Among the many people I got to meet in person during the course of my travels in 2007 was a very talented gentleman named Peter O’Connell, a genuinely brilliant voiceover talent and an even more brilliant marketer of his voiceover services. How brilliant? Well, here is a survey of what I see as the single greatest bit of blog marketing, at least in the world of voiceover blogs, that I’ve ever seen. One that it’s been playing out right before our eyes in the last 2 weeks.
First, Peter identified a subject about which he felt passionately, and not only he, but quite a few others. That subject being the decision by NBC Television to hire Michael Douglas to provide the voiceover introducing the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Mr. Douglas is a well established star in the movie business both in front of and behind the camera. And he has a wonderful voice. But, Peter didn’t think it was the right voice to introduce something as important as the nightly network newscast. So, he blogged about that. And for most folks, that’s where we would have stopped. But Peter was just getting started.
Next, he created an (unofficial) casting call for voice over talents to submit an audition for the News intro voice, even providing a clean copy of the NBC Nightly News theme music to use with the auditions. Entries began to pour in from all over North America as well as at least one entry from the UK. Not only did Peter blog about his contest, he posted notes about it on the VO-BB, the Yahoo! Voiceover Group and prepared and distributed an official press release about the contest.
Naturally, lots of us other voiceover bloggers posted about this contest, as well as putting our hats in the contest ring.
By the time the dust had settled, Peter had received 60 entries to his contest, not counting his own initial example entry.
Taking his game to even greater heights, Peter then invited everyone to vote for their top 3 favorite entries. As I type this message late New Year’s Eve night, 61 voters have been entered their top picks. Again, Peter posted an invitation on the VO-BB, the Yahoo! Voiceover Group and prepared and distributed another official press release.
By the way, the voting is still open through at least New Year’s Day, so if you haven’t cast your vote yet, go here to listen to everyone’s entry and then go here to enter a comment with your top 3 picks.
So, the story isn’t done, but from the standpoint of voiceover marketing and blogging, this has been the story of the year in 2007 and carrying over into the early part of 2008 of course. I don’t have access to his server logs of course, but I’m sure this has taken Peter’s blog traffic to new heights, and while some of those visitors may not return, Peter has very wisely invited everyone to subscribe to his blogs feed each stop of the way, including links to his own favorite blog reader for anyone who doesn’t already use one.
Really brilliant stuff Peter. I am in awe of what you’ve accomplished. I’ve learned so much from you in this past year, and not just through this series of events. But watching all of this unfold has multiplied my admiration for you and your business savvy. You are doing a great job and I wish you much continued success in the coming year.
Oh, and while we’re at it, if you’d like to subscribe to this blog, here is the link you need to add to your feed reader. ( http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheVoiceoverBoblog ) Peter uses the Google Feed service. I use Thunderbird. There are lots of other choices. Just search on the term “feed reader.” If you’d rather just have the posts sent to your email inbox, you can do that here.
Here here!
Thanks for writing about Peter and his excellent marketing. I’m impressed too 😉
Happy New Year Bob to you and yours,
Stephanie
Stephanie,
I hope you, David, your children and all whom you love have a truly wonderful New Year.
Be well,
Bob
Bob:
Wow.
I am as you know rarely speechless but your kind thoughts were as deeply appreciated as they were unexpected.
As much of a marketer as I am to my core, I really didn’t start out thinking this through as a marketing idea (which may be one of the reasons for its success). Rather, at its core, my idea was born because:
a. I heard a bad vocal performance from an otherwise talented man on an essential national broadcast…and nobody seemed to be saying anything OR nobody seemed to be listening
b. It would be so much FUN to present an inventive solution and involve so many talented voice over talents (all good ideas should have an element of fun to build buzz, I think)
c. The amazing and varied vocal performances absolutely sealed the deal (including yours). Many were totally new voices to me and I hope this builds their collective audiences (as you and I have long shared the same opinion about prospective voiceover competition)
d. Then for the kicker, a great character voice actor who wants to remain anonymous donates a new USB mic as a prize! Whoa!!! Completely out of the blue! That’s really when it hit me what this whole “voice-off†had turned into.
What also made it great was the timing. The idea came at a time of year when business for most of us slows down a bit. We have work but not AS much, so a fun event like this could take place and sorta be like our international voice over holiday party with voice demos replacing dancing on tables with lampshades on our heads.
So far the party is STILL going strong and looks like it will be for at least another week. I’ve gotten 25 votes in the past 24 hours alone…New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day!
And not to sound like a total love fest here but getting a nice compliment from Stephanie at Voices.com I take as very special.
If you, as I have, have watched their company grow their internet presence, using all the tools of the trade so brilliantly (starting with the name change to voices.com and building from there) you’ll see voices.com really is an example of the right way to grow an INTERNET business (let alone a voice over business). For those unschooled in such matters, google voices.com and beyond the hundreds of voice links they features, look at the internet PR, the industry specific articles, the white papers and on and on establishing their expertise, their credibility and their commanding presence on the web. That takes planning and work.
I respect their accomplishments immensely and value my contact with them personally…very nice people.
As are you, Robert. You are a voice talent of biblical proportions (yes, I will continue to market your most amazing 2007 voice over accomplishment any way I can….THAT’S the mother (or Father) of all audio books!). But you are the antithesis of ego in performance and personality…not a small thing, that. All of us who get to work with you and know you personally continue to learn how to be a better person by your quiet example. Having always been the bull in the china shop (becoming only slightly less bullish with age) it is an example I, personally, deeply appreciated.
This is my long winded way of saying thank you, my friend.
Best always,
– Peter
Peter,
You are so very welcome. And your comment reminds me of one point I neglected to include in my original post…and a most salient point it is…which is that in launching this brilliant effort, you’ve provided a host of talented people a chance to be heard on your site.
This is the essence of generosity and is a big part of the reason I believe this has worked so very well. I did not believe for a moment that this was a “marketing ploy” of any kind for you Peter. But, having seen it take off, you were smart enough to follow through and to fan the flames as they built.
I’m very grateful to know you, Peter. Thank you again for your very kind comments. I continue to hope that your New Year is filled with much success.
And regarding Voices.com, I quite agree. Stephanie and David, and their entire team, consistently demonstrate that they understand the Internet and how to run an online business.
Be well,
Bob
Bob,
Great Blog entry.
Peter,
‘Wonderfully warm and intuitive reply.
CourVO,
Get busy!
Dave,
Thanks for coming by and commenting. I always appreciate hearing from you.
Be well,
Bob