Today I have an interview with Julie Eickhoff, a professional voiceover artist who works from home. Julie has shared some information about the voiceover industry below that I hope you find useful: benefits, earning potential and more.
If you are interested in voiceover work, read on to learn more and get information about his online course designed for budding voiceover artists.
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Interview with voiceover artist Julie Eickhoff
What is your background?
Well, for starters, I’m from Iowa. I have a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education.
After my studies, I was a college English teacher for a (very long) year. My career from there was pretty wild thanks to wonderful mentors and people who encouraged me to try new things.
Over the years, I have been an employee relations manager at a bank, chief meteorologist at a television station (I returned to study meteorology), co-host of a morning radio show, advertising manager at a television station, and a real estate agent.
While I was a real estate agent, I also became a mother… which changed everything.
With different priorities at home, I needed to find a balance between work and home, and I began to figure out how to work from home.
And that’s where I am right now… working from home and doing voiceovers!
How did you start teaching people how to work from home doing voiceovers?
When I was a real estate agent (and worked 24/7), my husband started traveling a lot and we had a baby at home.
I reached my stress breaking point. I couldn’t work as much, manage the household and spend meaningful time with my family. So I knew I had to find a way to work from home.
My career in broadcasting came in handy here. I knew voice artists worked from home and I knew I could do this job.
So I contacted a friend who knew the business, ordered my equipment and started learning everything I could.
The learning curve was steep and long. But eventually I got a legitimate business, and it’s been going great ever since.
Along the way, many friends and family members asked me how they too could learn to do voiceovers. I decided to pool my teaching, on-camera skills and voiceover skills and developed the course, “Working from home doing voiceovers.”
What will people learn during your free training series?
The free course, Introduction to voiceoverswill show interested students what becoming a voice artist entails.
It basically covers the equipment you’ll need (which is surprisingly inexpensive!), your recording space in your home, how vocal artists get paid, and much more.
The goal of the free course is to give students enough information so they know if this is a path they want to take.
What are some of the benefits of being a voiceover artist?
Where to start? You can work from home, the flexibility is amazing, it’s creative, you can run your own business and you can do it on the side or full time.
I love being home when my daughter comes home from school, I love being there during vacations and summer, I love not having to travel in bad weather (I live in Minneapolis now – we get lots of snow!), I love the ease of scheduling doctor’s appointments, and my dog loves having me at home.
I have time to exercise and cook. I feel in control of my life, which reduces stress for everyone in my family.
Is dubbing for everyone?
Probably not everyone, but the days when the only voices you heard on the radio were booming male voices.
We need all kinds of voices. Listen to anywhere you hear voices… web videos, phone systems, cinema commercials, e-learning modules, audiobooks, podcasts, how-to videos, tutorials, video games, live events, and more.
We need men, women, children, high, low, gentle, strong, accents, motherly, business, gentle, motivating and so on.
How much can an average voiceover artist make?
Voice artists are paid per project and the range can be quite wide depending on the project usage.
A voiceover for a nationally broadcast commercial is completely different from a voiceover for a corporate office that will only be used internally.
Many voice artists enjoy learning about audiobooks. So, I’ll use that as an example.
With audiobooks, you can get paid in two ways or a combination of both.
There are royalties (where you receive a cut each time the audiobook is sold), or you can get paid per finished hour for narrating/producing the audiobook.
Rates vary here, but you can easily find projects that pay between $100 and $200 per hour completed.
So a 5 hour audiobook with a rate of $200 per completed hour would cost $1,000.
Do you primarily narrate audiobooks or do you work on other types of projects as well?
I’ve done a ton of audiobooks and will continue to do so, but I also do a lot of other types of work…e-learning modules, radio ads, movie theater ads, and phone follow-up surveys.
Is there anything else you would like readers to know?
If you are looking for a way to work from home and/or if someone has ever told you that you have a great voice, stop by free introductory course will give you a good idea if this career is a possibility for you. It won’t take much time. Then you can decide if you want to continue.
If you wish to continue, the complete course, Working from home doing voiceoverswill be perfect for you. It guides you step by step through each step of getting started.
I took all of my research and experience and made sure that students could get equipment, set up their recording space, learn how to use recording software, practice their mic skills, recording skills and much more.
It’s easy to follow and fun. When you’re done, you’re ready to move forward and I’m always ready to answer questions and help!
Thank you very much Julie for taking the time to answer our questions!
Would you like to register for the free online voiceover course?
If you would like to sign up for Julie’s free introductory voiceover course, you can go here.
Good luck!
Anna Thurman is a work-from-home blogger and mom of two. She has been researching and reviewing remote jobs for over 15 years. His findings are published weekly here on Real Ways to Earn.
