June 16, 2010
History of the Voice Over
Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian inventor, was a brilliant mathematician and excelled in academics. Being enamored with the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell, Fessenden set out on a quest to develop a means of remote communication without the restriction of wires - thusly "Wireless" as it was to be known later.
In 1900 Fessenden set out to work for the United States Weather Bureau. During this time, the first voice over was recorded in 1900 by Reginald Fessenden who reported on the weather during a test.
June 13, 2010
Reactions to Male and Female Voice Overs
A lot of thought goes into the "right" voice for every advertisement. This, is primarily the role of casting directors. Certainly the tone and timber of a voice are two things that can help sell the product or service. But, probably the most important question every marketer must answer is, should the voice be male or female?
These are some of the findings of a new Adweek Media/ Harris Poll, survey of 2,194 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive.
June 10, 2010
Why Marketers Should Use Voice Overs in Flash Videos to Improve Engagement
There are many reasons to use voice-overs in Flash videos on your website; one of the most important is to improve viewer engagement for increased sales. If you're currently using Flash videos on your website's landing page, that's great. You can add a voice over to the Flash video so it will catch your visitor's attention and hold it.
Numerous studies have been done on the correlation between the human attention span and what captures an individual's attention and keeps it (Download Word Document). These studies have found that combining sensory elements, such as visuals and sound, will increase your retention rate and keep visitors on your site for longer periods of time.
June 8, 2010
What Apple iAds Mean for Voice Talent
Steve Jobs presented at the World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco and introduced the new iPhone 4 which boasts of several new groundbreaking features, such FaceTime video calling and Retena Display, the next generation of high resolution displays for the popular mobile phone.
Aside from the new iPhone, Jobs revealed two important facts that show their commitment to dominating the mobile market. First, the launch of the iAd mobile network and second a sizable commitment from a roster of global brand willing to engage customers in a new way, though the innovative iAd format.
iAds combine the emotion of TV advertising with the interactivity of Internet advertising, giving advertisers a dynamic and powerful new way to bring motion and emotion to mobile users.
June 5, 2010
Strategic Thinking for a Successful Podcast
As with any other part of your marketing efforts, including a podcast, it truly benefits you to be prepared.
Whether you are podcasting for leisure or business you will need a plan.
Planning topics to discuss, possible guest interviews, and the duration of your show in advance will go a long way when producing a professional sounding podcast. Since you'll be recording your podcast in an almost live fashion, you will have the flexibility of going back and re-editing sections before committing your show as "podcast-ready."
May 5, 2010
How To Record a Voice-Over for PowerPoint
To record a voice-over for a PowerPoint presentation, your computer will first need to be equipped with speakers, a microphone and a sound card. You have two recording options: You can record during the presentation as you go along; or you can record the narration before the presentation is run.
Comments can be recorded on separate slides, so if you do not want narration through the whole presentation--you choose exactly where you want it. To know which slides you have voice-over on, there is an icon shaped like a speaker on these particular slides. You can manually click the icon to play, or have it set to play automatically.
July 18, 2009
Twitter Verified Accounts
It's real. Tonight I confirmed the existence of Twitter Verified Accounts, a much needed add-on for businesses, brands and celebrities to communicate to users that they are the real deal.
As Twitter describes the new service, the purpose of Twitter Verified Accounts is to prevent identify confusion and establish authenticity.
March 17, 2009
Salesforce Launches New AppExchange
Today, marks the launch of the redesigned AppExchange, a online application store for business users where they can extend the functionality of Salesforce.
As many of your know, I'm a strong advocate of Salesforce for both small and big business. In fact, we started with the Professional Edition focused on the Customer Relationship Management elements and have since upgraded to the Enterprise version and have taken advantage of the full suite of tools.
Many of those tools have been found in the AppExchange, including Salesforce for Google Apps, Salesforce for Google Adwords and Salesforce Mobile.
February 12, 2008
The Three Layers of Podcasting
Photo by stevegarfield.
After the recent report that podcasting is on the rise in terms of both a larger listening audience and ad dollars spent on the medium, there's been significantly more chatter about how to start a podcast.
First and foremost, podcasting is about the content, not the technology. It's easy to get overwhelmed with technical details and special equipment, but it's really not that complicated.
Today, we're going to break it down into three simple steps; production, distribution and monetization.
60 Second Pitch is Dead; Long Live the 5 Second Intro
This past weekend I was in Calgary, Canada's fastest growing city and current hot spot for the young and wealthy. Wealthy from the booming oil and gas industry that's known as the oil sands. You see, Calgary in many ways is the new business capital of Western Canada, and as we know that in business, time is money.
In my visits with friends and the opportunity to network with new people, I find it amazing how little time there to make a positive impression.
February 5, 2008
Podcasting Continues to Grow
I never stopped believing in the power of podcasting. Not only does audio does work in ways that video can't, but it's far more memorable. Just think, you can probably remember a favorite song from high school, a jingle from a decade ago or even a one-liner from a commercial that seemed to just stick.
January 8, 2008
9 Secrets For Running a Successful Webinar
A webinar is a type of web conference, that tends to be mostly one-way, from the speaker to the audience with limited audience interaction, such as in a Webcast, which is transmission of information in one direction only, like watching a concert on the internet.
A webinar however, can be very collaborative, and include polling and question & answer sessions to allow full participation between the audience and the presenter. A webinar is 'live' in the sense that information is conveyed according to an agenda, with a starting and ending time. In most cases, the presenter may speak over a standard telephone line, pointing out information being presented on screen, and the audience can respond over their own telephones, preferably a speakerphone.
As you might have guessed, webinars have a lot of moving pieces, however with a little forethought, your next webinar will be successful by following these helpful tips.
January 2, 2008
Ad Agencies To Increase Web Budgets and Be Nimble To Compete in '08
October 15, 2007
How to Monetize Your Podcast
Monetizing a podcast first starts with creating a brand, reaching loyal listeners, and producing great content that will attract advertisers and generate an income from your audience.
October 11, 2007
Google Offers Free Audio Ads Proposals
In an effort to kick-start their Audio Ads program, Google is offering current Adwords advertisers the opportunity to receive a customized proposal for businesses considering advertising on the radio. Despite these noble efforts, does Google really think they are going to win in audio?
June 10, 2007
Voice of the Apple iPhone Ads Revealed
Take a listen to Apple’s commercials for its new iPhone and see if you can pick out which celebrity from hit TV show The Office is providing the voice-over.
June 8, 2007
eBay Takes on Google’s Audio Ads
Just when Google may have thought they had mass radio ad liquidation in the bag, eBay has entered the fray with a competing service of their own.
Learn more about what the implications may be for Google Audio Ads with the introduction of powerhouse eBay and their brand new remnant radio air time marketplace.
January 14, 2007
You Are a Stakeholder
Within our industry, each site shares similar goals, audiences and desired actions. By staying focused on our goals, we can best serve the needs of the various stakeholders that we interact with.
January 12, 2007
CBS/Google Radio Ad Deal Is Imminent
In a report issued by Merrill Lynch, lead broadcast analyst Jessica Reif Cohen said a CBS/Google deal would likely be "wide-ranging" and would include both advertising and content elements.
December 19, 2006
The Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab
The Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab (RAEL) is possibly the most exciting initiative undertaken by the Radio industry in recent years. Conceived and launched in 2001, RAEL’s goal is to further the industry’s understanding of how Radio advertising works and to measure its effectiveness, thereby increasing advertiser/agency confidence in Radio as an advertising medium.
December 18, 2006
Radio Advertising is Up in 2006
Industry watch dog Radio Ink, has come out with some new statistics to show the growing trend in radio advertising this year.
Google Audio Ads Grinds to a Halt
Google Inc.'s budding radio advertisement business, known as Google Audio, appears to have ground to a halt. According to Market Watch, Google doesn't have access to enough radio airtime for would-be advertisers to thoroughly test out the initiative.
December 2, 2006
Google Audio Ads Lowers Cost with Remnant Ads
This morning, I discovered an important clarification to the upcoming Google Audio Ads platform. Google's advertising system, formerly known as dMarc Broadcasting, will initially be selling remnant air time.
November 30, 2006
How Google Audio Ads Work
Have you seen the Google Audio Ads PowerPoint presentation? Get an insiders look at how Google Audio Ads will work for advertisers. Here's Google's pitch.
Google Audio Ads
There's something about radio, and Google's going to profit from it.
November 17, 2006
Like.com & Voices.com - Simple Names Work
Recently I've come across a few new start-ups that have acquired simple domain names in an effort to explain to their users what they do, while being memorable at the same time. Hearing these stories validates our investment in Voices.com as one of the best business decisions we've made to date.
September 11, 2006
What's "The Biz" All About?
I've read blog posts by other entrepreneurs and industry critics raising a question. Does the world need another blog? I'd like to refine that question. Does the world need another web 2.0 blog? My short answer is "yes", and here's why.
