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Audio products can hurt you? How could that be? The hot offering is audio products and now I’m saying they could hurt you?

Yes. Audio products can hurt your business, hurt your credibility, and hurt your ability to create that revenue river you’ve been dreaming of. Repurposing content into audio products is a good idea – but only if you do it the right way!

I enjoy going to see people speak, and going to seminars. When I see a speaker with great information, I’ll buy their audio products so I can continue to learn from them. As an AKC dog show judge, I spend a lot of time in the driver’s seat going to and from shows, time I like to spend learning. Often when I listen to an audio product, the production value leaves a lot to be desired – no intro or concluding segment, no audio enhancement to make the speaker easier to hear, no removing of audience interruptions and extraneous noise. Just the speech or program, as it was presented, warts and all.

It makes me feel ripped off, especially if I’ve spent more than $10 for that program.
It makes me feel ripped off, especially if the speaker was careful about their appearance.
It makes me feel ripped off, especially if they’ve obviously spent a lot of time developing their material and their talk.

Why the ripped off feeling? Because the speaker whom I held in high enough esteem to make a purchase from doesn’t care one bit about me. If they cared about those who were making purchases, they’d be sure to make the product worth the price.

They’d make it sound good by putting an opening and closing segment on it. They’d clean up the interruptions and stray noises that invariably happen when an audience is in the room. They’d enhance their voice and the audience to make the program feel more “live” to the listener of that audio product. And they’d be sure to have contact information and a reason to visit their website – some sort of valuable offer – at the end of the program, so if I wanted more from them, I could easily get it.

When someone gives you money, they want value. When they buy your audio product, they want a product, not just a raw recording. They want to feel as though you value them as much as they value your message.

Selling a recording with no work done to it tells your purchaser that you don’t value them. Even worse, selling a recording with no work done to it sends out mixed messages to your purchaser. You were careful about your appearance for the presentation, but not careful about your audio product. You spent a lot of time developing your material and your talk, but no time at all on the preparation of your audio product.

With all of that in mind, do you think most purchasers would make a second purchase? No, they won’t.

If you use recordings of your presentations as enticements into the wide end of your sales funnel, be sure that you’re offering good value and good products, not just some slap-dash thing you put together. Don’t send mixed messages, and don’t disrespect your purchaser. Give them great audio products and watch them dive deeper into your funnel!

Do you have a question about audio products? I’d love to hear it, and maybe answer it right here. Helping people monetize their content is what we do!

Sandy Weaver Carman
CEO, Voicework on Demand, Inc.

I partner with writers, speakers, trainers and coaches, taking work they’ve already done and turning it into a revenue river. Ready to get your feet wet?