In today’s day and age of social network-meetup-hi-look-at-me-ing you never really know who’s out there peeking in your website-blog-twitter-facebook-window.
That’s not a bad thing, in fact it can be pretty cool!
I had a wonderful experience at the NYC Voiceover Mixer hosted by Voice Talent Productions last month: a fellow voice talent, who I had never met in person, came up to me and told me how much she appreciated my posts about telephony and how much she learned, and thanked me for the help I had given…virtually. That made me feel really nice!
Earlier this month another fellow voice talent emailed me to say that she had attended NAB in Philadelphia in the fall and that the hugely talented Dan O’Day had used my Twitter feeds as an example of what to do right when using Twitter. Wow….that’s pretty cool!
And now, the latest is that a fellow west-coat Voice talent Jeffrey Kafer – a former Microsoft employee who got laid off last year – got contacted by FOX News to be a guest on the Mike Huckabee show to talk about how he went from employee to full time voice talent. All due to someone having seen one of Jeff’s blog posts.
Now these are all positive examples of putting yourself out there. And they all came about from just being online and doing what we do. Being ourselves.
This doesn’t mean you can’t be opinionated and stand by your convictions. (See my friend Peter O’Connell’s blog for some great posts that have started some very lively discussions!)
But I keep in mind something my father told me back in the days before the Interwebz: “Never put in writing – in a letter or otherwise – anything you aren’t ready for the whole world to read.” That’s even more applicable today.
It just goes to show you that you never know who is watching you, reading what you write and taking notes. They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Wouldn’t you rather that impression be a good one? When online, it’s probably a good idea to keep it clean and professional ….like this post! 🙂
Peace!
Greetings, Liz! I love the idea behind this post, your excellent examples, and especially the sage advice from your dad. I am amazed at the number of people who post negative comments and complain all the time on-line. They either think they are veiled in anonymity or don't realize that their words posted in cyberspace live on into perpetuity.
As in the case of the talent who thanked you for your blog posts, we never know the impact we are having on someone else. Thank you for being a shining light not only in voice-overs but in the world at large!
Cordially,
Karen Commins
http://www.karencommins.com/
Awwww, thanks Karen!
I really appreciate it! 🙂
Peace!
Liz
Good post Liz. Even better quote from our friend Spitzer (who apparently didn't follow his own advice either):
"Never write when you can talk. Never talk when you can nod. And never put anything in an email".
Funny guy he was 🙂
HA! That's pretty funny Jerome!
Thanks for stopping by in the midst of your move!
Nice post, Liz – it underscores why I prefer to talk on the phone instead of write, especially when it comes to booking work. I don't carry a PDF; a live conversation is instant, both parties "get" each other's point, and I talk faster (and more neatly) than I type!
I'm glad you're my friend; keep up the good work and good networking!
Nuts. Do I have to wipe out my entire blog, then? DAMN YOU, WRITTEN EVIDENCE OF MY INFERIORITY!
Since I've met you, you haven't stopped inspiring, mentoring and even teaching your passion about the Voice Over world to anyone you know. Your tweets and blogs show how much of a good soul you are. Giving always gets back to you positively and this is why you are so successful today. I'm happy our VO paths crossed and I'm glad we're friends.
Pierre la France
http://www.pierrelafrance.com
Awwww, Merci Pierre! That's really sweet!
And Paul: All I kn ow is that you ARE famous!
& Tom…well…. I could never cook as well as you, so …there!