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What It's About
A love of acting leads an ex-radio personality to a voice acting side hustle.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
I think the greatest thing about building location independent work is that you can travel. It doesn’t mean you have to; it just means you aren’t confined to a physical location all the time.
As long as she has an internet connection, this side hustle allows Mindy to work from anywhere. This means she’s been able to spend time in Rome, Paris, Barcelona, and London, and to work as much or as little as she wants—which allows her to focus on what really “matters” most to her.
Fun Fact
This Canadian Broadcast Journalism professor has always had the acting bug as well as a knack for playing around with her voice. She remembers growing up in London, Ontario where even as a child, she used her voice to imitate celebrities. Back then, her repertoire included Olivia Newton-John, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jan Brady, and Charo.
Notes from Chris
Episode 160
Mindy Williamson always wanted more control over her career and time. After she was unexpectedly “restructured”—as she puts it—from a radio morning show job she had done for 20 years, she began to look for something new, flexible and fulfilling. Mindy knew she loved telling stories, and she felt that using your voice, not just the words, to tell a story could bring it to life—could really make it pop. Having spent years in a radio studio and working on commercials, it seemed like a no-brainer for her to make voice acting her side hustle. She invested about $2,000 upfront—$500 for soundproofing material, $650 for a good microphone, and about $1,000 for various memberships, including to Voices.com, an online marketplace for voice actors. Then she hired a local company to build and maintain her website. Her ongoing costs include $28 each month for editing software and about $250 per year to maintain her website. Now, Mindy provides the voice for TV and radio commercials, e-learning projects, telephone services, movie trailers and audio books. She says it’s different every day, which keeps it fun. Her fees range from $100 for a simple, short project to $5,000 for long-form narration. She also offers private voice coaching for $150 per hour, as well as workshop coaching courses to improve speaking and presentation skills that range from $250 to $2,5000 in cost. Her profit varies month to month—sometimes reaching as much as $5,000—but Mindy says weathering the ebb and flow has been one of the most challenging aspects of the hustle. On average, though, she’s earned between $1,250 and $2,500 monthly.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Speaking Matters: Read more about Mindy and her voice work on her website
- Voices.com: The online marketplace for voice actors that Mindy subscribed to
- Unconventional Guides | Working on the Road: If you're interested in learning how you can live the life of the digital nomad, here's an unconventional guide to help you get on the right track
- How One Man Used a $100 Microphone to Make Over $8,000: After testing the waters with low-priced services on Fiverr.com, a Tennessee IT manager learns to focus on voiceover services for overseas customers.
