and it made me laugh.  Publicis Frankfurt made it, it’s for doggie breath mints.  It was on this week’s Bestadsontv.com. (A good place for voiceovers to find content for their demos, by the way).

For those of our customers who haven’t received the complimentary hard copy of the Piehole book, which includes tips and resources, plus the standard industry rate card for your records.  To all the piehole voiceovers - you can have a free copy. Just email info@piehole.ie with your postal address.

Remember voice overs - always ask where you got your gigs.  Piehole is not an “agent” - we don’t take commission and we don’t take your voiceover bookings. As such, all your bookings will go directly through yourself or your agent.   So next time you finish a gig - ask if they found you on Piehole.

English Voice over Yvonne Lynch has just done a big promo for Seven Oaks, a premier caravan holiday home parks in the UK. She recorded it in her home studio, and this is the second gig she’s done for them. PLAY YVONNE’S DEMO.

Esther O’Moore Donohoe is broadcasting with AA Roadwatch every morning this week on the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show on Today FM. Vroooom!

The Piehole website gets thousands of hits each month, and is used by major ad agencies to source VO talent. Yet some VOs have less traffic on their profiles than others.  (Bear in mind, lots of traffic is not the be-all and end-all. You need the right type of traffic. Your mum can click on your VO profile a thousand times a day - and she’s never going to give you a gig!)
HERE ARE 15 TIPS FOR INCREASING TRAFFIC AND GETTING MORE WORK:

1. Do you have a picture on your profile?

People with no pictures get waaay less clicks than those with pics.  Also - it’s better to have a slick pic.  Not a pixelated photo or “holiday snap”.  Or even a slightly-cheap looking shot.  Look at the other VO’s pics, and ask how does yours compare.

2. Share your news with the Piehole noticeboard

Are you doing a gig or a show? Use the Piehole blog to promote it.  Email me with any noticeboard news, I’ll make sure to link it to your demo. Many industry folks read the blog, and they might just go and watch your show, or at least click on your demo. If you don’t have any gigs or shows, write a biog and tell us about yourself or take part in an interview.

3. What is your demo like?

If you are getting your demo listened to a lot, but not getting click-throughs to your personal page and booking details, you have to take an honest listen to your demo.  We estimate that people who are not yet established in the industry, and who have a great demo, should get AT LEAST one job a year - in the first year.  And every year on year after that, the number of gigs should be increasing. (Provided they have a nice, friendly photo of themselves and their description is suitable. )  So if you’ve not been booked in more than a year, you might consider refreshing your demo.

4. Do an email marketing campaign

Send your link out to all the sound engineers, copywriters, producers and any contact you have that might throw a gig your way. Producers are very switched on, as it’s their job to know who’s who in the business - so go on, send them your demo.

5. Put your link everywhere

Make sure you have a link to your demo page (i.e. www.piehole.ie/yourname)  on your facebook, bebo, myspace, and twitter pages.  This will help increase your google rating.

6. Upgrade to premium membership on piehole.ie

Premium membership is kind of what daft.ie does, when certain houses get listed first.  This costs a bit more, but premium members tend to get more traffic.  If you only get one all-stations radio gig  per year, it will pay for itself. PLEASE NOTE: the piehole search results are randomised every day for all standard members, so don’t panic, the order is not alphabetical for all those whose surname starts with a Z :)  IMPORTANT:  the vast majority of VOs are on the premium plan. You do NOT need to be on premium to get work.  It’s just for VOs who want to push it a bit more.

7. “Favourite” your demo page

This will also help your google rating. Go to your own page, www.piehole.ie/yourname there is a “share this” button you can click which will let you do this.  Create a Del.icious or a Dig link there. Ask ALL your friends and family to do it too!

8. Leave comments on relevant blogs and forums

Make sure you put a signature at the bottom, carrying your link www.piehole.ie/yourname. Don’t be spammy, and try to leave comments on relevant forums.

9. Start a twitter page

Make sure you include your link, follow lots of sound engineers and ad industry people, etc.  Periodically, offer a special discount (i.e. 20% off if you use my voice today)

10. Write articles about your experiences as an actor or voiceover

Submit them to article marketing websites online, like Ezine Articles.  They give you a space to put your link/ URL in, so these articles, along with a link to your demo, get distributed all over the net. The right people might just be reading an article.

11. Take out a google ad

Get more exposure for your own page by taking out a google ad.  This is more expensive, but it could pay off for you.

12.  Always signature your emails

This isn’t as targeted as some of the other tips - but really, it takes no effort, it’s free and you never know who might end up clicking on it. Go to your email “settings” section, and set up your signature to include your VO link and booking number.

13. Direct response campaign

This is very targeted - and your number of clicks won’t be so many, but they will be quality clicks. Drop off some comps to one of your shows, or some cupcakes, or anything to make you stand out - to some agency producers or sound engineers.  Include a card, with your VO link on it.

14. Biog

Do you have a good powerful biog on your home page (www.piehole.ie/yourname) ?  Keep it voiceover related - people are on this site because they are interested in hiring voiceover talent.  Your biog might just tip the scales in your favour when they’re deciding who to hire. To add your biog, log in to your account and click “change details”.  If you don’t have a login, go to piehole.ie/forgot

15. Testimonial

Do you have a testimonial on your Piehole page?  Ask one of your happy clients to write a short testimonial, and email it to us - we’ll update your page.  This looks really well on your personal page.

Did I leave out anything? Voiceovers - email me and give me your tips. I’ll add them to the list.

To find out more about Premium membership on Piehole, click here.

Thankfully voice over work isn’t just about telling people about the great new interest rate from a bank or doing the terms and conditions at record speed.  Every now and then actors and performers also get to use their other god-given talents in the booth.  There are rock stars who occasionally get to sing funny jingles like Tim O’Donovan.  You get mezzo sopranos like Elizabeth Burke who has done folk, country, classic and the lot.  Granted, these little gigs don’t come up all the time - but it’s nice when they do.

Are there other singers out there? Do tell. If there are enough of you, we can make a special category for singing.  Email p@piehole.ie

JOIN PIEHOLE - FULL MEMBERSHIP BREAKDOWN HERE

Tara Breathnach has recently voiced the promo for TG4s Autumn schedule and will be shooting Seacht for BBC NI/TG4 and Tudors later this summer.

Don’t miss the world premiere of Crystal’s House a hilarious new Irish comedy about sons, mothers, lovers and shattered dreams.

Belfast student Martin lives as part of a ménage of outlandish characters all struggling to make sense of the 1970s psychosexual revolution under the watchful eye of their colourful landlady Crystal. In the heat of rehearsals for his radically experimental production of Hamlet, Martin’s mother arrives, made homeless by the Troubles. This sparks a chain of bizarre events, and a riotous twist on the Oedipus tale ensues….tragic if it weren’t so bloody funny!

Crystal’s House opens at Project Arts Centre on 13 July and runs until 25 July 2009, with previews from 9 – 11 July. Book now at www.projectartscentre.ie or on 01 8819 613.

Cast includes: Kate Perry, Audrey McCoy, Nick Devlin, Simon Stewart and Robbie O’Connor

OK, I know I’m a week or two late with this post, but let’s call it “fashionably late”. The Cannes winners have been announced, and I’m particularly interested in the radio side of things. To anyone who hasn’t heard the winning ads, check them out here. Be sure to click on the different categories (gold, silver, bronze). As a copywriter, this year’s show fills me with hope. The stuff is good, but not un-doably good. There’s no reason me, or any other copywriter in Ireland can’t pick up a gong next year.

For the voiceovers, this is a great place to source material for your demos, and just to use as practice content in general. The winners only stay up on this website for a few weeks, so have a good goo around the site.