If you’re feeling leery of the prospect of sharing your wares with the world or have no idea where to start with creating intellectual property, you can now rest easy. I’ll take you by the hand and give you a quick guide to creating your content, so you can show off your expertise AND leverage it to create your article, e-course and audio! It’s easier than you think!

So stay tuned for the next FREE teleclass on how to...

Leverage Your Gifts, Talents & Time by Creating an Audio Product! (Preview)

In the mean time, here is a list of technical resources and links to get you started:

Remember, you'll need a lot of disc space on your computer, recording software, and a computer mic   (I like using a headset-I got mine for $19.99 at Radio Shack )

Recording Software with Mixing/Multi-Track/Noise Reduction Capability

Audacity (Free download!) http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (you can download the lame_enc.dll MP3 encoder from: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Lame_Encoder.htm because wave files take up A LOT of space!

If you already have audacity, all you need to do is extract lame_enc.dll into the directory of your choice once, and audacity will convert (export) file to MP3 for you.

I find that there is more flexibility with the “paid for” software, but I was amazed by all the features of Audacity nonetheless!

Adobe Audition  ($349)   I love this software! http://www.adobe.com/products/audition/

(Windows)

Sound Forge- ($259.95-$499) I didn't realize how popular this software was until I entered info product land and coaching because I’d been coming from strictly a music composition perspective up until then.  I have no firsthand experience with this software, but everyone who owns this software swears by it.  http://www.digitraxx.com/s_soundforge.html, http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/showproduct.asp?pid=961 (Windows)

Mixcraft 2.01 ($39.95 They have bundled items too for musicians) http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/ I’ve heard good things about this one too, but have no first-hand experience with it. (Windows)

For the Mac:

A colleague of mine hipped me to some software like audacity for Mac users called: Amadeus II http://www.hairersoft.com/AmadDownload.html

And Audacity now has a version for the Mac as well! (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)

A Mac-friendly site with mixing software. I can’t vouch for the products, but I can vouch for Hitsquad (I get their weekly newsletter). You might get a bit overwhelmed by the site, though: http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/mac/DJ_MIXING/

Other recording resources:

• MP3 Audio Sound Recorder (free to $29.95) http://www.mp3-audio-recorder.com/download.html
• Streaming Audio Studio- version 5.05 ($39.95) http://www.streaming-audio.net/
• Olympus digital recorders I have the DS-330 recorder, which is a much older model than what’s out there now ( it was $89 at amazon.com at the time but have come down in price with more features these days) The Olympus TP7 Telephone pickup mic that hooks into the recorder--$19.95 you can even use it on your cell phone--is a nice little accessory to add. http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_vr_digitalrecorders.asp

For those who don’t want to bother with software:

Audio Acrobat: http://www.audioacrobat.com/ You can record your teleclasses here for a fixed monthly price (you need 3-way calling on your main line though), and you get other goodies too. $19.95/month. You can provide guests with lines to call in their testimonials, create play/pause/stop buttons, and so much more. These guys have EXCELLENT customer service

Free Audio Conferencing: http://freeaudioconferencing.com/

FreeConferenceCall.com: http://freeconferencecall.com/

Duplication and Packaging

Mixonic

Disc Duplication & Printing Made Easy

http://www.mixonic.com/mcm/mixonic/index.jsp

CaptureHits-Dupliation and CD Case Design

http://www.capturehits.com/cd_duplication.htm

Royalty Free Music:

Mike Stewart, the Internet Audio Guy, is one of my role models. He's a heavy hitter A/V guy. Sign up for his newsletter at http://internetaudioguy.com/ and you'll get access to a number of free audio clips to use as a result! If you don't work with me, work with him!

Here are some sites that have fee-based royalty free music:

http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/
http://www.freshmusic.com/
http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/ (this also has free options, including sound effects and music [and midi files for personal use])

On Podcasting: 

Here is a great link for those who’d like to delve further into the topic: http://www.podcasting-tools.com/how-to-podcast.htm. Also, Annie Jennings in conjunction with PRWeb.com generously created a podcast support group that takes you by the hand on how to create a podcast, even if you have absolutely no clue where to get started (it's quite comprehensive!). Check out this link for more information: http://prwebandrew.wordpress.com/

More on streaming:

http://www.mp3soundstream.com/ Creates the cool play/pause/stop buttons on your site so your visitors don't have to download the file to listen to it.