2011 June | Dave Courvoisier's Blog

TALENT PLEASE 4th of July Sale

June 30, 2011 By CourVO 7 Comments

Many and powerful are the arguments for supplementing your usual job leads — domestically — with new ones overseas.

Bodalgo? They’re doing fine. India, China, Japan…they all seem to be churning out opportunities for North American English these days.

What about Australia?

I first blogged about Talent Please in April.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a member — yet — but I did download their mighty fine iPhone app, and I’ve had a number of email conversations with spokeswoman Jana Wilkes. Yes, you could say TP is a P2P. But let’s face it, this is a VERY different market…and apparently there’s been some lively action for American talent on this roster. I have a good feeling about Talent Please.

Here’s what Jana told me “…With talent please, we strive for quality of artists, rather than quantity. We want to be deliver the world’s best voices to the industry in the most effective way, saving time and creating more opportunities for voice artists. We therefore accept applications for registration, and review each demo before we list anyone on the app. You can have up to three demos (each at 2MB) and 5 headshots (cropped to square, 1MB), and as well as an app listing, while we are developing the desktop PC/mac version, we’ll list you on our soundcloud page with your own unique link. We will promote you on our Facebook and Twitter pages, and broadcast the app to ad agencies, producers and studios throughout Australia, the US, the UK and other voice over markets…”

THE PITCH

Talent Please has been running a ½-price sale on their membership that was supposed to run out today, June 30th.

However, this special offer is being extended through the July 4th Holiday exclusively through this blog.

Remember:
- creatives and producers worldwide get instant access to your voice, anywhere, anytime
- most extensive search criteria – users can search age, location, gender, up to 60 different styles, accents
- Direct contact and links to your agent’s page, profile and contact details for bookings and avails
- assisted marketing support with profile links and promotion throughout our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and SoundCloud accounts
- Ongoing assistance and access to voice over resources
- PLUS FREE download from Abbe Holmes, Voiceover Coach (cc’d) link: http://voiceovercoach.com.au/shop/ – any of the items from the Shop

I WANT TO STRESS THAT I AM NOT GETTING ONE RED CENT FOR THIS PROMOTION!

Click on this SPECIAL TALENT PLEASE ½-PRCE SALE LINK, to sign-up.

This means their usual annual subscription of $150 is now only $75, or you get a half-year free, whichever way you want to look at it.

When you click on the link just above, you’ll see the sign-up says it expires June 30…but — trust me — it’s good through tthe 4th. I’ve asked Jana to change the date, so as not to foster any confusion.

I’m also attaching the talent application in a .doc if you want to use that. Talent Application Word DOCUMENT.

Good Luck!

CourVO

Filed Under: Subscription Services Tagged With: half-price sale, Talent Please, TalentPlease.com, TP, VO, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover talent

Google+ Invite

June 29, 2011 By CourVO Leave a Comment

Sure, sure…been there, done that.

Google Wave. Remember? It was supposed to be the next big thing since MySpace in social networking. “The Wave” confused everyone, and failed miserably.

But Google can’t stand the fact that FaceBook is taking the world by storm, and they keep trying to launch a successful Social Network (apparently Google Buzz isn’t doing well, either).

Hence Google+.

I gotta admit, “+” looks to be an engaging and intuitive social networking idea. You create circles of friends, add lists, and organize your social networking experience. Here we go again!

So far, Google + is in Beta Beta, and only available by invitation. You can only get an invitation from someone who’s already in.

Guess what? I am!

~~Send me your email, and I’ll send you an invitation.~~ (ed. 6/30/11) GOOGLE HAS SHUT THIS DOWN, MY FRIENDS. WHEN THEY OPEN IT UP, I’LL SEND YOU THE INVITE. I’ve already created a voice over list, and I’ll include you in that, too. It helps if you have a Gmail account, but not absolutely necessary.

Write me at [email protected]

Dave C

Filed Under: Social Media/Networking Tagged With: Google, Google Wave, Google.com, VO, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talet, voiceover

AnyLuckyDay

June 29, 2011 By CourVO Leave a Comment

Back in March, I took a wild shot.

Somewhere…and I can’t remember where, now…I saw a link to AnyLuckyDay.com, and on a whim, decided to go with it.

It’s a fun idea. You and your company become the focus of a day-long marketing blitz.

Back when I first signed-up, I provided them with logos, links, videos, pics…all kinds of stuff for them to build a “day” out of. I paid the flat fee, and chose a day on the calendar. It’s a week from today: Wednesday, July 6th. You can see it right there on the AnyLuckyDay calendar page.

On “my” day, the site author launches a social media campaign for me. Visitors come, watch my video, visit my site…comment, and in doing so, get the chance to win the free product/service I promised for this day. In my case, it’s voicing a :30 or :60 spot.

If it’s a rousing success, I’ll boast here on July 7th, how little I paid for this amazing marketing tool. If it’s a bust, I’ll complain here on July 7th how much I paid for a marketing black hole.

Wish me…er…uh…LUCK.

CourVO

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: anyLuckyDay, AnyLuckyDay.com, Marketing, VO, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover talent

FaffCon Now Launching on Pad 3

June 28, 2011 By CourVO 4 Comments

You’ve heard about it…I know you have.

Either that, or you’ve attended FaffCon (the original) or Faffcon2, Electric Boogaloo. In which case I’ve met you, ’cause I’m a FaffCon groupie, and have attended both.

Now FaffCon The Third is under construction. It’ll take place in Hershey, PA, and yes, the festivities include a tour of the Chocolate Factory.

As before, the founding, binding, organizing and faffing force behind FaffCon is the inimitable Amy Snively. Amy has become quite adept at this, her second career of event coordinator. While the UN-conference clearly belongs to the attendees, Amy is the able facilitator and conscience of the event.

The format is free-form. It’s not like any other voice over conference you’ve ever attended. It’s rather impromptu, improvised, participatory, innovative, invigorating, and…oh yeah…lots of fun.

I’m not going to ramble on too much here about FaffCon. It’s an idea whose time has come for our business, and each one seems to get better than the last. Please visit the official site: http://www.faffcon.com and get all the details, pics, schedules, facts, and answers.

No, I haven’t signed-up yet, but I will. I always do.

See you there?

CourVO

Filed Under: FaffCon Tagged With: Amy Snively, Faffcon, Faffcon.com, Faffcon3, VO, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover

2 VO Rules to Live By

June 27, 2011 By CourVO 8 Comments

Last week was a wash. Literally.

I washed up on the shores of Belize, Isla Roatan, and Cozumel on a cruise ship excursion with my family, and two other families for a week. Yeah. Hate that.

The picture of me there is on the beach at Passion Island North of Cozumel. ‘An afternoon that I kinda remember (open bars are dangerous).

While I was gone, I “sandbagged” 5 blog articles, and scheduled their posting each day so there would be some semblance that all was as it should be at Camp CourVO. I don’t like to FaceBook or Tweet while I’m away. Robbers are savvy, too…and it wouldn’t take much to put our house on the map while we were gone.

Below is a video I put together of some of the best moments of our cruise, but that’s not really why I’m blogging today.

POST-VACATION BLUES

Like clockwork, auditions and VO opportunities tend to pile-up the moment you walk out the door. Immediately catching up to those loose ends is a priority. I also returned to 1875 emails in my primary account. I haven’t even looked at the other two accounts yet.

Do I feel overwhelmed? You betcha!

Will I hit a brick wall of post vay-k depression?…Mmmmm….likely.

Can I possibly recover one week’s worth of Social Media presence in the next week?
Do I want to?
Is it worth it?

TWO VO RULES TO LIVE BY

1) You can’t do it all. Not in a day. Not in a year. There will never be enough time.

2) Check-off your To-Do list by answering the following question: Did I make progress today?

(Honorable mention: force yourself into a rewarding distraction when you feel it’s all too much — even a small diversion is worth it)

So, this week I’m back at it. Much to do…but it’ll get done. Thanks for reading this far, now enjoy the video below.

CourVO

Filed Under: Advice, Fun Stuff, Ramblings/Off-Topic Tagged With: advice, down time, vacation, VO, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover

VO’s Grandest Illusion

June 23, 2011 By CourVO 2 Comments

We’ve all been there. Years of practice, coaching, voicing, speaking, reading…over and over and over again, and we start believing our own newspaper clippings.

We start believing everybody wants to hear us speak. They actually enjoy hearing us. Who wouldn’t? We’re so…practiced. So accomplished with the spoken word.

But the illusion doesn’t stop there. Not only do people want to hear our voice, but they actually want to hear what we have to say!…as if our pleasant voice makes our words important!

Luckily, rejected auditions, non-replies from clients, and frowns from voice coaches keep most of us on the straight-and-narrow.

I also have the added experience of having read news for 30 years, which has trained me in brevity and a concise delivery.

Attention spans today do not brook much patience with long drawn-out personal stories. Even story tellers need to be frugal with their words too. Most people just want us to get to the point. Get the point?

OK, rant over.

CourVO

Filed Under: Ruminations Tagged With: VO, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover talent

“I’m not accepting new clients…”

June 22, 2011 By CourVO Leave a Comment

SOOOO tired of that Referral Key pitch on email 30 times-a-day!

That’s why the title of this blog. It brings out the contrarian in me.

But sometimes, the perception that I’m so booked, actually might add value to my service in some instances.

It’s the principle of scarcity.

What it boils down to is, the harder something is to get, the more people want it.

Now, obviously, you’ve gotta have the goods to back it up…

Read a great explanation about this very principal: THE AMAZING POWER OF SCARCITY…on the Free Market Tips Blog.

CourVO

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: blog, scaricity, VO, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover talent

InfoGraphic: The Real Cost of Social Media

June 21, 2011 By CourVO Leave a Comment

Infographics make my day. We’re all so visually oriented, and those catchy, colorful pictorial representations of complex concepts and numbers just make it easier to digest.

I know, sometimes it oversimplifies things…but it’s always good food for thought.

A recent graphic entitled: THE REAL COST OF SOCIAL MEDIA…hits home on a theme that is increasingly evident. Amidst all the facts ‘n’ figures a couple really stand out to me.

It states: “In a survey eMarketers, as US Marketing Executives what they felt were the main benefits of marketing through social media. Not surprisingly, only half of the respondents felt that “low cost” was a benefit.”

So, what DID they see as the main benefits? The top two answers were:

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

DIRECT CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS

Like never before, you are your clients’ partner, and vice versa. Not much you do goes unnoticed with social media. Why not make it work FOR you in your marketing and customer relation efforts? Your clients want the real you, and you can give it to them by engaging them online.

CourVO

Filed Under: Marketing, Social Media/Networking, VO Community Tagged With: customer relations, engagement, infographics, Marketing, social Media, VO, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voices

SoundCloud +

June 20, 2011 By CourVO Leave a Comment

SoundCloud seems to me one of the best innovations for VO people in some time…and that’s saying a lot in the age of techno-wizardry wowing us everyday.

SoundCloud just works. When you want it to, where you want it to, and with excellence. And since it’s got the word “cloud” in its name, it MUST be cool, right?

SoundCloud’s advantage to you is that you can store your VO demos on SoundCloud, and then share the link in just about every social media known to humankind. They have smartphone apps. They have widgets, embeddable files, customizable soundwaves and “timed commenting”. They bring SOCIAL to SOUND. Now new functionality with Tumblr, and lots of new apps.

Several pricing plans are available, and I don’t know what your budget is, but after the 14-day free trial, you should really consider the Premium plan, ’cause believe me, once you see how good this thing works, you’re gonna want to store lots of stuff there, and share too.

SoundCloud has just recently made some new announcements in their June newsletter.

When you get there, message me…yeah, it’s social.

Anybody know of a similar service they like? Let’s hear about it!

CourVO