Meet Marion Bouque, the Self-Employed Voiceover Artist Proving That Talk Doesn't Have to Be Cheap

After completing a degree in Tourism, Marion Bouquet knew she wanted to create a work-from-anywhere job to support her love of travel. But it was a surprise request from one of her first clients that helped her successfully transition from part-time translator to nomadic voiceover artist.

Marion talked us through how she grows her business while still managing to keep her afternoons free for hiking, hanging out with friends and dabbling in her passion for painting. Read on to hear her story!

Name: Marion Bouquet

Business: Voice That, Frenchie!

Started: March 2013

How did you create your awesome job?

After I graduated with my degree in Tourism, I spent the summer in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. I went to a Couchsurfing event there and met a guy who told me he was traveling and working at the same time. I thought, “I should find a way to do that, too!”

I started applying for translation jobs on the site Upwork and in February of 2013 a client asked me to record what I had translated, which I did with my MP3 player. The quality was so bad that you could hear the rain on the window, but he said he liked my voice and I really enjoyed doing it. 

After finding an online school run by a famous French voiceover artist, I worked in a factory for a month to save money to pay for the course. I then listed my services on Upwork and, because I was very active and the only French voiceover artist on the site, my business started to grow quickly.

I then worked in ski resorts as a receptionist and saved money to buy a microphone and a laptop. After that, I went back to Chiang Mai because there’s a big community of online entrepreneurs there. 

How did you go about pricing your services?

At the beginning I started low with my pricing, but I quickly progressed and did some research on how much I should price myself. 

I found my niche doing voiceovers for explainer videos, which are usually short animations that companies make to tell the story of their brand, product or service. I price according to my expertise and the value that my voice is giving to the client. 

What have you found most effective in terms of marketing your services?

I get three to four inquiries a week through my website in addition to daily work through platforms like Fiverr, where people can commission freelancers. I don’t pay for traffic or to advertise on Google, but I do work on the meta descriptions on my website. Just by using the right keywords, you can target the right clients.

From time to time, I also do some prospecting work. Every six months, I look up ad agencies that might need my services and send out demos. But I like the amount of work I have and don’t want to get super busy. 

I took this route so I could enjoy my freedom to do other things, like spending time in nature and hiking in the mountains. I don’t want to get into this spiral where I’m sitting at my desk all day. I work an average of 20 hours a week and try to get everything done in the morning so that my afternoons are free. I take Fridays off too, sometimes. 

Talk us through a typical day! 

I’m not a super early-morning person. It’s been so good not having to use an alarm clock for the last four years! 

I make coffee around 9am and check my emails, then I write a to-do list and prepare my scripts. After that, I go inside my booth and record my voiceovers. 

Usually I never spend more than a half hour in there because explainer videos are around two to three minutes long, maximum. Then I listen to what I’ve recorded and edit any mistakes so that it’s flawless before sending out the audio and any invoices. 

What’s been the biggest surprise so far after starting your own business? 

When I received the first email through my website after it was launched!

I had a little package available where people could buy a small service online and I remember waking up a week after I launched to find someone had ordered it. I was so excited! I celebrated that in a really good restaurant with a few friends. It's important to celebrate those moments! 

When did you know your business was going to work?

When I decided to go back to Thailand to develop it. Moving to Chiang Mai made the process of starting a business faster because it’s so expensive to live in the US and France, but in Thailand my rent was $100 a month. I was living in a studio and had a great community of people around me who were inspiring me daily.

Is there anything you would do differently now compared to when you first were starting out? 

Now I try to remember that I have control over how I want to spend my day. I can juggle between things if I need to, and I’ve learned to take better care of myself and put aside time to work out and do yoga. 

Every job is different, and depending on what you want to do, you might need a team sometimes. But to this day I’m one person and I do everything myself. I take care of emails, record voiceovers, edit, send invoices, keep track of the money and prospect for new business. 

What would you most like to get from a community of entrepreneurs and small business owners?

I want to learn how to not feel stagnant and gain fresh inspiration on the road, to be with people that are on the same page and headed in the same direction. 

I would also love to exchange tools and tips with others!

Now, it's your turn:

Do you have a self-employed story to share?

Share below how *you* stay inspired when you're working alone, and your secrets for staying motivated in your business day after day.

We can't wait to hear your stories! :-)