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Social Media Marketing: Are You
Being Dull? Pep Up Your Posts!
Note: Philip Banks is ANYTHING but dull. And he loves to provoke us ...
By Philip Banks
Voice Actor
 You’re trying so hard to get your name out there and the word dull is not necessarily an indictment on your voice acting skills - It’s YOU! You’re dull! Of course I don’t mean you’re dull people. I mean that you’ve become so focused on self-promotion that you’ve forgotten all about content, all about other people and all about life. On the VO webwaffle page, you post something about a job you’ve just voiced, that’s it. You believe the fact you have done something is in itself worth posting and is inherently interesting. It isn’t!
You’re dull! There’s no detail, no story. Nothing other than "I showed up for work today and some work showed up for me.”
REAL FRIENDS ...
Last year I attended Sue and Ian’s wedding. You don’t know them, so that’s of no particular interest to you.
But what was nice was that I got through the entire event without talking about my work. It was Sue and Ian’s day, not another opportunity to network or get a much needed ego massage.
Sue and Ian are friends, have been for years.
... & ELECTRONIC FRIENDS
My VO friends are different.
Many are not really friends at all, other than due to a random click on a mouse - ADD PHILIP AS YOUR FRIEND.
Like good electronic cyber friends, they then ignore me other than to regale me with dreary anecdotes about having 5 auditions to get out by 4 p.m. for a pencil company web site and ... and nothing! No interesting part to the story.
You see, you’re dull!
NOT COOKING RIGHT?
You’ve got the social and electronic media thing cooking on gas, yet it’s still not quite working for you.
Your inbox isn’t as full as it should be with jobs, and the phone is not ringing endlessly.
It’s not the "nature of the beast” or "the current economic climate” - it’s people becoming battle weary.
You say nothing of interest, do nothing of interest, and write/post/blog/twitter on it ad nauseum. You’re dull!
HIRE DAVE DULLARD?
You are the sort of person people emigrate in order to avoid.
Even using an electron microscope and a hyperbolic microphone, most people could not find their interest in anything you have to say, write about or anything you do.
But that’s OK because you only want to promote your career, you’re not looking to engage people you’re looking to get them to hire you.
Ask yourself this: between Mr. Windswept and Interesting or Dave Dullard - both equally capable VOs - who would you hire? Exactly!
SELF-PROMOTION TRAP
The real downside of constantly self-promoting, apart from the dullness, is that people stop reading, stop listening and stop thinking of you as a viable option when a job crops up. I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true. And if you want to climb the VO ladder, don’t get VO coaching, get interested in other people and become interesting.
People should want to spend time with Philip Banks, not a VO from Portgordon.
SHOW SOME PERSONALITY
Producers and directors should take away more than a good take from a session with you.
I heard someone say that in the world of voice-over artists, it’s difficult to find the characters. There used to be plenty around. No one is suggesting that you manufacture a life and soul of the party persona, just give a little of yourself.
WHAT I MEAN ... Two silly examples for you:
CHOOSE YOUR JOB
There really is more to this than meets the eye.
It’s time to take stock. Let’s look at two jobs:
The jobs are mutually exclusive. You must choose one.
ABOUT PHILIP ...
Philip Banks is an international voice talent based in the United Kingdom – which, he says, "Thanks to technology, means nothing.” From his home studio he delivers commercials, promos/imaging, corporate voice-overs and more – including (per a whimsical note on his web site) "just making strange noises.”
Email: banksey@philipbanks.co.uk
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