OK. I’ve come clean.

As much as I rail again being obsessed with cool tools … how they are the crash-and-burn demise of scores of online entrepreneurs, who think having the latest gadget is their ticket to traffic nirvana …

… I am …  well … obsessed with cool tools.

While I usually keep it under wraps, I have finally decided to let this secret love out into the open!

And hopefully, it can help you have some fun (and boost your bottom line):

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While genius goes a long way to solve your online video traffic issues, its often a crap shoot.

Even if you create one hit, its hard to reproduce another. Plus, if your follow-up videos are sub par, your audience can desert you. Creating a hit video is like trying to strike it rich in Vegas. The house usually wins.

But there is one other factor we have total control over:   Consistency.

And creating simple videos, day after day, has vaulted several solopreneurs to online video stardom. Including one whose worldwide notoriety is as easy as a stroll down the beach. Literally.

Roxanne Darling, pontificates on the world, business and personal growth – and captures it all on video – with her fabulous Beachwalks with Rox series:

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One of the things that can give you the capital to hire help are information products. But how do you create products simply, with a limited budget?

How do can you get all the great content out of your head without massive recording logistics?

The answer is using a quality digital voice recorder to capture your gems. And now there is step-by-step guidance to show you exactly how to make it happen:

Its iPod Revenue Revealed.

If you are looking to easily create audio information products on digital voice recorders and even select model iPods – it’s a bulls-eye!

And until this Thursday September 18th its insanely affordable. And gives you a 40-day exclusive window to promote it as our affiliate.

So take advantage of the intro price and the exclusive affiliate window:

Its all at iPod Revenue Revealed.

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There is one familiar complaint I hear from would-be audio infopreneurs:

“Rob, I can*t create audio! My voice isn’t good enough!”

And I always reassure them – vocal excellence is not required for profits. Most of the folks I know of who make a killing with their audio products have voices just like you and me.

Some are twangy. Some have heavy accents. Some speak in excited run on sentences. But all have massive bank accounts.

Still, its always a good idea to work on improvement your vocal instrument.

Recently, voice over legend Don LaFontaine passed away. You don’t know the name. You surely know the voice.I ran across this very entertaining profile on YouTube a few days ago. Now this guy’s voice was amazing. It probably puts all our voices to shame.That is not the point.

The point is to make the best with what you have. To not take yourself so seriously that you miss out on a lifetime of profit because of insecurities about how you think you sound. The point is to have fun creating your audio. As you will see in the video, behind this amazing voice is an equally amazing sense of humor.

As well as a few tips to show you how to make the most of what you got.

If the movie stops (have had problems with YouTube lately), you can watch it on YouTube by clicking here.

Down through the years, one of the most common info products questions people ask is:

Rob, what is the easiest way to record my information products?

And I always tell them there isn’t one pat answer. As with most things, it depends on a variety of factors:

• Recording / speaking experience
• Technical ability
• The kinds of product you want to create
• What your audience is looking for

What I can say is, one of the ways many get started is with a digital voice recorder. But this leads to another question:

What kinds of info products can I record easily with a voice recorder?

The good news is there are quite a few ideas. The sheer variety (and the impact they can have on your business) may shock you.

Here is a list of 5 projects you can create on your digital voice recorder that are the simplest to produce and can have the biggest impact on your business:

Testimonials:

If you do a lot of speaking or networking, I am sure you have run into this: Some one literally knocks you over, gushing about what a huge impact your blog, products, or services have had on their life.
When you ask them, “Would you be willing to write me a testimonial?” they scream their consent, gratitude gushing from their eyes.

And you never hear from them again.

The next time this happens, why not whip out your handy voice recorder and ask if they would be willing to give your testimonial RIGHT THERE. You can even ask them directive questions to get the type of response that literally sings off the sales page.

Sure you will have to transcribe it. But a great testimonial is worth its weight in gold. And now you never have to miss one again.

Conference Expert Interviews:

As long as you’ve spent big bucks to fly across the country to that great conference . . . why not leverage that investment by interviewing some of the speakers. It will take all of 5 minutes, and give them an opportunity to promote their wares to your audience. You come out looking great because your audience receives terrific content and hears you hobnobbing with the elite.

Who knows? It may even be the seed of a great JV.

Your speaking gigs, workshops and presentations

The quickest way to create a great product is simply record one of your live talks. There*s no scripting and limited planning (especially if it’s a talk you are already giving). Now you want to make sure the presentation is packed with value, and you give your listeners some take-aways they can act on, both in the short term and the long run.

At best, a few thousand folks can see you live. But once you get those babies recorded, you suddenly have access to a worldwide audience.

Opt-in Audio Course Segments:

Everyone and their grandma has a bonus report to entice subscribers. But what if your freebie included downloadable MP3 segments? Folks can’t read your stuff in the car, at the gym, while they are shopping, or walking around town. But they can listen.

Make your opt-in course iPod friendly by recording short 3 to 5 minute downloadable segments to accompany your blockbuster PDF report.

Podcasts

In the same vein, when the inspiration strikes (and I know from listening to a lot of you that its striking constantly) whip out your voice recorder and commit those gems to audio where people can benefit. Then simply distribute them as a weekly Podcast. It doesn’t have to be formal . . . just valuable.

Imagine the loyalty (and profits) you would create by making sure your subscribers can take your most profound (and valuable) thoughts with them wherever they go . . . right on their iPod!

And speaking of iPods . . .

Very soon we will be releasing a resource that will allow you to create these profitable, valuable audio products and marketing right on your trusty iPod. Make that baby start paying for itself . . . we will show you how.

Beverly Hills website on a Walmart budget
5 resources to insure profits don’t go down the drain

But now you discover that’s only half the battle. Because in order to sell online, you need a web presence. A product mini-site. Sales copy. Payment processing.

But don’t fret. Selling your products online doesn’t have to cost you two months worth of profits. If you know where to look.

There are simple low cost ways to create a dynamic professional web presence without having to eat peanut butter sandwiches for dinner.

1. Fire your copywriter / Hire a template

   Don’t get me wrong. Copywriters are worth their weight in gold.

   If you can afford the thousands (plus percentage of the profits) the good ones cost.

   Until your blood is that rich, why not give Instant Sales Letters a shot? These fill in the blanks sales letter templates can help you get started selling quickly. And bring in enough money so you can go ahead and hire that fancy hoidy-toidy copywriter.

   Sure the gurus and your marketing buddies may laugh at you. But your bank account won’t.

2. Budget web designs that look like a million

   A slick web design can cost thousands of dollars. Sure you can shell out and then eat rice and beans for a few months. Or you can visit Template Monster. You will find literally hundreds of beautiful professional web page designs that will have your customers (and competitors) thinks you’ve moved up in the world.

   And I promise not to tell them it only knocked you back around 60 bucks.

   Yeah, its nice to have a custom design. But I’d rather invest the thousands I save into other ways to boost my bottom line.

3. Or try a blog for no bucks

   Of course if you’re really on a budget, you can put your sales letter on a blog. Head on over to Blogger and sign up (its free!) Choose a template. And you’re up and running within seconds.

   Then just pop in the copy you created using Instant Sales Letters, add your payment link and you’re set.

   Sure it would be nice to have a full fledged web site. But in the time it would take you to create one, you could be taking orders, and making profits.

   HOT TIP: Beware of putting up a quickie product selling blog on WordPress.com. When you host your blog on their site, they are a bit e-commerce phobic. Have heard reports of folks getting their blogs deleted just for selling stuff.

   This caution does NOT apply when you host a WordPress blog on your own server. But that is one rung up the complexity ladder. Stick to Blogger for a more commerce friendly quick up and running web presence.

4. Cheap help for custom changes

   So lets say you bought your Template Monster template. But don’t have a clue how to add your copy and customize it. Or lets say you want to pimp out your WordPress template a tad. Are you stuck? Of course not!

   There is a load of inexpensive freelance help available at eLance and Rent-A-Coder. Because you used your template to take care of your major design issues, you can fill in the blanks very inexpensively. Just put out a job for bid on either site, with details of exactly what you are looking for.

   And let folks from all over the world who do this in their sleep bid for the privilege. Check their past work, and feedback from past customers. Select your freelancer. And then sit back and relax while they do all the geek work.

5. No merchant account required

   One last trick: Moving money from your customers wallets to your bank account. Its no sweat with PayPal. Simply sign up for an account (its free). Follow the step-by-step instructions to link to your bank account. Then click on the Merchant Services Tab, and then on the blue Buy Now Link in the Create Buttons Sections for their “do it for you” Buy Now Button wizard.

   Simply answer a few questions. And you receive a short snippet of html code to paste into your website or blog. Or pass the html code the Wizard gets you along to your eLance / RentACoder geek and have them do it.

   Now anyone with a credit card can buy your products. They don’t even have to be a PayPal member.

Look if you’ve got cash flow (or a lot of money to blow) go ahead: Get a merchant account. Pay the monthly fee for a shopping cart. Blow a couple mortgage payments on a fancy web design and a top tier copywriter. Someday we will all get there.

But until then, follow our five money saving tips above. And invest the savings in marketing that can really make your business grow.

The best option for terrific CD covers
May be right down the street

I am always amazed how many folks make things a lot more complicated than they need to be.

Like having preconceived ideas on what they THINK they will have to do to create an audio product.

One of the biggest obstacles seems to be creating covers or other graphics for their CDs. It’s the old “I’m not an artist / I don’t have money to hire one” conundrum.

However, I’ve got a solution for you. And it may be as close as your neighborhood gas station.

First take a look at this simple CD cover I created just for this blog post. (Note: its longer than it is tall because I use DVD cases to package my CDs). I realize you won’t see it in an art museum, but its more than adequate to feature on CDs sold on my website or at the back of the room.

So Rob, you may be asking, where did you get that beautiful flower photo on the front cover? Did you pay a photographer? Did you search for hours on a stock photo site? And when you did find it, I’m sure it cost you a pretty penny.

You’d be wrong on all three counts.

Because now I’d like you to take a look at the next photo. The one of the gas station. In front of the gas station is a flower bed. Yep, it’s the same flower bed featured on the front of my CD.

Here’s the exhausting, monumental process I went through to capture it:

1. Waited until I needed a break from my usual tasks.

2. Took a walk down to the gas station, a full 2 minutes from where I live.

3. Pulled out my digital camera and snapped a few pics.

4. Walked the whole 2 minutes back home. (Man this is exhausting!).

5. Transferred the photo to my computer, resized the photo, and added some text.

Now if you’re creating a CD on managing large companies, you’re probably not going to want to use flowers on your cover. But chances are, with a bit of thought, there’s something very close to where you live or work that IS appropriate you can capture without much trouble.

So, the next time you’re making excuses on why you can’t create audio products — consider one less roadblock in your way.

Gaping security hole in Adobe Acrobat Reader
Can expose your computer to big problems

Whether you’re creating audio or video products, supplementing them with downloadable PDFs is a great strategy to boost value and ensure satisfied customers.

But a recently discovered gaping security hole in Adobe Acrobat Reader – the most popular free program that lets you view PDFs – could open your computer to malicious attacks from hackers.

It’s a bit alarming, because PDFs are so common. I bet you’ve downloaded one or two just this month.

What are the implications of this problem? And is there any way you can protect yourself?

First, no one is immune, even if you know your PDFs are pristine. The problems begin when hackers attach malicious code to the download link.

The process is described in greater detail here:

That’s the bad news. The good news is there are very simple ways to protect yourself.

You’ll need to protect yourself in two ways: from the PDFs you download, and the PDFs your customers may be downloading from your website.

Luckily, the fix is simple. Update your current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to Version 8. If your current operating system is incompatible with 8, Adobe has created a fix, Version 7.0.9 that should work for you.

More details, along with an update download link can be found here.

If you make PDFs available from your website you will need to update a setting in your hosting account. Here are the steps I took to safeguard the PDFs on AudaciousAudio.com:

1. You can do this, but the process is a bit geeky, even for me. So I recommend enlisting help from the support folks at your web host.

2. I logged onto my hosting account and used their live chat feature to have them walk me through the process. I could have used phone support. But the chat feature made it very easy for me to send them the links they would need to help walk me through the process.

3. I sent my chat helper the following links:

   http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6147428.html?tag=nl.e539

   This is the link at the beginning of this post that describes the issue. This was helpful, as my support rep didn’t know about the problem yet.

   http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa07-02.html

   This link shows you what you need to do to safeguard the PDFs your customers access.

4. After viewing the link, the rep walked me through the process of making changes within the Control Panel of my hosting account. It was pretty simple with him guiding me.
   

Once again, at Audacious Audio we’ve already made these changes, so you don’t need to worry about our PDFs.

But I’d heartily recommend you take the steps above to protect yourself by upgrading your version of Acrobat Reader, And to enlist the help of your web hosting service to protect your customers from PDFs they may download from your site.

If you can get it for free, why pay?
For some very, very good reasons

As almost everyone knows there are a ton of free phone bridge lines out there. In fact, its almost easier to keep track of who ISN’T offering you free phone lines for your teleseminars than who is.

So is there ever a time when you DO want to pay to use a bridge line?

The answers may stun you. In fact, not knowing when to use a paid bridge line can cost you dearly.

The main factor in your decision is the main factor in most decisions involving your business: Money. In a nutshell, if you have a lot of money riding on a teleseminar:

• A big contract with a corporation or organization
• Your own paid teleseminar with a hefty registration list
• A free promotional teleseminar with heavy sign-ups

You should seriously consider using a paid service.

Why use a paid service, when you can get most of the features for free?

1. Peace of Mind

   Why insure your home against fire, when the odds are you won’t have to deal with the aftermath of an inferno? Its knowing you’re protected if something does go wrong.

   Ditto from phone bridge services and teleseminars.

   Many paid bridge lines also feature a live operator standing by. So if something does go wrong with the line, you don’t have to fend for yourself. A good operator can even provide a fresh line if the one you’re on has serious issues. While you may have to ask for (and pay extra for) an operator, it can be worth it.

   Now serious bridge problems are rate. However if you have a lot of money riding on clear communication, you want to be protected. Consider it teleseminar insurance, part of the cost of doing business.

2. Quality recording

   While a few of the free services can record your teleseminars, the quality can be marginal. While phone recording always sounds like phone recording, odds are the paid bridge line will give you a higher quality audio file.

   If this is a major consideration, ask the paid bridge service if you can hear a sample of their recording quality.

3. Simplicity

   When your business reaches a certain point, time is worth more than money. Paid bridge lines can give you:

   • A solid bridge line
   • Live operator support
   • Call recording

   All without you having to worry or think about it. So you get to focus on delivering a dynamite teleseminar. Yes, you will pay for this convenience. And yes, if you stick with it, your career will reach a point where this extra expense is worth it.

Obviously, when you’re just starting, cost is the primary consideration. So the free bridge lines will do quite nicely. However, be mindful of reaching the point in your career when this cost savings can actually put your reputation and your cash flow in danger if there’s a problem you can’t handle.

Disappointing 10 folks when a rare tech issue pops up is one thing. Disappointing 500 is quite another. Knowing the difference is the key to knowing which kind of bridge line to use.

When bitty bridge lines aren’t enough
An all-new mega alternative

It was easy to fall in love with free phone bridge lines.

They let you present your expertise to a worldwide audience (and get paid for it!), rack up opt-ins to your mailing list and forge bonds with possible joint venture partners.

It was terrific . . . up to a point.

The problem was, once your success grew the size of your audience, you outgrew the size of the free bridge line. Which meant you had to pay a lot to have a lot of folks listen in – Ouch!

However, all that’s changed.

Because there’s now a bridge line that lets you have not 100, not 200, not even 500 . . . but a THOUSAND listeners on your calls. And it won’t cost you a dime!

The good folks over at FreeConferenceCall.com recently introduced their SimpleEvent service. Not only is it free, but its reservation less. Which means you get a number with your own pin number to hold massive teleseminar events whenever you want without worrying about scheduling.

You can even change the pin number from event to event, or keep the same one. In addition to having up to 1000 listeners, you can have up to 96 participants or presenters.

Holy smokes, talk about tag team!

Yeah, you may not need even 100 slots right now. But if you keep making audio products . . . like I know you will . . . it won’t be long before you’ll thank the teleseminar angels for bequeathing such a magnificent gift.

You can check out all the juicy details here.