February 1, 2004
Internet streaming audio is the most
prevalent form of multimedia on the Internet
today according to Creative, one of the
leading companies in the sound hardware
field. Over the last few years, streaming
audio has moved from being a curiosity
to a business strategy that is adopted
by many media organizations.
Streaming Audio has always been available
to the big corporate sites and techies.
Now every one can use simple software
to produce their own streaming audio from
a web site.
Marketers and business people have always
known that a well-placed audio stream
can increase sales and signups to their
products and services. The problem has
always been that the average person could
not afford the high cost of special servers
or programmers to be able to use this
technology.
There have been a number of products
around that provide streaming audio however
as they have grown and developed so have
the plugins required for listening to
the streaming files.
With the new software available today
anyone can add audio to their web sites
without the need for any large plugins
and complicated software. Simply add your
audio file and choose a component to activate
the stream and click go. These programs
output all the necessary files, which
you can then use to embed in your web
pages with a quick copy and paste.
The web visitor can simply click and
listen, even over a standard 56K modem.
So now that you're considering adding
the sweet sound of audio to your site,
where might you want to use it?
Depending on your website's content and
theme, there are a variety of ways to
incorporate your audio into it. For example:
You might place a welcome message on
your front page, summarizing your site's
highlights, informing visitors of what
they'll find, and thanking them for stopping
by.
If you have an "about us" page on your
site, you might want to record a brief
message to accompany your background info.
This will help people feel as if they're
actually meeting you.
Since testimonials are a great enhancement
to any site imagine if you actually added
them in your customer's own voice. If
you use one of the phone recording services
you could give them the number and they
could easily record how they feel about
your products/services.
If your site has been featured in an
online interview or radio show, imagine
including this audio in your site. Just
think of it as your very own live press
room.
Perhaps just adding some pleasant music
for your visitors to listen to as they
view your web pages.
There are many features that these new
programs provide the user.
- Produce as many files as you like.
- No need for expensive programmers
- Many allow you to host them on your
own server - you're in control.
- Greatly reduce the size of your audio
file.
- Streams over most modem connections
- Easy to use interface
- Added components for more variety
So now that you're actually thinking
of recording something and adding it to
your site, how do you do it? There are
many different ways, some more expensive
then others. Let's examine some of your
choices a little more closely.
1) MP3 Sound Stream: http://mp3soundstream.com/
Creates streaming audio from MP3 or Wav
files. Produces high quality output for
only $39.95.
2) Audio Player Pro: http://www.audioplayerpro.com/
Starting at only $47.00. This produces
a code that you can paste onto your website
that will enable the viewers' default
player.
3) Audio Generator: http://www.audiogenerator.com/
Streaming audio using just your browser.
Easy to use, you can phone in your message
or use MP3 files. Excellent sound quality.
After recording your message paste some
code onto your site and a button appears
with your audio. $29.95 monthly.
4) Sonic Memo: http://www.sonicmemo.com/
Includes a step-by-step tutorial. You'll
have to create your own MP3 files and
upload them to your server. If you record
WAV files, you'll have to first convert
them to MP3 format. This software sells
for $97.00.
5) Instant Audio: http://instantaudio.com/
Just record a message by phone and your
website or e-mail is instantly audio-enabled.
To check their sound quality call the
phone number listed on the site, leave
a message, then hit the play button on
the site to listen. This service will
cost you 29.95 a month.
Your site has been sending non-verbal
messages for years; now it's time to break
free and let it send a message everyone
can hear. Adding audio to your website
is not only easy to do, it can help you
gain the trust of your site's visitors,
thus increasing your conversion rate.
So stop wasting your time and money, and
start getting the sales you may be missing.
--
Quentin Brown
CEO MP3 Sound Stream
Streaming Audio Made Easy
http://www.mp3soundstream.com
Quentin Brown has been involved with
Internet Marketing for the past 7 years
and continually helps people to resource
and equip their online businesses for
success. His latest offering is Streaming
Audio Made Easy. http://www.mp3soundstream.com
