Social Media – Does It Support or Waste Time?

business, creative professionals, instructional design, post-production, production, small business, video design, voiceover

Social. Media. I am doing this. Been doing this. For years.

Is it working? Am I succeeding with it? This is one of my tasks to analyze over the next month or so.

OK, let’s back up. Which social platforms am I talking about?

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

I work at one or two every day, a little bit. I work this effort week after week, month after month, year after year. Are there results? How do I know if I’m succeeding?

Are you doing social media for your small business on any of these platforms? Are there results? Are you succeeding with it?

Because, frankly, I might be ready to let go of several.

Marketing goals are essential.

My goal has always been to generate connections with potential or current clients, get to know each other, and maybe end up doing some business together. I aim to connect primarily with creative pros from advertising, marketing, video/audio production and instructional design.

A secondary goal is creating strong alliances with other pro voiceover actors and talent agents. And there’s the preset that I am not near any of these people geographically. I’ve been remote working within this strategy for over 10 years.

Perhaps it’s this saturation of everyone doing everything virtually in the last few months, but I feel like it’s time to cull the wheat from the chaff among the platforms. Of course, I need to think this through.

Input & Output Experience differs per platform.

I’ve had good experiences with some platforms only, in relation to my above goals. I’ve cultivated many wonderful connections, clients and VO allies. I’ve also experienced a lot of frustration with wasted time and money.

Creating content is the most time-intensive. I created 20 topics to post about monthly. I hired a company which creates custom content from my ideas, and sets it up in a monthly calendar for my final approval or editing. Each unique post is set on the same day, in the same way, for each platform. I know this isn’t a best practice. I’m already frustrated with time spent to get these posts created and branded. Perhaps I need to rethink this?

Here is a mini-dive into how I feel about each platform I’m currently using.

LinkedIn – Highest true, tangible value. I find excellent professional, direct interaction within a professional community of clients, potential clients and other VO allies. Most of the LinkedIn Groups were very vibrant in 2007 and for many years. Now they seem like ghost towns. Active posts in the home feed and direct messaging are interesting and professional for the most part. I’m very satisfied and grateful for this platform and expect to continue finding value there.

Instagram – I started with skepticism, long after many had already lauded its perfection as the newest and next best shiny social place. It sort of felt like everyone I already knew was simply jumping to Insta. What’s the point of creating the same community on a different platform? And since this platform is about images – and now stories – it feels difficult to master with my vocation as a voice actor. I’ve positioned my Insta as a business account. I’ve not found it fruitful. I feel like I don’t have time to customize content the way this feed needs, and I’m not confident I know the best way to take advantage or if there really are opportunities here.

Twitter – So many changes have happened. Seriously, I used to be in a LinkedIn group that was called ‘Twittering’ in 2007! It was a baby then, quite effective and fun. Those were precious times. Since then, I’ve seen the best and worst of times. I have a nice following but limited interactions, primarily with people I already know. I’ve positioned my twitter as a business account. Although I also do what I can here to tweet, re-tweet, and engage, I’ve not found the right business angle during the many years since its heyday. Again, I’m not confident I know the best way to take advantage or if there really are opportunities there.

Facebook Page – This place isn’t my personal profile. It’s a lonely, lonely page. So sad! Friends and other voice actors take notice of my posts, here and there. This wasn’t true back in the day when Pages meant something and got traction. Then they changed the algorithm, and you don’t get eyeballs unless you do paid promotions. Ugh.

Facebook personal profile – I created this to be in touch with family and friends. My ‘friends’ have evolved to include real friends to distant acquaintances in voiceover. Over time I have included a tiny few clients and VO agents into this mix – and I’m always unsure if this is wise. It’s that blurry line that all the ‘specialists’ say you shouldn’t cross. I wonder if it’s a line I simply should stay on one side of? Whatever the answer is, I do not use this for business purposes as much as is possible. Lately, however, due to the Page being so low performing, during the moments I have thought to close my Facebook page down, I have shared from my Page to my personal profile. Wrong? Not sure that’s the right question. Ineffective? Probably.

YouTube – This is a repository for my work, a sort of online portfolio of work where I’ve been able to accumulate copies. Someone just recently suggested that I might want to pursue activity here. That’s never been a goal of mine. Am I missing something?

Best Practices per platform?

I’ve done my research, my content calendar and branding – as much as I have time to devote. Over years!

I found a company I enjoy working with to help me create content custom for my brand. I’ve read and re-read materials about ‘doing social media right’ and generating content. I’ve played with analytics but so much seems based on consumer vs business demographics. I follow experts that show tips and tricks for actors, and I do a lot of that right. I’ve hired so-called and real experts for paid promotion campaigns. I found one experience full of baloney. I was really mad that I wasted my money but at least I learned.

I know there are lots of best practices. The problem is, most seem geared to larger companies than mine. That’s why I’ve started to feel that a lot of advice out there simply isn’t worth the time it takes to read it. I’ve even studied and done the work about identifying my ideal client/s. It takes so much time. It feels so unscientific. It feels like a treadmill rather than a path to a goal.

What’s my opinion?

I know I’m succeeding with LinkedIn. YouTube is only a repository, with no further expectations. Twitter and Facebook are seemingly time-wasters at this point. Insta is an enigma and leaning toward feeling like a time-waster.

Back in 2007, when Twitter was new and LinkedIn was fresh, it felt good and really authentic. In 2020, it feels very different. My opinion is that LinkedIn is still a robust enough platform. The rest? Not especially worth the time. They’re fun to observe, see what others are doing, and to keep in touch with associates, friends and family. And enjoy very funny memes! I’m going to do some analytics again, and a little more deep diving on content value. At this point, my mind can be changed. Professionally though, I don’t see the value except with LinkedIn.

Do you agree? Do you see something wrong with what I’ve described? What’s your experience and opinion? Please leave a comment and answer social media Qs here: https://forms.gle/16qNPgrEmCZPTnba6

Directed Voiceover Sessions – Zoom Caution and Alternates

online vo sessions, post-production, production, VO tech, voiceover

Zoom Caution – Use a password

I confess – I was a huge fan of Zoom and now I’ve tempered that but still use it, particularly since I use the audio-only option for voiceover. If you didn’t know, due to the huge migration of people from office to remote working due to COVID19, Zoom usage surged, and their security and privacy flaws quickly became ‘talk of the town’. Most circumstances I’ve heard about were large group Zoom events, some open to the public. This is different from a voiceover session with as few as 2 to a likely maximum of 10 participants. Keep that in mind. However, security and privacy issues still exist, so use with caution.

For a voiceover session, use Zoom by incorporating a password and ask people to sign in (vs a simple link). I’ve used Zoom for several years now and haven’t any security breaches, but again my sessions are a handful of people only. If you are using Zoom for other purposes or larger gatherings, I suggest looking at your alternatives.

Alternatives – Rebecca’s top two choices:

Webex

It’s the same idea as Zoom: video and audio conferencing. The audio on this is as high quality as Zoom, and I use it as easily as Zoom. There’s a free basic level just like Zoom. I’ve used it for several clients and it was flawless.

Skype

It’s the same idea as Zoom: video and audio conferencing. I’ve used it many times in audio sessions. There is a free basic level. However, I do not prefer because it can create conflicts when connected to my audio recording software. Since that’s the whole point with a voiceover session, I actually try to avoid Skype.

I hope this helps you give proper consideration to Zoom. There are many more options here, where I got portions of my information:

Directed Voiceover Sessions With What Online Platform?

online vo sessions, post-production, production, VO tech, voiceover

Friendly platforms for online directed voiceover sessions

An online directed voiceover session means having a high-quality audio connection over the internet to let a client direct a voice actor as if they were in the same place. An online directed voiceover session connects the voiceover talent with an engineering studio and clients. It’s multiple locations online at the same time, to direct and record a script for a creative project.

Online directed sessions are used for all types of audio and video production and post-production. From public-facing projects like films, advertising and corporate videos to internally facing projects like corporate training or sales presentations. And more.

It’s a relatively simple concept. A client directs the voice actor. The voice actor performs the script. Recording is either remotely done by the audio engineer or locally by the voice actor. There can be more or less people and responsibilities, but this is the basic idea.

Below are great options for sessions online.

Platforms for online sessions with remote recording by an audio engineer:

My ‘go to’ platform is Source-Stream, from Source-Connect.

I use Source-Stream almost weekly. Why is it my ‘go to’ platform? Clients use it! At least that’s why I started with it. Source-Connect is a very easy to use app. It’s relatively low-latency, which can vary based on internet providers. They offer a bridge to ISDN if needed. Finally, they have terrific support and it’s affordable.

Per Source-Elements the parent company, “Automatic Network Configuration is … Source-Stream, a new feature that allows for global, low-latency firewall traversal for your connections.” Source-Elements has been in business since 2005. My experience with clients worldwide is that most audio producers use Source-Connect, while some still use ISDN.

I highly recommended the lesser known SessionLinkPRO.

I have only used this a few times, but it was even easier to use than Source-Connect. It is used through your browser. I experimented with it both as a VO actor and as an audio producer. Pretty straight-forward and I didn’t feel any latency. I got the sense that for someone not expert at audio, this might be a viable option for a remote or online directed session. My wish is that more pros start checking out this little darling of a platform.

Additional platforms allowing online directed voiceover sessions (as of 2020)

I have found out about but not yet used Connection Open. Recommended by others, I’m looking forward to testing it out and trialing it with any willing producers.

I have trialed and have an account with ipDTL. Also recommended by others, I haven’t used ipDTL professionally yet because no clients have asked for it.

Platforms for directed sessions with local recording done by me, the voice actor:

Many clients prefer me to handle the recording locally. This again is a simple arrangement. The clients and the voice actor are not in the same location, so you want an online solution.

Primarily I prefer web-conferencing services like Zoom, and then WebEx. I’ve used both with much success and little to zero latency nor interference with my local audio interfaces. Multiple people log into the session from multiple locations.

My last choice but still functional options are a VOIP like Skype, or a Telephone ‘patch’. This is a phone call into my studio. My client won’t hear the same audio fidelity as all of the other services above, but it gets the job done.This is my last choice because I sometimes run into issues or interference with my audio interfaces. Skype specifically doesn’t like connections longer than an hour!

These findings are based on several years of experience in the trenches, and I’m happy to share with you.

Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have questions.

REBECCA HAUGH Female Voice Actor