Rather than get into a long detailed analysis of the individual points, I will simply direct you to Dave Courvoisier’s blog to read about his multi-part social media plan for voice artists. If you didn’t know, he has been discussing this kind of stuff for quite a while, and he has put together an impressive series of steps and tips for you to follow in order to make the best of your social media presence. Start with Part 1, and go from there. You will not be disappointed.
JoJo Jensen, voice artist, author and entrepreneur tells the tale:
“It would be really cool if you recorded the first chapter of my book,” my friend Tom said in his easy manner.
I looked at him like he had just invented the snickerdoodle. Brilliant!
Chapter & Voice didn’t start out as a business… it began as a favor. I wanted to help Tom spark interest for his military science fiction novel. It was (and still is) a ripping good yarn, but he was stuck in marketing and submission hell and didn’t know what else to do.
As an author myself, I knew how hard it was (and still is) to market and sell manuscripts. But… I also knew that as a professional voice talent, I could record and produce an audio sample that would give Tom the attention-grabbing marketing tool he needed to sell his kick-butt, action packed novel.
The recording for his book totally rocked. When I mentioned my little endeavor to other writers, they flipped out. They wanted me to record samples of their books too! So- I did. And, here we are.
Here’s what I know now. Audio, in all its forms, is gaining in popularity and Chapter & Voice is here to help writers use this medium to get published, get known and sell books.
And with that, Chapter & Voice was born. It was a great pleasure and privilege to be a part of kicking off this project, along with Heather Henderson, Stephen Bowlby, and Jamie Muffett.
To be clear, this is not full audiobook production. We will record about 1,250 words from whatever section of the book the author would like, and send back a clean, polished “AudioTeaser,” which can then be used to promote the book to buyers and publishers. I know from talking with JoJo a number of times about this that she is very excited for Chapter and Voice to see the light of day. She definitely has a vision for this, and really wants to open up this new path for marketing books in an exciting and effective new way.
So go check out Chapter and Voice on the site, find us on Facebook, and of course follow the Twitter account @chapterandvoice. It’s definitely fun to be on the leading edge of something like this!
photo © 2008 Andrey Maximov | more info (via: Wylio)I don’t remember who recommended it to me, but last year I started running a Google Search on my name that lets me know when I show up on the web. It’s a good thing to know when people are talking about you, and more importantly, what are they saying. If nothing else, it can be gratifying to see the hits, informative to know where backlinks to your website are showing up, and entertaining when it is seemingly untethered from reality.
Once I started voicing for ROOT Sports Northwest, I saw some posts about the “Root Sports voice over guy” on the SB Nation Seattle Mariners fan site, Lookout Landing. Some of it is pretty funny: I was blamed for the Mariners losing games, called drunk, and the very erudite “sounds like a retard given the confidence of a booth and multiple tries.” Ah, my fans.
But there was an interesting thread that came up speculating who the voice was. And since there was a press release out and circulating about my getting the gig, one of the enterprising Mariners fans was able to find the information and my picture. Once it was posted in the thread, there was a comment that I found pretty interesting (especially after being accused of being drunk):
“He looks exactly how he sounds like he should look.”
This got me to thinking. I know that I am doing something many voice artists don’t do; that is, letting people know what I look like. The standard argument against letting your face come into play is that it can get you stereotyped into or out of specific kinds of jobs. I remember specifically speaking to a female participant at Faffcon 2 about this problem. She believes because she is blonde, a picture would lead people to assume that she has a higher voice, where her actual voice is dark and smoky.
Age is also a consideration, particularly for women. Sadly, it has been reported frequently that even if a woman’s voice sounds much younger, she can miss out on a job because she may not look as youthful as she sounds.
And so I am curious: do you use your photo in your promotional material? Is it on your website, and if so, where? Do you think it has been a positive for you, or are you considering another direction? I would love to hear your thoughts.
UPDATE: Thanks to all the Mariners fans at Lookout Landing who stopped by to check out the post. You guys are pretty cool!
Admit it, the Aflac Duck campaign was a fun little diversion. Gilbert Gottfried blew it (hey, he’s an insult comic, it was bound to happen), and in a brilliant bit of PR, the company decided to throw the doors open in a nationwide search for the next voice of the Duck. And here he is: Dan McKeague, radio sales manager from Minneapolis.
From the CNBC Story:
McKeague beat out well-known celebrities like Jeff Foxworthy and Richard Lewis for the job which Gilbert Gottfried lost after making jokes about Japan post-quake. Gottfried had been the only voice the duck has known since being introduced 11 years ago, but Aflac gets most of its revenue from Japan, so Gottfried’s remarks turned out to be no joke. (Gottfried never did the voiceover work for Aflac’s Japanese ads.)
A nice bit of PR for the company that helps it recover from the damage done by Gottfried’s less than thoughtful remarks, a pretty cool opportunity, and a re-establishment of goodwill. A win win for everyone.
Well almost everyone. Not unlike the Ted Williams situation, I have seen members of the voiceover community/industry grousing about how someone who didn’t pay their dues or spend a ton of money on training and equipment, or maybe just wasn’t them, got a gig that perhaps they shouldn’t have. Specifically, one quote I heard was “Who invited this guy to the party?”
Who invited him to the party? The same people that invited you, me, and every other voice artist out there: THE CLIENT.
Now I am certain that this isn’t the majority of people out there. Most of us, I hope, have the perspective that this is a selection process that the only part of which you control is your performance. Most of us realize that your chances are slim in just about every audition process you have, unless it is targeted specifically for you. Most of us get the fact that there is another job around the corner that might be yours.
But for those who do not, here’s the rude awakening: you aren’t going to get everything you audition for. You aren’t going to get half of the things you audition for. You probably aren’t going to get one-quarter of the things you audition for. No one promised you a NatGeo documentary series, a national ad campaign, or a Pixar/Dreamworks film deal. Learn your craft, work your contacts, market yourself. Audition. And audition some more. And don’t obesess about the relative success of one-off situations like the Aflac campaign. You got into this because you wanted a career, not a job, right? Don’t lose that perspective: there is always another job.
Congratulations to Dan McKeague! That’s a sweet gig, and I hope it gives you much success. Everyone else? Let’s get back to work!
VoiceOverXtra has a great two-part article on marketing by voice talent Alan Sklar. In both Part 1 and Part 2, he shares some of the little things he has done over the years to make himself accessible and memorable to clients, potential clients, and agents. his technique comes from having been a salesperson in the paint industry for 20 plus years, and he knew what to look for when talking to a potential client, how to make sure you are not forgotten, and being bold in your efforts to get them to take your information.
I think boldness is the key, at least for me. For all my on stage experience and sining in front of hundreds and thousands of people, the “boldness” it takes to make that step into selling my goods has always been daunting. I feel like I am making progress though, and I will definitely be looking at some of Alan’s tips and techniques to make it work. So often in the new, high tech world of blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and the Internet itself, we lose sight of the need to be physically introduced to some people in order to “make the sale.”
Kat Keesling wrote about this with a different twist in her blog post a few weeks ago, “Are You Booking a First Class Flight to Say Hi to your Next Door Neighbor?” She points out the need to use tools proper to the task at hand, and that sometimes includes just going over and saying hello, telling them what you do.
Alan’s articles are must reads. So is Kat’s, even if I have mentioned hers before. Give them all a read, and let me know what you think.
![footprint on the sand](https://www.voevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/networking_footprint.jpg" "footprint on the sand - photo by: ezioman, Source: Flickr, found with Wylio.com")
photo © 2006 ezioman | more info (via: Wylio)Dave Courvoisier is a social networking guru for the voiceover set. He digs and digs to find the tips, techniques, and opportunities voice talent should look into to further themselves in the social networking scene. He also never seems to sleep, which amazes me to no end.
Dave has listed out his 10 Ways to Enhance Your Online VO Footprint, and after looking at them, they are applicable to anyone trynig to establish their social media identity. A couple of my favorites are the folloing:
2) ENGAGE. Don’t just lurk. Be known. This doesn’t mean you have to be chatty every day, all day. Just pop up once in a while when you can contribute (see #1), and show yourself
This step is often the hardest for newbies to the social media world, because the community you are entering, whatever it is, can seem imposing and already well knit. But there is rarely a community that will not welcome new voices that add to the discussion.
9) SHARE SOMETHING PERSONAL once in a while. You don’t have to give your kids’ Social Security Numbers…but you might offer that you just finished a big project, and it feels good to be done. Some think these posts are frivolous, but I differ. When done right, they reveal a window into your personality, and you’ll find sometimes you get the most responses to THESE types of offerings (BTW, VO Terry Daniel is a master at this, so ask him how he does it.)
This is the real balancing act. Dave has posted in the past about the balance between sharing something out of joy and just posting your many and varied accomplishments just to show how good you are. Hence the “once in a while” part of the statement.
Go read the rest, and see how you can implement them in your social networking strategy. They make sense, and can definiely increase your visibility.
