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Eleven LinkedIn Leads

January 31, 2012 By 2 Comments

Time and time again I get questions about LinkedIn.

People gush over on FaceBook, and they play on Twitter, but they just aren’t sure WHAT to do with LinkedIn.

Like the other popular social media platforms, LinkedIn has been smart about constantly morphing their platform to accept new trends.  In that sense, LinkedIn encourages a lot of interaction and inter-relations between it’s members…and it pays to stay abreast of their tweaks.

But make no mistake about it, LinkedIn is the more serious sibling of the Social Media family…and LI does much to encourage and strengthen that reputation.  No other Social Network gives you the deep and wide search tools that LinkedIn offers.  The other huge strength of LI is its groups.  If you’re not maximizing your 50 possible group subscriptions, you’re not taking advantage of one of its richest features.  And here’s the thing…while you may want to add the various popular VO groups to your list…make sure to join some other groups where you might make relationships and find work (i.e…audio professionals, e-learning groups, audiobook publishers, etc).

Below is a list of 11 sites I have built-in to my Google Reader list for LI tips.  I try to visit most of them several times a week for tips.

1) http://linkedintelligence.com/

2) http://www.chrisbrogan.com/five-things-to-do-on-linkedin/

3) http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Leveraging-this-group-LinkedIn-open-3341869.S.86266352

4) http://www.socialmediainformer.com/2012/linkedin/social-media/

5) http://linkedintelligence.com/smart-ways-to-use-linkedin/

6) http://www.cio.com/article/697424/5_LinkedIn_Tips_for_Career_Success_in_2012

7) http://linkedin.alltop.com/

8) http://www.booleanblackbelt.com/2012/01/how-to-see-full-names-of-3rd-degree-connections-on-linkedin

9) http://www.chrisbrogan.com/power-up-your-linkedin-profile/

10) http://blog.linkedin.com/

11) http://imonlinkedinnowwhat.com/

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Social Media/Networking, Social/Professional Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Will It Matter?

January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Apparently, hell HAS frozen over, pigs DO fly, and SAG will merge with AFTRA.

They even announced it on TV, so it must be true!

Do you know what a Venn Diagram is?  Two separate populations overlap (depicted by circles), showing the commonality of the two groups.

This is what we have with both unions today:


Union leaders may envision a universe of members belonging to both, as growing from 40,000 to their combined total of nearly 200,000.

You know, it’s funny…when the membership of either union is mentioned, it’s always the talk of film actors, stunt people, TV actors, stagehands, cinematographers, dancers, singers.  I never really see VOICE actors mentioned.  I’m not sure there’s ever been much love for our kind in this mix…but I digress, and I don’t want you to think I feel shorted, ’cause so far, I belong to neither group.

The question is:  Will it now make any difference to voice-actors who’ve been sitting on the fence (moi) to finally find sufficient reason in the merger to now JOIN???

The GREATER question is:  should you join now, ’cause the requirements are easier?  From an article by Ester Goldberg:

“AFTRA’s open door policy – which allows anyone to join the union online by paying the initiation fee – will end if SAG and AFTRA merge, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. In its place will be new SAG-AFTRA rules that primarily mirror SAG’s existing ones – a set of requirements that have made a meme out of “How do I get my SAG card?”

In addition, the price is changing: at $3,000, the new initiation fee is higher than SAG’s $2,277 or AFTRA’s $1,600, but less than the two combined.”

Even actors who are members of SAG say they’re reserving judgement on the wisdom of this merger until they see the fine print.  There are deep and thorny issues of health insurance, pensions, rates, governance, financing, membership requirements and dues for starters.

The final referendum goes to the membership near the end of February, and the tabulation deadline is March 30th.  So far, both Union’s board’s “overwhelmingly endorsed” the merger (The SAG board’s vote was 87.1% to 12.9% and AFTRA’s was 94% to 6%.).  To pass, the referendum would need a 60% approval margin from both organizations among votes cast.  That gives everybody about a month to air their dirty laundry and debate the contentious compromise.

I’m not worthy of analyzing this thing further.  I’m learning, and watching, and contemplating the outcome, and considering where voice actors fall in this mix.

Below is a series of links to various news organizations with different editions out over the weekend with the report:

 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/479765-SAG_AFTRA_Boards_Approve_Merger.php

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sag-awards-aftra-merger-ken-howard-roberta-reardon-285661

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/479765-SAG_AFTRA_Boards_Approve_Merger.php

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/actors-largely-support-proposed-sag-aftra-merger-at-sag-awards-but-there-is-also-opposition-and-concern/

http://www.aftra.org/6D4AAFEEE63943E7BE41C0314393AFA0.htm

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118049411

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/29/union-news-aftra-approves-merger-with-sag/

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118049411?refCatId=13

http://www.hitfix.com/articles/sag-and-aftra-this-much-closer-to-finally-merging

http://www.aaaa.org/news/bulletins/Pages/prodsig_012412.aspx

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news-and-features-news/aftra-board-of-directors-approves-sag-aftra-1006027752.story

CourVO

Filed Under: Unions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

All-In-One

January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If I’ve been asked once, I’ve been asked a thousand times:  “How do you keep up with all the Social Media channels, Dave?”

I’ve never actually worried about that myself.  I. just. do.

But I realize not everyone is as afflicted as me…they just want to get the most they can out of their social networks…not LIVE on them.

Thanks to Tokyo-based voice-actor Mark Weitzman, I got a tip about an online service just out of “beta” that may be what you’re looking for.

Alternion.com lets you aggregate 220 social media channels into one interface.  You can even get your email there…read, write, post, answer, Tweet, Blog, retweet, FaceBook, YouTube, Tumblr…seemingly everything you’d need to stay in touch…all at one stop.

This program is simple enough to understand, but I’ve just spent the last couple of hours configuring all my channels, and I’m still not done.  You may not have the same challenge, but the POP email account was specifically difficult to get going.  The jury’s still out for me on this aggregation site.  I can see the allure in using a site like this, but I think I’d always worry I’m missing something in the fully-featured native app.

Let me know what you think.  I admire the Alternion developers for a well-designed and technically intuitive interface.  Maybe like all the other sites (faceBook?) it just takes a little getting used to.

For a great explainer article on Alternion and two other similar sites, see the review on SocialMediaExaminer.com.

Thanks, Mark!

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Social Media/Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

MixWerk

January 26, 2012 By 6 Comments

Germany.  Home of the Fraunhofer mp3 algorithm, Steinberg audio, and Neumann microphones.

Now add MixWerk Studios, Berlin to your Deutsche dictionary.

MixWerk showed up on my radar, when the founder — Uwe Engel — posted a complimentary comment to an article on my blog.  Not having heard of MixWerk, I began a brief email correspondence with Uwe, which resulted in the Question & Answer session you will see below.

Engel’s replies to my queries constitute a fascinating peek into a branch of opportunity not enough North American voice talent are taking full advantage of:  foreign markets.

Take a moment to read through Engel’s insightful answers as you plan your European marketing strategy.  Pay special attention to his answer to question #5 (I also appreciate the sentiment in his answer for question #8)

Uwe Engel’s brief bio: 20 years voice recording, mainly vocal and speech recording in Germany.  Founder of Mixwerk in 2004.  Since then, over 200 clients in 20 countries. Mixwerk offers voice recordings in 2 ISDN studios in Berlin/Germany with  voices from 40 countries

Thanks Uwe!

CourVO

Below, our Q & A:

1)  Would you please give a brief history of Mixwerk…how did it start?  Who are the principle founders?  What are the goals of your business?

Mixwerk was founded in 2004 in Berlin. We started as a voice over producer for Native Instruments, which develops well known Software Instruments. Our first challenge was to record their tutorial DVD for “Traktor”, a DJ Tool, in english and Japanese. Since then we worked for over 200 clients all over the world in 40 languages. Mixwerk was founded by Uwe Engel, who had 20 years experience in music recording. Now we are 4 people working to produce high quality voice recordings for our clients.

2)  What’s your business model?  Who are your clients?  What does Mixwerk principally do?

Clients are big brands and advertisement agencies from Europe and the US.  Our clients get full service, which means we offer them voices from our database, record them and finalize the recordings in the post production. Our core competence is to work very reliable with state of art audio equipment and do this within a very short timeframe. We do a lot of ISDN recordings and ADR even with picture.

3.) Do you keep a “stable” of preferred male and female talent for your clients?  If so, what languages?

We do not have preferred voices although we mostly do know which voice talents fits which clients needs. We have in our database voice talents in 40 languages.

4.) Do you see the opportunities for voice over talent in ALL countries and languages to be greater in the years ahead?

Principally we all are globalisation “winners”. Furthermore the production costs for voice over are going down. So more and more clients want to localize their content. So yes, all countries we have a benefit of that.

5.)  Is Mixwerk actively seeking talent of all languages for global clients?

We are always seeking very good voice talents from all over the world.

6)  What are the main challenges for North American voice talent in entering the global marketplace?

Our main challenge with North American voice talents is that for our German clients they need to speak some German words, like cities, names like Germans do. Our American voices that are living here in Germany know how to speak german words in English. So for our big clients like the automobile industry, they tend to use people who know the German culture or country. On the other hand many clients wants to attend the recording session and see everything in real. So it is always a bit difficult just to do it via ISDN or Skype.

7.)  Would you recommend ISDN for North American talent who are serious about growing their international client base?

We would recommend to have a software for ISDN like Source Connect.

8.)  Are you familiar with Bodalgo’s business model?…and if so, would you consider them an ally or a competitor?

They are not our “ally”. They have clients which do not pay the prices that we demand for our service. Of course, they have an official price list, but nobody knows the final price that a voice talent agreed on with the client. Secondly it is not a good relationship to the customers when the payment is based on a “myhammer” model. We now some voice artists that get some clients from this online platform and others, like all the “good earning voice talents” that we know are not working with them. But the market for the online voice over business is growing faster than the “premium” market. This is why one could have the impression this online market will be the big thing in the future. We believe that all business models will grow in the future, so there will be place for all business models.

9.)    What suggestions would you give talent in Canada or the USA if they were interested in finding more voice work in Europe?

Make an online research and simply apply to the relevant companies. Or better – if you know some professional voice here in Europe asked them to introduce you to the main important agencies.

 

Filed Under: International, Interview Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Advice Advantage

January 25, 2012 By 4 Comments

“Pay-it-Forward” became a cliché the day after the movie of the same name was released.

But no one’s come up with a better way to briefly phrase the ethic that extending value IN ADVANCE of reward, holds great promise as a lifestyle, a marketing plan, and a business plan.  I try to live by that creed in this blog, and I can’t tell you how many times it’s payed dividends.

One of the gents I greatly admire in the voice over business is Bill DeWees.  He’s left behind a number of successful endeavours during his life, and is now making the voice-acting business look easy.  Note, I say “business“.  That’s how Bill treats it, and therein lies his success. That’s a familiar theme among the more seasoned pros.

Even though he’s a voice actor, Bill is maybe just as well-known for his pay-it-forward brand of how-to videos.  See the Bill DeWees channel on YouTube.

Yesterday on my Voice-Over Friends  FaceBook Group, Bill posted a link to an instructional video he produced as a live seminar recently.  You can view it for free, and in my estimation, there’s a gold-mine of VO business strategies in just the first hour, and then the show continues with valuable Q & A.  Please make an effort to watch as much of this as you can afford.

Among the gems in his presentation are reminders to treat all your past customers as future prospects through consistent follow-up.  Along with newsletters, postcards, emails, and phone calls, Bill shared that he uses the SmartContactTool to help automate some of this duty. When you click on that link, you end up on a site called Happy Grasshopper.

And then it hit me!  That’s how I met Bill! He had seen my blog about Happy Grasshopper from March of last year, and later contacted me to say thanks.

See!  Pay-it-forward brings its own rewards in due time, or to paraphrase:  What Goes Around Comes Around.

CourVO

Filed Under: Business-end-of-things Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SoundCloud Grows Up

January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

“The YouTube site for Sound”…that’s what some are calling SoundCloud these days.

The Berlin-based company launched in 2008, and now has 10-million users…and has just raised 50-million in venture capital funding.

From an article on TechCrunch:  Soundcloud “…has had over five million official SoundCloud iphone/android apps downloaded and over 10,000 third party apps have been developed on SoundCloud’s open platform (recent additions include integrations with professional music creation software Pro Tools and Cakewalk).”

The site is certainly a good fit for voice actors. You can store your demos there, then share, embed, post, link, email, and get social.  Follow other SoundClouders and get followers.  Join groups, and converse in forums.

Embedding any voice file anywhere is easy (or link).  You can even customize your embedded player to the color and size you want.  (See my embedded demo on the home page of this blog)

Not content to rest on their laurels, the developers at SoundCloud Labs are now coming out with what anyone would expect might be a next-gen step:  STORYWHEEL.  Using pics from Instagram (voted most popular iPhone app of 2011) to provide the pics, and SoundCloud to match with the audio, StoryWheel shows promise.

SoundCloud offers modest functionality for a free membership, but you’ll probably want to choose one of their other 4 premium plans ranging from ~$37.50/year (~$11.66/mo) to ~$610/yr ( ~$76.50/mo).

CourVO

 

 

Filed Under: Software, Technology, The Cloud, Web Resources Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Social Media & VO

January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Not many cultural developments have been as ground-breaking as sliced bread.  Still, some of  some of you say you like to visit here ’cause I’m always throwing out new “stuff” that I find.  It could be reviews of new equipment, but often it’s Web Tools I discover that I think might be helpful to your VO business…or even new developments within the realm of  Social Media.

I’ll be focusing on that Social Media option a lot early this year, as I prepare for the VOICE2012 presentation I’m working on with Terry Daniel and Trish Basanyi.

We’re gearing up to USE Social Media in our TALK about Social Media.

To that end, we’ve launched a new LinkedIn group called SOCIAL MEDIA FOR VOICE ACTORS.  In just a couple of days, we’ve already seen some healthy growth in membership.

I’m steadily adding Social Media news channels on the group site, and I’ve also launched an early survey for members:  WHAT BEST DESCRIBES YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCEPTANCE LEVEL AS IT RELATES TO YOUR VO BUSINESS?

Would you mind joining up and voting on this survey?  Here’s the link:  http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4262069.

Thanks!  Oh, and please consider “liking” our new FaceBook page called “Voice Over Super Socials“.  Also, please follow our Twitter for VOSuperSocials

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Social Media/Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Murky Merger Murmurs

January 23, 2012 By 4 Comments

The neat freak inside me wants the proposed SAG/AFTRA merger to succeed.  I dislike wasteful duplication, gratuitous redundancy, and top-heavy bureaucracies.

I’ve been told talk of a merger has been around about as long as the proposal for a high-speed train between Las Vegas and LA — decades.

On the surface, the latest proposed merger makes sense — but I’m not privy to any of the internal struggles, the personalities involved, nor the certain logistical challenges.  I don’t know the history, and I don’t particularly want to.

Endless union v. non-union debates on public forums solve nothing, but bring to light some interesting sentiments, not the least of which is that a common stand on setting rates in the market (certainly a union function) is desperately needed now in this realm.

My interest lies in a union that works, that is lean, agile and responsive to its members and the market.  I’d love to see a union that isn’t LA or NYC-centric.  What I’d really like is for someone to explain what a paymaster is, and how that model fits into a voice-acting world that operates more and more on independent freelancers directly interacting with their clients.  I’d respect a union whose policies don’t drive members into hypocritical aliases on the P2P sites.

It’d be great to see a union that actually holds it’s VO members to a standard of technical and performance benchmarks (like SaVoa), instead of allowing in anyone who has enough money to pay the dues.

I’m told SAG and AFTRA detests being made to accept Fi-Core.  Tough. I’d love to see all 50 states be right-to-work states.

Well, that turned into kind of a rant.

Bettye Zoller, don’t call to scold me.  :)  Bob Bergen, where am I wrong?

Both Zoller and Bergen are highly-respected master talents in this business who hold high opinions of the potential of a union for all VO’s…and both have voluminous knowledge of this issue that I don’t possess.  Still, I’m allowed my opinion on my blog, and this is what I know from what I see and hear:  SAG and AFTRA as they exist now, do not seem answer the new challenges of the VO market brought on largely by the internet.  Because of that, they seem to me to be irrelevant, behind-the-times, S-L-O-W, and disdainful of the rabble.

I’d welcome your thoughts on this issue.  Are you Union now?  Why?  Are you Fi-Core?  Why?  If you are not Union, would you consider signing up following a SAG/AFTRA merger?

Below are some media articles I’ve searched that reflect the latest that’s known about the merger.

SAG-AFTRA merger means some union dues will rise as others fall

SAG Merger Skeptics Retain Law Firm 

SAG/AFTRA Merger: What’s Next

New SAG-AFTRA to Feature an Array of Officers and Delegates

SAGWATCH – Observing the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA

SAG/AFTRA Merger FaceBook page

SAG-AFTRA Merger Team Readies for 9 Days of Talks

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Unions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Got Chops?

January 20, 2012 By 3 Comments

The SAG Foundation Don LaFontaine Voice Over Lab is seeking an administrator.

Here’s what Lab Co-Founder and LA-based VO Pro Joe Cipriano writes on VU:

Joe Cipriano
Joe Cipriano 5:30pm Jan 19
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?job_did=J3T51W64T1QHMVF6DFQHello Voice Over friends and colleagues. As one of co-founders of the Don LaFontaine Voice over LAB, I am extremely excited to tell you about this amazing opportunity. The SAG Foundation is seeking someone who eats and breathes “voice over” to become the Administrator of the very prestigious Don LaFontaine Voice Over Lab. This person will sit at the epicenter of the voice over community in Hollywood. He or She will be responsible for all aspects of the Voice Over Lab including: scheduling use of the facility, managing the facility as a result of having familiarity with the use of recording studio hardware and software, and addressing all concerns related to the VOL, while acting as an ambassador for the VOL to the community of actors to be served. This person will interact with some of the best voice over artists in the country and will have the honor of being part of this educational, humanitarian and philanthropic effort. If you are interested and possess the skills required or know someone who does please apply at the link below. I know you’re out there :-) As co-founder, I’m looking forward to working with you at the DLF VO Lab.

Find Jobs – Don La Fontaine Voice Over Lab Administrator Jobs in Los Angeles, California – Screen Ac

www.careerbuilder.com
Don La Fontaine Voice Over Lab Administrator – Find Admin – Clerical Jobs at Screen Actors Guild Fou…

That listing is on CareerBuilder.com

I dunno…think I oughta apply?

CourVO

Filed Under: Jobs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Big Files & a Chrome Tip

January 19, 2012 By 2 Comments

They keep getting bigger, those files.  Docs.  .Wav files…even a bunch of mp3′s can take up space.

I’ve blogged about this before…in fact my “22+ Ways to Send Large Files” is one of my all-time most popular articles.

But…you know…things change and new stuff comes up…so let me tell you about a new one I found, and in the process, I want to underscore something about your Chrome browser you may not have paid attention to.

In your Chrome browser, hit Ctrl+T to open a new tab.  Unless you’ve been adding stuff to the blank page that  results, you’ll see space…space to add apps.  Yup.  Google Chrome is getting into apps big-time.  This is the Browser-based version of apps for  Chrome-book, which is an all-network based “laptop” device with no hard drive or storage…just a screen, keyboard, and network connection device.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

You can add TONS of apps to this blank tab, and every time you call up a  new tab, the apps pop up there.  There should be an icon to click for adding Google Chrome apps, but if not, just go to the Google Chrome Webstore.  From there, you can browse the available apps by category, or search them by topic or name.  They get quickly and brainlessly installed on your “new tab” page, and are quick to call up when you need.   Thousands of apps.  Free.

Searching around the Google WebStore, I found LARGE DOCUMENT.  You can install the app, but it’s also a stand-alone website…that is a dirt-simple way to send….well, large docs and other files.

While you’re in the Google Webstore, also look up GE.TT.  I’ve mentioned this one before, but it bears repeating.  Next to DropBox, GE.TT has got to be one of the most simple ways to quickly and efficiently send a big file I’ve ever seen.

Happy browsing!

CourVO

Filed Under: Apps, Links, Software, Web Resources Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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