The Power of Face-to-Face Networking

Over the years my local work has dropped way off. Luckily for my continued mortgage payments, work outside the market has and continues to increase. My website placement on the web is a great part of this, as well as direct target marketing, social media, various “agents” around the world and the introduction of pay-to-play websites.

My face-to-face marketing efforts had pretty much dwindled down to monthly MCA-I meetings where I would have the word Voice Talent written under my name on my stick on name tag. That is usually the extent of my “sell” at these meetings – primarily because most of them think that they can’t afford me. I should probably try to change that impression somehow. Or maybe they are right. But I should open the conversation.

But after a rather disappointing 2009 economically, where my electronic marketing efforts were dramatically reduced due to an increase in personal time […]

2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 20th, 2010|Categories: Marketing|Tags: , , |

Stock Music and Sound FX Site

Royalty-Free Stock Video at Pond5

Just ran across this site through a strange email exchange. (That exchange is the subject of another blog post.) Anyway, this site has stock video, music, and sound effects…apparently all user contributed. 50-50 split I guess. The site is pretty fast and easy to use. I downloaded a couple of the free sound effects they were offering just to see how the interface works. It is free to sign up and they are having a giveaway for an iMac this month.

I listened to some of the music and for $5 (hard to find the actual prices until you check out), they sound pretty good for the right projects. My concern, of course, is that this is another watering down of prices for creative content. The Internet and Social Media have changed the way we do business.

2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 17th, 2010|Categories: Marketing|Tags: , , , |

Shut up! And 7 other things to do AFTER reading your script! Advice from Edge Studios

Got this in an email a couple months ago from Edge Studios and found it again going through my InBox. Some great advice here for the beginner and a reminder for the pros…

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Shut up!  And 7 other things to do AFTER reading your script!
 
It’s not just getting the gig that’s important.
It’s making sure the client hires you again.
 
So we’re sharing 7 things many voice talent forget to do after reading their copy!
 
1. Shut up when done reading your copy.  Don’t tell your client how you did – you’re liable to contradict their opinion and/or create more work for everyone by opening up a can of worms.  Instead listen to their direction.  Read again when prompted.

2. Conversely, when the job is done, talk.  Thank them.  Request a copy of the finished product.  Request a testimonial.

3. Later that day, send an email.  Say it was nice to work with them.  Compliment them […]

2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 9th, 2010|Categories: Business, Marketing|Tags: , |

Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn? Email? Smart Phone? POT? Blogs? SEO? What works?

It has been an interesting year – trying to find the right mix of media to keep in contact with my clients and potential clients. Depending on who you talk to, the mix of media can be one or more of the above, in any order and in every possible percentage. What works for you?

I’m finding that my Blackberry lets me get out of the studio, but getting out of the studio means less time to work my network of contacts. And being an early adopter of nearly everything technological (I had a Kaypro), I have had to try out social media as a way to connect.

Can’t say that it is really working for me yet – although I did manage to land a nice project through a Facebook happy coincidence. I joined an e-Learning group the same day someone else did who happened to be looking for female voice […]

2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 5th, 2010|Categories: Business, Marketing|Tags: , , |

Source-Connect Ports are in Order

Forgot to update the Source-Connect saga. Followed the detailed instructions on the Source-Connect website about how to configure the ports and “voila” so simple even a cave man could do it.

Now I am going through the Source-Connect data base to say hello to folks who might be interested in knowing that it is up and running.

Most of the people who have it are either talent or audio studios – neither of which are the best for pin-point marketing, but certainly the contacts are great networking – which ultimately pays off.

2010-03-03T17:07:20+00:00March 3rd, 2010|Categories: Marketing, Technology|Tags: , , |

Fast! Good! Cheap?

You know this adage – Fast, Good, Cheap – Pick any Two? Technological advances are putting this saying to the test – with people wanting (and many times getting) all three. The principal of the “Long Tail” – originally used to describe a retailing concept of selling a large number of unique items in relatively small quantities – is another factor in the evolution of this axiom. Apply the long tail to voiceovers and it means creating lots and lots of product that will be seen or heard by fewer and fewer people. Think about the growing number of niche television, radio, YouTube channels. Fewer eyeball and ears? Maybe. Maybe not – considering the population of the world.

So how is this affecting Fast, Good, Cheap?

Fast

When it comes to the voiceover business, particularly at the first stage – voiceover auditions – Fast reigns supreme. With online casting (either through agents […]

2018-02-06T06:48:43+00:00March 2nd, 2010|Categories: Auditioning, Marketing, Musings, Negotiating|

Paul Strikwerda Bursts the Audition Bubble

Paul is one of my favorite bloggers. He can stir up the pot a bit at times, which is fun. But usually, he has something brilliant to say about the business.

I’ve been ruminating on auditions lately. About the fact that I haven’t auditioned so much as I have since we moved into a remote casting era. But what I didn’t say (and that Paul says so well in his latest blog post), is that I am extremely picky about what I audition for. I checked my “stats” for the past 6 months at Voice123. I have deleted more than 1050 audition opportunities – and sent in auditions for about 75. Number of actual jobs? Very few from V123. Same basic ratio at Voices.com, but with far fewer audition opportunities.

http://nethervoice.com/nethervoice/2010/02/24/bursting-the-audition-bubble/

Something I talk to my introductory students about is learning to practice so that you actually improve – and not build […]

2018-02-06T06:48:43+00:00February 24th, 2010|Categories: Marketing|Tags: , , , |

Eggs

You’ve heard the saying – don’t put all your eggs in one basket. I’ve been thinking about that the past day or so.

I am currently in Orange County at the beautiful Pelican Hill resort doing a live backstage announce gig for a biotech company. This is the 4th year in a row that I have been asked to be the voice of the company for this particular sales meeting. It is a fun job. The people are nice. The food and accomodations are always more than good. And the pay is quite good as well. But each year, I try to not think about the next year. Because next year may not come.

Early in my voiceover career – or perhaps I should call it my free lance career, because I was doing other things besides voiceover at that time (producing and writing and some on-camera spokesperson) – I had a […]

Create Your Own “Luck”

I just have to pass along the great story told by Janet Ault, in the latest edition of VoiceOverXtra! Janet is a voice-over professional based in Scottsdale, AZ. If you are not perusing the business sections of your local papers, or reading a Business Journal if you have one in your town, or subscribing to online enewsletters that promote new businesses, account executives moving from agency to agency, etc, then you are missing out on potential new business. 

Janet landed a new account by being pro-active – proving that you create your own luck by having the right tools and finding the opportunity to showcase them. What makes this story a bit more unique is that it happened so quickly. In about a week, she went from finding a “lead” to landing a rather lucrative spokesperson job.

Read the whole article here – http://www.voiceoverxtra.com/article.htm?id=5i15kwkt

2018-02-06T06:48:53+00:00January 5th, 2010|Categories: Business, Marketing|Tags: , , , , |

You Just Never Know…

After all that ruminating about doing so many auditions and lamenting that most people were not casting off our demos (see prior blog post – http://isdnvoicetalent.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/ruminating-again-about-auditions/), I had a direct hit off one of the P2P sites that will result in an ISDN session this morning.

So, you just have to keep everything honed and at the ready…’cause you just never know the path someone will take to find and hire you. Keep your generic demos fresh!

It’s just one part of any good business plan. Scroll back a few posts to see some great responses from a couple of pros on some of the other business thoughts I’ve had over the past week or so.

http://isdnvoicetalent.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/more-on-the-business-of-vo/

http://isdnvoicetalent.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/tangible-and-intangible-assets-needed-for-voiceover-biz/

2018-02-06T06:48:53+00:00December 23rd, 2009|Categories: Auditioning, Business, Marketing|Tags: , , , , |
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