The Management Consulting Group

Voice Over Training

Anything you can think of from telephone systems and radio spots requires some level of voice over training. Any voice over training you receive can be used in any areas of voiceover vocation. If your voice is distinctive either with a unusual pitch or tone, or if you have a way of talking with accents and inflections, skilled voice over training can provide lucrative opportunities and help farther your acting career. Becoming part of the voiceover sector is much lucrative than most people believe. If you or anyone you know is interested in getting involved in the voiceover industry, it begins with voice over training.

One of the staples of voiceover training revolves around proper annunciation. Will regularly need to become regular-lee or reg-you-lurly? Some production staff will give a guide with the particular way to pronounce some common or unusual words. Because pronunciation can vary by area it is vital to verify the script before you begin recording. If you are not provided these guidelines along with your script, then it is your duty as voice over actorprofessional to review and affirm the script. Some first names or last names may be suspicious. A fast read through will correct any potential problems so that the work can be finished with as little takes as possible. This can also enable you to acquire a reputation of good manners and professionalism.

Blog novels are an extremely lucrative option, which every writer should take a closer look at. I am not talking theory here, I’ve actually written two blog novels, and although only one of them is complete, both earn me an ongoing income. What’s more they will continue to earn me that income for many years to come - that’s the beauty of a blog novel.

Writing a novel is hard work, but there are several advantages of writing it online and in the form of a blog. To start with it is much easier to write it in blog format because you can get ongoing comments from your readers and even generate free one-way links from them. I did both with my first blog novel and it worked out beyond my expectations. Not to mention this little known secret about the way blog novels tend to generate traffic all on their own and without any effort on your part, like you having to work keywords. More on that later.

This is how I started writing my first blog novel. I wrote the first few hundred words, trying to put in as much suspense as possible and at the same time building up the characters in an interesting way. I put all of it in one post. The next day I did yet another post. After a few days I felt a little discouraged because hardly anybody seemed to be reading my blog novel. So I stopped writing. But not before making one promise to any would-be readers out there. I would continue writing the moment I received a comment. I would need one comment to make a post.

I waited a few days half expecting that it would not work. But it did and all this can be viewed first hand in that initial blog novel I wrote. One person wrote in and so our conversation started. That conversation with that person and a couple of other readers who joined in later, carried me to the end of my blog novel. I’ve started out writing many novels in my lifetime but this was the first one that I ever finished.

I had also built a relationship with those readers who were visiting my blog and commenting, virtually daily and so when I asked for one way links to my blog novel, I got them.

The important thing here is that you must make your readers a part of your novel-writing process, that way they get involved in the whole process so deeply that they will virtually do anything for you.

Traffic to your blog novel will tend to grow as you steadily continue to write it. And so will your income from programs like Adsense where you earn money when those wonderful readers click on your ads.

With a reasonable amount of regular traffic, the cash generating options are many. You can directly sell targeted advertisements of your very own or even text links in your blog. Not to mention joining a highly relevant affiliate program. That is, relevant to the sort of blog novel that you are writing.

There is one fear that many writers have, which I want to talk about now. Some of you writers out there will be horrified at the fact that I am suggesting that you allow your raw un-revised writing to be read. What if it is all horrible trash?

My advice here is that it does not matter. In other words it is not the most important thing. The most important thing for a writer is for them to keep on writing. Blogs offer a golden opportunity for this to happen. You can always edit and revise your bovel (blog novel) when it is done. That’s the easy part and you will have already completed the most difficult part - writing something.

Yahoo! has recently launched Creative Commons Search in Beta. This Yahoo! search service finds content across the web that has a creative commons license. While almost anything you find on the internet has a full copyright, the creative commons license allows an author to share their content with others, under certain conditions. This type of license is very beneficial to the article marketer.

The creative commons license is gaining wide acceptance across the internet. Yahoo and Google have now both incorporated creative commons search into their engines. The main creative commons search engine is located at http://www.creativecommons.org. A creative commons search has even been adopted into the Firefox browser.

Expanding your visibility

Every smart article writer concentrates on wide exposure. You want your articles to be on as many web sites as possible. By putting a Creative Commons License on your articles, you are allowing other web sites, e-zines, online publications and print publication to publish your article, therefore expanding your visibility.

Now, with a powerhouse like Yahoo! coming in with their new Creative Commons Search, you can have hundreds of your articles to be placed in a select search on Yahoo!.

To get your articles into Yahoo’s Creative Commons Search, you must follow 3 simple steps.

1. Select the license that suits your preferences at http://www.creativecommons.org/license/ .

2. You will then be prompted to choose whether or not you want to allow commercial use of your work and whether or not you will allow modifications of your work. After you have set your preferences, hit Select License.

3. You will now be taken to the page that will let you cut and copy a piece of text to paste into your webpage. This text will indicate that your articles have a creative commons license.

You should choose the license that meets your preferences. However, if you are going to be using the license for article marketing, there are some preferences that would be more beneficial for you. It is best not to allow any modification of your articles because this could dilute their value. You want to brand yourself as a trusted resource in your area of expertise. If someone is allowed to modify your content, this could lead to negative branding for you and your web site. With than in mind, do make sure that you put a lot of thought into the type of creative commons license you choose. Creative commons licenses are non-revocable.

Once you put up the license on your web pages, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks for Yahoo! Creative Commons Search to find your pages as long as you have some well-placed back-links.

This strategy can create hundreds of very targeted links pointing to your site through the creative commons search engines. These are indexed pages in the Yahoo and Google specialized engines. The last time I checked at http://search.yahoo/cc , boingboing.net had over 39,000 of their pages indexed in the creative commons. ProBlogger.net had over 500. You can do the same simply by applying the Creative Commons License to your site and letting Yahoo discover you.

The Creative Commons license allows you to declare a certain amount of rights to your article, while still encouraging its duplication across the internet and ensuring that you are credited as the author.

However, while the creative commons licenses hold much value, there are still relatively few people who are taking advantage of it to gain more visibility for their articles and their website. Therefore, now is the perfect time to move into this lucrative market. With Yahoo Creative Commons Search leading the way, you know there is sure to be significant growth to come.

If you are looking for an affordable way to drive traffic to your site, getting active on forums help. I don’t mean getting active as in search forums on search engines, register for an account, post an ad about your site, and never go back to that forum again. Not only will your posts be considered as SPAM and get deleted by admin, you will maybe receive 1 or 2 visitors from that one ad post if you are lucky before admin finds the posts for deletion.

If you want to take full advantage of forums to get your site exposed to active members of that particular forum that you are in, find a couple of busy forums that interests you and where members talk about topics that are relevant to what you do on the internet. You will get to read questions posted by ones that are new to internet business, and if you’ve ran your business for a while, you may be able to help by responding to those posts with your personal experiences and some information that may help them further. The more active you get with posting and helping others, the more exposure your site will get. How? Each registered member are allowed to create their own signature which is shown every time you make a post. Although you are not allowed to advertise your site directly, intentionally, you are allowed to have a link as part of your signature that will direct interested readers to your site.

Of course, you can be the one asking questions as well. I’m sure that you will appreciate answers to your questions and maybe check out what the responder’s site is like, if he/she has a link as his/her signature. That’s how people will visit your site. If you are willing to help answer people’s questions and give them tips and suggestions, interested viewers will read your post and would like to know what sort of business you do on the web. With the willingness to help others who are in need of help with their online business, you will receive their attention and appreciation - sort of like a win-win situation to me. What goes around, comes around.

The past decade has seen the technology market being inundated with fancy products, the most favorite of which have been digital media players. Some of these gadgets play music while others play videos and some of them come with both these capabilities combined. The most popular of the lot is arguably Apple Inc’s IPod systems which have been a big hit with the masses. They can store and play many formats of music files including Mp3 as well as various video formats.

The Mp3 format which has been the most popular music format ever devised has been followed by the Mp4 audio and video format. There is a popular misconception that the Mp3 and Mp4 formats have been followed by an Mp5 format of digital media. The fact is that Mp5 is not a format at all but a marketing gimmick which certain manufacturers have used to promote a series of digital media players that have been branded as Mp5 players.

It is widely believed that there are not many technological enhancements that these Mp5 players incorporate so as to warrant being called a new species of gadgets and that at best they can only be called advanced digital media players in that they incorporate a few extra features. Though this might be true to some extent, there are many distinct advantages that these gadgets have over the traditional IPod and other Mp3 players in the market. These features do not make them a must have but at least broadens the horizons for a purchaser. Here are some of those advantages which would make you want to buy an Mp5 player.

The built in DV cameras that most of these Mp5 players come with, lets you record videos in addition to just storing and playing them back. The other advantage secured by these gadgets is that they can transcode video formats back and forth from one format to the other. This allows a user to view any video in any format as well as enables the conversion of the video into popular formats such as Real media and other formats.

These Mp5 players invariably have a built In DV camera that allows for recording of video in addition to storing and playing it back. They come with the ability to transcode videos from one format to the other depending on your choice. This allows the user to view any video irrespective of what format it has been encoded in.

Most of these instruments have a huge in built memory, but also support external expandable memory using SD cards and other external storage devices. The most visible advantage is the large 2. 4 inch TFT display screen hat they sport, which offers crystal clear images and great clarity. The usual display systems in other digital media players are mostly grainy and of inferior resolution. The most gratifying advantage is that these gadgets come very cheap. When compared to the renowned brands, they are either similarly priced or less.

The copy on your brochure is you biggest marketing tool to convince the consumer. It’s you information tool and your sales pitch. It is necessary to invest in the brochures copy as a persuasive sales tool rather than a tidal wave of information. Your copy should state a solid reason to persuade the client to purchase. Remember, the more you offer in the effective sales pitch the longer your brochure will make its presence in the market.

Here are a couple of tips to ensure a sale:

Brochures are tolls for sales. Aim your copy to make the sale. On top of your products description and information, add a persuasive paragraph built on a clear and brief sales pitch.

Determine how you will use your brochure? Decide on a marketing plan, how will you deliver and distribute the brochures? Who are you selling to? What do you expect from your consumers as a reply? This will give you a great overall look at your brochure and how it should be written out.

Write for your customers not your products, they are the main interest here. When writing, write to their needs. To better finalize a sale the customers need to feel a use and empathy to their problems is the best way. How your product will serve a main problem in their life. Build a relationship first and then make your sale based on trust.

Here’s a fascinating idea.. Having noticed that there always seemed to be many stray cats and dogs in his neighborhood, it occurred to a clever pet shop owner that he could use cheap animal collars and attach an advertising message to those potential 24 hour, walking “billboards”. He also dressed them up with animal “shirts” that had his web site address printed all over them.

After unleashing about 30 four legged “salesmen” into his unsuspecting neighborhood, he struck advertising gold when his local TV and radio stations noticed the unusual “phenomenon” of “uniformed” animals. This got him thousands of dollars worth of mass media advertising almost totally free.

Imagine the media coverage you could get if this idea was used on a bigger scale, perhaps trying to break a Guinness World Record!

For More Unusual Web Traffic Generation Ideas, Visit http://www.hugevoice.com or send blank email to: mailto:subscribe@hugevoice.com

Please feel free to use this article in your website, ezine or e- book. I ask,though, that you reproduce it in its entirety and without alteration, including the resouce information above.

© Copyright 2002 Terence Tan. All Rights Reserved.

About The Author

Terence is the editor of Hugevoice Bulletins, an ezine dedicated to discovering unusual, alternative ways to generate web traffic. For more surprising web promotion ideas, visit Hugevoice.com or send an email to subscribe@hugevoice.com

The Today show? The New York Times? Vanity Fair? What’s your dream hit? While nothing inspires more fear and trepidation in public relations professionals than media relations, it doesn’t have to be complicated. There are 2 keys to a press release… the Headline and making sure it doesn’t sound like an advertisement, but more like it is news.
A media release (which also goes by its former name, the press release) is a one page, double spaced, single-sided document designed to transmit news about books, products, and people. Don’t forget that real live people, editors and producers, must pull the release from the fax machine and be motivated to read it.

In today’s world, getting editors and producers to actually read your release is a challenge. Every day, people tap into the possibilities of free publicity and are becoming proactive in getting their voice heard. Editors & Writers, receive upward of hundreds to thousands of releases a week. However, only a small percentage is both appropriate for their audience and grabs my attention.

Distribution of your press release is just as important as the writing of the release. You want it to be seen, and more importantly, written up in the media. Below are 10 strategies to help you write releases that get your message heard and distributed.

1. Make sure the information is newsworthy.

• The most important information, including who, what, where, when and why, in the first sentences of the releases body, emphasizing why the event/article is newsworthy. You are competing with countless other issues and organizations for increasingly scarce space or air time.

• The selection of your project for funding (if timely),Any additional funding/extensions you receive, Any goals/stages your initiative has reached, How your initiative effects your community, university, etc, A local example of a national story (for example if any national stories appear on teaching and technology)

2. Target your audience. Only contact editors who write about your industry or topic. Make sure you send the press release to the appropriate editor; don’t send a food story to a sports editor.

• Don’t make the mistake of sending a press release to a group of general media sources in hopes that someone will pick up the story. In most cases, the bulk of your work will end up in the wastebasket, if your announcement has no interest to their readers.

• Find out the best way to contact your target audience. Not every journalist wants press releases by email. You may need to use postal mail, email, or faxes.

3. Write an attention grabbing headline. Make sure the first 10 words of your release are effective, as they are the most important.

• Realize that your headline must immediately “hook” a busy producer or editor at first glance. If your headline doesn’t hook them, they won’t read further.

• First, the subject line spells the difference between the release being opened or deleted. Second, you must target delivery of the email release carefully, or you risk being banned forever to the recipient’s “bozo” file.

4. Deal with the facts. Avoid excessive use of adjectives and fancy language

• Clients Love Hits. Despite all the counseling, strategy, partnerships, writing and more, clients want media coverage. Until the industry creates better measurement systems, a full page Business Week story becomes a tangible “product” that your clients can hold in their hands and show to their boss.

• Follow with supporting background information and details. Some suggest a quote from a books/article/website to add credibility and depth to the release.

5. Provide as much Contact information as possible: Individual to Contact, address, phone, fax, email, Web site address.

• If writing about a web site, make sure the site is updated before you send your release. Editors will visit the site if they have an interest in your product/service.

6. If sending an email release, make sure to write the release within the body of the message.

• Don’t send email press releases with attachments - they will be deleted immediately upon receipt.

7. It’s All About Relationships. Whose call are you more likely to take? A vendor you’ve never spoken to before or one who has taken the time to develop a relationship and truly understands your needs? It is no different with the media. Building relationships NOW means that reporters will take your call when you’ve got an important story to tell. Best of all, even if they can’t help you on this particular one, they are likely to refer you to another reporter who can. As with any relationship, building trust is critical. Do what you say you will, within the timeframe you give. You may not be able to provide all the information requested, but if you are upfront about what you can and can’t do, reporters will appreciate it and remember. One reminder: everything is on the record, no matter how close you are.

• Journalists and producers need you and your news, but will lose respect if you hammer them with releases that don’t apply to their market or beat. Discriminate.

• If this is a show or publication you are keenly interested in, call them with “new information” designed to create more excitement in featuring you.

• Keep a notebook with you and jot down names of appropriate media contacts as you read publications and hear radio interviews.

8. Know editor’s deadlines. If you are sending a time-sensitive release, don’t expect a magazine editor to cover your event scheduled for next week. Find out what the appropriate “lead time” is to send your press release for possible distribution in their media. Make it as easy as possible for media representatives to do their jobs.

9. Good Writing Counts. Adopt a journalistic approach. Look carefully at how reputable publications such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, or The Wall Street Journal write a story. What is the lead? What type of quotes do they use? Study different types of stories — features, executive changes, and news articles. For the most part, you’ll see the inverted pyramid style where the most important information is in the lead and the rest of the story flows from there. Despite recent e-word mania, it’s time to eliminate jargon and buzz words. Say what you want, but say it simply and plainly. Another sign of weak writing is the use of clichés. Finally, ever feel like you just can’t write that press release? This blockage often indicates you don’t have enough information. Do outside research. Interview a customer. Get another perspective. Then you’re sure to end up with a solid product that would appeal to any journalist.

10. Keep a “swipe file” of clever advertisements or headlines you can refer to when you need a creative boost.

Laura Aldridge is CEO of Aldridge Corporation, a minority, woman-owned strategic marketing communication & public relations firm. Big deal. That title sounds powerful, but don’t be fooled. She readily admits you might catch her in the line of a local Los Angeles area store, playing with her husband and kids at the lake, coaching her daughter’s cheerleading squad, watching youth football practices, or art show.

And on occasion she finds time to write articles on various topics, writing training material for technology based applications, speak at a conference or two, designing just about anything for almost anybody, making calls and trying to get her client’s all the press and exposure they can handle, and serve on the board of directors for some great organizations. She’s worked for a couple of great companies that saw the value of her ideas and style; she has won an award or two. But don’t let the “powerful” title trick you; she’s just “Laura” to most people.

Up to 90 per cent of stories in newspapers and on the TV news appear because
someone sent out a press release. Can you imagine what that means?

What would happen to your business if you appeared on Oprah? Or if a major
magazine did a feature story on you? Or a major newspaper? Your business would
never be the same again. No amount of paid advertising can match free publicity.

And yet, very few small businesses ever bother sending out a press release. (The
terms “press release” and “news release” are interchangeable, but I prefer “news
release” because it reminds me that the release must contain news of some kind.)

=> Super Secret #1: Send out news releases regularly, to your local media, national
media, and post them online too.

This means educating yourself as to what constitutes a news release. And that
education is VITAL. Nothing ticks off a reporter more than receiving a blatant ad
masquerading as a news release. I’m a computer journalist, and I receive news
release every day that are nothing more than blatant advertising. My editors’
attitude is: “If you want to advertise, buy an ad. If you want free publicity, give us a
story in return.”

Here’s a brilliant resource which tells you everything need to know about crafting
news releases that not only get read, but also get used:

http://sprite.netnation.com/~greenbri/ABCPublicityFAQ.html

=> Super Secret #2: A lack of response doesn’t mean NO response

A point to keep in mind —- most releases you send out seem to go nowhere.
“Seem” is the operative word.

Let’s say you’ve spend four hours sweating over a news release. You send it out. To
coin a cliché, the silence is deafening.

However, all is not as it seems. The more often your name crosses a reporter’s desk,
the more familiar you become. When I’m wearing my journalist’s hat, I appreciate
marketers who send me releases: after the third or fourth release, their names are
familiar. I might not use their story, but if they keep sending me releases, they WILL
get some response.

In my copywriting practice, I send out news releases for clients regularly, on a set schedule, because news releases which aren’t picked up do have an effect. Send
your releases out, and sooner or later, if you persist, you will get the publicity.

A big benefit of sending Web news releases is that the releases are indexed by
search engines. This sends traffic to your site painlessly.

Author of many books, including Making the Internet Work for Your Business,
copywriter and journalist Angela Booth also writes copy for businesses large and small, and consults on search engine marketing. Angela has written copy for companies in many industries, ranging from technology and real estate to the jewellery trade. Her clients include major corporations like hp (Hewlett Packard), WestPac Bank, and Acer Computer. For copywriting services and marketing advice contact Angela at angelabooth.com.

To promote the audience, staff, customers and other people the Indoor LED displays are most widely used. By incorporating the latest technology Indoor LED displays provide exceptional service for a great value.

Indoor LED displays broadcasts current information within the industry, site or relevant indoor area. These are simple to use, gives quick display and have long durability and high reliability, that’s why most industries are using these indoor LED displays for their daily administration, and broadcasting circulars such as events, schedules, financial info, show listing, etc.

While broadcasting, the threat of third-party interference can create serious concern, these Indoor LED displays takes precautions for this. For this information are transmitted through coded transmitter.

These indoor LED displays are simple to use and install. Having features like long durability and high reliability, they are accepted all over the world. Most important thing here to notice is that they seek low energy and maintenance cost with sleek and compact design. They are ideal for text messaging.

These are based on a modular construction, which allows for a variety of sizes, line and characters with different color options. They can be mounted easily as the accessories can easily be obtained.

Indoor LED Displays are provided by Jayex Technology Limited, who bring into being display components from proven international technology. Combined this with years of experience and long standing track record for supplying LED displays, they prove a high quality yet very competitive display.

Indoor LED displays are connected to local power supply to operate on this. Fiber optic networks are also used to operate on this and can send the information to your electronic displays. However, many other remote an local options exists to operate on Indoor LED displays.

About The Author

Paula Jones

Jayex Technology Limited, based in London specialise in advanced information display systems. Established in 1978 we have pioneered the development of the LED display market and now have over 18,000 customers worldwide. We offer, probably the largest range of models from small single line signs to big screen Megavision screens that can display live video and action replay in stadia.

jayex.co.uk