Usage Tips: SmartCast ‘Generally Speaking’

After doing a webinar recently for Voice123, I began to see that what this blog may be missing are some direct explanations and unspoken secrets of working on Voice123. As I like to say it, 'Fast food maybe fast food, but you cannot expect onion rings at Wendy's.'

The truth is that what you read in web content regarding experiences in online casting, actually represents just a fraction of what is ‘really happening’. Making business decisions based on 140 words of a micro-blog, leaves so much to be discovered, and to study others failures only makes one experienced in knowing how to fail. In the coming weeks, every Wednesday, I will be giving usage tips shared every week in our Voice123 system training. My first usage tip will cover a general overview of the way SmartCast works best. I will get into the details of Voice123 in the coming weeks! But first....

Website Usage Tip #1: Using SmartCast in general!
The thing about websites is that you can never force anyone to use them. It goes against web culture. They have to be friendly, inviting, and allow for transparent sharing of information to make for better website usage. So, why would a software for a job placement site for voice overs knowingly decide to not invite people for jobs at certain times, which is seemingly an 'unfriendly' thing to do, and counter-intuitive to the offline ideal, 'I see, therefore I audition.'? .......The ‘bigger picture’.

What was never discussed when SmartCast was released is the trend it has created:

• Make for a healthier online voice over community by creating a software that allows for professional talent to decide the future of what jobs will be posted on the website and will be invited to, through their professional decision-making.
  

Wow! Blurry line warning!
Well, not exactly. By deciding what and what not to audition for, and building relationships with great voice seekers (repeat customers), while those who used the site in the past with lesser integrity learn this is not the website to grab a cattle call of cheap talent. In fact...SmartCast, with its software technology, actually is a 'tier system' for voice talent; created by talent. Why?

• You decide what tier you are on by the jobs you audition for, and the results will direct you as to how that is working on Voice123.
• 'Results' meaning - Return of investment, relationships built, and repeat business.
• SmartCast is web technology that erases the 'I am in a black hole, talking to no one', feeling.
  

"Huh? How is this a usage tip?"
Think about this before auditioning online:

• The first job I was ever awarded in voice overs was for $50 to do an answering machine message for a dating service.
  
• The last job I booked before working here was for Adidas, which occurred 11 years later.
  
• If a system is set up to allow voice talent to set their preference for jobs they would like to see in the future, each decision to audition for something is like deciding what you wish to see more of in the future i.e. The tier of talent you will go up against.
  

So, are you competitive in that tier of competition you are deciding to go up against, and the trend you are creating for yourself? You may be amazing, but over-priced for that tier, and vice versa. Answering this question is a great place to start before working online, where you must be your own agent, businessman, marketing team, and creative team. Is the software perfect? No, but to understand its rules and the theories behind it will allow one to take more advantage of it!

More to come next week!

Steven Lowell
Community Manager
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Twitter: @voice123
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