New Business Development Feature
By Liz Raphael Helgesen

“In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” --Carl Sagan

Ok, so I admit it. I cheat. I never bake from scratch. Baking is just not my art. I figure if it comes in a box and I can just mix and bake why should I try and reinvent the wheel? It’s not that I can’t follow directions; it’s just that I prefer the ones that say, “cut, place on tray and bake at 350.” While the fantasy Norman Rockwell scene of me dancing in the kitchen wearing an apron covered in white flower and vanilla extract does get to me sometimes, I am quickly seduced by the short cuts when I think of what else I can accomplish with the time saved. After all, the boxed stuff tastes great—no one will really know the difference, right?

Wrong. Let me apologize to all the expert chefs and food critics out there whom I offend with my short-sided thinking about the art and soul of creating authentic and pure food experiences for others. I apologize because I do know there is a difference. I do know that to the descriminating palate, there is a huge difference between boxed and from-scratch. Just as I profoundly know the difference between just reading a script cold and starting from scratch.

As a voice talent, before I even begin to “cook” the copy I have to first prepare and gather key ingredients that will make my read truly a performance. This is my art—the art of voice. And I know that to deliver the best experience, I simply can not take short cuts or, for the sake of convenience, leave out even the tiniest grain of salt.

So, here I have gathered the ingredients for a truly delicious performance:

And, just as my dough won’t rise if I leave out the details, neither will my work elevate the hearts and minds of those I serve if I leave out thoughtful care, timely preparation and my key ingredients--the best of me. Ahh, it tastes so good!

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Podcasting For Fun And Profit.....by Frank Frederick

In the voiceover business; we all do it – the “IT” being, talk. Many of have us been in radio or television and have voiced commercials, infomercials, and educational presentations for companies large and small, but most likely have never created profitable productions for ourselves.

Today you can change that situation by “Podcasting For Fun And Profit”.

Listen to Frank here.

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Shhhhhhhhh.........recording
by Harlan Hogan

Today's voice over pro has had to adapt to a changing industry. Therefore, I'm a big proponent of setting up and using a home recording studio - even when you're far from home - to handle my auditions and work. A decent laptop, an audio interface, and a microphone allow you to record and deliver voice tracks from almost anywhere. And with high-speed Internet readily available there's no reason to miss sessions and auditions because you are on location or vacation, unless you choose to.

I heartily understand, respect, and secretly admire actors who can tell their clients and agents, "Don't bother me, I'm on holiday and the only performing I'll be doing this week is down at the pool."

I understand, respect, and admire those actors -- but I just can't do it. I love this work and when I spend an hour or so a day working during my vacation, I enjoy the remaining 23 hours all that much more.

Unfortunately, when you are on the road you'll often find yourself in less than perfect recording environments, even with pro-quality recording gear. Most guest rooms, cabanas, ship cabins, and hotel rooms are OK as long as you avoid the ones adjacent to the elevators and the ice machine.....for more click on the link below.
http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml

The Funnies

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Quiet please
by Deb Munro

I hear this lament all the time: “I have no room to spare as it is, so how can I build a studio?” After 1-1/2 years of renting in small, busy, noisy locations, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to accommodate a proper recording space. Thankfully, prices for the technology that we use to record have dropped substantially over the past few years. So, all that’s really needed is an acoustically
insulated space about the size of a small closet or phone booth. And even if you don’t have a spare closet in your home, there are several workable options for you.
........More

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Save hundreds and hundreds on SILENCE....Rick Gordon

I guess we can all agree that having your own home studio is the only way to go to keep competitive in the burgeoning VO business. After all, the investment in the equipment you need can usually be retrieved in a few recording projects.

One of the challenges of course is getting clean high quality recordings out of your little recording cubby hole which can save you hours and hours of editing time. SILENCE is the challenge.

I've just moved to a new home and right next to my office recording studio is a furnace, an air exchanger, a septic pump, a washer and dryer and since I am now in the country I enjoy the company of a sump pump which loves to gurgle and spit every 2 minutes during a thaw. OH........I must not forget that I have 3 computers all with that wonderful white noise of spinning hard disks that puts a fine line through my sound waves.

I can edit out all of the background noises now by turning off all the noise makers and making sure that I record the ambient sounds to apply to the entire recording. But isn't there a more simple way? Yes my friend. Check out both articles this month by my colleagues and friends Harlan Hogan and Deb Munro. What slick ideas they have and I am convinced they work. They are one heck of a lot cheaper than a Whisper Booth and they can be pretty to look at too!

An additional bonus is that they are both transportable which makes me turn cartwheels....maybe I can take a vacation this summer and not have to budget $500 for renting professional recording studio time while I am on the road? $500 buys a lot of lobster:) YIPEE!!!

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Steps to Marketing Your Website (This month #3)....Mark Pelisek

This Month: Participate and Network

Tell A Friend

A recommendation from family and friends is the most powerful form of marketing, online or offline. This is why adding a "Tell a friend!", "Invite a friend", or "Email this" link to your site or pages is a great (and free) way to increase your marketing reach. It doesn't have to be complicated—a simple link to launch an e-mail program or a simple form to send the information on to another person is really all it takes. For the spam-weary, you may also want to include a note saying you are merely forwarding the email, not saving the other person's e-mail address in any way.

What doesn't work? The forms that were popular a few years ago where you put in a list of e-mail contacts and the site would spam all your friends by adding them to the mailing list. This is not a good way to make friends—for the person adding the e-mail addresses or for the site adding people to the mailing list without permission.

......More

To learn more about creating quality content and writing for the web, contact Whirl Wind Web & Design Studio at info@whirlwindstudio.com

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