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Local Voices

October 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Voices.com is offering a new service as of today that puts you on the map.

The notice I got says it’s: “…a new program that’s designed to expand online exposure for your business and drive qualified traffic to increase your opportunities for voice over work.”

This certainly is consistent with latest social networking moves that take advantage of “location services”.  Think “4-Square”,  ”Loopt”, or “FaceBook Places”.  The service links to Google Maps and your Voices.com account to help create exposure for your business locally.

You can click on Voices.com’s “local Voices” link to get you signed up.  Then Google sends you a PIN and you’re off and running…hopefully augmenting your business.

If you’re a Voices.com member, you should’ve gotten this notice.

CourVO

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

FaceBook Overload

October 15, 2010 By 2 Comments

The world is still on a honeymoon with FaceBook.  You can’t turn anywhere in traditional media or social media without seeing plenty about it.  Even a feature film.  Sheesh!

We’ll see if it lasts (remember MySpace?), but for now it’s the darling of…well…seemingly everyone.

It took me a while to warm up to FB.  To my way of thinking, the interface was counter-intuitive, and it was a clunky service.  Not any more.  This platform is hitting it’s stride, and I’m riding the wave like everyone else.

COUPLA NEW FB NOTES:

If you’re on SKYPE, there’s a new version 5.0 out that now interacts quite nicely with FB.  SKYPE also has over 500-million users, and after EBay sold it, there’s been a resurgence in development over there.  Read this blog about FaceBook integration into Skype.  You’ll need to download the new version, but it saves all your settings.  Here’s another good article about some issues with the FB/SKYPE interface.

Even without that, SKYPE’s new V5.0 has some nice improvements.  Why should you care as a working VO?  ’Cause in my estimation SKYPE is about the easiest way to mount a phone patch this side of Luxembourg (home of SKYPE).

ALSO…shameless plug for my use of another new FB feature:  GROUPS.  Yeah, they had ‘em before, but not like this.  The way they’re configured now, brings the full promise of what they should’ve been all along.  Your “old” groups won’t go away, but you can no longer form groups that way.

The “new” groups allow up to 250 members.  It’s an opt-out configuration, not an opt-in.  That means anyone can start a group and begin populating it with people from among their existing friends.  If you find you’re in a group you don’t want to be in, you must OPT-OUT….and you’ll never be bothered again.  If you like the group you’re in, you can continue adding to the existing group roster from among your own friends.

The new groups also have a chat feature just for people in the group.  There’s also shared documents, a private e-mail address, and other cool toys.  There are ways to configure your privacy as a member of a group that are beyond the scope of this blog, but info is easy to get.  FaceBook founder Mark Zuckerberg REALLY likes GROUPS, and you can expect enhanced functionality from now on for this idea.

Now, here’s the shameless plug:  I had to jump right on the new GROUPS feature (of course!) and it’s alrealdy got 105+ members.  Are you a working Voice Actor?   Are you my “friend” on FB?  Then let me know and I’ll add you!  The  members are public, but the group is closed…meaning info posted there can’t be seen by your other FB friends.

CourVO

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

Lively LinkedIn

October 12, 2010 By 1 Comment

Some of the most erudite, passionate, involved, and thought-provoking VO exchanges are taking place on LinkedIn these days.

Yes, LinkedIn…that serious sibling of the Social Media family.

Groups is where it’s at.  Ed Victor’s “Working Voice Actor Group” seems to be lively, although Lee Gordon’s “Voice Over Professionals” group is busy as well.

I say all this, ’cause I can’t help but chime in once in a while (JS Gilbert has this disease too).

A recent posting in the Working Voice Actor group had a producer from Vancouver saying:  “…I refuse to use Voice123.com It’s ridiculous. We have an ongoing need for experienced and professional Voice actors and announcers with their own home studio, complete with phone patch. We are a Vancouver-based co. that does a lot of work in the US. In most cases, our local talent prices themselves out of the market. I understand and support fair pay, but the market also dictates that, to a point. We need good character actors and interesting announcers. Anyone know of a good place to start to get great voices all in one place?…”

My answer was not one everyone wanted to hear.  Check it out on the LinkedIn Working Voice Actor group.

CourVO

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

Chir.ps

October 6, 2010 By 1 Comment

You know how enamored I am of programs, platforms, or integration that lets you match audio with Social Media.

(See AudioBoo.)

Well, along that vein, check out Chir.ps

This cute idea lets you record something on the spot, and post it right to Twitter.  ’Doesn’t get much simpler or more intuitive than that!

They even give you this basic little graphic of a recorder to orient you to something familiar.

Need to get a quick demo line or two to a prospect?  This might be the ticket.

Give it a whirl, and let me know how it turns out…I’d try it right here and now for a review, but my wife’s asleep behind me, and I don’t think she’d appreciate it.

CourVO

Filed Under: Social/Professional Networking, Technology, Web/Tech Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Who Are You?

September 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lately, that question has not come up much.

In Las Vegas, that’s understandable…but among VO people I’d never met in person at events like VOICE2010 or FaffCon,  it also didn’t come up much.

In fact, one of the FaffCon attendees I’d just met for the first time with a handshake in Portland, OR, quickly blew me off when I offered my name.  ”You’re CourVO,”  he said.  ”Everybody knows who you are!”

That wonderful affirmation to months of  social media work was a balm to my soul.  Whether through hard work, luck, or obsession, I continue to mount a presence on the web that has only benefitted my VO business.

Much of my process comes through trial ‘n’ error and discovery.  I’ve freely shared much of it on the SocialMediaVO website.  I also share free YouTube video-making tips on another site called: OnCamtips.

Paying it forward is part of the deal.  You have to offer something of value with no strings attached.  There are a million other suggestions from so-called Social Media and Social Networking  ”gurus”.

7 Ways to  Acquire The right Kinds of Links to Your Site is another of THOSE articles.  I like this one, ’cause it’s written by a proven performer: Duct Tape Marketing’s John Jantsch, and because it could easily be my own mantra.  I do all 7 of these things.  I’m not saying you should.  Each to their own, and Lord knows, I fall short in a number of online tricks (metrics and SEO to name two).

Check it out, though, John’s article is a quick read, and it all makes sense…whether you know him or not.

CourVO

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

New Frontier

August 23, 2010 By 1 Comment

Every day I’m reminded that we live in swashbuckling times.  Not that we should have parrot on our shoulder, or a snarl on our breath…rather a swashbuckler — in the truest sense — is an adventurer.

Every generation has it’s opportunities for adventure.  Think of the explorers, the railroad or oil barons, even Bill Gates.  Each met a challenge on the frontier — be it Cape Horn, the Wild West, or a threshold of digital technology.

What is the world-changing opportunity lying right under our noses, that history will look back on in 50 years and say:  “Ya know, it really began in 2010…starting small with _________.”?

THE OUTBACK

The last such frontier was computer technology, the internet, the dot.com bubble…each building on the platform of the technology preceding it.  Microsoft and Apple were revolutionary outcomes of electricity, the phone system, and vacuum tubes.  And THOSE advances were built on advances in metallurgy, glassware, and the assembly line.

Make no mistake, THE NEXT BIG THING is forming right now…right here in the US…its nascent stem cells so defying prediction that we can’t see the thing-it-will-be.

Here’s my take on it anyway:  that “next big thing” will be some sort of paradigm, cultural revolution, or gizmo that binds us even more to one another — almost telepathically…and it’s being born in Social Media.

Ah…so that’s what you’re getting at, CourVO!!!…too many late nights on FaceBook!

…JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

But hear me out.  Three little recent developments — perhaps just insignificant baubles in the corporate world — that will be swallowed up by a Google, or a Lenovo, or a Zappos, may be the harbingers.

Gist.  This golden little software/cloud/assistive chunk of digital awareness will help put online social connections in perspective.  You can join online at Gist.com.  You can download the add-on version to MS Outlook, and you can further utilize Gist on your smartphone.  Gist is quietly amazing.  In Outlook (which BTW is not-so-slowly embracing social media itself: see the new OutLook Social Connector), Gist immediately adjusts to each email highlighted, telling you more…much more, about the person who just sent you a message, in the form of links, contact info, and social media sites.  Another great program of this ilk is XOBNI (inbox backwards).

StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit.  I group these together, ’cause they share a similar approach, which is to let YOU choose the headline, the trend, the hot topic. NewsVine is in this category.  Digg — a surprising survivor of Social Media competition — is about to launch a whole new site revamp that everybody is anticipating, and StumbleUpon just launched it’s new iPhone/Android app.  Actually, mobile is EVERYTHING.  Forget, radio, TV, computers…the trend is all towards personal info & communication on the go.

THE NEW WORLD

Which leads to the capper of my little diatribe today:  GeoLocation services.  This sector is going wild. Yelp and Loopt and a hundred other start-ups launched into this sector, built upon the capabilities of  GPS (remember the history lesson above?)   FourSquare popularized it, but over the weekend, FaceBook got on the bandwagon, and Google is right in the mix too, with “Google Places“.

Detractors caution about too freely sharing your whereabouts.  But advertisers are lovin’ this one…offering incentives, coupons, and special buys for those who check-in, reach out and take-advantage.  Amazing stories are emerging of people finding the very person they’re looking for (!) in the next store over, all because they both checked into FourSquare within minutes of each other on their smartphones.

WITHER VO?

Don’t ask me this question!  I’m just a blogger, not Rasputin…but let’s brainstorm for a minute.  Gist is easy:  it puts lots of handy information about possible voice clients and leads right where you can use it… on your computer and your smartphone.  StumbleUpon, Digg, etc. are like mini RSS readers that keep you up on business trends, and might give you ideas for warm-calling certain leads.

But Geo-Location?  I’m coming up blank on this one.  I gotta call my VO bud Terry Daniel who is absolutely rabid about this technology, and have him explain the big advantage for my voice-over business.  Will it help me to know, for instance, that the production supervisor hired by McDonald’s advertising agency is having coffee at the Starbucks just down from where I’m picking up my dry cleaning?  Hmmmm.

Will there be “places” barons in our near future?

CourVO

Filed Under: Social Media/Networking, Social/Professional Networking, SociaMediaVO, Software, Technology, Web/Tech Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Still Think Social Media’s a Waste of Time?

August 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

All trends are pointing to the contrary.

Don’t believe me?..then maybe Roy Wells’ article on the website Social Media Today will convince you.

It’s titled:  Social Networking is Dominating Online Activity.

…and while you’re at it, take a moment to read some of the related posts at the bottom like:

“I only use email to communicate with old people” -and- “Four Things That People Do Online” (very thought-provoking)

Don’t forget our specially-designed web page for voice artists who want to get a handle on social media:  SocialMediaVO.com.

CourVO

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

Social Savvy

August 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Social Media and Social Networking is at the heart of my VO Marketing plan (heh), and if you haven’t yet seen or visited, my friend Terry Daniel and I offer a resource site on Social Media techniques for voice-actors HERE.

Below, I’m repurposing a single page of content from a publication heralding the upcoming Affiliate  Summit in NYC  in a couple of weeks

(already sold out!).  I’m not an affiliate marketer in the truest sense, but the successful ones are staunch apostles of good Social Networking techniques.

Lots of people claim an expertise in Social Media, but over time, you look for the ones that tend to make sense, have good referrals, and offer consistently good content.  Brian Solis is certainly among those who fit that criteria.

He lists below 21 “Best Practices” to navigate almost any Social Media Platform.  Do these, and  reap the rewards!

CourVO

[Read more...]

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

Showcase Your Audio Files on LinkedIn

July 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The more I use it, the more I like LinkedIn.

Aside from hearing the company is now rated in value at $2-Billion (they’re doing something right), the managers continue to make savvy improvements in the interface and presentation that benefit the user…and many of these elements are available, still, for the free membership.

Here’s the latest: “… allowing you to host an unlimited number of multimedia projects that include still images, video reels, text, and/or audio samples….”

Basically, they’re offering an application resulting from a partnership with the Behance Network, allowing you to create a Professional Creative Portfolio Display including (as you saw in the quote from their site above), AUDIO SAMPLES.

You can read all about this new feature on the LinkedIn Blog HERE.

‘Guess I’ve got a little work ahead of me today.

CourVO

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

Be Yourself

July 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ever since VOICE2010, and the wildly acclaimed presentation I did with Terry Daniel on Social Media for VO’s (I lied about the wild acclaim thing, BTW), I’ve had many questions about what a person should “DO” when they finally get somewhat established on these sites…like Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn.

The answer — written succinctly — and explained better than I’ve seen anywhere, is summed-up in THIS article by @thatdamnredhead for Social Media Today.

She expands on everything I’ve tried to say over and over.
.
BE YOURSELF.

CourVO

(P.S. see this link and more tips about Social Media for your VO business on the website http://www.SocialMediaVO.com)

Filed Under: Social/Professional Networking, SociaMediaVO, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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