Voices.com Leads Voice-Over Marketplace with 15,000 Voices from 100 Countries

Voices.com Leads Voice-Over Marketplace with 15,000 Voices from 100 Countries

Link Popularity? Trade Links with Voices.com

Greetings, We are inviting you to trade links with us! Why should you trade links with Voices.com?

1. Your website will rank higher (link popularity)
2. Potential customers needing your services will be directed to your website
3. You'll help more talent find work, one link at a time

Increased visibility and relevancy is key to support a thriving voice industry, and with your help, there will be no question about where your colleagues will go to get their voice work recorded and receive the best service in the industry. To exchange links with Voices.com, click here. To mutual success! Stephanie and the Voices.com Team

Wise Words: Choosing a Business Partner

Greetings, When it comes to choosing a business partner, it's very similar to getting married. This week, we were interviewed by Sean Wise, the Managing Director of Wise Mentor Capital, a national venture capital consultancy focusing on bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and capital and a columnist for the Globe and Mail in Toronto. Sean asked us if we could share our thoughts with him about choosing a co-founder and how it relates to marriage (David Ciccarelli and I are married to each other). We shared the following: "A co-founder needs to be a good communicator, a person with whom you have synergy, and a friend. A healthy business partnership is comparable to a marriage, built on a solid foundation of trust, respect, and understanding. When two complementary business people come together to form a company, guided by the same vision and values, they are at the very heart of their corporate family, and nurture the business as parents would their children." Here's a link to a fabulous article that may help you in your quest, complete with pearls of wisdom from Sean Wise. Cheers, Stephanie Ciccarelli

Bringing Real Estate Podcasts to Home Buyers

Taylor Woodrow Homes and What I Want Podcasting® Bring Real Estate Podcasts to Home Buyers

Taylor Woodrow, a leading international homebuilder with nearly 40 communities in the Western Region and What I Want Podcasting®, a leading podcast development firm has joined forces to offer podcasts of their communities to potential home buyers.

Toronto, Canada (InteractiveVoices Press) June 14, 2006 -- Taylor Woodrow, a leading international homebuilder with nearly 40 communities in the Western Region and What I Want Podcasting®, a leading podcast development firm has joined forces to offer podcasts of their communities to potential home buyers. Podcasting has quickly become a revolution in the way real estate is marketed, reaching online buyers as well as iPod users. "The ability to reach targeted demographics with high quality video tours of communities and individual homes is incredibly powerful. It gives the user the power to put the choice of home buying in the palm of their hand, and that level of comfort leads to better brand relationships with interested home buyers" says Ryan Hoback, CEO of What I Want Podcasting®. The Taylor Woodrow launch represents the first foray by a homebuilder into the growing universe of podcasting, which has been steadily increasing in popularity over the last two years. "What I Want Podcasting® has been a terrific partner in this process. When we approached them about what we wanted to do they helped us expand our original vision to encompass a variety of additional uses for the medium and its application in our business. By expanding our vision they helped us create a value driven integration that kept startup costs reasonable because of the multiple uses of what we were creating." said Mike Forsum, Western Regional President for Taylor Woodrow Homes. "We’re working to create a deeper, more meaningful relationship with our potential customer by respecting where they are in their lives and how they want to receive information," adds Forsum. There are 7 different communities that are available in the western region currently, with more communities to follow. These podcasts can be found in iTunes by simply typing "Real Estate" into the podcast search, or they can be found at Taylor Woodrow's site as well as on the What I Want Podcasting iTV Network. "Taylor Woodrow has incorporated podcasting into their business model to increase home sales by catering to the technological revolution and practicality of the podcasting industry. There has never been such a practical opportunity to market homes with a large national and global reach, while allowing the user to take the home buying experience literally into their own hands," said Ryan Hoback. The integration of podcasting into corporate business models is becoming much more prevalent. Podcasting offers opportunities for traditional marketing & advertising methods to be extended, while complimenting existing sales activities and offering new revenue streams. There have been over 50 million iPods sold to date, with nearly 80 million portable media players in the United States; in addition, more than 70 percent of homebuyers are now using the Internet as an integral part of the home buying process. ~~~~ If you have any questions about this press release, please contact the companies listed in the press release for more information. Thank you.

U2 & ESPN: Voice-overs for World Cup

Greetings, I was reading the New York Times, and was excited to see an article about ESPN and their advertising campaigns airing during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Earlier this year, ESPN decided to approach the worlds favorite rock band, U2 from Ireland, to ask them if they could license some of their music and concert footage along with some fresh voice-overs recorded by U2 for the commercials. U2, avid Irish soccer fans and humanitarians, wholeheartedly agreed and the deal was sealed, recording commercial spots which are now airing on ESPN amidst their 2006 FIFA World Cup coverage. You've probably seen these ads! Bono, U2s lead singer, is said to be cheering for the Ivory Coast. Anthem, Ivory Coast, Tartan Army, and Sick Days are available for viewing at the official U2 website. If you haven't seen them, here's a link to U2s website to view the spots. Cheers, Stephanie P.S. Another classic example of the media using celebrity voice-overs!

What are Voice-over Revisions and Do I need them?

Greetings, Ever wondered what a revision is? A revision, when pertaining to voice-overs, is an alteration made to an existing recording, whether slight or significant. Alterations may include the pronunciation of specific words, the interpretation of a script, or changes made to update the script over time. Most revisions are needed because of changes at your organization. Generally, revisions are made to recordings that you intend to use for long periods of time, and can be regarded as ongoing updates to the script. Revisions to your audio recording may be necessary when adding new personnel, products, or re-branding. It's kind of like maintaining your vehicle, ensuring that it continues to run smoothly... revisions to your voice-overs are less expensive, but are just as important :) Revisions to your telephone system are very common and should be implemented in a timely fashion to communicate information to your customers consistently. When your team grows, new extensions are added, or voicemail boxes need to be recorded, it is customary to return to the same voice actor who recorded your phone system originally and hire them to record "revisions" to your script. This is one of the reasons why it is important to maintain good business relationships with voice actors. Some voice actors even have special discounted revision prices for their clients. It's definitely something you should ask about when you select a talent to record. Knowing this ahead of time may save you a great deal of money in the long-term. Best regards, Stephanie

Summer's Coming: Are your Ads Ready?

Greetings, It really feels like summer now, doesn't it? The heat, the sudden rain showers, the smog... (cough!) That aside, we are about to enter into a new season of advertising. With summer come a host of irregular events, promotions, and of course, the summer holidays. Summer has the effortless ability to make people buy things and get outdoors. This is perfect for industries such as travel and tourism along with seasonal activities and hot spots that get an extra boost from visitors far and near. People want to get out, explore, do something different... It's a time for families, vacations, festivals, beaches, concerts, summer sales, blockbuster movie releases, and adventures... On the immediate horizon, there are national holidays to consider. First, there's Canada Day on July 1st and then there's the American Independence Day on July 4th. Have you got your thinking caps on for something new and exciting? Remember that for all the advertising you do in the summer sun, you'll need a champion voice to voice your ad :) You'll have no trouble finding the perfect voice with us, your #1 Destination for voice-overs. Cheers, Stephanie

5 Ways to get the Best Voiceover Talent for Less Money

Greetings, One of our voice talents who is also a client at InteractiveVoices (soon to be Voices.com) submitted an article that will give you the inside track on how to get the voice you want at a lesser cost. Julie's commentary is written from the perspective of a full-time voice talent who uses the Internet as a tool to find voice-over work. Seeing through the eyes of a talent will become a major asset to you, so read on! Best, Stephanie ~~~~~~ 5 Ways to get the best Voiceover Talent for Less Money By Julie Williams As you post your job on a voice talent web site, you know that you will receive a lot of replies. But quality is more important than quantity, isn’t it? After all, you’re typically looking for the BEST talent—the one that’s suited to your project—Not the MOST talent, right? Wouldn’t you agree that it’s best to have a good talent, rather than a mediocre one, for the same money? Although you will receive a lot of responses to your posting, many of them will be from people who have never done a VO before, or those who really are not good at what they do. I know many great talents who will not even respond to certain postings—and you’ll never know about them because they didn’t respond! So how do you Encourage the best talent to respond? Easy! Make us like you. We work for ourselves. We can work for less if we like you. Here are some easy ways that you can increase the caliber of talent who respond to your postings—simply by understanding the talent’s processes and seeing things from their point of view. 1. Respect the talent’s time Don’t demand a custom demo right off the bat. The inexperienced, or non-working (because they’re not good enough) talent will reply immediately with a custom demo. And you may be impressed—till you hear a great talent do that job! A seasoned, experienced talent is busy doing voiceovers… and will not always have time to send a custom demo if you catch them on a busy day. Note: For many great talent, every day is a busy day! By all means, attach a sample of the copy. But don’t be offended if a talent responds with a demo rather than a custom read for you. Frankly, I am not always the one submitting my auditions. My assistant may be submitting them for me while I’m in the studio! Before the Internet, we’d send demos out and a select few would get a “callback.” A callback means, “I think you have the sound I’m looking for…may I please hear how you sound on my copy?” 2. Leaving your job open till the end date I have many friends who subscribe to web sites like these for leads. We used to do custom demos as often as we could. Then we’d get out of the studio and go to submit the custom audition—that we worked on especially for a client—only to find that the client stopped the lead. Please give us the courtesy of sticking to your deadline…as we will meet your deadlines! Many of us (and I’m talking about the better talent on these sites—who are very busy working for high paying clients because they’re good) have stopped doing custom demos because of this. 3. When is it worth it for the GOOD talent to make time during their busy VO recording day to fit in your custom audition? Depending on how hungry the talent is (mediocre talent are hungrier than seasoned talent) and how busy we happen to be that day… if the job will pay at least $500—if not $1000. When I go into the studio… my priorities are: a. Jobs that are due today b. Pickups from jobs I’ve done that need a slight change. c. VOs from repeat clients who I have a good working relationship with d. Auditions for people who have specifically asked ME to read their custom copy after having heard my demo and decided they think I may have the right sound for them. e. Time permitting, auditions for bigger jobs—IF I haven’t already just sent them a demo assuming that it’s better than nothing because they might close the audition before I get to it! ☺ 4. Pay in a timely manner Again, it’s courtesy. It amazes me that some clients need us to rush and make their recording a priority—and yet we have to jump through hoops to get paid. You don’t want to wait 6 weeks for your audio, talent don’t want to wait 6 weeks to get paid. There are practical reasons for this. Most talent are one-person offices. A few of us have had to hire assistants to keep up with the volume of work and still give excellent service—which is important to us. But keep in mind that most talent do it all… marketing their service, voicing your jobs… re-voicing pickups till you’re 100% satisfied, Invoicing, and collecting. More amazing is that my experience shows that clients paying $2000 or more usually ask if they can pay all or part in advance, whereas clients who I did a $75 job for take months to pay! If your project is important enough to hire a professional talent to do it, Why not put in the posting that you’ll pay immediately upon receipt of audio? THAT will get most talent’s attention.. and the caliber of talent responding to your posting will be better. While most talents don’t take credit cards as I do… many of them do have PayPal. Or, they’d love to have a check mailed out immediately. To encourage clients to pay in a timely manner, and save me collections time, it’s worth it to me to give a discount for this. That’s why I routinely give a “quick pay” bid and a regular price bid. The “quick pay” rate is typically $50 less than the regular rate—IF a client pays immediately upon receipt of audio, by VISA, Mastercard, or Paypal. Sometimes, if the job is very low budget… the “quick pay rate” may actually be less than half of the regular rate! If I see that a low budget job (anything under $300) would be easy to do and I have time, or I love the copy, or it’s a ministry that I want to support—I’ll cut my rate WAY down… IF they’ll do me the courtesy of quick payment. 5. Respect what we do I know that there are beginners on these web sites that you’ll have to sift through to get good talent. But there are a lot of great talent on sites like this! (I know—I’ve hired them! Or trained them! ☺) What we do in unique. And we do it because we love it and we’re good at it. You pay us because hiring a talented professional IS WORTH IT! It will increase the professionalism of your product. If that weren’t true, you’d voice it yourself. Most people have a voice that’s good enough to do VO. What most people lack is the ability to connect with people, presenting a message in a sincere or effective and believable manner—on a recording! I include this in my list because, on occasion, I see postings that say (and I suppose this is to try to get us to work for less money) something to the effect of: “I’ll pay what you want as long as it’s not over $50 because I know it won’t take you more than 15 minutes to do it.” or “There are a lot of good talent out there who will work for less so if you want $500 per hour, don’t bother” (yes, I saw that!) That’s a posting I’d delete because if he doesn’t respect what I do, why would I cut my rates so much for him? I don’t like him. Those postings will receive responses from hungry talent… and the clients will hire them, not even knowing that there are even better talent out there who deleted his posting. However, were a person to post something to the effect of, “I know your time is very valuable and your abilities are worth more… but I only have $100 to pay for this project. However, I will pay immediately by paypal, or check. Please reply with your demo if you would be willing to do this project for me at this rate,” My demo just might be the first one they receive! Why? Because I like him! I know the same is true for many of my extremely talented VO friends! I hope this list has been helpful to you. I know there are reasons that people demand custom demos. I know there are reasons that –especially large organizations with lots of red tape to go through—take a long time to pay. But I hope that seeing a little more through the eyes of the talent will be an asset to your future talent searches. About Julie Williams Julie Williams is a national voice-over talent with decades of experience. Author of How To Make Money in Voice-Overs Even if You Don’t Live in NY or LA, and Proven Voice-Over Techniques, Julie has helped hundreds of talent refine their craft. She has been heard on HGTV, WE, and other national outlets. Most recently she’s voiced the children’s video game “Stevie Learns Pool Safety,” and an interactive CD for Plantronics. In addition, Julie is heard weekly by four million listeners on K-Love and Air 1 Radio Networks. To find out more about Julie, visit www.voice-overs.com or email her directly.

What are Watermarks and Why are Talent Using them in Custom Demos?

Greetings, Have you ever received a demo of your script from a talent only to find that there are beeps or sound effects included in the recording? These added audio clips are called "watermarks". Many voice talent add these short sound bites with the intention of protecting their work while providing their sample at higher quality. Variations on Custom Demo Protection include:

• Slight script alterations
• Names changed or mispronounced on purpose
• Music beds and sound effects
• Communicating to you directly in the recording as well as reading the script
• And rarely, submitting lower quality audio files

Although these may seem annoying, even distracting, they are in place for a good reason. While the Internet provides many opportunities for securing work, it has also unfortunately been used as a means of stealing creative products, including voice-over demos. This is particularly true of custom demos of shorter scripts such as telephone voicemail boxes and commercials. People who steal work are only a small margin of Internet users, but over the years, voice talent and other freelance creative professionals have learned the hard way, often by hearing their audition pieces used commercially without being paid for their services. Now keep in mind that the use of demo protection techniques does not reflect how talent feel about you as a person or about your job, it's merely a professional decision. This is a very important distinction. What can you do about this? Don't judge a talent by their demo recording alone if they took precautions. Take time to consider their voice type, interpretation, quote and proposal. Think of it more like them wearing a hard hat at a construction site or applying sun block while outdoors in the summer. If you need to present the audio submitted by talent to other decision makers, these precautions may make or break whether the talent qualifies to be presented as an option. If this is the case, contact the talent and share your situation with them and ask for another sample without alterations. I hope I have shed some light on why talent may incorporate these watermarks or script alterations into customized versions of your scripts. Does this give you a different perspective? How do you feel about watermarks or script alterations in custom demos of your script? Leave a comment! Best regards, Stephanie

How do you Budget for a Voice Over?

Greetings, When you post a job, you likely have a set amount of money in mind that you are willing to pay for voice over services. Are there any variables in your budgeting that are worth more than others? For instance, when you are hiring a professional, does their talent have more to do with the amount of money you will budget, or is getting a voice 0ver for less money (and potentially, hiring a less qualified person) the deciding factor? Some other Factors when Budgeting may include:

• Caliber of Talent
• Experience
• Studio Capabilities
• Expertise
• Turnaround Time
• Service Packages (revisions, etc.)
• Specialty Services (character voice acting, multiple talents, translation services etc.)

When it comes down to it, there's more to a voice over than just its cost! Think of all the benefits that the best voice over can yield for your campaigns and reputation. Now, that's something that money can't usually buy, but it IS something that a great voice over can. Looking forward to your reply :) Stephanie

SAG increases Voice Actor Wages

Greetings, If you work with voice actors in the video game production industry, you've likely noticed a few changes. Recently, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) raised the wages for SAG voice actors recording for video games. "In addition to higher pay, SAG had demanded residuals for successful games -- not unlike the payments actors receive for television shows. The union didn't get residuals, but it did raise the minimum wage to $759 for a four-hour voice-over stint. It also got increases in required contributions to the union's benefits plan in a contract running through 2008." Source, the Chicago Tribune. Has this wage increase changed the way that you do business with voice actors? Best regards, Stephanie

Teletoon: Children of Gilda's Club Produce PSAs

Greetings, It's nice to read something about a company that gives back to the community, particularly to wonderful organizations such as Gilda's Club. I recently read the TELETOON press release dated May 30th about the airing of two public service announcements (abbreviated as PSAs) developed by Gilda's Club Noogieland members on Sunday June 4th, National Cancer Survivors Day. The organizations supporting this effort were Gilda's Club, the National Film Board Mediatheque, and Toronto-based digital animation producer 9 Story Entertainment. A number of child members of Gilda's Club were invited to try their hand at a career in animation through a series of workshops lead by commercial animator Bryce Hallett, an alumnus of Sheridan College and founder of Toronto-based Frog Feet Productions. For roughly a month, these children were able to experience the creative process first hand, ranging from writing storyboards, production, and voice-overs in post-production. On National Cancer Survivor's Day, these gifted children will see their efforts broadcast on national television. This first-time joint partnership between the NFB Mediatheque (National Film Board of Canada) and TELETOON allowed participants to access professional facilities to produce their PSAs. 9 Story Entertainment, a Toronto-based digital animation production studio, organized and facilitated the animation studio tour at their premises in Toronto. The 9 Story Entertainment team donated studio time and the expertise of an editor, giving the children an opportunity to add sound effects and voice-overs to complete their public service announcements. Here's a direct quote from their press release: "Since the inception of the animation workshops, TELETOON has partnered with arts organizations, with elementary schools, and with kids clubs to promote the idea that all kids, no matter what their background, have an opinion regarding the issues that affect them," says Len Cochrane, TELETOON President. "We are proud and thankful that Gilda's Club, the NFB Mediatheque and 9 Story supported the founding principle of this community-based initiative, and assisted kids with the tools to better express their ideas and opinions". For the past three years, TELETOON has offered a hands-on experience of the animation process for broadcast. Since 2004, 75 participants have had an opportunity to learn as they create animated work that expresses their unique viewpoints on issues significant to them and their peers (Source, TELETOON press release, May 30th, 2006). To follow this story as it unfolds, click here. For those of you who are in media production and distribution, you may have been a part of a similar initiative. Has your company made a difference in your community? Share your stories and leave a comment :) Best regards, Stephanie

We're Changing our Name to Voices.com!

Greetings, InteractiveVoices is changing our name. We're going to be Voices.com! In the spirit of this future change, let's take a look at our past: Established in 2004 as a voice-over marketplace (InteractiveVoices.com), our roots run deep in the audio recording business, originally founded as a recording and production studio in the year 2000. A combination of industry expertise, marketing, and education has nurtured and secured the foundation of Voices.com. I thought I'd share our mission statement with you as noted on the Voices.com website. As the largest database of voices online, Voices.com sets out to achieve the following: 1. Make it easy to find voices regardless of language, location, and voice type. 2. Give everyone who uses their voice professionally the ability to be found and heard online. 3. Create a living database of every voice type and language in the world. 4. Be the definitive news source for reporters, journalists and bloggers. 5. Provide talent career guidance and the tools to conduct business online. You will all be pleased to know that many aspects of the current service you receive will remain the same, including our management team, mailing address, and toll-free telephone number. We will soon have a different name, and to put it bluntly, a much better name! What's changed so far? Here's one: The new logo, as you can see, is strikingly similar to the current InteractiveVoices logo. In addition to a new name, Voices.com will receive an updated look and feel, which will prove comfortable and familiar to you. Several new features are in the works at Voices.com, many of which were requested by you, our customers. Early feedback from the business community has been contagiously positive, generating buzz from all angles and spreading like wild fire. Why are we changing our name? Company CEO, David Ciccarelli says, "Voices.com is a name that encompasses the entire industry, dropping the interactive media connotation, opening more doors to our customers. Voices.com is short, obvious, descriptive, and memorable.” I couldn't have said it better myself :) If you want to help spread the word, blog about this and or link to the new Voices.com website. The official launch is September 2006. Cheers! Stephanie

If Image is Everything, You'll Need a Good Voice Actor!

Greetings, What do prospective customers think about your company? Usually, the first impression that they receive of your organization is via advertisement or your telephone system when they call in. Either way, potential customers are likely 'hear' from you first and base their impression of your business upon that first sound bite. One way to ensure that a positive impact is made upon customers is to have a dynamite voice-over recorded by a pro who knows how. Their voice type and interpretation of your script will yield dividends beyond all telling for your reputation and presence. Most of life revolves around perception, that is, what you believe to be true. If your voice-over is persuasive and relatable, listeners will assume that your company is everything that your voice-over exudes. A powerhouse voice-over will positively brand your company image by exuding the following qualities:

• Confidence
• Persuasion
• Leadership
• Accountability
• Passion
• Knowledge
• Authority
• Authenticity

What's in a name? Plenty. What's in a voice? EVERYTHING! Let the true voice of your company shine through and go for the gusto with the right voice actor for your job. If you need to post a job quickly, click on this link. Cheers, Stephanie

Podcasting Popularity Proof at FeedBurner

Greetings, This afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see a post directly related to the success and mass adoption of podcasting at the official FeedBurner weblog. Yippee! If you aren't familiar with FeedBurner, here's a few quick stats about them and the podcasting market from their blog:

1. FeedBurner alone manages more podcasts than there are radio stations worldwide
2. Podcasting is outpacing the speed of adoption of the last "most successful consumer product launch in history"
3. Podcast directories are growing, and driving activity back to podcasters' originating Web sites. As we saw with text feeds, distribution begins as a mechanism to drive traffic back to the originating source and then evolves to become its own consumption medium

The FeedBurner Team has analyzed this market forwards, backwards, sideways, you name it. If you're interested and want to learn more about FeedBurner, visit their website. A fabulous Memorial Day Weekend to our American friends south of the border! Cheers, Stephanie

Searching for Voice Actors: The Quest Begins

Greetings, You are probably familiar with Google and are actively using their search engine to conduct keyword searches online. As good as Google and their contemporaries are for finding generic subject matter, they are no match for finding niche search queries or specific answers to your questions about voice-overs and voice actors. Take our friend James, for instance. It's lunch hour on a Thursday, and James in Boston needs to find a voice actor to record 10 minutes of voice-over for his sales presentation. He has to present on Friday morning, so timing is critical and he needs to find a voice talent, fast. James knows that he wants to hire an authoritative male voice in the 30 - 45 year old range with a Boston accent, but he is having difficulty locating someone who matches all of his requirements searching on one of the larger search engines. After a series of frustrating dead end searches, James turns to one of his colleagues, Crystal, and asks her what to do. Crystal lets James in on her voice talent search engine of choice, InteractiveVoices.com. Using the tools at InteractiveVoices to find talent allows James to conduct a more robust search, giving him search options such as voice gender, keyword, location, union status, and language. It's already 20 minutes into his lunch and time is of the essence. James thanks Crystal for her advice, and heads straight away to the InteractiveVoices website. While visiting InteractiveVoices, James realizes much to his delight that he can find voice actors quickly via 3 unique ways. Firstly, he can go about his voice talent quest by searching the voice actor database. Secondly, James can browse the Featured Talent Categories, all of which are specific to a given application for voice-over. Thirdly (and best of all), James can post his job requirements and have qualified voice actors reply to his job posting, complete with a sample of their voice, a proposal, and a price quote. All of the replies are hosted conveniently online and can be viewed by other members of his team to help make a decision. Best of all, there is an option for James to have his job approved immediately, saving him time and money. This Express job posting option is just what James needs to get responses from talent quickly and complete his project for his Friday morning presentation. James opts to post the job with the Express option. It's about 12:27 p.m. James leaves his desk to microwave his lunch. Around 12:40 p.m., James returns to his desk and opens his email. He sees the following message: "Dear James, Your voice-over job has been approved! Talent are being notified and will answer within minutes..." James is astounded! He hadn't been away from his desk for longer than 15 minutes, and already there were 26 responses from talent with Boston accents awaiting him in his account, all with a sample of their voice, a proposal, and a price quote for his review. After listening to several demos, James identifies the voice actor who he would like to work with. James quickly consults with some of his co-workers and they give him the thumbs up to move ahead with Boston Sean. Boston Sean is exactly what James was looking for and more. Not only is his voice perfect, but Sean is able to record the voice-over by 3 p.m. and will deliver the files before the end of the work day. Paying Sean is easy - he prefers PayPal, so the entire project is completed and paid for on the same day. After Sean is awarded the job, he gets to work on the sales presentation. Earlier than expected, an email appears from Sean in James' inbox letting him know that the files are ready. James eagerly listens to the voice-over, grinning from ear to ear. He excitedly picks up the phone and starts dialing Sean's number, thanking him profusely for his professionalism and for the spectacular interpretation of his script. The next day, the sales presentation goes off without a hitch, complete with a voice-over recorded the day before by the voice actor, Sean. The room errupts with cheers, the audience exclaiming "What a success! Where did you get that voice?" James knows that he found a real winner in Sean. He decides to work with Sean regularly, and over the years even refers him to other colleagues in vertical markets. Afterwards, James finds Crystal and reiterates his thanks. He confides that he couldn't have done it without her help and the fantastic site that she referred. Still basking in the afterglow of a successful presentation, James decides to call a number of his friends and tell them about InteractiveVoices and the presentation that got him a record number of sales. Knowing that it's easier to go to a website if it's emailed, James opens his email program and types the website URL emphasizing his praises for the InteractiveVoices service. He BCCs all of his colleagues and zips it off into the night. This story rings true for many people who use the InteractiveVoices web service to search for, audition, and hire voice actors. Many of our customers come to us through web searches, but a growing number are finding us by means of word of mouth or peer to peer marketing. Let us be a part of your success story. It's what we do best! Looking forward to serving you, Stephanie, David, Carol and Laurynda

New Species of Marketing Discovered: Podcasting

Greetings, A new species of marketing has been discovered, one that effortlessly propagates information to targeted audiences and receives exposure to the masses online. Allow me to introduce to you, the newest member of your marketing family, the Podcast. To see how familial relations break down, I've devised a scientific classification system for you that demonstrates where podcasting comes from and how it fits into your business marketing strategies: Kingdom: Business Phylum: Marketing Order: Public Relations Family: Media Genus: Digital Media Species: Podcast Faster than weeds are popping up in your garden and rising higher in popularity than Virginia Creeper are podcasts, abounding wherever fertile creative ground and a captive audience is available. These podcasts are designed to execute campaigns with distinct purposes, be they promotional or educational, and are able to penetrate consumer interest like no other marketing tool. You have a direct say in how your podcast influences your customers and company culture, and best yet, you can even choose a voice to represent your organization. This voice will deliver messages on a regular basis to listeners subscribed to your podcast, will become a trusted voice of your company, and will be a wonderful introductory source for new customers wanting to learn more about your business. Podcasting, while not only a tool for businesses, is also used for the promotion of tourism, politics, and education. A podcast is the perfect way to keep up with active people (your customers, current or prospective) on the go with their iPods or similar MP3 players. Heads of state including George W. Bush of the US, ranging all the way to city leaders, for example, the Mayor of Limerick, Diarmuid Scully, in Ireland are podcasting, proving that all levels of government are using podcasting as a means of communication to spread their message and gain feedback from their respective audiences. Scripting the podcast is not difficult. You probably already have some written material on hand that you use to promote your company, suitable for a podcast script or segment of a podcast. All that you are really missing is a voice to represent your organization and convey your message. Did you know that the best podcasting voices in the world are at InteractiveVoices? We've worked hard to consolidate the finest voices on the web, not to mention the most diverse voices available online so that you can find the perfect voice for your podcast. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast for a long time or if this letter has sparked a keen interest in pursuing a new marketing tool, now is the time to get the ball rolling. Here are 3 Easy Ways to Find the Voice of your Podcast:

1. Post a Podcasting Job
2. Browse the Featured Talent Categories
3. Search by keyword

Traditional media consumption is evolving and web savvy consumers who love podcasts are leading the pack, educating and converting others along the way. Don't miss out on this - it's going to be big! Cheers, Stephanie

Quickie Job Posting Tutorial: Find the Right Voice Fast

Greetings, I thought I'd take a minute to talk about the secrets of attracting the right voice talents to your job postings. They aren't so much secrets as they are valuable insights that will save you time, money, and precious key strokes. Here are some ideas on how to simplify your experience and get exactly what you want at the same time:

• Be completely open with the voice talents and let them know your full requirements and vision for your project
• Highlight qualities of the kind of voice that you want to represent your organization, i.e. friendly, middle age, creamy, robust, techie, motherly, confident etc.
• Give a sample of your script for talent to evaluate and record custom demos if applicable
• Include the full word count, how your audio will be implemented, and how long it will be used
• Keep an open mind regarding the scale of your budget range
• Be appreciative and recognize quality when you hear it
• Arrange to thank talent for applying for your job after the fact or simply thank them in advance for applying for your job posting

The online job posting form at InteractiveVoices is easy to use and provides you with helpful suggestions similar to what you've just read above. The insights we've explored are not just about filling out details in a job posting, but are the finer points of how to conduct business online. Clarity is king and Transparency is queen. If a talent does not feel comfortable applying for a job either due to lack of details, an unrealistic budget, or insufficient information about a given project, they will not take the time to submit a reply and the right voice may pass you by. Job postings act as your first impression in many cases to professionals whom you are considering to employ. A detailed job posting, a friendly and sincere tone, and a realistic budget will bring the right voices to you like bees to honey. Just as they are presenting themselves to you for employment, you are also presenting yourself and your company to them as potential employers. There is nothing more appealing to any job seeker than ample insight about a company and details about the job they are applying for. Any thoughts on this? Cheers, Stephanie

The Need for Speed: Voices at Your Service

Greetings, When you're in a bind and need voices, where do you turn? When the timing is critical and a message needs to get out, who comes to your aid? This is an open invitation to those of you who have not yet found a home to locate reliable voice talents. InteractiveVoices is the #1 destination for you to connect with voice-over professionals who will be your go to talents in time of need. We give you the tools to connect with talent who have the quickest turnaround time in the industry, often delivering finished products within hours of hiring them. While some agencies may take days to arrange a voice-over with several middlemen in between and higher costs, InteractiveVoices makes it easy for you to contact talent directly in real time and get responses quickly - saving you time and money. Professional voice talent are ready to record your vital messages 24 hours a day and are all conveniently located at one website. Now, that's encouraging! Timing and Communication are everything in this fast paced, on demand world. Liberate yourself from the rat race and take advantage of the best voice talent service on the planet. Go direct, pay direct, receive direct... There's no better way. 3 Ways to Find Voices Fast

1. Post a voice-over Job
2. Browse the Featured Talent categories
3. Search the voice talent database

If you're reading this article and needed your voice-over recorded 'yesterday', here's a link to quickly post your voice-over job and see results within minutes of approval. To your success! Stephanie

What's the ROI on your voice-overs?

Greetings, When you hire a talent for a voice-over, let's say for a national radio commercial, have you ever measured the return on investment that you received from the radio commercial campaign? Usually, the ROI you receive at the end of a good radio campaign will far outweigh the cost of the voice-over, and it should. If all of the right ingredients are there, including the perfect voice for the job, you should exceed your campaign goals with flying colors. Taking this into account, the financial compensation that a voice talent receives from you is usually a one-time deal otherwise known as a 'buyout'. Essentially, you only pay the voice talent for their work once, but you continue to make money from their voice every time that it is heard on the airwaves. Amazing, isn't it? This brings me to ask the following question: Do you budget for your voice-overs with your ROI in mind? Many people estimate what they think they will make from a campaign but don't take into account one of the main reasons why they are making a profit every time the advertisement is played. Here's an interesting idea: Why not budget for the cost of a voice-over factoring in your expected return on investment, thus raising the budget for hiring a voice-over talent? The results may yield:

• Working with your first choice talent
• A better voice-over
• An even higher return on your investment

A common misconception is that the shorter the voice-over, the less it should cost. If this is your current impression, you may need to revisit past voice-over campaigns and take an objective look at how they turned out. Some areas to examine closely are:

• If you settled for the lowest bidder and paid the price, resulting in a poor voice-over performance
• If people noticed and responded positively to your campaigns
• The overall ROI from respective campaigns
• If you were prompted to hire the same voice talent because of those results

In the end, it's how the voice-over is used that should determine the price that is paid. Remember, the voice talents voice continues to generate revenue for you after the recordings have been delivered. In this way, you can come to think of them as a member of your team and sales force, working for you to promote your business or organization via broadcast channels or through other mediums and by other means. How's the ROI on your voice-overs? Sincerely yours, Stephanie

InteractiveVoices WebAward Nomination

Greetings, InteractiveVoices has been nominated for the 2006 WebAward Competition! The winner of the contest will be announced in September 2006, honoring the best websites in 96 industries. 96 Industry Categories will be Judged Including: Advertising, B2B, Computer Software, Design, Financial Services, Health care, Manufacturing, Media, Professional Services, Small Business, Travel and more. This year's top awards will include a "Best of Industry" WebAward, a "Best of Show," and a "Top Interactive Agency" WebAward. Thanks for your support! The InteractiveVoices Team

mesh is where it's at

Greetings, We're blogging direct from the mesh conference in Toronto! If you're here at the conference, leave a comment on this blog post and we'll meet up - gotta love wi-fi. Cheers, Stephanie and David

mesh conference in Toronto: Are You Going?

Greetings, This coming week, InteractiveVoices will be attending the mesh Web 2.0 conference in Toronto, Canada! mesh is a conference with a mission, and that mission is to connect, share, and inspire. Speakers include over 30 leading minds from the Web 2.0 Community, and it promises to be an super event for networking, learning, and a good time. If you want to join us and others at the conference, here's some information from the good organizers at mesh: Connect mesh is Canada's Web 2.0 conference, being held in Toronto on May 15 & 16. You will hear from thought leaders, connect with peers, and get a better understanding of the impact of new developments online. mesh brings together people who are passionate about the potential of the Web to change how we live, work and play. Meet the next generation of Web ideas, leaders and companies at mesh. Share mesh is for marketers, public relations practitioners and the media; it's for entrepreneurs, investors, and software developers; for those in academia, politics, public policy, NGOs and non-profits. If you're trying to grasp the fast-moving world of Web 2.0, you need insight and intelligence. Participate in keynotes, panels and workshops, and create your own conversations to get the knowledge you need. Inspire Canada needs a conference like mesh. Web 2.0 is happening all around us, as the Internet becomes the place to communicate, collaborate and entertain. mesh is brought to you by people who want to inspire enthusiasm, creativity and opportunity; by people who believe that for Canada to remain vibrant and competitive, we have to connect with each other and share our ideas about what the Web should be. If you would like to register, visit this link. Only a couple of days left! Hope to see you there next week! Cheers, Stephanie

5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid when Recording a Voice-over

Greetings, Society as a whole takes voice-overs for granted, especially great voice-overs. They seem so effortless, ethereal, and behind the scenes... Ironically, the less time you think about the quality of the voice-over, the more professional it is. If you’ve ever heard a poorly performed or recorded voice-over, there’s no doubt that you noticed right away and lumped the product or service that the voice was trying to sell in the same category as the vocal performance. Why are there bad voice-overs? You may be surprised, but most companies do it to themselves. When you set out to have a voice-over recorded, be sure to avoid these 5 Critical Mistakes Critical Mistake #1 Trying to Do it Yourself ( or getting a friend to help you ) Many bad voice-overs happen because a business owner attempts to record all by themselves. For reasons related to finances, pride, or a need for immediate gratification, an alarming number of companies think that recording a voice-over in-house will solve all of their problems. It usually goes like this: Sally in Accounting has a nice voice. Somehow, the boss recruits Sally to be the company voice talent. This arrangement has its perks because Sally won’t need to be paid and her voice is pleasing, if not acceptable. There’s one thing that Sally doesn’t quite have in her favor or the company’s - Sally is lacking professionalism, experience, and voice acting skills. What happens from here? The recording is tolerated, but only by customers who are already familiar with the company and the customer service received in the past. New customers are turned off by the voice-over and don’t take the company as seriously as they should be. Critical Mistake #2 Using Low-Quality Equipment What kind of recording software is available to you at work or home? If the answer is a desktop computer with an internal microphone, it’s all downhill from there. Do the recordings sound “tinny”? Is the voice “far away”? Professional grade recording studios are equipped with state of the art technology including a very good microphone, mixing board, and recording software with editing capabilities. Without the proper equipment, any voice-over will sound amateur, turning your voice-over into an embarrassment instead of an asset. Critical Mistake #3 Ad Lib Your Script Ever heard someone ramble on, inadvertently contradicting themselves? There is nothing worse than an inconsistent message. If a script is not communicated clearly, the voice-over will be uncertain and confusing. A professional voice talent would know how to interpret the script properly, even tweak it a bit if necessary to convey a message successfully. Critical Mistake #4 Go into a Studio Without a Rehearsal Would you give a speech in front of thousands of people without rehearsing once? If you have a target market of several thousands if not tens of thousands for your ad campaign, the last thing you want to do is send in a novice to record. Time to rehearse is often not a luxury for companies bent on recording themselves, and it shows. Not only is the voice-over questionable, it takes significantly longer to get the right take. Recording studio fees will also increase! Critical Mistake #5 Saving the Data in the Wrong File Format Nothing is more frustrating than not being able to make use of something. Typically, most businesses are not aware of how to format audio files. For example, a PBX telephone system needs specific file formats to operate properly, usually ULAW. These file extensions are often confusing and require special file conversion software and audio engineering to convert to the proper file format. A Mistake-Free Voice-over Recording Don’t make any of these business-killing mistakes when you are ready to record a voice-over. Your business is simply too important to risk! InteractiveVoices can help you find the perfect voice to record based upon the specific needs of your voice-over project. It takes only a few minutes to start receiving replies from talent... Take time to do it right and you’ll have a voice-over your customers will instantly recognize and positively respond to whenever they hear it. As in any business, in order to receive quality work, you must be willing to pay a person what they are worth. The more talented, skilled and equipped the voice artist is, the better results. The image your voice-over portrays is ultimately up to you. A professionally produced finished work is worth the extra money. Best regards, Stephanie

E3 Insider and E3 Expo

Greetings, All week long, interactive entertainment companies have been showing their wares and unveiling the newest in digital technology. If you aren't at the conference, the next best thing is to check in with the E3 Insider, a site where "consumers can experience the excitement of E³ through www.e3insider.com, a web site launched by the Entertainment Software Association, the show's owner. The site offers visitors an insider's look at the hottest new consoles, game titles and related peripherals through exclusive videos, images, news and blogs." If you've never heard of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (lovingly referred to as E³ ), here's how the organization describes their annual event: Every year, the ESA presents the highly acclaimed Electronic Entertainment Expo (E³), the world's most important show dedicated exclusively to the interactive entertainment industry. Wholly owned by the ESA, E³ attracts tens of thousands of industry professionals from around the world to see the latest in interactive entertainment software and related products, and to participate in three days of thought-provoking workshops and seminars. Information regarding access to E³Expo, conference sessions, or any other information relating to the expo itself can be found at www.e3expo.com. If your company is at E³, let us know and we'll mention you on our blog. Cheers, Stephanie

Thanking Voice Talent after Auditions

Greetings, After you've selected a voice talent to work with, do you thank the other voice talents who applied for your voice-over job? Sending a quick email to voice talent who were not selected for your project is a considerate gesture that helps build relationships and a qualified network of skilled professionals. It also lets the talent know that you reviewed their submission and appreciated their efforts. Here's a sample template that you can work from for thanking voice talents: Dear (Voice Talent Name), Thank you for responding to my job posting "Name of Project". Although we selected another professional for this particular job, our team is interested in your voice and will keep you in mind for future projects. Thank you again for your audition. Sincerely, (Your name and company name) A simple yet grateful message will go a long way and build a good rapport with voice talent for future endeavors. Best wishes, Stephanie

Languages and Dialects of the World. Guess how many there are!

Greetings, As promised last week, we did some researching and found a wonderful catalog of world languages and the countries where they are spoken. I'd like to introduce you to a web service called Ethnologue, a database that contains statistics for 6,912 world languages as documented in the 15th edition, released in 2005. Ethnologue has 6,912 main languages in its language name index and distinguishes about 39,491 alternate language names and dialects. Wikipedia defines Ethnologue as follows: Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization which studies lesser-known languages primarily to provide the speakers with native language biblical texts. To read an exhaustive list and learn more about Ethnologue, visit their website for more information. Who knew that there were so many languages and dialects? More are being discovered and identified each year, so keep checking their website for updates. Cheers, Stephanie

Translation Services: Globalization and Localization

Greetings, If you've spent any time working with languages, especially encountering the need to translate documents, you've probably heard of globalization and localization services. When it comes to working with different languages for projects, you'll need to have a clear definition of what these terms mean, particularly if you are the project manager. Globalization Globalization is understanding cultural differences and customizing both the content, written and verbal speech requirements relative to each specific location. Essentially, you're reaching your entire customer base, addressing them with words and concepts that they understand, customized to satisfy the communication requirements of each culture and respective location. Although this sounds complicated, it gets more so when dialects are involved. For example, you are preparing an eLearning presentation for French speakers in Quebec, Canada. In order to best accommodate your audience, you would need the literature or voice-over to be presented in the French Canadian dialect, not in the traditional Parisian Frenh of continental Europe. You would have to take the subtleties of a language into account, for example, using the informal or formal form of the verb etre (to be), either tu or vous, depending on the established relationship with the audience. The same issue could crop up if you need Spanish localized. Which Spanish would you need? If you are preparing a presentation for Spanish speaking audiences native to Spain, you would need to present them with learning tools in their native Castilian Spanish dialect. If you were entertaining Spanish speakers in Mexico, their Spanish would differ significantly from that of Spain, and accordingly, so would Latin American Spanish from either of the other Spanish dialects mentioned above. Localization Localization is the modification of services or products to the cultural, linguistic, legal, and technical requirements of a specific location. Basically, each product or service is programmed to serve a specific community according to their language, resources, and culture. Localization is a painstaking endeavor, often outsourced to professionals who are already familiar with the conditions that localization presents. Wikipedia defines the localization aspect of translation this way: Often, localization is the adaptation of an object to a locality. An example is in software localization, where the messages which a program presents to a user need to be translated into various languages. Next week, we'll discuss the sheer number of languages and dialects spoken throughout the world. Cheers, Stephanie

Always Going the Extra Mile for You

Greetings, Neither sleet, nor snow, nor rain, nor hail... sounds familiar, doesn't it? The mail carriers motto is quite similar to ours. We will go the extra mile for you, our clients, at InteractiveVoices. Whether you need help posting your job, managing your project, or don't know where to start, the friendly team at InteractiveVoices, the voice-over marketplace, is always here to help you. Here are just some of the ways that we work hard for you:

• Help you to write your job details
• Provide you with copy writing services for scripts
• Make your project as attractive as possible to voice talent applicants
• Offer you express job posting services, giving priority to your job posting above others in the queue
• Consult on how to select the right voice for your project
• Manage your projects and support you whenever you need us

To learn more about what we can do for you, visit our website or give us a quick call to introduce yourself. We have a toll-free line, and it would be our pleasure to speak with you and help you achieve your goal of finding the perfect voice (or voices!) for your projects. Here's the number you can reach us at: 1-888-359-3472 Cheers, Stephanie P.S. Learn more about our team in our Company section

Voice-overs for Business: Talking Websites

Greetings, Have you ever considered including voice-overs on your website? Here are two options that you can look into so far as a virtual representative is concerned:

• A talking character, similar to those created by Oddcast, developer of SitePal
• A simple voice-over without an interactive character

These virtual company representatives can be programmed to interact or speak to your visitors. The communication could occur at specific time intervals or as a results of user navigation. For example, a voice-over could welcome visitors on a landing page, or could be enabled to speak when an icon or a link is hovered upon. Many sites that use voice-overs on their site give visitors the option to turn the audio on or off, depending on their preference. Bloggers are also now able to add SitePals to their blogs, employing the same, easy-to-use technology that webmasters enjoy when adding SitePals to their websites. With many avatars to choose from and customizable characters, the possibilities for your company are endless. Have you used voice-overs on your website? Cheers, Stephanie

Need Voice-overs for Radio Stations?

Greetings, Have you ever had a voice-over recorded for a broadcast radio commercial? Perhaps you work at a radio station and are responsible for hiring freelance voice talent to record your advertisers commercials, for station identifications, promotions, advisories, weather reports, and other purposes. Over the years, many things have changed including the way that radio stations acquire their voice-overs. Voice-over projects are managed online now making it easier, more organized, cost-effective, and efficient to find the perfect voice to meet your needs. Finding the best voice talent for your radio station can be achieved in 3 simple steps:

1. Sign-up for a free client account
2. Post your voice-over job
3. Get responses from pro voice talent in minutes

To post a job right away, let us know what you need online, or, give us a call toll-free by dialing 1-888-359-3472 and post your job with us over the phone. Looking forward to serving you. Cheers, David

What do Voice Talent Do?

Greetings, Have you ever wondered what a voice talent does for you? Here's a list of the different roles and responsibilities that voice talent perform while working on your projects. The following may surprise you. Voice Talent are...

1. Performers.
2. Business owners.
3. Project managers.
4. Consultants.
5. Artistic directors.
6. Recording engineers.
7. Text Editors and interpreters.
8. Mixing and mastering engineers.
9. Accountants.
10. Customer service and fulfillment.

These professionals often assume the roles of many people while performing, producing the voice-over, and serving you as their customer. If you were to work through an advertising agency or creative studio, several different people would provide these services and premium charges would be applied to each task. Why would it be a vastly different case when working with one person who performs all of these for you in a timely manner without markups for the professional services they provide? Buying directly from the source does have its benefits and cost savings, but it is also important to recognize the amount of work, effort, and creativity that goes into each voice-over recording, whether it be a simple telephone auto attendant or a documentary narration. The voice actor that you employ will appreciate the recognition and respect that you give them for their work. Some food for thought the next time that you hire a voice talent. Best wishes, Stephanie

Need voices for dubbing? India's got it down to a science.

Greetings, Have you ever heard of the term "Dubbing"? Picture this. You're sitting down in front of your television and are watching a foreign film. The actors are obviously speaking a different language, but the audio (or the words that you hear) is in your own language. The film that you're watching has been dubbed by voice actors that speak your native language, in an effort to help you enjoy the film without having to read subtitles. The original audio is removed and replaced with dubbing. Dubbing for film is just one facet of the market which includes television shows, cartoons, documentaries, and so on. India is one such country that has taken dubbing to the next level, and it is becoming somewhat of a national pastime. Business is starting to boom in India, and so is the market for dubbing films and other media from North America. As it turns out, it is also becoming a lucrative way for people to moonlight while still maintaining their day jobs, often making exponentially more money as a voice talent dubbing than they do at their primary place of work while also getting creative satisfaction from their dubbing work. Nearly everyone in India is dubbing, from house-wives to teachers to doctors, who dub voice-overs at recording studios after work. Rahul Bhatia, GM, UTV, who heads the company’s dubbing division, says, "The voice-over business in India, estimated at Rs 15 crore, is growing steadily at 10-15%. There is therefore a constant demand for fresh voices." One such voice talent is Suchitra Gupta, a college lecturer. She makes almost Rs 25,000 per month from dubbing, an activity which she says is more of a passion than work. Bhatia says while beginners get paid around Rs 500 to Rs 600 per paragraph per episode, established dubbing artists can earn anything between Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per episode for an hour’s dubbing for the main character. The pay is good, tempting even, but there are still standards to be met. Not everyone is a dubbing phenom. Pronunciation is key as well as the tone of voice and voice acting abilities. According to Leela Roy Ghosh of Sound & Vision, which dubs a number of Hollywood movies into Hindi and other regional languages, "Dubbing, like music, is an art, which has to be nurtured. Since there are no training institutes, most people tend to learn on the job and they have to learn fast, as there’s little or no room for mistakes. A dubbing talent relates, "Like in any creative area, mediocrity has no place here. Unless you are consistently good, you won’t survive for long." Clients also insist on need for dubbing quality. Joy Bhattacharya, senior VP (Programming) of National Geographic Channel, says, "We insist on 100% factual and language accuracy in all our programmes. Our in-house teams supervise and guide dubbing vendor constantly." Cheers, Stephanie P.S. The India Times did us all a great service by reporting on the state of dubbing in India. It was a pleasure to comment on and share with you.

Product Demos with Live Announcers

Greetings, Have you ever strolled down an aisle at a trade show and perked up your ears to hear the melodious voice of a real person, pitching a new product or service? That most likely was the voice of a live announcer or professional actor, hired to speak on behalf of a company and lead a product demo, engaging audiences in an intimate and friendly manner with the goal of bringing in sales for their vendor. If you want to try something different, that is, contrary to using a pre-recorded voice-over at your booth, consider hiring a voice actor to announce and perform live presentations on the hour or even more frequently than that, depending on the length of the script and product demonstration. What are the benefits of hiring a live announcer to promote your product at trade shows?

• Your booth will attract visitors immediately, increasing the brainshare that you have access to because of the live announcer.
• Your exhibit will touch people on several levels: a live, interactive performance does more to move your product than any powerpoint could.
• Word of mouth will spread rapidly amongst the attendees, sending people your way to see the demonstrations first hand and your popular currency as a vendor will increase.
• The human voice is one of the most persuasive marketing tools, period.
• Of the five senses, hearing is most prized in marketing circles because of our distinct ability to retain audio messages long after they are originally heard. Jingles, slogans, songs, prose... marketing pitches!

There are many on-camera talent who have excellent voices and make their careers in broadcast television or live speaking engagements as corporate spokespersons. There is an announcer for every script, and a talent for every company. Need more information about how to find live announcers in your area? Just ask us! Best regards, Stephanie

In Real Estate and Need Voices?

Greetings, Are you a real estate agent or builder trying to sell properties online? If so, you're on top of the newest trends in real estate when it comes to reaching audiences via the Internet. The methods by which people are buying and selling real estate is in transition, and is moving full steam ahead into the digital world. Individual homes and properties are now available to buyers and sellers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with virtual agent, builder, and marketplace storefronts. Interested customers can now search for homes in the locations that they are considering, select the kind of house, the number of rooms, bathrooms, whether there's a fireplace or central air, and even for homes within customizable budget ranges. Searches can be saved and revisited from time to time, acting as a virtual real estate agent, ready at the click of a mouse. If you want to keep ahead of your contemporaries, voice-over on real estate websites is the way to go. A warm voice in an often cold, unfeeling Internet environment can attract, entice, and comfort a visitor at your website, not to mention give a splendid virtual tour and candid impression of a property. Some companies even have real estate broadcasts that are aired on radio stations featuring houses on the market, broadcasting about each house as it is passed by, similar to how the tourism industry uses broadcast technology for tourists driving by historical places or points of interest. This approach is very persuasive; nearly anything that incorporates the human voice as a marketing tool is significantly more effective, providing more leads for you to pursue by email or phone. Post a real estate voice-over job at InteractiveVoices and see results! Cheers, Stephanie

Apple Hired a Celebrity Voice... Would You?

Greetings, Have you heard about the latest trend to use celebrity voice-overs in broadcast commercial advertisements? Back in January, Apple and Intel unleashed a new advertising campaign and employed the voice talents of Hollywood film star, Kiefer Sutherland, a native of Toronto, Canada. I don't know how much Kiefer's voice-over cost Apple, but it surely was more expensive than if they had hired a relatively unknown professional voice talent with a similar voice type. Kiefer's celebrity status combined with an embraceable, toasty warm, (and very trustworthy) voice, has landed him voice work with Ford, Verizon, and a voice-over in the Japanese market for the Calorie Mate nutrition bar. Has your company ever hired a celebrity voice to promote a product or service? Even if it was a local celebrity, was it obvious to your customers who the voice talent was and did it have any influence on their doing business with your company? Cheers, Stephanie

Voicemail for Businesses

Greetings, As promised earlier this afternoon, you're getting a double dose of our blog today! Voicemail... the last link in the telephone voice recording chain. Organizations have been known to have general mailboxes, and separate voice mailboxes for employees and management. A voicemail prompt invites your customers to leave a message so that you can get back to them during regular business hours. Voicemail is helpful to have because it act as a personal secretary, recording your customers name, phone number and the reason why they called. With this information, you can follow up with an interested person and meet their needs appropriately. Here's an example of a General Voicemail Script: Thank you for calling XYZ Company. We are unable to take your call at this time. Please leave a detailed message including your name, phone number, and the reason you called and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Looking forward to serving you! Here's an example of a Personal Voicemail Script: Thank you for calling the office of Jane Doe, Principal of Groversfield Elementary. I am on the other line or am presently out of the office. Please leave your contact details, and I'll return your call as soon as I get back. Thank you, and have a nice day. To recap, a professional telephone system consists of:

• Auto Attendant
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
• On Hold Messaging
• Voicemail

If you are looking to find the ideal voice to represent your business and make a good first impression for your organization, post your job requirements at InteractiveVoices. Best wishes, Stephanie

On-hold Messaging for Businesses

Greetings, Since this week draws to a close a little earlier than usual, we'll enjoy two posts today! First up, we'll discuss the importance of on-hold messaging / on-hold marketing for your company telephone system. What do your customers hear when they come through your Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or when they are transferred to a different department? If the answer is silence, nothing at all, or passive "elevator" music, we need to assess how effectively you are marketing to and supporting your customers while they wait in queue to speak with a real person. The opportunity to reach out to your customers is now! They are a captive audience, and are eager to hear what you can do for them. While they are waiting, which for some business could be upwards of 10 minutes or longer, you need to keep their interest, keep them happy, and most importantly, retain their call to avoid losing them and their confidence before you can even meet their needs. By making good use of your on-hold messaging, you will be able to:

• keep your callers interested
• increase satisfaction levels regarding their experience with your company
• introduce new products or services for potential cross sells
• provide additional information about your company in a friendly manner
• instill trust and assurance that you'll be with them shortly
• retain your callers while on-hold
• save money by retaining the caller, eliminating the need for them to call again

To really capitalize on your on-hold messaging, alternate courtesy messages with marketing messages. Here's a sample of a brief On-hold Script. On-hold Messaging Script: Courtesy Message: Thank you for calling Extreme Sports Gear and Mountain Bikes. We're glad that you called and appreciate your business. In respect of your time, a customer service representative will take your call shortly so that you can get back to the great outdoors. ** Music in between messages for 30 seconds or so appropriate to your listening audience ** Marketing Message: Are you at our website right now? If so, click on the "Special Offer" advertisement on our home page to take advantage of our Online Summer Sale! Anything listed on our website is 25% off if purchased online. Get in the groove of Summer early and save! Depending on the average time that your customers are on-hold, your on-hold script length will vary. For an average system where customers are on-hold for 1-3 minutes, it's wise to have at least 2 courtesy messages and 2 marketing messages, each message timing out to precisely 30 seconds (:30). Music should play in between the messages for 30 seconds (:30) This will result in 2 minutes of voice-over and 2 minutes of uninterrupted music play, giving you total of 4 minutes of on-hold messaging. For systems supporting callers on-hold longer than 4-5 minutes at a time, make sure that your material is kept fresh for your audience, with at least 4 different courtesy messages and 4 different marketing messages. To accompany the voice-over, music is often used as a secondary track in a voice-over recording. Music can vary throughout or remain true to a theme. Music should reflect your business and your customer base. If you're servicing an extreme sports crowd, the music might reflect that culture and encompass a touch of rock, soft punk, or alternative music genres. Still looking for the perfect voice? Best regards, Stephanie

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Greetings, Today, we'll take a sneak peek at what Interactive Voice Response or an IVR consists of. The IVR is a voice recording that gives your callers direction, listing options and the appropriate numbers to press in order to get through to the department, individual, updates, or information that they want to access. The Interactive Voice Response acts as a means for your customers to get what they want or to speak with the right person immediately. It also operates as a filtering system for your company when receiving calls. If customers are properly educated of their options and which keys they should press to attain their goal, customer satisfaction, on-hold retension rates, and sales levels will increase. Your IVR script could look like this: IVR Script: If you know the extension of the party you would like to speak to, you can press it at any time. To place your order, press one To learn about our specials, press two To speak with a customer care representative, press three To listen to our company directory, press four To hear your service options again, press nine Posting your telephone voice-over job is easy. You can even search through a category dedicated to voice talent who record for telephone systems. Cheers, Stephanie

Auto Attendant Voice

Greetings, As mentioned last week, we're going to discuss voice-overs for your telephone system - specifically, how to go about writing your auto attendant script and picking a voice to represent your company. When a potential customer calls your business, usually the first impression they get of your company is the voice of your auto attendant. What's an auto attendant? An auto attendant is a voice recording that thanks your callers for making the decision to call your business and sets them at ease, making them comfortable with your company and what you can do for them as your customers. The auto attendant often leads in to the IVR (Interactive Voice Response), a menu that gives the caller options, like press 1 for customer service, press 2 for sales, etc. It's important to select a voice that best reflects your company's image, market, and customers. When picking a voice for any purpose, you'll need to clearly identify your market and define the characteristics of your customer base in order to find the ideal talent to serve them. Here are some simple questions you can ask yourself: Does this voice compliment the demographics of my target market? Can my customers relate to this voice? Are they persuasive and genuinely convincing? For example, if you were in the business of selling pizzas to college students, your auto attendant voice-over would need to reflect your target market. A pizzeria that serves the college / university student market may sound like this: Voice Requirements: Age range: 17 - 23 Voice Type: Young adult Characteristics: Friendly, approachable, trendy, go-getter Script: "Hi there, and thank you for calling Varsity Pizza and Calzones, the pizza joint that never sleeps, satisfying your cravings 24/7!" Usually, the same voice that is hired to perform the auto attendant records your entire phone system. The auto attendant voice is likely the first impression a customer is given of your company, and consistency may be key when trying to retain them on-hold, particularly if the first voice representative (your auto attendant voice talent) really struck a chord with them. The selected voice-over talent will assume the role of an audio companion that keeps your customers interested, and most importantly, on the line. Finding the voice of your organization is as easy as posting a job or searching through the Telephone Voices at InteractiveVoices, the voice-over marketplace. Shortly, we'll look at the IVR voice-over and on-hold messaging - don't forget voice mail! Cheers, Stephanie