VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Philip Banks]

If you REALLY know about marketing you will understand the concept of testing, controls and monitoring. More importantly you will know how to keep a real dialogue going.

Testing those who are ALL over Social Mediaism . No comment at all when I repeatedly posted links or recommendations to their web sites. NOTHING AT ALL! Now apart from the marketing faux pas they could learn some manners.

During the above process I also posted recommendations for two other VOs who would make no claims as to being "Woot awesome" at Social Media. Both said thank you.

Rule 26(b) It's not how you feel about your marketing it's about discovering how the market feels about you.

When you can pay the mortgage with 450 "Woot awesome! Great post doods" per month you can afford to ignore Rule 26(b) but not until.

Have a fabby week and above all .....DARE TO BE DIFFERENT!!!

[Darren Altman]

Your study is interesting Phillip and you're right of course. Let's forget the who Social Media epidemic for the moment and focus on plain and simple manners. If you've taken the trouble (and I've seen your vids) to go out of your way to post web addresses of colleagues for no reason than to big them up then a simple "thanks Phillip, much appreciated" goes a long way. A lot of people watch your vids and will take the time to click on a link you post or to google a name you mention. This could potentially generate the voiceoverist a lucrative gig or gigs.

Manners go a long way and there are too many fantastic voiceoverists out there to forget to say your thank you's and appreciate when someone is going out of their way to give you a mention or a "woot woot!!"


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[ccpetersen]

Very true, and of course, one has to hope that these SMers KNEW that you were hyping/pointing to their sites.

On a slightly different tack, one of the projects we'll be working on has a social media component to it (required by the proposal team) and we're struggling with HOW one evaluates the effectiveness of getting a message across in social media, as well as online media. The traditional ways of testing all fall down at some point, particularly when it comes to getting a good "control group" and not having "self-selecting surveys", etc.

One of the products will be an online video explaining a particular point in science. We have NO way of knowing who the viewers are, since they will be posted on a web page; the first line of metrics is, of course, page hits. But after that, the challenge will be to find out how much the viewer learned of the message.

Sounds familiar...
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[JBarrett]

I see your point, Philip, and totally agree that basic manners are vital. However, something tells me that unless the non-responders who you plugged took (which assumes that they HAD) the time to read each and every post by each and every person who they follow, there's a good chance they simply didn't see your plugs.

Social media is awesome in theory, but in my mind it begins to fall apart at some level when one is attempting to truly "follow" more than a few dozen people. Some advocates of social media are following thousands of people. I'm only following a couple hundred and struggle to keep up with even a fraction of what's going on, so I can't imagine how anyone following thousands has any chance of tracking everything unless they make said tracking their full-time job.

The only way I know if someone talks about me on Twitter is if they mention my user ID (@justinbvocal), which sends me an immediate alert. Listing my web site -- either in text form or as a video overlay -- doesn't trigger such an auto-alert. To see those, I'd have to be diligently tracking every comment and following every link. Even in the best of circumstances, who has the time for that?

I guess my point is this: It doesn't exactly feel like a fair test of social media if one isn't using established social media protocols to alert someone that they are being plugged. Are the people who didn't respond really lacking in manners, or did they simply not see what you'd done?

Perhaps that's another implied conclusion of your test: there's no way that someone following thousands of people can realistically track everything said by everyone, so what's to be gained by trying?
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[Philip Banks]

I think you do see the point of the test. Social Mediaists only see Twitter, Blogs, Facebook and Youtube as being about them to the exclusion of all else and the "about them" is simply to promote their (in our case) careers as Voiceoverists. "Following" or adding as "a friend" is a meaningless part of SocialMedia etiquette. In order to both derive value from and add value to a Social Media tool one must allow that tool to do for others what you reasonably (usually UNreasonably) expect it to do for you.

Comments on sites used by all Social Mediaist by others are subject to editorial control motivated by the person wanting to promote themself and so anyone who leaves a genuine comment not full of "Woot awesome dood" is unfollowed, defriended or the blog deleted, usually ALWAYS the latter. I understand why this is done but it is counter-productive. Mutual pats on the back behind closed doors are fine or as my agent in London puts it "Bigging yourself up in front of other Voice Overs" yet in terms of career progression the way to delusion.

For a spoof corporate narration a few years ago I invented a word to describe the services of a company, the word was "invalueless". Where the majority of SocialMedia VOs stand at the moment is right in the middle of a world of invalueless benefits.

There is a way forward, I'm doing it now and will continue to fine tune it. What I am doing is merely for professional (self) promotion/marketing. Am I still doing the Social Media thing? Yes, to be sociable.

[asnively]

I hope you're not talking about me... but in case you are (though it's doubtful since I am a social media ignoramus and freely admit as much) sometimes things don't show up in a person's stream predictably.

I, for one, haven't yet figured out a way to set up an automatic agent that alerts me to when things I care most about are mentioned (like my own personal self and our current pet project, FaffCon). I don't even know if that's possible.

For example, it was only just now that I saw something genuinely generous and kind that you posted Saturday about FaffCon on Facebook. It made my morning! Until my heart sank and tears came to my eyes thinking that this thread may have been about me and my lack of gratitude for your kindness.

And now I'm feeling quite sad.
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[Darren Altman]

So I missed the point... and am missing the point?!

What's the difference between A.N. Voiceoverist posting at link to work they've done or announcing a cool job that they've just won and you doing the same? You said that your reasons are for professional (self) promotion/marketing., bu are you suggesting that the majority of voiceoverists 'big themselves up' to both gain " s" and also hope that it will further their career, thus rendering them delusional? - I'm not being argumentative, I'm just curious.
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[Philip Banks]

You can't know what people will find genuinely interesting, you can only guess. The point I'm making is about the dialogue, the interaction. Darren picked up on one major point, the complete lack of manners. The more important point was that the people I "bigged up" didn't notice and I KNEW they wouldn't notice as they were too busy saying nothing about themselves as opposed to being engaging, interesting and interested. If you read the Twits for example, few people actually say anything of any substance.

"I've just done a big agency gig". Today I turned one down.

What does that mean? I honestly don't know. It's not interesting and there is no information. With the greatest of respect to those who do it, it's just hot air and merely intended to paint a picture open to (the twit hopes) the wrong interpretation but for potential gain.

A job to me is only of interest to me unless there's some other element of the job from which other may derive some value. Care about the oil disaster in the USA? There is a special report running on CNN about that very subject. Why is it of possible interest to my friends? The subject is obviously of interest but my friends may like to know I'm the intro or as they call it opener voice on the special. It's not earth stoppingly interesting but were I chatting to friends in a pub the subject may come up.

A Social Mediaist in the pub would, right in the middle of someone's story about the funeral of a best friend, blurt out that they had just added 5 demos to their website. Does that make sense?

To be clear, I am not using Social Media for self(professional) promotion as for the most part there really is no point.

[Darren Altman]

One thing you're forgetting though Phillip is that Twitter and Facebook are not all about Social Networking. Yes, I have voiceoverists that I'm friends with, but I also have friends and family, musicians and other colleagues that take an interest in what I'm up to and enjoy hearing about a fun gig, a successful hypnotic subject, phobia cure... and voiceover gig!

I can only speak for myself when I say that when I post about my voiceover exploits, it's because like you, I not only use FB and Twitter as business tools (for self promotion, resources, networking, etc etc) It's because I'm letting my mates know what I'm up to, just as I'm interested and care about what MY friends are doing in THEIR lives.

Although lots of people view FB and Twitter as an utter waste of time, lots also value them both, especially FaceBook, as a way of keeping in touch with people that you can't call every day. One thing I'm really hot on is keeping in touch with friends: When I have a gig up north and sit in my car for 5 hours, I view it as dead time and will spend the majority of it on the phone catching up and keeping in touch with friends. I feel the same about FB.

For me, it's not about bragging or trying to elevate myself in the perception of others (I have a LONG way to go with my voiceover work), it's about sharing what I'm up to. I think that's the same for the majority of people, Social Mediaists alike!
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[Philip Banks]

You overlooking one major factor, my posts here on this subject are not about you. You're enjoying a journey, Social Mediaist believe they've arrived.

[Darren Altman]

Sorry Phillip, I didn't think you were mate! As I can only talk for myself though, I can only give my feelings on the subject and play devils advocate, if you will! But you're right, I've only owned a mic for 5 years and am learning all the time.
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[Darren Altman]

Many thanks for the tweet Phillip. Very sweet of you.
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[ccpetersen]

I guess I'm still kind of confused about who these Social Mediasts are. Are they a huge part of who YOU see in FB. etc., Philip?

For me, these are jus t tools for conversation; at least that's how I use them. But, I don't do business on FB. It's very clear in my profile, for example, that I'm there to chat with family and friends. Twitter, when I bother to use it, is another such tool, but I rarely see a lot of self promotion among the VOs that follow me/that I follow.

The social mediaists will move on to the next "thing" when all is said and done.
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[Philip Banks]

On Twitter and Facebook I tend to have a high percentage of people who are career obsessed, at least I hope you're not subjected to the complete dullards to whom I'm subjected.

I do not exist on earth, in time and space or in the cyber universe as a networking opportunity. My friends do not have screen names, are not sold to by me and I do not expect to be sold to by them.

Make a friend NOT a connection.

[asnively]

Oh dear! I posted something in this thread earlier, at least it looked like I had, but the post is not here! Oops.

Anyway, all I said was that our dear Philip was sweet enough to pick up the phone to call my temporarily neurotic self to reassure me that I was, as I had originally thought, awesome, dood.

Whew!

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