Anthony Mendez' Post-amp - What happens outside of my voiceover studio

July 28, 2010

It's not a dog-eat-dog world after all

It may not be a dog-eat-dog world, but it sure is a small one; At least in terms of synchronicity (more about that later.) This morning, there was another canine and it's human leader in my kingdom upon my arrival. The leader acknowledged me. I reciprocated his acknowledgement. As I approached the gate to the most un-kept dog run in the New York Metro area, I got a better look at the dog that occupied it. It was a Pitbull. Now, most people with a 20-pound dog at their side, would have started shaking in their Rockports (hey, they're comfortable!) but not I! I'm not afraid of dogs. Besides, I know that Pitbulls, in general, are sweet loving dogs with a bad reputation created by a select few idiots in this world that take advantage of their strength for monetary and egotistical gains.

In short, the owner was a very responsible human who understood the breed and, more importantly, had obviously established himself as this dog's leader... as evidenced by his simple verbal commands that were immediately followed. I entered the dog run with my dog, Kiyoshi, and they hit it off. Now, Kiyoshi, on the other hand is a very "pretty" dog (he hates when I say that), a Shiba Inu, but he is also very skittish, nervous, and doesn't make friends that easily. But when he does make friends with his canine brethren, it is beautiful to see.

As freelancers, marketers, and creatives we spend quite a bit of energy on establishing a brand (whether that's futile or fruitful is up for discussion,) but when we use symbols and images to portray certain characteristics of ourselves and our work, we never stop to think about whether the underlying message is in sharp contrast to the intended one. Would a tough, gritty, aggressive voiceover artist, for example, use a Pitbull on their marketing materials? Perhaps. But, after today's experience, my perception of that brand might not be what the artist intended.

Here's to Kiyoshi and my new friends - Ron (the human) and Dutchess (the dog) for giving us new perspective.

-Anthony

P.S. I mentioned synchronicity in the opening section of this post - Ron is of Dominican heritage, as am I, and attended the same high school I did. Oh, and our dogs both have four legs!

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Filed under // advertising branding first impressions synchronicity

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July 27, 2010

American Idolizationism

In this dog run, there is no dog. There is no owner. Hence, no pack order. So, obviously, there is no leader and no leader of the leader (i.e., the human.) That's what the picture says. That's what the photographer wants you to believe. The human. Me. Invisible. Standing there next to my dog. Also invisible. This is my morning routine. The walk. Then a stop at the dog run. Tea. Meditation. Almonds. Then the walk. Then home.

That bench is my throne. The park is my kingdom. On rare occasions, other humans and their dogs occupy my space. They just don't know it's my space and so I wait until they acknowledge me. Most of them are not entertaining (both human and dog.) I expect them to be. But that's selfish. Self-aggrandizing. And so I stop. Who am I to judge?

What are your expectations of others? Are they too lofty? Do you hate your boss or have clients you just can't satisfy? Do you have colleagues that you just find plain boring?

Is it time to do a little introspection and adjust your expectations of others? For many gurus, experts, and idolized creatives and talent alike - it's not only time, it's long overdue.

I will use social media the way I see fit. I will market the way I feel comfortable. I will not worship you. Instead, I will meditate and allow my voice to guide me. I will be "me." There are many facets of "me." There are many forms of expression. In each one, there will be varying degrees of "me" and varying degrees of expression. To expect them all to be the same is akin to expecting your chocolate candy bar to taste the same as hot chocolate or - God forbid - a chocolate truffle or - worse - a chocolate cake.

Now, pass the chocolate-flavored Yoo-hoo!

Are you guilty of idolizing those that put their pants on the same way you do? Let me simplify this - how many times have you posted to your "idol's" Facebook account or tweeted them only to receive no engagement whatsoever?

-Anthony

P.S. I know "idolizationism" isn't a word, so don't refudiate it.

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Filed under // being yourself creative idolizing marketing social media voiceover

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July 26, 2010

What was wrong with bars of soap?

I have to admit, I'm not walking around smelling like the man your man could smell like. Aside from Herrera for Men, whatever is underlying my cleanliness is usually compliments of what my wife puts in the shower. And most of the time, I don't mind it except for one very time consuming borderline-OCD-inducing aspect that seems to be a part of every cleansing product - little tiny pearls. They're like little ball-bearings that help my hands glide smoothly over my body. Sorry for the image. Back to the pearls.

According to the bottle, they're "softening serum pearls for soft, healthy looking skin." I know they're supposed to burst open or dissolve and unleash some oil or chemical that will make my skin as soft and smooth as a baby's bottom. However, I'm not quite sure that's what I need; Softening of my skin? Hell, I've avoided most labor-intensive work all of my life so my skin is plenty soft already, thank you very much. Put sand in that puppy and I'll buy it; something akin to Goop. If a grease monkey uses it to remove burnt automotive oil from his hands, then it's good enough for me. Don't get it twisted though, this is not a macho rant. I love pearls just as much as the next guy... just not in my soap.

The problem I have with these so-called "pearls" is not what they do (or are supposed to do,) but what they make me do. I don't have time to wait till they burst open and bless me with their miracle moisture, so I spend half of my shower time chasing them on my palm, with my index finger, trying to pop them. Almost as if I want to get our household budget's worth. Not a pearl unturned! But they're some slippery suckers and when they do indeed burst, I'm not sure my fingertip feels "softened." That's a problem. The benefits/time ratio is low. Not so with a bar of soap.

A bar of soap was efficient. It did what it was supposed to do - clean your ass and your body in one smooth motion (spare me - you know you've done it.) It even developed finger strength as you had to grip it for dear life otherwise risk getting slapped from behind by a wet wall or plastic curtain. A bar of soap let you know that it was time for a new one when it became so soft that you can hardly rub your chest without losing all of it in your chest hair only to pick it apart in pieces. Sorry about that image again.

Have we fallen prey to marketing? Sure I can man-up my bodywash, but that still leaves me with the emasculating task of having to dab a little on a vinyl luffa made in China that knows everyone in my family better than I do. I want my bar of soap. My own bar of soap. I think I'll buy one. I think I'll buy the cheapest bar of soap I can find. One that doesn't promise "soft, healthy looking skin." Then I'll carve my name into it with my teeth (the soap not my skin - I'm not crazy) and smile at everyone I meet that day. So that when they say, "Anthony, you have something in your teeth." I will proudly reply, "Hell yes I do! It's soap!"

Do what you do and don't try to entice me with your pretty little pearls.

Swan dive into that!

Are you with me?

-Anthony

P.S. I broke a nail typing this, so if you catch me at the nail salon around my way, that's why.

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Filed under // advertising being yourself brand man your man could smell like marketing old spice

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June 16, 2010

Death of the Full-Time Professional

Forgive me, friends, for I have sinned. It's been seventeen weeks since my last blog post. Okay, I'm not actually asking for forgiveness; Neither will I try to justify my transgressions with stories of how busy I've been with life, voiceover work, or - worse - auditions. Those are a given (or at least should be.) It's just that sometimes I, as one who blogs, feel as if I have to explain; But to whom? Where is it Written that I have to write every day or every week for that matter? My blog is not my job. I am a husband, a father, and then a voiceover artist. Simply a voiceover artist. It's what I do. I don't have to justify what phase of my career I am in. Despite that, many freelancers feel the need to add "full-time," "professional," or both before their title. Not only is it pointless (other than for the slim chance that someone is actually Googling "full-time professional voiceover artist,") but it's a dead giveaway of just the opposite.

As a freelancer or creative, how do you define "full-time?" My week, for example, can vary wildly from 10 hours total time on the mic to 15 or 20 hours total time on mic. Hardly "full-time" in the corporate sense of the word. I only count time on mic because that's when I'm actually "voice-overing." The other times, when I'm on twitter, facebook, email, Google, and blogs I'm a twit (no clue what they're called,) friend (or fan,) sender, Googler, blogger, and subscriber - otherwise collectively known as a marketer. Even though the time spent on these activities can rival paid time on mic, I don't consider myself a full-time marketer. It, just like voiceovers, is just what I do. It's my virtual watercooler. I do it because I enjoy it, not because I have to. Where marketing and voiceovers differ, for me, is that voiceovers is what I wake up every day feeling like I have to do.

Now, again as a freelancer or creative, how do you define "professional?" I'm not asking you log onto M-W.com, I'm simply asking you what is your perception of that word? How do you define it and how does it define you? In my case, it doesn't. To place the word professional in front of what I do is almost akin to bragging about the size of one's male member (sorry, I don't know what the equivalent of that would be for ladies, but if you know please send me an email.) When I was in music, my business partner and I would laugh at all the other music studios' websites because it seemed that most would include what we called "the penis shot*." That is to say, a picture of their big mixing board with all the lights on. It was splashed across their home page as if to compensate for what they were lacking - actual mixing and recording skills. Need I say more?

In the end, you call yourself what you'd like, but when a client is interested in you and what you have to offer, there are two things that are assumed:

You will be available to do the work you're getting paid well to do.
You will perform at the highest level of your craft to help bring their ideas to life.

Both of those point to an assumption of you being both "full-time" and "professional." Besides, in a world of 140 characters you can't waste time stating the obvious. Many of my producer and editor friends can easily spend upwards of sixty hours a week doing their magic while chugging down caffeine throughout the night and working under the gun to the sound of the cleaning crew. They assume number 1 and number 2 as well and don't ever refer to themselves as "full-time professional on-air promo producers and trailer editors." They just are.

How about you?

'Have to run, my full-time professional landscapers just showed up!

-Anthony

*See picture at top of article for an example of a "penis shot."

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Filed under // freelance professional voiceover

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February 17, 2010

Compartmentalizing your brain

I recently listened to an interview with riCardo Crespo and it made me think about whether or not I've clearly communicated my goals to my marketing department. riCardo is an advocate for having internal creative directors in order to better communicate with an ad agency. It makes complete sense as creative directors speak the same "language" and therefore begin the relationship with several commonalities. The challenge, as a freelancer, then becomes, "Who composes your marketing department and how often do you communicate your goals with them?"

In my case, as a lone freelance voice-over artist (cue Lone Ranger theme,) my marketing department would ideally be my representation. But the reality is that all of my agents and manager are my national sales department. My marketing department is actually composed of none other than me, myself, and I. So, the second part of the question would naturally mean that I need to schedule meetings with this singular trinity.

Once this creative meeting is scheduled, the next step would be to create an agenda with input from the rest of me... uh... the company. This agenda will consist of objectives. The intention is that during this meeting, I... sorry... we will come up with creative ways to meet these objectives (otherwise known as goals. "Goal," by the way is not a four-letter word. "Resolution" is - especially that of the New Year variety.) The goals should be simple and straightforward, because we don't want there to be any miscommunication. One final and crucial note; This meeting is closed to your accounting department.

I can't allow my accountant (my left brain) to hinder the no-limit thinking of my creative (my right brain) during this time of important ideation; Hence, the closed meeting. Don't worry, there will be plenty of time for both your right and left brain to work together during a future strategic meeting or, even better, a year-end review (another four-letter word depending on the context.)

The problem that many freelancers face is that their accountant is allowed into way too many meetings. If coming up with an agenda is an issue, then steal your accountants agenda and re-write it (then kick him out and lock the door.) Instead of thinking about how much money you need to generate, write down how many bookings you would love to have (daily, weekly or monthly.) Instead of thinking about how to increase revenue, think about how to shift your work to more passive income or, in my business, residual generating voice-overs (commercials) or recurring voice-overs (signature work, launch campaigns, radio imaging.)

This isn't meant to be a how-to article on generating ideas. My goal is to share a way to shift your consciousness in order to allow your artist to play. In turn, it will flourish in this no-limit environment - the accountant-less marketing meeting of the mind. Who knows, you might even have fun! Don't forget the entertainment in entertainment business. Schedule that meeting.

Here's a meeting I just had yesterday with my marketing department:
Agenda:
Increase engagement on my voice-over site by shifting the visitor's experience from an auditory one to a visual one. (i.e., Videos with audio will take center stage and replace audio-only)

Here's a meeting I had with my accountant department:
Response:
Adding more video would increase bandwidth and risk being shutdown or, worse, getting hit with exorbitant hosting fees.

Here's a subsequent meeting (after thought... emphasis on after) I had with my IT department:
Challenge:
There's more latency with video and therefore a higher risk of increased bounce rate.

Now, there's no question that the marketing department's creative idea was going to be implemented. I never judged it during ideation. After the meeting, I presented it to accounting in a separate session. The accounting department raised some fiscal challenges that might present themselves down the road. At the same time, I had a discussion with my IT department. The IT department raised concerns that were later taken into consideration.

The solution, was Amazon's CloudFront service. Which I'll be talking to you more about tomorrow and, hopefully, showing you a quick tutorial on how I set it up. Presently, all of the media (audio, video, and images) on my AnthonyVO.com site are stored on my Amazon S3 account and distributed via their CloudFront service. My webhost only serves up the HTML/CSS text files (i.e., small files when compared to media.) What's the cool part about it? The specific server that presents the media is dependent upon the visitor's location - it automatically chooses the closest server - thereby minimizing latency. Very technical, but overall still very creative (and super affordable - just in case your accountant was wondering)!

With CloudFront, I've addressed marketing (allowing more media,) IT (reducing latency and therefore bounce rate,) and accounting (minimizing bandwidth costs.) Before you think I've gone schizophrenic, I'm merely suggesting you compartmentalize your multiple roles in order to create more effectively.

Does your number crunching get in the way of your creativity?

-Anthony

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Filed under // accidental creative Amazon S3 CloudFront compartmentalize ideation riCardo Crespo voiceover

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February 13, 2010

The World's Greatest Spokesperson in the World

According to Brandweek, Nationwide has a new campaign... a funny one. It's caught my attention, not by its content, but by its title. "The World's Greatest Spokesperson in the World" is not only a redundant title, but it brilliantly overemphasizes the importance of a message; Furthermore, the importance of the delivery of that message.

Whether this will indeed "connect" with the general public to move Nationwide beyond weekend racing recognition, remains to be seen. But as a voice-over artist, I not only appreciate it, but give it two 416's up.

-Anthony

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February 12, 2010

My love/hate relationship with Google

via google.com

Perhaps "hate" is a strong word, but the frustrations I sometimes experience with something I "love" can sometimes keep me up at night. Yeah, I'm that passionate about Google. It's not blind Google-love. It's true love. Let me tell you a little about our relationship.

It was love at first sight. I had never seen such a clean, simple layout for a search engine before. They called it Google. I would tell all my friends about it... possibly even annoyed them with it. At the time, I was the new media director for NuLife Entertainment (a concert and club promotion and marketing company, now a record label) and I was tasked with coming up with new creative ideas for marketing and social integration both internally and externally. Google, was the first thing I introduced to the staff. Some of them called it "Goggle," but no matter; Because , they too saw the value in its simplicity and efficiency for getting information. I used to tell them, "If Google can't find it, it doesn't exist."

Eventually, everyone knew about Google and it was no longer my discovery. It became a celebrity and I felt like I was standing on the sidelines at the "red carpet." It also became verb. Part of the lexicon. To "Google" something meant something. My love was growing. It then added other features like maps and I broke it off with both Yahoo! and Mapquest (which kept leading to a dead end... sometimes literally.)

I remember Leo Laporte on ZDTV talking about this much buzzed about (foreshadowing?) free email called Gmail. I thought the name was silly, but I wanted an invitation so badly. After all, everything stopped when "Call for Help" and "Screen Savers" came on (just ask my then-girlfriend, now-wife, Marivel) and I was Google's first love! I deserved an invite. When the invite finally came, I was positive I wanted to marry Google. And so I fully committed myself to it, dumping my first web-based email account, Hotmail (besides, little did I know that Hotmail would soon cheat on me with MSN and things would never be the same again.)

It was a marriage made in heaven. Over the years our love continued, but not without some compromises. Yes, it was great that I can now have a great spam filter, never-before-seen threading of emails, accurate directions, and many, many more functions all in one account. But something didn't feel right. Google was growing up faster than I was. I tried to keep up. I signed up for AdSense, AdWords, Google Reader, Google Analytics, Google Profile... heck, I even let Google handle my domain's emails and showed everyone else how to do the same (at this point I wasn't concerned about exclusivity.) I jumped on board with Google Voice... it literally had a hold on me.

Recently, however, I've become disillusioned, because of its last two additions - Google Wave (I want to love it, but don't know how) and now, Google Buzz (which seems to be just that.) It felt like an abusive relationship; I did everything to avoid getting a Google slap or, worse, being dumped by Google altogether. But when I recently changed my Google profile, only to learn that by doing so I can no longer access my Waves, it became apparent that I was headed for heartbreak. When I signed into Youtube, only to be forced to sign in with my Google/gmail account, I felt like I was being manipulated. Nonetheless, I was hopeful at first, because I truly wanted to believe that this was the first step to consolidation. But it wasn't. And when I signed up for Buzz, and it created yet another Google profile for me (the one I was trying to get initially but it refused to let me use - AnthonyMendez) I knew it was now giving me the run around.

I still have my AnthonyVO.com email with Google Apps, but some services require I sign in with my gmail account instead. I can't move from one service to the other without having to separately log in to that service. It's giving me a headache.

Why, Google? Why? I want to continue to love you, but you keep shutting me out!

Heartbroken,
Anthony Mendez

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Filed under // apps Buzz Facebook Google social networking Twitter

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February 8, 2010

Fruition with low "tuition"

That is my "watercooler," if you will. That is my morning cup of coffee. That is a moment of potentiality and peace.

Any freelance business is a very lonely business; But only physically. Apparently, especially for creatives (and aren't we all, at our core, creative souls?), being alone is a good thing for generating ideas.

I thrive on generating ideas, but more importantly I also act on them. I don't judge them. I simply act on them. It's part of who I am and what I do. If there is an opposite of "paralysis by analysis" I am the embodiment of that - action without distraction, ideation without mediation, intention without intervention (take your pick.) I have to put my ideas on paper. And I have to act on them. How much time I dedicate to the idea or how far I take it is never planned. It's a very organic process. I also know when to close up shop - either because the message of the product or business is no longer aligned with my present way of thinking. It's the beauty of the internet. It allows you the freedom for fruition with low "tuition" (sorry, I had to do it - I was on a rhyming roll.)

Although I remain open to generating revenue from my ideas, it's never my goal during ideation. The first step, after an ideation session, is usually registering a domain name. It's the easiest way to begin the manifestation process outside of pen and paper. If your idea takes off, you've protected your intellectual property online. If it doesn't (for now), then the domain would've only cost me ten dollars and I'd have a year to decide if I'd like to invest more time or money into it.

Taking action on an idea is key. It can lead you to another idea - a very successful one. One that you would've never thought of to begin with. Case in point: I quit my day job to enter the music industry with delusions of being a singer. I studied music and voice for a few years. I wrote and recorded songs (and got some ink in the process.) I even went so far as to travel to Chicago to record an album. And I actually performed on stage a few times. Simon Cowell would've had a field day. But that led me to become an audio engineer - I was good at that. Then a radio commercial producer - I was great at that. And, finally, a professional voice-over artist - I'm being paid well for that so I guess that means I'm great at this, too.

At present, in addition to continuing to grow my voiceover career, I am involved in Latitude Creative and PromoARK. Two entities that started as simple ideas. Are they good ideas? I don't know yet, but I do know that they seem to continue to organically gain momentum and so I pay attention. Moreover, they are inline with two of my passions - movie marketing and discussing network promos and their design.

Ideas are your most powerful, abundant, and limitless asset. Don't let them collect dust. There are only two things your ideas ask of you:

Continue to plant more of them
Water them with action

What is holding you back from taking action? What are you afraid of? They're only ideas. Right?

-Anthony

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February 2, 2010

Overpriced?

That, my friends, is a picture of where, just last Friday, I paid eight dollars for a cheeseburger and a cup of hot chocolate. It was freezing that day. Anyone with a few bucks in their pocket would have been glad to pay anything for something hot; But eight dollars for a single cheeseburger and a small cup of hot chocolate? You can get three times as much food at Wendy's. Not to mention I have yet to see a Wendy's without indoor seating (brrrr.)

This place, called the Shake Shack, sits on one end of Madison Square Park (no relation or proximity to The Garden) and, despite lack of refuge from the harsh Winter, draws a line of customers that any brick-and-mortar business would be envious of in this economy.

What is it about this no-frills, fast-food (gasp,) cheap outdoor seating restaurant that people seem to love? During Summer you'd better have a flexible lunch hour and lots of napkins if you want to partake of The Shack's somewhat limited gastronomical offerings, because you'll spend most of it waiting on line and salivating with the rest of the fans.

Bingo! That's exactly what this place has been able to create; Not customers, not consumers, but fans! Customers have wants. Consumers have needs. Fans, on the other hand, have desires. They desire not only a product, but, more so, an experience. The Shake Shack is well aware of this desire and how a major part of the experience is a communal effect created by doing something we normally hate to do - wait in line (just take a look at the background that loads on their site.)

It's no secret that Apple too has created fans. The iPad is neither wanted nor, some may argue, needed. The iPad will sell by virtue of Apple fans' desire. In the same way, The Shake Shack sells cheeseburgers... lots of them.

The question therefore is, "how has a plain looking place like The Shake Shack created such desire?" The product, without question is solid. That's a given if any sort of longevity is to exist. The answer lies in The Shake Shack experience. The perception is that being part of this young New York landmark is equivalent to being in the know. It's an initiation into cool.

Burgers, shakes, and hot chocolate are pretty boring without the "cool" personal experience. As are most voiceover and freelance talent (boring without personality that is - not shakers by any stretch of the imagination.) However, it's not you that has to be cool. It's the experience of working with you. Take the focus off of yourself and you too might be able to sell a "combo meal" for well over market price.

As an experiment (and to practice what I preach... shudder,) beginning tonight throughout the rest of this month, I will remove the present styling and design from my voice-over website and simply leave a header, sidebar, and content area with links. That's it. Let's see what happens.

See you "on line."

-Anthony

P.S. For the record, I prefer Wendy's burgers for value in today's economy. Thank you. :)

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Filed under // customer experience K.I.S.S. Shake Shack voiceover

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January 27, 2010

From Photoshop to CSS Website with Basekit

I was going to review Basekit, but I couldn't find much wrong with it. And you know every review has to include both pros and cons or risk coming off as a commercial for the product in question. Well, ok - if there is one downside to Basekit, it's that my coding skills might become rusty from not having to use them much anymore. If you don't know what I'm talking about, view the Basekit video, and prepare to be amazed.

I'm always generating ideas for online businesses and the websites to go with them as well. Admittedly, I've been too lazy to take up learning XHTML and CSS, and - until late last year - still designed my sites with tables (so 90's of me.) Tables were not intended for design - they were intended for presenting data - and therefore using tables for web design presents problems. In between voice-over work (and while eating pizza... lots of it) I started to teach myself CSS. It has freed me from the shackles of the rigid, unforgiving, antiquated table.

But just as I was getting the hang of CSS, along came Basekit (those bastards!) Basekit is the easiest way to go from a Photoshop design to a W3C valid XHTML/CSS website. Although they provide webinars to show you a little more than their presentation video does, they don't exactly show you how to create your own Photoshop template from scratch. No worries, because they do have several pre-designed templates you can choose from. But if you're stubborn, like me, and want to design your own template, then view my 4-part tutorial on how to do just that below (you can view the tutorial as one complete video on Vimeo.)

Part 1 of 4 - Creating a basic website template (making it simple)

Part 2 of 4 - Enhancing your design with small details (making it pop!)

Part 3 of 4 - Adding images to your template (making it pretty)

Part 4 of 4 - Uploading your design (making it work)

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. If you'd like to sign up for a basekit webinar, send an email to beta@basekit.com and tell 'em Anthony Mendez sent ya! They're very cool peeps.

-Anthony

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