Connie Terwilliger – Page 24 – Connie Terwilliger

Referrals – A Sure Sign of Good Business Practices

There are many ways to beat the bushes for new business, but by far the most efficient way is to let someone else do the beating for you!

Just sent an invoice to a new client who was referred to me by another voice talent. And last week I invoiced for a project that was a referral from an audio production studio who has hired me in the past.

What goes around comes around – at least that is what the saying says – and probably every month, I get to refer one of my voiceover friends to one of my clients.

This is not as easy a task as it seems – because each time the question is posed (“Can you recommend any male voice talent?” “Do you know anyone who can do a kid’s voice?” “Bilingual in French and English?”) I have to evaluate the requestor and the kind of work […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:40+00:00May 25th, 2010|Categories: Marketing|

Punch to the gut

Yikes! Had a session today – cast off my demo – where the client was ultimately not happy with the read. This has not happened for many many years – I’d say 25. At least where I knew about it anyway. There are those clients who pop in for one session and then you never hear from them again. With a large stable of regular clients and referrals, you just never really think about the possibility that someone didn’t really get what they wanted – until someone tells you.

It was a spot for a retail store – that included a list of prices and items – that needed an unpolished conversational read. After lots of direction – which can be helpful (or not) and some line reads – which can be helpful (or not) – I got the feeling – from these very nice guys – that we were on the […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:41+00:00May 19th, 2010|Categories: Musings|

Me and My Equipment

You know how when you first start doing something you spend a lot of time figuring it out and you end up with something that works really great – and then over time – you end up forgetting what it was you did in the first place – and for a while that doesn’t matter – because everything is working just fine. But then it stops working fine – and like I said – you have no idea what you did in the first place – and now you are stuck with this incredible kluge job of tangled cables and settings.

That’s where I am right now. I’ve been doing voiceover work full-time now from my home studio for more than 10 years – and have slowly added this and that to the mix of equipment. In fact I have two separate “studios” – one for my phone patch and self-directed […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:41+00:00May 14th, 2010|Categories: Marketing, Technology|Tags: ADK Hamburg, ISDN, microphones, phone patch, recording studio|

Life Happens

Got a message from a voiceover friend on the other side of the country that another voiceover friend had fallen and broken her leg – a rather severe break as I understand it. This is one of the most giving people I have ever met and perhaps life wants her to be taken care of for a while.

She is part of a very special group of voiceover artists who had the extreme pleasure of getting to know each other – first virtually through the VO-BB.com and then face-to-face at VOICE 2007 – and have continued to stay connected and involved in each other’s lives.

We are all waiting for the flashing light on our Blackberrys to tell us that she is doing well and didn’t have to be intubated for the surgery.

VOICE2010 is coming up the first week in June and many of us will be able to reconnect in person […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:41+00:00May 10th, 2010|Categories: Announcements|

Round and Round and Round She Goes…

The voiceover world is abuzz! Not sure where this ride will stop, but let’s hope a twist on the adage “what goes down, must go up” comes into play.

Less than 10 years ago, a lot of voiceover casting moved to the Internet. The Pay 2 Play sites appeared and suddenly the role of the agent was bypassed and assumed by the talent who entered into a bidding war against other talent – most of it completely blind – with no ability to vet the potential client. Remember the old TV game show “Name That Tune?” That’s what it is like – someone else tells the client that they can do that job for less than you will do the job – much less. Well, at some point we have to be able to say, name that tune and move on.

Is there a bottom to the falling rates? I hope so. And our […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:41+00:00May 8th, 2010|Categories: Business, Marketing, Negotiating|

VO Booth on Wheels

My virtual good friend Philip Banks posted a video recently of his VO Booth on Wheels (he calls it the Voice and Go), but I think the technology in this article from Studio Daily tops it.

Perhaps a bit more pricey, but seems to be working for those busy celebrities who need to do some VO work in between takes on the set of their latest series. Complete with ISDN, this mobile recording studio helps prevent those pesky and expensive “no show” sessions.

It’s called Voice Over There.

Here is the article about it – http://www.studiodaily.com/blog/?p=3148

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:41+00:00May 3rd, 2010|Categories: Announcements, Recording, Technology|Tags: ISDN, Philip Banks, Voice Over There|

Door Prizes are Cool!

Was at a San Diego MCA-I meeting tonight at Phil Ferrari’s studio – the annual NAB wrap-up meeting with stories from members who attended and presentations from the top vendors in the industry talking about their new toys.

3-D is the happening thing apparently. So be prepared, you will need to buy another new TV very shortly.

We had Panasonic, JVC and Sony there with new equipment to show off – and lots of door prizes…not just from the big three, but from our local suppliers (I will add them as I confirm who contributed – Video Gear for sure) and some of our members as well. Luke and Mark always pick up a couple of hum-busters (Empire State Filters) to donate to the door prize pool.

I won some fabulous ear buds from JVC – Marshmallow stereo headphone – and a very cool black ball […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:41+00:00April 28th, 2010|Categories: Business, Marketing|Tags: Ferrari Productions, JVC, mca-i, NAB, networking, Panasonic, Sony, video production|

Sense of Direction

I remember a session very early on in my career where I was just NOT producing what the director wanted. It was a horrible experience – and I was dismissed knowing that I had not been able to understand and deliver. I knew this because I heard the producer on the phone with my agent asking if she had to pay for me. Really horrible experience.

A few years later, I was in a session with 6 producers – each offering different bits of “advice” for the read – and was able to find the “right” read that satisfied them all. Was it simply my added years of experience? Are there any standard words of advice that veteran voice talent can offer a director to help the session run more smoothly with successful results when all is said and done?

My friend and fellow VO talent Peter O’Connell sent a link […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 27th, 2010|Categories: Recording, Techniques|Tags: Babble On, directing, Peter O'Connell, voice over talent, voiceover talent|

Auditioning: When is too much auditioning too much auditioning?

I belong to a very active LinkedIn group for working voice actors and the question of the day is about the “Law of Averages.”

Ed Victor says – “My new law of averages in scoring work is frankly “Less is More”. Less auditioning. More work. Is this the beginning of the end for agents and casting directors? Is the writing on the wall? Am I full of it?”

http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&discussionID=18517379&gid=137057&commentID=-1&trk=view_disc

My first response to his question (there may be more):

Most of my work remains referrals, repeat clients and direct hits to my website or to one of the other websites where my demos are parked (some free and some P2P) with no auditioning. I also try to target a few new contacts each week through reading group posts, following links, key word searches.The vast majority of the auditions do seem to disappear into the ether – many never get heard. But I have landed […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 26th, 2010|Categories: Auditioning|

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 […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:42+00:00April 20th, 2010|Categories: Marketing|Tags: face-to-face, Marketing, networking|

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