Each day this week, I’ll contribute a new blog article in a 5-point plan to benefit your VO business in the Social Networks.
This is not daunting, nor difficult. It will require some time, esp. if you haven’t started yet, and it WILL require the real YOU to step forward. Not some proxy personality. Social Media is nothing if your contribution does not reflect a genuine you. That’s the whole idea: be real — warts and all — so the actual person online becomes the trusted you — and the trusted you gets jobs.
800 lb. GORILLA
No wonder the Winklevoss twins wanted a piece of FaceBook. It’s the monster on the block. One of these days, it may go the way of the Atari, but right now there is no Social Media presence without it. Sign up, and enter a profile. It’s free. Put up a picture. Fill out the personal information to the extent your comfortable, and take the time to configure the settings so people can see you or not see you according to your wishes. Browse around. Personally, I find FaceBook to be a non-intuitive interface, but it’s deep and broad, and it changes all the time. The more time you spend here, the more you’ll understand it. But above all, respond and contribute to whatever conversation you decide to be part of. Be businesslike if you’re constructing a business page, but be you. Be friendly if you’re doing a personal page, but be you.
THE BIRD
Even FaceBook is looking over it’s shoulder at Twitter. Just about everyone from Microsoft to Google has been rumoured an attempted buyout of Twitter. Twitter confounds lots of people. I get that, but once you try it a little, you’ll at least see its value. Twitter is also free. Sign-up and fill out your profile. Be honest, but maybe a little mysterious or provacative. Or not. Your choice. Above all, be brief (you HAVE to be). Put up a picture, not an avatar. Don’t change the pic a lot. Let people get used to who you are. Include the URL to your VO site. Now—-> start “tweeting”. Again, be serious, mysterious, fun, zany, mad, or not. Just be genuine. Retweet other’s posts. Include links. But don’t spam, and don’t waste people’s time. (I’m being purposely brief…a primer on how to do Twitter this is NOT).
VIDEO
YouTube is the second biggest search engine on the planet..which means the top two are both owned by Google, ’cause Google owns YouTube. YouTube keeps breaking records. A couple of months ago it had–over 2 billion video views per day; over 35 hours of video uploaded per minute (Source: YouTube Statistics: 25 Jawdropping YouTube Facts, Figures & Statistics http://www.reelseo.com/youtube-statistics/#ixzz1OTt8XS7v)
God knows what it is today. As much as you may hate appearing on camera, these are trends you just can’t ignore. At least set up your account. Use your Google username and password. It’s easier that way. DON’T start browsing videos. You’ll end up like my daughter who spends 28 hours a day laughing at stupid cat videos. 🙂 See what other people are posting. Most of it is junk. But people are watching. Just think how many hits you’ll get if you practice a little, and put up something compelling. See my site: http://www.oncamtips.com for help.
THERE’S MORE
I’m going to suggest LinkedIn as honorable mention here. Some would put it higher than YouTube. It deserves it’s own blog article (I think) for the rich mining you can do on the site for companies (Studios! Agents! Prospects!) and people. I’ll just say please sign up (again: free) and start your profile. Put up a smiling but mostly serious bio pic, and start seeing who else among your friends are on the site. You’ll be surprised. There are thousands (yes, thousands) of voice-actors on LinkedIn, even if they don’t want to talk about it. You can be on as many as 50 groups. Join some…especially Ed Victor’s “Working Voice Actor” group, and my “Setting VO Rates” group. Send out invitations. Write and seek recommendations to your profile. Use the extensive tools to research potential leads here…that’s what this site is all about.
OK, that’s the basics. TOMORROW: Part II of your VO Social Media Plan will help you strategize your overall approach. Why are you on Social Networks? What is it you want to achieve? What part of my VO business can most benefit from a Social media Plan?
CourVO
