How has COVID 19 changed the Voiceover landscape - It Really Has
May 07, 2020We’ve all seen some major changes in our lives today, not just voiceover… our work processes, purchasing food and essential supplies, the way our children have had to adapt to continue their education through isolation. We’ve come through the stress and fear of contracting the virus, dealt with the challenges of social distancing and being separated from our loved ones, to the point where restrictions are now being relaxed a little across the world.
I think it's fair to say that the workplace and all its various guises have been turned completely on its head…
It would be easy to ‘go on’ and ignore how the outside world is changing around us… issues like the collapsing international travel industry or the meteoric rise of contactless food deliveries, or how supermarkets nationally have had to change their daily replenishment operations to cope… but what’s probably more important to your own VO Journey and what I’d really like to focus upon in this article, is what’s happening in our industry…
How will it affect recording studios?
It’s obvious to most within the industry that ‘the face of voiceover’ is changing…
That’s been the case for a while, even before the introduction of COVID-19.
In our own industry, production studios are setting up remote connection style programs with their stable of voice talent in tow, in order to service existing clientele and to desperately try to maintain some aspect of control over their businesses.
It’s also fair to note, there are a lot fewer businesses using advertising and production studios for their creative work these days as they’ve become aware of voiceover websites and other alternatives available and as a result, there is a lot more freelancing voice talent working directly with corporate businesses and producing all manner of creative projects.
What about returning to work?
Video producers, editors and other creative individuals have essentially been ‘locked out of their workspaces’ during the lockdown and have had no alternative but to ‘work from home’ in order to keep the wheels of business turning and I think we’ll find that after COVID-19 has finally passed, many of these creative employees will have had a ‘taste’ of the alternative to the traditional workplace, will find they’ve adapted to the freedom and work lifestyle and may never return to a corporate desk again.
What does this mean to ‘working from home’ voice talent?
Well, for a start, we’re ahead of the game as we’re already set up and have been for a long time, after all, the home booth is our domain, right?
I am seeing more work coming our way based on other business owners and entrepreneurs seeking people who can assist them in rebuilding their businesses via videos, training courses or e-books, voice-overs, explainers, e-learning, etc…
This too will pass… the catch-up
So, as the world ‘catches up’ around us, we’d be wise to focus on marketing our VO businesses to multiple websites that will work super hard to bring the business to us, and through this pandemic are fully optimized to handle the business that is coming. Places like Fiverr, Upwork, People per Hour, Voice Realm, Voquent, Voices, and Voice123, etc, will be where the majority of this work comes from. If you are not on 20 to 25 websites promoting your service, you are falling behind. We must use this time to leverage these massive marketing budgets.
It’s also a great time to work on the resilience of your work habits, getting your marketing processes and systems bedded down, and setting your goals in place for your voiceover business across the next 12 months.
We will get through this together, hopefully, we’ll be more robust, and If we’re proactive now, we’ll be better prepared for the business opportunities that lay ahead.
To your continued voiceover success,
Anthony Pica
