Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Finding an Angle for Your Information Product

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Target Your Customers HandIf you’re going to create information products, you should know ahead of time that your biggest obstacle might just be yourself. A limited mindset combined with fear can keep you from creating some powerful products that can serve your audience and make money for you.

The little voice in your head may be raising doubts, starting with not knowing what your product should be about. Well, tell that little voice to sit down and shut up, because we are going to solve that problem right now.

There are many ways to come up with an angle for a new product, but we’re going to look at four specifically. [Read more…]

Your Next Product

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A reliable way to increase your revenue and profits is to introduce new products. Each new product or service you add gives customers another chance to do business with you.

Where a lot of people stumble is deciding what products they should create, and which product they should create next (or first). Let’s take a look at how to come up with your new product.

What Is the next Logical Step?
If you already offer products, what is the next thing that your customers want or need from you? Build on what your existing products have done for them, and take them to the next level.
[Read more…]

Audacity Tutorial

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Audacity is powerful, free software you can use to record and edit audio.

Once you learn a few simple steps for using Audacity you can start creating podcasts, MP3 downloads, audio CD programs and more. Here is what you need to know.

You will need:

Step 1: Install Audacity

Audacity is available for free download. Just go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/ and download the version for your operating system. There are both Windows and Mac versions available.

Step 2: Install the MP3 Encoder

If you want to save audio files in MP3 format (and you will) you need to install the LAME MP3 encoder. Don’t worry, it’s easier than it sounds. Just go to the LAME MP3 page and follow the simple instructions.

Step 3: Open Audacity

After installing, you will probably have an Audacity icon on your desktop. If not it should be in your list of programs. Click (or double click) the icon or select it from your program list.

Step 4: Make Your Recording

Once Audacity is running, all you have to do is click the round red button in the tool bar to start the recording. Start recording, wait a few seconds (silently count to three) then start speaking. Leave a few seconds of silence at the end of the recording, too. This makes it easier to do editing, such as adding music or an intro.

Always test before making your final recording. Start recording, speak for a minute or so, then stop. Listen to see if you need to adjust the volume levels or eliminate background noises you didn’t notice in “real life,” but are obvious on the recording.

Once you are done recording, click the square button to stop.

Your recording will have a wave form that looks something like this. The horizontal line that goes all the way across the screen is the background noise. Ideally, this should be very thin. (The thicker it is, the more background noise or hiss you have on the recording.)

The groups of short blue spikes are your voice, and the tall thin spike and the short bit to the right are clicks.

Step 5: Listen To The Recording

To listen to what you recorded, just  press the green arrow button in the tool bar. If it doesn’t start to play immediately, you may need to place your cursor at the beginning of the clip and then press the play button. Another way to move to the beginning of the clip is to click on the button with the two arrows pointing left.

Step 6: Save Your Recording

Always save a copy of your original audio file before you start to edit. That way, if you make a mistake when editing you always have the original to go back to.

To save your original audio file, use the Save Project option in the File menu. This will save your recording as an Audacity project with an .au extension.

Step 7: Edit The Recording

As you record, you may pick up clicks and other sounds that you do not want in the final recording. For instance, the clicks heard at the end of the audio came from me moving the mic on my headset. Or you may want to cut out some of the “ums” and “uhs” or other mistakes. You do not need to keep redoing the recording until it is perfect. You can simply take out the unwanted audio with the editing tools available in Audacity.

To edit, you may need to zoom in to the section to see it clearly. Use the zoom in the tool bar or you can find the short cut keys by clicking on the view tab at the top.

After you zoom in, highlight the section you’d like to remove and use the cut or silence button to remove this section. The cut tool is usually the best choice.

Step 8: Save The Edited File

After you have finished editing, save a copy of the edited file. Give it a new name so you do not overwrite the original recording file.

You can also export the file as a WAV or MP3 at this time. Burn a WAV file to a CD and you can play it in most CD players, as well as computers. MP3s can be played in computers and some CD players. (Many new CD players will play MP3 files.) MP3 files are smaller, so MP3 is the better format if you are going to put your audio files on the Internet.

To save your recording as an MP3 or WAV file:

  • Click the Export option in the File menu.
  • Select the type of file (WAV or MP3).
  • Name your audio. Do not put spaces in the file name.
  • Fill in the metadata (e.g., your name, the title, date, etc.) if you wish.
  • Click ok.

And you’re done! Your audio file can be burned to CD or uploaded to the web.

Note: It is always a good idea to listen to the file to make sure there were no glitches when converting or saving the file.

Thin Slicing Content

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tomato_slicesOne of the mistakes many content producers make is trying to cover too many topics in one product, article, blog post, teleseminar or other piece of content. As Tim Carter of AskTheBuilder.com said in his Cash Content Formula interview:

The key in [my] ebooks is, I am solving a very precise problem. In other words, if someone wants to know how to put crown molding up, I have the step by step photographs, and I have the supporting text to show you how to complete the job. That is it.

They are not interested in door trim. They are not interested in cutting the grass. They are not interested in laying a brick wall. If they are, then fine. Write a separate e book for that.

Tim gets it. [Read more…]

Profit from Giving Free Speeches

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speakerGiving free speeches to professional and community organizations is an easy way to improve your credibility and build your reputation as an expert. More than that, it is also a way to make money—directly and indirectly.

First, create or obtain products you can sell after your talk. The fastest way to do this is to buy products from someone else. For example, if you are a expert on personal security, you could offer a few security devices (such as hand-held alarms or pepper spray).

You can also develop information products. Put together booklets of personal security tips for women, security for travelers, keeping your home secure, etc. They don’t take long to write, and can be produced in small quantities for less than $1 each. Additional information products would include books, posters, audio CDs, DVDs, t-shirts, etc. An audio program can be created simply by recording one of your talks.

Always provide a handout when you speak. One page is fine. Include some of the important points from your talk, or some tips related to your topic. Make sure you include information about how you can be contacted. On the back, put a brief bio and/or information about your products and services. Include a special offer or coupon, with an expiration date, to encourage the audience to contact you.

Customers often need to see you more than once before they make a buy decision, so keep yourself in front of the audience. Collect names and addresses of the audience members, and mail to them after the talk. Remind them when and where they heard you talk. The organization may give you a list of attendees if you ask. Or, you can collect the information. Offer a drawing for a prize (such as one of your booklets or other products) and collect business cards for the drawing. Or offer to send additional information to those who provide a business card.

Encourage audience members to sign up for your email list. Do not just add people to your email list because you have their email addresses. Make sure you also have their permission to email them. Doing otherwise makes you a spammer.

After you have been speaking for free for a while, you will get asked about your fee to speak. This opens the door to a whole new set of opportunities. If you are asked about your fee for speaking, it means you are ready to become a professional speaker—a professional expert on your topic.

Learn more about creating information products and making your speaking more profitable here.