**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

This is a recent project of mine, voiced for a betting facilities company in Ireland. I play several of the characters within this piece….

It’s certainly something a bit different for me, playing some animated characters. Rather fun!

Anyway, enjoy…..

Richard Heathcote, Voice Over Artist

Is It Worth Paying For A Voice Over Artist?

This may be a question that you’ve asked yourself before, or for a lot of you, it probably wouldn’t have even crossed your mind. But there is certainly a proportion of society that own businesses, or are in charge of high profile brands that must at times ask themselves this question. Is it worth paying for a professional voice over artist to promote their brand/company?

The simplest answer is of course, you get what you pay for. If you have a guy in the office who ‘has a pretty good speaking voice’, who you think should be the voice of your podcasts, or online/media/TV related promotional material, then fair play to you. Have you ever heard that person’s recorded material before? Do you trust them to be ‘the voice’ of the company/brand? Are you ok with the fact that when people hear that voice they’ll associate it with your company? These aren’t all negative points, far from. This counts as for better or indeed for worse. If they are for better, then excellent, give it a chance!

However, if they sound like a totally different person, which is actually more often the case, then you really should think about bringing in a professional; someone that is used to performing in front of a microphone. The thing is, when you put a regular person in a studio environment, in front of a professional studio microphone, it’s like sticking a big lens of a camera in someone’s face; it can be extremely off-putting. Some people tend to freeze, not know what to do or say, change the pattern of their speech, their tone, timbre, level, pitch, or worse, be completely monotone.

If this happens, you could have wasted time in the studio and need to rebook when the person has composed themself, or wait for a professional to take over!

The good thing with hiring a voice artist, is that we’re completely used to all this; We know how to handle a microphone, and chances are, we know exactly how to lift your script by performing the words that are on the page, rather than just simply ‘reading’ them. (A quality you don’t often get when audio tracks are home-made).

So, the next time you have a requirement for a voice track, be it a TV advert, a podcast, corporate video, web audio of any sort, the question you need to ask yourself is, in the long term, is it worth paying for a professional voice over artist? The answer is up to you.

Want more information? Check out my main website: www.richardheathcote.co.uk

Richard Heathcote, Voice Over Artist

This is a recent talk I gave at a 4Networking meeting in Birmingham Longbridge about personal and business branding by incorporating audio into the mix.

In this modern age, it’s becoming more and more important for businesses to be accessible to lots of different types of people, and the ways they absorb information. Become a market leader by having an ethos of accessible-to-all, utilising good copywriting, graphics, imagery, video and audio.

For more information about audio marketing, please click here. Meanwhile, enjoy the video )

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….

This last week has been a funny old week, really. Few jobs on the go, doing some ads for a radio station down south. And I have a new client (or about to, rather) who gave me a rather nice surprise on Friday!

I’m due to record a voiceover for a video they’re producing. It’s fairly low budget, but I agreed anyway as the project sounded interesting. I suppose that’s the nice thing about what I do, I could easily have said no, but what’s the point? It’s money (which is naturally very useful!), plus it won’t take me long to do as it’s a short project, so nothing to lose. He’d emailed me a week ago with the budget they have to play with, around £70 – job’s a good’un.

We’d exchanged another couple of emails since then talking about the project, and he sends me another email on Friday to say that he should be able to squeeze some more budget out of the kitty, making it £100+! Now THAT’S the kind of client I love!! Having random emails come in saying that someone’s going to be paying you more than you originally thought! Fantastic end to the week!