Double Dutch

In the past these were dirty words for dirty people. Now these very same words can be used to describe the average social media addict.

We like strutting our stuff in public. We want the world to watch us. And we follow the fools who think that tweeting nonsense all day long makes them relevant.

8:05 AM. In line at Starbucks.

8:10 AM. Ordering a tall latte.

8:15 AM. Should have asked for a double shot of espresso.

8:18 AM. Back in my Mercedes. New Jersey Turnpike, here I come!

8:21 AM. In a car accident. Tweeting and drinking coffee don’t go well together.

9:33 AM. Thank goodness this hospital has a Starbucks.

We can laugh about it. We can cry about it, but things like Twitter and texting are changing the way we communicate. Even the way we dress.

If you don’t believe me, you should shop for winter gloves today, and count the pairs with holes in them or with special patches. Touchscreen gloves, that’s what they are called. Snowstorms, twisters, Republican primaries and other natural disasters won’t prevent mankind from texting.

Every single day, two hundred trillion text messages are received in America alone (source). That’s more than an entire year’s worth of regular mail.

Nielsen reported that the average American teen sends 3,339 texts each month. That’s more than six per every hour they’re awake. The girls are beating the boys with 4,050 texts per month, (boys send an average of 2,539 texts). Mind you, these numbers are from 2010!

But it’s not just the kids. Go into any supermarket and count how many times you’ll hear a mother tell her stroller-toddler:

“Not now sweetie. Mommy’s texting.”

8:42 PM. At Trader Joe’s. Should I buy broccoli or cauliflower?

Thanks to all these very important messages, safety is no longer the number one reason for getting a phone. We just love being social, don’t we?

THE FACEBOOK REVOLUTION
In 2010, Facebook beat Google as the most visited site (if we leave out visits to Google-owned YouTube). A year later, Facebook’s U.S. advertising revenue of 2.2 billion dollars had surpassed that of both Google and Yahoo.

It is THE place to hang out and make new friends. It’s that wonderful platform where -in the midst of an economic crisis- everything is always A-Okay. No matter what happens, the show must go on so we keep on dancing.

Smile people! Always beware of your brand. Heaven forbid we become real and share our fears and failures.

Occasionally, some Facebook friends will vent their frustrations, but overall, a happy-go-lucky attitude seems to be the norm: Do what you love and the money will follow. Really?

Many Europeans consider this attitude to be “typically American.” They see the States as a country where people have a hard time accepting failure. We’d rather take a happy pill than deal with our problems. We’re certainly not going to share them on our Facebook Walls. We’ve turned those into advertorials and infomercials:

9:15 AM. Join me for an online seminar where I’ll teach you how not to waste your time on Facebook. Remember the early bird discount!

10:02 AM. Finished an amazing gig with an amazing director. Life is good. It’s great to be back in L.A.

11:46 AM. Jesus rocks! He guided me to book another gig for Playboy Enterprises. Praise the Lord.

11:47 AM. Deuteronomy 5:11

11:48 AM. John 8:7

11:49 AM. Broccoli or cauliflower?

1:15 PM. There’s a new article on the Double Dutch blog. Be the first one to read it before it appears on VoiceOverXtra.

Yep, Facebook is definitely a site we can’t live without. In fact, we need more of those online chatrooms. What did you just tell me? You’re not on Google+ yet? Boy, you’re missing out on something spectacular. It’s great for your business. The other day I saw a video of a dog. Man, that was funny. Every time his owner began playing the guitar, this dog started smiling. No kidding. I’ll send you the link.

3:30 PM. Wasted another 3 minutes watching a dog on YouTube. Completely forgot to register for Faffcon 4. 

A WINDOW TO THE WORLD?
Look, I am not going to pooh-pooh social media again, but we should bury the idea that these sites are widening our world and increase interpersonal connections.

First of all, we don’t seem to know the difference between socializing and advertising. Socializing is all about connecting with others. Advertising is drawing attention to oneself in order to sell. If that becomes the main purpose of the interaction, it will turn people off. Sooner rather than later.

Secondly, people mainly interact with people they know or agree with. We block the rest and ban them from our circles. And if we don’t do it ourselves, algorithms will make sure that we see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. Author and activist Eli Pariser calls this the “Filter Bubble.”

Based on our location and on what you and I have searched for and looked at in the past, certain websites (like Facebook) and search engines now use algorithms to predict and select what we’d be interested in right now. They call it “creating a personalized experience.”

YOUR WEB YOUR WAY
If you’re in the market for a new set of wheels and you’ve been browsing a few dealerships, chances are that you’ll be presented with car commercials instead of chewing gum ads. If you’re a fan of the current man in the White House and you keep track of his party’s politics, you won’t be exposed to Tea Party rhetoric. So far, so good, right?

Amazon and Netflix work the same way:

“If you liked this product or that movie, here’s what we recommend you check out next.”

I once made the mistake of tweeting about how much I love my memory foam mattress. Within the hour I was followed by three companies selling mattresses. I wanted to challenge them to a pillow fight.

But wait, there’s more!

If you and I were to enter the same keywords in Google, we would receive different results, based on past online behavior. You will get sites that are more in line with your interests and I will get sites that -presumably- will resonate more with things I prefer. Why is that so terrible?

DIVERSITY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
I happen to think that it’s good to be exposed to different points of view. If I am only presented with an invisibly edited and uncontrollable stream of information that confirms my own bias, I lose something very important. Eli Pariser puts it this way:

“The Internet is showing us a world it thinks we want to see, but not necessarily what we need to see.”

We need to see how other people live and we need to hear what other people think. Intellectual discourse is part of a healthy democracy.

If we wish to promote peace, understanding and compassion in the world, we have to open ourselves up to other ideas, other traditions and the very things we don’t comprehend. Things that may make us uncomfortable. Otherwise, stupid stereotypes will go unchallenged and the people on this planet will never overcome their conflicts.

5:15 PM. More of the same is not only boring, it’s dangerous.

5:16 PM. I don’t want some geek at Google to tell me what’s relevant.

Knowledge empowers. Ignorance separates.

NOW WHAT?
It’s time to burst that filter bubble and give us control over the selection of sources of information. I don’t need Yahoo to determine what types of news stories will appear when I switch on my computer.

I want Facebook to be more about sharing and less about selling. I want parents to care more about their children than about their smart phones.

I want drivers to switch off their Blackberries and pay attention to the road. I want more people to be in the moment, instead of describing it on some electronic device.

That’s all great in theory, but here’s the question that’s been haunting me:

Will that ever happen or did we pass a point of no return?

5:24 PM. I am a practitioner of Positive Pessimism.

5:25 PM Hoping for the best. Expecting the worst.

Paul Strikwerda ©2012
www.nethervoice.com

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Double Dutch Blog, Eli Pariser, exhibitionists, Faffcon, Filter Bubble, Google, Netflix, Nethervoice, Nielsen, Paul Strikwerda, Social Media, stalkers, texting, twitter, VoiceOverXtra, voyeurs, Yahoo

She jokingly called her students “germ bags” and described school parents as “snobby” and “arrogant.”

On Facebook.

As a result, this Massachusetts math and science teacher lost her $92,636-a-year job.

A waitress at a pizza restaurant in uptown Charlotte was fired after making derogatory remarks about customers who’d made her work an hour past the end of her shift and only left a small tip.

On Twitter.

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried lost his job as the voice of the Aflac duck, after the insurance company found out he was tweeting “jokes” about the devastating tsunami in Japan.

Free speech is a wonderful thing, as long as you realize who’s listening. Big Brother is following you. He might even be a Facebook friend or a Google Spy-der.

Digital Inspiration discovered last month, that:

“Googlebots, or the spiders that crawl web pages, are now reading Facebook comments on websites just like any other text content and the more interesting part is that you can also search the text of these comments using regular Google search.”

Many sites allow you to use your Facebook profile to leave comments. It’s easy and it saves time. But when you do that, your remarks are linked to your user name, profile picture and they link back to your Facebook profile.

As CNET’s Sharon Vaknin warned:

“A Google search for your name may reveal your comments. Since your Facebook account is tied to your (presumably) real name, anyone googling you may stumble upon your political, religious, or general views expressed in comments you’ve left across the Web. Consider this when leaving comments using the Facebook Comments platform.”

And it’s not just your comments that could get you in trouble.

One of my European colleagues had landed a voice-over job for a high-end electronics company. She was thrilled to be associated with such a big name, and she liked the video she had voiced so much, that she put a link up on her blog.

The next day the phone rang. The legal department of the electronics giant asked her to read the fine print in her contract. It stated that she was not allowed to publicly associate herself with the company and that she could not use any material for promotional purposes.

Even though she removed the link immediately, she never heard from this client again.

Later she told me: “It was just a link to a video that was on the company website. It was in the public domain. What’s the big deal? The way I see it, I was creating some free publicity for this company.”

It amazed me how quickly the legal department had discovered the link on a blog that wasn’t exactly popular. It goes to show that you never know who is watching over your shoulder.

This week, one of my agents received the following message from a casting director:

“Agents – it has come to our attention that many actors excited about their auditions, will post notices on facebook and twitter. This weekend, an actor lost a job because the tweet got back to the client on a product that had not been announced. Please ask your actors to not tweet/facebook the products for auditions.”

My agent immediately sent an email to all talent:

We know you get excited about auditions and bookings, but please do not tweet, facebook, blog, or share in any way before the finished media is out.

The safest sharing rule for the entertainment industry: only share information on your project AFTER the date of first insertion. No exceptions.

DO NOT announce clients or products for auditions, callbacks or bookings.

DO NOT check in on facebook.

DO NOT use social media on set.

Remember: You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be used against you.

Paul Strikwerda ©2011
www.nethervoice.com

PS Be sweet. Please retweet.
PPS Next week I’ll talk about adding value in voice-overs.

Technorati Tags: Aflac, CNET, Digital Inspiration, Double Dutch Blog, Dutch voice over, Facebook, Gilbert Gottfried, Google, Googlebots, Nethervoice, Paul Strikwerda, Sharon Vaknin, Social Media, twitter, voiceovers

Alright.

Last week’s pity party is over and I’m back at the helm of Starship Nethervoice.

A warm and fuzzy “thank you” to all of you who have reached out to me in the past few days.

Yes, I missed you too!

One of those people was news anchor and fellow VO-pro Dave Courvoisier. He called me from Vegas to let me know that I was not forgotten. This moved me so much that I promised to dedicate a song to him at Faffcon’s karaoke night. Any suggestions as to how I can best serenade him in his absence?

You might not praise my singing, but I will sing Dave’s praises any night. In a way, Dave is like a city that never sleeps. A big proponent of SM*, Super Social Dave can simultaneously be found on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Amplify, while presenting the evening news and writing a new article for his blog. Sometimes I wonder what it must be like, to live inside his head…

On August 4th, Dave’s Voice Acting in Vegas Blog featured an interview with Jason Ojalvo, the man behind Audible’s Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). If you haven’t heard of ACX yet, I recommend you read Karen Commins’ blog post and Andy Bowyer’s article in VoiceOverXtra.

In a nutshell, ACX is a virtual market place for people practicing what I believe to be the oldest profession in the world: storytelling. Narrators, writers and producers can find one another on ACX and create spoken books together.

Here’s what I particularly like about the ACX-model:

• It’s FREE! Yes, you’ve heard me. There’s no paid membership and there are no exorbitant escrow fees;

• ACX has a well-designed website and excellent customer service;

• There’s no middle man. Believe it or not, there is direct contact between narrator, producer and author/rights holder, resulting in…

• Reasonable rates and the opportunity to take a chance sharing royalties;

• Quality Control: ACX is very picky about recording and production requirements. It takes more than a credit card, a mic and some shareware to list oneself as an audio book narrator;

• A wide distribution network.

Here’s what needs tweaking:

• ACX currently offers projects in 6 languages. I’d like to see that number grow and -of course- include Dutch (my mother tongue);

• There are no projects posted in my preferred rate scale: the $400 to $1000 per finished hour range;

• At present there’s no way of telling whether or not an audition has been listened to, unless the narrator receives an offer. I’d also like to know how many colleagues  have already auditioned for a particular project;

• On 8/4/’11 ACX had 1939 narrator samples, but no way to search for a particular talent. It took me a while to find some of my favorite voices;

• Some talents have two pages, e.g. one under BeeAudio (talent is  available for: $200 – $400 Per Finished Hour) and one under their own name (same talent for hire for: $100 – $200 per finished hour). Are narrators competing with themselves and does this double listing give them an unfair advantage?;

• ACX does allow you to select a narrator by gender. There are 1296 audio samples listed under male and 760 under female. Why are women underrepresented? When I selected “Both,” 116 samples came up. (1296 + 760 = 2056 and not 1939

• When searching by gender, some female narrators came up, even though I had narrowed  my search down to male voice-overs;

• Chapters selected for audition are often purposely chosen because they contain some challenging paragraphs in terms of pronunciation. A quick example:

I wanted to audition for a book about the life of a Tibetan Lama. After an hour of extensive research, I still couldn’t find the correct pronunciation of his holiness’ name. Normally, I’d expect the author to provide a pronunciation guide, and I’d like ACX to lend us a hand in that department. Lama Geshe Dhargyey will bless you.

• ACX currently offers 676 non-fiction titles and 596 fiction titles looking for a narrator. I’d like to see the number of fiction titles go up. But here’s the big one:

• There are only 7 titles in the kids section. There’s obviously some untapped potential in that genre!

Jason Ojalvo told CourVo:

“The buzz is that ACX is one of the most empowering services ever created for actors. “

To me, Dave Courvoisier is one of the most empowering colleagues in the voice-over business. Dave loves to share. Thanks to him, what happens in Vegas, never stays in Vegas.

Whether Dave’s anchoring the news or narrating a voice-over script, SaVoa Board Advisor 07041 is a distinguished member of that ancient tribe of storytellers.

I’m already looking forward to the next Amazing CourVo Xchange!

How about you?

Paul Strikwerda ©2011
www.nethervoice.com

*SM: Social Media

PS Be sweet: please retweet.

Technorati Tags: ACX, Amplify, Andy Bowyer, audio book promotion, Audiobook Creation Exchange, Dave Courvoisier, Dutch narrator, Dutch voiceover, Facebook, Faffcon, Google, how to create an audio book, Jason Ojalvo, Karen Commins, LinkedIn, Nethervoice, Paul Strikwerda, SAVOA, the oldest profession in the world, twitter, Voice Acting in Vegas, VoiceOverXtra

Having a website is not an accomplishment. Nessie the Hamster has one. Famous dead people do too. I have even seen sites in loving memory of unfamous dead hamsters! Some of those websites get more visitors in a day, than you hope to have in a year.

Here’s my question: if you have a personal website and you’re not getting any traffic, what’s the point? You might as well give the money you’re sending to your Internet Service Provider to a worthy cause, such as the Don LaFontaine Voice-Over Lab.

If, on the other hand, you want to use your online presence to your advantage, you better roll up your sleeves and get to work! (Unless you’re too busy auditioning for that $100 narration of a 300 page audio book…)

iCrossing is a digital marketing agency with specific expertise in social media and 12 offices worldwide. Last year, Nilhan Jayasinghe, their VP, wrote a paper entitled; “Optimizing for users, not search engines. Building a sustainable brand in a connected world”.  He says:

“As search engines become more sophisticated, they will increasingly incorporate user data to validate their results. The numbers of people visiting a site; the time that users spend on a site; the depth of their engagement; whether they return over a period of time; how many people add it to their social bookmarking tools such as Digg; all will potentially be taken into account.”

If you’ve read my last blog, you already know that the new Google is going in that direction. And where Google goes, others follow. In my opinion, there are at least two things you must do to take advantage of this development. These are the things that will drive people to your website; keep them there and make them come back:

1. Start writing for people, not for search engines: offer fresh & relevant content.
2. Stop “telling & selling”. Instead, engage your visitors and begin a dialogue.

Here are a few ways to do it:

1. Offer FREE STUFF. Paradoxically, some companies are making lots of money by giving things away for free. It’s called the “freemium model” whereby some content is offered at no charge, while premium content is not. Seattle-based Big Fish Games distributes more online games than anyone else, at about 1 million a day. You can try almost any Big Fish game for free; but there are add-ons that players have to pay for.

A few months ago, our colleague Peter O’Connell made his e-book “The Voice Over Entrance Exam” available at no charge. I’m pretty sure that this brought new visitors to his website. It did something else too: it established him as an expert. Here’s a third bonus: free resources get links. Isn’t that what I just did?

2. Contests & Awards are another way to drive people to your site. Videovoicebank.net organized a contest, and voice-overs were invited to share their professional horror stories. Not only did the Videovoicebank-team manage to engage their community; for days, visitors could enter their email address and vote for their favorite story. I wonder what they’ll do with those email addresses…

3. Provide a resource that will benefit your target-group and (of course) offer it for free. Veteran VO-artist Mahmoud Taji compiled a voice-over directory of casting websites for “the benefit of established and up-and-coming voice over talent who want to secure more voice over work through the Internet.” He asked everyone in the industry to help out, and this is just another example of how to get people involved. So far, Taji has a list of 239 sites, and you might add a few to the directory.

4. Quizzes and Games on your site are a fun way to make people come back and spend more time with you. British talent Emma Clarke is the voice you’ll hear for a majority of the London Underground lines. Her website is terrific and it has games, spoof audios and even an online “Emma flip book”.  One of my favorites is a fridge magnet game where you can move the words around to make your own sentences and phrases – and have Emma speak them for you.

5. Actress Amy Walker (above) became an overnight sensation when her YouTube video 21Accents went “viral”. “These days, it’s not unusual to see a search engine like Google pull up a YouTube video in its top 10 results,” says Linda Girard, co-founder of online marketing consulting firm Pure Visibility in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “The best way to maximize this trend is by uploading your video to various sites and attach good, searchable terms to the clips in order to get those high rankings.” (source)

6. Then there’s the old trick of offering limited Deals & Discounts. Bristol-based voice-over talent and SAVOA-member Alison Pitman offered a promotion of 25% discount on all message on hold voice-over recordings. Particularly if you’re also offering individual coaching and voice-over classes, never miss an opportunity to throw in an early bird special or a web coupon. Irresistible offers turn browsers into buyers.

7. Develop an ongoing relationship with your visitors (colleagues and clients). Answer their emails. Follow up with them. Ask them for feedback. Use social networking sites to connect. Take an active part in your community, online and offline. Send email newsletters using a service like Constant Contact or Aweber. It’s all about building your brand and positive reinforcement.

8. Blogging benefits business. Internet marketing company Hubspot surveyed over 1500 small businesses. They found that those with blogs attracted:

1. 55% more traffic
2. 97% more inbound links
3. 434% more indexed pages

Blogs are a very effective way to create valuable content; to connect, to interact and to build relationships based on trust. Nilhan Jayasinghe put it this way:

“The closer that Google and others get to reading real interaction, the better they will become at separating the sites that look relevant from the sites that are relevant. Inevitably, it will become ever more difficult to fake the quality of a web page.

Given that this is the case, by far the best way to rank highly for a given term is to offer what the search engines are getting progressively better at finding – content that is genuinely useful to those people searching for that term.”

How to come up with quality content is going to be the topic of my next installment! In the meantime, how did you manage to increase your web traffic? What worked for you and why? What was a waste of time and money?

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

www.nethervoice.com

PS What makes people click? Click to find out!

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