Firstly, I’m after a quick poll as to who uses Joomla for their CMS? Joomla and WordPress are obviously some of the most popular CMSs around. My main website is built on Joomla, whilst this blog is WordPress. Of the two I currently have experience of, my preference is certainly WordPress. I shall tell you why.

Overall, I find Joomla to be quite clunky in it’s workings. You have to do things a certain way most of the time, with not much flexibility. There are certain things it does which don’t quite make sense in my head. It also appears that you can’t make a blank hidden page on your website, like for a client’s project that you don’t want the public to know about. I’m told this is very easy on other systems.

Yesterday I had a big Joomla problem. I was editing some content, and the whole thing crashed, as well as my server, for around two hours. Now, I cannot guarantee that it was Joomla that broke first, but from the series of events that happened, it looked that way. I couldn’t even access the login page to enter the back end of the site, let alone load any of my website’s pages. Nightmarish.

Luckily, it somehow resolved and was working again within a couple of hours. And it just got me thinking. I’ve never had one problem with WordPress. Not one. It’s with the same hosts who host this blog, and I’ve not seen it crash once, or even go down for any reason. Very strange that my main site does.

There’s lots of other niggly problems that I currently face with Joomla, and have for a while, but I’m not going to bore you with them. Needless to say, I am much more of  a fan of WordPress than Joomla, for sure. I think it’s just got too many features that the average person, who isn’t a web techie, doesn’t need. If you’re a developer and you’re phasing up a website from small to big, then great. But then if I was doing that, Am sure WordPress would cater for me whatever I needed to do with my site.

What’s your experiences with either? Am I alone in my feelings towards the ‘Big J’? Please tell me I’m not.

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

There are many things, as singular business people, that we can do ourselves, to save time and money. We do our own marketing, sales, answering phones, doing the actual job we do, as well as all the other stuff. There are other things though, that paying a professional to do, really pays off far better in the long run.

Recently, I’d decided that my blog was simply too bland in design, so needed some imagery on the background. Naturally, my first port of call was my designer chappie, Gareth Coxon from Dot Design; he’s THE guy I go to for design, after he did a superb job on my logo (on my main site, click here), and my pop-up banner I use at networking events and exhibitions, plus other online digital signature items he’s created for me. He understands me, my brand, what I do, and knows exactly how to capture it. He’s created this fab background image that is on this blog, which certainly jazzes it up a bit from being plain white! So, kudos to Gareth, top bloke. Highly recommend him.

Secondly, I found it a tad confusing to install into WordPress, so I tweeted about it, and a friend and colleague of mine I know through 4Networking popped up on Skype, and mentioned that he could sort it out for me, as it needed a bit of code tweaking. It took mere moments for him to put it right, and get it all set correctly…….so, many thanks indeed go to Ant Hodges from ToInfinity!

See, if I had been left to my own devices, things would have gone very wrong indeed. There are times where we can do stuff ourselves. When it comes to the material you push out into the big wide world, I would only ever use professionals.

Gareth’s website – http://www.dot-design.co.uk/

Ant’s website – http://www.toinfinity.co.uk/

Richard Heathcote

Voice Over Artist

Episode 6 – July 2010 - “Smartphone Suicide, Subconscious Salespeople, & The Importance of Networking Your Business” (17m 6s)

In this episode, I talk about smartphone suicide, how Google has now discontinued plans for both the Google Nexus Two, and even the current Nexus One. I’m also giving my take on the situation with Apple and the iPhone 4 amongst ‘Antenna-gate’; and I’m talking to Stefan Thomas from No Red Braces, who’s giving us an insight as to why all businesses, both micro and massive should be networking now more than ever

A video I came across recently, with their interpretation on what Twitter’s really for!

Definitely some truth in that!

Richard Heathcote

Voice Over Artist

It’s 6 days to go until the iPhone 4 will be in my hands. I’ve been thinking today about how it will change my existing user experience, new features that I will start to use, how it will change or enhance the functions I already enjoy using the iPhone for. Just how different is it likely to be?

I suppose really, the first question would be, when are you getting yours? I’ve seen today that o2 have stated that only existing o2 customers will be able to buy the new iPhone 4 at launch, as they have priority, with new customers coming to o2 not being able to purchase until at least the end of July. That’s great news for me, as I’m an existing customer; hopefully it means that they WILL have some handsets in my local o2 store next Thursday, so I can walk away a very happy customer!

With all the new features that Apple have crammed into this new unit, what do you think you will use the most? Has it really enhanced what you already use it for? I know I for one am looking forward to the built in HD camcorder, with the ability to publish immediately to youtube; instant video blogging! It doesn’t get much more powerful than that in my opinion!

Taking photos on my existing iPhone has always been a drag, with there only being a 2MP camera on the 3G unit. Pics are ok, but any movement, or anything less than bright sunshine and they look hideous. a 5MP camera is a very welcome addition for me.

Facetime, the video calling functionality between iPhone 4-iPhone 4 calls, is an absolute revolution. The picture quality seems much higher than anything I’ve seen with other 3G phones offering similar functionality. Of course, this is only enabled via a wifi network, but I’m sure as the carriers progress, we’ll be able to see it appear on 3G signals in the future. (Eventually). Of course, this isn’t anything that I’m expecting to utilise all the time, just a nice feature for when the need/want arrives.

The battery. Oh….the battery. Yes I’ve had some very long love affairs with my power cable of recent. I’ve been using it quite a bit, so have often had to top it up whilst I’ve been working at my Mac. I’m told by a friend of mine who has a 3GS currently, that the battery was significantly better in that unit – plus now in the new iPhone 4, allegedly 40% increase in battery storage, I should have a very nice surprise by the time I come to get mine! Hopefully I won’t have to spend as much time plugged in as I have been so far. The phone, that is.

So what about you? How will this change things for you? Bring on your specifics!

Richard Heathcote, Voice Over Artist

**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

Do Journalists Need Voice Over Artists?

By Richard Aucock

I’m a motoring journalist. For the past 10 years, the written word has ruled. First, magazines, and now increasingly, websites account for the vast majority of my content. But, things are changing – fast!

Increasingly, it’s important to harness video, too. On many sites, video earns a huge number of hits; publishers love the ability for the right clip to go viral, and editors know the huge potential for the ultimate aim of the publishing world – reader engagement.

Budgets are no larger, though. In the past, professional video productions have been filmed, at four-figure expense. They look great but the cost-v-return just didn’t add up. Nowadays, motoring publications are looking to journalist-generated footage to up the video content.

The quality isn’t top notch but readers accept it because of the ‘inside track’ perspective. It’s a nice addition to a regular written road test that ticks many social media boxes.

Problem is, we’re writers for a reason! Presentation techniques are a mystery to us – we can write, but stick us in front of a camera and we go to stilted, stifled, stiff-arm’d pieces. Some of us are worse than others; it’s often possible to get a few pieces to camera out of us, but any more than that is tricky.

A lot of this can be rectified back at base, with a good voiceover of footage we’ve shot on location. But, again, we’ve had no training here: could this be almost as bad?

Thus, the questions – do we need to employ a professional voiceover artist, and if so, in what context? Should this be for all productions? Do readers accept a less polished approach for shorter films, if the imagery and message is worth it? For longer productions, is a pro voiceover a must – and how do we justify the cost to our publishers? Should we consider training from a pro (and would this help us in front of the camera, too?), or would they be averse to offering this?

The pressure on us to generate video will only increase in the future. Rather than worry about it, what can we do to make it easier – and how can voiceover artists help? Advice appreciated!

A link to an example of a journalist doing video…:

30 May 2010

Richard Heathcote, Voice Over Artist

Episode 5 – May 2010 - “Audio Marketing, a Podcast Special Edition” (24m 14s)

This is a recording of a talk I recently made at a 4Networking event in Sutton Coldfield. I talk about the importance of businesses utilising audio in their marketing strategies, how it can open up massive new avenues of audience, for the people that are auditory learners, i.e. they absorb information better in audio form. I talk about podcasting, the power of the human voice, branding your company with audio, the immense reach of the iTunes podcast directory, and how businesses can easily implement audio in their current marketing plan.

Richard Heathcote, Voice Over Artist

I’ve become involved in a project that could do with your vote. A friend and colleague of mine, Amanda Hill of Dreams To Go,  has thought up a new idea for a new business, and entered the Barclays Bank ‘Take One Small Step’ competition.

The basic idea is to create a national network of local radio that centres on community oriented activities, including being a portal for businesses as well, and offering very affordable advertising solutions.

Once on the page, look to the right, and please ‘back this idea’ by clicking the relevant button.

Your support is much appreciated!

https://www.takeonesmallstep.co.uk/Entry/View/5678

Richard Heathcote, Voice Over Artist