OK, this may not have been a typical recording session as Jon and I are friends and we were having fun with this script. Some recording sessions take much longer than this, but Jon is pretty good and knows what I like so I don’t need to give him much direction.

Unfortunately, you can’t hear what I am saying to Jon but I am sure you will realise the times when I am speaking to him and asking for a repeat of something or maybe for him to say a line slightly differently. Actually, Jon cracks me up so mostly from my end there was a lot of laughter.

I have cut out a short portion of the audio because Jon’s phone started ringing and he used some very choice language. He is such a professional that to have taken his phone into the voice booth with him was completely out of character and his swearing was at himself for forgetting to leave it in the Green Room.

As well as the main voiceover you can hear him recording some of the final sound effects too. My favorite is his Bruce Lee impression.

Download audio file (Jon_Iles_Master_Voiceover.mp3)

I hope that hasn’t ruined your image of what voiceovers do. It really is a simple case of a producer in a studio talking to the voiceover in a soundproofed booth, working through a script together with the producer giving direction where required. No jiggery pokery!

In my next post I’ll show you what to do with this voiceover recording when you head into the editing and mixing stage.

First of all, here’s her script as she provided it:

The intro is a bit like a circus ringmaster introducing an act.

With an underlying consequence to demonstrate the perils of the introduction statements.

—————————————————–
[Background sound - Drum roll]
Deep voiced Announcer:

“Offering more outrageous thrills than a Japanese game show.”

[Background sound - End Drum roll]

[Background sound - karate attack yell] “Aaayeee”

[Sound of hitting wall - Splat]

[Sound - groan of impact] “Uuffff”

[Background sound - Drum roll]
Deep voiced Announcer:

“More chilling than a Polar Bear Club outing at the South Pole.”

[Background sound - End Drum roll]

[Background sound - Splash into water]

High trembly voice: “It’s c-c-c-old-d-d.”

[Optional, omit if deemed too offensive] “Ohhh … shrinkage.”

[Background sound - Drum roll]
Deep voiced Announcer:

“More cutting edge than a complete set of chef knives.”

[Background sound - End Drum roll]

[Background sound - Knife chopping]

In stilted chef Julia Child voice:
“Ow. And now we apply the bandaid to staunch the flow.”

[Background sound - Drum roll]
Deep voiced Announcer:

“Taking hoards of wide-eyed eager cyber explorers on a more profitable challenge than climbing Mt. Everest.”

[Background sound - End Drum roll]

[Background sound]

Nerdy voice: “Ooooh. Look at the view on my five dollar screen saver.”

[Background sound - Drum roll]
Deep voiced Announcer:

“Helping the socially inept make friends and influence the Internet market place…”

[Background sound - End Drum roll and pause]
Deep voiced Announcer:

“We present the Intrepid Master of WiFii walkingin the Virtual Center of Cyberspace…”

[Background sound - Cymbal clang]
Deep voiced Announcer:

“Eddd Dale and his Marketing Menagerie!”

[Perhaps a bit of circus music to close?]

What I liked about this script was its simplicity, yet it still gave me lots of opportunity to really play with it (and go overboard on the sound effects). At the audio production studios I work from we talk about some audio being Theatre of the Mind. Sounds pretentious, but it simply means that you take a script and create an audio production that immediately conjures up images and associations in your head. This is particularly relevant to radio commercials, but also works for a fun podcast intro like this one.

And, of course, it embodied 2 of the things that we associate with the Thirty Day Challenge: it is designed for beginners (Cynthia’s script didn’t use any “in” language that newbies wouldn’t understand) and it is fun! And the circus theme definitely works well with the Thirty Day Challenge team

As you can hear from the final result, very little was changed:

Download audio file (30DCPodcast-Intro-2008.mp3)

What I changed and Why I Changed it

There were a few things I changed. I played with the sound effects a little more than the script said. This is not unusual when changing a written concept into audio. For example, I used different drum rolls and other linking sounds so that it didn’t get too repetitive.

Apart from that, I couldn’t get the “ it’s ccccoooold” to sound quite right in the mix, and felt the “oooh shrinkage” was descriptive and funny enough on its own. Also, even at his best, Jon cannot impersonate a woman and I didn’t have a female voice that could imitate Julia Child (hell, I had to look her up on YouTube because I didn’t even know who she was)!

The great part about the rest of the script was that the highly talented Jon Iles was able to do all the rest of the voicing AND he managed a few sound effects for me too. I personally think that the final introduction has a circus feel but with a slightly macabre edge to it.

Thank you to everyone who entered. There were actually 3 or 4 scripts that I would have liked to make but I had to pick one, and the winner came from Cynthia Abel.

I will be talking in other posts about what attracted me to the script (in fact I’ll let you see the original script in my next post) and why I chose this one over the others, but in the meantime…

CONGRATULATIONS to Cynthia and here’s the final mix of her vision for the Thirty Day Challenge Podcast Intro:

Download audio file (30DCPodcast-Intro-2008.mp3)

I have also been making use of Jason Moffatt’s Easy Video Sales, that I won recently. This is excellent stuff and I promise to create a proper review of it very soon, but in the meantime you can see his superb Mass Control presentation for absolutely nothing (you do need to give your name and email address). Mass Control was Frank Kern’s high priced event earlier this year and Jason gave away many of his video hijacker tips during his presentation (and then Ed Dale backed him up with a brilliant but simple YouTube trick near the end).

As part of the Immediate Edge I have been beta testing some new software called Market Samurai. This is not available at the moment but again I promise you a more detailed review. Apologies if you are following me on Twitter and fed-up of me raving about Market Samurai, but this is the best keyword/niche finding software I have ever used and they have already incorporated the extra information that Google is now revealing (as mentioned in my last post).

Finally, I have been gearing up for the Thirty Day Challenge which officially begins on 1st August. All the entries are in for the podcast intro competition and I’m almost sure I have found the winner (it’s a tough one, and I may need to make more than one intro). So, the next week will have to include me creating the intro in time for the challenge launch. I hope to video some of the process so you can see what’s involved.

Phew! Now I’d better get working

This year I thought we should do it differently. This is partly because the pressure is on to be more creative than last year – eek! – but also because I thought it would be great to harness some of your creativity.

So, the plan is that we open it up as a competition and ask you to come up with your most creative scripts for this year’s Thirty Day Challenge podcast introduction.

If you feel up to the challenge, get your creativity flowing and write a script for me. The best one will be turned into an audio “masterpiece” and will have the honour of being heard by Thirty Day Challengers throughout the world (I’ll even send you a copy for posterity).

Now, because this is also to help you experience the reality of creating online audio, there are going to be some restrictions. Much as I would love you to be able to use any music, any voice actor and any creative concept you would like, this is not going to be possible due to costs and copyright laws.

So, this is the framework you need to work within:

1. Script to record should be between 30 and 90 seconds – any longer and it gets a bit tiresome (in fact, a minute of tightly written copy is preferable to 90secs with unnecessary padding)
2. You can use either a male or female voiceover or both but you are restricted to Jon Iles and/or Sally Williams (click on their names to listen to their showreels). This is simply because I work with them and know they will be happy to participate in the project. Jon is able to do some character voices and that fantastic deep movie trailer voice. If you don’t know whether something is possible with those voiceovers, include it anyway and I’ll see what I can do.
3. You cannot specify a particular music track as this is likely to cost a fortune in royalties, but you can say that music should be in the style of, for example, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Titanic etc. Or, you can simply specify that you would like it to have romantic music or sci-fi music. And, yes, you can have more than one piece of music on the podcast.
4. You can use sound effects (but please don’t make them too tricky to find or create – the sound of a specific Ferrari engine while travelling at 100 mph may be beyond my capabilities )
5. You can’t completely rip-off someone else’s work. For example, much as Ed would like a Kung-Fu Panda theme this year, it will probably breach copyright and have Dreamworks suing our a*ses quicker than you can say “Prepare for Awesomeness” Writing a script that completely mimics a film or tv script is a no-no (as well as being uncreative) but the occasional quote or referencing a film or tv show should be OK.

Once you have your ideas, please write them down in a script. Start with a brief paragraph explaining your overall concept, and then write your script, making it clear what is said by the voiceover, where the music comes in and where any sound effects are required.

The more detail the better, but don’t go overboard and write a screenplay! You’ve got 10 days to get your entry in (I’ll stop taking entries at midnight on Saturday 12th July), which should allow time to create the intro in time for the main challenge starting on August 1st. And if I really get my stuff together I will film some of the creation process too so you can see what’s involved.

Paste your script into an email and send it to lisa.hartwell (at) gmail.com. Include your real name, your forum name and a contact email address.

Oh, and if you aren’t already a Thirty Day Challenge participant, please sign up so you can get to grips with the concept of the Challenge before your write your script.

I think that’s everything but feel free to ask questions here on the blog or over at the relevant thread on the Thirty Day Challenge forum.

If this is your first year of the challenge and think I am speaking another language when I mention podcast intros, then take a listen to these previous ones for some ideas.

This was the intro in 2006 (remember it was originally created for the Smackdown battle between Ed Dale and Frank Kern in their UltraUnderachievers program):

Download audio file (Thirty_Day_Challenge_Podcast_Intro_2006.mp3)

and this was last year’s:

Download audio file (30DC-podcast-intro.mp3)

Time to get creative!

Firstly, just over a week ago John Cow announced the results of his Cowpetition, and guess what? I won first prize! Woo Hoo! A copy of David Cavanagh’s 52 Week “Getting Started On The Internet” Program – including 52 weeks of live conference calls, 1 on 1 coaching and membership site. Also includes 4 day live workshop in Pattaya Beach Thailand ($9,997 Value). I got started in the Internet quite a while ago now, but I’m really looking forward to David’s coaching as there is always something new to learn and different perspectives to see.

About 7 hours after this was announced I logged into Twitter and saw Jason Moffatt (http://twitter.com/jasonmoffatt) make a Tweet offering a free subscription to Easy Video Sales to the first person who Twittered back. I sent a Tweet and, lo and behold, I won! Thanks Jason. Again looking forward to this as Jason is doing great stuff with video online.

Well, deciding I was on a roll, I bought a Euro Millions ticket that day (a very rare occurrence for me as I don’t usually go in for lotteries) and guess what? Yes, I won again! OK, it wasn’t the £34 million jackpot, but £22.50 isn’t to be sniffed at (that’s about half a tank of petrol at the moment).

I started a new Twitter survey (if you aren’t following me on Twitter yet, you can find me at http://twitter.com/Lisa Hartwell) to find out what people would most like to know about creating and using audio online. PollDaddy.com offer a free service to create polls on Twitter and you can also add that poll to your website/blog. If you haven’t taken the survey yet, please add your preference to the right of this post. At the moment, most people seem to want to know more about the technical stuff, so I will definitely be dealing with that in future posts (I feel some videos coming on).

I’ve left this a bit late, but Yanik Silver has released the latest Underground Online Seminar DVDs. You only have until tomorrow to get your hands on them (sorry for the late notice). I have attended 2 of Yanik’s seminars and bought the DVDs/CDs for all of them because he manages to find some of the best and most successful people in the Internet world (and usually people who do not speak at conferences as a rule). Much of the information divulged at these conferences is groundbreaking and stuff you can run with straight away (not just lofty ideals but concrete methods). Yanik is an excellent copywriter too, so check out what he has done with the sales pages for this launch (and when Yanik says that something is limited, he means it).

And finally, we are well into Pre-Season over at the Thirty Day Challenge but there is still time to get onboard. The pre-season videos so far have covered loads of flocking good advice on using the Flock browser and how to use Google Reader to save a huge amount of time out of your day. The actual challenge starts August 1st so there is plenty of time to get involved and catch up with the pre-season training, but it is best to do it NOW while it’s fresh in your mind. I’ve already used the word groundbreaking in this post but I am going to use it again – the (free) teaching over at the Thirty Day Challenge is almost always groundbreaking and worth checking out even if you’ve been working online for a long time, or you have an offline business and want to see how the power of the Internet can be harnessed to improve business.

Don’t forget you can add any thoughts and comments here on the blog or feel free to Twitter me (just add @audiomarketing to your Tweet and I will see it).

But the main reason for this post is that another challenge is happening online at the moment that you might want to catch up on, especially if you are into blogging and/or selling websites. John Cow and Garry Conn are going head-to-head (in fact they have already started) to see who can set up a brand new blog and then sell it for the most money within a month.

I love this sort of challenge, because they promise full disclosure of what they are doing and they are letting you watch for free. It’s one of those win-win situations. They have to succeed (or at least come close) otherwise they look stupid, and in the meantime you get to learn heaps from them.

Dan Raine did a similar thing with his $15k challenge and although he missed the mark by a few hundred dollars (and has been paying for it ever since with the pink thong video), he proved his credentials as an excellent marketer. That made a helluva lot more people want to learn from him and take part in the Thirty Day Challenge and/or Immediate Edge.

I suspect that John Cow and Garry Conn are using this as an opportunity to raise their blog readerships and with a huge prize giveaway as well, they should succeed. If you want to learn more about the challenge and all the prizes (and there’s some lovely stuff there including courses from Ed ‘Mankini’ Dale, Stompernet, Frank Kern, Jeff Walker…) then check out the Cowpetition (see what he did there?).

Especially if you are starting out online at the moment I highly recommend you grab all these free offers whenever you can – whether it be a fly-on-the-wall moment like this one where you can learn by watching others or a participatory challenge like 30DC. As someone pointed out in reference to last year’s Thirty Day Challenge – they learnt more from doing that free training than they ever did from the $1500 course they had just bought..and it made the difference between throwing in the towel with their business and becoming successful and profitable. You can start buying the high-priced courses once you have some basics and cash flow behind you.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

So, why should you consider taking part this year? 

1. It’s the best FREE Internet Marketing Training available

Actually, scrap that. It’s the best Internet Marketing training available…period! Ed Dale and Dan Raine are two of the best brains on the planet when it comes to this stuff. These guys know how to create businesses (very important – this isn’t just about affiliate marketing or Web2.0 or SEO…this is about long-term sustainable businesses) and practice what they preach. Both have been highly successful in creating businesses.

2. It’s cutting edge

A year ago all the Internet Marketing “gurus” laughed at Ed and Dan for promoting the wonders of Facebook and Twitter. They took it in good grace and now they are the ones laughing. Suddenly all the “gurus” have discovered Twitter and Facebook and are claiming them as their own.

Almost always, without exception, the things Ed and Dan teach will be picked-up and taught by others in 6-12 months time. The groundbreaking G-Trends keyword research method from last year’s Thirty Day Challenge is now the standard.

Creating long-term businesses is vital, but on the Internet you need to be ready to use the latest tools to aid you in your business. Jump on the wagon before it picks up the band!

3. It’s tried and tested

Ed and Dan never teach anything they haven’t tested and tested again. Dan is the king of stats and Ed has his own lab testing everything before rolling it out. They are currently testing 2 methods and the best will be used for this year’s Thirty Day Challenge. This is definitely not just theory.

4. You’ll Make Money

OK, it might not be a lot by the end of the 30 days but if you can make $1 you can rinse and repeat and improve so that you can make more (this is more realistic than the get-rich-quick suggestions of many online marketers). But some people have made a significant amount more than $1 in past years.

5. You Can Pick Some Great Brains

People who have done the Thirty Day Challenge before come back year after year to learn more and lend a helping hand. You’ll find some extremely talented people on the forums – especially Caro (always there with a detailed answer, lots of enthusiasm and a kick up the bum when we need it), Nez (Mr Tech) and Man Hunk Pete Williams, to name but a very few. People who have been successful and had their lives changed by the Thirty Day Challenge feel this overwhelming desire to give something back, and it’s worth taking advantage of it.

6. You’ll Make Friends

People in the Thirty Day Challenge come from all parts of the world and all walks of life. It’s a fantastic community of people and if you throw yourself into it you will make friends. Joining a team will help you keep on-track with the challenge and meet new people who could become friends for life.

7. You’ll Have Fun

It’s true. The whole event can be a bit exhausting and you’ll be running on adrenaline for most of it (while trying to remember what your family looks like and when you last saw the sun) but it’s so much fun it’s positively addictive.

Have I convinced you yet? If I have then head over to the Thirty Day Challenge and get signed-up. Pre-season starts 1st June, which is a leisurely amble towards August, helping you get comfortable with the tools and technology, find a team and settle-in before the madness begins.

Hope to see you there.

Well, it took me a few hours one afternoon to write a script, record the script with the voiceover Jon Iles, and find some music and sound effects. That evening I probably spent another hour mixing it all together on Cool Edit Pro.

This was quite a complicated intro but I have created others in less than an hour – it really depends on what is required.

I have a lot of experience in this so expect it to take a lot longer for you until you know how your editing/mixing program works and you are used to putting all the different elements (voice, music, maybe sound effects) together.

If you haven’t heard the intro yet, then listen below, and stay keep reading the blog for future offers I make on recording your own podcast intros (among many other audio marketing products):

Download audio file (30dc-podcast-intro.mp3)