Part 7 - Developing Audio Products and Using Audio 

"Don't go through life. Grow through life"

Eric Butterworth

I've got to say that I absolutely love audio.

I'm a musician who used to tour all over the U.K.  I also had a couple of small mobile recording studios, specializing in live recording.

To me, audio is so quick to create, especially talk audio like this one (unless off course you're reading the eBook version).

In as short a time as it takes to do an interview on the phone with some expert, you have an audio product ready to go.

You can then take your audio product, go on the net, and get it transcribed into an eBook—unless you’re willing to take the time and do it yourself.

There's even software that uses voice recognition so that as you record an audio product, it will automatically convert your talking into text.

I have to say that I personally haven't had a lot of success with this because I tend to have an accent from a few different backgrounds. My mother was born in India, my dad was English, and I was actually born in and grew up in Scotland, but now I live in Canada. That combination makes it really hard for this voice recognition software to understand what I'm actually saying!

I mention it because I know other people who have found it to work great for them and found it to have terrific value.

One of the best voice recognition programs is Dragon Naturally Speaking but it certainly isn't the only one. Just do a search for "Voice Recognition Software" and see what you come up with.

Just like video, there are so many uses for audio, that it's mind blowing.

I'm going to touch on just a few here and then I'm going to give you a basic how-to.

You can write an eBook and, if you have a half-decent voice, record yourself reading your eBook, thus producing and an Audio Book version of your eBook.

There are many people who prefer the audio version of a book because they are either slow readers, like me - I love to read but it seems to take me way too long to read a book - or they just don't have the time.

An audio book allows you to be doing something else while listening to the book. You could be driving somewhere, exercising, relaxing on the beach, or a host of other activities while still getting entertained or educated through an audio book.

An audio product can be made into either a physical CD, a downloadable mp3 file that can be downloaded onto the customer’s computer and then transferred to a portable mp3 player, or it can be converted to a “streaming” audio file that plays straight from the Internet.

The word "Streaming" simply means that the audio streams from the Internet to your computer and begins playing almost immediately. The audio player doesn't wait until the entire audio file is downloaded into the temporary directory on your computer before it begins playing. For some files, if you were to wait for a full download, depending on your connection speed, you could be waiting 20 minutes for the audio to play!

Most audio players that plug into your Internet browser will stream the audio file rather than wait for a full download.

Podcasting has also become quite a popular medium for passing on information.

In audio, a podcast is simply an audio file that is like a short radio station show and a new one is published on a fairly regular basis.

A podcast can be monthly, weekly, daily, or whenever the author of the podcast decides to do another one.

You can talk about your favorite subject for 10 or 20 minutes - there's no limit on time - and then publish that on your website or on sites that promote podcasts.

People usually subscribe to particular podcasts and they're informed when a new podcast from that author is uploaded and posted to the web.

You can podcast about anything. Maybe you're into remote control cars, or you interview business specialists, or love gardening, airplanes, amateur radio, raising horses, living on a farm, being a parent. Almost anything you can think of, you can podcast about.

If you want to learn more about Podcasting from someone who's an expert at it, I would suggest going to Tim "Gonzo" Gordon's Podcasting Adventures website.

You can subscribe to his free 5-day "How to Podcast" course or even purchase his Podcasting Adventures Online course and video tutorial for less than the cost of a dinner for two. You can even listen to his podcasts at his home page and click on "Podcasts". (Remember that he is a professional radio DJ—but the beauty is that you don’t need to sound like him, you need to sound like YOU!)

I bought Tim's eCourse on Podcasting and really got a lot out of it. So it's worth going over and taking a listen to.

Another use for audio is on your website.

If you read (or listened to) the section on video then you have an understanding about the use of video on your website. The same is true for audio except for one thing: Video tends to demand your viewer’s complete attention whereas audio tends to be more supportive of text. While your visitor is listening to the audio message, they may also be glancing at headlines, graphics, or other text.

An audio message that a prospect or visitor to your website can click on and listen to could inform them about what's on that web page. It could welcome them and thank them for coming. It could also tell them about the product in a nutshell and what the benefits of the product are to them. Then, as an extremely important benefit to both you and your prospects, it could guide and instruct them on what to do next.

For example, if you were giving away a free information product in exchange for your visitor's first name and email address, which is a great way to build up your email list, you can first tell them the great benefits they will get from the product. Then you tell them to enter their first name and primary email address in the form provided on your site then click on the "submit" button.

Once their information has been received, they are automatically redirected to the download location - for them to download their free product.

Alternatively, and even better, your system will automatically send them an email thanking them and showing where they can easily download the product.

So, what's the easiest way to create an audio file to publish onto the net?

Well, the simplest way is to go out to one of those consumer electronics stores and buy a headset that has a microphone attached to it. Those are the ones that make you look like you’re the captain of a Boeing 747 passenger jet.

Plug the headphone jack into the headphone connection on your computer and the microphone jack into, you guessed it, the microphone connection on your computer.

On a MAC computer you can use a program like Garage Band that comes with most new MACs.

On Windows computers you can download an easy to use program that's absolutely free, called Audacity. You can get it from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/. Don't download the “Beta” version but instead download the version that doesn't have the word "Beta" beside it. “Beta” means that the program is not proven to be stable yet—it’s a newer, test version and may contain bugs. The download without “Beta” beside it is the stable version.

Audacity - The Free Audio Recording & Editing Software

By the way, Audacity is also available for the MAC computer. It'll tell you more on the site.

Once you've downloaded and installed the program, recording is as simple as clicking on the red record button. For Windows users, you may have to go into your Windows sound mixer. To do this, go to the <options> menu, then to the <properties> menu. When the Properties box opens ensure the <Recording> radio button is selected then click “ok.”

- MS Windows Sound Mixer Properties Box -

From the <Recording Control> box that appears, make sure the Microphone checkbox is checked, to indicate that you're using the microphone input on your sound card.

- Ms Windows Recording Control Properties Box -

(To capture images like this one from your computer screen, check out SnagIt – Screen Capture Software)

Now click on the record button in Audacity or whatever software you chose to use and talk away.

Once your done recording and maybe editing your sound a little, which is as easy as copying, cutting, and pasting, then save or export your file as an mp3 file. MP3 files are highly compressed files that still sound great. The difference in size would be 45 megabytes for a WAV file compared to about 2-5 megabytes for the same length mp3 file (which is about 3 minutes length).

“WAV” is simply an audio file format for Microsoft Windows that is not used as often anymore.

MAC users will end up with an AIFF file that you'll have to convert for the Internet to an mp3.

I mentioned editing your sound track before you export it. Don’t let this scare you away because, for this style and level of recording, if you can cut, copy, and paste in a word processor, you can do basic editing of audio in Audacity - or just about any recording program for that matter.

The reason I say mp3 is because it's probably the most widely used audio format on the Internet. So, if you want to be compatible with most programs, players, and web browsers, I'd stick to mp3 for now.

Here's a great bonus video by Jay Jennings on how to install and operate the software (it's a snap - really!). You'll also be able to download it if you choose.

You may also download and watch this bonus EXE video eBook called AudioMastery, by LOUIS ALLPORT also on how to record your own audio using Audacity. The link will take you to the extra bonus page, where you will find the link to the book.

Once you're happy with your recording, it is ready for uploading to your website.

In its simplest form, uploading a file to the Internet is as easy as moving a file from one location on your computer to another.

WATCH THIS BONUS VIDEO ON HOW TO TRANSFER A FILE TO THE INTERNET using a free program.

Once your file is transferred, you would add a link on your website to that location – it’s easier than you think.

Visitors or customers who purchased access to that audio file would click on that link and it would play in their Internet browser. Or, they could Right-Click on the link, or Command-Click on a MAC, select <save target as> from the drop-down menu, and actually save it to their computer.

If this is new to you, or seems like a language you don’t understand, don’t worry. These are standard procedures that you will become familiar with very quickly. The procedure I mentioned above is called “downloading” because the file is “downloaded” or “copied” from your website hosting company’s computer (also known as a “server”) to your customer’s personal computer.

To get a grasp of some of the terms used in the online business world, check out the included Internet Glossary by Tom Hua.

Audio links are fine if you have an audio file that you want your customer to download but they are not good if you have an audio message you want to add to your sales page.

On a sales page they look unattractive and they also direct your prospect away from this extremely important page, which is NOT what you want. That would be like going to a store in a mall and, instead of being greeted at that store, you are told to go to another mall first and get your greeting there, then come back to this one.

Chances are you would never go to the other mall just for your greeting. Even if you did, it’s highly unlikely that you would return.

If you’re EVER going to direct someone away from your sales page it had better be for a very good reason and that reason must have extremely high value.

Many sites that have an audio greeting also have a little "Click Here to Play Audio" button – which is essentially a small graphic that could look just like the play button on a CD player. The visitor clicks the button and the message is heard without the visitor being taken away from the page.

There are many good software programs out there that can attach a play button to your website audio file, including fast-forward and rewind buttons, but the one I use is Sonic Memo by Jay Jennings.

I got introduced to this program through Jim Edwards, who's a master at using both audio and video on his websites.

This program is easy to use and lets you choose all kinds of playing options and button shapes, including a feature that will start the audio as soon as someone gets to the page, whether they click play or not. Of course, they have the option to hit stop.

You can check out this program by going to: SonicMemoPro.

The neat thing about Sonic Memo is that you only pay one price for the program and you can add as much audio to as many sites as you want. There is no monthly subscription fee.

Talking about monthly subscription fees, you can also do a search and find companies that make it extremely easy for you to call a toll-free number, record your audio over the phone and onto their system and then have it hosted on their site automatically. All you do is provide a link to it from your site. They even tell you what that link is so that you just copy and paste it onto your website. They also provide the “player” buttons for you.

The advantage of this is that you can make a product from anywhere in the world. All you need is a phone you can call into your account and record onto their system from.

The disadvantage is that you pay a continuous monthly fee for that service. If you stop paying, you risk losing all your recordings, depending on the company you chose. Plus, even if you can transfer the recordings to your computer, you need to remember what recordings went on what site. You then have to go to each site and change all the link information, uploading the new audio information.

This may not sound like too much trouble, but what if you have 40, 60, or 100 sites or more that have audio on them! (This is quite conceivable when you follow the general rule of thumb of one product or pack of products per site—unless you have an Amazon or Circuit City style of site for selling multiple products - Which is not what this book is about).

The general rule of thumb is that a short audio on your website, an audio that welcomes visitors, describes how they will benefit from the product, and tells them what to do next, could increase your sales by about 20-30%. However, this is not always the case. In fact, some product sites have found either no increase in sales or an actual decrease compared to sites without the audio. The rule is to test, test, and test some more.

TESTING 1,2,3...

Once you get more advanced in your marketing, there are programs you can buy, and services you can use like 1ShoppingCart.com, and AutoPilotRiches.com. These are one-stop-shops for Internet marketers like you. They allow you to run a live comparison test. Essentially, you make two or three landing pages - a landing page is just the first page that your visitor sees - it could be your actual sales letter page. On each page you change just one thing, something you want to test. It may be the price of the product. One page may sell the product for $27. Another page with all the same information except the price is set at $47 and another page where the product price is set at $97.

The company will redirect equal amounts of visitors to each of your three landing pages and report back to you which page generated more sales etc. From there you can find out what's working and what's not and adjust things to suit. Some Internet marketers have discovered that the higher price sold better.

You could even compare which color headline seems to attract more visitors.

That's called "Testing" and, as an Internet marketer, it's something you'll end up doing a lot of because you want to make as much money from your product as possible.

You can also make a one-time purchase, instead of a monthly subscription, and buy a software program that does the same kind of comparison testing.

Right now though, your focus is just getting a product up for sale. Remember that whatever you do is never going to be perfect. But you need to at least get it up there onto the Internet and get started.

Don't wait until you've got it absolutely right! Dare I say that again? Don't wait until you've got it absolutely right!

That's like sitting in your car on a long and busy city street and you decide not to go forward until all the 20 traffic lights ahead of you go green together. It's never going to happen.

Move forward and make adjustments as you go.

TELESEMINARS:

Teleseminars are not new. I’ve received countless email invitations to call into a phone number, enter a private code and listen to a “guru” give all the latest and greatest information on the topic at hand.

Many times, it’s someone being interviewed about an information topic that’s highly sought after.

The great attribute to a teleseminar is that it can reach many people very quickly and maintain a “live seminar” atmosphere, which usually creates excitement and anticipation.

Imagine trying to get 100, 1,000, or 10,000 people together into the same location from all over the world so that you can speak to them for one hour!

Now imagine that you’re bringing them together so that you can make a sales presentation to 2,000 people all at once. If your presentation is fairly compelling, imagine how many of those listeners will become customers, and how many will become repeat customers.

If the information you are presenting has intrinsic value, this is quite conceivable. According to Internet Audio and Video expert, internet business guru, and former Microsoft Programmer, Rick Raddatz, Teleseminars have the potential of increasing your sales by 20-40%.

Teleseminars are crucial for so many reasons: It could be a multi-level marketer training and motivating his downline. The listener feels in touch with the speaker because teleseminars happen in ‘real-time’ – they are live.

Consider the following uses for a teleseminar:

ü     Online ‘church’

ü     Training sessions

ü     Sales presentations

ü     Information on product updates and enhancements

ü     Gathering together new customers from all over the world

ü     Interview an expert, an author, a producer, an inventor, or anyone for that matter “live”

ü     Have someone interview you about your product and its benefits to everyone

ü     Lectures

ü     Live Mini-Theatre Plays you wrote. Maybe sell “tickets” for it.

ü     A live reading of your book or chapters of it, with questions and answers after

ü     With more specialized equipment, you could do a live solo or band concert

ü     A live international “radio” show with listener interactivity

ü     Focus groups

ü     Business meetings

ü     Board meetings

ü     Product Guides

ü     Planning meetings for national events where the coordinators are from all over the country or all over the world!

ü     Project managers updating each other

ü     Authors collaborating on a book

ü     Game programmers across the world working on a new project

ü     A company president or CEO staying in touch with company leaders and employees.

ü     Bed and Breakfast owners having an association meeting

The list can be as expansive as your creativity allows.

How many listeners you have on the connection dictates the interactivity of the call. With a small handful you can “open the lines up” to allow two-way communication so that your listeners can also talk to you and ask you questions.

However, when you have 10,000 people on the call, there is absolutely no way you can make the call interactive.

With its many advantages, teleseminars have certain drawbacks.

We already commented on the lack of interactivity. Teleseminars are also audio-only and we are increasingly becoming a visually stimulated society. Plus, your listener is required to make a long distance call, possibly across the world, which can prove to be expensive.

A Teleseminar broadcast also lasts anywhere from half-an-hour to one-and-a-half-hours, depending on how much information there is and how well a particular interview might be going, if that’s what the focus is.

I don’t know about you, but I hate having the phone up to my ear for more than 10 minutes.

I was recently introduced to Rick’s latest innovation, a total solution to all the above limitations. I was so impressed that I became a charter member. During his teleseminar Rick opened the doors and allowed a very limited number of people to sign up to his new service.

Considering the 1,000’s of people who would be jumping to get their hands on this, he only allowed in 500 charter members then he closed the doors.

During the web-based teleseminar I was literally awestruck. I was able to listen-in on the Internet - live – and without having to place a long-distance call. I also had visuals to look at, plus links I could click on that brought up other web pages Rick wanted me to look at, AND there was a question box at the bottom of the call screen where I could ask questions that Rick would answer. I was hooked right from the start.

A very nice feature on this system is that it also records the call, allowing your audience to go back and replay it later.

It also allows you to package the recording into a sellable product or giveaway. Remember that as you record your call, you are also creating a product for future use.

It’s a fast and convenient method of product creation.

What would you do with a teleseminar?

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