How to Find your Best Value for a VOIP Solution
You may have heard the acronym VoIP and wondered what it is and what all the hype is about. VoIP is a telephone service that works over the Internet instead of through your traditional telephone. If VoIP doesn’t sound familiar, you may have heard one of its other names such as IP Telephony, Internet Telephony, Broadband Telephony or as the acronym means Voice over Internet Protocols. If you are considering using this service for your home, then there is information that you need to help you find the best VoIP for your money.
There are cost saving advantages to using a VoIP service. There are many companies that offer a discounted rate for service if they are able to bundle a package for you such as Internet service and phone or cable service and phone. This is great if the quality of your Internet connection is reasonable or above. Many people have this service in their homes, where the package is bundled with Internet. In many cases, people have reported savings of $30 or more every month over what they had before. That is almost $400 per year!
Another advantage for having VoIP phone service versus traditional phone service is that usually you pay a flat rate per month and that includes long distance and local calls. VoIP eliminates the toll charges that you incur with traditional telephone phone service. VoIP does not require that the person you are calling also have the service, it works in conjunction with traditional phone service. It is also possible with VoIP to take your home phone with you when you go on a trip. The incoming calls are routed to your VoIP phone where ever you plug into an Internet connection, like at your in-laws home or your hotel room.
Depending on your service provider, some features may cost extra or not be available with VoIP, such as call forwarding, auto redial and 3 way calling. VoIP is almost always less expensive than the local phone company. There is no more long distance charges or certain times that we have to call to get a discounted rate. Calls are crystal clear, no static and have all the features and more that you would get with traditional phone service.
Another possible downside and a reason some homes still keep a land line or cell phone handy is because the phone with VoIP is powered by electricity. If the power goes out, so does your phone. Likewise, if your highspeed Internet connection goes down, you will not be able to make or receive calls, since your VOIP service uses your Internet connection.
When you are looking at a VOIP phone service and deciding which service to go with, you need to do your homework. Make sure that the provider offers the services you need and want where you live. Make sure that you have a good Internet connection, since a good and reliable Internet connection will be one of the major keys to the quality of the VOIP service.
Beating Google Adsense
Adsense by Google is nothing new. You simply have to sign up, get approved for the Adsense program, after which you can insert small snippets of code in your webpage. Google will then ensure proper banners are displayed in the various locations you specify, presenting ads relevant to the contents of your site. And voila, you earn a small fee when visitors go to your site and click on the ads. Sounds like a piece of cake to make some money. Try it first and you will realise the difficulty.
It all voice down to your true understanding of Adsense – how it works, how to position the ads, should text or graphics ads be used, what is considered as click fraud, how to track your Adsense campaign, Adsense pros and cons, so on and so forth. Many people simply start without doing much read up or background research. As a result, they fail and simply complain one cannot earn via Adsense. This is totally unfounded.
By applying proper strategies and methods, AdSense can be a very good way of generating constant revenue on your site. In this article of mine, I will cover on two main areas – Ads positioning and Graphics vs Text-based Ads.
1. Ads Positioning
Frankly, there is no universal position that is guaranteed to improve your revenue. Experimenting with various positions is one way to find out. But of course certain position should be better than others. For my case, I would highly recommend to place the ads right above, and within the main content of your web site. Another great place would be on the left side of the page. Most reading starts from left to right. And by placing on the left area, there will be a higher chance of being viewed, and thereby being clicked on.
However, if you have more than one ad, you have to be cautious on where they are located in the html code as well. Also, if you have too many ads, you may get a lower click through rate, rather then generate more revenue. Too many ads can be a nuisance and visitors might not follow ads from the places where there are ads popping or appearing everywhere on the site. Do not overdo it.
Make the ads blend in as much as possible to the layout of your site. See your own site from a third party point of view to judge whether your ads are in the best position. You can always get feedback and advice from your friends.
One tip is to make use of AdSense Channels feature to monitor and gauge how your ads are faring throughout your campaign.
2. Graphics vs Text-based
This is rather subjective. Some people may feel that image ads are more responsive but convert less while text adverts may convert more but is less visible to the visitors.
Most often than not, web surfers are used to graphic advertising. So much so we may even overlook such graphic ads at times unless it really catches our eyes. Graphics ads tend to promote brand image as a whole rather than a specific service (with some exceptions of course). Normally, they are assumed to have worse conversion rates.
Text based ads are considered the least intrusive. Being less obvious (as compared to graphic based), some would not even bother to read it. However, the trade-off is, when one really read it, there is a high possibility that it will be clicked. I would refer such ads to be, sort of like “targeted ads”. Take a look at Adwords ads and you will know what I mean.
Like it or not, Google Adsense is here to stay. For those who are new to Adsense or will be trying out seriously in the near future, do your homework now. Learn to experiment and try out for yourself on the best ads strategies. You will realise there are much more to uncover for yourself.
Happy Adsensing.
Copyright 2008
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Can Commercial Voice Over Demos Expire?
Whether it’s just a bit of spring cleaning for you or if you’re in for an all-out demo overhaul, updating a commercial demo from time to time is necessary. The lifespan of a commercial demo is determined by a number of factors. Common indicators that your demo or parts of a voice over demo may be past their prime are: Dates and Times mentioned in the ad copy; Music Selections; Voice Age; and References to Pop Icons and Events of Yesteryear.
Dates and Times: Marc Cashman received a question on Ask the Voice Cat about how often a voice talent should update their commercial voice over demo. Marc focused on the issue of dates and times, saying that if a product is mentioned to be older than two years, try to edit out the date or leave the dates out altogether when recording initially. For instance, if you have a commercial read in your demo about a model of a car that was ‘new’ in 2005, it might just be time to update that demo.
Music: Let’s look at the music factor now. Does the music sound retro? Are the sound effects in line with what you would expect to hear today? Are there cheesy synthesizers in the background? Music often sets the tone for a voice over demo and helps to establish your personal branding style. Don’t let styles of music that have been shelved for too long give clients the wrong impression of your production or music selection skills. There are many royalty-free music libraries out there that you can purchase updated music and sound effects from to keep your demos current.
Voice Age: If you recorded your commercial demo in the 80s or even the early to mid 90s, the demo itself may not only sound aged, but your voice may have matured since that recording, too. Voices age, just like your bodies do. A good example is the hesitation that the directors for the Transformers movie due out this summer had with guaranteeing that the original voice actors from the cartoon series in the 1980s would be cast again in their roles. I’m not certain if the vocal aging process is as noticeable in men, but the voices of women continue to mature until you are forty years old. That’s a lot of changing and readjusting to your voice and vocal technique in the span of a voice over career. Ladies, your voice will peak around the age of 40 – it will be your signature sound and technically, you’ll be in your vocal prime. That’s something I’ve always been told by singing teachers over the years when questions arose regarding longevity of a career. Their advice in that department was nearly always accompanied by the fact that women have years of vocal growth ahead of them and not to worry about postponing a singing career in your twenties.
And finally, we find ourselves again in ad copy refinement… References to Popular Icons and Events of the Past: If you have a spot that mentions a Beatles reunion with Paul, George and Ringo, it may be time to cut that bit. George Harrison passed away in 2001. If you have a reunion tour of a band or anniversary reference in the ad copy on your demo, make sure that it is still relevant or at least accurate. Perhaps it isn’t something in the popular realm but a political ad campaign. If the person isn’t currently running for office or did not succeed in their attempt, strongly consider removing that spot. It may confuse people who are listening to your demo, and of course, reveal the age of the demo. So, now you have the tools to evaluate the state of your commercial demo. Let us know what you dig up!
