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
4 Comments »

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
4 Comments »

I was visiting LinkedIn and realized I hadn’t spent much time connect with folks within the groups to which I belong. Specifically, I was reading about folks in the two University of Dayton alumni groups on LinkedIn.

I’m from the UD class of 1986 which does not seem like twenty-three years, one wife, two kids and twenty five pounds ago, but it is.

While I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me – given the news for the past year – I was taken aback by all the UD graduates who are out of work…talented, experienced folks, not simply new graduates (who I’m sure are experiencing job search challenges too.

I’ve got very little to offer these University of Dayton folks who are out of a job right now, no magic pill or super advice.

But I do have my networks.

There’s my LinkedIn network, my Facebook, network, my extensive off-line professional network of colleagues, clients and friends. That’s another thing twenty-three years since graduating from college gets you.

So I posted in both University of Dayton LinkedIn groups the following:

Hi Folks:

I was reading through many of the LinkedIn bios of University of Dayton grads on both UD alumni groups and WOW, are a lot of alumni (talented, experienced UD grads) out of work. This sucks but I’m not willing to just ignore the problem without trying – even in a small way – to help.

I’m fortunate; my voiceover business is going well as is my marketing business. But I understand how hard lean times are so I’ll simply offer this:

IF any of you are in the fields of broadcasting, media, advertising, marketing or web and you want to connect with me, feel free. I’ll accept your connection – even if we never met on campus. You’re a UD grad and that’s good enough for me.

THEN if you need or want an introduction to anyone in my network, ask. I’ll set it up. I’ll open the door – your talent and knowledge will have to keep it open. But I am glad to help get you started.

If you’re in engineering or law (or some other major that didn’t mentioned), my connections simply aren’t as strong but if you think I can help…I will try.

I have no idea if this will work for you or not but the way I see it, it’s a start, it’s free and something good may come from it. In any event, I hope it helps.

Best always,
– Peter

I’ve already made one connection with a person looking for some help and if that’s the only success, then great.

It helped me remember that we are not helpless to help. We ALL have connections but we all don’t think about them and how they can help others (hey, all this just occurred to me today and we’ve been in an economic meltdown for more than a few months).

So my question to you is: what will you do to help? I don’t mean you helping UD grads, unless you want to. It can really be anybody.

But you have to reach out to them…they don’t know you can help. Sometimes, like in this example, it can be electronically by pressing a few buttons. You can find people to help at your school, your neighborhood, your church…or something else, you choose.

And it’s not a heavy load- all I promise is an introduction to someone in my network for people who have shared a common experience with me: we all graduated from the University of Dayton.

In this experience, all I needed to do was realize I could do something…and I did.

So can you, this is just a friendly reminder.

Tags: commentary, community, facebook, linkedin, social media, social networking, university of dayton by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »

If you waited to make your reservation or you thought you could stroll up to the door, sorry but the presentation of The New Big 3: Understanding and Applying Facebook®, LinkedIn® and Twitter® for YOUR Business is very sold out.

It’s the first sold out dinner meeting in many, many years for the Buffalo Niagara Sales and Marketing Executives.

Now all I have to do is figure out something to talk about 😉

Tags: commentary, facebook, linkedin, the new big 3, twitter by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on SOLD OUT – The New Big 3 on May 18, 2009

There are certain times in your life when you should NOT do that math. This occurred to me the other day when I was puttering around the office doing some stuff and I noticed my membership directory from Buffalo Niagara Sales and Marketing Executives (BNSME). This year will mark my 20th anniversary as a member. That means I was 25 years old when I joined in 1989. This is the kind of math avoidance I am advocating.

I am also advocating that you join myself and Todd Salansky, CEO, online thymes llc, for our May 18, 2009 BNSME presentation entitled “The New Big Three – What’s In It For Me”. The presentation will take place at the 31 Club, 31 N Johnson Park in Buffalo and is sponsored by Days Inn, Wingate by Wyndham, West Herr Automotive Group, Business First and Sound Video Solutions.

The goal of the presentation is to help participants understanding and applying Facebook®, LinkedIn® and Twitter® for their businesses as explained not by two experts (though Todd really knows his Social Media “stuff”) but rather by two active and practiced users of these services and Social Media in general.

By sharing an overview of the services, an explanation of how Todd and myself are using them to the advantage of our businesses and then offering participants a hands on tour of the services, we hope to remove the apprehension some people have experienced about Social Media and provide practical ways business owners can actively and successfully use these services as part of their marketing mix.

If you can join us, I think you’ll enjoy the presentation and some great in-person networking too. For reservations, please call Jeanne at the BNSME office at 716-662-2279.

Tags: audio'connell voice over talent, commentary, facebook, linkedin, the new big 3, twitter by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
1 Comment »

I was doing some email blasts this week and sorting through my various databases, one of which is LinkedIn. Unlike a lot of social media tools, LinkedIn allows users to download the contact information of those you are directly connected with so you can communicate with them outside of LinkedIn.

As you might expect, a fair amount (but hardly all) of my contacts are voice talents. This email blast wasn’t for them so I was sorting them out by title out of my LinkedIn database when I came across an interesting pattern.

Many professional voice talents do not include the terms voice talent or voice over talent in their title on LinkedIn. They say things like “president” or “owner”. My guess would be that they also don’t do this on their business cards as well, though I can’t prove it. They are probably relying on their company name to tell the whole story.

This strikes me as a missed marketing opportunity. Here’s why:

1. Always be accurately introducing yourself to the world – If you’re a plumber, tell the world so there’s no mistaking it; same if you’re a voice talent. Leave very little room for interpretation about whom you are professionally…people like clarity, especially in job titles. It’s just the way it is.

2. Always remind the search engines who you are – In organic search (the search results that aren’t paid for and just come up when you input certain words) you can never be sure how people are going to come across your personal brand or business. Anyone of your social media or pay-to-play web site listings could come up….consistency in your title could be helpful for the keywords in your organic rankings

3. Always be helpful to people doing database searches – Outside of my example, people do search their databases in a number of ways and for a number of reasons. One of them could be to find all the voice talents in their database to pick a voice. While it’s up to the user to decide what title they ultimately type in, you need to help them with a suggested title right under your name on your business card.

As for me, I’ve always had the best of both worlds because I am a voice talent and I provide a casting service for female voice talents and international voice talents. Peter K. O’Connell – President/Voice Talent.

Does this make sense or do you think I’m full of beans? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

Tags: commentary, linkedin, marketing, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on voice talents miss the boat