Mary McKitrick, female voice talent extraordinaire (or whatever the German translation of extraordinaire is) has gone and done it.
She done went and set up herself a Facebook fan page just like all the utter idjits out there.
Well, y’all better commence to fanning her right quick.
(Note to self: less sugar at dinner)
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.
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.
So Facebook is kind enough to send me a weekly update on the Facebook Fan Page I put together some months ago for The Voiceover Entrance Exam free e-book that I wrote last year.
I am always surprised and pleased when I see people have become a fan of the page. I hope that means that the book has been read and was helpful to these folks who are fans…that is why I wrote it.
Anyway, today I see the page has 111 fans. So I guess that means we’re number 1 – 3 times over! Uh oh, this is starting to read like a Ralph Hass blog post so I better quit while I am ahead.
Anyway, to everyone who did become a fan, thank you very sincerely!
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.
OK, look, for all the nice comments people make about my business’ marketing and what I know about marketing (and thank you) I did miss the boat on a Facebook fan page for the Voice Over Entrance Exam as previously noted.
Worse than that, I kind of forgot about the page entirely which is strictly a marketing no-no. Even worse than that, I almost admitted all of that in a blog post which is completely verboten.
So yesterday I check the page and see that there are 55 fans of the Voice Over Entrance Exam’s Facebook book page. The last time I looked I remember like, 5. And sadly I was quite thrilled with that number, even given the fact that 1 of those fans was the author.
For those of you playing the home game, that would be an increase of over 1,000,000,000,000 percent or 15 terabytes; not that I like to brag because I’m supposedly an introvert, according to Myers and Briggs (who also make very nice engines).
So thank you to all of you that pitied me by becoming a fan of an e-book that came out in May 2009 and which inaugurated a Facebook fan page about, ooooo, a month ago. I may have missed the Facebook fan page boat but I appreciate you throwing me a life ring.
