Sometimes you have to let someone else say a thing for you, because you’re too close to your own situation or opinions to be able to express what you mean as clearly as you’d like. That was my experience today reading an article from last month on the Future Now blog called grokdotcom.
Bryan Eisenberg wrote this post in response to a question posed by one of the site’s readers, about competition. Here is how Bryan began…
For the better part of a decade, we’ve published hundreds of articles, several books–including 2 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers–trained thousands of people, and consulted with the goal of educating the entire marketplace (including competitors) about the value-of/how-to convert website visitors into sales, leads, subscribers, etc.
During this time, we’ve armed our subscribers, competitors, licensees and friends with powerful ideas on how to better use web analytics, design more effective landing pages, how to use Google Website Optimizer, what makes people buy, why people share things through word-of-mouth, how to make your pay-per-click and search engine marketing more effective, and even about our methodology for pulling all these things together: Persuasion Architectureâ„¢.
We do it happily! As our friend Sean D’Souza likes to say, “Give the ideas. Sell the system.“
This is the key fact at the heart of this blog. I link to all kinds of other voiceover talents, including lots of other men. I link to every voiceover blog and forum I can find. I post ideas here as often as I can, either things I’ve thought about or things I’ve gleaned from other sites, articles and documents because helping you get better at voiceover helps us all, including me. As does helping you find the voice you need for your project, and then directing that voice to give you the performance needed to tell your story as effectively as possible.
You are not my competition, even if you’re auditioning for the same job that I am. If the clients decide they want Bob Souer, there’s only one voiceover talent on the planet who can pull that off…me. If they want you, it really doesn’t matter how well I did on my audition, you’re going to get the job.
I’m not going to keep the juicy stuff to myself and share some fluff now and then and try to dress it up like it’s juicy stuff. I’m going to give you every idea I have, because, as Bryan says so well in his post…
If you gave away every idea you ever had, people would still step up to ask you to help them, or do it for them. The same can’t be said if you don’t share with them at all.
Read the whole article. Then come on back because I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments.
thanks for the link and mention
yes Eisenberg lists a good philosophy but I reckon there would never be a closed door in business if it worked in the real world.
let’s say you have an adwords technique that is getting you 1 new voiceover per day, you are over the moon about it, would you then publish that adwords technique here and watch everybody else use it and watch your 1 voiceover per day disappear?
Mark,
Thanks for the interesting question. Bryan’s suggestion in his article is to “give away the ideas and sell the system.” In that context I think the correct answer to your question is that I would post my experiences and some suggestions about how to design one’s own adwords technique that can be customized to one’s own specific abilities and experiences. Not necessarily the specific technique I’m using.
But, your question misses the larger point, at least as regards voiceover work. In this field, and perhaps a few others, booking work isn’t about price or being first through the door much of the time, it’s being the right sound or the right performance.
Thank you for the interesting comments.
Be well,
Bob
yes I know very little about the voiceover world, just trying to elaborate how somebody might want to hold back one juicy detail, even if it’s only one 😉
out of curiosity, does anybody/site cater to doing voiceovers for bloggers/vloggers/podcasters?
Mark,
There are a number of us voiceover folk who serve podcasters and bloggers. In fact, one of my regular jobs is for a podcast published by the Office of Science and Technology at the Embassy of Austria in Washington, DC.
Both of the main pay-to-play casting sites (Voices.com and Voice123.com, links are in my blogroll in the Career category) have jobs posted for that kind of work from time to time. In fact, I booked the Austrian Embassy job through Voice123.com.
I spent a bit of time poking around the surface of your blog today. Very interesting what you’re doing. I wish you much success in your efforts.
Be well,
Bob
thanks for the info, I just mentioned you here
http://www.45n5.com/permalink/voiceovers-for-marketing.html
cheers,
mark
Mark,
Thank you!
Be well,
Bob