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fancy pants twitter wallpaper

Usually I’ve not subscribed to the theory that if all the other kids are doing it, I should be doing it too.

As examples I never smoked, drank or did drugs. I’m not better than anyone who does those things (although I think its a rare case where I may be considered smarter) but I just never felt the need to fit in socially with such crutches. My obnoxious personality has always seen me through.

But lately as I have been studying Twitter, I did develop a case of wallpaper envy. You see for some reason (and for the life of me I cannot figure out why this happened) I clicked on CC Chapman’s Twitter home page and saw his very attractive wallpaper that he obviously created (you have to sign in to see it).

It occurred to me that this might be yet another example of a fad or trend that I had been completely oblivious to so I checked Chris Brogan’s, Leesa Barnes’ and Christopher S. Penn’s pages.

Yup, fancy, cool, well branded wallpapers on all of them.

I was yet again late for lunch; I had missed the bus, I was an east coaster working on Central time. Action had to be taken.

Well I slogged through about 20 me-made designs that technically and artistically looked like crap (clearly all the aforementioned have Macs) before I yelled “uncle” and called Ann Hackett over at aHa designs to bail me out of my pathetic state. She did.

OK, so I’m “me too” on this one. But doesn’t the page look subtle and smashing? Why, it’s Twitterific!

slap a logo on it

audio\'connell_mug

Now I will grant you that even I, your humble author and blatant swag aficionado, find suspect a glowing report about the value of advertising specialties that was released by (and – in only my opinion – likely also commissioned by) the Advertising Specialty Institute. I am as skeptical as the next solopreneur (tip of the hat to Leesa Barnes for my word of the day).

None the less, I think many small businesses would raise an eyebrow to learn that promotional products generate a cost-per-impression average of $0.004, compared to $.033 for national magazine ads or $0.019 for prime time TV ads. If those numbers are real, that means something because the cost of delivering an ad specialty is individually and collectively less expensive than most other media. This report claims now it is also more effective in impressions.

The challenge, as one who has created a few of these items (and by few I mean a few thousand over my career) is to find items that will be memorable or wearable or most importantly desirable in the eyes of your target or prospective market.

Sure, your father-in-law wants a logoed baseball cap and maybe your wife (like mine) enjoys the oversized coffee mug. But what about a digital media producer who creates sales and marketing videos for global corporations? Does a logoed pen make you a more valuable vendor? If he needs a pen at the exact moment of delivery, one would have to say yes.

Anyway, as you begin to plot your 2009 marketing plan (you ARE plotting it, aren’t you?) you might find in a down economy that giving someone in business even a small gift may go a lot further in building a relationship than it might have even one year ago.

I’ve got no white-paper-scientific-survey-type data on it. Just a good old hunch, for whatever that’s worth.

MEDIA RELEASE – audio’connell Voice Over Talent Brightens Dental Audio

audio'connell Media Release

BUFFALO, New York, November 11, 2008 – – When El Centro, California-based Southwest Dental Group needed to create a new, multi-spot radio advertising campaign, they chose audio’connell Voice-Over Talent to brighten their on air image.

AUDIO SAMPLE

[audio:http://www.audioconnell.com/clientuploads/mp3/Media_Release_Audio_Samples/0811_audioconnell_southwestdds_sample_copyright2008.mp3]

Produced and voiced by audio’connell Voice-Over Talent president Peter K. O’Connell and featuring a number of the voice over company’s premiere female voice talents, the spots promote the professional dental team’s complete range of state-of-the-art services while ensuring patients feel comfortable and at ease within Southwest Dental Group’s beautifully appointed dental facility.

A professional voice over talent and audio producer for over 25 years, Peter K. O’Connell is president of audio’connell Voice-Over Talent, a worldwide, English language-based voice talent organization. Mr. O’Connell also operates International Voice Talents, a company featuring professional foreign language male and female voice actors.

Both companies provide voice talent for commercials, animation, corporate narrations, documentaries, broadcast voice imaging, audio books, podcasts and messaging on-hold (MOH). Industries served by the two companies include advertising agencies, media and broadcast production companies as well as both large and small businesses around the world.

Mr. O’Connell also owns Voice-Over Workshop, which provides professional voice over training to novice and experienced voice talent around the world.

audio’connell Voice-Over Talent, International Voice Talents and Voice Over Workshop are all a part of O’Connell Companies.
– 30 –

NOTES TO EDITORS

Company Media Releases ON LINE:
http://www.audioconnell.com/media

Company Name Pronunciation:
au·dio·o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-oh-kah-nel) or au·di-o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-kah-nel)

Company Name Spelling:
Use lower case letters- audio’connell or audio’connell Voice-Over Talent

Company Web:
http://www.audioconnell.com

Company Blog:
http://www.voxmarketising.com

O’Connell Voice-Over Resume:
See resume here

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thanks, doc!

voices_that_motivate

My thanks to my fellow voice over talent Doc Phillips who has taken his Speak Easy blog one step further by publishing his favorite motivational and education blog posts from other voice over blogs, including voxmarketising.

Check out his post here to also read great blog posts from Dave Courvoisier, Bob Souer, Liz de Nesnera, Bobbin Beam, Willie Edwards, Elaine Singer and Bryan Cox.

It’s an honor for this blog to be recognized in such a way and especially to be included with such great voice and writing talents. Thank you for your efforts Doc!

how does your studio sound?

auralex_acoustics

Sound absorption and even sound proofing (a bit more expensive and more tricky) are usually on the front or back of most voice talents’ minds. Why?

Because in spite of the authority and brilliance we convey on a daily basis with our magnificent voices we collectively are not all the audio technology experts you might assume us to be.

Well of course I am but that’s also because I am also a grotesquely rich, tall, good looking, male model.

But since you are not me and thereby not flying on the same mind foggy ego wave that I do you might be interested in this piece of news.

Auralex Acoustics has conceived a new way to help a voice talent part with their hard earned money to be both consulted about and then one has to assume a consumer for their acoustic products.

They have a plan to do off-site room acoustics analysis and on-site (way more expensive).

Depending on your circumstance, it might be of benefit to you to check it out here.

If you use the service, let me know how it went. If you decided against it, tell me why also, if you would. Thanks.

know your facebook

facebook

Facebook has been on my mind this weekend as certain audio’connell siblings have dipped their toe into the water, took a look around the platform, drank a bit of the Facebook kool-aid – whatever.

So in my early morning reading, I came across this fine and evolving tutorial on using Facebook from my friends at Social Media Universe – Global. Now, they don’t know they are my friends but as a subscriber, I feel I get to call them names and that’s the one I chose.

Anyway, if you want to learn about Facebook and its many uses under the radar, so that you can appear to be an instant expert to friends who won’t know your educational secret (as it that one of the more fun aspects of the web) this page may be of interest to you. No doubt there are other pages on the web like this but these guys get the attention here today.

And if you’d like to friend me up, here’s the place to start.

(Ed. Note – No, there will be no “go out and vote” posting today. After this ridiculous long and expensive 2 year election cycle (and yes, I made money off it) if you’re so out of it that you need a reminder from ME to get out and cast your vote, then you are probably too “out of it” to be trusted with such an important task anyway.)