There are many people you can blame for the fact that I will shortly unveil (or should I say unleash? Possibly burden?) my podcast. But rather than have you cast stones at them or start fires, just simply be forewarned.

It’s coming.

The only reason for the delay is the amount of voice over work I have had to do which takes away from my planning time. And for all the "free-form" spirit of a podcast, as my clients will tell you, I’m a bit of a audio production perfectionist. But perfect is a "goal" and the work won’t go away (God willing) so off I will sail into not wholly unchartered podcasting waters.

The title of the podcast is "voxmarketising – the audio’connell podcast". What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks does that mean?

It means that on any given episode you’ll hear insight from me and my colleagues and friends around the globe about the three channels of communication that interest me the most and that I have the most professional experience within: the voice over industry ("vox"), marketing ("market") and advertising ("tising"), all in no particular order. But I had to give my podcast a name; hence, voxmarketising™.

The podcast will evolve as time goes on (as every broadcast or publication I’ve ever been involved with always has) but I’m hoping the focus will be less on me offering my insights on topics of the day (though there will be some of that, no doubt) and more on interviews with experts and insightful folks from whom I have learned a lot and from whom I think you can gain some great practical business knowledge too.

Comments are always welcomed and may be used on the podcast. You can start now by dialing the voxmarketising comment line at +01 716 989 6151 from any phone. You can wish me good luck, tell me to stop before I even get started or throw in your comment about a relevant story that you’ve been thinking about. Leave your name and web site or podcast address so I can promote it and link to it on the show notes (oh yes, there will be show notes).

It will be friendly, informal, very informative and fun. It will not be an infomercial. Podcast posts will appear here on the audio’connell’s voiceover blog on! so make sure you subscribe now by clicking the buttons in the upper left hand corner of the blog.

Tags: blogs, commentary, internet, marketing, peter o'connell, podcasting, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
9 Comments »

A great blog design without good writing is like a bubble gum comic….it’s a passable idea but who cares?

Likewise, good blog writing is meaningless if it’s presented within a wishy-washy design.

And if you want to highlight your podcast, then all of that becomes a bit more complicated.

Well today Mitch Joel of Twist Image unveiled his new design and rebranded Six Pixels of Separation Blog and Podcast site.

If his company uses just this site as its design-content-web functionality calling card…Twist Image may not have actually write many more new business marketing/advertising/podcasting/public relations proposals. You can see it from the first page.

And he writes well.

THAT’S how its done, folks. Take note.

BTW, I’d be remiss if I didn’t direct you to Mitch’s recent podcast on the Toronto Geek Dinner, which I wrote about recently. Listen to the interviews (not because I’m on it) but for the various opinions and uses for blogging and podcasting….totally unique perspectives unedited and rolling live from people all using the same tools. And a great steak dinner, I might add.

Tags: advertising, blogs, commentary, internet, marketing, media, podcasting, technology by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »

There are savvier people than I (amazing, huh?! 🙂 ) who spend megabytes and hours defining and debating social media and web 2.0 while the rest of the world yawns and says “I need to make business contacts to make money to pay my mortgage and maybe go out to dinner.”

I’m professionally drawn to those select few in these web communities who both talk AND walk the walk of social media and online communities. These people help other professionals (like me) build my business financially with their insight and experience, they help me learn about fast changing trends within what I believe will prove to be a major shift in the way business is conducted locally, nationally and internationally, as well as provide introductions to people who can help me and (equally as important) who I can help as well.

But to benefit from what is certainly for me an imperfect learning experience (which may be a polysyllabic synonym for “life”) I know that I have to actively participate and do so with an open mind. These communities are filled with folks mostly younger and waaay smarter than me and we meet having vastly different life experiences…finding common ground is part of the fun. For the old schoolers out there, the process I’m speaking about is nothing more than a virtual networking system or event that, if one is fortunate, morphs into a real life networking event.

All this pre-ambling is a way of giving you insight into why I write a great deal in this blog about social media and applicable internet trends/tools and why I attended the Toronto Geek Dinner on Wednesday evening. I’ll start by answering your top three questions (see, I’m getting so much smarter that I know you’re questions before you’ve asked them!)

What is a Geek Dinner?These dinners area random get-together of professionals from the worlds of Marketing, Communications, Advertising, Public Relations, Blogging and Podcasting. The Geek Dinner is where their worlds collide…in a very professional way, of course.

How does one get invited to a Geek Dinner? Basically, someone takes the lead and puts it together then puts out the word. Mitch Joel, he of the Twist Image blog out of beautiful Montreal, posted a notice on his blog and within days it was sold out. So if you keep the lines of communications open with influence-ers like Mitch, you hear about good stuff.

What is the value of a Geek Dinner? It’s like any good networking event, especially if you come to the event not trying to sell yourself like maybe a used car salesman would. Everyone at the event shares common interests while also bringing a diversity accumulation of practical, useful knowledge from their work. My voice over, marketing, advertising, broadcasting, blogging and podcasting experience allowed me to serve as a resource in some cases. Its not pushy, it’s welcoming. People getting to know people.

And of course, as I’ve noted previously, you do not need to bend my arm to go to Toronto…I always feel jazzed going up there and even coming back. I love that city.

Who did I get to know at the Toronto Geek Dinner? Some great people!

I caught up with Bill Sweetman of Sweetmantra.com, an internet marketing blog. He and I first met at Podcamp Toronto.

Dining with me were Eli Singer of Cundari SFP, he runs a social media site; Eden Spodek sat next to me, she of Bargainista fame, a web site for people who love to shop (there’s a huge audience). I also met the self-proclaimed “Smartest Man in the World” (says so right on his business card); his name is Saul Colt and he was a very cool guy.

Next to our table was a bunch of people from webfeat, a very cool online marketing company with a very impression Fortune 500 client list; the people I spoke to the most from there were Stephen Giles and Ellie Rosen. Both very interesting folks and fun to have dinner with. The “podcastic” Donna Pappacosta was there and if you’re thinking of putting a podcast together and you need to know EVERYTHING you need to know, visit Trafcom News…Donna’s a great lady. I also finally got to meet Bill Nygren of Boom Sonic Branding. They do some amazing production there.

My thanks to Mitch and everybody who had a hand in putting together the Geek Dinner. It was terrific!

Tags: blogs, commentary, internet, marketing, media, peter o'connell, podcasting, radio, technology, tv, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
10 Comments »

There are many good reasons to subscribe to blogs. One of the reasons I like to subscribe to certain blogs is that I feel fairly confident I’m going to find hard, useful information or the “Cliff Notes” version of same as a subscribee (this may be a new word cause I just thought it up in my head as I was writing and if it is I am copyrighting it right now subscribee©).

Sometimes I come across great writing in my on going searches and sometimes I met individuals at conferences whose presentations and general knowledge (nay, disposition) impress me so much that I want to see if their blogs convey that positive impression. Usually they do.

Such was the case when I met Mitch Joel of Twist Image at Podcamp Toronto. As much as I took away from that experience regarding podcasting and blogging, in Mitch I also came across a savvy marketing thinker (and because there are so few of us…oh to finish that sentence would just be bragging}kidding). Point is he’s a sharp marketing guy.

Like me, on a constant search for good, summary data, Mitch got a heads up on the Digital Fact Pack Guide To The Digital Marketing World, produced by Ad Age. I’ve finished going through it once (and I imagine I’ll be culling more data from it soon) but it would be worth your time to visit Mitch’s site and see for yourself.

Thanks Mitch.

Tags: advertising, blogs, internet, marketing, media, podcasting, technology by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »

Editor’s Note: In the daily observation of life around him, the author occasionally feels the need to point out ridiculously inane behavior and general thoughtlessness. These are called “Rants” and this is one of those times.

As it’s kind of a quiet Saturday afternoon with folks sleeping or running errands from the house, I took the opportunity to visit Voice 123 and submit some auditions.  As I’ve mentioned before here, my bookings, auditions from agents and production schedule offer me less and less time to fiddle with the cattle call that Voice 123 has really become. But I still have months left on my paid subscription so I figured I better get to it. 

It has been awhile since I sent in some auditions.  I threw out the ones I didn’t think I’d be the right voice for and the ever present low ball audition (especially those folks requesting custom auditions for message on hold…who are they kidding?)  I was reading one audition that had a low price for the amount of work required and the usage of the voice and was about to delete it when I read down a little further and notice an addition to the usually inane Voice 123 disclaimer on price which read: 

“Voice123 Team Note: We recognize that this project may be below Voice123 pricing recommendations. We have become more flexible with budgets as it was brought to our attention that we could be violating United States federal anti-trust laws by limiting the participation of voice seekers in our marketplace when they don’t met our budget recommendations. It seems that, legally speaking, it is up to the providers (the talents and voice producers) and not the marketplace (Voice123) to determine to exclude the voice seekers they don’t want to work with.

Right after the release of the new Voice123, we will be working on several improvements that will help talents and voice producers filter the types of projects they want and better match projects with talent and voice producers depending on the budget and experience of the talent. On (sic) the meantime we are trying to be flexible to keep everybody happy.”

 “It seems that, legally speaking,…” Wow, what impressive attorney filed that hard hitting legal brief? 

As you might guess, I find this disclaimer highly suspect.  But I am also not an attorney. I am however a big David Letterman fan (not the stalking kind, I just like the show) and I thought of a Dave quote when he interviewed Bill O’Reilly from Fox News as I read the Voice 123 disclaimer. To paraphrase, it went along the lines of “I’m probably not as smart as you are but my gut tells me 60% of what comes out of your mouth is crap.” 

If Voice 123 is going to be “filtering” projects and pricing in their “next” version (which it seems they’ve been working on since 1950 and which might be ready by 2010) why can’t they filter now? Likely, they can.  In my opinion, the real answer is Voice 123 will take any voice job that comes through, slap it up on the board and let all the $50 announcers quote that price on a $2000 job just so Voice 123 can jack up the number of leads they provide VO subscribers and thereby justify the company’s existence.  

As always….I could be wrong.

Tags: advertising, character voices, commentary, commercials, internet, marketing, message on-hold, narrations, podcasting, radio, rants, technology, voice 123, voice actors, voice casting, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
6 Comments »

Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer Jeffrey Kelley recently wrote a good synopsis of how some companies in and around Virginia are successfully including podcasts as a part of their marketing mix. 

Kelley noted that companies that use podcasting as a way to inform and entertain their audience, without producing a glorified commercial, have the best chance of engaging the listeners in their target markets.

Here’s a quick excerpt: 

“It’s kind of a marketing thing because we’re showing our perspective on technologies we help clients implement,” said Will Loving, the Henrico County firm’s chief operating officer. “If someone listens to it, they can actually learn something from it and use it in their day-to-day work.”

That’s precisely how podcasts should be done, experts say. If made correctly, a corporate podcast can become a marketing and public-relations tool, but it shouldn’t look or sound that way.

Steven Hearn, a former Richmonder and president of podcastGO.com, said the programs should be considered “infotainment” — in other words, listeners should learn something, yet stay amused.

You can read the entire article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch web site here.

Tags: advertising, internet, marketing, podcasting by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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