Audios

One of my favorite types of information products are audios…

They are simple and fast to develop…and they create a lasting emotional bond with the listener.

Think about this for a moment.

Think of how many places you’ve seen recorded interviews available, either as an enticement to get you to take their e-zine or as a product requiring you to “pay to play”.

Now wouldn’t you just love to have some of those recordings building YOUR lists or YOUR Paypal account?

Just by using the telephone you can talk to people worldwide, record an interview with them, and “viola” – you have an audio file to use. To either giveaway or charge for.

With the help of a sales page (squeeze page) and without laying out a cent, you’ve created your own product – usually in an hour or so.

As an aside, there are many choices for Web Hosting on the Internet and I have tried my fair share of them as I was learning the business, however, now, for me Kiosk Hosting is where I call “home” for all my hosting requirements.

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Since this system is aimed at marketers, it includes dozens of sample “Squeeze Pages” (lead capture systems), includes “Fantastico” that easily installs CMS systems, sample codes for pop-ups, pop-unders, delayed-popups, rotating banners, “tell-a-friend” code, URL Rotator, and much more.

The system includes a complete “auto-responder” system which allows you to follow-up with your business prospects.

It also includes “QuickSite2Go” a simple CMS system for the very beginner.

Kiosk has many resources available for you to take advantage of…one of those resources is video learning. For example, watch this short video (7.28 min.) that shows how to put audio on your sites…

http://SuccessOnTheFly.com/Videos/HowToAddAudio/kioskvoiceswf.html

(will open in a “new” window)

Pretty cool, eh?

Now, back to our “regular programming…

One of the easiest, quickest and cheapest ways to get going with audio is with “Skype“…

Podcasting: Unleash the power of your voice

Essentially, a podcast is a recording of your voice!

Or, other voices if you are doing an interview or recording a conference call…

Podcasts act much like “sound blogs.” A podcaster records his own thoughts, polishes the recording and, when everything is ready, makes a podcast episode available for download.

Downloading is usually handled by media players like iTunes, and many users have these episodes automatically uploaded to their MP3 players.

In fact, the early days of podcasting involved Apple’s iPod so extensively that the technique got its name from it!

A podcast is essentially a collection of audio files, available for download and aggregation — usually automatically — somewhat similar to radio shows.

They are indeed broadcast, but the only difference is that they are not “live” and “interactive”.

By podcasting blog posts, bloggers ensure that people can listen to their ideas when they are not in front of the computer, but not doing anything requiring a lot of attention either.

Another important advantage podcasting has is the fact that it’s very cheap.

If you think you have what it takes to publish a podcast, here is how to do it.

STEP 1: Get the gear

Although podcasts are cheaper than vlogs, you still need some equipment in order to record yourself. You will obviously need a computer with a soundcard. In addition to this, you will need:

1. A microphone. Many laptops come with one incorporated, but the sound quality is very poor. The best choices are headsets with microphones and USB microphones. A decent microphone can be bought for about $25.

2. Sound recording software. Most podcasters use Audacity
(http://audacity.sourceforge.net/), a free, Open Source program available for many platforms. Some Mac fans use GarageBand, but it’s not free.

On a side note: Audacity is the professional audio editor that I use…

And what better way of learning how to use it than by using video…!

Todd Gross, “The Voice of Internet Marketing” and has created a great 16 minute video that takes you through the steps of using this awesome free audio editing software…

Watch it “on line” here by clicking the link below…

http://SuccessOnTheFly.com/with/AudacityVideo/audacitytrain.html

If you have been thinking or wanting to add audio to your site but didn’t have the money to buy the expensive software or just not quite sure how to go about it then I strongly suggest you take a few moments to download the video – it won’t cost you a dime!

To “download” the training to your computer for future reference…

Just “right click” the link below and “save as” to your computer

http://SuccessOnTheFly.com/with/AudacityVideo/AudacityVideo.zip

Once downloaded:

1. Double click to “un zip”.

2. Double click on the audacitytrain file folder and then

3. Double click on the audacitytrain.html file

the video will begin playing immediately…

Now, think of all the things you can (and should) begin doing with audio – now that you know how!

3. An encoder, if your recording software doesn’t provide one. You need it in order to convert your recording to a compressed format like MP3. The LAME MP3 Encoder (http://wwwusers.
york.ac.uk/~raa110/audacity/lame.html ) is the most widely used, but many programs, like iTunes, can automatically convert your sounds to MP3.

STEP 2: Write what you need to write

No matter how spontaneous you are, try to understand that a podcast is still not a live radio show. Any podcast with ah’s, umm’s and ugh’s will sound unprofessional.

However, bear in mind that you are not at school. Try to read with a natural tone.

The script should not be very formal and it should sound just like natural speech, so it isn’t very obvious that you are actually reading. If you need help with it, you may want to ask a writer to help
you.

STEP 3: Postprocessing

Postprocessing is a must of every successful recording.

Fortunately, most recording software allows you to perform postprocessing tasks easily through automated wizards.

Common postprocessing tasks include removing background sounds and adding slight reverb effects when the sound feels too “dry.”

One thing to remember though: you are recording a podcast, trying to inform your clients and promote your product…if, after adding an effect, you need to listen twice to understand what you are saying, the effect is bad. If you have trouble understanding your own voice, imagine what your listeners must be going through.

STEP 4: Publish it

This is probably the trickier part. A podcast is actually made out of two distinct parts: the audio content itself, and a special file called an RSS file.

The RSS file contains information about what your audio file is, where it can be downloaded from, how it should be played and so on.

What you need to do in this step is to upload the podcast you record to a publicly accessible location.

In fact, this can be your own web server.

You must then create the RSS file — something which may be a little bit tricky if you are not technically inclined.

The good news is, RSS feeds can be generated automatically, using tools like:
Escapepodder (http://www.ghofulpo.com/)
ePodcast Creator (http://www.industrialaudiosoftware.com/products/ipodcastcreator.html)

And no-coding-necessary options available such as:
ClickCaster (http://www.clickcaster.com/)
BlogMatrix (http://www.blogmatrix.com/)
Libsyn (http://www.libsyn.com/)
MyRSSCreator.com (http://www.myrsscreator.com/)

Additionally, there are some free and fee-based RSS file generators you might find useful which do the hard work for you:

Podcast RSS feed generator
ListGarden RSS Feed Generator Program
Simple RSS File Generator

The files generated by these programs are usually enough…

Once the RSS file has been created, you can simply start distributing it.

Your website is a good place to start — but there are several podcasting directories where you should submit your podcast.

iTunes allows you to automatically submit your podcast to Apple Shop, but you shouldn’t stop there. Yahoo! Podcasts (http://podcasts.yahoo.com/) and Podcast.net (http://www.podcast.net/) make good starting points.

I will have a much more in depth list out soon…

For more information check out these excellent resources:

Resources:

How To Podcast – The definitive step-by-step guide free tutorial will show you how to you’re your podcast from concept to launch – fast!

Podcasting – Get Paid To Talk- For Your Views & Knowledge

Teleseminars – Make Money While you Talk

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