Learning from others who are doing well in the the voice arts is a great way to learn more and stay abreast of what works and what doesn’t. I regularly check out blogs of some of the cream of the crop in our industry. Now anyone can talk can blog, but not everyone creates insightful content worthy of my (or your) time. Earlier this year, I began my Top Ten Voiceover Blogs to Follow list and released interviews with people on the list.
Released in alphabetical order, we’ve so far heard from J Michael Collins, Dave Courvoisier, Bill DeWees, Anne Ganguzza, Debbie Grattan, Paul Strikwerda, Laura Schreiber and Marc Scott. Next on my list is David Tyler. The voice of CTV, thousands of commercials and a voiceover artist I’ve had the pleasure of knowing well for most of our voiceover careers, David is personable and extremely bright. He thinks outside the box and this comes through not only in his insightful blogs, but in his coaching, in the stories he tells and the connections with people he makes.
Voice Over Artist David Tyler
David, why do you blog about voice over?
I blog at davidtyler.com first, to help my clients do their jobs better and second, to help prospects get to know, like and trust me. I rarely post about voice over on my blog, instead I focus on finding ways to help people who might hire me as a voice talent. My blog is called “The Art of Communicating Ideas” and is geared toward the needs and interests of my clients. They don’t want to learn about voice over but want to know for example how to properly setup speakers in their editing/mixing suite so I write about that.
Do you have a theme to your blogs or do you wait for inspiration to strike?
Generally, I wait until inspiration hits or when I discover something or read an interesting article that I can credibly add my own spin that will help achieve my goal of getting readers to know, like and trust me. My client base are TV and radio broadcasters, commercial producers, copywriters, eLearning producers and video content creators, so I’m always looking for things that will interest them and/or help them do their jobs better.
What are your favorite kinds of blogs to write about?
I don’t think I have a particular favourite except that every post is geared toward better communication. My core marketing message is helping companies communicate ideas. Anything that falls into that theme is my favourite.
What kinds of blogs have you noticed get the most attention or feedback?
In my case blogs that have a “how to…” or teaching theme seem to get the most interest. My blog post “The 5 Truths About Commercial Copy Writing” is a good example of the teaching aspect of what I blog about. For my clients who work in radio and for my small business owner clients this is a post that continues to get hits, and it was written in 2015! You should aim to create posts that can withstand the test of time.
Do you have anything else you’d like us to know about your blog in particular or your (philosophy and) approach to the industry?
To be honest, my clients have jobs to do and finding & booking a voice talent is the least of their worries. Write blog posts that 1) help them do their jobs, and 2) build trust with them. If you do that they will hire you and more importantly keep coming back.
Before I create any content (blog post, social post or video) I look through my rotating ‘Be8′ list to decide on my angle: Be Useful, Be Generous, Be Entertaining, Be Timely, Be Human, Be Promotional, Be Controversial, Be Engaging. Pick one of these 8 things on a rotating, regular basis and you’ll be on your way to building connection with your audience.
Do you have any fav VO bloggers to recommend?
…aside from KimHandysidesVoiceOver.com ??? 😉 My favourite VO blogger is Nethervoice. Paul is the greatest! Love those shoes…