6 Ways to Book Voiceover Work

J. Michael Collins discussed how to find voiceover opportunities.

“There’s more meritocracy in VO in 2025. You will get out of this what you put into it. It’s about marketing and hustle more than talent.

Get in the room and read for agents over and over. Keep knocking on doors until the one for you opens.

  • Agents and managers. Each coast prefers different kinds of reads. L.A. is more laid back than NY. MVO, AB2, and Wehmann are regional.
    - When are you ready to request an agent? The market tells you.
    - Average booking gig amount is $5k from agents. Booking ratios are lower from agents auditions. Could be 500 others competing per audition. 2% is his booking ration, which is great (1 in 50).

  • Production companies and ad agencies. Their rosters are smaller, so you have a better chance of booking. $500-$1500 is typical. They don’t cast as frequently as agents. He’s on 1500 rosters and receives 8-10 auditions per day, so you have to be on a lot of them. They do mostly commercials but they will also listen to your corporate narration demo.

  • Online casting. 8-10% booking ratio for elite talent. You can’t infer metrics until you do 1k auditions. He’s got webinars to send on this. The algorithm makes it harder to compete.

  • Direct marketing. Ask current clients if they need IVR, narration for training videos, and other VO work.

    Non-broadcast narration:
    - Approach it like you’re a buyer. Who makes explainer and elearning content?
    - Don’t buy a list. Market directly to other kinds of narration. Explainer and corporate narration companies to target are not Fortune 500 companies (because they use an agency or a content aggregator)
    - Mid-cap is better (companies with 50 to 500 employees).
    - Check their website to see what the VO is like on their videos. If it’s great VO, they probably use an agency. Universities are good to target for elearning.

  • SEO. Using keywords. Ahrefs is a great resource to check the domain authority of your website.

  • Be physically present and get in the room with voice buyers. Talk to other talent. That’s where you get the most value from a conference.”

Bonus: JMC said he bills for his residuals without asking. Just send the invoice about 2 months before that 12 months is up. Sometimes they just pay it!

VO talent tips, networking, marketing, conferencesDaree Allen Nievesvoiceover career advice, voiceover conference