Finally got the new website up and running. My buddy Ian Armstrong had put the original blurb up in 2001 but of course since then technology has gone sky high. I remember the audio quality and limits on the amount of samples you could put up was really frustrating on the 1^st site, but you must remember, most of us were on the steam engine dial up system then.

Anyway; last January, talking rubbish over a few pints turned in to “ You really should update that site you know”,  resulting in poor Ian nearly having a nervous breakdown as his friend suddenly turned into the client from hell!

But we got the design and content sorted and I began to regret the photo opportunities I had missed over the past 8 years – people I had in studio and never bothered to get the camera out, E.G. Alan Stanford, Joe Dolan, Brian McGuigan of McGuigan Wines, Derek Davis, Joe Deane, Pakie O’callaghan & Frank Toomey to mention a few. However, let there be no panic……………….the camera is now a permanent fixture in the studio and photos will be uploaded faster than you can say “Cheese”.

Check out the new site please, I’d love to get comments, suggestions, ideas, hate mail…

Play Pat’s voice over demo.

Q: What does your average voiceover artiste and a leprechaun have in common?
A:Answer: they both know how to avoid getting found.

If you catch a Leprechaun, he has to give you his pot of gold. As a result, Leprechauns are secretive little fellows. One was however once caught by a young farmer. The farmer couldn’t believe his luck. Demanding his pot of gold, the Leprechaun reluctantly pointed to a tree in a forest under which the gold could be found. The farmer tied a red ribbon around the tree and headed off to get a shovel so that he could dig up his new found wealth.

Here voiceovers and indeed many other business people go wrong. You see – on www.piehole.ie, the most popular category of voice talent is ‘versatile’. In other-words “I can do anything”. As a result, searching the ‘versatile’ voices tells your pretty much nothing about the voice. But if the category is pretty useless in finding the one VO you need for your job – why does everyone choose it in the first place?

The reason is that they don’t want to lose out on all of the other work on the site. Fear is the strongest human emotion and the fear of losing out drives them to put themselves in this bland category where they get lost in the crowd.

The Leprechaun in our story used this effect to his advantage. He didn’t want the farmer to find his gold so while he was away he tied a red ribbon to all the other trees in the forest – making his pot of gold completely vanish.

The Leprechaun here knows how not to be found. So does a your average voiceover. The only difference is – one wants to be and the other does not.

1.  If you are inexperienced:

If you’re on your first or second demo still, a rule of thumb is to wait until you’ve done a few gigs, say 4 - 10.  That extra experience will help, because with voiceovers, there is a very steep learning curve in the beginning.  Your next demo will already be much smoother and your skills will be improved even after such a short time.  I’ve worked with many voiceovers who are still new to the game, and after a few rounds in studio, it’s like they’re a different voiceover. More confident, better and basically, really starting to find their own style.

2. if you are experienced:

Once you’ve had a certain amount of experience, the learning curve isn’t as steep anymore.  Now you just have to make sure your demo is “acting your age”.   You don’t need to waste your money re-doing your demo every year.  You can refresh your existing demo every 2 years or so (simple editing - adding in new bits of work you’ve done, and taking out some of the older stuff that dates your demo).  And then, re-record and make a new demo every 4 years roughly. Too often I’ve heard people sound really young on their demo, and then when you get them in studio, they sound nothing like they do on their demo. 

3. when your demo is letting you down

If you did a demo you were never really happy with, plus, you’re not getting booked for gigs - it’s time.

CREATE A NEW DEMO

REFRESH YOUR EXISTING DEMO

YAAAAAAAWNNN!!! Boring topic.  But the topic of how to charge and what to charge does keep popping up, especially for those voice overs who don’t have an agent.  I’d recommend for VOs to have their own invoicing set-up, so that you can keep a record of all the work you’ve done in the year, and it’s a more professional way to invoice your voice over jobs.  Try blinksale.com - they have a free account that allows you to send up to 3 invoices per month, and all it’s all stored online.  You can upgrade (I think it’s 9 USD per month) to send more invoices.

In terms of knowing what to charge, you can get a copy of the standard Irish rate card in our free ebook.

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).

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.