Wendy Edwards (@wendytime ) is the “ultimate communicator”. In this interview she talks about how she has used Twibes as a networking tool to find other voiceover professionals on Twitter. Wendy is founder of the Voiceover Twitter Group, you can find out more about her at WendyEdwards.com.

Adam Loving:

Good morning, how are you?

Wendy Edwards:

Doing good. How are you?

Adam:

Pretty good; up early over here in Seattle. My dog is looking at me funny, she’s wondering why I’m not taking her for a walk, but it’s a pretty rainy day actually so she’ll survive.

Wendy:

What kind of dog is it?

Adam:

Great Dane.

Wendy:

Oh, my favorite. I don’t have one, I have… I mean I love all kinds of dogs, but Great Danes and Beagles are my favorite dogs. I’ve got a Beagle, but I don’t have a Great Dane.

Adam:

All right, cool.

Wendy:

Yeah.

Adam:

Well, thanks for being available to talk to me this morning. You know what I’m doing is just talking to the founders of some of the most popular Twibes and figuring out what they’re doing well and also just asking them what I could be doing better. So yeah, you’re the founder of the Voiceover Twibe is that it?

Wendy:

Right.

Adam:

And so I’ve got it up on my screen; I can see you’ve got 197 members. Can you tell me a little bit about what you do in voiceover; what motivated you to start a Twibe?

Wendy:

I started a Twibe because I wanted to get networking with other people in the voiceover industry because I work in radio and I also do independent voiceover work for television. And so I was hoping basically just to get together with other people that are already working that are professionals so that I could trade ideas and learn different functions, learn about new technology, things like that.

Adam:

Cool. So, do you have your own website or anything that you maintain on the side? Or is it just the Twibe?

Wendy:

I don’t have a voiceover website, I have my regular website from my web page wendyedwards.com, but I don’t have something specifically for voiceover. But, thankfully, there is a member on the Twibe that has a voiceover website and he’s done such a good job with it and I think that it’s good if everybody just goes over there – because he’s got a good networking community over there that everybody… I mean, I wouldn’t have found him without the Twibe so I’m glad that it’s there.

Adam:

Do you remember who that is? What’s their Twitter name?

Wendy:

Yeah, Mamoodtagee.

Adam:

Mamoodtagee.

Wendy:

Or Mamoodtagee.

Adam:

Ah, OK. Cool. Yeah, one of the things I’ve been thinking about doing is making it so you can take a little bit of job descript code and actually put the Twibe inside another web page. So, I might get in touch with him and see if he’d want to do that so that he could actually have a duplicate of the Twibe over on his site, or something like that.

Wendy:

Yeah, he’s been great about pulling us all together. And then he offers his opinion inside of his life, but he also just shares industry things going on with him. And he’s over an agent so he’s got a totally different outlook on life. It’s just interesting and it’s fun to be able to network with people that are on the other side of the world.

Adam:

Right, right. Yeah, so let’s see. How do you think most people find the Twibe, do you think they’re just seeing the tweets go by and clicking over? Or are they coming from his website? Or is it people that you meet?

Wendy:

I would say that they are seeing the tweets and clicking more than anything. I don’t know if your data supports that, if you keep track of things like that.

Adam:

It does.

Wendy:

But, I would say that that would be the best advertising.

Adam:

Right. Yeah, so the problem that I face is that a lot of people see the joining tweets and of course everybody wants to join, but then only a very small fraction of people remember to come back on an ongoing basis. So, that’s why there’s a lot of Twibes that have just a few members or they are kind of really active for a week or so and then kind of go quiet.
So, I’m just figuring out what I can do better for that. And it would probably mean just doing some more smarter notification emails and things like that and letting people embed the Twibes on their websites so that it’s more of where they’re already going; they don’t have to come to Twibes.com necessarily to participate and things like that.

Wendy:

Well, I think for me when I first started – I don’t remember when I started on Twibes, you might have that – when I first started, it took a while for the updates to show up on the Twibes site so I stopped getting in the habit of looking over there. But, it didn’t stop me from going over to see who joined and then adding them as somebody on Twitter to follow and then communicating with them over Twitter. So, it’s really helped for that function, but as far as the updates on the Twibe itself, sometimes it takes a while before tweets will show up in there and then… so that’s really what caused me to not watch it so much.

Adam:

Got it; yep makes sense.

Wendy:

But, I still go look there and see who’s there and then I do scan down to see who’s mentioning voiceover, but a lot of times I’m following the people that are there so I already know they’re talking about it.

Adam:

Right, right. OK.

Wendy:

I hope that’s helpful.

Adam:

Yeah, that’s very helpful. The other thing I was going to ask is what other Twitter tools you use, if any. Do you use TweetTag or…

Wendy:

I don’t yet. I mean I update sometimes from my mobile phone, but that’s it. I’m not that savvy on Twitter yet. And I don’t often have a lot of time in my day so I tweet and then kind of move on. I check the Twibe now and then just see who’s on there and if there’s somebody new then I need to welcome because I try to do that. If somebody’s joined, I’ll make sure to take a group of people that just joined the Twibe and I’ll say thanks for joining and stuff like that over Twitter.

Adam:

Right, awesome, cool. OK.

Wendy:

But then, that keeps promoting that there is one and let’s them know that people are there and it’s been really good; I’m happy I joined it.

Adam:

Cool. Yeah, I know it’s been really fun, it’s been way more successful than I initially thought it would be. And now it’s just a question of getting it to be more a central focus of the community, not just a list of faces.

Wendy:

Well, help me understand what you want it to do because I don’t really know. I mean, all I thought of was is a collective people with like interests. What do you want it to do?

Adam:

Well, that’s it, but for it to become more of a sustainable business there’s got to be more visitors on an ongoing basis. So, it’s really good for people quickly joining and seeing the list of people, but ideally just if there was more participation, more posts on the Twibe page.

Wendy:

So, do you want people to post directly while they’re in the Twibe, post right there where you can?

Adam:

-huh, -huh.

Wendy:

Instead of going back to Twitter and write?

Adam:

Right. Well, either is good and it should be a mix of both, but I’m just… And this is good for me because maybe that’s not useful. Maybe a list of people is all it really needs to be. But, yeah, sort of on an ongoing basis, the more active the Twibe page itself is, the better for me in terms of turning this into a viable business.

Wendy:

Yeah, that makes sense. Well, I’m willing to help; I’m just trying to figure out ways, because I think it’s important to know how people use it and you’re doing a great job of asking.

Adam:

Right.

Wendy:

Yeah, I mean, it’s important. But, if you want people to use the Twibe as more like a bulletin board maybe, is that what you mean?

Adam:

Right, yes.

Wendy:

Then, maybe there could be incentives for that, either through the founder or… well I guess through the founders because they’re the ones that are going to be driving it, hopefully driving it. But, maybe if there were incentives to do that like, I don’t know, contests or something you know? Something for the person basically feeding the Twibe to be rewarded for doing X amount of work, because nobody likes to work for free, really. Nobody. I mean, I do it sometimes. I’m sure you do too, but…

Adam:

I’ve been experimenting with these little scoreboards on the sides. I’ve got the most mentioned and the most followed people in the Twibe. It’s kind of the beginning of that. I didn’t want to make it the more you tweet, because then that would encourage spammers. But, the people that participate the most will naturally be mentioned the most. Then they also…

Wendy:

Would you say the most active Twibes would get whatever, billing. I don’t know how you want to work it out.

Adam:

Sure, sure.

Wendy:

But active Twibes, I think it would be really helpful if they got some recognition or something. I don’t know how you could do that.
OK, so I’m the founder of a Twibe, and my Twibe is active to the point where you would say, "Wow, this Twibe is really active. People are really using it. Wendy, you’re doing a great job."

Even if you made a little graphic, I could put on my website, do you know what I mean?

Adam:

Right, a badge.

Wendy:

It would say "Founder of the Most Active Twibe" or "Founder of Blah Blah Blah." Whatever, it doesn’t matter. It’s still something for me to promote what I’m doing, saying I’m a good worker, and for you to say, you’ve got the Twibe’s name on it. So, it’s just scratch each-other’s-back kind of stuff.

Adam:

Yes, that sounds great.

Wendy:

Any of that works. Any way that we can cross-promote is going to help, because that’s what Twitter really is about.

Adam:

Yes, for sure. OK.

Wendy:

That’s something I’ve loved about Twibes too, I need to tell you, is the cross-promotion, because in voiceover, a lot of people tend to think that this industry is very competitive. It can be if you’re auditioning for the same thing, but in the grand scheme and on a wider scale, everybody works together.
If there’s a job that I know I can’t do, but I know for a fact somebody in the Twibe can do it, say she has a better accent, or she’s got the sound they’re looking for, or whatever, I can say "Hey, there’s this job coming up, and it sounds like something you could do." Or they could do the same for me. That’s something that Twibes has really just blown the door open for.

Adam:

Right, right.

Wendy:

That’s been very helpful for us.

Adam:

Fantastic.

Wendy:

We’re able to share what we’re doing, what projects we’re on. Once we do a project and it’s been published by somebody, we can put the results on our websites and say, "Hey guys! Go check this out. I just did this 30-second voiceover. I did this minute spot over here," or, "Hey, I’m working on a documentary," or whatever.
But, we get to tell each other what’s happening and encourage each other too, because a lot of times we’re all working independently from our houses, and you don’t get a lot of that support when you’re working inside your house.

Adam:

Right, right.

Wendy:

So, to have a bunch of people who understand, number one, what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, but number two, also respect your place in the industry, is phenomenal.

Adam:

Right.

Wendy:

These are not people that are just going to pat you on the back, or suck up, or anything like that. These are people that are working right beside you.

Adam:

Right.

Wendy:

So, it’s totally different.

Adam:

What’s amazing to me is you’re talking about building relationships and building your career in a much broader space by sharing opportunities.
What’s amazing to me is that in Twitter, the format of the messages is so short, and it seems like the people are so fleeting, it’s amazing that in such a short format, you can actually accomplish something like sharing jobs or passing on opportunities and things like that.

Wendy:

Well, we do, but I honestly think it’s because of the Twibe. That’s what I’m trying to say. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t know these people were there.

Adam:

Right, it offers continuity. It filters down to just the tweets that matter to your particular topic.

Wendy:

Not only that, but now we direct message each other, or like I said, I’m on Taji’s networking – not really networking, but I go to his blog, and I’m part of his community. Through LinkedIn, we all connect that way too, now.
It’s just like Twibes was the start of that, and I really think that you’ve got something in just getting people connected, whether it’s most used for a bulletin board or not, it doesn’t really matter because just that initial connection is something you can’t get just walking around outside.

I can join AFTRA, or I can join SAG or something, and meet people through going to events. But, do you know how much that would cost me?

Adam:

Right, right.

Wendy:

Do you know what I mean?

Adam:

Yes, I do.

Wendy:

We’re talking about thousands of dollars just to join an association – not that I won’t, but I’m just saying – then you have to make it to their events, and meet all these people and mingle.
This way, I am the same as I am every other day, in my studio, doing my work, and if I want to talk to somebody and network with a bunch of people doing the same thing, I can. They’re right here, virtually.

Adam:

Cool.

Wendy:

So, I’m really happy with it.

Adam:

Excellent. Well, thank you very much for taking some time out to speak to me this morning. If you don’t mind, I’ll post this to the blog and tell people a little bit about what you’re doing.

Wendy:

Please do.

Adam:

Shoot me an email at adam@Twibes.com if you’ve got anything that you would like me to add or any problems that come up.

Wendy:

Sure. Well, if you wouldn’t mind, I’ve got two websites if you wouldn’t mind adding those. I’ve got my WendyEdwards.com, and then I’ve got WTFSheWants.com because I’m a writer as well as a voiceover artist. I don’t do just one thing.
WTFSheWants.com, I don’t have a Twibe for that, but I’m using Twitter just to keep things updated and let people know what’s on the website now.

Adam:

Excellent.

Wendy:

That’s a brand-new magazine I’ve embarked on.

Adam:

What is it about?

Wendy:

It’s for men over 25 who want to know what the hell women want. [laughs] It is, literally.

Adam:

That’s going to be very popular, I think. [laughs]

Wendy:

I’m hoping so. Right now, it’s new. It’s only two weeks old, but it’s been in my head for about two years. I just started it. It’s going to have articles. Right now, it’s got a couple of shallow articles. They’re not really deep, but it’s a start.
I’ve got some professionals putting their time in and giving me opinions so I can add that to the articles. Then I’ve got… I don’t know if you know who Chris Pirillo is?

Adam:

Oh, yes. I know Chris. I’ve met him several times.

Wendy:

OK. Well, Chris and I just did an interview, I’m going to post that, about dating. He’s post-divorce, his second divorce, and he’s getting back on the market so he’s talking about that. I’m going to touch on different subjects.
I don’t know if you know who Alan Abel is.

Adam:

No.

Wendy:

All right. He’s funny. If you ever get a chance, he’s got a documentary that his daughter made of him called "Abel Raises Cain." It’s on Hulu. You can watch it for free.
But he’s just a prankster. He’s a hoaxster, and he’s done a lot to make the media spastic. I think it was at the Republican National Convention in 2000 – I’m not positive, so don’t quote me on that – but he was out in front of that yelling through this megaphone about how breast feeding must be stopped, how women shouldn’t feed their babies like they’re cows, and all this other stuff. It’s funny.

But, he does it for publicity stunts. He doesn’t do it for… But, he’s been doing this for I don’t even know, 50 years or so. So, the documentary’s really interesting.

Anyway, he and his wife have a great relationship. She’s been part of his pranks and stuff like that. I interviewed them just the other day, too, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

So, little things. I’m trying to get people that are semi-celebrity or at least well known to help bolster the magazine, but also because they’re interesting. It’ll be fun.

Adam:

OK, cool. Well, thanks again. I will see you online.

Wendy:

All right. Thanks for meeting with me so early.

Adam:

No problem. Have a good morning. Bye.

Wendy:

You too. Bye.