Today Denise and I interviewed Debra Simpson, MagicInWords.com about podcasts and other media to reach and pull visitors to your online business. (I'll post notes about our Blogging and Beyond radio show on podcasting and multi-media marketing over on our Build a Better Blog site.)
One idea I hadn't heard of before is to post audio articles and audio tips on your website and blog. Take an article you've written for your ezine or for article directory syndication, and revise it for recording purposes. A 500-700 word article should translate to a 3-5 minute mp3 file.
Why would you want to do this? Because there are 63 million owners of mp3 players in the world, who want to download files and listen to them in the car and in the gym.
Now, I'm not a big fan of listening to podcasts on the treadmill - I need a little rock n roll to motivate my feet! My favorite is Jock Jams - those tunes really get me going!
I am, however, a big fan of getting the maximum juice out of everything I write. And just because I love to write and read my information, doesn't mean I shouldn't give other options to readers. Some people just prefer to listen to information. Give visitors to your site a choice.
Audio files can be serialized, so that visitors come back to your site for tip #2, etc. A special report or article can be recorded and given away as a bonus for signing up for your ezine.
It is becoming clear that even writers must be prepared for the new interactive Web, what the geeks call Web 2.0, and be able to record information in audio and video files when possible. It that too much to ask of us writers? I think not. After all, 10 years ago, hardly anyone was using email, and we all learned how to do that, didn't we?
For more tips on audio and creating informational products, visit Debra's site, www.MagicinWords.com.
Debra is full of good tips. After you have several audio files of articles or how to tips, collect them and burn a CD; you can sell the CD as an info product, either stand alone, or with other files including the PDF file of the transcripts.
That resonates with The Blog Squad, as we are always encouraging you to package your information in several different formats so visitors can choose the way they want to learn. Just be sure to monitor so that customers don't buy the same information twice and get annoyed. Better yet, don't duplicate content for sale. Be sure your sales process clearly defines what clients are getting.
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