Elearning voice over jobs are here to stay.

The Elearning industry is growing. I can confidently say it is not going to tank anytime soon. The worldwide e-learning market is projected to be worth $325 Billion in 2025. In 2017, approximately 77% of US corporations used online learning, 67% of US companies offered learning opportunities via smartphones, and it was found that eLearning increases retention rates by 25% to 60%.

Companies have been forced or at least fast-tracked into offering e-learning training online due to COVID 19. This trend will only speed up the process of moving more and more trainings online as the processes are streamlined and online trainings become even more common.

What does this mean for voice actors and e-learning narration?
More potential, consistent, repeat e-learning voice over jobs.

I am a big advocate of systems. Doing voice over jobs from home (with a majority of it being e-learning narration work) forced me to take a hard look at how I manage my time, stay productive, and most of all, be a better business owner and primary marketer for my brand. 

This is why I was able to develop this proven system of booking more elearning voiceover work, without using pay-to-plays.

Does this sound like you?

• You're tired of cranking out audition after audition without knowing how many you'll actually book
• You're ready to transition out of the voiceover pay-to-play game
• You would like to book more repeat voiceover work
• You would love to book more e-learning jobs but you just don't know how to find them

If you answered yes to any of my questions above, read on. This will definitely help.

My History With E-learning

Before I went full-time as a voice actor, I was a training developer for the company I worked for. I started working in the HR department in 2009 and training was one aspect of that job.

I took a more involved role in in-person training between 2010 and 2011 when the company started to shift towards delivering training online. As most voice actors know, it all began with a simple comment. A coworker said that I had a good voice and that I should be the one recording the audio for our training and the rest, they say, is history.

By 2012, I had transitioned to developing e-learning full time for a different company. It wasn't until 2014 when I really got into voiceover. When I started booking voiceover jobs online, ironically, I didn't focus on e-learning.

As most voice actors start out these days, I did the whole grind thing, doing pay-to-play sites such as The Voice Realm, Bodalgo, and Voice123. And don’t get me wrong. The “grind” was working well for me. I was booking work, but it was sporadic. I never knew how much I would book week to week. It seemed impossible to budget from such an irregular income. I also felt constant pressure to be booking voiceover work—which isn't the best mindset to be in when auditioning.

The turning point was when I was able to book a gig with Taco Bell doing their e-learning narration. It was consistent, well-paying work and provided stability. It allowed me to project a more predictable income each month. Since I didn’t have to audition over and over, I felt more at ease auditioning because I knew I had regular work coming (so it took a lot of pressure off). My Taco Bell client would just send a new script and I would return the finished files, no more auditioning every single time! What a relief.

Needless to say, I wanted more of that kind of work.

So I took my knowledge of the e-learning industry and started bootstrapping a system that would allow me to book more consistent e-learning narration work.

I created a system and called it a Dream Client List. It's a simple spreadsheet with categories I filled in slowly but surely. And my marketing efforts paid off. Slowly, I was able to book work with the following companies doing consistent e-learning work. (Bank of America, 7-Eleven, Tiffany & Co., Kiaser Permenete, At&t, Disney.)

Elearning Voiceover Preparation:
What you need to know

To make e-learning narration your focus, you need to speak the language. Speaking the language comes in handy when you start reaching out to potential clients. If you know how to speak your clients' language, this will set you apart from other voice actors.

To prepare, you need to familiarize yourself with the different types of e-learning, key terms and concepts, authoring tools, job titles, efficiency tools that come in handy for you, and delivery methods.

Different Types of ELearning narration

1. Pure video - narration
2. Click-through/text-based (similar to PowerPoint presentations)
3. Interactive (includes additional media and interaction)
4. Simulations (highly interactive, may include gamification)

TAKE NOTE:

• Click-through, interactive, and simulation trainings may require audio to be split up into multiple files (sometimes dozens (or even hundreds))
• Not all e-learning requires audio narration.

Job Titles to Know

These are the common job titles involved with the e-learning industry.

• Instructional Designer
• Training and Development Specialist
• Learning and Development Specialist
• Learning Solutions Design and Development
• Instructional Developer
• And many more

How to Find Elearning Voice Over Jobs

This is where the real work begins.
We are treasure hunters here.
Google is your best friend.
Directories are your next best friends.

There is an abundance of e-learning produced everyday. Our job is to use the tools available to find the developers who need us at just the right time.

2 Types of Companies that Will Hire You

1. Companies that do their own internal training
   Example: Joe's Used Cars hires their own internal team to create courses

2. Elearning development companies that create training for other companies
   Example: ABC Development Company creates training for dozens of other companies.

Online E-learning Directories

Online directories are lists, or function like Yellow Pages.

We will focus on developers because many developers are listed in online directories.

You are more likely to book more repeat work and higher quantities of work if you work with developers because that’s their main job: developing learning content for a multitude of companies.If you Google “e-learning directories”, you will automatically have a number of directories to peruse.

TAKE NOTE:
When using directories, be sure to read the Terms of Service. Some directories have strict "no marketing" policies. Always honor these, and ask for clarification if needed.

Once on the website:

• Make sure they actually create the courses (and don't just house them in an LMS)
• Check out some of their current work, if possible, to make sure they do use narration and it fits your style.
• Check to see if the client has a voiceover roster and how you can apply to be on it
• Check the About Us page or similar to find the appropriate person's contact information

Sneaky Tip:

• Once you find the company name, go to LinkedIn to find the right contact person
• Search for the person with the job title that would be in charge of hiring voice talent
• If you can't find a direct email address, use Google and/or Hunter.io to try to find one.

Job Boards

Directories are a great place to find e-learning developers in general, but this method puts you in the right place at exactly the right time.

Reverse-engineering the job board.
Look for companies who are hiring the position who hires you.

If company is hiring someone whose job involves working with voice talent, chances are they will be hiring voice talent for projects in the near future

The Best Job Boards for E-Learning

1. Monster.com
2. LinkedIn
3. Indeed
4. CareerBuilder.com
5. FlexJobs.com - This is a job board geared towards telecommuting jobs. This is why e-learning jobs (not just for voice over) will be plenty.

Getting Work:

Acquiring ELearning Jobs

This where you will engage in elegant marketing. You will be effective and intentional, but helpful rather than annoying.

Make yourself stand apart from other voice talents by implementing a well-designed plan.

Here’s how you get the work:

1. Compile the data you discovered in Step 2
2. Use a tool to organize it
   1. Google Drive (Sheets)
   2. PipeDrive
   3. Another CRM like Hubspot

With these tools, every touch point I make with a client is recorded. This helps me remember when I made contact, what was the response, and an automated pipeline like Pipedrive, even be reminded if I need to follow-up on a lead.

This helps me stay personal, and make every touchpoint intentional, meaningful, and helpful. This also helps me prevent overmarketing myself (such as forgetting I have already reached out to a client who said no, and sending them an email again!)

Do you need a resume?

There’s a lot of talk about needing a resume for booking voiceover work. Especially for us voice actors who mostly do work from home, we often think it is not necessary. BUT, a lot of e-learning is IN the corporate industry. And when it comes to hiring for e-learning jobs, sometimes the hiring process is more traditional.

I recommend having a resume.

It will make you look more professional.

It will make you stand out in a good way from other voice talents.

I write a personal cover for each client I apply to, mentioning some of their work I've come across that I have resonated with to let them know that I actually took the time to get to know them first before reaching out. (And I’m not just mass mailing.)

Things to Have Ready When You Acquire Elearning Jobs

Perform: Doing Elearning Narration Work

Congratulations!

You’ve got the job.

What’s next?

This is where your voiceover performance training comes into play. This performance piece must already be in place before you begin the process.

(Side note: Editing. You'll be doing a lot of it. I've got some great elearning editing tips right here for ya.)

Side note #2: More tips on Booking More e-Learning work!

Be sure to check out the performance styles the client has used in the past if possible. Listen to e-learning demos from your favorite demo producers and voice talent.

I encountered a good question about narration styles when I was doing a Facebook live about this in my Voiceover Startup Group.

Know your pricing structures

There are different pricing structures:

*** Always ask, "What's your budget?"

Booking Repeat
Elearning Work (Followup)

This is where most drop the ball - and where you stand to gain the most.

Be sure to document every touch point. You don’t want to accidentally over-market to your clients.

Stay top of mind so that when the client needs a voice actor again, you are the natural choice

Note: Any type of contact is good but sending real things in the real mail will make you stand out in a good way.