LinkedIn, MySpace or Facebook for voiceovers? Your opinions?

Maxine Dunn

Hi everyone,

I'm curious if any of you have a page on one of the networking sites that you use for voice-overs?

The MySpace page I have at the moment is more of a personal exposé and I just started my LinkedIn site, but I'd love to get some feedback on how some of you are utilizing these sites for your v/o biz.

Thanks!

Maxine
www.maxinedunn.com
www.myspace.com/maxination

John Zadikian

Maxine...

I use LinkedIn to cross-promote myself with my V123 and TOS pages. It gives people a more detailed background, if they care to see it, and there is a Radio and TV Professionals group that one can join...or, I suppose, someone can start a VO group. Also, I've been able to reconnect with a number of former colleagues from past work experiences.

I don't know much about the other services, but LinkedIn works for me.

Best of luck...

John Zadikian
GO RED WINGS!

Lee Gordon · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008, 09:24 (GMT) Post subject:

I have them all, although I'm not sure how much benefit they provide, especially Facebook, which seems very juvenile to me.

On the other hand, just yesterday I got a message on MySpace from a guy I worked with a dozen years ago and hadn't heard from since, so that was worthwhile. I'm also the class secretary for my old high school class and I appreciate just about any tool I can use to help me track down classmates from 40+ years ago.

And I suppose anything free that gets you one more hit on a search engine is probably worthwhile.

Should anybody want to add me to their contact lists, here's my LinkedIn page:

Here's my MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/lee_gordon

Here's my Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=784343257

And the newest social networking site -- especially for voice over people -- is "I Rock the Mic VO dot com".
Here's my page:Lee Gordon's page on voiceover universe presents...

Lisa Foster · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008, 13:47 (GMT) Post subject:

Hi Maxine -
I am on Facebook, but mostly just for personal use. The best voice over network is IRockTheMicVO - new networking site just for voice talent! Over 600 members and growing fast! Here's my page on that site:

http://irockthemicvo.ning.com/profile/LisaFoster

Check it out - lots of great talent, articles, forums, and groups. Sign up! See ya there!
~Lisa [http://irockthemicvo.ning.com/profile/LisaFoster]

Maxine Dunn · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008, 16:18 (GMT) Post subject:

Hi everyone and thanks so much! I didn't know about "I rock the mic..." (great name!) I'll sign up for sure.

I've been getting requests from people on the Savvy boards lately to add them to my LinkedIn contacts, so it made me wonder about the other sites as well. I'll definitely add you guys, and Lee I think you're already on my MySpace page but I'll check out your other sites as well.

Thanks everyone!

Max

Lance Blair · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008, 18:35 (GMT) Post subject:

I whole-heartedly recommend IRockTheMicVo.

Even guys like this are there:

http://irockthemicvo.ning.com/profile/LanceBlair

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008, 19:27 (GMT) Post subject:

Woah!! Lance Blair is on "IRockTheMic"...??? THE Lance Blair???? Shocked

Wow.... I just checked... HE IS!!! I also found THIS GUY there... Cool

J.S. Gilbert · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008, 23:02 (GMT) Post subject: I think I'm on them all

Hiya Max,
I think I'm on them all and even a few not mentioned, like Plaxo Pulse, several other Ning sites.

I have no idea if they do anything for me. My avatar on the other hand seems to be very popular and gets ivited to cyber parties and actually may have dated Britney for a short while.

I have gotten some good information from a few people. I have also been able to help a few people. I've been able to openly bitch and get people to support me doing that. I've reunited with some folks out of my past (mostly LinkedIn). Found out I had a diaughter I didn't know about. (just kiding, wanted to see if anybody actually reads my posts past the 4th sentence).

I've also actually met some people in person that I originally connected with online. I guess that many of the v.o. talent on Savvy have been exploring ways of doing that and of course the big L.A. shindig will have all manner of man and beast meeting in person.

The only problem is that all of this networking has taken so much time from my schedule that I've had to retire from doing voiceover. I also only eat one meal per day. I sleep 37 minutes at night and keep a big jar under the computer desk for, well, er, perhaps a little TMI.

It's hard to say which one of the social sites is better or not. It's paritally personal preference. Also some sights have disabled features if you don't pay a subscription fee. I suspect that many, many people start a profile and evenutally wind up giving up.

I just recently finished filling out the profile on my Facebook page which I think I originally started 3 years ago and I was amazed to find I had a dozen invites from people to be friends.

I do suggest LinkedIn as a great place to keep track of people you have worked for, etc. Although I'm pretty picky about who I let in.

Melba Sibrel · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008, 23:15 (GMT) Post subject: Re: I think I'm on them all

Michael J. Schoen · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008, 03:42 (GMT) Post subject:

Max,
I am on mySpace only because people asked me to be their friends... I agree it is basically a social networking site for young people.
Same with Facebook, of which I have no membership.

Linked in is another story -- and I have a number of voiceover contacts on the site and have issued recommendations for producers who have hired me in the past.
Goodwill creator if nothing else.
..and I have caught up with a number of VO connections from my past.
Recommended.
I am also an early member of I rock the mic -- voiceover universe presents.. great within the VO industry.
Also recommended
Love to see you in both places.

Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008, 04:07 (GMT) Post subject:

I'm not on any of them because I'm old, cranky and refuse to devote more than the 16 hours/day that I currently do to my computer.

Seriously, I'm NOT on them and get annoyed with all the invitations to "LinkedIn" that people send me. It's not that I actually have anything against any of these sites, but besides the additional valuable time it takes away from my day, I wonder if there is ANY benefit to being on them. Even on IRockTheMic. I mean, are possible clients trolling sites like that or LinkedIn? Have any of you EVER gotten one single job from any of those?

I'm a paying member of Guru.com which is proactively designed to bring clients and creative folks together and I get almost no decent leads (and only one or two paying jobs, ever) from there, so I'm really beginning to doubt the viability of online job leads from places like that, Facebook, MySpace and yes, even these v/o sites as the actual work seems to be continually drying up.

Nothing will ever really substitute for good old proactive marketing and networking. Yes, I know - IN THEORY - that that is what these sites are supposedly all about. But I think the actuality is everyone posts, thinking "Hey, Look at ME!!!" and no one really comes thinking "Hey, will I find that great talent I'm looking for here?!"

Dan Nachtrab · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008, 04:16 (GMT) Post subject:

To answer your question, Scott: Yes. Five figures from myspace alone, last year. A few studio engineers stumbled on my page and contacted me to join their rosters.

My advice to any talent who joins these networking sites is to keep it professional looking. Avoid the bikini babes, even if it's your sister, keep the comment walls clear of any crude humor or personal information, and design it to market your services. The sites are marketing tools, that's all.

Maxine Dunn · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008, 07:33 (GMT) Post subject:

Hi Everyone,

Scott, you're right, you are cranky! In fact you almost sound like you might need a vacation and are a bit towards the end of your tether. :~) Maybe 16 hours a day on a computer is too much. That only leaves 8, so when do you have time to sleep, eat, spend time taking care of yourself, etc.?

I do appreciate your input, and even though I market my ass off on a regular basis in many ways and have many irons in many fires, agents, etc., I was simply curious as to others' experience with the networking sites.

Thank for the positive input and good advice Dan, and also to everyone else for your helpful comments!

However I don't think that MySpace is just "for young people." I know many successful people with MySpace pages: photographers, artists, (fine art or digital), singers, (pop, rock, opera), even highly successful Italian shoe designers, ad agency execs, Broadway actresses, graphic artists and illustrators, stylists, writers, philanthropists, brilliant floral designers, creators of animatronic animals for 20th Century Fox, professional surfers and snowboarders, cinematographers, and other recognized professionals, many of whom are well into their 40's or 50's and who have very successful sites on MySpace. It's a mistake to think that MySpace is just for youngsters only.

Max

Peter Ganim · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008, 13:13 (GMT) Post subject:

For what it's worth-

I resisted many of the sites for a long, long time...for the same reason that I have not been posting much here - I am working myself away from the screen and making an effort to live more and more in the world of three dimensions-

That said - I did finally succumb.

linkedIn, Facebook and irockthemic.

I believe it is absolutely where the business is headed - many and all businesses are/will be conducted in these two dimensions - and the worth of the networking is not to be measured (at least not immediately) in terms of jobs landed or income generated. The sites have the advantage of easy information dispersal, enthusiastic knowledge sharing in the shape of forums and groups, and they do begin to build a new sense of community...even more so than here on Savvy...or, perhaps, in different ways.

There are VO professionals accessible within some of these other venues that I have never seen anywhere else (certainly not the Savvy forums)...and as September wrote to me once when I was bemoaning my tortoise's pace keeping up with all the new sites...registering on them does increase one's SEO.

I have, additionally, had job opportunities come through the networking sites...for me it has been related to either language skills, location, or previous experience - (audiobooks in particular)- but I have already seen the potential job value.

I think it is far too early to begin to measure either the worth or the ultimate impact of these sites...and I believe it imperative to get in now and get up to speed...

All the best-
PG

Haneen Arafat · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008, 16:21 (GMT) Post subject:

As Peter says, perhaps you cannot measure the value of participating in these sites now, but in the meantime, you certainly should figure out how to use them to your advantage.

I think of my presence on IRockTheMic and LinkedIn as additions to my own website. I participate in forums like this one, periodically, but even if you don't want to join in conversations, etc., what's the harm in putting up a basic page to make yourself easier to find?

To answer Scott's question, I recently received a major job from someone I reconnected with on LinkedIn, and in turn, I contacted a male talent from LinkedIn to join me because we'd also recently reconnected and he was on my mind.

As for IRockTheMic, at the very least, I find it encouraging that fellow talent are reaching out to one another, listening to each other's demos, etc. We're connecting with people we perhaps would have never connected with before. And who knows where that could lead?