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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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