Who knows you? The answer to that question is priceless! In business, as in life, it is not so much who you know, but who knows you! Your success depends upon it. Harnessing the power of Social Media Marketing can propel your business and personal exposure to enviable levels, providing a medium with which to engage others all over the world who share similar interests, develop crucial networks, and formulate powerful relationships, leading to increased traffic, leads, and Search Engine Optimization.

Michael Stelzner shares these results from a 2009 study on Social Media Marketing and how marketers are using it for business growth, “By a long shot, Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, and Facebook were the top four social media tools used by marketers with Twitter leading the pack at 94%. You Tube and similar video sites came in 5th” (2009, p.19). Like it, love it, or lump it, Social Media Marketing has clout and so can you!

Here’s a brief synopsis of Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Oh, and lest I forget to mention it, all of these sites are free! Twitter is a phenomenal tool that makes connecting with others easy while keeping content short and to the point. Micro-blogs, called “Tweets” are limited to 140 characters in which people respond to the question, “What are you doing?” or simply state what’s on their mind at the time.

Twitter also allows “ReTweets” in which others can repost “Tweets” that may be of value to their followers, making your message go viral. Twitter also has fantastic applications to enhance your Twitter experience and is simple to access and use via texting, instant messaging, or the web.

LinkedIn is another terrific networking vehicle, connecting professionals all over the world. Your network becomes infinite, consisting of your connections, the connections of your connections, their connections, etc. You create and manage a profile depicting your experience and accomplishments. You can invite, search, and recommend people. Professionals use the site as a means to network, collaborate on projects, recommend potential leads, post job listings, and find talent.

Facebook has taken Social Media Marketing to a new level! Users can search for, become, and confirm friends. You can post everything from your thoughts, to demos, photos, videos, blogs, and more. A fantastic networking tool, Facebook allows users to create a personal profile, create and join “Fan Pages” promoting various interests (ie. your voice over business), and is a wonderful medium to connect with other entrepreneurs. It can also be accessed and used via texting or the web.

YouTube is an awesome tool that is used to create and share video footage with others. YouTube video links can be shared via Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, making it a potent medium for exposure! The videos on YouTube span the entire spectrum from ridiculous, to entertaining, to instructional. Why not post a video of you recording a voice over for a client?

The voiceover business is highly competitive, and as a voice over talent, it’s imperative to effectively and efficiently market yourself and your business. The only investment required is the time you are willing to spend engaging others, sharing your personality, and providing value. You get what you put into it. So go ahead! Take advantage of every opportunity to network with other voice talents and potential customers, make some new friends, and find some old friends along the way too.

Stelzner, M.A. (2009). Social media marketing industry report: How marketers are using social media to grow their businesses. Retrieved online August 13, 2009, from http://www.whitepapersource.com/socialmediamarketing/

Here are some of the different types of opportunities available to voice talent today.

Commercial: Contrary to popular belief this form of voice over is mostly for voice actors as it generally requires playing a role of a character. Playing a character does not always mean a funny voice it more often than not means playing a role of what may seem as an everyday person, more importantly a believable character. As much as we still hear many commercials with one announcer reading a script in an in your face “buy now” style, the more affective form and most widely used form of commercial is through creative writing and role playing by the voice actor.

Television Promo: This is one form of voice over that many people believe is easy, my theory is that it only looks easy because the people doing it are so good at their job they make it look easy. Reading a TV Promo script can be one of the most challenging forms of voice over as it requires the voice talent to become part of the pre produced promo. What many seem to forget is that TV Promo voice over’s are also selling a product. Whether it is the Prime Time News, a Drama Series or the Late Night Movie the aim of the VO is to make it a “must see”. There is an art to it and out of the select few who have gone on to be the familiar voices we trust on our television sets there is still only a handful who have mastered the art.

Narration: There are so many possibilities that can fall under the banner of Narration. It could be a documentary, corporate or training video, an audio tour guide at a museum or even interactive training with a new software package. One of the wonderful plusses of this type of voice work is that more often than not the clients are looking for someone who can sound pleasant and real while being engaging and understandable. This is not necessarily an easy feat and I will go into more detail about sounding real a little later. Nonetheless there are so many different possibilities and opportunities for this type of work it can sometimes be a great starting point for people.

Audio Book: This is probably the fastest growing industry in the voice over world and there are many voice professionals making a lucrative career out of reading audio books. There is an art to it of course and it can also be dissected into numerous categories. There are people who specialize in reading character driven fiction and there are those who read information driven non fiction and each is an art in itself.

Podcast: Believe it or not many of the podcasts you tune into are presented by hired voices. Quite often the person who has a message to get across and especially those who have a product to promote and sell will hire a voice that will present better than themselves. Like narration this voice will need to be pleasant and real and more importantly they will need to sound like the information is coming directly from them, this is in fact a huge part of voice over and voice acting as a whole and we will go into more detail shortly.

Radio Imaging: We all have favorite radio stations and more often than not we become very familiar with the voices that come on between the music reminding us what station we are listening to… and why. Like TV promo this quite often seems easier than it actually is. Remembering that a large selection of the voices who do these sweepers and station id’s are also the producers of all the fancy effects that go along with them. Radio or voice imaging as it is widely known requires a voice that generally pierces through the music on our radios, sending a clear message without sounding offensive. One of the bonuses of this form of voice over is that there are a multitude of radio stations worldwide and quite often a collection of them are looking for a fresh new sound at one time. If you can become that sound then you can make a nice little income, well at least until the stations decide to reformat again.

Obviously this is not the whole voice over industry but rather it’s an overview of a large chunk of the available work for voice professionals.

When building the right business infrastructure, you must think strategically or have the right business mindset. Every business decision you make today affects your voice over business today, tomorrow, and in the future – so become a good strategist. A good strategist looks at all facets of their voice over business today in context of where they are trying to go. A good strategist reacts to problems positively instead of negatively. A good strategist also welcomes change and turns it into an opportunity. A good strategist can react quickly with the unexpected.

Here are four examples of having the right business mindset:

1. Having the right business mindset is knowing that the purpose of business is to make money. Sometimes your passion or hobby is just that, but when you grasp onto that passion and acquire a higher level of development, as you will as a member of the Voice Over Club, you will position yourself to acquire a higher level of income.

2. Having the right business mindset means developing your own style. As a member of the Voice Over Club, I will equipped you with all of the tools in which to achieve your destiny or your dreams. However, this is YOUR voice over business, so you need to take time to think, document, research your own style to make you truly unique.

3. Having the right business mindset is understanding strategy and implementing it into your business practices. These days we tend to focus on the day-to-day mundane tasks and deadlines, solving short-term problems, and implementing marketing tactics that aren’t a good fit for our businesses. Strategy concerns itself with what’s ahead, looking at where you’re going and how to get there. Thereby, making you ask the question–”is this task in line with where the company is going and/or where I want it to go?”

4. Having the right business mindset is understanding your emotional ties to your business. Understanding the emotional ties to your business will allow you to break through your personal barriers that prevent you from doing what you say you’re going to do and also doing what you want to do. The next time you get emotional in your business jot down what you’re feeling and what triggered it, this is how you begin to recognize which emotions are keeping you from doing good business.

A good strategist has the right business mindset.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to overcome one of my biggest fears. Heights!  How does this relate to voice overs?  One of the biggest hurdles people face when breaking into voice overs, is fear.  Sometimes you just have to defeat that fear!

Recently, I met up with my friend, Dave Courvoisier in Vegas!  Dave is a news anchor for the CBS affiliate, KLAS-TV and he was kind enough to write some nice things about me in his blog, http://www.courvo.biz/2009/06/nppa.html. When Dave’s not working like a dog at the TV station, he is engaged in several voice over projects a week.  We became fast friends after meeting up in Los Angeles last year at Voice 2008.

It was a beautiful weekend in Las Vegas.  As I walked down the Vegas strip, I was reminded, once again, of how many opportunities there are in the field of voice overs.  Las Vegas is the Emerald City of Promotions, so there are voice over announcements being heard up and down the strip, inside and outside of the casinos, promoting specials of all kinds

Currently, I am doing a lot of the Stone Mountain Park announcements, which is similar to the announcements you would hear on the Las Vegas strip.   Stone Mountain Park is an Atlanta, Georgia theme park that has become a favorite family vacation destination.  Most of the announcements I do are in and around the park as well as the announcements that come on before their huge and well-known laser light show.

All voice talents should have a niche.  Could promo announcements be yours?

This is GOLDEN material for all Voice Over Actors!

…Here’s a very cool listen into a “Directed Session” with me, another voice actor, the producer and the client – all working together over the internet!

The voices are being recorded live by the producer – and you’re hearing my recording that was made over Skype. Notice how the producer and client are directing us (the voice talent) – and how we provide them with multiple takes – each one sounding a little different than the last…

This is a perfect example of how voice overs get done it the 21st century!

PLEASE NOTE: This is an adult session with real-pros, so you’ll have to pardon us on some of the language – I give this a PG-13 rating.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Over the past few months, my team and I have laid the foundation for the “Voice Over Club”. Our goal is to provide an exclusive membership training website that will deliver education and rich content about the process of becoming a professional voice actor. We are working hard and plan to launch the Voice Over Club this Summer.

In all honesty, the experience has been both challenging and a lot of fun. It’s like putting together a huge puzzle in that there are several key pieces that need to fit in order for this to work.

Unlike other training programs, the “Voice Over Club” will offer E-learning modules about the ins and outs of becoming a voice actor. Additionally, we will include expert interviews, blogs, articles and studio tours. For up-to-date information on what will be the ultimate educational tool for aspiring voice actors, sign up at www.VoiceOverClub.com.

I welcome your ideas, so let’s start with this question; What would you like to see on a voice over training site that would truly inspire you in your path to becoming a professional voice talent?

Whether you’re a professional voice actor, or someone who is just breaking in to this wacky business, it’s important to develop and maintain your performing skills. You’ve no doubt heard stories about concert pianists who practice 8 hours a day – every day – in order to stay in top form. As voice-over artists, we need to do the same thing.

Ours is a performing craft, and we must be diligent about learning new skills and staying on top of the skills we have mastered. We need to constantly improve our talents for creating character voices, script interpretation, listening, responding believably, and expanding our marketing skills. Most voice coaches will recommend at least one to two hours of reading out loud each day to maintain your skills.

This means setting aside a specific period of time each day during which you will focus exclusively on developing your voice-over skills. This is in addition to your regular study of what other voice-artists are doing by listening to commercials, watching TV or animation, and taking classes. Most professionals constantly practice their technique by experimenting with new interpretation ideas and attitudes, and with every script they will explore different angles for interpreting the copy.

Practice is the process of learning and refining the skills you use as a performer – and it’s a process that never ends. For voice-over, practice requires working with a script to understand its message and develop an interpretation. The goal is to build an arsenal of performing tools and techniques that become automatic to the point where you don’t have to think about what you are doing.

To reach that goal, you must deliver the copy out loud – not silently in your head. Practicing out loud is the only way you can really find an interpretation that works. If you develop an interpretation by reading a script silently, it’s almost guaranteed that when you deliver the lines out loud for the first time – it will sound completely different from what you thought it would sound like.

You’ll save a lot of time and effort by working the copy out loud from the very start. Constant practice develops the habit of exploring new ways of interpreting a script, finding the techniques that work for you, and building on that experience to become a more excellent voice-actor. Be excellent! Keep practicing!

These days, it seems as though everyone wants to start their own business. Seems easy enough doesn’t it? Come up with a good idea, and the dollars roll right in! …Or do they?

Most people understand that running a business requires business know-how, but most successful business owners also possess some additional skills and qualities that help make running a business easier.

Before you decide to start a business, you might want to think about the qualities you possess, what makes you tick and how that might help you be a more successful business owner. But before you make that big decision, ask yourself these questions:

Am I a self starter? When you have your own business, there’s no boss or manager to tell you what to do and when to do it. To get your business off and running you’ll have to motivate yourself to get things started.

Do I enjoy challenges? Businesses provide constant challenges. If you enjoy a good challenge, it will energize you. If you don’t, you may end up feeling as though you’re engaged in a constant uphill battle.

Am I a creative problem solver? Creative problem solving is a key skill for business owners to possess. One way to hone your creative problem solving skills is to challenge yourself to think “out of the box”. Don’t go for the obvious, think in a different direction than you’re used to, and inhibit standard responses.

What are my strengths and weaknesses? The ability to do this is also invaluable for the business owner. Recognizing what you’re good at and what you’re not will help you decide how to use your time, when to delegate, and when to call in experts or outside professionals for help when needed.

What interests, talents, and skills do I have that will assist me in running my new business? Business owners often have to juggle lots of hats. Inventory the abilities you already possess, and think about all the ways you can use them to grow your business will make the juggling easier.

What skills do I need to learn or brush up on to run my business effectively? Recognize which skills you need to develop in order to run your business most effectively. Identify the ones that are worth investing time into learning, and which ones you might be better off finding outside sources to perform.

Will I be doing work that is meaningful and really interests and excites me? Running a business is a lot of work and effort, and it’s often a long term commitment. It will be more fun and rewarding if it speaks to who you are and the things you hold dear. When we’re engaged in doing something rewarding it helps to motivate you to keep going even when things get tough. Start by getting back in touch with your values and see if there is a synergy between them and the things you’ll be doing in your business. If not, see how you can spin things so that there is.

Who is my competition? Learn everything you can about the others in your field who provide similar products or services to the same ideal customer. This information will be invaluable in learning how to “position” your own business.

What do I offer that the competition doesn’t — what makes my services or product unique? This is the basic premise of any USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and the case you’ll make to your prospective customers to buy your product or service. It’s essential to a compelling marketing plan.

Who are my ideal target customers? Every business needs customers. And the most successful businesses know exactly how to describe who their best customers are, what “pain” they’re feeling and what they need and desire. And don’t forget: one of the most important qualities of an ideal customer is whether they can afford your product or service.

Do I have effective marketing and sales plans? No business can survive without a constant supply of new customers. Develop a compelling USP, values proposition, sound-bite and marketing message; set-up a marketing schedule to get your message out there consistently; and learn how to close deals without using pressure to ensure you’ll have all the customers you need.

Have I established business goals? Setting goals is an important part of any business plan. But setting a goal is only part of the picture. Achieving them is even more important. Learn how to identify which goals are important enough to commit to, and systematically work towards them by breaking them down into steps, establishing timelines, identifying resources needed, and benchmarks for success.

Will I need capital to startup my business? If so, how much? Not all businesses require a lot of start-up money, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that you don’t need any. Be realistic about how much money you’ll need, and how much time it will take until you can draw a salary; so that you give your business idea enough time to grow and flourish.

Have I written a business plan? If I need to raise startup capital, is my plan powerful enough to attract investors? Not all business plans are created equal. Make sure you include all of the sections that investors will look for. Also, make sure that the type of plan you’ve written is appropriate for the amount of money you’re looking for.

What are the things that my business will require that I cannot do myself? Will I have funds to pay for them? Don’t forget to add these important line items to your start-up cost spread sheet.

There’s no doubt that our tough economy is preventing people from buying discretionary products and services. Many are afraid that they won’t have jobs at the end of the month, so they are reluctant to spend money. And they are starting to second guess purchases they would have originally made without a second thought.

So, as business owners we need to set ourselves apart and offer top quality, second to none services and products. Here are 5 tips to grow and maintain your business in this tough economy.

1. Setting and maintaining realistic goals that can be accomplished long-term, will keep you focused and on track.

2. Grow wisely without surplus or waste. Carefully think through your buying power. Do you really need that new laser copier or will the ink jet on your desk suffice for now? Spend your business income wisely as there is no guarantee that the money will come in tomorrow. So, manage your funds wisely, frugally and carefully.

3. Understand your market and how you belong in it. By knowing who your target market is, you will be able to promote your business correctly and more efficiently.

4. Be courteous. Treat your customer like they are your only customer. Go that extra mile to ensure that your customer is satisfied with your product and/or service.

5. Under promise & over deliver. When your customer feels that they are getting the best value for their hard-earned dollar, you have earned their trust and they will be repeat customers.