 Instant
Content
Instant Content; Converting a Text Article to a
Podcast
We are taught to recycle paper, cans, bottles and plastic but marketers
rarely discuss the value of repackaging and repurposing content. Publishers
and marketers alike have embraced content syndication and RSS but
few have considered the value beyond the actual syndication. Consider
an alternative communication channel that reaches a new or different
audience.
Repurposing and repackaging content or information so that it can
be consumed through a variety of mediums is not a new concept. Many
businesses today sight increased communication as a common goal. Cost
conscious businesses with tight budges are often interested in minimizing
work loads and cost, while increasing communication. By presenting
the same information in different ways and formats, businesses are
able to increase the reach and communication, while remaining cost
conscious.
Businesses quickly found that power point presentations could be converted
into technical articles, or forum posts could be ported to become
a basis for a list of frequently asked questions. Along a similar
vein webmasters have located a new advent in repurposed content is
reusing text articles by converting them into audio podcasts.
The process is surprisingly simple, I personally found the prospect
of reading the articles aloud and recording them, both intimidating
and time consuming, hence I opted for a simplified approach. I found
that by using two simple software applications, I was able to create
a podcast in minutes.
The first obstacle, the creation of the audio file was conquered using
NextUp's TextAloud program. I simply pasted in the text of an article
selected a "voice" and saved the file as an MP3 file. In
under a minute I had an audio file containing the article.
After I had the MP3 file saved, I used FeedForAll's tutorial to create
a podcast. The step by step tutorial ( http://www.feedforall.com/podcasting-tutorial.htm
)laid out 12 simple steps to constructing a podcast.
I found the quality of the constructed podcasts, using synthesized
speech to text, surprisingly good.
Check out the following samples:
RSS Podcast - http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-podcast.xml
Software Marketing Podcast
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/smr-podcast.xml
An evaluation version of TextAloud can be found at: http://www.textaloud.com
and an evaluation version of FeedForAll can be found at http://www.feedforall.com
Experiment by repurposing and repacking existing content save time
and money while increasing communication, distribution and exposure.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts.
In addition Sharon manages marketing for FeedForDev http://www.feedfordev.com
an RSS component for developers. |
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