My Top 3 Most Lucrative Niches in Voiceover (And One I’ll Never Touch Again)

Not everything is your bag . . . baby!

I know most of you are just getting in the game of voiceover. One of the most important subjects in my new book, "The Voiceover Hustle: The Good, The Bad, and THE MONEY" is about the various niches.

• Commercials (TV, radio, online ads)

• Audiobooks

• Video Games

• Animation

• Corporate/Training Videos

• IVR (Phone Systems)

• E-learning

• Movie Trailers

• Radio Imaging

• Intros and outros for podcasts

• Television Imaging

• Youtube Channel audio intros

• Announcements for events

The are others but those are the main ones. In the book, the main instructions about this subject is to go find voice over pros in each genre, and listen to them. Listen to them a LOT - and listen to many. This way, you can decide on which you determine yourself to be most interested. Pick ONE, and focus on that one. Later, you can branch out into other territory.

THE #1 THING I AM MOST PROUD ABOUT IN THE BOOK IS - IT'S COMPLETEY HONEST. It's not filled with fluff, bs and lies. In this industry, yes, we should talk about our strengths, but as in life and in business, it's good to know your weaknesses.

The most lucrative genre for me by far has been podcast intros, outro, sweepers and promos. I want you to think for a second - there are 4 million podcasts on the web. Popular hosts like Joe Rogan (and many others) have paved the way, and they've sparked incredible interest in the medium. (I met Rogan once and we had an argument and I kicked him out of the studio - but that's a story for another day.) All 4 million want to BE Joe Rogan.

I get messages several times a week that say something like, "Yeah I talk about everything, off the top of my head. It's a lot like Joe Rogan." First, no it's not. Second, this person is in for a rude awakening. (I'm a podcast consultant as well.)

Having said that, it opens up opportunities for every single person reading this. It's a MASSIVE market. Now, if you were a podcaster and you Googled PODCAST INTRO, you will find some independent 'companies' that do them for several hundred dollars.

Now, at some point you're going to have to figure out a happy medium between quantity and your cost-per-sale. In other words, do you charge $250 for an intro or do you charge $50 but you do them quickly, effectively and make your money in the work. Chances are, even for pros, the cost has had to go down. Why? Because they're really not hard at ALL to make. I can voice and produce one in 15 minutes. I can write the script using AI in about 30 seconds. I charge for script writing - I don't write the script. I tweak it but I don't write it from scratch like I used to. It used to be an incredible time suck. Not now. I charge $40 for me to write an intro script. People pay for it all day every day.

So, by far the most lucrative niche has been that.

Next - commercial production and script writing. It's not flashy, but by God people are willing to pay good money for those two sections of the industry.

The one I will never do again is - well - 2.

Jingles - a man wanted to pay me $500 to make a mock up of a Budweiser commercial. He's the Chief of Police for a town. He wanted to use the fake/spoof ad for the beginning of the training video for his police officers - on how to handle protestors. In that ad, there's singing. (Remember the REAL MEN OF GENIUS SPOTS?) I told him I couldn't do it. He demanded... "I trust you. I heard your stuff. You'll be great."

He talked me in to it and omg did it suck. He paid me half for the time but declined the final draft. So I learned the hard way in that scenario - if you know you can't do something, just don't do it.

And cartoon voices.

I adore people who do cartoon voices. I'm like a kid watching a magic trick. I could watch videos of them all day long. Why? Cuz I can't do it. I can add funny lines in a funny voice, but it's my voice, not a characters voice. Honey child, I've tried SO many times. The new guy who does Porky Pig and all those lil dudes is so UNBELIEVABLE! It's like you watch him transform.

I've been in the game long enough to pretty much know my limits on what I can do and cannot do. I've been burned trying to over-extend myself doing something because I see a money number on the screen. You learn quickly to not find yourself in that position where you're agreeing to do that. You're burning a bridge and harming your credibility.

The book is available on Kindle now. Hardback and paperback coming soon. Order the Kindle version here.