Last week, I blogged about how the new Apple ipod nano makes recording and posting video to the Web a snap. With the incredible growth of online video, we often overlook the power of audio to create a compelling experience.

iPhone Apps: The Future of Handheld Multimedia is Now

When it comes to multimedia, I’m biased in favor of iPhone; but only because it is the most versatile handheld device currently available. There are dozens of ways of capturing and sharing multimedia on the iPhone without ever touching your computer.

Here are just a couple of samples of applications that make it super simple to create multimedia using an iphone and instantly sharing your creations with the world.

Audio Boo

With this Free app and a free AudioBoo account, audio can be recorded and uploaded directly to the Web over a wifi or 3G cell phone connection. The audio can also be embedded into a blog post like this:

HT Professional Audio Recording

This $3 audio recording app is one of many audio recording apps available in the iTunes store. HT Pro allows uploading of longer recordings (up to 30 minutes) directly from the device to the Web allowing content such as this recorded interview with the Missoula Children’s Theatre to be online in minutes.

Animoto

Another free app that combines up to a dozen of your iPhone photos with Creative Commons music and voila – Animoto in the palm of your hand.

Check out this little Animoto production made and shared on Facebook from iPhone while lounging in a hammock.

Social Web apps make sharing without a computer a snap

Uploaded Multimedia can also be shared on social networks directly on the iPhone directly using WordPress, Facebook or Twitter Apps making posts like this one directly to a fan page in Facebook a snap.

Are you an iPhone fan?

What’s your favourite app for getting multimedia instantly to the Web?

I stopped by the Animoto booth at SXSW and chatted with Brad Jefferson, CEO of Animoto to learn about:

• how Animoto got started
• how the music is licensed for the slide shows
• how tourism businesses can create their own multimedia magic and embed it into their blog or Web site.

There are easy and free ways to add all kinds of media to your WordPress.com blog. This post explains how to add photos, video, audio, text and mixed media documents to your blog.

Photos: WordPress.com makes it easy to upload and host images using the Upload/Insert photo button on the admin panel. These photos are hosted online at wordpress.com. I also edit and host images at Skitch.com (mac only) and Drop.io.

WordPress.com does not host media types other than photos for free.

Hosting other forms of media on a WordPress.com blog requires users to set up free accounts using other Web services prior to embedding the content on your blog. The easiest way to embed a slideshow in your blog is to use a powerpoint embedded photo slide show as shown below with Slideshare.

Video: Upload your video to a variety of Video hosting sites using Tubemogul, a ‘multi-site upload service” – to free video hosting sites like youtube.com, blip.tv, veoh.com and others. Try a few embedded viewers. Each looks a little different. Then copy and paste the WordPress embed code from blip.tv or just copy the url from any Youtube video and you are set.

Audio: The best and easiest option to get your audio into your blogsite is to upload the audio mp3 to a free hosting site Archive.org. See this (more recent) blog post for the simple and pretty way to add audio to your wordpress blog. Funny enough, embedding plain mp3 files is the one thing that is not simple to embed (at least not for free). If you do have access to uploading mp3 files by ftp, then it is simple to embed audio. Most online file hosting services require flash or java script (which wordpress.com doesn’t allow for security reasons). A less preferred option is setting up a free account at Drop.io to set up links like this – Coffee which open your audio file in a new window.

Also, for a small fee (from $20/year – that’s less than $2/month!), WordPress.com users who want to feel the freedom and excitement that goes with creating audio and setting up a podcast feed to get your audio into iTunes can pay a small annual space upgrade fee which enables simple uploading of mp3 files and playing the files on your WordPress.com page. Hey, the blog is basically free, so what’s a couple of bucks a year for audio right?

WordPress Audio Widget:

PDF’s and Word Documents: Embed these types of documents into your blog with a free service like Scribd.com or link to an online version of your documents at DocStoc. Scribd provides WordPress.com embed code that shows your document in a window within your post. Documents can also be shared via hyperlink to the URL of your document at both sites. (Note: on Scribd, embedded WordPress.com documents include small Google adwords text ads following each page.)

Embedded pdf’s look like this:
Obama Inaugural Guidebook

Multimedia: All the media you could ever wish to post to your Worpress Blog:

Some folks may want to embed powerpoint presentations or other multimedia content designed using Web 2.0 services. Here are a few free multimedia services that provide WordPress.com embed code.

Slideshare.net is a powerpoint hosting site that makes it easy to embed slide shows in your blog. Just copy and paste the embed code into the HTML tab. Slide shows can be advanced with the click of the viewers mouse. Try a powerpoint slide show with your best images.

Animoto – make a multimedia slide show with your photos and music or choose from a selection of music tracks to make a free 30 second video. Then upload to your WordPress blogsite directly from Animoto. RockYou provides a similar service. Pictures that move and have music could be a powerful treat for your blogsite fans.

Google.com/Maps – Put a google map into your blog or make your own map with Google’s My Map tool. Unfortunately, I’ve not found the embed in Website url to work with WordPress.com although the directions on adding a google map to your worpress.com blogsite seem pretty clear. The method of getting a map on your blog described below takes a bit of work. But remember, if your ideal guest doesn’t know that you are easy to get to, they are not coming. If the directions on adding a google map as shown on WordPress.com/support, you’ll need to take a screenshot of the map and upload the map as a photo (described above).
On a Mac, you can take a screenshot using shortcuts in your System Preferences / Keyboard Shortcuts settings.

On a Windows PC, design a map that meets your needs. Then with your map in your browser window press the [Alt] + [Prt Screen key] to copy the current window.

Paste the screen grab into an image editing document and crop the screenshot to the desired image.

Back on the Google Map, copy the link or embed code to the original map at Google, and put this link on your site with your screen grab image to link out to the Google Map you want your visitor to see.

The final version of your custom MyMap can include images, icons, hyperlinks and more. The finished map could look something like this:

See the map at google.

The map at the other end of this link includes a Get Directions to here link, which gives turn by turn driving directions to your location! That makes you easy to get to.

Do you use other online multimedia services that provide embed code? Tell us about them

external links:

• WordPress Support
• NEW! WordPress.tv (get the scoop from wordcamps and enjoy a visual resource for all things WordPress)
• How to create Flickr slide shows
• How to embed almost anything
• 50 WordPress.org multimedia plug-ins

Producing video for your Web site is a great way to engage your audience. Creative Commons Music can help make your productions come alive, without having to pay royalty fees for the use of music. Here is a question I received today, and my best answer.

Hi Todd,
Wondering if you could please send me that online source for royalty free music. Just posted our pilot episode of the Bay of Fundy Travel Show but it’s a bit flat there at start and finish with dead air….could use some bookending with tunes!!

I’ve got a proposal in to get some proper gear – like a camcorder and some cordless mics, and time to draft a storyboard!! This is an off-the-cuff result with my regular digital camera (not a camcorder) and the editing was done by my very own twitter (16 yr old son).

I can’t thank you enough for the course in May… It really helped me consolidate my ideas for Fundy and now the old creativity is flowing again! I especially ‘got it’ about connected all the mediums to each other….this is working GREAT for our SEO.

P.S. Pls thank Natalie for the audio tips.

Terri
Terri McCulloch
Manager
Bay of Fundy Tourism Partnership
Visit our new blog! http://bayoffundy.blogspot.com

I was delighted to hear about your Bay of Fundy Travel Show. Brilliant title.

I think you’ll find this site very helpful in locating some free background music to make your show come alive.

http://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos/

This creative commons page links to a number of sites that provide tunes at no cost for non-commercial podcasts (video or audio) like yours. Some artists even provide free widgets like the one below that allow web page publishers to embed music on their sites for free:

Future Forever by Ion

Some providers of creative commons tunes like Ottmar Liebert offer tunes for use at really reasonable rates like 1$.

Last week in Sudbury, Partners in Eco-Adventure Tourism gathered to learn about best practices in Cluster Marketing. One of the outcomes was this innovative map which features text and photos of members as well as a link to an audio file that was produced as part of the workshop. This map can be embedded in member blogs or web sites, just like below . . . and will be featured within the PEAT Web site soon.

How are you using multimedia such as audio and video? How are you using maps to enhance your exposure? How are you working with businesses like your own to create innovative and successful marketing initiatives?

In the map below, red markers indicate listings that feature audio….

View Larger Map