Downloadable Audio Content
August 12th, 2005 by Steve Pavlina
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I’ve received many requests for adding downloadable audio content to this site, which is something I planned to eventually do since the time I started the site. I’ve worked out the basic idea for an audio content subscription service, and I’d like to ask your opinion on it.
The service I envision won’t be a true podcasting service in the sense that I don’t expect it to be delivered via RSS and enclosures. Most of the recent personal development related podcasts I’ve heard are of such low quality in terms of production and content that I really don’t want this service to be associated with them. This service is NOT about a couple of guys sitting on a porch recording a casual conversation about their opinions on the latest technology.
Think of this service as a professional-quality audio magazine on personal development, where you’re emailed a link to download the latest issue as an MP3 file as soon as it becomes available. You can listen to it on your computer or portable audio player or burn it to a CD.
Here’s what I have in mind in terms of the technical details:
- Each issue = one 30-60 minute downloadable MP3
- All content, no commercials
- Covers personal development topics similar to those found on this blog, including productivity, self-discipline, relationships, problem solving, overcoming addictions, etc.
- Blend of practical, actionable ideas (what and how) with motivational stories (why)
- Original, exclusive material recorded in my own voice (fast tempo, high energy)
- Deeper and more organized presentation of ideas than what appears on this blog
- 2 issues per month = 24 issues per year
- $99 for a one-year subscription ($4.13 per issue)
Since I know I’m eventually going to produce audio material for this site (whether in the form of this service or some other form), I’ve already purchased and setup some basic recording equipment, including a cardiod studio condenser microphone and mixer. My younger brother, an amateur musician, was instrumental (ok, bad pun) in helping me figure everything out. I also have previous audio recording and editing experience from creating computer game sound effects for several published games.
I realize you may need more details to make an informed decision on this, but if you already have an opinion on whether such a service interests you or not, please take a couple clicks to answer the poll below. If you don’t have an opinion either way, feel free to ignore it.
If you’re viewing this in an RSS reader and cannot see the poll, click here to go directly to the post online.
Comments and suggestions are welcome as well.
August 12th, 2005 at 2:13 pm
Steve, I would definitely subscribe, but I dont’t want to commit for a whole year.
Please offer an option to pay $25 for one quarter.
August 12th, 2005 at 2:41 pm
I enjoy audio motivation, but so much of it tends to be for sales professionals. I’m not in sales. Your program wouldn’t be tax deductible for me. Two audio entries a month is less than I would get from a magazine subscription, so I am reluctant to spend $99 on something that will provide me less content than a magazine.
It’s really a hard call to make. Based on your writing and work with Toastmasters, it might be worth $50 for a year’s subscription. Then again, can you really put a price on positive input?
Good luck! I hope you do well!
August 12th, 2005 at 2:59 pm
I am actually undecided, but would probably not currently subscribe. I might change my mind in the future because I find most of your posts very valuable, but I suppose you are interested in the current situation and therefore I chose “probably not”.
August 12th, 2005 at 3:29 pm
I answered “I’d probably not subscribe”, because I’ve never subscribed to something like this before, and I don’t know how useful it would be to me. If you provided a “demo” of one or two audio samples I think you’d have a better chance of grabbing my money.
August 12th, 2005 at 3:30 pm
Very interested in the audio content, and don’t have a problem paying for it (I paypal’ed you some bucks back when you were putting essays on Dexterity.com), but the subscription is less interesting.
August 12th, 2005 at 3:32 pm
By the way, I think the Bravenet voting thingie is putting up obnoxious flash pop-ups over your website.
August 12th, 2005 at 3:49 pm
$99/year seems high considering the competition. There are a wide array of personal development books available on Audible, and for about $120 a year, you get 2 per month plus 3 free upon signing up. I think you should give away some audio content for free first, perhaps as a podcast, and then once you have an established base, you can charge for it — at $99/year, or perhaps even more.
August 12th, 2005 at 4:19 pm
A few thing that would help (I just voted for “I’d definitely subscribe”):
- a sample (maybe 5 minutes) of your voice
- a sample of one of those 30-minute sessions
- a list of topics; can we vote for the topics or
will it be something that you pick?
August 12th, 2005 at 4:39 pm
Congrats on moving forward in making a business out of this.
I might dive in for the long commitment, but I’d definitely do a shorter one — like 1-3 months, even at more than $4.13 an MP3.
Also, an audio teaser — say, a 15 minutes of motivational material at a low bitrate, with a promo at the end — would probably be a great selling tool. Bandwidth costs are an issue, of course.
August 12th, 2005 at 5:45 pm
I probably would not because frankly there is already so much free content on the web I have no time to even consider listning to. Granted, there are not a lot of things like your proposed program. Self development podcasts are all commercials for something and of dubious quality and worth. But there is still too much web content in the world, and there will only be more as time goes on. People who charge for content face and uphill battle.
Good luck though.
August 12th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
I’d want to download a sample (maybe a 10min one) to see how I respond to your voice and speaking style before deciding. I’ve been enjoying your written content for a couple of years.
August 12th, 2005 at 6:44 pm
You have Ads by goooooogle all over your page, and then want to charge a subscription for an added service. The combination would bother me, I feel I already pay more than enough for this website by seeing the google adds.
Also without knowing your voice there is no way to tell if I could stand these recordings. Try providing a trial recording.
August 12th, 2005 at 6:57 pm
I would definitely subscribe if the yearly price was comparable to a yearly magazine subscription. I understand purchasing audio content like you are describing on disk would be much more per “issue,” however, $99/year is still out of my price range.
August 12th, 2005 at 8:54 pm
Steve,
I have to say that I was a little turned off by your snubbing of podcasts. It sort of makes you sound elitist and it’s a bit of a turn off. I probably listen to about 20 podcasts a week and the quality and impact of the information contained in these podcasts has been outstanding. There is definitely some junk out there but overall the impact of podcasts has been hugely positive and empowering in my eyes and I’d think no less of your audio content if you called it a podcast.
August 12th, 2005 at 8:56 pm
I’m curious and might give it a try, but I have trouble picturing myself as a subscriber. I aspire to lead a more intentional, focused, and present life. And when I visualize what that looks like, I don’t see myself having a lot of opportunities to “listen to something in the background.”
Reading is also faster than vocalization; less distracting to others; and lower-latency than fumbling with audio playback equipment.
Your insights are valuable to me, though. And I can imagine that there would be a good audience for your audio programs. Speaking for myself only, I would probably derive more value from longer, less frequent audio programs — perhaps quarterly? It probably depends who your intended audience is and what their level of development.
It seems like some people will be looking for constant re-inforcement. Others will be looking for less-frequent, more-profound epiphanies.
Will one audio product appeal to both audiences, or have you identified a specific market segment for this particular offering?
August 13th, 2005 at 5:29 am
I would probably not subscribe because I do not care much for audio books. I find it takes too much time to listen to something, compared to reading it myself. I know you recommend listening to audio books while exercizing, but that’s not an option for me either: I exercize together with my daughter.
That said: I think it is possible a specific subject interests me so much that I would want to listen to it anyway. I think I would like the option to buy a specific issue, instead of a year’s subscription.
August 13th, 2005 at 7:11 am
Steve,
I have few questions.
(i) Listening to voice of different people will make the our learning process more interesting. Are u sure that all the audio clips will have only your voice????
(ii) You dont charge for all these personal development articles published in this website. I feel that the subscription charge is slightly on the higher side. If the charge for subscription can be reduced, nothing like that…..
(iii) What different content will your audio have other than what is published in the website???
(iv) Do I have an option to subscribe for 3 months / 6 months / 1 year??
August 13th, 2005 at 9:19 am
First off, let me say that I found your casual dismissal of podcasts as being a bit annoying, elitist, and arrogant. Not the tone of voice I usually expect from you.
While many perfectly dreadful things do use RSS/enclosure to transmit, so does NPR. It’s a tool, like many others.
I’m certainly not going to say that podcasting is right for you (there are certainly lots of reasons it might not be the right tool for this job), but don’t go dismissing a useful tool because the first couple of things you heard were garbage. You don’t dismiss the world-wide web because most web sites are complete trash written by folks who can find neither the dictionary nor the spell checker, do you?
The one useful thing about a ‘podcast’ is that you can do them through Apple’s iTunes store (even if they are just MP3s – you don’t have to do DRM). Very easy to use, especially if you already have iTunes installed for other reasons. Don’t know if they’ve worked out a way to charge people for subscriptions or not yet, though.
On the subject of the subscription: I’d definitely need to hear a good-sized sample before I could commit money to the thing, but assuming the sample is good, I could see trying it for a while. The price is a bit steep, but I understand production of something like that isn’t free. I’d probably be more likely to take it if I could get a 3 month subscription and then extend it to a year if I found I really liked it.
August 13th, 2005 at 9:44 am
Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback so far. You’re all giving me lots of ways to improve/tweak this idea. The questions you’ve asked so far are all ones that I need to consider. If/when I launch such a service, I’ll do my best to address all of these issues.
As for the podcasting comments… I think a couple of you mistook my comments to mean that I’m shunning the entire podcasting community. I love podcasting in general, but I have yet to see much professional quality material and content being podcasted on personal development. If anyone has found some decent personal development podcasts with quality original content, please post the URLs, since I’d love to check them out. I personally haven’t found anything worthwhile yet. I’ll gladly admit I have high standards for what I’m willing to listen to in this particular field though. A couple guys sitting on a porch talking about how to use a Palm to schedule their day just doesn’t do it for me….
August 13th, 2005 at 10:08 am
I wouldn’t subscribe, but I would probably buy single issues (even if they were 5-6 dollars instead of your $4.13). Your site is great, but the skill set to write a great web site doesn’t overlap too much with the ability to write and produce a listenable radio program. It would take some convincing to goad me into buying audio content.
August 13th, 2005 at 11:50 am
I don’t have a credit card! I guess having one in my country is not as important as in the US… As soon as I get one this might be one of my first online purchases. (I didn’t vote because I don’t know when that’s gonna happen.) I’m very curious about the audio programmes.
August 13th, 2005 at 11:53 am
What about adding an à la carte subscription program on top of a regular, all-inclusive subscription? You could provide one-paragraph teasers of each issue’s content, and then charge, say, $30 for any 6 issues within the year. Or something. It would allow subscribers to choose issues based on which topics of yours we find the most interesting and applicable to our own lives. If that were an option, I’d subscribe to it in a flash. As it is, $99 is a lot of money and, on a grad student’s budget, I’d have to say “probably not.”
August 13th, 2005 at 4:25 pm
Steve,
I am actually looking for a source of short (3-5 minutes) motivational/self improvement podcasts which I can blend in with the music on my iPod. I won’t have the patience or the time for 30-60 minute programs, and I certainly wouldn’t commit to a year for that amount of money.
August 13th, 2005 at 4:34 pm
I have to agree with Laura, I’m not in sales and much of the personal development material is highly geared towards sales. I would want to see a mix of content that would cover non-sales topics as well.
The price would be enough to turn me away if only a yearly or quarerly option were offered. $9/mo with the option to cancel would be much more preferable! I’ve signed up to Internet based services in the past where it took an act of Congress to cancel the subscription, if you do indeed offer this as a service make sure it’s clear how to cancel the service and don’t make the end user jump through tons of hoops! Nothing will make me put my credit card back in my wallet faster than NOT being able to find out what the cancellation policy is and how to enact it if I want to.
August 13th, 2005 at 7:34 pm
I personally would only feel comfortable buying single issues. Perhaps package issues together for less money per issue. You’d also need a demo before I spend any money. I also think you might ditch the 99$ up front idea. People tend to buy with subscriptions alot easier than with large sums of money. IE: 600$ for a years worth of cable sounds crazy, but 50$ a month sounds reasonable to people. Go figure.
August 14th, 2005 at 12:24 am
When is your book being released?
I guess this audio idea is aimed at people who don’t have the time or inclination to read books, but could listen while exercising / driving / etc.
In general, I think Personal Development is something that is worth spending money on, but I don’t want to spend a lot until I start seeing real results. Otherwise, I worry about becoming like one of those fat guys with an expensive gym subscription they never use, and a heap of discarded fitness equipment.
Actually, that last point touches on the reason I like your work so much. You put so much emphasis on getting us to convert good intentions and advice into actions and results. That is the hardest step, yet a lot of authors avoid it.
August 14th, 2005 at 4:17 am
1. Great idea to have a couple of demo audio files, to see what one would be getting.
2. Get the book out first – people are MUCH more familiar to buying books. Then, when they are addicted to your content, offer them audio in between books. Kind of like “Harry Potter”: people read the newly released book but want more, then they see the movie, buy the merchandise, etc.
3. I also think that $99 may seem a little high for most, and the subscription model a bit unfamiliar. So why not selling tracks one by one? Maybe you should have a more diversified offer:
” Think Apple iTunes.
These would probably be the most profitable, but the second category would sell most.
- a few free downloads, to get people hooked
- a bunch of cheaper, for sale individually, topical, popular audios to suit everybody’s interest. Like “Motivational speech to give up coffee
- some “gold” packages, maybe even subscriptions with new material included to feed the “addicted ones”
4. Maybe I am wrong here, but aren’t many of your visitors here coming from the old Dexterity articles? If so, I am afraid they aren’t the most generous bunch – they’ve been getting used to free content from you for YEARS. Like the guy who thinks that him “seeing” google ads here pays you – dude you need to CLICK on them for Steve to get a paltry sum.
So maybe you need to get rid of them and find a more generous readership? Well, asking them to shell out money would most certainly do the trick.
August 14th, 2005 at 5:33 am
@Catalin: I’ve been thinking along similar lines. My main concern is which approach will provide the greatest value, but value depends on the person receiving it.
The Dexterity articles were a top referrer to this site when I first launched, but they quickly became insignificant as traffic from other sources grew. Hits from Dexterity.com now account for less than 0.1% of my traffic, and traffic from other shareware or game-related sources is even lower. Most of the traffic now comes from other blogs and blog services like del.icio.us along with search engine traffic.
August 14th, 2005 at 2:31 pm
While MP3 is ubiquitous, would you consider also including an OGG file?
August 14th, 2005 at 4:05 pm
I agree with Taylor; I would definitely buy single issues (or 1 or 3 month subscriptions), but a $99 lump sum would probably be a bit much for me. [FYI I voted "probably subscribe" for this reason.]
Also, I agree with Rob’s comment about 3-5 minute snippets – they would be great to mix in with other music/content. (Perhaps a “micropayment” system – a few cents each, say 20-50c or so – for those?)
August 15th, 2005 at 3:01 am
I like audiobooks. Why? Because I can listen while organizing my stuff, while showering and while driving.
My advice would be to separate the material into several tracks – one article, one track (= 1 MP3 file). This way it’s easier to use the material in a car MP3 player.
Also, the MP3 files should be properly tagged – good ID3 v1 and v2 tags, so I can easily select the article I want to listen to in the car.
August 15th, 2005 at 6:07 am
I probably wouldn’t subscribe right away. I only recently started seriously trying to improve my life (even though I’m a longtime reader of your articles) so I worry that I’m at too basic a level to benefit much from your audio sessions.
Maybe after I’ve mastered the basics as described in your articles and in some of the other stuff I’ve looked at recently (Allen’s “Getting Things Done” and Nightingale’s “Lead the Field” for example).
August 15th, 2005 at 6:35 am
I will not subscribe because I see no advantage in listening to your content rather than reading, even if you include extra content in your audio segment. I find that audio-only media is unsuitable for deliverying rich/interesting content. Most audio content I’ve heard have been very shallow and slowly paced. On the other hand, let’s assume on the other hand that you do produce a well-paced, quality segment. In this case, then it is unlikely that I would have understood everything on the first hearing and would like pause, rewind, relisten, etc. I find that reviewing audio material to be very inconvenient and cumbersome. In comparison, it is quite easy for me to save an html copy of your online articles and read at the pace I’m comfortable with, and review them quickly as I wish. Some people might argue that one can do other things while listening. My response is that that is possible only if the audio program is shallow and slowly paced.
In conclusion, I find audio programs to be inconvenient and unenjoyable.
August 15th, 2005 at 7:47 am
I could include a written transcript of each audio segment, perhaps as a PDF. That way every subscriber gets the content in two different forms. I like the hands-free nature of audio programs (I listen to them while running, walking, cooking, burning CDs, etc), but I also like having the text as a reference if I want to look something up or quickly review it.
Adding the transcripts wouldn’t be much extra work compared to the value it may add for some people.
Again, I greatly appreciate the feedback. It’s given me a clearer picture of the strengths and weaknesses of this idea.
August 15th, 2005 at 8:25 am
Steve,
I wouldn’t want a whole-year subscription. I would, however, want to download issues on topics that interest me. I don’t know if anybody’s suggested this yet, but what about pre-paying for X number of downloads? Like, paying $30 for 5 downloads, and you can download whatever five you want within a one-year period?
I just started listening to the occasional podcast on the bus to and from work. It would be nice to supplement reading your articles and blogs with listening to your motivational audio once in a while.
August 15th, 2005 at 8:55 am
I definitely wouldn’t subscribe.
Why? Because I’m deaf.
That aside, I dont’ understand why people like audio content — it’s much faster to read and article than it is to listen to one and written material is much more versatile.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:15 pm
Steve,
I’d want the transcript to even consider subscribing. I’ve never been a fan of audio content for all the reasons that Chi Shen explains so well.
My first thought was that $99 a year sounds reasonable, because I’ve come to believe you have valuable insights to share — but on further reflection I find myself comparing that to what I could get in other media. $99 buys a lot of books.
August 16th, 2005 at 2:55 pm
Steve,
I find your articles to be some of the most interesting and stimulating content available on the web. I would be very interested in audio as I already listen to podcasts and audible.com books whenever I can. I wouldn’t, however, be able to afford $99 per year. Though I’m certain that the content would be worth it, my budget would not allow for it at this time.
I would certainly consider subscribing to a trimmed-back / cheaper version, and I would also reconsider if my family’s income / budget situation changed.
Thank you.
August 19th, 2005 at 2:28 pm
Steve, I’d love to hear your audio content and pay a fair price for it. Here are a couple of ideas to consider.
1. There are mechanisms that allow episodic rebilling of a credit card. I get a DVD this way. I’ve agreed to let the producer re-bill me every month until I say stop. This saves me having to re-subscribe and frankly probably keeps people subscribed when they might otherwise have not renewed.
2. Here is a very high quality personal development podcast that is one of the original 5 or 10 podcasts ever produced.
http://welchwrite.com/dewelch/ce/
http://feeds.feedburner.com/career
3. Shorter and more frequent audio would keep me revved up more than infrequent longer audio pieces. That doesn’t mean that you couldn’t produce longer pieces and sort of chop them up into bit-sized, easily digestible pieces. I find if I’m away for a week and come back to your site, I can get over loaded with inspiration. Read one of your longer pieces and you’ll probably see the right length to make your audio.
4. Please consider publishing your audio as a podcast. Or maybe I should use the term RSS. You don’t have to make the feed public and you can associate a user’s account with the ability to access the feed. This way those of us that do subscribe don’t have to do anything – your personal development podcast would just land in the subscribers play list.
5. OK. I’ll say it… $100.00 year is too much. I think you should make money doing this and maybe even a lot of money if you are successful. If you get 1,000 subscribers – WOW that would get. But I really think you could get 10,000 or more particularly if you charged competitively to a magazine which is more like what you are doing. I guess I’d have to reserve judgment until I hear what you are doing but I’d be more comfortable something more on the order of $24.99 a year
Take it or leave it — I’ll look forward to seeing what develops.
August 20th, 2005 at 7:25 am
Steve,
Overall I think it’s a great idea. It still amazes me that far too many people expect everything for free on the Internet. Unfortuanelty, it’s heading in that direction with podcasts.
That is why you have to build your reputation as an authority in your field. If you are perceived as an expert then you can charge a premium.
The $99 is a little steep I think (unless of course your name recognition demands this premium). I’d go for $49 maximum as it has been proven that people are more than happy to make purchases under $50 without feeling too guilty about it. Anything more and they really have to be sold on it and tend to walk away from the sale at the first opportunity.
I’d go for a monthly audio (12 times a year) charging say $5.99 per issue – and also offering annual subscription for $49 (a saving of $23 odd dollars over individual purchases) … anyhow that’s how I’m planning to do it in my niche
Also, as commented before, include detailed “show notes” – for me, there’s nothing worse than downloading a 15Mb podcast without knowing what’s in store (and that’s even from some of my favorite podcast).
In regards to audio books over reading. Once agin, it has been proven that you retain more information from audio than by reading – something like 10-15% more sticks … so you gotta sell that point.
Also, at the end of the year, why not offer a CD audio product of the whole year’s programs as an additional income stream.
As with other comments – I totally agree that you have to provide a free sample, so that potential buyers can hear for themselves.
Why not make a short 5 minute fortnightly podcast with one tip available for free – but include a soft pitch for your premium product?