Hello and Happy New Beer’s Eve and No Housework Day. I think those holidays go hand in hand, don’t you…?
NEWS AND NOTES!
On Wednesday, April 8 at 3PM EST, I and fellow voice talent Melissa Moats will be the guest speakers at the LIVE World Voices Twitter Chat! The topic is: Essentials of Running a Successful Freelance VO Business. To tune in, go to Hootsuite or Tweetdeck and create a search column using the hashtag #wovochat.
On Thursday, April 9th (yes, the very next day) @8PM EST, I will hold my next Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar. The topic: Paperwork. I’m going to talk about how to keep your desk, your Inbox, and your mind clean. Click here to sign up!
I love traveling. Part of the fun for me is packing and being prepared for when I’m on the road. As an entrepreneur (voice talent) I need to be able to do & access certain things so I don’t lose potential clients or disappoint existing ones while I’m out & about. Last Fall I blogged about how I record voiceovers while I’m on the road so I got that part covered. The key for me is for my business to be as cloud-based as possible.
I’ve talked about this at various conferences & webinars over the past few years and many folks have expressed their concern about security. I’m no IT expert but I do know that your bank can get robbed, your wallet can get stolen, and you can get struck by lightning. Nothing is absolutely secure and the good companies go through great lengths to secure their customers’ data.
Anyway, here are my three favorite cloud-based tools:
1. Google Drive
2. DropBox
3. Google Keep
The reason why I like these in particular is because of how well they work with my devices. I have an Android-powered phone & tablet and my contact database is Gmail so everything syncs instantly and seamlessly.
1. Google Drive: this thing is powerful! You can store just about anything on it. I use it primarily for documents but I keep my voiceover demos on there as well. I also store my Rate Sheet there. This is important because I can send my demos and an accurate quote to anyone, anytime, anywhere. I also use Drive to collaborate on non-voiceover projects like my comic book as well as store books, including audio book manuscripts.
2. DropBox: I use DropBox to store my voiceover sound files. What’s nice about it is that when I’m finished narrating & editing a sound file, I save it directly into a DropBox folder that has already been shared with the client. Once it’s finished saving, it automatically transfers it to the folder. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!
3. Google Keep: I use Google Keep to take notes. What’s fantastic about Keep is how it instantly syncs to all your devices. For example, when I was at FaffCamp, I took notes in Keep on my tablet. When I got home and turned on my desktop, all of my notes were right there!
TIP OF THE WEEK: These are just a few of the many cloud-based tools I use as a entrepreneurial voice talent. I also use Skype, Google Hangout, or GoTo Webinar for video conferencing, MailChimp for email blasts, and of course the app-based versions of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. There are thousands of tools and apps you can use to help you run your business. Experiment and find the ones that work best for you.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
I want to discover my ignorance. Grace Lee Boggs
STUFF!: My apologies to Mac-ophiles. I’m a PC guy but I know there are some great iStuff out there for you as well. Let me know what you use!
From Tom Dheere’s apartment, this is Tom Dheere: GKN News…
Tom Dheere is an 18-year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a coach at Edge Studio, voiceover business consultant known as the Voice Over Strategist, and is currently writing & producing a comic book.