always help a rush. However, if you plan well, you will have the comfort of time. Rush jobs can come with a hefty fee.  A rush job usually means “same day” or even a few hours or less and the talent will charge anywhere from 40%-50% over standard rate.
  4. Consider a directed session. This is where you can live-direct your voiceover talent. My studio is equipped with Source Connect™ and ipDTL . With these sites, a client can direct me remotely with or without a sound engineer and I can hear you in my headphones. I have also used Skype, Zoom, Facetime and even Google Hangout for directing sessions. Directed sessions do come with an added fee, but when you direct your talent live, you save time and money by getting exactly what you want without expensive do-overs or script changes. I’ve had jobs where the client opted out of a directed session, then emailed me “notes” – four different times, with script changes each time. Ouch.

As a final note, get it in writing. A professional will always send you a contract so both parties know what is expected. Ask your talent if there are discounts for repeat business.

Hiring a professional voiceover actor with good training, who has professional equipment and software, and knows how to use their voice to tell a story will always help your brand. Yes, you could hire someone cheaper, but in the end, you may not be satisfied and wind up re-casting your project to another voice.

I’m a professional, versatile voiceover actress. Check out my demos at michelekoch.com and let’s chat!

 

So You Want Get In to Voiceover

Voice Over Business

studio recording

Those of us who are voice over artists frequently get asked, “How do you get started in voice over? Just google it. Some good folks and some slimy websites will answer that question for you. The good folks give an honest answer. the slimy ones make it sound really easy. Indeed, I recently met with a friend who was also interested in the voice over industry. And yes, she wanted to know how to do it.

 

Here’s a quick recap of my conversation.

Me: Why are you interested in voice over?

Friend: My friends tell me my voice sounds nice on the phone and I should get in to voice acting.

Me: Do you want to?

Friend: Yeah, kinda. I think it might be fun. (RED FLAGS  here ‘ yeah, kinda”…’might be fun’)

Me: Ok. Have you done any research?

Friend: No, I’m talking to you. So this is my first research.

Me. Do you have an idea about the monetary investment it might take?

Friend:  I’m guessing it might be maybe $1000-$2000.  But I don’t know.

Me:  Do you have an acting background?

Friend:  NO. Not at all.

Me:  Did you know that there are lots of ways a person can be a voiceover artist.

Friends: What do you mean? I was just thinking commercials, like TV or radio.

Me:  Ok. So here’s some basics.  You should do A LOT of research. Blogs, FB groups, books. podcasts. Then if you’re still interested, you should think about what genre you might like – yes, commericials, but also audio books, elearning, explainer videos, narration, promos, animation… then you’ll need to find a coach. I can recommend several. You’ll need the right equipment and learn some editing software. Then when your coach tells you you’re ready, he or she will tell you it’s time to get a demo – through the coach or a separate producer.  You could be at this for several months before that point.  Some people it can take over a year. My personal investment, including coaching, demos, voice conferences, equipment, has been… (and here I tell her my actual investment to date…her eyes get really, really big).

Friend: Wow. I didn’t realize it was all that.

Me: You have to be very passionate about your desire to be a successful voice over. And have the mindset to stay the course – it’s a marathon, a journey.  Are you still interested?

Friend.  Not really. No. I thought I could just buy a microphone and start auditioning.

Folks, there are no shortcuts.Being a successful voice over artist takes training, more training, demos, equipment, marketing, tenacity, and stick to it-ness. Need a little more guidance? Conact me. I’m happy to talk.

 

Top Three Ways Adding Voiceover is Key to Successful Branding

Business

What is the sound of your business?

For entrepreneurs concerned with branding, much of their focus is on the look and feel of the generated materials whether print or digital through online platforms, how it relates to their emotions and the story they wish to tell, all of it created with an attention to detail about visuals, including color palettes, fonts, art work, video or still images, and the like. But when it comes to the voiceover work, too many businesses completely ignore the branding opportunities of the human voice, letting the Fates give them the voice of their business.

But let me ask you – does it make solid marketing sense to obsess over how a business looks… and then ignore how it sounds?

What is the sound of Geiko? It’s comedian and British voiceover Jake Wood. We’d know his voice anywhere. What is the sound of Lexus? Another British voice, this time an Oscar nominated actress Minnie Driver.

What is the sound of your business?

Voiceover – Giving your Business a Distinctive Voice in a Market of Babble

Genuinely savvy marketers and business owners understand the importance of voiceover work. Progressive Insurance surely understands this – most reading this can probably hear Flo’s voice in their head.

But why? Why should you, a small business owner, invest in voiceover work?

1. Voiceover gives Branding Consistency via the 2nd Most Important Sense.

Vastly important in commercials, and especially so for radio spots, having a consistent voice across multiple channels doubles your brand reinforcement. Don’t focus solely on the look of your marketing, make sure the sound of it matches as well.

2. Voiceover Gives Personality

Who is your company? Are you fun? Serious? Sassy? Texan? A combination of these? The right voice will give your branding a true personality, turning visual cues into audio reassurance. Inflection, pitch, tonality, word choice, cadence, more, are all important aspects to consider for the voice of your business.

3. Voiceover is Flexible

Voiceover gives a tremendous amount of flexibility to your business, enhancing your branding across channels not typically thought of as ‘marketing’: Phone Prompts. Narration. Training Videos. Capital Raising Videos. Corporate Events. Translation. Having the same voice on these, in addition to your advertisements, sends a powerful, reinforcing message to all audiences.

Voiceover – Branding Reinforcement by Personality

The use of the same professional voiceover actor(s) give the experienced marketing professional unparalleled flexibility in building your company’s brand and personality. Do not make the mistake of ignoring the 2nd most important sense in your marketing efforts, the one which gives your firm a true personality.

Contact me, Michele Koch, today to discuss your voiceover needs. Please email me at michele@michelekoch.com, or call 865-221-7676 to set up a conversation.

Voice Over Home Studios During Quarentine

Voiceover Studio

You’ve seen it too. Big name celebrities broadcasting from home. Quaint isn’t it?? I’m not a fan. Here’s why.

I’m a voice talent who has had a broadcast quality studio for quite some time. Yes it took a few dollars investing in accoustic foam and paneling, getting the right microphone (AKG C314)? for my voice, and adding an industry respected audio interface (Scarlet 2i4 to be exact). But even in my Zoom set up, I’ve invested in lighting, a HD camera and staged my setting. So, yes, I’m a little impatient seeing home interviews that are fuzzy with poor audio.

 

In terms of voice talent, big studios hire both professional voice talent, and celebrities. Here’s the difference. Celebrities typically don’t have a home studio. But professional voice actors, like me, do! And with the added bonus of web-based remote connection service like Source Connect, I can record from home to anywhere!

Here’s where I hope the industry for voiceover is going once studios do open back up.? I hope casting agents, directors, and creatives will consider those with a quality home studio in their mix of talent – without the need to be based in LA or NY. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.? In the meantime, if you need a super quick turnaround when your messaging is changing as businesses open at whatever capacity, consider me. I’ll deliver the voice you need. Warm, friendly, approachable.

 

Quoting your next gig

Business, Finance

I was recently contacted through LinkedIn for voiceover gig. It was especially nice since I had never marketed directly to this individual, yet he found me, liked my demos, and sought me out to voice a new app he’s developing. I was thrilled!! But here’s the catch. He’s new to the video app industry and using Kickstarter to get his app up and running. Should I have quoted him industry rates from GVAA?

For this project, my choice was no. I discounted my rate (approximately 25%) and told him so. I have other voice work that I am paid at or above industry rates, so why not charge this client the full rate, or even to turn him down?

Sometimes it’s worth offering a discount to build a relationship that could result in more work – and as it turns out, this client is well connected in the start up industry locally and can refer me out.

I’m all in favor of keeping the voice-over industry strong and not undercutting my worth as a voice actor, but knowing when to discount (and how to explain that to a new client,) and when to charge full rates is a balance act.

But be very careful not to fall into a pattern of discounting. Word of mouth is strong, and your reputation could be tarnished if you’re not quoting your full worth.