“Hi, my name is Troy, I’m a voice over artist and this social media marketing thing can really suck the productivity out of my day” – – – that’s your cue to say “Hi Troy…” in your most empathetic way! As one VO client liked to tell me – “can you do that again, but really make me feel you.” Thanks, I feel the love.
So while a few are still paying attention and not opening a new window to check their feeds/notifications/posts, etc…
I run a one man voice over production business – you know the kind that does the production, maintains the gear, handles the marketing and also walks the dog and makes the coffee – a home based studio, “loving it”son of the new working generation!
Except I am not the “new generation” I am by all accounts on my second half of life, Lord willing if I live past 100.
Marketing and doing business has changed A LOT since I started in this business in 1984.
Actually “doing business” is the same: great customer service, keeping your word, hard work and a great product win the day but how to get your foot in the door has changed completely.
Let’s see there was the internet… okay we can just stop there. The internet begat social media and love it or hate it – and there are reasons for both depending on your discipline and skill set and lack of time management – social media is a marketing reality we all have to deal with today.
I am by no means a dinosaur and not anti-tech, I built my first website coding it by hand with html and then with Microsoft Front Page in 1996 building one of the first automotive business websites in the country and figured out how to build an online store for a motorcycle business back when hackers were people who didn’t cover their mouths when they coughed.
But somewhere along the way the online world starting moving so fast I got off the train and decided to walk for awhile and focus on my true passions, voice over and video production.
When I got laid off in 2012 I had to suddenly think about how to sell what I had to offer to a great big world full of other people doing the same thing. Enter social media and my quest to be everywhere and do it all – bad idea.
Learning how to use social media is an ongoing process for me and I’m not talking about the mechanics of posting with my smart phone which I am proud to say I purchased 6 months ago and am told that’s really not a bragging point. When your 72 year old Dad already has one you know it is time to get with it.
When I say learn, I mean learn how to “use social media” for your business. There are lots of really smart people to learn from and I have signed up and taken some great marketing and how to do it classes and I encourage anyone confused to seek those out – you don’t have to spend a fortune and you don’t have to feel overwhelmed. I believe ongoing education is also a huge factor in success and a real kick as long as it doesn’t become overwhelming or a stressor.
I am in the process of learning to balance the workday with a specially carved out social media marketing time and realize now there has to be a balance. Without boundaries you can burnout and feel overwhelmed because you are trying to do too much.
I know since I have a LinkedIn page, Facebook pages, Twitter pages, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest identities that I engage with on an almost daily basis and if I didn’t spend an hour a day using Buffer to manage posting I wouldn’t even attempt doing this myself. I choose to carve out a set amount of time to be there and I don’t stress if I don’t.
Like I said I do this intentionally, I have to schedule my social media time otherwise it can spiral out of control and I end up watching old music videos or cute animals. I’m not saying it is addictive only that it is one browser tab away from derailing some folks.
Here is my totally boss take on the whole groovy scene of far out fun called social media marketing – – – don’t kill yourself trying to be everywhere and seen by everyone. I know because I have tried and it is exhausting and sucked the life out of my most productive hours for production.
Even with great automation apps you still have to manage and monitor and engage with a lot of people that may or may not lead to you getting more work.
Something that I try and make part of everyday I spend monitoring and engaging on social media is can I offer someone help or encouragement?
I think that if you help at least one person everyday with no expectation of the ROI of your time then that’s a good use of your time and never wasted.
Now if you will excuse me, I have coffee to make and a dog to walk!
Troy W. Hudson is known as the “Voice Over with Personality”! In over 30 years, he has produced thousands of commercials, narrations, character voices and messages of all kinds for clients worldwide. Energetic commercial reads, the guy next door vibe, making complex elearning conversational and bringing to life a children’s story or audiobook with voice acting and characters. He delivers.