ActorCV

WordPress app

ActorCV — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:53:25 +0000

I have an Android phone and have just downloaded and installed the WordPress app, on which I am currently writing this post. This is my first test message from my phone and it’s pretty straightforward and user friendly. Check out this link for more info on this free app.

First actor agency website

ActorCV — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:20:42 +0000

Many thanks to Chris Ryman who put me in touch with his agent Eamonn Bedford, who has just set up his own actors agency in Covent Garden. With a list of forty clients and growing, Eamonn wanted a site that was simple and clean, whilst obviously up to date and functional. Using WordPress as a basis, we created a site that boasts just that. The site is also html5 based so should be good for the next few years for sure! Though designed more for desktop, it appears to behaving well on a few mobile devices including iPad too. Each actor also needed their showreels embedding. Using mp4, the video should stream at variable rate allowing for better picture quality on faster connections.
Not the only site I’ve been working on of late, but more news of that to follow.

More server space

ActorCV — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:29:20 +0000

Great news from ActorCV’s recommended server provider one.com who have announced a free upgrade to all existing customers in the size of their server space. Those with 3gB’s will be upgraded to 5gB’s whilst those with 10gB’s will be upgraded to a whopping 30gB’s.
ActorCV has been using one.com for the last 5 years and found their service impeccable. I bang on about them in previous posts, they are good. And needless to say this latest present epitomises how well they look after their existing customers. Splendid stuff.

The SnackTools range!

ActorCV — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:30:21 +0000

The SnackTools range is a series of online apps that allows you to design, for free, a large assortment of media that you may wish to include on your website. The list goes thus:

BannerSnack - Create great banners in many sizes in Flash and HTML5. The banners can include any text and image you want. If anyone remembers Swish, it’s just like that if not better and easier to use.
PhotoSnack – Upload your photos and create amazing slideshows that you can then download, embed on your website or copy and paste links to share the slideshow on a host of third party social websites.
PodSnack – allows you to compile a playlist in customisable mp3 players. You can then embed or link these players to your website.
TubeSnack – Like PodSnack, but with videos. You can add videos to a playlist either from YouTube or from your own server. The great bonus here is that the videos aren’t in Flash and so will work on your iPhone and iPad.
QuizSnack – Hold your horses, this one isn’t just for quizzes. You can also use it for polls and surveys. You don’t even need your own website as you can publish your questions straight onto Facebook or other social websites.
FlipSnack – Convert exisiting pdf documents into great looking pages similar to thos on iBook. Your pages will flip over – it’s looks flash. But unlike Flash, this also works on iPhones and iPads too!
SlideSnack – If you have slide show presentations or documents in Word, Keynote or Powerpoint, this app will convert them easily and give you simple links that you can use to share the slide show with friends or collegues. I believe you can even add voice clips too.

Isn’t that an incredible array of stuff! All free too! Aren’t you guys lucky! There are even a few beautifully animated videos to get you started for some of the apps and each site also has a Live Chat help facility. Because it’s free, most of your production will be watermarked by the company, but there is an option to upgrade your account to lose this.

Make a simple site for free

ActorCV — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:39:43 +0000

Pen.io was featured on this weeks BBC’s Click. I took a quick look and found that it offered a very simple solution to web page creation, albeit very simple.

I have done a quick demo by creating an ActorCV Pen.io Demo Page. It even has a great cut and paste embed feature so you can see it below.

The site and concept are still very young and the authors promise exciting new developments in the future.

Also, check out www.posterous.com – another great blog site that’s free to sign up to.

New app from Mailchimp

ActorCV — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:20:41 +0000

I have mentioned the brilliant website Mailchimp before. In a nutshell, it provides everything you would need to manage email campaigns including functions to collect and store peoples email addresses, design and send impressive looking emails and monitor what happens to those emails after you’ve sent them (whether they’re opened or if email addresses are dead ones etc…) on a thorough statistical level. And on a starter level, it’s free to use!
This site is ever expanding. Their latest exciting news includes the release of a free app for iPhone and Android users which allows you to monitor your latest campaign statistics whilst on the move. Fabulous stuff.

Cheap Printer Ink website

ActorCV — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:00:31 +0000

A great little site I’ve used recently and thoroughly recommend is this one – www.printerinks.com. Their website is easy to navigate and offers ink for a vast range of printers. You would be hard pushed not to find your printer there no matter how old it is. I’ve got an old Canon Pixma ip3000 (though I do pine for a new one – see my Amazon wishlist) A colour cartridge (and it requires the three primary colours so multiply the cost by 3) is usually about £12 per cartridge. At this website it cost under £9 for ALL THREE cartridges incl VAT and delivery. A bargain like that is worthy of a mention on this website.

Cloud drive – accessing your files on the move.

ActorCV — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:31:35 +0000

ActorCV makes no secret that it recommends you buy your server space from one.com – we don’t even earn any commission for saying so either! But before this post turns into a blatant free advert for them, I would like to mention a little upgrading they’ve done in their services. The most significant addition recently is the one.com cloud drive. Basically you can set up a file on the server space who’s files you or anyone you give permission to can access and even change (depending on your settings of course). And you can do this from any Windows running computer (MacOS is on its way) or through apps for Android, iPhone or iPad. You can sync files on your computer (the software one provides basically copies the files you choose to the server), then access them later on, say, your phone. Or send someone a link (that can expire) to a particular file. It opens up a world of possibilities especially for those who work on the move. All cloud storage is included in your server space allowance.

Other new features that One have introduced include a Webcreator, Photo Gallery, Blog and a Multi Admin function that allows you to link all your one.com accounts (if you have more than one site) together!

For more information about the Cloud Drive watch this video made by one.com

Chris Ryman – Actor

ActorCV — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 11:07:50 +0000

Actor Chris Ryman was about to visit some contacts he had in LA when I suggested ActorCV could do a website for him. Despite the short notice, a flash website was up and running within 24 hours. He already owned a URL that he’d bought off Reg123. We were able to link the website to that. It can be seen at www.chrisryman.tv
We were also able to download his showreel off Vimeo, re-edit it to make it slightly shorter and place it in a flash player all of its own on his site. Chris is delighted with the site and is recommending ActorCV to his friends. Rather than charge Chris for the site, he was very generous and purchased me some gifts off my Amazon Wishlist. Great stuff!

Earn money from your videos

ActorCV — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:00:05 +0000

ActorCV prides itself in showing how you the Actor can achieve stuff online for little to no cost, but this idea may actually make you money!

If you’ve got original videos on your website that you own the copyright to, then why not earn a little extra money advertising. It is quite common now for a 15-30sec advert to play before a video clip. Well, if you set up an account with Longtail, they will make sure that advertisers pay you your share every time that commercial is played either pre or post your video clip. To maximise income, why not have both! And text adverts like the ones YouTube has been using for years can also appear during the video! So three potential opportunities to get some cash. Great idea and money for old rope!