Having the right audio on your website can increase your sales, turn your stale newsletter into an exciting update, and help you communicate better with your market. You can use audio in many ways: audio updates, sales letter messages, welcome to my webpage, special promotions, affiliate updates, audio testimonials, audio newsletters or tips, audio ebook excerpts or dozens of other uses. Using audio on your website doesn't have to be difficult or costly, but... Its still a mystery to many... How do you record your audio? How do you get the audio into a file to present to the user? How do you upload the audio to your server? What audio player can you use to present the audio to your visitors? How can you do all of this without being an expert or spending a fortune? Truth be told, anyone can create their own audio updates, newsletters, messages for sales pages, even audio excerpts of products or interviews for less than $60 using these steps. No $30/month audio service, no $200 fancy audio package, just 6 simple steps and less than $60 investment and you are free to do as much with audio as you want in the weeks and months to come. 6 STEPS TO AUDIO ON YOUR WEBSITE FOR $60 OR UNDER Step 1. Purchase a decent quality headset or lavalier microphone. I use both for my audio - at times I use a headset that plugs directly into the USB port of my computer, a Panasonic KX-TCA92 to be more specific. You can pick them up for $20 from Amazon, perhaps even less expensive elsewhere. Or, you can purchase a basic lavalier (clip-on) mic from your local audio electronics store for under $20. Step 2. Audio Recorder/Editor. In order to record your audio and perform some basic editing functions you have a couple of no-cost options. You can use the built-in audio recorder that comes with Windows or you can download a no-charge copy of Audacity from http://audacity.sourceforge.net either one will work. You will find the windows application by going to your Start menu and selecting All Programs -->Accessories--->Entertainment where you should see something called "Sound Recorder". With older versions of Windows it may be called something else, so consult your Windows help to find out what it is called. With your microphone headset or lavalier mic plugged into your computer, Windows should recognize it as a new Microphone input device. Now, you can open your Windows "Sound Recorder" and configure it to recognize the new input device - your microphone. Within the sound recorder you want to select "Edit --->Audio Properties" where you will find a drop down list called "Sound Recording" - you want to select your Panasonic Microphone. Step 3. Record your audio. Using the Windows Recorder, or other audio editing software, record your audio and save it as a .wav file. If you are using audio editing software that allows you to save it as an .mp3 format, do so. Step 4. Convert your audio to mp3. If you already have your audio saved as an .mp3 file, skip this step. If your audio is in .wav format, you will need to convert it to an mp3. You can use this no-charge one here: http://www.softforall.com/mp3naudoi/RippersEncoders/River_Past_Wave_MP301090077.htm Step 5. Upload audio to your website. Once you have your .mp3 file, you will need to upload this using your FTP program or Web Hosting File Upload Utility that comes with the control panel of most web hosting accounts to get your file to a directory on your web server. Step 6. Audio Player. To make your audio look great on your web page you need an audio player. For example, over at http://www.highertrustmarketing.com I use an audio player to allow my users to start and stop the audio, tell how long the message is, etc... Believe it or not, adding a fancy player like this to your webpage is dead simple - the player and encoding software I use is simple to use and is available here: http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/audiorazer/ for less than $40. Following the instructions with Audio Razer, you will have professional quality audio and an audio player at your disposal to use any way you want. You could post unlimited audio updates, audio newsletters, audio promotions or sales messages, audio testimonials, audio affiliate updates, audio tips or ebook excerpts or just about anything else you can think of. Avoid paying $300 or more in audio service fees or hundreds of dollars in expensive software, you now have everything you need with these 6-steps and $60 or less to use unlimited audio as part of your product development and online marketing toolset. Copyright 2006 Jeff Smith |
