How Social Media Leads to VO Jobs

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

 

‘Coupla Noteworthy Deadlines

My my how time flies!

A minute ago VOICE2012 was more than half-a-year off, and now it’s about a month-and-a-half away…how does that happen?

Executive producers of the VO conference James Alburger and Penny Abshire have sent out about a million notices about today’s deadline.  The BEST pricing for the conference ends today.

Need some encouragement that your dollars are well-spent for this conference?   I’ve talked about that in a previous blog(5  VOICE2012 Myths Dispelled)…and all of it is still true.  :)

Visit this page to take care of the VOICE2012 registration today.

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About a month ago, I published a blog that got more than 5,000 hits.  It was an interview with a friend who made a long list of suggestions for tapping into CraigsList as a job resource. (Cracking Craigslist).

That friend — John Breese — is selling off his Craigslist site, and the rights to his course.  Until May 4th, his course (typically $37), is now on sale for less than half that price.  I promised him I would pass along this information to all of you who found his tips so helpful.  I have not reviewed this course, but I believe in the value that John places in the products he releases.

Click HERE to read more about the offer, and at a price that costs less than 4 gallons of gas.

CourVO

 

 

A Note About Thank You Notes

This blog is to remind me to say thank you.

Actually, I love to say thank you, especially to my clients…and I do it often.  But I’ve never sent a physical thank you note to a client in my life.

That’s gotta change.

I figure there’s one rule:  Keep it simple and sincere.  No ulterior motives. No biz card included. No upsell implied.

It might not even hurt to include a small gift, like a Starbucks card…but no branding elements.

What to say?  Well, there are a lot of thoughts about that, and below is a list of some of the best suggestions I’ve been able to find on the subject.  Glean what you can, but remember, the best approach is simple and sincere…no ulterior motives.  Thank you is thank you.

How To Write a Thank You Note

Crafting Thank You Notes

Writing a Personal Thank You Note

Thank You Note Samples

Sending Thank You Notes

CourVO

It’s the Bomb!

Video is in.

Big woop CourVO!…uh, I think we knew that.

No, I mean, really…even if you don’t want to be on camera…you should learn to work with images, take videos, edit montages, graphics, and even think about posting your demos with a video cover (talk to Peter O’Connell…he’s tops on this!).

Just look at the crazy, wildly ubiquitous, more-than-a-trend, hands-down incredible and continuing success of  YouTube.  ‘Second-ranked search service in the world next to Google (which owns YouTube, BTW).  See VO Pro Bill DeWees’ 100th instructional YouTube video.  He gets it!

Me?  I’ve been in video since the late 70′s, and I’m so jaded to the advantages of being on cam, that I’ve taken it for granted.  No more.

Recently, I’ve discovered and subscribed to a video email service, and I plan to start using it as a marketing tool, for follow-up, and everyday contact.

BombBomb.com

Yeah, maybe a funny name, but this is an innovative, agile, and hard-working company that keeps adding value to my investment.  I can choose from scores of pre-designed templates to insert my video into — making it basically a video newsletter –complete with logo, contact information, links, and more.  You can set up distribution lists and even “drip” your messages out on a schedule and get metrics back.  It’s very much a CRM tool.  Create embeddable forms and for your website or blog…I could go on…there are a lot of features.

Record your videos separately (it imports all the popular formats), or record your video from within the program itself, insert in a template, and send in seconds.  They give you a free trial period of two weeks, I think…and have reasonable rates.

Here’s a look at a little template I cooked up in a few minutes (click to enlarge):

 

The folks at BombBomb are very customer-service oriented, helpful, responsive, and willing to listen to your ideas to make their product better.  On sign-up, they’ll even custom-make you a couple of templates for starters.

If you decide to contact ‘em…tell ‘em you saw it here, and we’re both better off!

CourVO

SAG/AFTRA SAY YES”

…and they did it with an overwhelming majority.  Henceforth it’s SAG-AFTRA.

Still lots of work to be done, and lots of questions to be answered, but it’s been a long time in coming, and I can’t help but think it’s a good thing.

LINKS TO HELPFUL ARTICLES:

LA TIMES
DUES WILL CHANGE
LA TIMES BLOG
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
VARIETY
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

CourVO

Cracking CraigsList

Newspapers hate CraigsList because it DESTROYED their classifieds (and their revenue).  Most everyone else loves CraigsList…but as a lead-generating source for voice over jobs?  Meh.

Like Guru, O-Desk, Elance, and a number of other online freelance job clearinghouses, CraigsList — at first blush — looked to many of us as a decent possible source of leads.  A lot of it turned out to be doggy-do.

In the interim, CraigsList has had to change some of its protocols and those who were initially discouraged are now returning to the fold for a smarter, more consistent method of searching for VO jobs in all geographic areas.  The result is an encouraging job-generating regimen that at times can yield surprisingly lucrative gigs.

You have to remember:  the average Joe has NO CLUE where to find a decent voice-actor.  Ebay is well known, but it’s about goods.  Where to turn for services?  CraigsList often is top-of-mind, then, in a search for talent.

John Breese

I hope my Chicago-based VO friend, Bill DeWees won’t mind my mentioning that I’ve been impressed with his formula for sussing out VO jobs on CraigsList.

HOWEVER, one of my favorite places to make connections with professionals — LinkedIn — recently led me to a man by the name of John Breese – a Strategic Partnership Consultant, Direct Response Copywriter, Marketing Consultant  and self-described CraigsList expert.

I asked John if he’d feel comfortable sharing some of his knowledge about CraigsList for my blog readers, and he was most gracious in reply…that’s my nice way of saying his answers below are a bonanza of information.

Thank You John!

Q & A on CraigsList below:

[Read more...]

CourVO on Blue Blog

At the most recent CES confab in Vegas, I ran into one of my all-time favorite many-times-over-entrepreneur, John Pozadzides (his friends call him John-P).

We crashed into each other at the Blue Microphone exhibit, cause, well…let’s face it… they have the coolest stuff!  Also, John is the creative force behind Geek Beat TV, and was conducting an interview with Blue’s Hillary Money.  I blogged about the experience: “3 New Blues at CES”, where you can watch John’s video interview of the encounter.

My contact with Hillary, though, resulted in her inviting me to be interviewed for Blue’s Blog.  Her questions mostly revolved around the voice-acting business, my experiences as a voice over artist, and the use of mics in my job.

The blog is now published, and it’s a quick read: Blue Notes.

Very soon, Blue is going to release it’s newest gem:  The Blue Spark Digital for use with iOS devices and USB connectors.  Hillalry has promised an evaluation model for a review on this blog.  So watch for it.

Let me know what you think of the interview.

CourVO

 

 

Details Details

Every time I rub shoulders with VO elite (a la FaffCon), I’m reminded of how well they handle the detail of their business.

Most of us want to run headlong into being better talent, and finding new voicing techniques, but the good freelance business owners are developing new job prospects, and taking care of their current ones by using solid business practices.  Most have found tools and routines that save time, track important metrics, and handle details that should never be overlooked.

Although I’m not inspired, here, by any session I attended this last weekend on business practices, I must confess a deep frustration with my current accounting system.  Keeping track of work, invoicing, scheduling, payments, purchases, follow-up, and the like.

I use the highly-recommended QuickBooks, but I’m about to bail out.  First of all, I detest their annual “upgrade” ploy that makes you feel like last year’s program is now dog-poop, and that you should immediately purchase their latest and greatest version with improvements too numerous to mention.

Secondly, it keeps telling me I can’t do things.  Hey, I bought this program, I’ll use it like I want!  Aside from being obstinate and rebellious, I just don’t have the time to take a class on using QuickBooks — insisted upon by my CPA.  I pay him too, and he’ll just have to accept my financial data in the form I give it to him!  [see how I have this magical way of digging myself deeper?]

Regardless the pros ‘n’ cons of QuickBooks, I keep hearing fantastic things about the following trio of strictly online tools that I hope will replace my accounting software, my CRM management, and my follow-up system of invoicing and tracking paymements.

OUTRIGHT.com is described as an Online Accounting and Small Business Bookkeeping Software for small businesses.  The site claims: “…All in one place! No more spreadsheets, piles of paper, and sticky notes everywhere…”  The thought of having all my financial data “in the cloud” instead of having to rely on ONE computer stacked with all my financial records really appeals to me.  All I hope is that they have ironclad security.

FreshBooks.com is described as “…the fastest way to track time, organize expenses, and invoice your clients…”  You can brand everything you send out with your own logo, and it integrates with Outright.com.  Right now, I’m still using a spiral notebook to do all that Freshbooks could do for me.

BatchBook.com is an online  Customer Relationship Management tool with a specifically Social Media bent.  Using a shared address book, Social Media savvy, lists of contacts, integration with FreshBooks, MailChimp, Google, etc., iPhone support, and the ability to track leads (among other things) Batchbook might just be the best thing that came into my life since my youngest daughter was born 18 years ago yesterday. :)

Honorable MentionZoho CRM.  Lately, I’ve been digging deep into Zoho’s incredibly broad suite of online tools, and I’m thoroughly impressed.  Using Zoho CRM WITH Freshbooks might be confusing, overkill, though…so I’ll need to decide, here, what I’m going to go with.

Keep in mind, I’m PREPARING to launch into these solutions, and am not necessarily endorsing them yet…just telling you what my research has shown are the ones I think will be my focus from here on out.

What are you using?

Suggestions welcome!

CourVO

 

Oscars’ Female Voice

Finding an article about Melissa Disney announcing at the 84th Oscars Award show (as promised in yesterday’s blog) has proven to be difficult.  Maybe it’s because she’s just a perennial shoe-in for jobs like this.

Disney (yes, she’s related to THE famous family) is arguably one of the top female Voice-actors in the country.

Here’s Melissa Disney’s IMDb profile.  She has done/is doing it all when it comes to voice.  A noted singer, she’s also the voice of Snow White.

V123′s Steven Lowell recently wrote a great Melissa Disney-inspired blog.

Some great footage of Melissa in a number of different roles in the YouTube Video below:

Just wrapping up the Oscars’ coverage…Brad Venable wrote a blog dissecting the big brouhaha launched about our business when Chris Rock made the suggestion that you can get a million dollars for doing voice-overs EASY!

And finally, an interesting article in the LA Times explaining that even though Oscar has been around 84 years…New Media is embracing the event.  “…Sunday’s Oscar ceremony generated 3.8 million comments on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, according to data generated by Cambridge, Mass.-based Bluefin Labs. That made this year’s awards show the second most talked-about entertainment event on TV since the company began measuring and analyzing social media traffic several years ago…

CourVO

VO Buzz Weekly

Am I the last one to this party again?

Well, just in case you haven’t heard of it yet, check out VOBUZZWEEKLY.com

It’s a new weekly video program hosted by Chuck Duran and Stacey J. Aswad for the all us voice over types.  I confess I’ve never heard of either of these two hosts, but that could only mean I’m waaaay behind the times. They certainly seem on top of things in this largely interview-based show.  Good energy, helpful VO tips, and worthy interviews from what I can see.  From the website:  “…Every week you will be entertained, informed and amazed by our studio guests who will share personal stories, professional advice and fun trivia all about the voiceover world…”

Logging onto the site will explain more, and you’ll see the links to their first 7 weekly episodes.  Coming soon to an segment soon:  SoCal-based VO pro Joe Cipriano.

I love the way our business just keeps growing, gaining strength, and finding its center.  I think this new show can only help us all.

CourVO