Entries Tagged as 'blogs'

Spotting a Buffalo Bills’ Fan in Raleigh, NC

Voice Actor Peter K. O'Connell - Buffalo Bills fanAs the Buffalo Bills prepare to host the Pittsburgh Steelers in a Divisional Playoff game in my old home town of Buffalo, NY (well actually, the stadium is the the suburb of Orchard Park, NY), I felt I should address something that might not get spoken of very often.

My new hometown (well going on 8 years anyway) of Raleigh, NC (well actually I’m the suburb of Cary, NC — turns out in the past two sentences, I’m not terribly good at geography) — any this new place I live in North Carolina is Buffalo, NY SOUTH!!!

Unbeknownst to me and my family when we moved here there are a ton of Western New Yorkers and Buffalonians down here.

So whether I am wearing my Bills, Sabres, Bisons or Bandits shirts (or even an old Buffalo Braves shirt), somebody always says something like “Go Bills” or “Let’s Go Buffalo”.

None the less, as you’ll see in the video…while strolling across Raleigh as a Bills fan, I remain “surprised”. 🙂

#gobills

MEDIA RELEASE – More Fun for 2024 with O’Connell’s New Voiceover Logo

Peter K. O'Connell Your Friendly, Neighborhood Voiceover Talent 2024RALEIGH NORTH CAROLINA – January 1, 2024 – – If you’re going to be America’s Friendly, Neighborhood Voiceover Talent, you logo better look a lot more friendly and fun. At least that’s what Voice Talent Peter K. O’Connell decided, feeling his last logo design (yes, his design so he’s to blame) didn’t have enough of either.

For 2024, O’Connell’s voiceover logo maintains its iconic RCA-77 microphone (with the audio’connell Voiceover Talent icon), while adding fun new colors and fonts.

In the fine tradition of logo unveilings, this announcement has to include a pompous yet meaningless quote about the logo from the designer. “The font choices are both more fun and much friendlier – reflecting both my voiceover performance philosophy as well as my long standing tagline,” O’Connell said. (Nailed my pomposity!)

Furthering the tradition of logo details that nobody but the designer (yes, him again), really cares about, there is this. The red and blue logo colors were inspired by the original school colors of O’Connell’s college, the University of Dayton (red and light blue); the colors of his favorite football team, the Buffalo Bills; as well as some of the school colors from the University of North Carolina (light blue) and North Carolina State University (red).

Plus the colors just look nice together.

About Peter K. O’Connell

             Voice actor Peter K. O’Connell has shared his voiceover and audio production skills with companies around the world.  Peter’s commercial and narration clients include brands like iHeart Media, Crest Toothpaste, IBM, SXM Media and AWS. O’Connell’s audio’connell Voiceover Talent is a Source-Connect equipped voiceover studio and is a division of O’Connell Communications, LLC.

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

CONTACT:

Peter K. O’Connell

Your Friendly, Neighborhood Voiceover Talent

audio’connell Voiceover Talent

P.O. Box 5493 | Raleigh, NC 27512-5493

PH. +01 716-572-1800 & +01 919-283-1516

EM. peter@audioconnell.com

W. audioconnell.com

COMPANY MEDIA CENTER

http://www.audioconnell.com/media

PETER K. O’CONNELL VO CREDITS

VO Credits Link

COMPANY NAME SPELLING

Use lower case letters- audio’connell or audio’connell Voiceover Talent

COMPANY NAME PRONUNCIATIONau¡di-o’¡con¡nell (awe-de-oh-kah-nel)

supporting football in Buffalo

Buffalo Football Calendar 2023It’s not like the Buffalo Bills need my help in supporting football in Buffalo.

But they are my team…I have purchased more jerseys, hats, t-shirts and other stuff than is thoughtfully proper or fiscally responsible. I guarantee you, however, that my family pales in comparison to such purchases by many Bills Mafia members.

I had a fun idea though, which I think is both helpful, respectful of the rules while allowing me to show my support of my football team.

I created my first Buffalo Football Team schedule for the 2023 season. I’m being respectful not to use any trademarks to symbol marks of the team….just sharing out the Buffalo football team’s home and away schedule, times and broadcast outlets (all always subject to change).

It’s free and you can download it HERE.

The one date I did NOT include on the schedule was February 11, 2024….but I feel sure Buffalo will be on the field! #letsgobuffalo

 

what you appreciate when you i-phone breaks

Cracked Iphone 6s Via Cnet

Photo courtesy of CNET

It was a day like any other last week. The kids and I were leaving the Cary Library and approaching the car when my phone, which I was carrying, slipped and fell to the ground.

This has happened many times before with nary a scratch…likely due to the case I have.

This time the entire screen shattered.

As I ran my finger across the screen, I could feel the cracks on the screen and it felt like I might have little cuts on my finger tips at any time.

The phone was not going to be useable. I would have to get a new screen.

Expense was not a concern, time was a little bit more of a concern but getting an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar was a grave concern. This happened on a Wednesday and the soonest appointment they could give me was a Sunday.

That was not going to work.

So I decided to trek (and it is a hike) over to the Apple store and throw myself on the mercy of the Apple court.

And yes, the store is in a big mall and yes, it’s Christmas time and yes, ugh!

But my plan was to be one of the first customers of the day and see how that would go…maybe they could fit me in. Hope is not a plan but it can be an option.

The store hours on the web said they store opened at 10:00 am so I got to the mall at 9:30 a.m. As I walked towards the store, I saw the doors already opened and only a few people inside (Christmas hours, I soon learned).

I was approached by an Apple employee and explained my dilemma (I decided at the outset not to hand in my man card and start crying….yet). They could help me and they would help me now, he said. They would give me a new screen. That day.

#winning

I would have to wait about 90 minutes (a reasonable amount of time for someone with no appointment, I thought). Since I was NOT about to give up my prime, early arriver parking spot by leaving the busy mall and coming back at a busier time, I decided I would get some more exercise by walking the mall.

Realizing that there was almost nothing else besides a broken iphone that could get me to a mall during the Christmas season, I started to think as I walked, taking in all surroundings and the people around me.

Being in the mall, I realized an number of things I was grateful for. Here’s my list that exclude obvious things like family, home, health and job (which I am eternally grateful for everyday).

• A super close parking space

• I am thankful for the employees of the Apple store – their attitude is so positive and helpful almost always; they remind me of two other companies where I get that same feeling: Publix Grocery Stores and Enterprise Rental Cars (I don’t know how these companies profile their employees but they do a great job of finding really customer-centric people)

• I am appreciative of the designers of the Christmas decorations at the Crabtree Valley Mall — the trees and sleighs were really great….maybe it’s the same stuff they do every year but it was new to me and I thought it looked swell (I couldn’t take a picture because of…well, you know)

• It was also nice not having an i-phone and not being connected…if you need me, well, you’ll have to fend for yourself for a while; I’ll survive and so will you

• I am so glad I don’t work in retail for so many reasons, the top 2 being I wouldn’t have the patience to deal with Christmas shoppers and I don’t think sales are going well in many stores which means jobs will be cut

• Similarly I’m glad I don’t work for mall companies…there are so many empty, closed stores inside so many malls because so many retailers are closing their doors…and I think come Q1 2018, more stores will announce they are closing

• On a positive retail note, in my city, Apple is moving their current store within the mall to a much bigger space in the same mall which must bring a major sigh of relief to the mall owners

• I am pleased that there are gentlemen willing to dress up and play Santa at malls….it thrills the children (well most of them anyway) to meet Santa and their excitement is invigorating to the soul

• A super close parking space

My phone was fixed and life went on, with thanks.

death of the voiceover blog?

Death of the Voiceover Blog?Sometimes we as voiceover business owners are so focused on the operations of our business, the business of doing business, we neglect to paint our stores and sweep our steps.

The ‘stores and steps’ references our web sites. We often look at our sites from the back of the house instead of standing out front and looking at what the visitors see.

A while ago I wrote a blog post about checking out what your web site looks like by going to electronic retailers and calling up your web site on various computers, tablets and phones.

While that applies to web sites, that advice also applies to blogs.

I’ve had a blog since 2005 and in those 12 years, I’ve written a lot about voiceover, marketing and advertising (over 1,300 posts). That’s why I named the blog voxmarketising. In all those posts there are some real golden nuggets and some absolute crap. Trial and error, baby!

But one of the areas of blog management I had fallen way behind in was managing all the links I had listed on my blog to all my fellow voiceover bloggers. It was my way of sharing the blog love by listing their blog link, in the hopes that they would do the same. Some did, some didn’t.

But recently, I did a complete review of all the blogs I had listed on my site to see what blogs were still active and what blogs had given up the ghost.

Over 80 (EIGHTY) voiceover blogs were just cut from my web site because they hadn’t published in 3 or more years or because their bloglink just went nowhere any more.

There were probably 10 or so links that needed to be updated and they have been.

But 80 dead blogs was an amazing number.

Why so many? Based on what I saw and what I know, here are my theories

  • Some folks started blogging about voiceover because they thought they were supposed to for better web traction – they had no desire to blog and no point of view in their writing so they just quit
  • Some people clearly didn’t not make it in the VO business — so why blog about voiceover when one is now selling life insurance?
  • Some folks just got bored with the process of blogging

Sure there may be a myriad of other reasons and all of them are legitimate. Blogging is not mandatory in the voiceover or any other business (unless you’re in the blogging business, then I suppose it’s pretty mandatory.

But does blogging help or even impact a voice talent’s business? That depends.

From a broad perspective, blogging should help a voiceover talent’s business for SEO. If one is blogging about their industry, using a widely accepted blogging platform like WordPress (either as a blog or as part of an overall web site), that alone should generate attention from search engines like Google and Yahoo.

Digging down a little further, if a blogger’s content gains enough interest from a targeted audience and the blogger builds up a dedicated readership, that subsequent attention also generates positive SEO notice and builds the credibility of their brand and reputation.

So SEO is the only reason to blog? No, but it’s a big one because depending on what you write, you may enjoy some unexpected organic word search success. Sure you can buy word search, but organic is less financially cumbersome.

I think in voiceover, there are primarily two types of bloggers – thought leaders focused on SEO (and listening to myself, ‘er, um THEMSELVES speak) and then coaches who want to sell services and also enjoy some SEO love. Neither is bad. Blogs are a marketing tool…just decide what you are marketing what your audience wants to hear.

But what if you aren’t a coach and you don’t think you have a thought that worthy enough to lead anything? Should you still blog?

That’s a personal question.

Blogging requires some sort of commitment. Obviously time but, maybe more importantly, thought.

For bloggers, I think the smart foundation for having a blog should not be ‘what CAN I write about’ but rather ‘what do I WANT to write about?’. Because if you don’t have a real desire to write about something at least about 6 times a year, then blogging is not a tool for you.

Don’t worry, there are other marketing tools, but blogging will not be one of them for you. 80 of my voiceover peers, many of them well known to voiceover community, found that out the hard way. It was not the end of their careers, it was just the end of blogging….for them.

For the rest of us…full steam ahead.

P.S. If you check my blog page and see I’ve gotten the wrong link for your site, you can contact me at peter at audioconnell dot com. Of course, you DO have a link to my page on your blog site, right?!

P.P.S. If you have a voiceover blog that I do not have listed on my blog site and you would like it listed there (and you’re going to offer me a link to my blog as well) please let me know.

MEDIA RELEASE – O’Connell Celebrates 35 Years in Voiceover

Peter K. O'Connell Your Friendly Neighborhood Voiceover Talent logo BlueRALEIGH, NC March 17, 2017 – – When the very young Peter K. O’Connell began his voiceover at a Dayton, Ohio radio station in 1982, Madonna didn’t have her first hit song yet, Reagan was president and the Internet wasn’t even a thing! Oh and O’Connell sported a mullet (business in front, party in the back).

Now celebrating 35 years as a voiceover talent, the most astounding professional accomplishment noted by O’Connell was his ability to keep working as a professional voice talent. “In the 80’s, we didn’t even understand you could have a career in voiceover,” he said.

Surprise!

With steady business from new and returning voiceover clients, the anniversary snuck up on O’Connell until he was asked by one of his three children (another wonderful surprise he didn’t ponder in ‘82) how long he’d been working in VO. The anniversary seemed like as good a reason as any to freshen up his marketing tools including a new website, branding and voice-over demos.

Having just moved to Raleigh, NC from Buffalo, NY, O’Connell’s new branding was partially inspired by his family’s new home. “I was surrounded by University of North Carolina blue, so I thought I better add that color to my logo ” he joked.

About Peter K. O’Connell

From Fortune 500 companies to companies that think $500 is a fortune, multi-award winning male voiceover talent Peter K. O’Connell has shared his voiceover skills with a wide variety of companies globally. Some of Peter’s clients include Duracell Batteries, General Electric, Kraft Foods, PBS Television Network, Shell Oil, Deloitte Canada, U.S. Army, Starz Cable Television Network, BlueCross BlueShield and SunSetter Awnings.

Known as America’s Friendly, Neighborhood Voiceover Talent, Peter is a natural born storyteller whose voice-over work has been featured in radio and TV commercials, corporate narrations, political commercial voice-overs, TV network promos, e-learning narration projects and other media productions. Originally from Buffalo, NY, now living in Raleigh, NC, Peter owns audio’connell Voiceover Talent, a division of O’Connell Communications, LLC. Peter can be reached via audioconnell.com or peterkoconnell.com.
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NOTES FOR EDITORS

CONTACT

Peter K. O’Connell

Your Friendly, Neighborhood Voiceover Talent

audio’connell Voiceover Talent

P.O. Box 5493 | Raleigh, NC 27512-5493

PH. +01 716-572-1800

EM. peter@audioconnell.com W. audioconnell.com

COMPANY MEDIA CENTER

http://www.audioconnell.com/media

PETER K. O’CONNELL VO CREDITS

http://www.audioconnell.com/clientuploads/pdf/PDF%202017/OConnell_Peter_Voice_Over_Resume_170124.pdf

COMPANY NAME SPELLING

Use lower case letters- audio’connell or audio’connell Voiceover Talent

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)