Avoiding the Stigma of ‘Desktop Audio’

Tools Can Make Us Fools
Unless We Use Them Wisely

One of the big issues with creating products is that they don’t sell themselves. In fact, that’s one of the “Crucial Catastrophes” we’ll talk about on tonight’s Audacious Audio Group Preview Call.

Even smart people are seduced by the promise of cheap tools to transform their business. But they forget that a great tool, no matter how cool, doesn’t excuse you from the fundamentals of business.

Skeptical? Think I'm a kill joy? Then lets return to the halcyon days of the 1980’s when Bill Gates was merely a millionaire. Three inventions - the graphical user interface, popularized by the Apple Macintosh, the postscript printing language, and the laser printer were turning otherwise reasonable people into would-be graphic designers. The promise: cheap, affordable printing technology would turn weekend entrepreneurs into tycoons.

However, promise turned to horror as reams and reams of hideously designed flyers, newsletters and advertisements flooded mailboxes around the world. Far from making them millionaires, such materials immediately branded their creators rank amateurs, never to be taken seriously.

The phenomenon - Desktop Publishing (remember the term?) - became synonymous with cheap design, and a bogus cachet that repelled potential customers in droves. Yes, even with sexy computer technology, a tool was still merely a tool, not a solution. And in the wrong hands, it could even provide enough rope for you to hang yourself with.

Enter the audio age - internet audio and cheap digital production tools are once again creating raised expectations. Sound familiar? As with the print medium 15 years ago, the ability to burn something to a CD will NOT pave a path of gold to your door.

A poorly produced CD, quickly slapped together and foisted upon unsuspecting customers is at best a designer bookend and at worst, a financial fiasco.

I cannot stress loudly enough -- avoid the Desktop Publishing stigma! Customers have long memories and alot of choices. So make it easier for them to choose YOU, by taking a LITTLE extra time creating your audio to make sure they rave about it instead of smirk.

This does not mean you need to become a Pulitzer-worthy writer, or a Grammy-contending producer. FAR FROM IT.

What it does mean is that with a bit of careful planning, an eye toward integrating your audio with your overall marketing strategy and even a bit of help from yours truly, you can make a monstrous impact on your customers, and have them loving you for life.

And isn’t that really what its all about?