'Your Online Brand': Traditional Voice Over Experience May Not Be Enough

The term 'brand' refers to the image, feel, and idea of your online product, in this case, your voice over abilities. Quite often at Voice123, I have seen amazingly skilled voice over talent from the traditional offline market struggle to make the leap to online casting. Many usually start by selling themselves based on their experience, first. Unfortunately, as much as I hate to admit it, the belief that just stating you are experienced is not definitive enough of your 'brand'.

In the two years I have been behind the scenes at Voice123, combined with the two additional years of using online casting, only after leaving the traditional offline method of the voice over industry, I have come to learn just how the original 'you', your voice product, and how you use it in the present defines a person's 'brand'.

The statement can be highly unsettling for those with great experience in the traditional market. However, the online voice over casting industry is a completely new market and way of doing business, and it is less than six years old. Compared to traditional markets, it is still just a child.

Hear me out on this because I made a mistake while a voice talent on Voice123 by believing I could transfer all I learned while 'pounding pavement', and simply apply it to online casting. I was wrong. This information will prove valuable to any voice talent.

There are five steps to building an 'online brand':

1. Get noticed by being the 'positive' you, and only 'the positive you'. Avoid negativity.
2. Be 'down to earth' while working online, understanding online casting is still new for many people auditioning and hiring.
   
3. Build trust and relationships with those you come in contact with always by having a brand that is truthful to your ability.
4. Get to know yourself, and describe what it is you actually do with your voice. Listing experience is not a description of what you do. It is a record of what you once did.
5. Display flexibility when dealing with people online, and know how far you are willing to stretch.

Why is this helpful for voice over casting online? A key factor in understanding exactly 'how the mindset of the Internet works', in my opinion, can be summed up simply as:

'The Internet belongs to everyone. No one owns it.'

• When something is shared by everyone, you can never display that you feel you are above someone else. It will turn people off to you, and you want people to trust you. Trust is the one ingredient in the online world that has to be proven time and time again. This is merely a psychological effect of trying to work with people you cannot see. The Internet carries that burden of proof, always, simply because it is so easy to lie on the Internet.
• Therefore, telling someone, 'I have 30 years experience.', carries little weight because online casting for voice overs is just a six year old playground. It requires building trust and learning a new method of doing business all over again before the experience can be used to shape the future of online casting.
• Finally, keep an open mind about what people think. With the entire world watching and listening, and with so many opinions, not everyone will think you are great, no matter where you come from or what you have done, and that is normal.

Is this bad? No, not at all. The Internet, social media, etc. allows for everyone to market themselves, create a community, and all with a much more cost-effective price than in years before working online. Also, given that the 'Internet belongs to everyone', people will be allowed to either pass or fail on their own, as their own business, quicker than before.

Always be your best original 'you'!


Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom

Social Media: The Need for 'Give & Take'

Social media has truly exploded on the web as a great way for voice over talent to find out about voice over jobs, the activity of other voice talent, and also a way to promote oneself. In the process, as the Internet has truly turned business into the 'Age of the Customer', there is a required 'give and take' for everything done in social media.

A very long time ago, a talent agent said to me, 'Steven, are you aware that you talk too much?'. When I asked, 'What do you mean?', he stated, 'You need to tell me what I get from talking to you, and you need to know on your own what you take from it. I will show you that respect in return.' Indeed, tough words to hear while trying to impress an agent as a young voice talent, but he had a point.

Years later, enter the 'Social Media Age', where talking/typing about yourself and what you do is a necessity, the 'give & take' is still required in building relationships through social media.

Take an example from Voice123 this summer. During the summer months I had the opportunity to forge three great relationships through Twitter, with two very popular talent communities, and a great customer service company. I am referring to Voice Over Universe, and Parature.

How did this start? (Well, it started by being...social!)

• Voice Over Universe (@ZurekVO): Reached out to me on twitter with some questions about posting a job on Voice123, so Zurek and myself set it up in such a way that he was the voice seeker, and those auditioning would also be introduced to his site in the process. Zurek wrote to me and gave me an opportunity to help voice talent, while he was offering a job for people that signed up with his website. I also created a profile on VO Universe and have popped in for some of his webcam events to see some familiar faces. He also shared with me some feedback as to how voice talent viewed the Voice123 website, which helps us with new ideas for Voice123.

• Parature (@Parature): This customer service company, invited me to a webinar, and I attended. I began following their great customer service blog, and told them I enjoyed it and learned from it. One day, they asked if anyone was looking to write about customer service, and I applied to do so, which they accepted.

At the very heart of the 'give and take' mentioned above, lies one specific common thread: Each company, voice talent, and job poster is creating a dialogue within their community of followers, with the possibility of creating contacts and networking. At the same time, it is being done in a friendly, positive environment so people can simply 'talk about what they do, and offer to help others with their knowledge, knowing that in the bigger picture of one's career, one day it will lead to either notoriety or financial benefit for all people involved in the community.'

In the time that Voice123 has been using Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blogs, great information has been exchanged between positive online communities, that for many, has even led to jobs offline, just by talking.

It all starts with talking about what you do, being creative, and knowing what you offer...and in that respect... maybe talking too much is not such a bad idea? Knowing this article is one big 'give and take' is quite alright because I understand that many will be helped by the people I have mentioned. The 'give and take' may mean you will find yourself copied many times, but in the bigger picture, that is a sure sign you are doing something great for everyone, and you will be rewarded for it at some point in your career!

Keep talking!


Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom

"Challenges of Managing & Motivating a Culturally Diverse Customer Service Team a Continent Away"

Voice123 would like to offer special thank you to a great customer service software company, Parature, for allowing me to write about my challenges of managing a customer service team in two different cultures. If you look at their client list, you will see why this was a great honor for me to be able to write about Voice123.com's customer service team for such a well-known, distinguished company. You can read the original post here, or see below:

"I am a customer service manager at Voice123.com, and a challenge I face is managing the staff we employ in Bogota, Colombia from the offices we have in New York City, NY. When I took this job as Customer Service/Quality Assurance/Blogger/Public Relations manager at Voice123, I understood ahead of time what challenges were ahead of me. I was not told what the challenges were, but my past experience in traveling to other countries filled me with the knowledge of how businesses in the United States were viewed internationally. I also understood that there are countries that view the United States as ‘1st World’, as if to say that their own country must be ‘3rd World’ by comparison. Luckily, traveling has also taught me that many times people who believe their country is inferior to the United States, may simply need to be reminded as to how the world is pretty much the same no matter where you go.

Back in 1992, I read a book called ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill. In this book, he describes very basic needs shared by all human beings, or at least, that is my interpretation of his writing behind his Philosophy of Success:

• The need to achieve prosperity
• The need to feel appreciated
• The need to love and be loved
• The need to be successful

Considering these four ‘needs’, then forgetting where someone was born or their views of the United States (because sometimes that opinion is not favorable), is how I approached my position at Voice123 when I was hired. I approached everyone with a clean slate. I never talked down about people in the United States to explain a cultural difference, nor did I ever say one country was better than the other. In return, I expected the same from the staff in Colombia. Our team has always had a ’silent pact of trust’ that we would never insult the culture of another person. This was not stated by me, nor was it ever discussed because I wanted our customer service team to be ‘people of actions’, not just words and mission statements. To build trust, unity, and understanding, we did the following:

• When visiting other countries, Colombia or United States, our staff stays at other staff member’s houses and apartments, no matter what the conditions, and we commute to work together to get the experience.
• Understanding the love of music that exists in Colombia, and knowing that people who love the same music share an instant bond, I hooked up Xbox Live in Bogota, Colombia and played a popular music-video game called Rockband from my apartment in New York. This was a team event that we still do to this day, and it has become a great way for our team to release stress.
• I also found out that there is a heavy influence of US music and art culture in Colombia.
• I agreed to learn the Latin American way of speaking Spanish, if they agreed to learn North American English.
• As a former actor, I spoke at student seminars when invited by other members of my staff studying acting and film in Colombia.
• In return, when they visit New York City, I have taken them to classes that I attended to give them a better understanding of what takes place in the United States.

Generally, we keep a ‘family attitude’ within our staff, and never say things like, ‘Do it this way because it works in the United States.’ or ‘That is how Colombia works, so deal with it.’ I understand that would be a mistake because many of the business schools in Colombia teach students, and I have been told this is something teachers always say in Bogota, ‘You have to learn English because it is the business language of the United States!’ I have found that this type of teaching creates more resentment towards United States culture than anything our Presidents may decide on. (haha) This type of teaching makes Colombian residents feel as if their language is somehow ‘not good enough’.

Meanwhile, when my staff visits New York City, they have an easier time of it than I do in Bogota because they are bilingual, and New York City is 50% Spanish-speaking. I am still learning Spanish, so I still need a chaperone when I visit Bogota.

One important thing to all of this…is the difference in business cultures. In Colombia, it is very easy to just fire someone you simply do not like, where in the United States, we have the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which protects employees against wrongful termination, among many other things. As a manager (and former EEOC insurance claims assistant with AIG), I promised myself when starting that I would do my best to be as fair as possible in all situations, based on what I learned as a claims assistant at AIG. I also did something unique for someone working in Colombia, which has yet to adopt laws that protect people from being fired or not hired due to their age. I promised myself that I would hold onto staff for as long as possible for one reason…I have seen high turnover rates in customer service affect the quality of customer service. I also remember that the person who founded Wal-Mart named his original cashiers ‘associates’ and as stockholders, these employees helped Wal-Mart get off the ground because they trusted in their leader, and felt appreciated as part of a team.

This type of behavior is a business culture that the staff from Colombia enjoys…feeling appreciated for hard work, and knowing that if they work hard, they will be appreciated. I acknowledge that at first, not every staff member was on-board with me, and some did quit, but that is the understanding at Voice123…”I will look out for you, if you look out for me and Voice123. If you want no part of it, it is ok to leave. We bare no ill-will and will help you in the future.”

Of course, I should mention what tools we use to keep in touch during the work day. That is quite simple:

• SkypeWebcams
• Live Streaming of my office and theirs
• Gotomeeting

Some have viewed this type of communicating, where we are simply watching each other work, as maybe ’spying’, but it is nothing like that at all. We are a very happy staff that actually misses working with each other in the same office. The beauty of the Voice123 staff members in Colombia are their warm hearts, and hospitality, which I personally find to be lacking in today’s United States customer service.

This in turn has made me a perfect fit, as I am working with people who validate my understanding of the need for hospitality in customer service. It is true, that I play a role in Voice123 as one who translate what is really being said to our customer service staff. The main reason for this is that the Colombian staff does not understand the United States culture of sarcasm, and double-meanings, and with that, I know my work is always cut out for me.

Communicating via Skype and typing commands to people can sometimes be misinterpreted, but when this happens, we call each other and talk about it. I also sometimes jump on Skype on weekends just to talk to staff and see how things are going. I do this because I know I am working with truly beautiful, caring people. To date, we have had no issues of political conversations, prejudices, or cultural differences, and I do not think we will because our company is gaining a reputation in Bogota, Colombia as being a wonderful place to work that is open-minded, caring, and expects one to achieve for the benefit of the employee and Voice123. On top of that…their managers ask staff to play Rockband!

Final note…You may read back through this and notice something I did not do. I never referred to people from the United States as ‘Americans’. To the people of Colombia, they consider themselves ‘Latin Americans’, so it is viewed as arrogant to say one country can hold the title ‘American’. I pay attention to these details out of respect for their beliefs, and they respect mine in return. I always view this staff at Voice123 as people I learn a great deal from, even if I am one of the oldest staff members at 36 years old.

I hope my experience has served you as well,
Steven Lowell"

Perhaps the sign that you are truly in a job you love is when someone asks you, 'What challenges do you face?', and you find yourself smiling as you answer. The team at Voice123 is very special to me, and we work very hard to make sure all of our Voice123 customers find voice talent and find voice over work.

Best regards,

Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom

Voice123 Important News: September 2009

We would like to share important news with you from Voice123!

Refer a Friend Contest Winner!
Back in June 2009, we started the 'Refer a Friend' program. You can find this in your More Tools section of your profile. At that time, we held a contest for a 1-year Free Subscription to Voice123 for the person who referred the most friends. We are pleased to announce the winner, voice talent Mike Cooper, and we thank everyone for their participation!

Voice123 Premium Forums!
Voice123 watched the forum posting slow down over the summer, but since the first week of September, we have seen that more and more Premium Subscribers are pasting their demos in DEMO ADVICE, and also asking some great questions about Voice123. The Voice123 Premium Forums has always been a great place to ask questions about usage of Voice123 as a Premium Subscriber, and the voice over industry.

Success Stories Flood My Email!
Not too long ago, I wrote a blog asking for voice talent to send me their success stories. I love sharing such news as a way to promote all voice talent on Voice123. I received so many responses from countries around the world. I want to reassure all who submitted that I will be sharing your news very soon!

Just to give you an example, Selcuk Birdal, a Voice123 voice over talent from Turkey, won a job doing voice work for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class automobile, through Voice123. You can read about it here!

• "Selçuk Birdal studied drama as well as training as a speaker, therefore he is not only employed as a radio presenter in his home country, Turkey, but also for synchronized cinema films and TV series."

Twitter Contest to Give Away 3-Months Free Subscription!
Twitter followers of @Voice123dotcom are given the opportunity to win a free 3-months on their premium subscriptions to Voice123. The contests take place twice a month, and is a way for voice talent to try our system out and possibly win 3-months free in the process! The scripts are simple, short, and used for contest purposes only. Using Voice123's shared inbox links, you can listen to the great talent who have been submitting! It is all in good fun, and hope you will follow @Voice123dotcom, and try it out next month!

Finally... Voice123 Will Now Be Sharing Info Via a Linkedin Group!
Voice123 created a group on Voice123 to share information for voice talent and voice seekers, who wish to post voice over jobs. The group is less than two weeks old, so we hope you can come join and be a part of it. Voice123 will always share information with you to make the online casting process as transparent as possible for you! If you already have an account in LinkedIn, join the new Voice123 group here!

We are happy to see so many of you back at work, and hope your summer went well!


Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom

Paul Liberti's Character and Animation Technique Class at Actors Connection!

Interested in performing character and animation voice overs?

Go to this link for more info and read about a great character and animation voice over technique class, being taught by Professional Voice Actor Paul Liberti beginning Friday, October 2, 2009 at 6:00pm, to run every Friday for five weeks!

"Every voice over script you will ever read… is playing someone. You are never just a voice in a void. Developing your very own unique characters is essential for every voice over actor out there!

Characters range from natural real people characters to the extreme over the top! Audio book actors, commercial actors, animation actors and even narrative voice actors all need to develop characters! Your ‘rep company’ of characters need to be ready to go at a moment’s notice, under pressure at auditions! Now learn the inside secrets and tips from a working voice over professional!

There truly is no other class like this in NYC, taught by veteran voice actor from Nickelodeon, PBS, Noggin, Pokemon, Disney and former Muppet performer, Paul Liberti. You'll learn about voice placement, the facial mask and how you can create different sounds and vibrations that allow you to revisit the same characters again and again. Insider tips and tricks, marketing for the character voice actor, and unique in-class and extended at home character exercises will help the actor to sustain a career's worth of techniques designed to help you sustain characters and get work!"

Workshop dates are Friday October 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th, at the following New York City location:

Film Center Building
630 9th Avenue, Suite 1410 (between 44th & 45th St.)
New York, NY 10036


Thank you!


Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom

Voice123 Update: Seeing Stars on Project Details? No worries!

Voice123 recently made a small adjustment to the way voice over project details are viewed on Voice123. We did this to allow for voice seekers to protect the privacy of their companies, as done in the past in the script section. This was a small fix to our system that was requested by very popular voice seekers on Voice123. We always look to bring endless voice over work to Voice123 voice over talent, and we hope this will promote further posting of voice over work.

Voice over talent will be able to see the info behind the '********' when logged in as a Premium Subscriber on Voice123.com. Here is an example of this feature, which is already in use for this voice over project. Look at the project description, and also the Voice123 Note at the bottom of the script:

• http://voice123.com/lv/Car_Spots_for_Afro_American_VO_Talent.html

You will also see a note in project details, next to the script, explaining what you are viewing:

• "Voice123 Note: Names, links, and contact information have been replaced by "*" symbols. If you have been invited to submit an audition or proposal for this project, you can sign in to see this information in full."

If you have any questions about the update to project details being mentioned here, please contact us, or post about it on our Voice123 Premium Forums! Voice seekers...post a project and hire the most professional voice talent in the world on Voice123!

Thank you always!

Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom

Voice Over Coach Johnna Gottlieb Teaching at NYU This Autumn

This news was passed to Voice123 by voice over coach, Johnna Gottlieb. We thank her for reaching out to us with this news!

"In addition to teaching my online course for UCLA, I also teach a similar course for NYU called “Voiceover: Beyond the Booth”. My fall semester starts Wednesday, October 14th. Please go to this link to the NYU site for all those who may be interested in this great voice over course!

I have been posting stuff on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the class is starting to fill up, so I hope all interested can get involved quickly."

Voice123 looks forward to sharing more news from voice over coaches in the future. If you would like to be considered for Voice123's Coach Partner Program, click this link to read more about it!

Thank you!

Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom

The Summer is Done...Let the Fun Begin!

Voice123 certainly hopes you have had a great summer. Yes, the summer is over, and it is time to get back to the daily grind. So, let the fun begin!

Now that it is over, and it is time to get back to work, we look forward to working with you for the next few busy months of voice over work, leading up to the holiday season. We also hope that Voice123 will be your primary choice for posting voice over projects.

We have two kinds of projects to post, SmartCast & private projects, or you can simply directly invite people yourself using our search feature.

We will always be here to answer your needs for connecting to the best voice over talent in the world! If you are looking for voice talent today, or in the future, post a voice over project with Voice123!

Thank you!

Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom

A Ladie Making The 'Mo$t' of Voice123

Last week, while reading Twitter posts regarding @Voice123dotcom, I came across a tweet by @Ladiemost, a voice over talent on Voice123. She had announced that she had won a national gig via Voice123. I had reached out to her to see, if she would share the story with us, as to how it took place, and she generously wrote me this reply:

"Last week, after many auditions, I finally was contacted directly by a voice seeker to re-audition for their project (LTK152025401668X "Find Your Voice"). After quickly turning around my second audition with short notice, they said it was good, but they felt I would really nail it with a little direction. Within 30 minutes, I was on a phone patch session with the creative director, he said there was one other person that their client was listening to, but they thought I was the voice for the job. So, he wanted to push me to the front of the line. Everything moved pretty quickly. He was pleased with my reads. The next afternoon I received an email congratulating me for booking the gig! I was just thrilled! Within one hour from that email we had another phone patch session to finalize the voice over for the National TV Spot!

Voice123 has been a great investment for my voice over career. It has helped me to do more than book jobs. It has helped me to improve as a voice actor and discover my range. For me, being a Premium Subscriber on Voice123 is worth every dollar and every bit of effort I've used to audition, audition, audition!!! I have spoken to many people who aspire to be voice actors, and those who've been in the voice over industry for some time, about my experiences with Voice123 and I've highly recommended you guys. (I have) gone from 0 to 80 mph, within a matter of a couple of years worth of subscriptions. The voice over Industry has attracted so many more people who just need a good place to start getting "real" opportunities to compete for work on a daily/regular basis. This site is a great resource that really works. In life its all about what you put into something, that determines what you'll get out of it.

Thank you so much for inquiring about my success with Voice123.

PS - LadieMo$t is the name I go by in the voice over industry!"

Voice123 thanks LadieMo$t for responding to us. In the coming weeks, we look to bring you success stories from Voice123 that will explain more about the 'before and after' of getting work. We certainly hope you keep an eye out, or let us know if you have any stories of success you wish to share!

Thank you!

Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom

Voice Over Talent Agent or Voice123? Why Not Both?

In Voice123, we receive questions through our customer service department frequently wondering, if having an agent for voice over work is better than having a profile on Voice123.

The best thing we can recommend... Why not try both?

To start, Voice123 is not an agency. Most importantly, working on Voice123 is not exclusive, and Voice123 takes no commission. This means it is all about you as a voice over business!

Voice123 offers informational emails about working online, and also offers help to both voice talent and voice seekers to maintain a sense of community filled with professionals that believe in integrity. Voice123 is also a great marketing tool, we invest heavily in Internet marketing, so it is easier to be found when you belong to Voice123.

So, when it comes down to 'Which one?', think of it this way:

• On days when the email invites from Voice123 do not look attractive, you always have the opportunity to get a phone call from an agent regarding voice over work.
  
• If the agent isn't calling, you have Voice123.

There are more voice over jobs available online, from your smallest shopping center's phone message to your big budget motion picture. To 'limit' oneself is to openly decide not to work. Take a look at the profile of Skid Trax. He recently wrote me about his latest work:

"I've been very busy, in part, due to some of recurring clients I've picked up from V123, plus my other retainer and agency clients. I've also just completed my promo/show open voice over work for season 3 of "Destination Truth" on The Syfy channel, airing this September after "Ghost Hunters". I did season two after auditioning last year for the gig. Take a look at it here. I'm also still doing the animated fish character as it is an ongoing series from Ryno Productions, not to mention the dozens and dozens of other syndicated cable and radio spots I've been doing for them. Voice123 has truly paid off!"

Just think...if he had chosen only one, he would not have been as busy as he is now!

If you would like to share your success stories with Voice123, please write us! We would love to hear about it!


Thank you!

Steven Lowell
Public Relations Manager
My Blog
Twitter: @voice123dotcom