Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Blogging’

When do you become an “expert”?

That word makes me uncomfortable.

That’s why, when I started my teleseminar Saturday morning  (Leveraging Social Media for Your VoiceOver Business) on behalf of the VoiceOverDirectory, I began by saying I’m a fan of Social Media, I enjoy Social Networking, I’m familiar and comfortable with New Media…I’m drawn to its potential…but “expert”?  Nah!

Social Media is too new, and so ever-changing for anyone to be able truly be an “expert”…at least by my definition, which I’m conveniently not stating here.

My talk was more about trends, indicators…mapping out a few directives that seem to be working FOR NOW…and why voice actors really shouldn’t ignore the opportunities afforded by New Media for furthering their brand, their personality…the relationships that may lead to enriching their personal lives, and advancing their business.

Amazingly, I talked almost non-stop about that for almost a half-hour, and still felt there was much left unsaid.

I’m a geek at heart, which means I’m a genetically hard-wired metal detector, perking up when a wayward  fragment of social media metal shows up on my radar.  But I know (that’s right, keep telling yourself, Dave) that Social Media is only one of the tools in my job-searching toolbox.  It just happens to be the one that captures my fancy (hey!…I found a gold doubloon!).

Maybe I’m on to something.  Maybe not.  Maybe it’ll bring me more VO jobs…or not.  Or maybe — just maybe — all this flailing around may lead me into an unexpected career vector that has little to do with voice-acting.  All I know is along the way I’m learning a ton, and meeting some of the savviest people on the planet.

Below is about a 2:30 excerpt of my teleseminar.  I recorded the whole thing on a trusty Logitech webcam…and the audio you hear is from the onboard Logitech mic (not the greatest).  On this segment I blatantly break a number of my own rules, stated so smugly on my new website: OnCamTips.com. But, there may be some value in watching this anyway: a segment on the rationale for voice actors to consider authoring a blog of their own.

I have no idea how many listened in, but quite a few responded afterward to say they’d like the resource material I promised to make available if they’d just send their e-mail address to me.  I think they were just being polite…;-}

BTW, write me at CourVO@CourVO.com, and I’ll put you on the mailing list for that resource material, too.

My thanks to Mark Davidson and Austin Alexander of VoiceOverDirectory for asking me to speak, and arranging this teleseminar so professionally. 

Also my gratitude to a couple of voice-actors who are social media VO giants in my eyes:  Trish Basanyi (@Trishsvoice) and Terry Daniel (@TDaniel39).

CourVO

You will notice a little something extra on the right sidebar nearest my blog articles if you scroll down a bit..

You’ll see an embedded Twitter Search column with live streaming posts from people everywhere who’ve used the word “voiceover” in their tweet.

Sure, some of this stuff is superfluous…but there are real gems among the many posts, including links to articles, sites, and information that may help your VO business directly or indirectly.

You can also scroll down, using a slider on the right side of the column to see older posts.

This is nothing you can’t see yourself using a twitter interface of your own, but this makes it kinda easy to take a quick gander at what’s happening while you’re visiting Voice-Acting in Vegas..

Embedded column courtesy of HootSuite.  If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a whirl.  You can read, post, and manage more than one Twitter profile at a time all from the HootSuite interface.

CourVO

…the ramblings of the absolute lunatic who posted below, and who has somehow hijacked my blog!!!!

No..I keed.  I keed.  Brett is the good-hearted genius who practically built this blog from the ground up when I decided to port everything over from TypePad a few months back.

So, naturally, he’d be the guy I’d go to when I need to solve issues.  Please look him up at Softduit.com if you need help with almost any issues hosting, design, blogging, SEO and more!

CourVO

A friend of mine can’t believe how much Voice Actors share within their tight community. 

He has an immensely successful podcasting, and now video-podcasting business…so he gets it…but he’s always telling me how he’s blown away by the open exchange of support and enabling of each other’s careers online.

He tells me I’m almost painfully transparent in this blog.  Of late, I’ve been somewhat scarce in that (life, kidneystones, teen-age girl drama, and anchoring five TV newscasts a day tends to be distracting), but I always come around.

Some people might think it’s kinda nutty to be referring to what I consider to be a superior VO blog in MY blog…but I gotta give credit where it’s due, and VoiceBank.net’s blog is top-notch.

For instance, the June 11th entry is about the right and wrong way to submit a VO resume.  (OK, so maybe not Earth-shattering, but well-done) Before that: “Creating Community in the Voice Over World”.

According to their own PR: “…Voicebank’s voice-over audition system is the most widely casting software on the Web. It is the primary casting and project management tool used by more than 1600 top Ad Agencies, Animation Houses & TV/Film Studios, Independent Producers, Production Facilities and Casting Directors (voice over & theatrical) around the World.”

It’s pretty much true.

Tracy Pattin seems to be everywhere.  She has a clean writing style, and her topics are engaging.

Put VoiceBank.net’s Blog in your RSS reader, and try to visit often.  You won’t regret it.

CourVO

Hatfields v. McCoys
Pepsi v. Coke
Mac v. PC
Mounds v. Almond Joy
Cassius Clay v. Sonny Liston
Dems v. Repubs
Voice actors v. voice pretenders

What's your favorite rift?

I judge a: client…copy…software…first phone calls…and chance encounters much the same way. 

They either click, or they don't.

Sure, once in a while with a product, first exposure will fall in-between, but mostly it's a slam-dunk.  You're either cozy or cramped.  Pepsi or Coke.

I think I've found a new one.

WordPress v. [just about any other blogging service]

I started out with the GoDaddy blogging service.  It was actually pretty OK, but I started looking for something else when I decided to go with the 3-column format.

Bob Souer was most effusive about WordPress.  That was good enough for me.  I'm not Robert Scoble, but I consider myself to be very adept on PC's.  I've been at it since 1989.  MSDOS.  All the iterations of Windows.  I'm a geek.

Out of the gate, WordPress seemed unnecessarily happy about it's difficulty.  The "5-minute Install"  ended up taking me days.  I dug in.  i don't give up easily. 

In WordPress' defense, I DO obsess and AM a perfectionist.  But I'm also dogged.  I bought the "WordPress for Dummies" book.  I asked a lot of questions, queried my WordPress friends.  I WAS GOING TO BEAT THIS CHALLENGE!

In the end, it beat me…and I'm not proud of that.  I stuck with my Pro-Tools and ISDN installation for MONTHS.

But blogging software???!!!

Now I face the specter again.  A new-found friend from Twitter who lives in Las Vegas has prompted me to re-consider my blog…it's look…how slow it loads. 

He likes WordPress…'says Google does too.

Then, coincidentally, I see a Twitter post that says the new WordPress 2.7 is out.  Newer!  Faster!  Easier! 

I download it, and WHAM…back to that same ole sick feeling.  Again:  "The 5-minute Install"

1. Download and unzip the WordPress package, if you haven't already.
   
2. Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
   
3. Rename the wp-config-sample.php file to wp-config.php.
   
4. Open wp-config.php in your favorite text editor and fill in your database details.
   
5. Place the WordPress files in the desired location on your web server:
   • If you want to integrate WordPress into the root of your domain (e.g. http://example.com/),
     move or upload all contents of the unzipped WordPress directory (but
     excluding the directory itself) into the root directory of your web
     server.
   • If you want to have your WordPress installation in its own subdirectory on your web site (e.g. http://example.com/blog/), rename the directory wordpress
     to the name you'd like the subdirectory to have and move or upload it
     to your web server. For example if you want the WordPress installation
     in a subdirectory called "blog", you should rename the directory called
     "wordpress" to "blog" and upload it to the root directory of your web
     server.

My friends, in today's short-attention-span world…THAT is not 5 minutes.  It IS unnecessarily difficult and complicated.

I set up this TypePad blog in less than 5.  Blogger in just 2 mins.

Sure, OK…got it…WordPress is the 800 lb. gorilla in the room… all those templates, the widgets, an incredible user-base!!!  But sheesh, people…make it easier!!!!!

Am I missing something here?  Is there an easier way to set-up WordPress?  Do I really want to get into importing all these TypePad blogs for more than a year?  Can I (do I really want to) really redirect Courvo.biz to yet another blog assignment? 

And further:  DOES my blog load slowly for you?  Is it too…"packed"?…too "busy"?…to much stuff going on?  Is simplicity better?…or tons of resources?

Your honest feedback v. unadulterated praise appreciated.

CourVO

Yay!  Less than 24 hours after I blogged about Woopra — lamenting the fact that this blog site had NOT been approved for their service, I get confirmation that it is!

Now, I finally get the dirt on who is REALLY reading my tripe!

CourVO

If you are reading this, you have honored me by visiting my blog, and for that I’m grateful. 

Some of you have even bothered to offer a comment once in a while…for that I’m even larger in your debt.

How have I repaid you?…by ignoring your comments…leaving them unapproved for viewing for several days!

Unforgivable!  Insufferable! 

I have excuses, but they don’t amount to much.  If I had the time to post a blog article every day this last week (days filled with flu, a house-guest, and a college student home for Spring break), then certainly, I should’ve had the time to see your comments waiting there for a quick check-off by me.

My apologies. It won’t happen again.  I hereby promise to check all comments every day, several times a day.

I will say that the comment-approval utility of the TypePad control panel is probably the most disappointing feature of an otherwise superbly-designed blogging software packakge.

Several visitors here are following my evaluation of the M600 mic-mount which immediately follows this entry…but I just wanted to get this off my chest.

Thanks for being here!

Dave Courvoisier
(aka CourVO)