Or is it?

As most businesses have commonly agreed, August is typically the quiet month of the year, with everyone on holiday and not spending money. The thing is, for the bulk of the people I’ve been talking to recently, it’s quite the opposite; including me.

So far this past 4 weeks, I’ve had lots of enquiries, certainly no fewer than a regular month, and several placed orders, some of the work which has already happened this month, and a few sessions already booked for September. Not bad going for ‘the quiet month’!

This month has also seen me upgrade some of my audio kit, so I’m very pleased about that. I’m now the proud owner of a Neumann TLM 103, a common standard amongst many of us VO’s. Having used it quite a bit over the last few days, I have to say, I’m extremely pleased with the quality…..which naturally continues on to create a better overall product for the client.

So, here’s to the beginning, in a few days, of September, and may it continue to be busy for us all!

Richard Heathcote

Voice Over Artist & Audio Marketing

**PRICING UPDATE** – o2 have now finally released all their pricing for the new unit, as of today at 14:15.

As any Apple follower will know by now, we have the imminent release (June 24th) of the much-anticipated iPhone 4, the fourth generation iPhone (not 4G as many people have been stating, as it still runs on 3G technology, carriers can’t currently handle 4G).

I, for those that know me, will know that I’ll without question be buying my iPhone4 on launch day (not that I’m counting down the days!) With the new hardware and software included in this new unit, it’s a phenomenal device. As Steve Jobs in his keynote speech said, this is the biggest leap in technology since the original iPhone.

However, I have a bit of a quibble. Apple today have released the price of the sim-free device, £499 for the 16GB and £599 for the 32GB version. That’s all fine, and it’s the pricing for people that want a sim-free unit to use on whatever network they want, especially if they’re already in a contract they can’t get out of.

I’m not one of these people. I’ve been a customer of o2 since the launch of the original iPhone. I’ve always had good service from them, and overall have no complaints. I’m one of those people that want the new iPhone as an upgrade unit, therefore I’ll just start a new 18 month contract with o2, and get the unit for a lower price as it’s part subsidised by the carrier. I remember when I had the new iPhone 3G, I had the free upgrade to the 8GB unit, or I could have paid for the 16GB model. I’m more than happy to pay for the new unit, given the amount of technology packed within it – the trouble is, the pricing hasn’t been released yet. How will I know what to do? Whether to change providers? To see what pricing all the networks are offering.

Back at the point of the 3GS release, all the figures I seem to remember were all released at the same time, giving people all the information, all the options available. I still don’t know how much I’m going to have to fork out on June 24th. I like to know these things in advance! Is it just all the carriers holding on seeing what the competition are going to offer it for?

Am I the only one that’s infuriated by this? Please say I’m not! Come on o2/Orange/Vodafone et al, give us a clue what the pricing will be so we’re all informed in good time!

Come on o2, your comments here would be much appreciated!

Richard Heathcote, Voice Over Artist

Well folks, the time has arrived, 2010 is now upon us. I for one will welcome this new year in gladly, as for me I think it’s going to be a year that will absolutely rock, work-wise. Things over the past year have been picking up very well, word has spread, and the marketing efforts both online and off are really beginning to pay off.

It’s just the most satisfying feeling when you can see the results happen in front of your eyes. Long hours have been spent travelling the country to various networking meetings, and online, using social media like Twitter, Facebook and the like; but you know what – it’s all been absolutely worth it. Even at the times when you don’t think it will, you’ll get that random enquiry in either over the phone or through Email. Of recent, I’ve even had some come in through Direct Messages on Twitter, from people wanting quotes for upcoming work. This kind of phenomenon 10 years ago was just unheard of.

We’ve moved into a much more interactive world, where questions and replies can happen virtually instantly. I had an enquiry two days ago on Twitter, and within a minute they had in their inbox all the information they required, with a rate card of my prices ready for their upcoming projects. I absolutely love this phenomenon, it just speeds the whole process up no end, and makes things move in an extraordinary fashion.

Online marketing has been the big thing for me in 2009, and I think it will only grow in 2010. It also makes me think, when it comes to return on investment in your time – where are you reaping the most rewards when it comes to your marketing efforts? Are you overlooking the power of what can happen in the online world? Are you giving it at least a try, to get your feet wet and see what it could lead to? I for one was sceptical in the early days, but am a complete convert for how powerful these tools are. They certainly shouldn’t be underestimated by any stretch.

Ultimately, you have to concentrate your efforts on what you feel is right, and what brings you the most reward. My top tip for the near year is to experiment with everything that is out there, as you never know how surprised you might be when finding where your next pay cheque is coming from. Always be open to new avenues of income, especially in the online world. You never know where it might lead…..

But most importantly, have a positive view on the upcoming year ahead, and do all you can to achieve your dreams whatever they may be. Bring on 2010, we’re ready for you….

Wherever you are in the world, whenever you watch the news nowadays, you’ll very rarely find an article that is uplifting, or just something that makes you think ‘whoah, that’s quite impressive’. Well, certainly I don’t anyway. That’s why generally speaking, I try not to watch the news that much anymore; it’s just far too depressing.

Not that I spend my entire life living on YouTube either, but more often than not, on there I regularly find some incredible videos of great human achievement, perseverance, and effort, that you just know a lot of work has gone into getting them where they were when they filmed it. So, on that note, here’s a small selection for now of videos I just like, for various reasons, of people with great talents and achievements.

I’ll be bringing more of these sorts of videos on a regular basis, as and when I find them, as I think even if they just simply bring a smile to your face, it’s done it’s job.

So, no matter where you are in the world, find something that uplifts you, and pass it on.

message on hold image

Message-on-hold audio is something which many companies do implement, more so if they have more than one department or line a call could be directed to (If they don’t have a permanent receptionist etc). As you say, there are some horrendous ones out there – my aim is to start abolishing those and show how they can be implemented far better.

First port of call (in my opinion) is to hire a professional copywriter (e.g. Stefan Thomas/Mark Beaumont-Thomas – search for contact details on 4networking.biz) who can produce a highly effective script in accordance with your needs, in terms of including any company branding and specific material. Like with a lot of things, people think they can just ‘whack out’ a few words on a jotter pad and ‘that’ll do’.

However, you need to think about it – this is the first thing a potential client will hear, and they will start making preconceptions about you/your company, be it rightly or wrongly. We all judge, even if not consciously. We can’t help it, it’s human nature!

The question you need to ask yourself is, what do I as a business owner want them to think? How do I want them to feel when the call is answered?

What I can do is to produce the voice clips for those phone systems.

Some recent questions that came in (paraphrased):

Why is it important it’s done professionally?

It’s important because the customer needs to feel special and wanted, so being led through by a friendly, professional human-sounding voice will keep them a happy customer, before being put through to the department/person they want to talk to.

How easy to get it implemented?

In a word, very. You supply me with the script you’ve had written, and I can return the finished audio clip(s) usually same day in WAV or mp3 format.

Presumably this kind of thing is quite costly?

With me, not at all. I have packages starting from as little as £50. It all depends on the length of the script and how long it’ll take to produce. All you need do is drop me a line and I can quote accordingly…

Want more info?

http://www.richardheathcote.co.uk/voice-demos/messageonhold.html

So there I am in TK Maxx in Birmingham City Centre, doing some shopping with a friend of mine, and what comes over the tannoy but a ridiculously feeble lackluster voice:

“(microphone squeal/feedback) Duty manager to front desk Please, that’s Duty Manager to front desk, thank yooooou. (microphone squeal again – click)”

I couldn’t believe my ears – it’s not that I relish the opportunity to take the piss out of people with really weird voices, but it was something like I’ve never ever heard before. It wasn’t just because it was a voice with such little conviction that even a bat wouldn’t acknowledge the whiney drivel, but that here was a store, in a prime retail location in Birmingham, with approximately 1000 shoppers in at that point in time, whose store manager thought it ok to let the girl near the microphone.

Not that every employee is going to have a pitch perfect speaking voice, but this was unreal. It amused me greatly as I was ambling round the aisles, running the announcement through my head again and again. Little things I suppose…

Then of course, as we finally approached the array of cash desks, all with employees on who looked as though they really didn’t want to be there, I heard the immortal words…..

“Cashier Number 4 Please…”

Made my day……which is why I’ve given it to you as a ringtone gift on my website!:

http://www.richardheathcote.co.uk/downloads.html

Ok, is it just me, or do you find in-store intercoms one of the most frightening things in existence?

You can keep your bombs, you can keep your knives, guns, nun-chucks; nothing is more frightening than an inexperienced customer service rep in front of a supermarket intercom microphone. I promise you.

All it was was an innocent stroll round the ‘big Tesco’ earlier on, minding our own business looking at baby clothes for my honorary nephew’s birthday. (He’s 3, you know.)

/ahem.

So yes, mission had been accomplished, child catered for, clothing, toys, the usual gubbins that he’ll gawp at for 10 seconds then more than likely discard for a far more interesting cupboard door to play with. We’re approaching the escalator to go back down to the 1st floor (yes, big Tesco has 2 floors. Are you impressed?) when, like a clap of thunder overhead, booms the previously mentioned highly inexperienced rep. Firstly, he’s far too close to the microphone, as the sound distorts whilst it reverberates around the cavernous dungeon of commercialisation.

The accent didn’t help (not that I have anything against it), but it was the thickest African (couldn’t pinpoint a specific region, /ahem.), accent, said in the most incredibly aggressive and accusatory way possible. Seriously, I kid you not – it was like a deleted scene from Blood Diamond:

“COULD ALEXA PLEEZ COMM TO DA CASH DESK AT THEE FRONT OF DEE STORE PLIZ, CUS-TOMER WAITING“

We seriously could not believe the sound that echoed round the store – it was truly deafening, and took us so much by surprise, I leapt up and stumbled into the trolley I was pushing with utter terror.

Never mind, if I’ve injured something I’ll just ring up their claims department.

Actually, if they’re anything like the person in this experience this evening, I’ll take my chances. Remember, these people AT the actual store are the people they let you see…

So remember…..next time you need to announce a message on an intercom, please choose someone that’s not going to scare your customers shitless. It’s less messy.