Put Sound and Video On Your Web Site
Sound and video are coming to the Internet in a big way.
Now, with cheap new technology, anyone can turn their
website into a TV or radio station without spending a dime.
Given the huge audiences that radio and TV have (99
percent of American homes have a TV and most own five
radios), putting audio and video on your site could be the
most important thing you do. Some studies show audio and
video can increase website sales by as much as 50 percent.
Steaming media, as it is called, excites customers and keeps
you ahead of your competition. The static printed web page
will be around for a long time, but watch for most leading
sites to start offering audio and video.
Streaming media requires a lot more data than a simple
printed page. Having DSL or a T line helps. Since most
consumers still use dial-up modems on lines that support
less than 40k, Internet audio and video rely on clever
methods for compressing and reducing big files of data.
The result is sometimes fuzzy audio and pictures that look
faded and blurry. The level of quality might be annoying on
regular TV, but it's nothing short of exhilarating coming
from the Internet. One client who is using web video says
he is getting a phenomenal rate of sales from it.
Your web site visitors won't mind a bit if your presentation
isn't network professional. They will appreciate the big
jump from reading text to seeing a media presentation.
Start with Audio
There is a huge difference between the amount of work it
takes to produce video and what is needed to build an
audio-only presentation. A single individual can produce an
outstanding radio show while even a simple TV program
requires a full staff.
An audio presentation doesn't require location, lighting, or
the inconspicuous microphone placement video demands.
You can record your voice, add some music, drop in a
sound effect and your audio program is ready to hit the
Internet.
There are a number of cheap or free programs that let you
record your audio as a simple WAV file, a Real Audio file,
or a an MP3. After trying several of them, I settled on a
$20 program called Internet Audio Mix available from
acoustica.com.
It works with your PC's sound card to record up to four
digital tracks. Operation and editing is completely intuitive.
Most recent PCs have Real Audio bundled with windows.
That means a large and growing number of your customers
can click on your audio link, download your Real Audio
file, and listen to it within a matter of seconds.
Speak with energy when you record audio tracks. Because
people can't see your face, your voice has to pack extra
punch.
Try to cut down on "uhs" and "uhms." Don't feel like you
have to talk like an announcer. Customers respond better to
a voice that sounds like a regular person.
Several companies have created easy systems for producing
and hosting your audio for free. GiveMeTalk.com provides
a simple free program for recording your talk show, then
lets you host it on their site where customers can hear you.
I recorded my articles as MP3 files (the format Internet
music uses) and loaded them up on Live365.com. The site
rotates my talks, making them available non-stop 24 hours a
day at no charge. I call it the DrNunley Radio Network and
link to it from my site.
Moving Up to Web Video
Video experts tell me we're years away from having quality
streaming video on the Internet. Still, there are some easy
ways to offer fairly good video from your site.
Because the Real Video format is becoming so widely
accepted, you can download and use several of
RealNetwork.com's free video production applications.
Real Slideshow (free) lets you combine images with talk,
music, and sound effects. Real Presenter (also free) turns
your PowerPoint presentations into Internet video.
Several of the free web hosting sites now host your
streaming media presentations at no charge. Tripod.com, one
of the pioneers in free web sites, offers a program called
ShowMotion. You can combine still photos with clips of
video, scanned images, and backed with your narration.
Tripod hosts it for free.
If all this sounds a bit too technical, Tripod features several
fine presentations produced by high school students. The format
is drag and drop and impressed me as being vastly easier than
designing a web site.
Even though Internet audio and video is cutting-edge and
exciting, it doesn't come near the quality we are used to
with regular radio and television. That is good news for
small web sites. You can turn out a homespun effort and
still be right on the heels of professionals.
For true professional level video, check wbcimaging.com.
They are television engineers who have long taken an
interest in the best ways to put video on the Internet.
Radio is a billion dollar industry. Television is arguably the
most influential media ever invented. Now that it has become
so easy to produce your own Internet audio and video, it
makes sense to add those powerful dimensions to your web
site.
