Connie Terwilliger – Page 20 – Connie Terwilliger

What the heck just happened?

Excuse me, did I miss something? Like the whole 2nd half of the year maybe? What is this pile of paperwork sitting here? Wait, what I meant to say was what are all these piles of paperwork sitting here? Why is that list of things to do getting longer instead of shorter?

Part of it is personal obligations – that has increased over the past year and a half or so – since my mom moved out here from across the country. Part of it is that my ability to be superwoman is diminishing due to hot flashes.

Part of it is a slight increase in the amount of time I am spending chasing down money from people I didn’t expect to have to chase down for money.

But a big part of it is the time suckers – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, other social media message boards, my volunteer time for MCA-I, this blog, the other […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:36+00:00December 22nd, 2010|Categories: Business, Communication, Technology|

Blogs and Blog Stats

I have been a bit busy the past few weeks – not counting a trip to New York for the VO Mixer that Erik and Lindsey threw this past weekend – and have not updated my personal blog in the past week or so. I have been on my class blog, because I post homework assignments there.

In checking stats for this blog a moment ago, I noticed that I didn’t have ANY hits at all on November 28th. And only a few here and there in the days since.

It begs the question of why do I blog at all if no one (or very few are reading) it. Perhaps I will re-evaluate who I am blogging for or how I am promoting my posts.

Mostly I write the blog because I like to write. But for a blog to be seen, the writing must be a bit more consistent – and promoted […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:36+00:00December 7th, 2010|Categories: Announcements, Musings|Tags: blogging, onlinedegrees.org, Top 100 Classroom Blogs, voiceover, voiceover talent|

Wikipedia wants $$

I just popped over to Wikipedia to look something up and was side-tracked by a message from Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia. Well, his message came up with the headline “Please Read.” So I did.

It was a plea for a few bucks to keep Wikipedia free. This is part of their press release…

The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), the non-profit behind Wikipedia, today announced the launch of its annual fundraising campaign. This year’s goal is to raise $16 million so that Wikipedia and its sister projects can remain freely available to people around the world. The $16 million raised in this campaign will help fund the Foundation’s total 2010-11 operating budget of $20.4 million. And for the first time this year, the campaign will also invite readers to donate time as well as money, by joining the Wikimedia community of volunteer editors. Once the financial goal has been met, the campaign […]

Connie Terwilliger2010-11-26T17:49:30+00:00November 26th, 2010|Categories: Announcements|Tags: Wikipedia|

To On-Camera or Not To On-Camera?

After doing fewer and fewer on-camera jobs over the past few years, I find that I don’t jump up and down with excitement when an email comes in with an on-camera audition. It’s a matter of time – and money.

Plus, I have grown so comfortable in jeans and leggings that the idea digging through my closet for business attire for an on-camera audition is becoming less and less appealing. Most of my business wardrobe is getting pretty dated (not to mention just a little snug!). So a lot of time is spent just figuring out what the heck to wear.

Then, you have to put on make-up!!! But since the advent of HD – not too much make up – but just the right amount of make up. This means more time just getting ready to get in the car to actually drive somewhere.

Add to this, the fact that most of these auditions in […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:36+00:00November 21st, 2010|Categories: Auditioning, Business|

2-Sided Business Cards?

Back in September I left nearly all my business cards at FaffCon and suddenly realized that I would need some for the VO gathering in New York in December, so it was time to re-order.

When I looked at my standard order, I thought about the back – which has been blank. One thing I have noticed over the years is that I like to jot down notes on the back of cards, but I don’t normally fill up the whole back of the card, so I decided to pay a little extra and add a short line or two of text at the top of the back of my card – with just a bit of smile to it – and plenty of room to make a few notes. I also went with color on the back that is a screened version of the logo on the front.

Do you do this? […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:36+00:00November 16th, 2010|Categories: Marketing|Tags: business cards, Marketing|

Audition Reviewing Service? “What was I thinking!?”

I just got an email from Sound Advice (Kate McClanaghan) introducing a new service to help beginning VO practice auditioning in the vacuum of their home studios. Basically, they randomly email you some fresh scripts on a weekly basis, give you a deadline (like real auditions), so that you can practice in your home studio. These are not real auditions for real jobs, just practice.

I downloaded the audio clip explaining the service and was suprised to hear that they are not going to actually critique the read – just the mechanics of the audition – did you slate correctly, meet the deadline, edit cleanly, etc. Yes, I realize that the “read” is subjective – to a point. But there are times when a head slap really helps clarify what the copy is saying – someone to say “What were you thinking!?” It can be hard to slap yourself.

So, what if that kind of service existed […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:36+00:00November 3rd, 2010|Categories: Auditioning|

Free Music

Is there such thing as a free lunch? Occasionally. And occasionally there is free library music suitable for production.

Just got the information about a Free Royalty Free Music website, where right now everything is Free. They just want a link on your website somewhere. They will have stuff for sale at some point, but there will always be some free stuff too.

http://www.JewelBeat.com/

A quick look at the titles on the first page shows some pretty dark themes! Angel of Darkness, Armies of Doom, Attitude Gone Wrong, Bad Consequences and so on. But dig a bit deeper and there is a lot of other stuff with some Country, Beautiful, Clubbing, etc.

They have some free “sound effects” too – which are mostly little musical stings using various instruments.

So enjoy some free music – and go buy someone lunch.

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:36+00:00November 1st, 2010|Categories: Announcements, Recording|Tags: free music, jewel beat|

Is Cold-Calling Dead?

Interesting discussion on Facebook right now about the benefits (or not) of cold-calling. Smiling and Dialing is a term I have used.

Conflicting opinions have emerged. Could advances in technology be killing the Cold-Call?

The original post espoused the positive results of cold-calling using the example of more work for a repeat client who had initially been the result of a cold-call. This is, of course, cold-calling people who you KNOW are interested in the kind of work you do. Marketing 101 – pre-qualify your leads.

An immediate opposing viewpoint was posted – with face-to-face networking indicated as the key to conversion.

I think that as with so many other things in our business life these days, the times they are a changing.

Do the networking thing first if your potential client is in your physical area. If you are touching someone remotely, then you have three practical choices – email, social networking, and the phone.

My […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:37+00:00October 27th, 2010|Categories: Business, Marketing|

The Free Lance Mindset Helps Bridge the Gap

I have always been risk averse. Never was a dare devil. Never did anything “wrong” when I was growing up. I was a good kid, because I didn’t want to get into trouble. I couldn’t imagine gambling, or playing the stock market. So how did I end up in the kind of job where you never know from day to day if you are going to earn money?!

It could be due to the fact that I saved the peanuts from the Peanut M&M’s during road trips so I would be able to spread out the goodness for a long time. It could be because of my parent’s example of creative eclectic thriftyness. It could also be due to the number of places I lived while growing up – my stability was in being flexible. The ability to jump in and make things happen in pretty much any situation.

And due to the […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:37+00:00October 17th, 2010|Categories: Business, Marketing, Negotiating|

Car Noise Reduction

Controlling random noise in a studio is a constant challenge if you don’t have a heavy duty floating walled recording space. Even if your space is treated acoustically and your tracks end up clean and noise free, sometimes there is a lot that ends up on the cutting room floor to achieve that result.

While it may sound a bit odd, I have two recording spaces. One inside a small closet in the main house is primarily for my ISDN projects. The other – the spot where I do most of my work – is out in the back yard in a separate structure. There is a small recording space and another larger area for the rest of the work we need to do when we are not recording.

I’ll tell the story of the two spaces sometime, but right now a growing noise issue is on my mind.

The bulk of my […]

Connie Terwilliger2010-10-03T08:56:39+00:00October 3rd, 2010|Categories: Recording, Technology|

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