In
this Issue: |
| VO Marketing.............Search
Engine ranking. |
| More Marketing.........looking
to branch out? |
| Spam and control.........a
few things you can do. |
| Welcome
to the biz..........a few do's and don'ts |
| Why join CV?..........considerations. |
| Live Chat
now being tested.........drop by and say Hi |
| |
| VO
Marketing
Search engine optimization is no easy task, the relentless hours
spent doing the research and the negative odds on being successful
to getting high ranking on most search engines is almost impossible.
Other than basic website construction and making sure that you submit
your site to the major search engines, scatter a generous helping
of the right keyword phrases throughout your site in real sentences,
then get a lot of other relevant sites to link to your site. That's
about all you can do on your own unless investing with a SEO business
is being considered.
For those with deep pockets there are many pitfalls to be aware
of with all the spams and scams out there. I suggest you check out
the Google Information for Webmasters here.
Google has provided a lot of information on what to look for and
what to look out for.
Bruce Clay have been in the SEO business for some time. Take a peek
at Search Engine relationships here.
With this ever-growing World Wide Web the competition gets stronger
and marketing gets more complicated. The best advice we at CV have
been given is to establish a relative contact list and continue
direct personal self promotion on a regular basis. I recently received,
what I thought was, an excellent introductory email from Sarah Parnell
in the U.K. You might want to consider her style and content if
you are planning on some email self promotion. Read a copy of it
here.
Feel free to throw in your thoughts/comments here.
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More Marketing
CV starts up a new business.
In our continuing efforts for more promotion and the evolution
of bigger, better, faster......... we have just in the last week
started up a related VO business. This is new here in Canada.
Should you want to check it out and perhaps consider joining as
a Sales Representative click here "Talking
Homes.ca" and then look for "Employment Opportunities"
at the bottom of the pages.
In a nutshell this new business utilizes transmitters
and talent. CV talent and low power FM
transmitters. Should you be interested please go through the entire
site as many of your concerns and questions will be answered.
Contact me from the "Contact" page if you will.
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Controlling
Spam
There are quite a few spam control programs out there and many
are very inexpensive. CV uses "ELLA"
and it seems to work quite well. Lately the amount of spam received
on a daily basis has been drastically reduced, at least through
our ISP. If this is a continuing problem for you may we suggest
changing your hosting company? Our hosting company offers an Affiliate
program which is one of the best we've seen and is positively
worth checking into. CV's hosting costs are virtually $0.00. 
Here is another trick sent in by a CV Newsletter subscriber (much
appreciated) that might be worth considering especially since
it is something you can do your self.
Protecting your Address Book This may be just like putting
powder on a babies bum - won't do any harm. I learned a computer
trick today that's really ingenious in its simplicity. I received
it from a friend. As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into
your computer it heads straight for your e-mail address book,
and sends itself to everyone in there, thus infecting all your
friends and associates. This trick won't keep the virus from getting
into your computer, but it will stop it from using your address
book to spread further, and it will alert you to the fact, that
the worm has gotten into your system.
Here's what you do; first, open your address book and click on
"new contact", just as you would do if you were adding
a new friend to your list of e-mail addresses. In the window where
you would type your friend's first name, type in AAAAAAA, Also
use address AAAAAAA@a.aaa Now, here's what you've done and why
it works: The name AAAAAAA will be placed at the top of your address
book as entry #1. This will be where the worm will start in an
effort to send itself to all your friends. But, when it tries
to send itself to AAAAAAA, it will be undeliverable because of
the phony e-mail address you entered. If the first attempt fails
(which it will because of the phony address), the worm goes no
further and your friends will not be infected. Here's the second
great advantage of this method: If an e-mail cannot be delivered,
you will be notified of this in your IN BOX almost immediately.
Hence, if you ever get an e-mail telling you that an e-mail addressed
to AAAAAAA could not be delivered, you know right away that you
have the worm virus in your system. You can then take steps to
get rid of it!
Pretty slick, huh? If everybody you know does this then you need
not ever worry about opening mail from friends. Pass this on to
all your friends.
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| Welcome
to the biz.....
1. Please record the entire demo
and send to me as an MP3 file?
Although you may receive a request such as this and envision a multi
thousand dollar project you should proceed with caution. If this
new client/producer has contacted you then he has probably heard
your website demo and likes what he hears. But who is this guy?
Search out his company domain, assuming he is mailing you from that
domain. Otherwise if it is a Yahoo or Hot mail or similar public
extension be careful. If he/she is not professional enough to give
you a business contact then it is probably bogus.
2. How do I get more info?
Here is the easiest example. Let's say the email comes from me,
RGordon@CommercialVoices.com. Simply type "CommercialVoices.com"
into your browser, press "enter" and voila.........c'est
moi.
3. Record the whole demo?
Nope, not a good idea. First of all any client/producer who knows
his business will only need 20-60 seconds worth of audio to determine
if you are to be selected, or at least get on his short list. That's
about 30-150 words. If you know it is only part of the project then
go ahead but change a few words just in case. If you suspect that
this demo might really be the entire project then insert an audio
watermark (tone) in your submission. A true professional will respect
you for that and there will be no complaints.
4. What type or format should a demo
be in?
Most professional VO people send a mono 128kbps version. The quality
is fine, a producer will have no problem detecting your talent.
Beware of higher quality MP3 requests or even Wave (.wav) formats.
These are optimum broadcast quality and not necessary for demonstration
purposes. Indeed, you may be asked for a higher quality finished
project and that is fine cause you will have a deposit...........right?
5. But.......but.........the money
they are offering is ridiculous?
In that case I suspect that you are not dealing with a professional.
Quality costs, no one should ask you to turn on a microphone for
under $300. Look up union rates and price yourself accordingly.
In the long run you will have a better chance at success and your
client will appreciate dealing with a professional.
6. How is payment usually made?
Short answer......PayPal. Go get an account, it's free! They are
owned by e-Bay, they're big! Long answer, in any number of ways.
Money order, certified check, business check, or credit card. If
you are dealing with a well known reputable company all you will
usually need is a P.O. # or Project # to submit with your invoice.
If you are somewhat doubtful of the integrity of your client then
I would ask for a 50% deposit before beginning the production. Then
send them 50% of the finished project. They then send you the balance
and you deliver. Otherwise watermark the entire project and then
send them the original version once full payment has been made.
Good luck and welcome to the business!
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Your
input
Are there topics or interests that you would like to see us cover?
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us here.
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Why Join
CV?
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about this. Check it out here
and feel free to send us your comments or concerns.
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