This project has been over 6 months in the making, but very soon I will have all my blog posts uploaded as mp3s for people to download and listen to. I am adding this aspect to my blog especially for people with CFS and other chronic illnesses who are bed-bound and/or have trouble reading.
Why I Love Audio – And Why I’m Bringing It To YOU
I also have a deep love and affection myself for podcasts and audio books because I can listen to them in bed when I am extremely fatigued but my mind just won’t shut off – and tends to wander to the not-so-helpful, negative topics that idle minds tend to wander to when they are physically feeling rotten! I have always thought I’d love to be able to download an mp3 of the many blogs I love, so that I could consume them more easily while laying in bed (or doing the dishes, driving, doing the housework, walking etc in my more energetic periods).
Creating my own dream blog
So, I have made MY wish MY command – so that it hopefully will benefit YOU!! I have the additional issue of electrosensitivity, so not having to sit in front of a computer and read a blog on a computer screen would be just awesome for me if there were more audio blogs out there, so maybe I will start a trend here :-).
Recording My Audio Blogs
It’s taken me way longer than I planned to get my blogs recorded because …. you guessed it, my health issues have got in the way! Six months ago when I first thought of this I was feeling really good, but then a family of stomach parasites took up residence in my body and when I decided to exterminate them (with love!), they got annoyed and left behind a heap of toxins that knocked my immune system around such that I’m still detoxing and feeling pretty average. My voice is one thing it has affected.
BUT, a couple of months ago when I was feeling a little better, I finally just started recording. And now, apart from my most recent blogs, I have them all recorded.
Forgoing Perfectionism and JUST DOING IT!
If you have seen my blog on The Curse of Perfectionism, you will know I’m a recovering perfectionist. So recording these blogs with only fairly basic equipment and no experience was a great challenge to my little perfectionist voice in my head. BUT I ignored that voice because I knew if I didn’t just start the recordings and do them while I could, they may be yet another of my wonder project ideas that never got done.
Hence, the audio recordings I have done are not perfect. About a third were done while visiting a relative in Melbourne who lived next to a railway crossing. Surprisingly these recordings sound the best because, despite the occasional train going past, there were heavy block-out curtains that obviously provided a great recording environment, PLUS I had a cold that day, which somehow makes my voice sound better (or I think so anyway).
The rest of the recordings were done in my office/study at home, which turned out to be less acoustically pleasing and is a little more echoey – and unbeknown to me, my swivel chair squeaks every now and then! I actually bought a highly recommended microphone, but it seems I still have a way to go in learning how to use it properly without sounding distorted and echoey.
I have tweaked the sound a tiny bit in some of the audios (dropped the pitch, so I sound a little more like a man, but a lot less like a budgie on helium sitting in a tunnel), but other than that I haven’t edited anything. I don’t edit my mistakes, unless they are real clangers, so you will hear me stumble a little and get emotional at times, but I’ve decided that that is all part of showing you I’m human. I guess you can have the final say though!
The uploading process
I am in the process of learning how to “tag” my audios via iTunes, uploading all my audios to Libsyn, an audio/podcast hosting site, and then hooking them into my blog (so my website doesn’t crash because of overload). It’s a slow process with 47 blogs, but I’m getting there.
At this stage, to find the audio download option or to play straight from my site, you have to scroll to the bottom of my blog. When I have them all uploaded I will be submitting them to iTunes etc and The Get Up And Go Guru Audio Blog will become an official podcast so that you can subscribe to it in iTunes and Stitcher and any other podcasting platform that will accept me :-).
My Top 10 … to get you started
At this stage I am about a third of the way through the upload process, but I HAVE uploaded my Top 10 blogs – or at least, 10 of my favourite blogs – to start with so that you can have a listen, give me some feedback, and generally get the idea of what I’m doing. This list is basically a sneak-peak of what’s to come.
So if you click on the link above or here, you will be taken to my Top 10, then click on those links, they’ll take you to the written blog, scroll to the bottom and either download the mp3 or listen to it directly from my blog.
How To Have Your Say
What I’d love you to do is let me know what you think of the idea, the audio quality (ie is it listenable – don’t expect radio quality just yet!), and is it something you think you’d like more of. To give me that feedback I’d love you to go to my Facebook Page or use the comments section below. You can also email me directly on louise@getupandgoguru.com I’m much more active on Twitter right now, but having only 140 characters is harder to give feedback, but feel free to use Twitter too – or just retweet it to any people you think might be interested!
The Launch (Edit: Postponed until late November)
Ever the ambitious one, I’m planning to have an official launch of The Get Up And Go Guru Audio Blog in a week’s time. I’m planning to work out how to use webinars really fast, and to hold a bit of a live party for all you CFS /spoonies out there who’d like to come to a virtual party. There’ll be balloons, party hats, bright shiny things and more info on my audio blog.
There’ll also be an opportunity for you to have a virtual chat with me. I’ll probably throw out some questions to you about your favourite blogs, websites, ideas for blogs and so on, and we can have a chat about them – or we can just connect, laugh and have some fun. I’ve never done anything like this, but I’ve seen others do it, so I reckon I can give it a go too.
If you’re interested in attending, please either Tweet or DM me on Twitter, message me via my Facebook page or leave a comment below with your email info so I can contact you with all the details. The official webinar details will be on Twitter and Facebook soon, but in case you miss them I’ll have your details and can let you know. OR actually, you could just join my mailing list. My poor, neglected mailing list hasn’t been developed much yet, but if you sign up I can contact you through that (development of the mailing list is next on the agenda!)
Oh, and the date? Wednesday 30th October (my Mum’s birthday) at 9am Australian Daylight Savings Time (ie Tuesday evening or afternoon in most of the US; 10pm UK time).
Stay tuned for more info and please let me know what you think about the audio blog AND the webinar launch idea – and whether you’ll be using/taking part in either or both. Did I mention you can contact me on my Facebook Page, Twitter, in the comments or by emailing louise@getupandgoguru.com? 😉
(Editor’s Note: The launch has been postponed until later in November, mostly due to health reasons, but also because I’m looking into how to hold a Google Hangout, which sounds like it could be the best way to hold the launch. As I say, STAY TUNED 🙂 – and please let me know if you ARE interested in attending the launch whenever it ends up being because then I can email you directly! Thanks :-))
Looking forward to hearing your feedback
Keep Smiling
Louise
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