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Pick me! Pick me!

March 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

choosingLegendary is the childhood schoolyard memory of anyone lining up on sides, and getting picked by a team captain.

If you don’t go as a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd seed…let’s face — it you’re just an also-ran…or the wrong captain picks you, and you’re on the “bad” team.

The “cool” kids always got picked first, and everyone wants to be thought of as cool.  The syndrome can last into adulthood.

Approval Addict?

Since voice actors operate on an individual basis 99% of the time, you always get to be “in the game” as long as you’re still earnestly auditioning, marketing, training, and trying.  When the client picks you…then you’re the cool kid…and that’s probably the only approval process that really matters.

Where the ole story of playground popularity seems to arise among voice-actors these days is being picked online.  First, there are all the forums, groups, communities, and  cyber organizations.  Some of them only require a membership fee to be a cool kid (P2P’s?).  But there, you gotta wonder how exclusive or “cool” is the community if all it takes to get in is the price of admission.

It reminds me of the old cliché quote from Groucho Marx who is attributed with saying:  “I wouldn’t want to be a member of any organization that would have me”.

Then, with other communities, all you have to do is sign-up and you’re in!  But after seeing all the ads,  you realize you’re just another set of eyeballs helping to make the creator of the site a little bit better able to sell ads.

I like the method of  The CyberVoices Forum in the UK.  Under their scenario, you apply to access their online forum, and the administrator in turn puts your name before the other members, and you either make it or not according to the response.

The VO-BB is kinda like that, only the Board Czar — DB Cooper — is the sole gatekeeper, and has well earned the right!vo-bb-a

Terry Daniels runs the FaceBook Group:  Voice-Over Pros, and has the goal of allowing only serious and tenured voice-actors with some jobs under their belt.  His criteria is not posted online, but it’s a fairly elite group.  I administer a popular FaceBook Group online, too called Voice-Over Friends.  I’ve vetted every single person as either a voice-actor or producer, or from some other closely-affiliated association (agents, coaches, etc.)

There are quite a few VO-related LinkedIn groups, and there, too, most creators of the group choose to approve all those who petition to get in.

The Grey Areas

Where you start to feel a little anxious whether you’re being picked for the “good team” is with VO associations that purport to qualify you with more formal rules, and those rules are usually stated, and applied assiduously.  SaVoa tried to do that, but we all know what a disaster that became (if you don’t know, PM me, and I’ll edify you).

wovologo for blogNow, The World-Voices industry trade association is also instituting some clearly-stated entry qualifying criteria along with the application.  A team vets the application, and makes a recommendation to the Executive Board, which votes on the recommendation during a meeting.  (Gone are any “certification”, “endorsing”, or “accreditation” protocols).  The process has been arrived at through a grueling, thoroughly transparent debate, and is always open to reconsideration.

Additionally, the highly regarded FaffCon “un-conference” is adjusting the sign-up procedure as a way to seek some fairness in awarding access to its coveted events.  Chief Faffer, founder, and force behind the meet-up — Amy Snively — along with her highly competent staff is instituting what amounts to a lottery-style process for removing the craziness and unfairness of what has become a rush-to-register.

I’m not about to paraphrase the cogent explanation Amy has so well stated on her site:  FAFFCON REGISTRATION CHANGES. Please visit and read, and if you are so-moved, offer comment.  Several have contributed their well-placed thoughts, and all sides have merit.Faffcamp

The new FaffCon registration process does NOT apply, however, to FaffCamp, where there is limited barrier-to-entry, but still some advance rules of registration apply for sake of event-planning purposes.

It’s nice to feel you belong…even nicer when you’ve truly earned that right, and it’s recognized.

Associations don’t create exclusive “online country clubs” for VO’s.  It’s no one’s intent to keep uncool kids out.  They do it to reward those who’ve paid their dues the hard way…not with money — but experience, reputation, and earned relationships.

Don’t worry about being picked for the “right” team.  Work hard, practice harder, find success…and “cool” will find YOU.

CourVO

Filed Under: Meet-Ups, Networking, Professional Organizations, Relationships Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Pareto Principle for Voice Overs

September 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Also known as the 80/20 rule…the Pareto Principal, is “… named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population; he developed the principle by observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas…” (Wikipedia: Pareto Principle)

‘Turn out the 80/20 rule applies to a lot of human endeavour too.  It can be paraphrased as “…80 percent of your outcomes come from 20 percent of your inputs…”  (What Is The 80/20 Rule And Why It Will Change Your Life).

As a closet sociologist, I’ve long been aware of the 80/20 rule.  Examples:  20% of any church congregation will get 80% of the word done; at charitable functions 20% of the regular attendees will give 80% of the donations;  in any newsroom, 80% of the good story ideas come from 20% of the staff.

But in researching this blog, I was astounded at all the business applications there are for this principle:

Affordable Care Act’s Medical Loss Ratio Rule
The 80-20 Rule and its Challenge for the Cloud
The 80-20 Rule in Relationships and Your Love Life

So how can you apply the 80-20 rule to your voice acting business?

  • Perhaps the best application is realizing which of your clients represent the 20% that give you back 80% of your job satisfaction or provide 80% of your income, and make sure you put them as a priority in customer service and customer care.  You want them.  You need them.  Working with them is a pleasure.
  • I suspect the 80-20 rule works in VO marketing as well.  20% of your marketing efforts (calls, newsletters, promotions, etc.) result in 80% of your jobs.  Personally, I suspect that’s the optimum.  I’d LOVE for 20% of my marketing efforts to result in 80% of my income…for many of us, it may be much lower when you start.
  • I’d be ecstatic if 20% of my auditions resulted in 80% of the work I get, but sadly, the Pareto Principle does not seem to be active in the crazy world of VO auditions.  Is it for you?
  • Clearly, though 20% of voice over practioners are driving 80% of the VO culture.  I’m comforted, but sometimes saddened to see the same friendly faces supporting the causes, carrying the online conversation, attending the conferences, and setting the pace for the other 80% of the VO population.

But there IS value in the 80/20 rule for your VO business.  Again, from the 2006 article by Yaro Starak:  “…Find the products or services that generate the most income (the 20 percent) and drop the rest (the 80 percent) that only provide marginal benefits. Spend your time working on the parts of the business that you can improve significantly with your core skills and leave the tasks that are outside your best 20 percent to other people. Work hardest on elements that work hardest for you. Reward the best employees well, cull the worst. Drop the bad clients and focus on upselling and improving service to the best clients…”

Want to look more into the 80-20 principle?  See: LIVING THE 80/20 WAY, by Richard Koch.

Finally, here’s a fantastic infographic explaining the 80-20 principle for small businesses (that’s us!)
Click to enlarge.

CourVO

Filed Under: Relationships Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Voice and Studio’s Tom Moog Q & A

July 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

What was I saying just last week about the proliferation of online “community sites” for voice-actors?  (See:  Can VO be TOO Social?)

Among the plethora of current choices is a relatively new online site called Voice and Studio – The fastest growing media professional’s network in the world.

Voice and Studio has a welcoming and friendly feel.  Many of the voice-actors you’ll find already signed-up may be your friends.  I’m there and happy to be so…but I admit I have not found much time to linger and play around much.

There’s plenty of tools that let you join in, fill-out your profile, connect with friends, interact, post pics and videos, and find information.  In that sense, though, it’s not a whole lot different than some other sites that came along earlier.

I approached the self-admitted “chief cook and bottle washer” in the kitchen at V&S  — Tom Moog — and he graciously agreed to supply me with a few answers to my questions.  I especially like his answer to question #9 about Can VO be Too Social?

You’ll find that interview below.

Many thanks, Tom, and best of luck with your “baby”!

CourVO

1)    Tom, give us a quick idea about your background.  What’s your experience in Voice Overs, and how it brought you to where you are today.

I started in broadcast radio back on August 1, 1990 (The day before Desert Storm erupted). I have since worked on the air in markets all over the USA. Back in 1993, I built my first multi-track studio. Back in those days, there weren’t any computer editors. Everything was done on tape. It would take hours of time and a lot creativity to manipulate the equipment to produce something back then that can be done in 10 to 15 minutes with today’s technology.

Since then, I have been the image voice of many radio and television stations around the world. In recent years, I have started voicing network TV and other national projects as well. I have become known in some circles as the “go-to guy” for studio construction and voice over advice. Some of my clients won’t use new voice talent until they talk to me (because “I know what they want”).

2)    Why did you launch Voice and Studio?  What was the perceived need, or how did it fulfill YOU?

The short answer is that “I saw a need for it”.

One of the areas where I had difficulty in the beginning was in marketing. It seemed that there just weren’t any good places to go about “hanging my shingle” without spending a fortune. Everywhere I promoted my voice over services, I generated more interest from people who were interested in a career in voice overs, rather than the inflow of new voice work I had hoped for.

It got to be so overwhelming to respond to all of those people that I added a simple forum to my website where questions could be asked and I could answer them once. It was much easier to direct those people to my forum than it was to compose an answer to the same questions several times over.

The forum became rather busy with activity in a relatively short time. It became apparent that this forum was taking on a life of its own and needed to become its own entity. I moved the forum to its own domain and operated it as a completely different site. My interest in niche sites was born. Over time, other sites came along that had more offerings than my simple forum-based site.

Now, the web is covered over in social networking with sites like facebook and LinkedIn. I noticed that there are many “groups” that are targeted to voice talent, radio people and producers within those sites. At the end of the day, however, those sites are a mainstream “one size fits all” sort of venue that will work in the absence of something better. That’s where Voice and Studio comes in.

I get fulfillment from the site from many different angles. First, it is extremely gratifying when you have come up with something that others find value in. Second, when I got started doing voice overs, there was nowhere to turn for any type of “peer support”. I had questions that nobody was willing to give the answers to. I navigated the first several years of my voice over career totally in the dark. I have always felt that it is better to help each other than it is to try to keep the others down, so it has kind of been my quest to help anyone I can.

3)    What is the website based on?…a .ning site?  Did you depend on someone else to help you design it and launch it…or is this YOUR baby from top to bottom?

When I had the idea to create Voice and Studio, a friend of mine suggested that I use ning. I looked at it and studied it from the inside out. Over the years, I have seen hosted solutions come and go. The last thing I wanted to do is to wake up one morning and find out that all of my efforts, as well as those of the members had vanished overnight.

Voice and Studio spent over a year in the “drawing board” stages before the first piece of code was ever written. I talked to voice talent and producers almost daily for months asking for input on what would make such a site great. A list of “Must haves”, “Would be nice” and “Don’t needs” was compiled and edited over and over again until there was a first concept. A “facebook-ish” front end was selected because the interface would be familiar for newcomers. People who see it for the first time are greeted with a sense of “Oh, I know how this works!”

A search for the perfect server script was completed, a script was selected, a server was leased and the site was installed. Months were spent making changes, both large and small. Features were added and the site was released to a 10 people who would then “push all of the buttons” and make sure that everything worked. Problems were reported and corrected. By this time, it was already time to renew the domain since it was set to expire just days after the site was “ready”.

In late February, I went to the “CRS” (Country Radio Seminar) in Nashville, TN and officially launched the site. All Access Music Group (A broadcast website run by Joel Denver – A legendary syndicated radio show host) ran a story on the new site in their news section. Immediately, voice talent and studio producers began to populate the site. 2 days later when returning home, there were over 100 new profiles that had been created.

To date, I am the Chief, Cook and Bottle-washer. I run the site updates. I work security. I am the Moderator and the Administrator. It takes a tremendous amount of time to make the site work each day, but it is worth it in the end. I got a call from a friend and fellow voice talent on a Sunday morning at 6am. He frantically told me that the site was gone. I was able to restore the site from a backup that had been taken just 4 hours prior to the crash. I spent the rest of the day tracking down the issue that caused the problem in the first place. It would be great to have someone I could call and say “fix it” to, but at this time, it’s just me.

4)    What goals, hopes, and dreams do you have for Voice and Studio?

I am looking forward to the day when the site grows to the point where it can no longer be hosted on a single server. It is my intention and desire to create a venue that every voice talent knows about and finds to be a valuable resource. The goal is that the site comes to the point where the members of Voice and Studio feel compelled to come to the site as often as they check in on facebook.

5)    What has been the response so far?

The response has been better than I expected. All of the comments I have received have been positive. There have been vendors who have given away really nice prizes on the site, and many who are eager to participate in future contesting on the site.

6)    How do you propose to continue to generate interest in the site?…contests?  Jobs?

Contesting has been a great way to generate not only interest, but also participation on the site. Just as on any other social site, it is the members who create the content of the site. The members are the band as well as the dancers here. All I am doing at this point is providing a dance hall, security to keep out the riff-raff, a stage and a prize for the best dancers.

The site is still small. It is only 6 months out of the gate. With that in mind, the site still has a small following. This increases everyone’s odds of winning a prize on the site – and the prizes are all relevant to the members. It’s all related. As time goes by and there are more members, the prizes will increase in value and there will be more of them “up for grabs”. All of the contests are participation based. None of the winners are selected in a random drawing.

“Participation” can be anything as simple as updating your status, to uploading demos, images or videos and even altering your profile. The back end of the site keeps track of member activity and generates a list of the most active members. The numbers are reset prior to each new contest, so everyone has a chance. Those who have been members since the beginning don’t have an unfair advantage over new-comers.

Additionally, future plans are to bring on a couple of freelance staffers to handle things like writing industry news and generating other content of interest to the members. In addition, I am hoping to bring in people to handle webmaster duties and other technical tasks once the site grows to a point where I cannot handle it alone.

Finally, the content provided by the members will generate interest as well. Friendships are being forged every day between members.

 7)    What is your administration style?…i.e. is there a stated “Terms of Agreement” or stated rules governing conduct on the site?

There are “Terms Of Service” which can be viewed at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of every page on the site. If and when those terms are ever modified, a site-wide announcement is made with an invitation to view the new terms. The short of it is that everyone should treat each other respectfully. There are already enough sites out there where the members get into flaming contests with each other.

I understand that everyone on the site has interests other than voice overs. It is encouraged for members to share all of their interests on their wall. Voice and Studio is by no means limited to only pertinent topics. There are places on the site that are “on topic” areas, but member profiles are theirs and can be used in any way they choose.

As the site’s Administrator, I prefer to be looked upon as just another member, as opposed to trying to look like the Police Department. I am not here to interfere with the members; rather, I like just being one of the members. My primary roles are to keep the site up and running, to help members who have questions and to keep the spammers away.

That said, I do realize that there is a common thread that draws people to the site, and that the members of niche sites like Voice and Studio come from all walks of life. In the real world, some people just won’t get along, so it is unreasonable to expect otherwise on the Internet. In fact, it has been my experience that people tend to be a bit more bold and abrasive online than they would be on the street. In cases where a problem may arise where intervention is required, I would rather act as a mediator and not to take sides than to take on the role of “Judge and Jury”. I do not want to be the “disciplinarian”.

8)    You have a “Marketplace” category.  Was it your hope that this would become a place to post and find jobs?

The Marketplace on Voice and Studio is a place that has several functions. Think of it like a sort of a targeted “Craigslist”. Members can post free classified ads. It doesn’t necessarily need to be studio or VO related. I suppose that if a member has a cow to sell, that would be okay too, although I don’t know how much success one would have advertising livestock on a voiceover website.

Sales have already been made from the classifieds on the site. I have a few things listed myself… no takers on my used gear yet, though. I know that we have a couple of members that like to buy new stuff, try it out and then sell it off. As the site population increases, their chances to selling their gear, as well as someone getting some lightly used gear at a good price increases. No, I don’t take a commission from the sales.

There is also a casting section in the marketplace. There is actually a shortcut button in the top menu bar to get to it. I have posted a casting call up to find a voice in one of my projects. In the future, I will market the casting feature to agencies who use different voice talent as a venue to search for the right voice.

9)    Personally, I think that there’s room for as much social interaction on the web within niche professions as there are people interested in being there, but some point out that there IS a point of diminishing returns, and that it spreads everyone too thin.  How would you answer that charge?

I totally agree with that, Dave. I think that the big variable here is the quality of the sites people choose to join versus the time they have to spend on them collectively. I have seen sites that looked like they were a great idea, but appeared to have never been finished. I have seen others that are very polished and professional with incomplete member profiles.

Signing up for every single niche site we can find is neither productive nor is it a good use of time. How much time each day do we want to dedicate to social networking? It is important that we market ourselves and socialize not only on as many sites as we are willing to be active on and spend time on, but also that we take the time to complete our profiles and make the best use of as many of the resources offered by each site. Look at each site before joining and mentally figure out what kind of benefit and mileage you can get from it.

A large percentage of the population will sign up on a site, poke around a bit and then move on to the next site before finishing with the one they already started, never to return. An unfinished profile and a lack of participation leave the impression of a person who doesn’t finish what they start. Each person has to decide how much time they are willing to spend on social sites and only join as many as they can handle in that amount of time. If they are on 6 sites with 3 completed profiles, then they are on 3 too many.

10)  What are your immediate and long-range plans for Voice and Studio?  Has it become a time-suck?…a pet-project?…or career vector for you?  (or other?).

In the short term, there are a lot of upgrades and new features in the hopper. For example, we are working on becoming more current with a timeline for each user. There are also more stability upgrades and a new theatre-style image gallery in the works. We are also working on giving the members a choice to make things in their profile “private”

“Has it become a time-suck?” Absolutely! I spend anywhere between 4 and 5 hours a day on average on the site. There are many nights that I leave to go have dinner, put the kids to bed and come right back and work on the site until late at night. Most of that time is spent looking for ways to attract new members, negotiating with vendors for giveaway prizes and working on development of new features while trying to figure out how to get rid of the spammers.

It sort of started out as a pet project, but with the goal of growing it into something really big and useful. I don’t necessarily see this site in and of itself to become a career for me, although it has been suggested that I could monetize the site without diminishing the quality of the site for the members. While my wife would be grateful for some compensation for sitting at home watching TV by herself, I suppose that the first step is to get the site to a point where it can pay its own rent on the server.

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

How Social Media Leads to VO Jobs

May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In June, Terry Daniel, Trish Basanyi and I will be presenting on this very topic at VOICE2012 . That’s not all we’ll be talking about, of course, but that’s what everyone wants to know.  “How do you work Twitter or FaceBook so that it leads to jobs?”

‘Get that question all the time.

I understand the quandary.  It’s not a direct relationship.  You can’t see the car up ahead.  It’s through the tunnel or around the curve.

Basically, the thinking goes like this:

The Social Network connection leads to a conversation.
The conversation engenders familiarity.
The familiarity opens up a relationship.
The relationship breeds trust over time.
The trust prompts a job opportunity.

It needs to be this way for it to be legitimate.  And the job opportunity means you’ve done your homework, and you are ready to make the most of the opportunity when it arises.  This is when you “close the sale” so to speak.  But by then, you’re in the relationship, and both you and the other party are a known quantity, and there’s little stress or discomfort, so it’s not a hard close like a life insurance salesman on an awkward first-time call to your house.  It’s more like the friend you’ve had over for dinner, and “Oh, by the way…you do voice work, right?…well, there’s something we need you for in our shop…”

The author of the blog DUCT TAPE MARKETING, John Jantsch, wrote an excellent article on this recently.

His flow goes like this:  Know, Like, Trust, Try, Buy, Repeat and Refer.

Read more about it in his blog:  The Incredibly Logical Way to Manage Customer Relationships.

He makes a lot of sense.

You coming to VOICE2012?  ‘Hope so!

CourVO

 

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

VO-MOtivation

February 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sometimes you can OVER think things.

Other times, you really SHOULD take a moment to think things through.

Today’s American rarely thinks through their motivations…so driven are we to produce, achieve, accumulate…or just NOT get left behind.  The urgent supersedes the important.

Since late last Summer, I’ve watched voice talent pro Amy Snively get motivated.  I really should find out what spark ignited her.  Because I want some of it.

Snively (rhymes with lively) is the driving force behind FaffCon.  To her credit, she’s surrounded herself with really smart, capable helpers, and she knows how to delegate, ask, cajole, and otherwise convince people to pitch in.

Her single-minded dedication to making FaffCon a success (two times over, now) prompts me to think about motivation.

I’m not gonna get too philosphical on you, here…but walk with me…willya?

This exercise may help you in choosing VO directions.

THE THREE HUMAN NEEDS DETERMINING MOTIVATION

Competition-Driven:  The need to achieve, produce, compare status, and out-do the next guy.  (NASCAR driver?)

Power/Money Driven: To heck with the competition…this motivator is the need to control and enjoy influence over others. (politicians?)

Community Driven: The need to belong, contribute, associate, and build relationships.  (mentors?)

We all have some combination of these three, but it seems to me the voice talent I’ve met exhibit a wealth of the third determiner….and Amy seems to have an overflowing cup of it.  How cool is that?…’cause it benefits us all.

Amy is creating a community of community-oriented voice-talent.  That’s what FaffCon is at its core.  VO givers..giving.

Competition drives me to be better…
The need to have money to live comfortably is strong…
But nothing makes me feel more humanly fulfilled than helping someone else.

No wonder Snively rhymes with lively…

CourVO

P.S. Abraham Maslow is the father of Modern Management, even though his main work came out during WWII.  A lynchpin of his theory of work motivation is: “Human needs arrange themselves in hierarchies of pre-potency. That is to say, the appearance of one need usually rests on the prior satisfaction of another, more pre-potent need. Man is a perpetually wanting animal. Also no need or drive can be treated as if it were isolated or discrete; every drive is related to the state of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of other drives.”

To read more about Maslow, see his Theory of Motivation.

Filed Under: Relationships, Ruminations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Conversation = Jobs

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Actually, it’s more like: Social Media —-> Conversation——> Relationships——> Jobs.

I know it’s not for everybody, and it doesn’t work the same for everybody, and it should not be your sole source of marketing, but I’ve found it fruitful for MY voice over business.  Are you on b0ard?

Case in point:  I started the “Voice Over Friends” FaceBook group a couple of months ago when FB changed the way “groups” are configured.  Now the VO Friends group has almost 165 voice actors sharing freely, and this offer today on the group from Michael Minetree of MineWurx Studios:

Hello again.
We’re sending out another wide net for MEDICAL DEMOS from American Male – British Male and British Female.
We are compiling a reference list for one of our clients. Please submit your medical demos tomed_demo@minewurx.com.
You are also welcome to pass this announcement onto your fellow colleagues, VO peeps and casting sites. Anyone is welcome to submit.
Please tag submissons:
FirstName_LastName_http://www.facebook.com/l/aa8a28PZEVkIYCzDasczquWx7_A;Medical.mp3
Thanks,
Michael

Yesterday, this link came to me from voiceover artist John Grove:  http://televisionnetworking.ning.com/group/provovoicetalent.

It’s another (yes another) online community for voice talent based on the same ning configuration as Zurek’s VU.  Who knows?  It’s free to join, and gets your name out there in still another way.

Start a conversation with someone, you never know if it might lead to a job…if not…it’s all about relationship anyway.

CourVO

Filed Under: Relationships Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Butterfly Effect

June 8, 2010 By 1 Comment

Judging by the flurry of social media invitations I’ve received in the last 36 hours, I’d have to say there’s at least some truth to the Butterfly Effect.  You know…the loosely-held theory that even the beat of a Butterfly’s wings somehow sets off a chain of events of unanticipated and incalculable results across the world, forever set in motion, never to be rescinded.

The idea was played out in a  2004 movie by the same name starring Ashton Kutcher.

In other words, our actions are only part of a dynamic system that constantly fluctuates and responds to the actions of those around us resulting in a never-ending, changing sum of consequences.  Heavy, huh?

VO people are investing more time in FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, ostensibly on the urging of Terry Daniel and myself in what was hoped to be a persuasive presentation of the benefits of social networking for your voice-over business.

I’d like to think our talk had that kind of power…but really, most of those in attendance had some inkling there was a treasure-trove to be had online, they just needed a nudge.

I’m a big proponent of the potential of social media, but VOICE2010 was the butterfly effect that VOICE2008 set in motion.  That event two years ago, set up a wave that crashed ashore last weekend.  Email, Twitter, and FaceBook make for wonderful relationships, but they don’t replace a face-to-face encounters.  They’re practice.  Prologue.  Face-time is the result.  Humans are just built that way.

Terry and I met on the phone every week for two months.  We exchanged scads of emails. yet it was the synergy of our persons sharing the same space in the physical world that  had impact.  The result you saw onstage — in person — made a bigger, longer-lasting impression than ANY webinar, or teleseminar could EVER make.

So here’s a toast to the virtual world, and the entré it gives us to deeper meaning in the real world!

So keep the tweets, invitations, and notices coming…I’m ready for VOICE2011!

CourVO

Filed Under: Relationships Tagged With: , , , , , ,

All GOOD Stories are Personal

January 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There are stories and then there are stories.  Here’s why the personal story is the only good story:

Story 1:  The Las Vegas unemployment rate topped 13% last month.  This is a true story, one that appeared as an item on many news products in Las Vegas.  It is accurate, timely, and indicative of the times.  It’s says very little, though, in and of itself.

Story 2:  Jeremy hasn’t been able to find a job in his field as an ironworker for 6 months in Las Vegas.  He’s foreclosing on his mortgage, changing plans to send his daughter to college, and his wife has had to go to work for the first time in their lives.  This is also a true story, accurate, timely and indicative.  Yet, Jeremy’s story and many other individual stories of loss in this recession touches a nerve with anyone who has a heart.  It’s personal.  Many feel Jeremy’s pain.

ONE PERSON, ONE STORY
There are over 2,000 foster children in Clark County, NV…the county where Las Vegas is located.  You can report that tragic fact, but it’s almost impossible to get your head around it.  That’s why every week, I choose one child or one sibling set, and profile their unique personality, face, and needs on the Wednesday’s Child program.  THAT connects with people who hear the story.  Not 2,000.

You put focus on a story that deserves attention by profiling ONE who is affected, and forcing each single viewer to FEEL that one person’s pain.

All GOOD stories are personal.

GOODBYE TRADITIONAL MEDIA, HELLO NEW MEDIA
You could say that the whole approach of Newspapers, Radio and TV in the first place (one-to-many distribution) is like Story #1.  The only thing that saves it are the personalities involved, who are trained to perform as if they are speaking one-on-one to their friend.  That, and the fact that each radio player, TV set, and newspaper is yours and yours alone to own, hold, hear, and see.  That makes it also seem personal.

But the days of one-to-many stories are waning and will continue to diminish.

This is why Social Media: Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, and yes, even email are booming.  It’s a one-to-one paradigm.  It’s personal.  It’s a good story BECAUSE it’s personal.

Sure, you can send a message to your 17,000 Twitter followers in a shotgun approach, but when this follower or that follower responds individually, there’s a tug on your conscience to respond.  It’s personal.

PEOPLE ARE SMART (and fed up)
Billboards, TV ads, classified ads, $1-million SuperBowl ads, and magazines are suffering. People tune out mass ads, they unfollow obvious Twitter spam, and dodge marketing scams.  People are smarter.  They see through it.

This is why the new gestalt surrounding successful Twitter connections is based on a good story that’s personal.  You don’t even get to first base until you’re sincere, genuine, personal.

And forget Twitter for a second.  FaceBook is even more wildly popular than Twitter if you believe growth estimates.  Why?  FaceBook is a picture, and a profile, and favorite movies, and your birthday, and photos, and music and books…and on and on and on about who YOU are.  It’s personal, and it’s a good story BECAUSE it’s personal.

THE VALUE FOR VOICE ACTORS
Is all this good?  Yeah.  I think so.  It’s a direct result of cultural change following technological advancement (just like TV was a radical change for its time).  That brought masses of people into a common experience.  But it wasn’t really personal.

Now, like never before, you have a chance to get personal.  All the avenues are there.  Social Media is creating opportunities like never before to make a personal connection with someone who is in a position to make something happen for your career.

Not getting enough work as a voice actor?  Seeking an agent?  Needing more connections to juicy jobs, leads, and studios?  Get personal. MAKE it personal.

When you think about the jobs you ARE getting, or HAVE gotten, there was a personal connection somewhere along the line.

All good stories are personal. 

Yours is. 

Use it.

CourVO

Filed Under: Op/Ed, People, Relationships Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

NYC Countdown

December 2, 2009 By 1 Comment

2ndannual75 Look, I don’t wanna get ahead of myself, but in about 48 hours, I’m gonna climb onto a big bird and fly to the Big Apple.  The next two days at work will seem extra loooong.

The 2nd Annual NY VoiceOver Mixer is this Saturday night, and that means so many of my virtual friends will become real people…I mean, I’ll finally get a chance for some face time with those who are heretofore lines in an e-mail, or voices on a phone.

That kind of relationship tells you a lot about someone, but sooner or later, ya gotta “seal the deal”.  In other words, there’s nothing like a real meet-up in physical space.

So who reading this is planning to attend?  How will I find you? 

The official RSVP list says some 220 will be there.  Can you imagine THAT many people who TALK for a living, all talking at the same time in the same room?  Too cool!

My guess is, if you aren’t already signed-up, it’s not too late. So join in if there’s a chance at all!

To me, the networking, and the relationships are what this is all about..  I’m having too much fun even thinking about it.  My cup runneth over.

CourVO

Filed Under: Meet-Ups, Relationships Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

10 Things all VO’s Should Do in December

December 1, 2009 By 2 Comments

19149012 Ah, the month all procrastinators hate!  This is it, after all…no more putting off IFF you want to get it done this year (serious procrastinators cheerily look to 2010 with no shame or guilt).

So here’s a short checklist of things you may want to consider for your voice-acting business before New Year’s rolls around:

1-Get out all those invoices to delinquent accounts with maybe a few strong words about how you’ve been patient enough, thankyou.

2-While you’re at it, be sure to pay-off OTHER freelancers (SEO gurus, writers, graphic artists, etc.) the money you owe THEM.

3-Download all of 2009’s financial records from your bank into your accounting software.

4-Revisit whatever 2009 New Year’s resolution list you had, and try to squeeze-in at least one more undone item.

4-Back-up your hard drive’s documents, sound-files, and pictures…in short, any personally-generated files that you can’t just reinstall from the original disks. (You should be doing this every week, actually)

6-Now that you’ve got almost a year’s worth of data behind you, run a Google Analytics check on the traffic to your website or blog.  It’s a treasure-trove.

7-Fire off an email-or-two to your favorite client, thanking them for their steadfastness and help in 2009, and reminding them you stand ready to help them with their projects for 2010.

8-Plan now for whatever coaching, conferences, or business seminars you need to attend in other cities or states.  (Seriously consider VOICE2010…it’ll be the best!)

9-Pay any State dues, fees, or what-have-you to keep your business license up-to-date.

10-Start thinking about a serious 2010 News Year’s Resolution list for your business.  Be honest.  Aim high.  Write down anything that comes to mind.

BONUS ITEM: Pick at least one person – a mentor or supporter – who made a difference in being there for you when you were in a valley of VO, and tell them how much you cherish their friendship and ask them what you can do for them.

CourVO

Filed Under: Follow-up, Friends, People, Relationships Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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