In article one, How To Create Text To Speech Blog Posts, of this three part series we used a free service to convert your text blog posts into downloadable audio files. In article two, How To Add Podcast Audio To Blog Posts, we examined what it takes to add a podcast to your blog. In this third and final article in the series we are going to learn how you can use your cell phone to create audio content for your blog using some pretty handy commercial services.

Okay, I bet you’re thinking. Why on earth would I ever use a cell phone to create content for my blog? And, even if I wanted to, how could I possibly do such a thing? Well the answer is simple on both points.

The logic is simple really. We all want to get more done in the day and we are all looking for ways to make better use of the time we do have. But, during the course of the day you probably still have some dead time that could be better utilized. This is probably while you are in the car traveling to work, traveling to lunch, traveling back from lunch, or on your travel time back from work. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like to space out during drive time as much as the next guy, but I bet you’ve thought to yourself at least once that it would be good if there was a way to make better use of your travel time.

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In the previous article of this three part series on adding audio to your blog we explored Talkr.com as a solution for offering text to speech audio publishing on your blog. In this article we’re going to cover the fundamentals of what it takes to include a podcast in your blog posts. Podcasting is very popular and a natural extension of blogging.

But, before we get into the how of podcasting, let’s take a quick look at why you might want to add podcast audio to your blog in the first place.

To start, podcasting is the “in demand” thing. It offers portable content to busy people who are on the move. Today’s mobile lifestyle is all about doing things when you want and not when “the schedule” says it can be done. In this way podcasting has transformed the way people take in information online. They download it and stick it on their MP3 players. They listen to it in their cars and at their desks, while they exercise and while they clean the house. If you want your audience to take your content with them wherever they go, then podcasting can help you do that.

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If you are looking for creative ways to generate content and value for your blog readers or podcast listeners, then consider hosting a recorded call with someone who is an expert in you topic of interest.

The recorded call can be turned into a downloadable MP3 as part of a series of audios, as content for a podcast, or as the basis for articles on your blog. You can even have the audio transcribed for a minimal fee. The transcript can also be made available on your blog as a search engine friendly version of the call.

The number of possible options is inspiring. But, before we get caught up on our options, let’s look at what goes into creating an interesting, well structured call.

The following list of suggested activities is simply a rough guide for conducting a call and I highly recommend that you listen to existing successful calls to understand how different formats work best for different subjects and audiences. Take note of how the host of the call leads the conversation and how they create value for both the listener and the guest speaker. The more value everyone takes away from the call the most successful the call will be. Valuable content is something people will pay for and something they will distribute on your behalf, free of charge.

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Recently I had the pleasure of hosting the Frisco Internet Entrepreneurs Meet Up in Frisco Texas. The topic of discussion was how to drive traffic to your website using Web 2.0 sites or social media sites. We also discussed a number of other ways to successfully drive traffic to websites. One recommended traffic generator was podcasting.

Podcasting can bring great exposure to a website through publishing iTunes and many other podcast directories. Podcasting is also being used in a variety of ways to enrich offline businesses as well.

To illustrate some of the ideas I would like to share this video with you about podcasting and what it can do to change the way you may be looking at your business and how you might use podcasting to drive traffic to your website.

Also, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know if this video gave you any ideas.

Keep reaching for success,

Charles McKeever
charlesmckeever.com

P.S. Be sure to check back tomorrow when I give you three great tips for how to optimize your adword campaigns to increase click through rates and decrease ad costs.

- cm

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