Every time you watch the television, or listen to the radio, when the adverts come on, you are highly likely to be hearing the voice of a voiceover artist. Voiceover artists do all types of work though and it's not just for the television or radio.

When somebody needs a voiceover artist, they have in mind a particular voice. It could be the voice of a child, or an elderly woman. Maybe they're after a regional accent, or a foreign accent. There really can be a need for every type of voice.

Voiceover work is quite simply making the recordings. You would be chosen for how your voice sounds and you'd simply have to record a short script.  This makes it a good job for disabled people, or people living in remote and rural areas.  The recordings can be done at home easily enough.

Other terms and names for voiceover work include:

• Voice talent
• Voice artists

But whatever the name, the job's the same.

For years now there's been a need for people to record audio books.  From a best seller, right the way through to audio books for children.  Each will require a different voice.

Obviously, if you get a job as a voiceover artist you wouldn't record the whole book in one sitting!  Maybe a book is quite short, perhaps reading out loud a 10 page book with 20-30 pages so that a child can turn the pages of the real book and follow what you're saying. 

Also, every day there are 1000s of new audio books being written around the world, quite often by people who want a specific country accent to record them.

All these types of job are available to voiceover artists.

Could you read a child's book?  Could you read and record a 20 page ebook about fishing?  How about recording a full length murder mystery novel by a new novelist?

As a voiceover artist, you can literally pick and choose your own hours.  When you accept a voiceover job you commit to doing the work by a certain time and date.  All you have to do is have the recordings back to the company by that time and date - apart from that, how and when you choose to do the work is entirely up to you.

I've done some voiceover work and I tend to do my recordings late at night.  Late at night I know there'll be no interruptions, it's quieter and I am more relaxed.  But it's up to you - this is one of the major advantages to doing voiceover jobs.

It's an odd one isn't it.  You are literally being paid to speak.... ! 

Unless you're in a major city, you'll probably realise that you can't find a local company that will take you onto their books, but with the power of the Internet, this is not a problem any longer.

You can, quite literally, find voiceover jobs online.

There are a number of voiceover job companies that can help you find voiceover jobs - and these are without you having to pay any fees at all. One well known and reputable company is voices.com. With voices.com you can become a member for free, the last time I checked there were nearly 100 voiceover jobs up for grabs. Companies like Voices will attract a more corporate type of customer, large and small advertising companies will use their services because it's easier for them. People who have large, or ongoing requirements will use a voiceover agency to find their talent for them.

Another way is to check out some freelance work sites. One of the largest marketplaces for voiceover work is voiceovers for short videos and ebooks, which are mostly created and distributed online by small companies around the world. This type of organisation is more likely to use freelance websites to find themselves a voiceover artist simply because they're already using those sites to find their programmers, graphic artists and copywriters.

You might try http://jobsforhomeworkers.com/voiceover-artists/freelance-voiceover-jobs-for-voiceover-artists to look for Freelance Voiceover Jobs.

Increasingly, companies are producing short videos for their marketing.  Some of these videos might be uploaded to YouTube and some might be on their website.  Exactly like in a TV advert, the video might have a voiceover advert for the product or service they're marketing.  Again, these jobs are done by voiceover artists.

Voiceover jobs for videos will tend to be shorter, perhaps up to 30 seconds apiece.  You might be asked to record 3-4 different scripts at 3-4 different speeds or perhaps in a slightly different voice, e.g. they might want you to speak slowly and seductively in one and read it again in a factual/informative way.

Not all voiceover jobs are for the final product.  Quite often an advertising company will have a few voiceovers recorded so they can pitch 2-3 ideas to their customer.  So there's lots of work out there to do voiceovers for videos.

Getting paid for voiceover jobs can happen in a number of ways, but usually the money is simply deposited in your bank account a set number of days after you've passed the recording over to the client.

If you have Paypal, then that is a very common way to be paid for any online work, so it's worthwhile setting yourself up with a Paypal account soonest, there's no charge for a Paypal account.

Some freelance websites operate an escrow system.  The escrow system operates as a middle man.  A client pays the money over to the escrow service at the start and when you've done the work they have a set timespan in which to check your work and authorise that the payment is released to you.  Every day hundreds of thousands of individuals and companies around the world use the escrow system.  Although you might not have heard of it, it's quite common and there's nothing to worry about, it's not complex to use - and it does mean your payment is guaranteed!

Doing voiceover work is no different to any other form of self-employment.  When you're doing voiceover jobs you are working as a freelancer, or self-employed and it's up to you to declare your earnings exactly the same way as if you were running any other business working from home. 

How much you pay and what forms you'd have to fill in would depend on your location/country and how much you earn.  Get in touch with your local tax office and they'll be happy to send you the necessary forms and information you need.

Many voiceover jobs are very well paid, so it's surprising just how much it does add up to over a year - even working part-time you can very quickly find that you're earning a full time income from it.  The more experience you have, the more you can charge for your services.  You can quickly gain a good reputation if you meet the deadlines set at the outset. 

Like running any small business, you will have costs which you can offset against your income, so you are most likely to not be paying tax on all your income, just the part that is "profit" after your costs.  Your costs might be that you buy a newer/better computer, or a new/better microphone or headset - these are costs of your business and so any expenditure you make for your business is money you aren't taxed on.

I can't answer individual tax questions because I am not a tax specialist and every country and state has different regulations.  Why not find yourself a local accountant, or look online for some free information that's relevant to your area.