If you’ve ever been annoyed by irritating telesales callers that just don’t get the hint, just like I get daily, then you’ll be happy to know there’s now a fun solution!

Get your own back!

I have joined forces with iCandi Apps to create an iPhone app that allows you to get your own back on these telesales callers who don’t understand ‘no’.

For just 59p (UK) or 99 cents (USA) You can download the Telesales Annoyer app, to get your own back every time they won’t get off your phone, and you can just simply place them ‘on hold’!

For more info, please click here.

For the direct link to iTunes, please click here

Scan Me for Direct iTunes Link

This is a short advert/corporate video that I voiced for an iPhone app, based around the motoring industry, produced by Lambda Films.

There are always periods in anyone’s personal or professional life where things can be a bit of a challenge, and it can feel like things are moving nowhere. We are told time and time again that you should just persist and strive through adversity, which I do completely agree with. Eventually, you will hit your target if you work for it.

I think this video demonstrates perfectly how persistence pays off!

So recently, Google announced that it’s going to be launching Google Instant; a new version of it’s search engine that will provide real-time results, as you type. No longer will you have to type the whole search word or phrase, results will, as you type, display results it thinks you may want.

Some have credited it being fairly loopy and pointless, whilst others have said that it could be a whole new way of searching for things. Others have even said that they fear it will cripple their already successful pay-per-click campaigns if results are going to be generated in an all-new way. They feared are they now going to have to optimise their strategies to incorporate the 1st and 2nd letter of their search terms, so ‘v’ and ‘vo’ for someone searching ‘voice over artist’, for instance!

I’ve since been told by techies that this will not be the case at all, and the new instant search will far from kill off traditional SEO, it will merely enhance and refine it. Honestly, the techiness of this topic is far more than what my head can cope with, so these are merely my findings with it. My own stance is that I imagine it will make a difference, for the better, and make searching quicker if you find things that are relevant by clicking fewer keys.

I’ll just have to try it on my favourite search term…..Scarlett Johansson…..

/3,2,1, back in the room.

Go and try it for yourself, and have a look at Google Instant.

Richard Heathcote

Voice Over Artist & Audio Marketing

Play Episode 7

Episode 7 of my podcasts is now released. This month we’re talking to Paul Dean from Crimson leaf, about the importance and the many applications of good copywriting. Also discussing the latest Apple announcements, the controversy surrounding Autotuning-gate, and could the popular iPhone (and now Android) game Angry Birds be coming to a cinema near you?

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

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