I just added Kyle Whitford’s blog to my blogroll this evening. Clearly, Kyle’s got something excellent going on. Just one example from a few days ago is this post about getting more commercial voiceover work. Or check out his wonderful post about our mutual friend Kara Edwards. VoiceCommercial is the name of the blog. I’ll be back.
In the USA, it’s Thanksgiving Day, one of my very most favorite holidays. My heart overflows with gratitude for Cinda, the wonderful wife God has given me and for the four children he’s given us. It has been quite a year of transition for all of us, but a good one. I’m grateful for my extended family and for their love.
I give thanks for my friends, those I’ve known for many years and those who are more recent additions to my life. I’m deeply grateful for the support, encouragement and instruction of Nancy Wolfson (with whom I studied from February through September of 2007) and Marice Tobias (with whom I’ve been studying since October of 2007) as well as for earlier studies with Dick Orkin and Pat Fraley.
I can’t begin to offer sufficient thanks for the work I’ve been given the opportunity to do this year and for each and every of you, my clients who have sent me that work. I do love telling your stories.
And last, I thank you my dear reader, for visiting my blog and reading what’s written here. I write because I have to write, but always with the goal of encouraging and helping you move further along your journey in the voiceover business. I don’t know if you’re way ahead of me on the path, right near me, or somewhere way behind. It’s way better than working for a living and I’m so very grateful you choose to give these words a few minutes of your day. Thank you and, holiday or not where you are, may you have a wonderful day!
Check out this fascinating on-line presentation on The Power of Sound from Katz Marketing Solutions. It will take a few minutes, but will be well worth your time.
Tom Asacker blogs about 7 branding concepts that still seem valid, but then again, maybe not. Whatever you think of Tom’s post, I hope he gets you thinking more deeply about your own brand, what it means and how you’re living it.
Creative director/producer Rudy Gaskins offers some very helpful insights on what you’re expected to know if you’re going to be serious about your voiceover business, over at VoiceOverXtra. Well worth a few minutes of your time.
My friend Blaine Parker isn’t just a superb voice actor, he’s also a gifted writer and a superb marketing mind. Over the last couple of years I’ve re-published (with his permission) several of his columns. Today is another. And if you read all the way to the end, you’ll find something that might make the journey even more worthwhile than usual. So, without further ado …
WHERE THE WHILE MONEY THINGS ARE, by Blaine Parker
I’VE JUST SEEN A MONEY MILL IN OPERATION
As we all know, the restaurant business is hurting.
You wouldn’t know it by the way they’re packing it in at a place on the edge of Hollywood–a place named for a common class of wild animal.
I was in there Friday night with some friends who knew the owner–a woman whom they hadn’t seen in almost two decades. She and one of my friends happened to run into each other that morning. She said to come on round to her place and she’d buy the lads a couple of drinks.
After fighting to find a parking space about a quarter mile away, I walked to the restaurant–and proceeded to fight my way in the door.
The place was bursting at the seams.
Every table was full. The bar was packed. People were standing (including me).
Earlier, when I’d mentioned where I was going, someone had said, “Oh, I know that place. That’s a hipster joint.”
Calling it so implies a lot of posing and affectation and not a lot of happiness.
THIS WAS NO HIPSTER JOINT
Indeed, there were some hipsters. This is, after all, Hollywood.
But the crowd was mainly normal (for Hollywood) people, packed cheek-to-jowl.
The crowd skewed a little young. There were a lot of 20-somethings.
But there were also people old enough to know better.
Everyone in the place was happy. No hipster posing.
And everyone working the place was working like a maniac. They were moving as fast as they could, and all the service was with a smile.
I was marveling at this, when I finally met my friend’s friend, the owner. She came behind the bar to greet us and help out her bar staff.
SHE WAS THE ELECTRIFIED NUCLEUS OF THIS HUMMING, ENERGIZED MACHINE
She was excited, she was happy, and she was working her people with a degree of hustle and fire unmatched by any similar operation I’ve ever seen. (And while she doesn’t show it, she’s probably pushing 60–making her unceasing energy all the more impressive.)
It’s easy to discount a place as a “hipster joint” when there happen to be hipsters in evidence.
This was no hipster joint. This was a happy joint.
The staff was happy. The patrons were happy. The air in the place was charged with happiness electrons humming from wall-to-wall.
And there was no doubting it: the reason for the success of this place hinges directly on the owner, who has built it up around her own personal brand.
ONCE AGAIN, THE ENTREPRENEURIAL HELMSMAN INFORMS AND INFUSES
We’ve talked about this previously–how the driving personality behind the company dictates everything about the brand.
The high profile example we’ve used is Sir Richard Branson. The Virgin airlines are a distinct and unmistakable reflection of who Sir Richard is.
And while he has billions of dollars coursing through the corporate veins and a legion of marketing people to help chart the course of that brand, he’s still The Man.
He’s the reason Virgin is everything it is.
The same goes for any small business–only more so, because the business is so close to the owner.
Everything about the company culture, the marketing, the treatment of customers and–ultimately–the business’s success in a recession i
s linked to the owner’s brand personality.
And I was sitting there in Hollywood, watching a recessionary success in action.
It was astonishing.
A place in a frequently unhappy town packed to the gills with happy people–all because the proprietor insisted on bringing happy to the table.
AN OBJECT LESSON FOR ANY SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
You’ve heard the expression, “don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle.”
This restaurant, which is slamming like crazy in a time when others are shutting their doors, is a brilliant example of where the sizzle comes from.
It comes from the heart of the beast.
Howard Schultz’s Starbucks story is called Pour Your Heart Into It.
It’s an excellent directive.
Just make sure to keep a smile on it, and pour it out into the hearts of your employees who serve it up to your customers.
There are many factors that contribute to success–but none as vital as informing a brand with joyous servitude.
| As always,
|
Blaine Parker
Your Short, Fat Creative Director in
Park City
www.slowburnmarketing.com
www.spotsbeforeyoureyes.net
Follow on Twitter @blaineparker
The above came from Blaine’s newsletter called HOT POINTS. If you would like to get HOT POINTS directly, visit Blaine’s Slow Burn Blog.
Take a moment to read Michael Lenz’ latest blog post about the value of preparation.
My friend Dave Courvoisier likes lists. Why mention this odd fact on a blog about voiceover? Because Dave’s lists include some that are very specifically for and about voiceover. You’ll find details in this post on his blog.
My friend and mentor Philip Banks asks the question on his blog today Are you a Voice Stalker? Well worth a few moments of your time.
(edited to fix typo)
If you’ve left a comment here recently you’ve discovered that I’ve added a Captcha to my comment process. I’m not fond of them either, but after going through a few days of a comment spam deluge I had to do something to stem the tide. Thank you for reading and for going through the extra steps.
Ed Victor offers some thoughts about working around the world.
Find more videos like this on VU
My thanks to my friend Dan Nims for sending me the link to this video today.
Voice Actors in the News is 10 Years Old this month.
With thanks to my friend Dan Nachtrab for sending me the link, check out the excellent article in Backstage on voiceover opportunities in video games.
I’ve written about this a few times before, but Seth Godin reminds me again today why I say I’m not in the voiceover business, I’m in the problem solving business. What hammer are you carrying around? If the only tool in your toolkit is the voiceover hammer, and that’s working for you, good. If, on the other hand, that one tool is limiting your opportunities and your voiceover business; maybe it’s time to figure out how to be more flexible.
Here’s a real world example. I love narrating audiobooks, especially non-fiction audiobooks. It’s a lot of work for the amount of money involved, but I love each one of them because I love telling stories and audiobooks are wonderfully long stories. So, a couple of years ago I received a message from a publisher who needed someone to edit an audiobook that was read by the author. The pay was pretty decent so I took that job. I didn’t get to tell the story that time, but it added nicely to my bank account and, as it turned out, the author was an excellent reader. All in all in wonderful experience. One I would have missed (not to mention the check) had I only thought in terms of voicing audiobooks rather than helping to solve problems.
Marc Cashman is the narrator for this charming video that recently won the Golden EDI, the highest trophy for Switzerland’s commercial and corporate films.
Have you thought about sound lately? Julian Treasure has somethign to say that’s worth the five minutes of your time.
My thanks to my friend Larry White for sending me the link to this video.
In honor of all those who pay such a high price for the freedom we enjoy.
For all who serve in harms way, thank you for your service.
Dave Foxx talks for 10 minutes about his work.
My friend Pam Tierney recently did an on-camera session for a television commercial with Nick Lachey.
Kudos to you, Pam. Wonderful work. UPDATE: That’s my friend Dan Nachtrab doing the voiceover for this spot!
