The Ten Commandments To Creating Amazing Audio Products
1.Thou shall create audio products as the fastest way to come out with a product.
Forget about e-books. They take to long to create especially if you’re a slooooow typist. You can create an audio product in a day instead of weeks or months with an e-book. If you must create an e-book, do the audio first and have someone transcribe the audio into a word file. You than clean it up and add some chapter heads and an index and Bam! You have an instant e-book
2.Thou shall use a headset microphone for your recordings.
I find that using a headset mic is a lot more versatile than a standard microphone. A headset mic gives you the freedom to move your head around and you don’t feel restricted as far as being positioned in front of a table top mic.
3.Thou shall not be afraid to record your voice.
Many people hate the way they sound on tape (me included) and feel that they cannot put together a “Professional” product. The first time you hear yourself on tape you are just going to die. It takes practice to actually speak properly. You get struck by the dreaded Uh and Um syndrome and the monotone voice virus but take heart …you can do this. Slow down and concentrate on what you’re saying and interject some emphasis and pitch changes to your voice. Bottom line…add some personality.
I’ll admit I’m no professional speaker myself… It takes practice and you will get better.
Here are a couple books you might want to check out: The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking by Dale Carnegie Secrets of Successful Speakers: How You Can Motivate, Captivate, and Persuade by Lilly Walters
4.Thou shall add intro and outro music to your audios
If you really want to add a professional polish to your products you must add the intro and outro music. You know that cool music you hear at the beginning of the audio just before someone starts the introduction.
You could give this site a try: frontandbackmusic.com for some demos.
5.Thou shall use different formats for your audio info product
A couple of ways to create an audio product is to interview someone over the phone and record it or just do a straight forward gab session on your own. To keep it simple when I’m recording on my own, I write down some bullet points to use as memory joggers to keep me on track during the recording sessions. Also, when using the computer software it allows you to pause so you can get your thoughts together and then just restart the recording process without a skip.
6.Thou shall use different listening formats for your audio product.
When distributing your audios you have different formats to choose from. You can use .wav, .mp3, .ram files. Wave files take up the most space and are megabyte hogs. Mp3 and ram (real player files) take up the least amount of space and are good for streaming audio on the web. If you are distributing your audio on CD it is best to use wav. That way you will be able to listen to them in any CD player. Here is a little warning when recording your audio projects. Be aware of the space you have on your hard drive. A two hour recording session will take up to 1.3 gigabytes of space in wav. I like to record and edit in smaller intervals and burn them to a CD-RW just to get them off my hard drive.
7.Thou shall use cheap resources for your audio.
I get all my bubble pack shippers and CD cases off of Ebay. They have some great deals. I get my CD’s duplicated at Diskfaktory.com because they can run small quantities of 50. I wouldn’t get any more made until you know you have a winner.
8.Thou shall have fun when creating your audio products
I have to say I really enjoy the creation process and it’s really neat when you go to record a product and can play it back and listen to it on the fly. You get a sense that this thing is really coming together. And when you add the music you really get a sense of satisfaction. Creating audio is really instant gratification when it comes to creating info products. I love it…
As of this writing, I’m working with my wife on a product and I’m interviewing her and we are having a blast. She makes mistakes and I make them and we just sit there and laugh. My wife has the UH and UM syndrome so we are trying to get cured of that… But the point is that we are having a good time.
Quick Tip: I use a splitter to add two microphones to my computer. You need to raise the volume to get it normalized.
9.Thou shall build a audio information empire
If you really want to get a jump start in the information product business this is the easiest and funniest way to do it. As fast as you can record and edit these things the faster you can crank them out and start making some money. Also audio CD and tapes have a higher perceived value and you can get more for them then by just selling an e-book.
10.Thou shall learn what software to use for your audios.
Software can be expensive. Many of the gurus recommend Sounforge but I prefer a program from Cakewalk called Plasma. This software is half the price of Soundforge and is very versatile.
Well there you have it. Some good tips to get you started on building your audio empire.
Happy Recording,
John Kiel
(c)2005 John Kiel
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