Marketing | Dave Courvoisier's Blog

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

Attracting & Retaining Customers

June 16, 2011 By CourVO Leave a Comment

DuctTapeMarketing.com does it again. John Jantsch’s blog should be earmarked for reading every day.

Check out an article he wrote earlier this week called: How To Attract and Retain Customers.

I realize this is not gospel. There are many approaches, and this is one. But all the info now available, anyone can glean and combine factoids into a custom-made marketing plan these days…one that really works for YOU.

The Social Media Marketing Blog is also an excellent resource for…well…using social media as your marketing plan. The author, Scott Monty is the head of Social Media for Ford Motor Co., and is known for his insights.

CourVO

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: ducttapemarketing, ducttapemarketing.com, john jantsch, social media marketing, VO, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover

Why You Need a Brand, & How To Create One

May 27, 2011 By CourVO Leave a Comment

That’d be great if I was actually smart enough to write a blog with that title…but the truth is someone already has, and I don’t want to be guilty of plagiarism.

I’ve mentioned FreelanceFolder before, right?

Good, ’cause that’s where you need to go to read this excellent article.

Sure, you could read books and books about branding…but that’s for tomorrow. For now, just start with this excellent blog.

CourVO

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/kNI746

URL: https://www.google.com/reader/view/?tab=my

Filed Under: Branding, Marketing, VO Community Tagged With: 1000, blogs, brand, freelance folder, freelancefolder.com, google reader, Marketing, news, onegoogle, VO, voice, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voices

What If…

April 4, 2011 By CourVO Leave a Comment

…ads promoting offers really worked?

The other day, I blogged about the online Marketing Referral System, Happy Grasshopper.

I have not tried this service, but apparently Celeste Nelson has…she commented on that article, providing a link to a webpage that shows how HG works…in essence she might be a shill for the service, but I gotta admit the “proof-of-performance” article is pretty convincing.

You can read the story about Happy Grasshopper yourself to see if it’s maybe something you want to try. ‘Might be good for someone who’s not a good writer. Or not good at marketing. Or not good at consistency.

If you DO decide to try this, let me know what you think about the service

CourVO

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: Happy Grasshopper, Marketing, referrals, VO, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover

Nifty SEO/Website Grader

February 18, 2011 By CourVO 5 Comments

The guy I go to when I’m stumped on the web is Brett Bumeter. He’s responsible for convincing me I needed to step-up my blog, and then he almost single-handedly made it happen.

Then he outdoes himself by turning me on to a wonderful, simple, and free website/SEO grader for virtually any website.

WebSiteGrader.com.

Did I mention how simple it was?

Seriously, log on, type in your URL and go. You can type in a competing website if you want, or even your email address for a full report, and the wait is less than a minute for your complete analysis.

They’ll offer your grade out of a-hundred (this blog got – ahem – a 91), then proceed to tell you a wealth of other information, meta-tags, links, social-media connections, readability level, heading and image summaries, domain info, MOZ ranking, SEO anaylsis…and on and on and on.

This will seriously take a minute to generate, and five minutes to read. SIX minutes to a better website.

‘Can’t do better than that!

Thanks, Brett!!

CourVO

Filed Under: Marketing, Web Resources, Web/Tech Tagged With: Brett Bumeter, SEO, SoftDuit.com, VO, voice acting, voice actor, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover talent, Website analysis, Websitegrader.com

10 Big Marketing Stories You Might Have Missed

January 30, 2011 By CourVO 2 Comments

This Hubspot Blog has some killer topics.

I like #9 especially…“Why Your Special Offer Isn’t”

The Social Media stuff I post here usually comes from a good hour’s worth of browsing for just the right thing that can benefit a Voice-actor’s freelance business. I hope you find something here you can use.

CourVO

1. The 6 Essential Steps to Writing a  Killer Press Release

2. How To Use Twitter To Boost Your Google Rankings

3. How To Use Twitter To Boost Your Google Rankings

4.32 SEO Tactics to Avoid in 2011

5. Rethinking the Future of Business Part 1: The State of Corporate Social Media

6. Mobile Trends 2011 for the Realist

7. 23 Reasons To Add Video Blogging To Your Content Repertoire

8. How To Create A [Good] Blogger Pitch

9. Why Your Special Offer Isn’t

10. 10 Top Business Blogs and Why They Are Successful

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/eUcxXz

URL: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/9030/10-Big…

Filed Under: Marketing, Social Media/Networking Tagged With: hubspot, hubspot blog, hubspot.com, Marketing, social Media, VO, voice, voice acting, voice actors, voice artist, voice over, voice talent, voiceover

Turning To Calls For Leads

January 7, 2011 By CourVO 1 Comment

URL: http://technorati.com/business/advertising/article/turn…

This is an interesting turn on an old method of creating leads. “Pay Per Call”.
Maybe it’s for you?

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/gBcBJ2

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: advertisers, banners, impressions, savior, started

Cold Calling Tips For Successful Cold Calls

January 4, 2011 By CourVO 1 Comment

URL: http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/marketing/a/coldcall.htm

‘Not a huge fan of this method for finding new clients, but some voice actors swear by it, and say it’s the ONLY way. ‘Certainly a tool everyone should consider having in their repository. When you need to drag it out and sharpen it up…this is a good article with lots of great ancillary links.

CourVO

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/hycfQH

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: calling, effective, experience, properly, tactic

2010 Top 12 (Plus) Freelance Folder Posts, and #7 is worth the price of admission

January 2, 2011 By CourVO Leave a Comment

URL: http://freelancefolder.com/2010-top-12-plus-freelance-f…

These are the top posts of 2010 for freelancers…and that’s what we are, right? Take the time, read these tips!

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/emQqet

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: 2010--what, freelance folder, launched, medialoot, restarted

September is a BIG Month

August 31, 2010 By CourVO 1 Comment

September holds special promise for Voice Actors everywhere…an opportunity to bring better understanding to our business…a chance to extend your brand with a timely message, and the possibility of growing your business through a unique marketing tool.