5 Ways Your Business Can Rock YouTube's New Offline Feature

This November, YouTube are set to roll out a new feature, which enables users to download video clips so that they can be watched offline. The free feature won’t require an internet connection and is similar to Spotify’s Offline Mode except focusing on video content, rather than music. YouTube says the new feature is a great tool for businesses, so here at Voice Takeaway we’ve compiled this 5-step guide for making the most out of this new development.

1 - Target Commuters

Chances are, at some stage of the working day, your target customer will be sat without WiFi on the tube, irritated by a slow connection on the bus, or trapped in similar offline peril! YouTube’s newest feature is perfect for those on the move who cannot rely on a constant internet connection. Make sure your content is well targeted at these kinds of commuters. Don’t make your videos too long, think about their tastes and lifestyles and create content around them.

2 - Make Content Short And Sweet
Most users of this new feature will be going about their daily routines and probably won’t be wanting the longer content more likely to be watched at leisure in the evenings when they’ll be able to access online videos. Therefore, keeping your content short and sweet is a great way to be as engaging and user-friendly as possible!

3 - Use Great Audio
This new feature is perfect for smartphones and tablets, but with that comes a reduced screen size and possibly picture quality too. Make sure your audio, therefore, is of the highest quality to give your brand that extra edge. Think about using narration, music, an audio logo or even sound effects to differentiate yourself!

4 - Make Your Best Content Available
Whilst there is no limit to the amount of content you can make accessible via the new feature, it is paramount that you make your channel’s best content available. Offline videos are likely to be shared in person with a potential client, colleague or acquaintance and so make sure that you’re publishing your best content.

5 - Make Offline-Only Content
In the modern business environment, making any customer or web user feel unique is becoming harder. Creating offline-only content is a great way to connect directly with potential clients and is perfect for creating a personal feel and making them feel special, as if they’re getting something unique.

Those are just a few basic tips - we hope you found them helpful! For more information about how we can help your business’ marketing, visit: http://www.voicetakeaway.com

'Sounding Out' The Competition

By Julia Russell

When you’re setting up a business, no matter how small, one of the most important decisions you’ll make is the brand image.  The look and branding is so important when you’re trying to get across the essence of your company and encouraging potential customers to engage with you.  We had very personal reasons for choosing the name Tiggy, and running with our hedgehog logo, so that part was easy.  We wanted to integrate the origins of the American brownie with our UK company and our very British little hedgehog with her stars and stripes bow and apron did the job nicely.  Our choice of brown packaging and stationery fitted in well with our image too and our brand began to take shape.  After being carried forward by our concept there was a moment  just after the launch, when we had a intense surge of crushing doubt – a British hedgehog selling American brownies, what were we thinking of, would anyone else ‘get’ it.  Luckily they did!

Our concept was all well and good but we didn’t want it to be too ‘Countryfile’ and ‘farmhouse kitchen’ - we are, after all, in a technology led, media charged world.  Social media rules and if you want to get ahead you need to get a handle on cyber interaction very early in the game.  It has to be said, ‘Tiggy’ is a technology tart – she thoroughly enjoys the social banter, the latest techie toy or an innovative site with a new idea and a fresh and different image. 

When we first visited the Voice Takeaway site it ticked all the boxes.  The site immediately draws you in with its menu led theme and diner style graphics.  More importantly Voice Takeaway deliver a professional and polished product which offers a company something very important.  An audio greeting whether it’s an audio logo for a website or presentation or a call greeting for your phone line can set you apart from your competitors.  We feel our custom answerphone  message gives us an edge and creates a fabulous first impression of our company.  If we’re busy baking and we can’t get to the phone we can feel confident our audio clip will present our customers with an impressive personalised greeting that audibly demonstrates their custom is important to us and offers clear information about how to order, where to find our web site and how to leave a message.  It’s the next best thing to being able to answer the call ourselves and personifies the upbeat, friendly image we want to portray to our customers where customer service is key and satisfaction is paramount.

Julia Russell is the owner of 'Tiggy's Brownie Co'. For more information visit http://tiggysbrownieco.co.uk

The Power of Nothing

By Rob Bee

As a musician and a professional sound engineer sound is something that is very important to me. It is not only a medium of information exchange and communication, it can also be a thing of beauty, balance and comfort. I love the sound of an E major being struck on an electric guitar through a cranked-up valve amp. I love the sound of a robin in full song in the middle of the night because it’s found a street light and it thinks dawn is about to break. I love the glugging sound made when you pour that first glass of wine out of the bottle. I love the silly noises my parents always seem to make between picking up the phone and saying, ‘Hello.’ But there is another sound that I think is very special. It’s the sound of silence.

Very often when I get home from a busy day at work in the recording studio I’ll just sit on the sofa: no TV, no radio, no hi-fi, no wife. I will sit and enjoy the quiet. It’s about more than just resting my ears, I enjoy the stillness of the empty house and the moments of calm.

Take a walk in the countryside and you will hear a great variety of sounds – whether you’re hearing the crashing of waves on the beach, the wind rustling through the leaves in the woods or the babbling brooks in the valleys there are myriad sounds to be heard that calm the soul. But at other times we hear the sound of silence. It’s the sound the snow makes as you stand by yourself and listen to it fall; the world holding its breath as it awaits its transformation. It’s a powerful thing. It compels you to listen to it as it screams at you about its depth and richness. I find it sometimes at Morecambe Bay when conditions are perfect. It is a silence so complete that the occasional cry of a curlew or oystercatcher doesn’t puncture it; it enforces it and makes it stronger. It demands respect; and you obey lest you break the magic. It’s not that something’s missing – like a TV on mute – it’s that something is very definitely there and choosing to be noiseless.

A famous musician once said (I don't mind if you want to attribute this to Claude Debussy, Miles Davis or any of the other contenders – it wasn't me), “Music is the space between the notes. It’s not the notes you play; it’s the notes you don’t play.” Gaps and silence can be powerful things, and especially true in advertising. There is a tendency to cram as much copy into a 30” ad as possible in order to impress information upon the listener and 'get your money's worth' out of the time you're paying for, but here as much as anywhere else less if often more. Whereas it sounds like it should be a good idea to use all the available space to tell those who are listening as much about your company as possible it's often counter productive as the speed the read needs to be to fit to time prevents any space or pauses in the ad, and these should be there to provide punctuation and make the information easier to take in (I am assuming here that people know the purpose of punctuation in writing – I think I'm assuming a lot given the quality of a lot of copy I read, but that’s another topic) and sometimes can even make your ad unintelligible . By far the better idea is to write a script that is short enough so the voiceover can comfortably read it and give it the space it needs to breathe. This way your message will be clear to the listeners and - given the way radio advertising particularly seems to be heading - it will stand out from the other ads played around it. Cut down on the copy and you will give people more information.

Do you want people to come into your showroom? Then don't put your phone number in the ad. Want people to check out your website? Then why inform people that you’re based around the corner from the multi-story car park? Are you having a laminate flooring sale? Then don't tell people the prices of your ceiling lights. Find the one thing you want to promote and only give that information. Use the space wisely.

And here's one last thought. Surely it's more valuable to make personal contact with your potential customers than for them simply to hear about you on the radio or TV? So cut the copy and only give them half the info they need. That way they'll have to ring or visit to find out more and you’ll have that contact which is more valuable to you than any amount of airtime.

Rob Bee is a sound engineer, musician and owner of 'Bee Productive', who offer audio production, live sound and consultancy. For more information visit http://beeproductive.co.uk

The Subtle Power of Audio In Our Lives

By Susan Leigh

Many of us live in a world of constant noise. We are bombarded with the sounds of traffic, the background noises of co-workers; from their voices, equipment, general babble as they go about their business. Then there is the world of enforced sounds; when we make a phone call to a large company, use public transport, do a supermarket shop.

Often we are able to neutralise these sounds. We go into a trance state and blank them out or we integrate them into our general consciousness and hardly notice them after a while. Look at how workers in noisy factories are able to adapt and even hold conversations across the deafening noise of industrial equipment, or those people who are unable to sleep in the quiet of the countryside because they have become accustomed to the soothing, relentless sound of city traffic.

But sounds, noise can convey information in perhaps unconsidered ways. Our senses hold a database of accumulated experiences relating to all our senses including sound. These memories can be good or bad, evocative of people, times, associations from our past. These sounds evoke a subtle power in our lives.

How many of us have become affectionately nostalgic over tunes from our youth when unexpectedly heard on the radio, as we reminisce over people, places, things that we did back then? Conversely, the tone in a complete stranger's voice can make us tense, angry, defensive, even fearful, as their words, tone, demeanour trigger us back into a long forgotten, unpleasant time in our lives.

Other sounds often cause a more universal reaction; the grating of chalk on a board makes many people cringe. A child laughing, someone giggling uncontrollably, a champagne cork popping, the sound of the sea, bird song, church bells often make people smile, feel secure, calms them down - unless those sounds have a past experience of hurt, disappointment, upset associated with them.

So, when we're looking to use voiceovers and audio support in a generalised setting we need to be aware of the subtle power it can convey. Some people may be sensitive to or unappreciative of sounds that other people relish and enjoy. It's important to be clear as to the targeted audience; their age, demographic, reasons for listening. Will the use of music, a localised accent, firmness of tone be perceived as reassuring or deemed to be patronising?

The engine noise of a fabulous motor car could be highly motivational in some environments, whereas in others it would be of little interest. Used well, audio can provide valuable information, introduce calm and soothing tones into difficult or tense situations, motivate and enthuse staff, clients or customers. Used well, it can be a positive tool for good.


Susan Leigh is a Counsellor and Hypnotherapist who works with stressed individuals to promote confidence and self belief, with couples experiencing relationship difficulties to improve communications and understanding and with business clients to support the health and motivation levels of individuals and teams.

For more articles, information or to make contact please visit http://www.lifestyletherapy.net