Some will think this stuff and nonsense but I have been stewing about something for while and it has truly been bugging me.

Facebook Fan Pages.

Specifically, should I have one for my voice over marketing?

I have one for the Voice Over Entrance Exam and I have my own personal Facebook page…but do I need a “Fan” page? Sheesh!

Social Media clearly has a narcissistic component to it. Rarely are you asking people on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn or on your blog how they are doing – more likely you are telling people who, what, when, where and how you are doing.

There is no ME in team but there sure is ME in Social Media.

Yet most of us play the game and often times enjoy it especially when there is give and take, usually always pleasant.

But I guess it’s the term Fan Page that has bothered me (I think Facebook is trying to get everyone to call it a Like Page but you’re basically asking for fans or for people to vote that they like you.)

That’s awkward to ask and seems kinda desperate in appearance when the Fan Page is about me (the e-book is a “thing” and it helps people – I have no problem with a Fan Page there).

I have joined a ton of fan pages for other people and never gave it a second thought. No, I didn’t think they were desperate at all because of their Fan Page.

But I look at myself differently. It feels like I am being egotistical if I do this Fan Page thing. The old comic line “But enough about me, what do YOU think of me?” comes to mind. Again…awkward is the word that keeps coming to mind for me.

From a business stand point, it could help me communicate with people on Facebook who are interested in my voice over business (the same reason I participate on LinkedIn and Twitter). That’s the big “Pro” in the “Pro/Con” debate that’s been raging in my cranium literally for months.

Well, ultimately that was the deciding factor for me and shamefully, I am announcing I have a Facebook Fan Page now (talk about burying the lead). Peter K. O’Connell – Male Voice Over Talent is what its called (for the SEO lovers out there). In this context, it sounds as ridiculous as “Peter K. O’Connell – Male Model” but, in for a penny, in for a pound.

We’ll have to see how long I can stomach this. I make no promises.

Thanks for listening.

Tags: audio'connell voice over talent, blogs, branding, commentary, facebook, internet, linkedin, marketing, rants, search engine marketing, social media, social networking, twitter, voice over entrance exam, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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So Wednesday was Social Media Day around the globe. As part of it, there were over 600 meet-ups and I went to the one in Buffalo (#smdayBUF) at Merge on Delaware Avenue.

I’ve been to countless networking events and unconferences and the like so I figured it would be fun but wasn’t really sure what to expect.

The venue was very nice and they even had a DJ spinning vinyl (old school – nice touch). There was a registration table so you could get a name badge with your Twitter address (@audioconnell) and everyone was very nice….and very young.

There really is no age (as such) in the social media space but when reality checks in, when you meet people in person, you see the disparity in age right away.

That doesn’t mean social media is strictly for the young. It might mean that social media meet-ups are going to be populated primarily by young people who have the interest in going out (didn’t we all at that time in our lives); there’s nothing wrong with that nor was there anything wrong with me attending.

But aside from visiting with a few people I knew and meeting a few others, I just knew this wasn’t my place, my space. I’m glad I went but if I don’t go again, I won’t be missed and that’s OK…my place and hope for social media hasn’t faded.

Your mileage may vary.

Tags: commentary, community, facebook, internet, social media, social networking, twitter by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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the audio'connell YouTube page

I am not a pioneer on most things, including social media. I like to see where things are going, if they are going to build up a big enough head of steam and then decide to join in.

It was that way for me with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and now with YouTube where I have create my own page and produced my first video. Why?

Well, my college degree is in Radio/Television communication and I did own a video production company for six years so this is not totally unfamiliar territory. But I wasn’t sure on many fronts if I wanted to dip my toe in the video waters via social media.

Two things changed that.

One was when Jeff Kafer said he wanted to produce a video of the VO-BB voice talents recreating “The Night Before Christmas”. I didn’t have any of the tools needed at the time or a clue about the new way video worked but I decided to plod through it (embrace change etc., blah, blah). My finished work for that piece wasn’t stellar and Jeff had to tweak it a lot to make it presentable but it put me in to a more “I can do it” frame of mind. So thank you Jeff for that.

Next was the technology. I tried a Logitech camera for the VO-BB video but I thought it wasn’t sharp enough (or maybe the dullness was a result of the talent within my lens). Then I attended an Ad Club of Buffalo presentation featuring Kodak’s Chief Blogger, the very kind and knowledgeable Jennifer Cisney. Part of her presentation, not surprisingly included mention of some Kodak products including their Zi8 portable video camera. At the same time Steve Garfield, who I had met briefly some years ago at Podcamp Boston, published his new book (which I bought) on video and spoke highly of that same camera which had an input for external audio (which most cameras don’t have and which was something of importance to me). At $200 I figured I could make an educated mistake.

Calling around to some friends for editing tools advice and with my own trail and error (as is the way we all seem to learn, technologically, these days) I was ready to make my mistakes more publicly.

I am quite sure that after I do this for a while, I’ll look back at this video in disgust for its poor quality in any number of areas but for now, it’s not the worst thing I’ve seen and hopefully the content is a bit different.

I hope you’ll subscribe to my YouTube page and lets enjoy this ride together. Thanks.

Tags: commentary, facebook, linkedin, social media, tv, twitter, video, voice talent, voiceover, youtube by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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So I visited friendorfollow.com to catch up on those nice folks who are following me on Twitter but who I don’t currently follow. Boy it really feels like a “job” when I do this (who are they, where are they, what do they do, do they say anything interesting etc.) and yet I force myself to because there are people who I do want to follow on that list and just never got around to it.

I’m not an immediate follower of people who follow me. Mostly because of time and also because some people’s tweets don’t interest me. Hey, there are lots of people who I follow who don’t follow me so it works both ways and it ain’t personal, either way.

But going through this exercise yet again, I thought about these three things in no particular order:

• Who has the time to try and follow thousands of people and then make any sense of it while having a professional and personal life?
• Why don’t some people put up a picture in their profile? If you have that stupid twitter bird for your picture, I can’t be bothered with you…sorry, it’s a “thing” with me
• What’s the deal with people who block their tweets? If you need to hide anything from Twitter (and its cool if you do) you shouldn’t be on Twitter

What about you? Agree? Disagree? Do you have other pet Twitter peeves?

Tags: commentary, community, social media, social networking, twitter by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Peter K. O'Connell's Twitter account (audioconnell) was graded 96 out of 100!

So I was cruising through my tweets scanning if anything interesting was going on when I came across a tweet on something called TweetGrader.

Gasp, you exclaim, another Twitter app; they’re like McDonalds – over a billion served!

Yeah yeah blah blah, there’s even a Twitter app store (like the Apple app store only its not).

But that’s my grade up there on my virtual refrigerator. A score of 96 out of 100 for my twittering. Evidentally out of the 4,903,743 people twittering our mindlessness for all to read, I rank 193,671.

I am evidently aces at this mindlessness stuff.

Clearly I have found my calling, every guidance counselor would agree.

Further, it told me “We could not find any areas of concern with this twitter account. Tweet on!”

And so I shall but I shant flaunt my “waaaay better than you” grade in your face because that wouldn’t be nice.

Tags: social media, social networking, technology, twitter by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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I’ve met and conversed with Mitch Joel two or three times and not for about a year. So when I thought about writing the opening sentence to this blog as “My friend Mitch Joel has a new book coming out…” I stopped.

Mitch Joel is a very nice guy as far as I can tell but he and I aren’t friends; friendly certainly. Were time and place different, I think we could be friends– I don’t know. But today he likely wouldn’t know my name if he saw me nor does he know the names of my children or even that I have children; I’m absolutely cool with that. We all have business contacts like this.

But I wanted to say “friend” because ever since I met him at the very first Podcamp Toronto where we both presented, truly enjoying his great presentation on personal branding there and then subsequently as I watched the spotlight of social media and personal branding grow on him, I’ve quietly felt proud of him, like you would be of a friend. His blog posts and his insights on Twitter (he makes pretty good use of 140 characters) teach me a lot or at least make me think about things, much like a friend would.

I think that it boils down to Mitch’s overarching message that people need to communicate within social media as real people; we want real interaction – authenticity. Not some sales pitch…not the one way conversations that permeates so much of social media. Authenticity is Mitch’s on-line message for himself and its a key point of his new book, Six Pixels of Separation.

Enjoy this wonderful Twist Image video about Mitch’s book (courtesy of CC Chapman, who actually is a personal friend of Mitch Joel’s) and then please reserve your advanced copy of Mitch’s book.

Tags: commentary, facebook, internet, linkedin, podcamptoronto, social media, twitter, video by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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