Voice123 - Demo Tag discussion thread

[JoeActor]

Hello all,

In case you haven't heard, Voice123 has introduced a new "feature" that lets other people "TAG" your demos with keywords.

Here's a link to their blog entry for full information:
Voiceovers Blog - Official Voice123 Team Blog: New Premium Talent Feature: Demo Tags!

Since the Voice123 blog does not normally approve any "non-positive" comments, you may want to post a note about your thoughts on this thread.

Stephanie at Voices.com would also like to hear what you think about this topic - here's a link to that blog for your reference:
Voice123 Fumbles, Lets Other People Tag Your Demos

So, chime in - how say we all?
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

[Diane Havens]

Well, according to 123, it is off to a great start with over 4300 demos already tagged -- they made a contest out of it, you know. You can win a free subscription. No one I know really likes the idea, so I must hang with the wrong crowd.

Yet another distasteful overcomplication at 123. My subscription is up this week. Just timed out that way, but I won't renew until some semblance of normalcy is restored over there, if and when that happens.

[JoeActor]

Diane, I hope you're not holding your breath... (hard to voice that way ;-)
I think you'll be happier and more focused without the distraction.

Here's the latest blog update from v123:
Voiceovers Blog - Official Voice123 Team Blog: Demo Tagging: UPDATE!

My opinion on the latest update: more "everything's fine", "it's all working as planned", "nothing to worry about", "talent thinks it's great", "tons more leads"... propaganda.

I can honestly say that I have seen an increase in the number of leads from v123, but most of them are low-pay or no-pay jobs. I'm deleting more than ever these days - I may just turn off my e-mail notification all together.

I know some folks who are new to VO see opportunity in low-pay leads, but to be honest, they'd be better off working on their craft and focusing on jobs that pay a fair wage.

My 1/50th of a dollar,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

[Diane Havens]

I agree, Joe. Sometimes I wonder why these "clients" don't just ask their teenage kids to do some of these jobs -- or go down to the local community college and get somebody there for free. My 11 year old son knows how to use Audacity, after all -- he downloaded it without even asking me, btw (so I am NOT going to get him a better mic!)

[J. Calvert]

I think your profesionalism is key when it comes to other peoples work as well as your own and if you can't approach this industry with a degree of profesionalism then GET OUT! Criticism is a part of the game, and though we would all like to have 0 negative feed back eventualy It will happen some deserved others not, but with a professional attitude I think most can rise above it all.

Face it some people are just better than you are, and your opinion about who got the job and why should be relavent only to personal marketing research, granted some clients and or producers choose the wrong voice for the right job, but that doesn't mean it should have been you.

Here is the e-mail I got from voice123 on the demo tag thing.

Hello J.!
The following is giving you some updates on the recently released Demo Tagging feature, and how well it is going!
It is going great! The response has been overwhelming, over 4350 demos have been tagged in just three days! We are very happy with the results so far, and thank all that have participated.
We have heard some questions over the weekend, and I hope you will read my responses to them, as I know that many of you are curious about this feature.
Q: Where is the demo tagging feature?
A: If you have not found it yet, it is a link/graphic that appears after you submit an audition. IMPORTANT: The tags other people have given to your demos will not appear in your profile page, tags will be used mainly to help voice seekers find you, and you will have full control over what tags truly represent your voice.
Q: What is demo tagging?
A: One or two words describing your demo, therefore making it easier to find in search engines and the upcoming search feature, in the future when someone does a search. It is not a critique to your demo, just a way of describing it.
Q: Am I only helping the competition by demo tagging?
A: NO, not at all. I must emphasize again, the TALENT, will be able to remove anything you dislike once the feature is done with this initial phase. It will only be three keywords anyway.
Q: Can't somebody just leave a whole bunch of words I do not know about or leave me negative tags if they are my competition?
A: NO, not at all. We are monitoring this community experiment. Also, you can only leave three keywords. Second, this is only being offered to Premium subscribers. Third, if someone does leave negative tags, YOU CAN REMOVE THEM BEFORE THE TAGS ARE ACTUALLY USED. Lastly, the process is anonymous.
Q: Will this affect how SmartCast invites me to projects?
A: No.
Q: Who sees this info coming in, and what if I do not want my demo tagged?
A: Right now, only Voice123 sees it. Talents will have control to remove tags soon enough, yet I think you would be missing out on a great opportunity to be found much easier. If you wish to skip the process, you may be putting a restriction on how well you can be found. I do training every Thursday at 1PM EST to explain how Voice123 works, and the people I have helped find work easier because they understand what works. They do it all on their own.
Q: Why even bother?
A: Voice123's tools put all the decisions in YOUR hands, the talents. We strive to make this the best online marketing tool for voice overs, and this stage of the game is somewhat educational, safe, but IN NO WAY has an effect on the current status of your profile.
Q: I still do not like that it is 'anonymous'.
A: Understood, that is why YOU can change any tag you dislike in the future. You never know, someone might tag you something you find brilliant.
Q: Is this something you think you can safely learn from, especially if you can remove the tags?
A: YES!!! Voice seekers wish to contact talents easier and directly many times, and we are in the beginning stages of creating something new for the upcoming search feature release. In the future, one of those voice seekers will be able to find you quickly and easily because of your demo tags... that YOU will control.
We still do have a contest going on to give away five free 1-year subscriptions. We hope you can participate!
Q: Why do all of this, if you know it will create concern?
A: I see no reason for concern because Voice123 hired a talent, speaks with talents all the time, both online and offline, and researches the very best out there to directly assist in making the online experience profitable at Voice123. This experiment will last for a few weeks, we will be announcing the winners, you will be able to remove the tags you don't agree with, and then voice seekers will be able to find you easier with the tags and keywords you do agree with.
Despite what you may hear or read on other websites that may have fumbled their attempts in the past, there has been a large recent increase in the amount of projects posted on Voice123, which means...
The Premium Talents of Voice123 are wanted!
The proof is in the voice Over Project Directory.
Just last week alone, over 200 SmartCast projects were posted on Voice123... More than 200 projects in nine days for our talents, not to mention direct invites to non-SmartCast projects in Voice123.
No predictions from us. Only truth and direction. Your decisions make Voice123 the best out there, and we thank you as always for supporting us. I am a talent and I believe the company that works weekends and nights to help others get work is the company I will stick with always. I firmly believe in this positive development of Voice123 to assist in talents getting work.
I hope to see all of you soon at a training, if you have any questions! It is my favorite hour of the week!
Thank you for your time and I hope this helps,

Well that was refreshing.

[JoeActor]

Hey J,

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but my demos should not be tagged by anyone but me.
This alters search engine ranking, and may show up on external search engines as well.

Even so, it's one thing to be "tagged" by people who hire you, another by other qualified professionals, and the worst (the v123 choice)... by any shmuck with $300 and a radio shack mike who's been told they "have a nice voice".

You may not be as familiar with the history of Voice123 "improvements", so it's natural to be taken in by their chatter.

The reply you got is the standard placation and propaganda from Voice123 when they release a new "feature" that their paying clients (us) don't want. The exact same type of tripe came out with Smartcast, and it has a slew of serious flaws that have never been addressed.

I'm not refreshed,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

[Diane Havens]

Of those 200 jobs listed last week, I only was INVITED to maybe 20. Of those 20, I answered 2. That's been my average there.

So it seems the tags will be the only way that one can be found, so you'd better hope your helpful colleagues tag you with a good search term that somebody will use. Most seekers will tend to use the same ones over and over again, like "friendly," "warm," "guy next door," etc. Just hope you get one of those, eh? Otherwise, I guess you can keep deleting your tags until you do. In the meantime, you're not coming up in the search.

At least that's how it looks to me. But it's all very complicated, so make sure to spend some time at the training sessions.