Happy Twenty-Ten
We woke up yesterday, New Year's Eve, to only about two inches of snow. Not enough to make the quintessential snowman. But apparently enough snow for the not-so-ubiquitous snow owl. Kudos to the bank around the corner from my home for making do with what they had. For many, 2009 seemed to be the year for that.
The economy forced us to reevaluate those things we took for granted. And to do away with the little luxuries that didn't add much value to our lives. In a way, it made us more human. While some complained about their jobs, or lack thereof, I had what I consider to be my crossover moment in my voiceover career. Perhaps, companies wanted to push more movies, TV shows, and products in an effort to break out of the downturn; Or, perhaps, there was more money out there than we were led to believe by the doom-and-gloom news media. I don't know. What I do know is that I did more "voiceovering" in 2009 than any other year prior. The crossover itself occurred this Fall when I went from narrating the entire promo campaign for Latino in America on CNN to narrating special promos for their Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. The crossover occured when I narrated TV spots for Michael Bublé's latest album. It occurred when MTV allowed me to be a part of their push for the much-talked-about "Sherlock Holmes" All in English. It also occurred, ironically enough, when I was given the opportunity to write, translate, and voice the Hispanic TV spots for Overture Films' "Law Abiding Citizen." The Crossover Voice (a term coined by my voiceover coach, consultant, and friend, Marice Tobias) was born.But now what? Now, the focus becomes sharper and the "burn" intensifies. For a couple of years I've gotten to work on so many of my ideas. The Meditation for Voiceover ebook, The Lazy Voice-over blog, DJ Movie Drops, ScratchAnthony.com... The list goes on. The problem has been that each of those ideas required its own website; Its own domain. I had too many pieces on the board and not one cohesive strategy. Moreover, I thought I could implement most of these ideas on my own, which took me away from the microphone. As good as some of these ideas were, there was no focus and not enough time to bring them to their full potential.
So, I took a page out Steve Rubel's hub and spokes "handbook" and created AnthonyMendez.com This blog - powered by Posterous and which I call Post-amp (after the Preamp. Get it?) - became, as Steve would call it, my "hub" and my other sites my "spokes." From here I will be able to connect and form relationships with people online. The focus is on relationships. Not marketing. I am, first and foremost, a person and then a voiceover. From this personal hub, those that want to know more about me and what I have to offer can go on to my different voiceover sites, including my main professional voiceover site AnthonyVO.com Approaching the New Year with new ideas and new ways of doing business seems like a natural way to continue to grow. But it doesn't take a calendar to push me to create and implement new ideas. That's just how I'm wired. What I will do very differently this year is allow others to help me. That's key in working on the launch for my Latitude Creative multicultural entertainment marketing company. That's key in allowing me to not only focus on voiceovers, but to continue to come up with fresh new ideas. And that's key in growing as a person. With that said, I will be closing some of my sites: Meditation for Voice-over and The Lazy Voice-over will be no more. The Lazy Voice-over will be archived in some fashion, but the M4VO site will be closed completely. I haven't found the time to create the audiobook version of it, and besides some of my ideas and approach to voiceover and meditation have changed dramatically (partly due to social networking and increased workload.) Things change and we along with it; We must. Here's to 2010 bringing about beneficial change both internally and externally. Be flexible in your approach to business and life and I can almost guarantee less stressful times as a result. Like they say in the Dominican Republic, "Be like the palm tree." (They don't actually say that, but if that phrase catches on, you heard it here first!) Happy New Year! -Anthony
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