Via a post early today from CC Chapman and his communication from holiday founder Gary Vaynerchuk (who likes the vino) April 3rd is now Good People Day. Your mail will still be delivered and banks are open.

The concept is simple: use the power of the internet and the strength of social media to let “people write and talk (and) blog and twitter and just flat out SING about people that are AWESOME and GOOD.”

Crap, this another one of those simple ideas that I always miss and say “I wish I thought of that!”

I know a ton of awesome people but my especially my wife and children and basically anyone in my family. That’s a given. CC and Gary came up with the idea and/or communicated it to me so they are now also good people.

The problem with a list like this is names will be omitted who should be highlighted. Know that if your not on this list but you are reading this blog I think YOU ARE GOOD PEOPLE.

I’d have to write a book on each person to do justice to how great they are….I won’t cause I know my posts are too long anyway. Know that there’s a great story behind each name and probably a great story associated with you too.

So just off the top of my head (links where available)

Peg Keane -best person in the world and everyone who knows her knows that
Frank Frederick
Bob Souer
DB Cooper
Mary McKitrick
Toni Silveri
Voxmarketising subscribers
Ann Hackett
Msgr. Francis Braun
Fr. Norbert Burns
Fr. David LiPuma
John Crupe
Jack LoCastro
Michele Krollman (well, all her family too)
The Haleys
Jeanne Hellert
Everyone at Greenwood Group
Leesa Barnes
Kara Edwards
Everyone at Rare Earth
Everyone involved in Podcamp Toronto
My clients (really not sucking up…I’m lucky to have only nice clients)
And you.

Thanks just being around and for being who you are. I’m grateful I have you in my life.

Now please, post your list today. Do it, twitter it, podcast it. Today’s Good People Day. It’s an internet reminder to say thanks and that you’re important. Then just try and remember to do this everyday.

Tags: commentary, GPD08, internet, social networking, technology by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
7 Comments »

A gentleman who I’ve met a couple of times at podcamps (Toronto/Boston) named Christopher Penn did a very kind and unexpected thing a few months ago.

As a way to say thank you for everyone who supported his blog and podcast, he posted a list with links (where possible) of every person who left a comment. How brilliant for what poster shouldn’t be made to feel appreciated (well, maybe the 3,000 spammers whom I’ve filtered out but everyone else is great).

Well its taken a little time (600+ comments) and some of the records have been lost but most everybody who has visited and left a comment on voxmarketising – the audio’connell blog and podcast will be on the following list. If you’ve been here before, you’re probably on the list.

If you didn’t leave a web site, I at least included your name. If you have an updated web site since your last post here, let me know.

To my brief visitors, I hope you’ll subscribe and come back more often. To my subscribers, I cannot thank you enough and I hope to continue to provide content on voiceover, marketing and advertising (in blog and podcast form) the you find both informative and entertaining.

Thank you all for enjoying the ride with me.

And don’t for get to say hi!

Liz de Nesnera

Louis Trahan

Tags: blogs, commentary, google, internet, social networking by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
17 Comments »

The meteoric rise and fall of internet companies is something almost all of us have witnessed. Names that just a few years ago were household names have evaporated.

Netscape? That browser doesn’t even get updated anymore.

Pets.com? Remember the doggie hand puppet. Turns out that sock was the most valuable asset the company had.

Go.com? Disney bought it and it, uh, went.

South.

Fast.

As in $790 million write off.

Well, what got me thinking about all all the social networking sites that are out there now. As you can see in the column on the right, you’re welcome to friend me up on any number of them. –>

But only 2-3 years ago, social networking sites that seemed hottest then have either faded or become geographically biased (which is a term I just made up and will explain as I go.)

The first social networking site I ever joined was called e-cademy. It was then and I’m guessing still is now very euro-centric in its membership and popularity. There was a weird vibe I got off the site (which I guess goes to their branding and the attitude of their on-line presence). I decided it wasn’t for me and I stopped paying. It wasn’t a bad site, it just didn’t seem to fit me.

The second social networking site I joined was RYZE. This had a different vibe which I preferred and was pretty active in it. What made this especially attractive to me was that they had semi regular meet-ups of RYZE members in Toronto.

Well I love Toronto and the idea of making new contacts up there thrilled me to no end so off I drove for 90 minutes each way for months. I met so many wonderful people in a great setting, like Leesa Barnes, Faith Seekings and others that it was a blast. And oh yes, I closed deals and made money.

But these groups are delicate (if that’s the right term) and when some of the member leaders changed, the meetings became infrequent. Word came down that RYZE wanted the Toronto group (the largest of all the RYZE meet-up groups) to stop meeting. My interest in the group lagged, the voice-over community on the site increasing consisted of Indonesian voice talents who spoke of a market I knew nothing about and felt ill-equipped to break into and I dropped my paid membership.

Well I have gone back to Ryze in the past couple of days as people have indicated they wanted to network with me. With my unpaid membership, such access had been limited. But when I signed in this week and last, I noticed I’d been given a “free week” (or “weeks” based on the time frame).

I updated a few things on my pages and added a friend. I also looked at the network pages where I had belonged in Ryze. Last posts in these networking groups ranged from 2006-2007. Not a good sign. Maybe THAT’S why I was getting the free week.

Have you or are you an active Ryze member? What have been your observations? Don’t you think that for Social Networks to really have value they need to have regular meet-ups?

Tags: commentary, internet, social networking, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
3 Comments »

The talented LeFever family (husband Lee and wife Sachi) have produced another Common Craft show that often explains services in social media more clearly and creatively than I’ve found anywhere.

They’ve done it again, this time all about Twitter.

I (audioconnell) am still figuring out how this tool can work for me and I wouldn’t say I am active with it but I am trying to see how it fits with me and I fit with it.

But the fun is in the trying and, because of the Common Craft show, the learning. Enjoy.

Tags: commentary, internet, marketing, media, social networking, technology by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on twitter in plain english

Some thoughts for your day…

Can Kodak rise from the ashes because of a discussion on a bulletin board?

If you’re following someone on Twitter who advises that they really like a product, are you more likely to buy it?

Does a blog post now make a bigger impression than a full page ad in the New York Times?

Every business owner is a marketer and thereby a brand guardian and promoter. Whether you are an accountant, a day care owner, a sign maker or a voice over talent, you either own or manage a brand through which a product or service is delivered.

In the good old days (which were only a few years ago) a radio campaign, a direct mail campaign, a series of print ads or a spot run on TV could help you gain brand recognition (depending on your audience and marketing budget…this is all broad brush stroke stuff here folks, not enough time for minute detail).

But as you may have realized or read, the tools of social media (or the practice of social networking) have thrown into a marketer’s mix such microscopic audience groups that knowing what it could mean to your brand is a bit unnerving.

There is reason to believe, therefore, that social networks could be killing branding as we all know it and practice it. And that, I’m guessing, is something you can understand could directly impact how you market your business, no matter the size.

In the Harvard Business Review, there’s a very engaging article (at least it was to me) about the impact social networks are having on branding. I encourage you to read it and then daydream.

Think about how you might need to change your current marketing planning, your messaging or your presence in the world of social networking. But be proactive as well as reactive. The sound you hear on your business door is opportunity…and it’s knocking.

And while many of you may have trouble attending logistically, I encourage any who can to check out Mitch Joel’s upcoming full day seminars on Social Media Marketing presented by the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada.

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

Creating the Unofficial NBC Nightly News Voice Off was an epiphany for many reasons not the least of which was the power of the web.

1. Until the very moment I came up with the idea, I really hadn’t been searching for a breakthrough idea for the blog which would garner lots of attention. After the event’s successful completion, I’m still not. While the blog is an important web marketing tool, it remains for me a creative outlet that, while I hope others enjoy, laugh and learn from it, doesn’t need be anything else besides that outlet. I am however thrilled that the blog provided a useful channel through which the idea could blossom. For those two reasons, I really am happy I have the blog.

2. There are so many tremendous voice over talents that I “met” for the first time through this exercise. Many I had known of for years and some are even great friends but coming across so many heretofore unheard (by me) voices was a real treat.

3. Finally, the big epiphany: some voiceover talents (not naming any names nor does this part reflect upon the aforementioned names) are crappy marketers.

Well, there goes all the new professional goodwill I just engendered from the Voice Off. But I feel if I address the issue, folks can learn from it. And folks, I witnessed all this first hand.

Lesson 1 – If you do not have your own voice over web site, I consider you a voice over wanna-be. Ouch, harsh! “But I have a page on voices.com and voice 123,” you say. Good, that’s right, direct your prospective client to your page there and hope and pray they don’t start fishing around the other talent pages on those sites (some of whom will do a 10 minute narration for $5 and a cup of day old coffee, just to get experience). Bad odds. Spend the money, get your own web page (or full site) and create a brand. Stop whining about money and do it!

Lesson 2 – Telephone numbers are not optional. Maybe you have a studio in your home and you don’t want clients calling your house and having your 10 year old answering the phone and, while sounding cute, still sounding unprofessional and I get that. Get a cell phone number, make that your business line, plaster the phone number everywhere and always answer it professionally. But get a phone number. Here’s your slogan – “The Telephone – its how business gets done!”

Lesson 3 – An email signature block is mandatory. Typing “Joe” or whatever at the bottom of an email doesn’t cut it. Every email you send out is an electronic business card. People may have kept your email just to have your contact information…unless of course you DON’T have it on there and then your important email really becomes expendable. An email signature block, which you can set up on most software to go out with every email automatically (so you really have no excuse) should contain at minimum your name, your company name, your phone number and your web site where folks can find your demos.

There are only two people now who know of your errors, you and me. And as you can see, I’m not using any names in the crappy marketers section. So quietly go about fixing these changes and go make some money. Nobody else will know how you did it cause I’m not telling.

Tags: commentary, fauxdition, internet, marketing, NBC Nightly News, social networking, unofficial audition, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover blog by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
3 Comments »