MAKING MONEY FROM YOUR VOICE WITH JO TROY
Bringing it Black has been blessed to have the Bratt Pitt of the Voiceover world on the show -award winning Black British Voiceover Artist, Jo Troy!
Jo grew up in Walthamstow with a background in the creative industry, making music and then building a career from the corner of the room, with clients including Nike, Adidas, Samsung and Sony.
Jo, when did you realise that this could be a career?
“In 2019 I flirted with the idea and during lockdown I wasn’t doing anything at home, I had time so I joined Fiverr and within 6 months, it was my job!”
So you started your career from the corner of your home?
“From the corner of my room! Blanket over the head, always facing the window because acoustics bounce from the back, so whatever’s behind you is going into the mic. I had a shield in front of me, but you can put a blanket over you or go into the cupboard, but I’m too big for that!
“The first year was slow because I was building it up myself and didn’t have the contacts, but after a year the contacts come to you.”
When you started on Fiverr, how much would you charge for a VoiceOver?
“ At the time I’d charge £15-20 at the lowest for a job. My first ever job was for Colchester Council for an internet ad to go on their website. Little jobs like that started coming through and I wanted to take smaller jobs like that to learn how to record etc. After 5/6 jobs I realised that the calibre of work was pretty good, and after I got 10 jobs I realised there was something in this, so I researched what I should be charging and put it up!
“As your career grows, you can’t live on Fiverr, you need to get on production lists, agencies, agents - it’s all about marketing! At first you do a lot more marketing than actual work, like a website and reels but agents make life a lot easier.”
Can you give a ballpark on what people should be charging?
“The normal hourly rates for an internet advert for example is between £150-300 but you can obviously charge whatever you want! For a 30 second ad, it might not take you an hour to record, but you can do jobs like audiobooks and corporate reads, so you need an hourly rate as a base.”
Tell me about usage fees?
“It’s a minefield, but the more you understand the easier your life will be. You can live off of one advert for the whole year if you get that big job. They calculate usage by impressions, so if it’s an ad that’s gonna be on primetime TV, the more impressions you have the more you get paid. This comes with exclusivity, but if I’m getting paid £30/40,000 for a job then exclusivity is fine for me!”
Read Jo’s Ebook breaking down what to do to get your foot through the door: www.jotroy.com
Connect with Jo on insta: @JoTroyVO
Listen to the full episode on the Bringing it Black podcast:
