When I listen to a podcast or audiobook I feel like I’m right there with the host/author. It feels really intimate. They are right there in my ear.
There is a lot of focus on video in social media and marketing in general at the moment. Tik Tok is huge, Instagram has just announced that they are no longer a photo sharing app but a video sharing one.
Some of my clients don’t feel like video is right for them. They’re just not willing to do it even though they know it’s really great for business.
Other clients deliver the transformation to their clients through their voice like through hypnosis or sound healing or light language transmission.
Today I’m shouting from the rooftops about audio.
I’m super excited about audio as an option especially for people trying to reduce their reliance on social media or who find it really hard to be online all the time.
Here are just 4 of my reasons why audio is so great:
- Audio can be turned into video and social media
- Audio can free you from social media + allow you to become discoverable
- You can have total creative freedom in audio formats
- Audio can be so easy to create
Audio can be turned into video and social media
If you are looking at audio as an alternative to video, I am on your side. One of the great things about audios is that they can SO EASILY be turned into video. I use 2 main tools to do that:
- Headliner App
- Canva
These both enable you to turn your audio into a video.
I know there are tonnes of other tools that you could use but these are my 2 faves.
{insert demo vid}
These video can then be shared on your Facebook and Instagram as video and enjoy the little oomph that the algorithm gives video without having to even get dressed!
Audio can free you from social media + allow you to become discoverable
Or maybe you are interested in audio because you object to social media and want to reduce your engagement with those platforms or even just reduce it.
The beauty of audio is you can publish your recordings on a few large platforms that make you really discoverable by all people, not just people on social media.
My favourite way to be more discoverable using audio is to create a podcast. I love to use Anchor FM because there’s an awesome free version that will push your podcast to iTunes and Spotify which are massive audiences of people. This makes you more discoverable without relying on social media which, let’s be honest, isn’t really delivering great distribution to anyone for free lately.
Another option is to upload to Soundcloud. You can even upload them to your own website! You don’t need to rely on some other large corporation to distribute for you.
I keep wanting to insert research on podcasts and audio in this blog to verify my claims, but really, you could do that yourself if you like.
I know from my own experience and that of my friends and clients: we are all users/receivers of audio content. Either talking books or podcasts, or Insight timer. Whatever it is. Ask anyone. This is a massive platform that is not going away in a hurry. And you don’t have to go on social media to get distribution. Yay.
You can have total creative freedom in audio formats
I’ve talked about a few places you can distribute and some of these platforms have norms. For instance, a lot of podcasts are 25-30 minutes. Soundcloud is a bit more varied but you might get to wondering:
How long should your audio be?
Should it be interview style or something else?
You know what? Just like the way I advocate for blog creative freedom, I advocate for audio creative freedom.
It’s absolutely possible to create podcast episodes at varying lengths whether that is 2 minutes one day and then 1 hour another to actually loving the container of “my episodes will be 20 minutes”.
The best thing to do is experiment and see what feels good for you or what length seems to suit what you feel you need to share.
And if you want inspiration to be irregular in your podcast episode lengths, just have a look at Leonie Dawson’s podcast. I’m sure there are a number of other successful podcasters posting at varied durations.
You also don’t have to have “Seasons” or consider making more than 3 episodes ever. You don’t have to post every week. You can be free.
Sure – if you want to be a podcaster first and a healer/mentor/coach second, then you can follow all the “podcast” success tips and be a super famous podcaster. But your content is really a support to your business, not the end in itself. You could make 5 episodes that constitute a free audiobook of sorts. You can mix up your music making with your rants, or share sound healings. Whatever you like!
Audio can be so easy to create
Ok – now I’ve harped on about a podcast, you might be thinking, “but isn’t it hard to create a podcast?”.
Well, I don’t think it’s hard however I understand that is not a fair statement because I don’t find tech hard.
I love to use Anchor FM (yes the free version) and they distribute my little baby podcast all over the place: Spotify, iTunes and more. PLUS you can record directly into Anchor if you like on a device or desktop.
And if you don’t want to think about a podcast, you can create audio really easily with your phone. You don’t even need to buy a fancy mic if you have a pretty new-ish smartphone. You can record directly onto your phone and upload your recorded content to your computer.
If you are interested in a fancy set up, I have a blog about the set up my audio technician husband recommends.
The main thing I got from my conversation with him about it all is that: hard surfaces bounce the sound of your voice back and can sound tinny so a room with lots of soft furnishing (or your wardrobe??) can be a great place to record.
That’s it from me for today. I feel like I could go on and on about it so I probably will next year in a podcast course of some kind. If you’d like to stay in the loop about upcoming courses, I recommend jumping on the newsletter list – who trusts Facebook to actually show us content from the people we follow LOL?
For now: did I miss anything? What lingering questions do you have? Comment and let me know and I’ll make a video or another blog post for you.
Here is this blog as an audio:
“I pay my respects and acknowledge the people of the Yuin Nation, traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work. I also pay respect to all Elders — past, present and future.”
