My business resolution in 2009 was/is actually only one word: execute.

Too often in a business day, I’ll get started in six different directions and lucky if I find the finish line on two of those starts. Same thing the next day to the point where (if you follow the math) lots of stuff didn’t get done.

Well on day to day business, that’s going to happen sometimes but this year (he said with vigor and emphasis!) not on projects or important tasks – not related to clients (their stuff always gets done…money first!)

But like every business person, I’m always studying my business’ trends, activity in the industry etc.

While doing that, a thought occurred to me…should I keep my listings on the pay to play (P2P) voice over web sites?

I do not have a paid listing on the pay to play web sites like Voice 123 because I think these sites qualitatively, quantitatively and financially devalue the voiceover profession. I could rant forever on that but will spare you unless you ask in the comments.

I did keep a free page for SEO/SEM considerations. But the thought had occurred to me on more than one occasion: am I hurting my brand through even a free association with such sites?

Further, by being listed even in a free listing, am I offering an implied endorsement of these types of sites?

Today I got my answer.

On the VO-BB, there was yet another debate about the P2P sites. In the thread I brought up my conundrum. A voice talent friend of mine offered this observation:

“The way I see it, if people in the biz that I look up to are on them (and there are a few folks that are… and do gigs from them) then it’s good enough for me.”

I highly doubt that this person was referring to me in the quote but after reading it I did not doubt that one could see my participation on a P2P site as an endorsement. It was time to execute (I love when the signs are crystal clear).

Voice 123 was very helpful in their (possibly third-world based) on-line chat room with the deletion of my account. In fact, in my history of dealings with the company, this may have been their most impressive display of customer service. For that only, I thank them.

Tags: announcers, branding, commentary, marketing, peter o'connell, search engine marketing, voice 123, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Voice over talents who subscribe to voxmarketising or who train with the Voice Over Workshop occasionally receive a free e-mail from the Voice Over Workshop’s owner (who also happens to own audio’connell voice over talent and this blog/podcast) with his advice on how to earn billions of dollars in voice over (which none of them ever do). Nonetheless, subscribers saw this first – so if you’re seeing it for the first time now, you are at the end of the line. Subscribe now to fix that.

I came across a comment from a voice talent friend of mine who noted that they hadn’t heard from any past clients in a while. She surmised: “Hmmm, I better do some marketing.”

Had my Mother not taught me better, I would have said to her “That makes about as much sense as saying ‘Hmmm, I just finished taking the Bar exam, I think I’ll start studying for it now.'”

While I doubt I’m the first one you’ll hear make this point, the time for marketing is yesterday, today and tomorrow. In short, always.

We’re cursed and blessed as voice talents with a fair amount of time in our work day where we’re not voicing something. Oh some will tell you they’re always voicing throughout the day but by and large they’re full of crap.

Like me, your Mother probably raised you better than to point that out to them.

So you’ve got the time to do the marketing and you’ve got a budget in mind and ain’t it just handy that you’re pretty much at the start of the year.

Now what?

How about starting with a plan. A marketing plan. Think of it as a shopping list of sorts.

Sure, you can get pretty fancy with its design but a marketing plan is NOT about look and feel but rather it is about giving yourself a tool to decide WHO you want to get your message, WHEN you want them to get that message, HOW you’re going to get that message to them and WHAT that message is going to be.

It’s simple in its concept and can be as complex and involved as you’re willing to make it but you have to make a plan and then you have to live the plan. Otherwise you might as well sign up for the Bar exam.

That’s my Voice Over Workshop Kick In The Pants for this month.

If you’d like to visit with me one-on-one to discuss marketing or any other part of your voice over future, email me and we can set up a telephone session: 2 hours for $100 on any and all topics you’d like to cover in the world of voice over.

More info is available at the Voice Over Workshop.

Enjoy the ride!

Tags: kick in the pants, voice over workshop, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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My thanks to my fellow voice over talent Doc Phillips who has taken his Speak Easy blog one step further by publishing his favorite motivational and education blog posts from other voice over blogs, including voxmarketising.

Check out his post here to also read great blog posts from Dave Courvoisier, Bob Souer, Liz de Nesnera, Bobbin Beam, Willie Edwards, Elaine Singer and Bryan Cox.

It’s an honor for this blog to be recognized in such a way and especially to be included with such great voice and writing talents. Thank you for your efforts Doc!

Tags: blogs, commentary, community, social media, voice talent, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Sound absorption and even sound proofing (a bit more expensive and more tricky) are usually on the front or back of most voice talents’ minds. Why?

Because in spite of the authority and brilliance we convey on a daily basis with our magnificent voices we collectively are not all the audio technology experts you might assume us to be.

Well of course I am but that’s also because I am also a grotesquely rich, tall, good looking, male model.

But since you are not me and thereby not flying on the same mind foggy ego wave that I do you might be interested in this piece of news.

Auralex Acoustics has conceived a new way to help a voice talent part with their hard earned money to be both consulted about and then one has to assume a consumer for their acoustic products.

They have a plan to do off-site room acoustics analysis and on-site (way more expensive).

Depending on your circumstance, it might be of benefit to you to check it out here.

If you use the service, let me know how it went. If you decided against it, tell me why also, if you would. Thanks.

Tags: announcers, audio production, commentary, technology, voice talent, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »

During my morning Reader reading (remember when we used to read something called a newspaper? Ha! How passé) I came across (Oh, well, yes I still do read a newspaper too. Anyway…) a blog post on Linked In allowing new applications to be integrated on to someone’s Linked In page. Very tight restrictions, as is the LinkedIn way but I went and saw a video about the apps to see if I wanted to add one or two.

There was a Word Press app that I kinda understood and since my blog is a Word Press blog, I added it. Or I think I did, I’m not sure. Nothing really happened when I added it so you may see it on my profile or you may not. Sometimes my button pushing on computers is less than stellar. In real life I can be an excellent button pusher but that’s not always seen as a good thing.

Any way, goodness such rambling today….the point I was trying to get to before these tangents in my head kept over taking my fingers on the keyboard was that I was surprised to see I now have 315 connections on LinkedIn. I didn’t think it was up that high but I also wasn’t following its growth like a tote board at a telethon either.

I’m a pretty open connector / networker on LinkedIn, I guess a Lion or LION (their emphasis) is a group nickname for it. Yet I am not really aiming for the 500+ moniker, the magic number where LinkedIn stops tallying one’s connection count (I guess that makes me a bit of a remedial Lion, possibly the runt of the litter). Once you learn some tricks its really not hard to get heavily connected. I think its fine if somebody WANTS to do that but for me I always come back to one question.

Why?

Why not grow somewhat naturally, organically to use the search term, with people you have a connection with in real life, already have a connection with on-line or have a reasonable or likely opportunity to develop a business relationship in the future? Occasionally I feel like I might be connecting with someone just to be polite. Damn you, Emily Post! 😉

Strictly for purposes of example, I’m connected with a couple of LIONS who are Human Resource Managers (lots of those professionals live on LinkedIn it seems to me) who may want a shot at connecting with my contacts but I’m not going to likely do business with any of the HR folks. I sometimes wonder if I’ve made a (very minor with no disrespect intended) mistake simply accepting that kind of connection. Or maybe they’ll offer me a million dollar job that will change my life.

Granted, LinkedIn allows you to use your database to communicate via email outside of LinkedIn in a professional way. I let people know in my profile that I will communicate with them in this way (although one person long ago evidently couldn’t read and accused me of spam; it was no one of any consequence anyway) and I do update these folks on my businesses.

My goal though is to have my business communication mean something to them, to have it seem logical (i.e. “Oh, I have a video production company and this voice talent just sent me his newsletter and since we use voice talent on occasion, receiving this newsletter makes sense!”) Worse than being accused of spam, I would hate to be accused to wasting someone’s time.

If LinkedIn is to have professional value to all of us (and certainly it can also have personal value as well) quality should be the prime directive not quantity. But if I get to 500+ contacts….be assured it will only be because quality begot quantity.

And if you actually read through this entire blog post, especially if you didn’t feel like commenting, just type in the word “finished”. Then I’ll have to think of some prize to give you for muddling your way all the way down here. I’ll start with saying thanks! And of course I want to connect with YOU.

Tags: commentary, technology, UNICEF, voice 123, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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I was on Google tonight and came across a web site tonight, of reasonable design, offering voice overs for under $100 and quick turnaround.

Competition is fine but low-ballers like this individual and his compatriots disgust me because I think it cheapens our industry and further confuses potential clients on price.

Searching further on the site I see this person (whom I do not know) is actually within a couple of hours drive of me and has a number of misspellings on his site.

In spite of my disgust I find myself beginning to type an email explaining his misspellings because it looks unprofessional.

Then I stop.

While at first it seemed like the right thing to do, I decided that someone whose business model I do not at all respect does not deserve professional assistance from me as I might normally do for someone in the industry I consider a peer.

I may have become an elitist voice over talent. Not elite, elitist.

Doesn’t he have a right to run his business as she sees fit? Maybe she’s got small children to feed.

But deep discount voice over pricing is wrong and I know this down to my very core.

Should I have helped this person with an email about the errors I easily found or should I have walked away, like I did, because I think his business model is a bad one?

I need clear direction on this. I may ignore your advice in the end based on pure Irish stubbornness but for the moment I know I should listen.

Please state your case below. Thanks.

Tags: branding, commentary, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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