Sound Advice

We live in an era of short attention spans in which the winners are those who create powerful brands. One of the best ways to use this understanding at personal level may be through projecting your voice — literally — via a podcast. I was reminded of this by an e-mail from OutstandingWomenSpeakers.com that featured advice from Leesa ( Podonomics) Barnes on how to make a tight, bright audio avatar for your person, company or cause.

1. Keep your podcast short. 15 minutes is ideal.
2. Get decent audio to produce professional quality. Remember your customers are listening.
3. Be organized, give useful information and list show notes on your blog.
4. Tell, don’t sell. In other words, you are there to build customer loyalty not give a hard sell to listeners.
5. Add professional music, if appropriate.
6. Get your podcast listed in the right directories.
7. Get help from an experienced podcaster or producer. They can help you edit, add voice talent and increase subscribers to your podcast.

Listen to a 15 minute tutorial by Barnes here. By the way my I assume this will work for men — assuming they can get it together to go audible.

Oh, say can you sing? Speaking of earpower, a startup called eNthem.com helps create what amount to jingles — it calls them eNthems — for any business or cause. Here a snippet from their home page:

“If each and every nation has a national anthem, why shouldn’t every business? … music (is) a medium that reaches deep inside and has a long-lasting effect. The power of music is so great, that people often remember the melody and words decades later after they heard it.”

That last part is true. I can still remember one jingle from a sofa maker that was popular in Brooklyn back in the 1960s:

Who conquers space with fine design?
Who saves you money all the time?
Who’s tops in the convertible line?
Castro Convertible!

Imagine getting more than 40 years of mind share — for a song! When I was in the typesetting and publishing business some years ago I wanted to come up with a slogan, that could have added a verse or two and become a jingle: “At Pioneer Graphics, we know, our business is helping your business grow.” But I never used it because my wife (and business partner) said it made her vomit. What can I say: it was the wife or the jingle. (After 26 years of matrimonial “bliss” I ocassionally wonder whether I made the right choice.)

If you have a moment more, scan this posting in Gothamist that lists a few more “jingles that stick in our heads.”