How to Create & Sell an Audio Product in 24 Hours (or less)
In this 60‑minute live workshop Mary Schiller, coach and creator of MarySchiller.com, walks participants through a complete, step‑by‑step system for producing and monetising an audio product in a single day. She begins by welcoming the audience, explaining why audio is a powerful, low‑effort medium for coaches, and introducing the concept of done‑for‑you (PLR) content as a shortcut for script creation. Mary demonstrates how to customize PLR coursebooks into first‑person audio scripts, add personal stories, and turn them into sellable products. She then shares her simple recording workflow – using an iPhone, earbuds, the Auphonic app, and a blanket to reduce echo – and reviews free or low‑cost editing tools (Audacity, GarageBand) and her preferred all‑in‑one solution Descript, highlighting its transcription‑based editing. Mary outlines a six‑step process: (1) pick a PLR product, (2) personalize the script, (3) set up a quick recording space, (4) record and get feedback, (5) edit with Descript or Audacity, and (6) upload to a no‑upfront‑cost sales platform (Payhip, with Gumroad as an alternative). Throughout she answers live questions about tools, audiograms, and marketing tactics. At the end she announces a limited‑time 50 % discount (code 50AUDIO) on all of her done‑for‑you audio kits, expansion packs, image collections, and bundles, and invites attendees to schedule a free strategy call. The workshop emphasizes simplicity, practice over perfection, and the potential of audio to generate passive‑style income for coaches.
Chapters
Hello, bonjour, bonsoir! How are you? I am so happy to be here with you today for a fun workout. Workshop all about how to create amazing audio products using done-for-you content. I am Mary Schiller, author and coach of MarySchiller.com, and I am just so thrilled to be here because this is one of my favorite topics, one of my favorite types of products to create. I will share lots of details about how to create amazing audios as well as how I have used audios in my coaching business since day one, actually since before day one. So if you are joining me live, please do say hello in the chat. Let me know if you can see and hear me okay. Give me a thumbs up, say bonjour, say hello. Let us know where you are joining from. Am I coming through loud and clear? Hello, Karen, how are you? Nice to see you. Glad you can see and hear me okay because you know how technology can be. Hi, Steve, thanks for joining. Who else is here live? If you are watching this on the replay, thank you so much for taking the time to do that, and be sure to watch all the way to the end because there is something very special that I'm going to be sharing with everybody, and it's got a time limit on it, so you won't want to miss it. Hi Heather, thank you. Loud and clear in London, very good. Lots of things happening in your neck of the woods recently, Heather. Um, yeah, so lots of changes in the world recently. Uh, you know, one thing that I want to say before I start anything at all is Sometimes I think we assume that it's going to be really complicated to create something like audios or to make some sort of product that we can sell. I want to assure you that that is just not the case, especially with audio. I'm going to give you my best secrets today for doing this in a very simple, fun way, and I'm going to show you how to save time as well. So, who is ready to start? I am ready to start. If you're ready, let's go. I have an actual presentation, a bunch of wonderful slides, which is so fun, and I am just thrilled that you're here. Okay, let me see. Where is my slideshow? There we go. All right. Create and sell an audio product in 24 hours or less using done-for-you content. Hello, Nina. Nice to see you. Thank you so much for being here. And if you're doubting that it's actually possible to do this in 24 hours or less, I think you're going to be happily surprised. By the time we get to the end, I'm going to run through all the steps and you will see that it is really not difficult at all to do this. So who is excited about learning about audio? You know, also, and I didn't put this in the presentation, I meant to, and I remembered right before I jumped on here, so I'm just going to say it right from the beginning. You know, I think in the old days, in the old days, people sort of accepted expected coaches and other professionals to create video, right? Would you agree that that was sort of the expected thing to do? That is not the case anymore. So if you have been kind of nervous about putting yourself out there on video, you are in luck because people love audio, and I will tell you why. And it's so much easier to make audios than it is video. That's why I love it so, so much. So let's keep going in our presentation. We'll go for about 60 minutes, so I'll be done at the top of the hour. And as I mentioned a moment ago, stay until the end for a nice surprise, which is something I have never done before. Very exciting for the— for you. And I want to assure you that you're in the right place if you are a coach already or you want to be a coach, so you don't need to have a big audience. You don't need to have really anything going yet. You can just be at the very early stages of coaching business. You're in the right place if you want to start selling what we call passive income products instead of coaching, or in addition to coaching. And I say passive income in quotes because nothing is truly passive. I mean, we need to be selling things, but the great thing about audios and any other kind of digital product is that you create it once, and then you can sell it over and over and over again. It doesn't require you to continue to show up every single time. You're also in the right place if you want to connect with people in a wonderful way and you want to discover how to create audios easily. Let me also mention that as we go through this talk today at this workshop, you can type into the chat box anytime. I will be Keeping an eye open for our comments. And if you have a question, go ahead and click where it says, "Ask a question," because if you do that, then I'll be sure to see it. It lights up red for me so I can see that there's a question there. And please don't hesitate to answer questions because I want to make sure that you walk away from this workshop with everything you need to create an audio product within 24 hours, or at least this week. Since this is a Thursday that I'm talking to you, you could easily have this ready to go on the weekend. All right, does that sound good? All right. As I said at the top, I am Mary Schiller, creator of Coursebooks, which is done-for-you content for coaches. I have been a professional coach since 2016, and I really got into coaching because Coaching itself changed my life both as a client and as a coach myself. I'm also an expert coaching program and online course creator. I've had many, many years of creating online courses, digital products, books, all kinds of things. So you're in the right place if you want to hear from an expert who is not just an expert in how to create things, but also how this all blends with a coaching business. And before I say anything else, I want to say thank you for everything that you do in the world, because you are appreciated and you are wonderful. I don't think that we take enough time to acknowledge that we are here for a reason. And that reason may or may not be clear to us, It doesn't matter because you are here for a reason. You are here at this workshop for a reason, which I so appreciate. And I just want you to know how much I appreciate you, and I appreciate everything that you do on behalf of the people that you care about and the people that you want to serve. In 2022, which is earlier this year, as I'm talking to you, it is September of 2022. I started writing done-for-you content for coaches because I wanted to use my experience as a writer and online educator and coach to save you time and kind of become like an invisible stealth member of your team. Hence the photo of me with my Ray-Ban sunglasses on, which I might add, I think I have owned this particular pair of Ray-Bans for approximately 15 years. Can you believe that? Not bad. So I'll also show you how to make the whole tech thing simple and fun because I love technology, but I know not everyone does, and I want to make sure that you understand how to do it in a way that is simple and fun. So I'm gonna try not to choke up too much here, but I literally wouldn't have a business if not for audio. I'm curious to know if anybody who is on here live remembers me from before I started my coaching business, or— Karen does. Awesome, Karen. Because even before I started a coaching business, I had an audio blog that I did a 5-minute audio for every single day, and it went out by email every day. So if you came to my personal blog, you could sign up to get this 5-minute audio delivered to your inbox every day. And I did that for a year, 365 days in a row. So I started that blog in the fall of 2015, And then somewhere around February, March, April, I can't remember exactly when I started my coaching business. I know that's bad, but it was somewhere around then of 2016 was when I actually proclaimed that I was a coach. And so many of the people who had signed up for these daily audios were suddenly in an audience for me of people who were interested in coaching. And that wasn't a big number. I want to be clear. I think it was maybe from that blog, it might have been about 100, if that. I'm not even sure it was that much. And then I had about another, I don't know, 50 to 75 people who were on my email list from a previous business that didn't work out that had nothing to do with coaching. So I just want to assure you that audio can be a beautiful way to start or ramp up your coaching business. So don't think it's too simplistic or anything like that. I'll tell you why in just a second. What is really exciting for me at this very moment is I have two clients right now who are creating their very first audio products and they're doing so, so well. I know that, you know, trying something new and jumping in like that can be a little scary, but I'm just so proud of them for everything that they've accomplished so far from choosing the topic. And really, you know, both of them are using done-for-you content from me for that purpose, choosing the topic and making it their own and then getting comfortable with the technology. I've just been so thrilled to watch their progress. It's really, really exciting. So overall, my mission is to make it easier for you to do what you love to do. And by saying that, I know it sounds kind of corny, but I really mean it. Because if I can use my skills to create something to make it easier for you to do what you want to do— so if you want to be a coach, if you want to sell something that, like an audio product, uh, that makes it easier for you to generate an income, that allows you to add something in for your one-to-one coaching clients that's really lovely. That is what I am here for. I really feel like I am at your service. And it's funny because some of my very earliest jobs, in fact my very first kind of real job was as what we used to call a secretary, working for my dad, uh, and his, um, and his business. And I've always felt very much like someone who loves to support other people and kind of in an invisible way. So that's why I love doing what I do now. So really quickly, if you've joined me for any of these other Done For You Profits workshops, you will already know this part, but I want to go over it really quickly just in case you're not totally familiar with what done-for-you content is. You may have heard done-for-you content before. You may have heard the term private label rights, or abbreviated to PLR, before. Basically, what this is is content that you buy the rights to use and put your name on it. You don't own the copyright, but you can use the content in almost any way you want to. And each provider of this type of content, myself included, has a list of dos and don'ts of ways you can use it and ways you can't use it. The biggest don't that all of us have to abide, abide by is that we can't take done-for-you content and turn it into a book for Amazon. That is against Amazon's policies. But almost anything else you're good to go. But when you buy done-for-you content, you will be given a list of things that you can and can't do, and just be careful to follow the rules. I also want to say that the better PLR providers specialize in one overall topic. This is my experience in using done-for-you content myself, is that The better quality ones specialize in like business or life coaching, not like a big free-for-all with a million different topics. So in those circumstances, and even the ones that are really, really good, I think that at least 99.9% of them use ghostwriters or AI software to write. And I'm not saying that that is a bad thing. I just want to point that out. Because one of the differences with me is that I write every word myself because I have super high standards and I only want you to have what is, in my estimation, the best there is out there. Just saying. The big question is usually, is done-for-you content really okay to use? And the answer is yes. I've used it in my own coaching business many times and I continue to look to it for inspiration. So I want you to put that concern off to the side because it's totally okay. And it actually can really help your business and your own edification, if you will, of how to put things together when you're using content that's been professionally written, because it gives you an idea of how to put a curriculum together, how to help things flow, et cetera. Big, big important thing here. Always customize the PLR that you purchase. So that means, you know, add your branding if you have colors and images that you like to use, your details. Really important to add your own examples and stories. It doesn't mean that you have to rewrite everything, but make sure that it sounds like you and put it into a format that you like. And in this one, we're talking about taking done-for-you content and putting it into audio format. All right, really quickly, let me just jump off here. Are there any questions at all about done-for-you content PLR? If so— hi, Monique— uh, type into the chat or click where it says ask a question. I am happy to answer. And again, I just want to say that it may seem like, oh my gosh, I'm a coach and I'm trying to use my own voice and everything. I totally get that. And I also know that this type of content can be very inspirational. You can buy a piece of done-for-you content and go, oh yeah, I could use this basic outline, but then I want to do this to it. I want to talk about this example and I want to add this story in here. And so pretty soon it doesn't resemble what you purchased at all. It really feels like it's yours. If you have used this type of content in your business and you want to share an example, I'd love to hear one in the chat. So feel free to type that in there and I will come back and check. All right, let us, let us go back to my fancy schmancy. See slides. All right. Okay, here's what we're learning today. We're going to learn why audio is so effective. You may already have some ideas about that. I'm going to tell you how done-for-you content can help you create audio way faster and make it a lot more fun. And I'm going to give you my secrets for the best audio recordings using simple— emphasis on simple— technology because I don't like complicated stuff. I'm a very tech-savvy person. I've been using technology online for a gazillion years, but I really like simplicity, and I've used the same basic setup since I had that audio blog back in 2015. All right. Why is audio so effective for building your audience and earning an income as a coach? Well, there are a lot of reasons. But I wanted to share 3 of the biggest ones in my opinion and my experience in using audio in all kinds of ways that I'll share in a sec. It really creates a strong connection between you and your audience because they're literally listening to your voice inside their heads. Okay? So if you are here with me live, have you ever listened to an audio program by me? And if so, I would love to hear in the chat if you have, you know, did that, what did that do in terms of forming a connection or feeling connected to me? And that could have been an audio program that you purchased. It could have been an audio recording of a workshop. It could have been an audio in a one-to-one coaching situation. I'll tell you some ways that I've used audio. Uh, hi Karen, I have branded one of your journals and been inspired to create two more of my own using the original format. Awesome, Karen. Uh, Mike, hi Mike, oh my gosh, long time no see. Uh, yeah, you listen to those daily principles. Oh my gosh, that seems like eons ago. Thank you for being here, Mike. Uh, Monique, yes, hearing your voice conveys enthusiasm. Yeah, you really feel like you know the person when they're— when you're hearing them in your own headphones. Hi, Nikki. Yes, principal's course, not so much connected by it, but it was very impactful. Cool. Thank you, Nikki. Another thing is that audio allows people to have an experience of working with you. This is true even if the audios are a digital product that stands alone. They still have the experience of like you are actually kind of coaching them. It also works well if you also offer coaching. You could be working with someone one-to-one and maybe you offer them some audios in between the sessions, something like that. It can really amplify— sorry for the pun— your coaching relationship. Hi, Steve. It gives a sense of what a person is like when you listen to them. Yeah, you really do feel like you get to know the person. And I don't know, I really enjoy listening to audio much more than video. Especially because podcasts have become so incredibly popular. I think people are getting more and more used to listening to people that way. And here I also say it's convenient, right? They don't need to sit and watch a video on their computer or mobile device. They can listen on the go. So I really am always looking for ways to make it easier for people to access whatever it is that I am offering to them. And audio is definitely easier for people. So here are a few examples of how I've used audio. As I mentioned before, I had a business, but this brought in my first clients. I said I made a 5-minute daily audio blog that went out by email. I've made and sold audiobook versions of my books, and I want to be clear, it's not on Audible, but I made them myself and I sold them on a digital platform like in a shop. I have used Voxer coaching, which is fun because Voxer allows you to create audios for people that you're interacting with, kind of like WhatsApp. I've converted live workshops like this into audio recordings, and I've sold them or I've given them as bonuses in online courses. I've also put audio recordings into private podcasts using a tool called Hello Audio. So not a public podcast, but one that someone could pay to subscribe to and it would show up in their favorite podcast app, which is so cool. More examples. I've done group coaching where people have received the lessons via audio and then we meet for Q&A sessions on Zoom and/or in a Facebook group. I've made audio-only courses that are delivered one per day for X number of days or all at once, depending on which works better for the topic. There was— I've had many of these and I've gotten such great feedback on them. I really want to highlight that one. I've done some that were like 21 days, some that were 28 days, and people just loved these. I have used audio instead of video on a sales page or as part of a series of emails if I was launching a new program. I've made recordings for one-to-one clients in between calls and/or I've recorded our calls and given them the audio recordings so they could listen. I have used audio for social media posts using a tool called Descript to create what's called an audiogram, which is just a square image with the audio playing and like the little, like these little audio, you know, I don't know what you call it, images showing the sound. And it's very, very fun. So as you can see, audio offers so, so many possibilities. That was just few. Those are just a few examples of how I have used it in my own business, and I'm, I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but those are the ones that came to mind as I was putting this together for you. All right, are there any questions about how to use audio in your coaching business? If so, feel free to ask me. If you want to type into the chat or click ask a question, that's Fine either way. Are you starting to see the possibilities already though? I mean, when I really think about what has had the biggest impact on my business and my ability to reach people, I really put audio at the top of the list. I have done a lot of live workshops like this one But then I've also always taken the recordings and done something with them, particularly just offering audio. So if I were going to offer this as something for people to buy, I could take the audio version and then also give them a PDF of the slides, for example, in addition to the video if I felt like it. Okay, let's see what the question is. Hi Nina, could you create an audio recording using Canva with its new audio feature? You know, Nina, I have not tried it yet. I have done some experimenting with the video in Canva, but I certainly would encourage you to test it out. I have not personally tried it myself, so I don't know, for example, how easy it is to record and edit in there. I don't know. So that's a very good question. Unfortunately, I haven't experimented with it, so I don't have an answer. I tend to kind of stick with the tools that have worked really well for me. But if you have any experience or if anyone has any experience about using Canva for audio, let me know. And what I can do is I can, after this workshop, I can go in and give that a try and see what happens. And then I can send out a little email with my ideas for you. So how about if I do that? Okay, that sounds good. Super. Okay. Hi, Linda. I saw a post on LinkedIn where they had voiceover a single image and captioning so you could read the text of their audio. Do you know how they did that? So that's probably similar to what I was just mentioning, which was in Descript, which is a tool I'll mention in a little bit. You can create what's called an audiogram. And so it's just an image and you hear the voice and the words are going across the screen. So it was probably something like that. That is definitely something that you can make using this tool that I'm going to mention. And I'm sure you can make it in other ways, but that is the tool that I have used to make those. Okay. Uh, yes, Nikki, I will, um, I will tell you what I use to edit. Okay, great, Linda. All right, let's continue. Feel free to put those questions there, and I will come back in just a minute. Okay, so let's look next at how done-for-you content can help you create audio much faster and easier and make it more fun. So my— I love this picture. My sense is that one of the reasons coaches don't create audio is that they aren't sure exactly what to say. Like, it's hard to just start from a blank page, you know, and go, gee, what am I going to talk about? Or how to create like a cohesive audio series. For example. So that's where PLR products, done for you products, same thing, can be a big help, is that they provide a done for you curriculum with content that you can use and personalize. Like I said before, personalization is super duper important. So here's an example from one of my coursebooks. The coursebooks are 4,000 to 5,000 words that I've written and presented in an editable Canva template. And yes, this is a shameless plug for my own stuff. So with coursebooks, you can take the content out of the Canva template, and this is true with other PLR content. So most of the time, the form that it comes in can be changed. So lots of done-for-you content will simply come in a Word document or something like that. So you can use the content in any format that you want, including as a script. So if I were using this Lesson Your Stress coursebook as a script, I would record the content, and at different points along the way, I would add in my own examples and stories to make sure that it really sounded more like me. And literally in a day, I could have something really powerful to offer and sell. This is the beauty of done-for-you content, especially if it's super high quality. So you could literally take this and turn it into an audio script. Some PLR providers offer done-for-you audio or video scripts specifically. I have purchased these in the past myself. I have purchased video scripts. As of today, I have 5 of these in the shop, and I've made each of them from the original coursebook. They hew very closely to what the original coursebook said with a few modifications. In the case of the ones that I make, it's not just a script, but it also contains a how-to guide plus emails to send out with the audio recordings. As I said, right now, I have 5 in the shop. Lessen Your Stress, Better Boundaries, Better Life, Uplevel, Cultivate Self-Love. And today I have just added a new audio script for Become Unstoppable, and it's a really, really fun one. I loved making this script and practicing reading it out loud. It was really, really cool. So in my case, as with other PLR providers who offer actual scripts I've saved you the time of taking the content and organizing it into a script. So, let's just have a quick look at what this means. And this is true not just for mine, but I have seen this from other providers who make script versions. So, for example, I have, as you can see in this little GIF here, I have put in places where you can add your own examples. Let me play that again so you can see. Coach, a suggestion here, you could remind your listener of an example from lesson 1, etc. I've also bolded words that you might want to emphasize as you are speaking, and I've turned it into a first person. So when you're speaking, you'll come across things that say, as I mentioned in lesson 1. So I have made some adjustments to make it much easier for you to go ahead and read this as a script. And just to be clear here of what I offer, you can buy an audio kit which includes the coursebook and the Canva template plus the script, or you can just buy the audio script and the how-to guide, etc. So, you may already have a coursebook and you want the script version, or you just want the audio script version. All right, I'm going to come back here because I think I saw a couple of questions. All right, Nina says, "Is there a limit on the length of time for Descript's audiogram?" I don't believe there was. I think when I used them for Instagram, I kept them short because people aren't really interested in super long things, it seems like, on Instagram. And actually, those posts did very well for me. I looked at the stats recently, and they were some of the highest in terms of engagement and views and things like that. So I don't think there is for Descript. Now, I probably wouldn't do one that was more than like 60 seconds just because it gets tiring for someone to read the words on the screen. For more than a minute. So that would be my recommendation. It's really more like something you would do to grab someone's attention or to make a really nice and interesting post. Do you use a particular microphone for audios? I'm gonna get into that, Nina. It may surprise you. So hold that question. Let me see, I wonder if I can I think I'll have to come back to that. So, you know, you feel free to post the question again or just hang tight. All right, let me go back to my slides here. All right, we answered a couple of questions. Are you— there any more questions about using done-for-you content to create an audio product or a program. Let me just jump over here. I don't see any, so I am going to keep on going. All right. So we've already talked about why audio is effective. We've talked about how you can use done-for-you content to do all of this much faster. So now I'm going to get into my secrets for the best audio recordings using very simple technology. Yay! Who else is happy about simple tech? The how-to guide that comes with the audio scripts that I sell goes over several key points for great recordings, but I want to go over 3 of them right now. Number 1 is you will get better with practice. So I want you to just start and then have someone else listen to your practice versions and give you constructive feedback. When I listen to some of my older audios, I'm like, wow, I've really improved since then. That was a long time ago. It just takes practice and just know that whatever you do now is fine and you will get better over time. Key point number 2, you do not need fancy technology, including fancy microphones, Nina, to make great audio recordings. We aren't talking about quote unquote broadcast quality like for audible.com. If you are going to create something for audible.com, you would most likely have to really set up a studio in your home. Or you'd have to go to a studio to record it because they require a lot in terms of standards. So we aren't talking about that. And I have never once had anyone complain about the quality of my audios. And in fact, the ones that I did on my daily blog— now granted, people weren't purchasing those, although I did package them and sell them later on. Some of them I recorded while I was sitting on the New York City subway. Some I recorded while I was walking around Manhattan. So, you know, I wasn't worried about that. I was really interested more in connecting with people and being spontaneous. So let's go over some recording. Let me check here. I see a question. Let me just jump over here and see. Linda wants to know, will you be offering recommendations for how to share the finished audio with your clients? Absolutely, Linda. So hang tight, that is coming up. Thanks for all the great questions, everybody. Keep asking. Okay. Recording. For 7 years, I have used my iPhone and earbuds plus an app called Ophonic to record audio. Okay. I know that may sound insane. But that is literally what I have done almost every single time. I'll show you a tool in Descript that I have used, but I still am very comfortable using this setup. I will tell you why I like Auphonic. Auphonic is like a very sophisticated production, online production tool. Basically, you record the audio using the Auphonic app. You click done. It goes through a process where it sort of cleans up the audio, and then you get an email when it's ready for you to download. It couldn't be simpler. There is a free version that allows you up to X number of hours per month. I don't recall what it is. And then you can buy extra time if you need it. I have just had great success with this setup for me personally. For editing, you may already have an application on your computer like GarageBand. Another one that you can use for free is called Audacity. You can download it for Mac or PC at audacityteam.org. It's very easy to learn to use. I have played with it. It's not difficult and it's free. It's open source. There's lots and lots of support and documentation on it. So that's another one that I recommend. Recording, I also highly recommend Descript. I am an affiliate for Descript. I'm going to send out a link for my— with my affiliate link because I love this tool so much. It allows you to record and edit both. It also works for video. I have used it for recording as well as editing, and so are my clients right now, which is really exciting. There is a free trial version, and then it starts at $12 a month, which is bargain. Like, I can't believe they offer it for that little bit. I honestly can't. So I want to take a very quick look at how Descript works to record and edit audio. And I honestly think that it has cut my editing time by at least 70 to 80%. So on this next slide, there's no sound on there because it got a little— it was my my tech stuff. I was trying to record it with Loom and the sound wasn't right. So I'm going to just walk you through what is going on. So let's take a look. So when you record using Descript, you just plug in your, like, your earbuds like this, and you simply start talking. And as you're talking, it starts transcribing what you're saying. And you will see it on the screen in front of you. It's kind of like a magic trick. I don't know how they do this stuff, but I'm just so impressed. Then you stop, and let's say there's something that you decide you don't want in there. You literally do this like you would a Word document where you highlight what's on the screen, and then you click delete, and it's disappeared. And the cool thing is it's not really gone. It's still there. If you want it back, you can get it back. It's just sort of hidden. But that is literally how you can edit, record and edit both using Descript. If you want to record like I do using another app, I just import the file, it transcribes it, and then I go through and edit it just like I showed you. So after you finish recording and editing with the script, with Descript, you'll export the file as an audio and you're done. I have a little recording tip here that I have shared with my clients, and I do this myself. I will oftentimes put a blanket over my head to cut out the echo. So if you have like a walk-in closet with clothes, that really helps to get rid of the echo. I like the blanket trick. I also have used a little bit fancier thing that has that soundproofing foam that kind of sits in front of my face. But you could literally even use something like a pillow in front of your face. To cut down on the echo. All right, I am just checking back to see if there are any questions. All right, I'm going to keep going. So this point's really important. It's not about perfection, which isn't real anyway. It's about connecting with people in a wonderful way. So again, just remember that you are going to improve improve as you do this, and your first few might be not as good as they will be later, but don't let that stop you. Okay, don't let that stop you. All right, questions about recording and editing audio? Hang on a second, let me just get out of here. All right, I don't think I'm sharing. Right. Okay, uh, Sharon says it really works, the blanket and some cushions. Yeah, Sharon's doing that trick. It totally does. If you, if you don't believe me, just try it out. You'll see, like, if you're using your phone to record and you're just, you know, in a regular room, you will hear an echo. It doesn't matter how hard you try, it just is there. And I want to be clear that unfortunately, if something like that happens, that isn't something that can be fixed later on. It's just not possible. You know, maybe if you had super fancy editing equipment, you could improve the sound. But in my experience, I've worked with a lot of professional audio recording people, you know, who really, really know what they're doing. In fact, for several years, I worked with a really highly professional video production team who were making documentaries to be shown on PBS. And in theaters and things, and I would watch the audio people and how careful they were to set things up. And so just do what you can on the front end to improve the sound. And if nothing else, be careful of the echo by covering your head or something. If you use a microphone like this, like an earbud type of thing, just make sure it's not hitting your clothing. So I will usually hold it like this, and you can kind of experiment with how close to bring it to your mouth. If you have another kind of microphone that you plug into your computer or something like that, I actually have one of those, but I stopped using it because I just found that it was hard for me to gauge how close to hold it to my mouth. And I also kept hearing the pops of the Ps and the Bs and things, which really drove me nuts. And again, You can't fix that later. So I advise going for simple and trying it out and seeing what happens. Uh, yes, Linda says no necklaces or neck zippers. Exactly. Or scarves, not good. Uh, so you'll notice if I ever wear a scarf on a workshop like this, I'm very careful to keep the microphone like away from it. I hold it like this so it doesn't rustle against anything. So do you have any other questions about that. I have to say that Descript is probably the most incredible technology that I have used myself in 20 years. I don't know, I used to use ScreenFlow to edit my audios. And it was fine. But when I came across Descript, and it was so easy to just highlight words that I didn't want it, and Descript even has a thing that will detect when you say an um or an ah, and you can just have it remove those like that, like in one click. It's really amazing. All right. If you have— oh, I see a question. Okay. Hang on. Hi, Linda. I just want to ask for combining it with an image. Yeah. So in Descript, what you can do is you can, instead of exporting it as an audio file, you would export it as what they call it, an audiogram. And on the audiogram export page, it says, what image do you want? And you upload it. And then it will show you what it looks like. It'll give you a preview, and then you just click, you know, publish, and it will do its thing. And then it will give you a way to download the audiogram. I have not used any other tool to create those, so I can't speak to that. But if you want to give it a try in Descript, I highly recommend it. You're very welcome. All right, here we go. Wonderful questions. Keep them coming. I love answering questions. So we've learned why audio is so effective, how done-for-you content can help you create audio faster, my secrets for the best audio recordings using simple technology. So I'm going to run through these 6 steps really quickly to creating and selling a new audio series in 24 hours. Here we go. Hold your horses. Hang on one second. I thought my cat was getting into trouble, but she's okay. I have a cat who I love very, very much, but sometimes she gets into mischief. And for some reason, she likes to do it when I am doing these workshops. What is it with animals? They just know, right? When you're in the middle of something. Okay, we're good to go. Here is step 1. Choose a done-for-you product like an audio or video script on a topic that really interests you. And really, when you're looking at these done-for-you content sites like mine or, or anyone else's, just look at the ideas for topics and really choose one that grabs your attention because the more you enjoy it, the more fun you're going to have in creating this audio series. 2. Read through the script or whatever you have downloaded and find places where you can add in your own examples and stories. As I mentioned, the done-for-you audio scripts that I write have those places already marked just to make it a little bit easier for you. Number 3, set up your quote-unquote recording studio, your phone, maybe using the Auphonic app that I mentioned and a way to muffle any echo like a blanket over your head. You can also try a tool like Descript that has a free trial for recording. Whatever is easier for you. And if you already have a setup that you like, of course, just go with that. Step 4, start recording. Have someone listen to your recordings who can give you honest feedback. I have been doing that for the people who are currently working for me, or with me, excuse me. And, you know, but you don't have to have a coach to help you with that unless you would like it. You can just let someone you trust who is going to be honest listen to it and have them tell you what's working and what's not, and then just try again. But again, don't aim for perfection because that's not a real thing. Number 5, edit using Audacity, which is free, another tool you already have on your computer, maybe like GarageBand if you have a Mac, or Descript, which is my ultimate favorite. Cannot say enough good things about this tool. In case you haven't figured that out, I'm kind of in love with it. Number 6, when you're happy with the recordings, open a free account on Payhip, another tool that I love so much. It's an awesome platform to sell from that charges no upfront costs. So unlike something like Teachable, for example, that charges a monthly fee, Payhip takes a percentage of each sale. So basically you don't pay anything until you sell something. I have used Payhip for years to sell from. I also used another one that's very similar called Gumroad. The only reason I'm recommending Payhip slightly over Gumroad is because Payhip now has a beautiful online course creator. Again, no monthly fees. How amazing is that? And you just upload your recordings in there. You write a simple sales page, and then you just share the link for people to buy. I have sold thousands and thousands of dollars worth of products from Payhip. You can also sell other things like coaching and even physical products if you have those. All right, let me stop sharing here for just a second. Any final questions before I tell you something super fun. What have you all learned who are here with me live? What has stood out for you the most from today's workshop? Do you feel like you learned something new? I hope so. Do you feel like your confidence has been bolstered to try audio? You know, again, it's one of these things where You don't have to have like a specific kind of voice to do audio. You don't have to strive to, you know, sound like some television broadcaster or anything like that. When you are reading a script, you will definitely get better at reading so it doesn't sound like you're reading. Like, your first couple of attempts might sound a tad stilted, but then you'll just get more comfortable with what you're saying. And because you can edit, especially using something like Descript, you can just keep going, you know, just keep going until you like what you've got, and then just go back and fix it. I mean, that's what I do. I don't stop. Like, if I make a mistake, I don't stop. I'll just say something like, oh, I didn't say that quite the right way. I'm going to try again, and then I just keep going. Uh, yeah, Steve, I swear this script is a godsend. I, I can't say enough good things about it. I've had very good interactions with the company as well. I've never had an issue, or if I did have something, you know, not work properly, they responded to me very quickly. There was one thing that I had that was a little bit complicated that seemed to be going wrong, and they were very good about going back and forth. It turned out it was a problem on my end, not theirs. I was using an older computer, and there was one function that didn't work because I had a very old computer I was using it on at first. So I've had really good luck with them. Hi, Linda. The simplicity of the Ophonic Audacity Descript combo. Yeah, I have serious audio setup in my house, but it takes many, many steps to get your result. Yeah, I just, I won't do it if it's not easy. You know, I mean, that's just kind of the way that I am. So, you know, I have to do things the easy way, or I just won't do them. And I assume that most people are similar to me, but I know that if I can just pick up my phone with my earbuds plugged in, I can open the Alphonic app, I can record something, And then I can just upload it into Descript, edit it, and then, you know, spit it out as an audio file. I mean, how simple is that? It just doesn't take that much time. So you can literally take an audio script like I have that's maybe 5 lessons, you know, that's several thousand words. You can, if you devote the time to it, you can literally record them in a day and have them ready to go. I mean, there's really no reason And certainly over a weekend you can. So another reason I love audio over video, you don't need fancy lights, you don't need to worry about what you're wearing, you know, all that stuff. You can just set it off to the side and go, you know, let's just get the message out there. Hi Debbie, uh, you're so welcome, so nice to see you. All right, let's do this last bit here. Very excited to share this next part with you. Am I sharing? Yes, I am. Okay, so are you ready for a surprise? Because this is a pretty big one. This picture cracked me up of this kitty. All right, I am offering anyone who has registered for this workshop 50% off on the new audio script, Become Unstoppable. Just use 50AUDIO, that's 5-0-AUDIO, as the discount code. That is good through tomorrow, Friday, September 23rd at 5 PM Eastern. Super excited to offer you that. But that's not all, it's not all, because that 50% savings is also good for the audio kits and the expansion packs. So just to be clear what those are, The audio kits are the original coursebook, which is like 4,000 to 5,000 words in the designed Canva template, plus the audio script version, plus emails to send with each audio, plus the how-to guide. That's the full kit. The expansion pack is just the audio script, emails, and the how-to guide. So, this 50 audio coupon saves you 50% on all of those, all 5 that are in the shop. But that's not all. I'm going to just stop sharing for a second because this next part is something really cool. So are you ready for this? All right, here we go. Okay, you can also use this 50 audio to save 50% on something that is brand new to the shop, which are image collections. So I have made 5 image collections. They correspond to the audio scripts. These are images that you can use in any way that you want to, literally any way that you want. They are, as you can see through this little video, they are designed to go along with the themes of each of the course books and audio scripts by the same name. And so I really wanted to create something that you're not going to find anywhere else. If you're a little bit tired of using Unsplash images and you just want something with a little more punch, a little more dynamism, then check out these new image collections. There is— there are 20 images in each one. But that's not all, because I have decided to, for the next 27 hours or so, make this coupon good on anything in the shop that is done-for-you content, including the bundles, which are 2 coursebooks together. So this $50 audio coupon is good for the coursebooks, the bundles, the audio kits, the expansion packs, the journals, and the image collections. And I just felt like, I don't know, I, I feel like it's fall, it's a new start. Let's just start this last bit of the year off right and really, you know, do everything I can to make this easier for you to get started. So all you have to do is go to marieschiller.com, click on shop in the upper menu, and use that 50AUDIO discount code in the checkout to save 50% on anything in the shop that is done-for-you content. And I also want to mention that if you want some help creating audios, creating your next offer, just go ahead and click the green button to schedule a free call with me and let's see if that would help you to do that faster and easier. I love working with people in this way. I love showing them simpler how-tos and getting things set up for them online. Love all of the tech part. I can really help you streamline that. So go ahead and click that green button if that is of interest, and we can see if we're a good fit to work together. All right, you guys, 50 audio. You're so welcome. Thank you, Heather. Thank you, Monique. Use that discount code anywhere in the Done For You shop. I'm just going to put the link to the shop here. So you can literally go in and just go nuts, buy the audio script, the expansion pack, whatever you want, the journals. It's all 50% off in the Done For You shop until tomorrow at 5 PM Eastern. Oh, thanks, Nikki. It's my pleasure. I just wanted to do something really fun and kind of like I said, to celebrate this last part of the year and help everybody to get off on the right foot. And again, if I can be of help to you, go ahead and click the green button to book a free call and let's see if it would make sense for us to work together over 30 to 40 days and get your next products or offers out there. And especially to sort out the tech part because I know that can be tricky for people. All right, any last questions? I hope this was worth your while. Let me know in the chat. Was it good? Did you like it? Helpful? I hope so. It's always my pleasure to spend this time with you. The replay will be available here right after the workshop is completed, so you can come back here and watch it. I will send— oh, thank you, Nikki. I will send out an email shortly after this to just kind of summarize things for you. So be on the lookout for that. And I just adore you so much, and I want you to succeed and do it in a way that is fun and simple and really enriches your life instead of bogging you down in front of a computer all day, because I know that's not what you want your life to be. It's not what I want my life to be either. And when I can offer something that's simpler, more fun, faster, just to make the whole experience so much— I don't know, just so much more enjoyable— that is my sweet spot, and that's what I love to do. So thank you so much for being here. I hope you are having a wonderful day or evening wherever you are in the world. Thank you for all of the wonderful questions and comments, and take advantage of that coupon code while it lasts. And if I can do anything for you, you know where to find me. You can always reach out to me, mary@maryschiller.com, and I will respond personally. Thanks everybody. I will see you again soon. Bye for now.
