As you may or may not know, I am passionate about teaching my kids about money. I’ve taught them everything from investing to budgeting to the perils of debt and everything else in between.
One of those money lessons revolves around making their own money. My oldest has been in modeling, acting and voiceover work since she was 6. The youngest is just getting started. Fortunately, money has come in consistently for my oldest, causing the little one to take note.
Voiceover work is pretty nice because the process is much simpler than a TV audition. You can literally record a take on a phone (sometimes we do it on the computer) and send it off to the agent. With a TV or film audition, you may have up 4 or 5 interviews before you get a part. Sometimes, TV commercials have a minimum of 2 auditions. If you book a voiceover gig, there’s no hair, no makeup or fuss. Simply show up in the booth then wait to collect a check. If it’s a national radio spot, the checks could keep coming and coming….for a while. Not bad for a side-hustle, right?
Recommended for You: Kids & Entertainment: How to Get Started
Anyway, one day my child was acting especially ornery and just plain difficult. I was fed up with coaching her on recording a particular voiceover audition. I told her, “You know what, YOU take the phone. Go somewhere to record yourself and come back so I can send it off.”
I was going to show her what would happen when she kicked mommy’s great voice coaching to the curb and tried to stubbornly do things her own way.
Well, guess what? She booked the job! I was stunned (and a little ego-bruised because, after all, she did prove to me that she could do this without my help.)
The job was for 3 radio spots and she got paid a little over $1,000. It was a 2-hour ordeal from audition to booth- $500/hour? I’ll take it!
Recommended: FREE eBook, Getting Started in Voiceover by Carrie Olsen
Seems like there are a few lessons to this story, but I wanted to share with someone who might believe:
- There is no real way for kids to make money these days- not true!
- Kids always need their parent to figure things out- also not true!
I was corrected pretty quickly and my daughter gained a new level of confidence (and income) she’d never reached before. Win-win for sure.
If you’d like to know more about getting your child started in entertainment, check out my eCourse here: Kids & Entertainment: How to Get Started.
How do your kids make money? Do they need you to do it?
January 21, 2016 Update: My daughter was booked again by the ad agency for another two sessions! Added an additional $500 $850 to the pot! We’ve heard the spot air already, so we are expecting residual checks as well!
April 6, 2016 Update: My daughter was booked again by the ad agency for another session! Added an additional $383 to the pot for herself AND AND AND they asked her little sister to join her for another $283. It’s officially a family thing!
August 26, 2016 Update: My daughter has been booked for 7 sessions with this client and has done lots of work for other brands as well. We lost count with all the jobs and residual payments but will probably have a final tally for 2016 later this year!
August 28, 2018 Update: Both of my children have booked thousands of dollars of work for this client and other related clients on the same advertising agency. They’ve also gone on to book acting gigs in commercials and TV series. They’ve got plenty of money for us to invest for college, their first car and even their first house! Here’s how I invest their paychecks and manage their money with prepaid debit cards for kids under 13.
Related: Get Your Child Started in Acting & Entertainment
Want more ideas on saving, earning extra money and just getting your finances together in general? Check out my free guide, Money Hacks 101: 50+ Ways to Find, Save and Earn More Money.
Click here or the image below to get instructions on how to access it:
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10 Ways for Kids to Make Money Without a Job
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How do I find voice over jobs? Is there a website or contact person?
Hi Jenny!
My daughter has a voice over agent. If you live in a city with good talent agents (LA, NYC, Chicago, ATL) then that would be a good route. Many time you can start off with an agent who will give your children print jobs, then move onto TV and voice-over. If you don’t live in or near one of these cities, sometime the agent will still take you. You can do a google search to find one and they will sometimes let you submit auditions via audio or video recording. If you book, you would have to travel to record.You should NEVER pay an agent ANYTHING (not for photos, to be on their website, for classes, etc.) UNLESS you book a job. Otherwise it is a scam. The other option is to sign up on a site like Voices123 or VoiceBank.net. You can get good jobs there to get your child started, then send work samples to an agent to improve your chances of getting signed. I hope that helps!
Please I would like a good chance at voice over I feel my voice would be a good choice.
I, using my da’s tools make tables out of old pallets.
What kind of samples should I have my 12 year old do? She did one of a short reading of a book, is that good or should we do several?
BTW, thank you so much for this idea!
Sorry for this late reply.I think you can send in your audio book sample and create some “spec” or fake commercials (with music in the background if possible) to post on Voices123.com or VoiceBank.com