Is Voice123 Worth It?

Tom Dheere
2 days ago
5 min read

When you hear "Pay-to-Play," do you cringe?

For many voice actors, sites like Voice123 feel like a slot machine you pour money into, hoping to hit the jackpot. You create a profile, pay what you can, submit a pile of auditions, and then...nothing.

It’s easy to get frustrated and declare the whole thing a scam.

I get it, but I don't look at it as a slot machine. I look at it as a line item in my marketing budget.

Voice123 isn't some magical client dispenser; it's a lead generation tool. And like any tool, you have know how to use it.

If you’re doing nothing but auditioning & praying, you’re ignoring a valuable part of the platform. But if you shift your Systems of Thought & Execution and implement an effective strategy, the results can be huge.

My Voice123 Experience

As a business-minded mutant, I love number crunching! Let’s breakdown my own Voice123 investment & returns...

I joined V123 way back in 2006. Over the last 19 years, I have invested over $9,000 in my Voice123 membership.

Sounds like a lot, right?

Maybe, but that $9,000 investment has generated well over $80,000 in voice over income.

That’s a 9-to-1 return on my investment. This can work, and work pretty damn well if you know what you're doing.

But it wasn't a straight line. My income from the platform was great in the early years, then I left due to poor judgement on my part of how effective a P2P site can truly be.

In 2020, I rejoined, and in 2022 I invested in the $2,200 tiers The results? Over $30,000 in bookings in 2022 and 2023 alone. That’s because I stopped guessing and started engineering.

Why Your Voice123 Strategy Isn't Working

Most voice actors fail at using Voice123 because they’re playing the wrong game, and there are two games happening on the platform:

The Audition Game (The 40%). This is the reactive game. You see a casting call, you submit your audio, and you hope you get picked from the pile. This is what almost everyone does, and it’s where 1,000 other people might be right for the same project.
The Search Game (The 60%).This is the proactive game. This is where clients don't post a public job. They go to the search bar and type in what they need—"warm, trustworthy, professional," "high-energy, retail, friendly"—and the algorithm gives them a list of our profiles. This is where clients send you direct invitations.

Most voice actors spend 100% of their time on the 40% and 0% on the 60%. That's leaving money on the table.

Stop Auditioning, Start Engineering Your V123 Profile

Winning the 40% search game means treating your profile like a storefront designed to be found.

The engine of the Voice123 search algorithm isn't your demos or even your auditions. It's your samples.

Voice seekers don’t listen to your Commercial Demo. They search for "perky, college, university" and listen to the sample that matches. Your job is to create a library of samples that are tagged with the right keywords, Voice Styles, and Purposes of Recording.

You have to think like a client. A producer for a healthcare company isn't typing "great voice" into the search bar. They're typing "empathetic, knowledgeable, medical." Your profile needs to be populated with those terms, or you will be invisible to them.

This requires a system. I call it my "Content Bible"—a spreadsheet where I map out every single sample, its name, its description, and its keywords to ensure I'm covering every possible search term a client might use for projects that I can match up with.

The "Secret Weapon" Hiding in Plain Sight

Look at the "Additional Proposal Details" section when you submit an audition. Most people leave this blank or write something like "Thanks for the opportunity!" That's a waste of real estate.

This is your chance to both manage risk and build trust. You can communicate your value before they even listen to your audition.

My Additional Proposal Details section includes:

My studio specs (Sennheiser 416, Adobe Audition, etc.) to build confidence in my quality.
My Source Connect profile name to signal I'm ready for a directed session.
My typical turnaround time to manage expectations.
My revisions policy to prevent scope creep.
A direct CTA: "If you like my audition, please give it a thumbs up and favorite my profile." (this feeds the algorithm)

This turns my proposal from a hopeful audition into a professional bid, making it easier for the client to say "yes."

IMPORTANT!!!

I strongly recommend following these three steps to tart feeding the algorithm the right way the first time.

Get a FREE Voice123 account FIRST
Optimize your profile (see below to learn how)
Subscribe to at least the $495 tier. Here's my affiliate link to do that with a discount!

Your Playbook for Decoding Voice123

My Voice123 strategy is the result of years of data, tracking, and insights. I've compiled all of it—my full keyword strategy, the "Content Bible" spreadsheet template, a deep dive into the algorithm, and a breakdown of how to craft a quality bid—into a comprehensive How-To video. It's called "Voice123 Decoded."

If you're tired of playing the lottery and ready to treat Voice123 like the business tool it is, this video is your user manual!

In this video, you will learn to:

Master the "Two-Sided Algorithm" (Audition vs. Search).
Implement a pro-level keyword strategy to maximize your visibility.
Craft proposals that build trust and increase your chances of booking.

Watch my "Voice123 Decoded" video today and turn your profile into a client-generation machine.

Want More Tools In Your Voice Over Toolkit?

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Get my curated list of essential VO tools here.

AND

Check out my VO How-To Library!