What I do is help small business entrepreneurs get what matters on video and help tell their stories of the amazing work they are doing.

I thought it would be a good time to look back, reflect, and share progress so far.

Here is some of what I learned in the first six months of being an entrepreneur:

I love being creative and collaborating with clients to get their best stuff out in the world.

It makes me extremely happy to be able to provide a useful service that can do this.

I love designing my days and having the freedom of working when I want to, on my own terms.

I appreciate that I’ve gotten to work with the most awesome clients so far.  They continue to inspire.

It takes time and a lot of effort to grow a successful business.  I am learning to be more patient and enjoy the process.

Money is coming in, but I’m not making the amount of money I want to… yet.

It’s perfectly fine for me to do freelance TV gigs (my background is working as a tv post-supervisor) to help with cash flow when necessary.

This doesn’t mean I am not successful at my small biz.  To me it means I have resources, skills and experience that come in very handy.   In reality, the money from these TV gigs is what enabled me to start the business in the first place.  For this I am grateful.

You learn a ton about yourself when you start a business.  One thing I can share is that even though I enjoy my alone time, its definitely been an adjustment to spend most workdays solo.

I am getting more comfortable with the unknown, and letting go of the need to know exactly what’s up next.

It’s beneficial to have a mindfulness or meditation practice, or some activity that grounds you and calms the mind. This can be just sitting quietly for five minutes, taking a walk, going to a gentle yoga class.

Doing exercise and moving the body is crucial.  It helps my stuck energy get flowing and re-sets my mood.   Last weekend I attended a dance workshop/retreat and didn’t realize how much creativity could be unleashed through the fingers, toes, elbows and feet.  Awesome!

Also time spent in nature, at the movies, seeing art, or meeting a friend for coffee all contribute to more creativity and ideas when I return.

It’s beginning to feel like I made the right choice to take the leap into entrepreneurship.

It’s beginning to feel like I can make a difference.

I am committed to the journey, to this path that probably has no end, but has many bumps and twists along the way.

What talents and passions do you have to share with the world?  I’d love to know.

Here she shares her indispensable advice, thoughts and ideas on affordable audio equipment, simple recording tips, and what to think about before doing your audio recording.

Is it really possible to get good audio if you’re not a ‘pro’ with a big budget? Absolutely! In fact, there are many “pros” with big budgets who produce rubbish quality on a daily basis! If you take care of the three core things that help (or hurt) your audio quality … your body, your space, your equipment (in that order!)…you’ll come out just fine.

If someone wants to record a podcast or create an audio class from home, where should they begin?  Can they record directly into their computer? That’s a really big question. I always say that you start with your content. Get your content worked out and polished. Recording by the seat of your pants is pretty much always inadvisable. Know your audience, your message, and get yourself organized.

Step two is to look at your recording space. Get your space set up to be suitable for recording. Avoid road noise, make sure your cat can be locked out, and either be far away from anyone who shares the house with you or else kick them out … er, I mean send them for ice cream while you’re recording.

Step three is getting your body in order. I suggest standing to record, which means being able to have your mic at the correct height for you standing. Be sure you’re hydrated (preferably with water, not soda or other chemical-laden drinks). Relax.

Finally, yes, you can record direct to the computer. Particularly if you’re creating audio or video for a product for your business. Later on, when you’re big and successful, you’ll want to consider upping your game, but for now using your computer will work perfectly.

What are your thoughts on Audio Acrobat, Garage Band and other recording and audio editing programs out there?  What do you recommend for someone starting out? For editing, I think you should use what you know. If you know Garage Band and it does the things you need it to do, then use that. There’s not need – particularly when you’re just getting going – to add learning an editing system to your plate if there’s something you know right now.

If, on the other hand, you don’t have any sort of editing program in your head, give Audacity a try. It’s Mac and Windows and it’s free. I find it to be really basic, and simple to learn for 95% of folks. And the other 5% just need a little coaching to get on board.

For capturing audio, I know that many people love Audio Acrobat. It seems to do a decent job. On the Mac, I’m a big fan of Audio Hijack Pro, because you can bring together multiple audio sources and capture any audio that you can run through your computer.

If anyone suggests to you that you “must” learn ProTools or even ProTools Lite in order to put out good audio, I’d encourage you to look for another opinion. Those are fantastic tools, but they’re expensive and difficult to learn. And, if you don’t use them regularly, you forget how they work. I know how to use them and think they’re fantastic, but I don’t think they’re appropriate for most people producing audio for their online content.

What is the best mic you’d recommed under 100 bucks?  Is that even realistic? Does it need to be XLR or is USB okay? Right now, there are no mics under 100 bucks I’d recommend. For USB mics the lowest priced mic I can suggest with any confidence is the Audio-Technica AT2020USB at $150 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AT2020USB/. I’ve recommended the 2020 to a number of people, and they’ve been quite pleased. A really good step up from that mic, though still in the USB world is the Shure PG42USB. It’s $100 more than the 2020, but it gives you some really great features the 2020 lacks. Chief among them is a low-latency (delay) headphone jack on the mic.

As far as XLR versus USB … I will always prefer XLR mics, because the physical microphones themselves – of the ones I’d recommend – are higher quality from the get-go. For example, the XLR version of the AT2020 is a higher quality mic than the USB version. It captures sound a bit differently and it sounds better. The down side for some folks with the XLR mics is that you do have to translate the analog sound captured by the XLR mic and translate it to the bits and bytes your computer can understand. This requires and Analog-to-digital converter. These converters come in all shapes and sizes. Some just don’t want to bother with this. And that’s okay. But if you want the best possible sound, it’s worth the extra steps.

Is there advice you can share about how to speak, sit, what to do with your body that can help the sound be better? I believe it’s always better to stand to record than to sit. When you’re standing, you’re not unintentionally compressing your lungs and diaphragm in that sitting position. The folks who can often successfully sit to record are trained musicians – particularly those who play wind instruments. The trick is to remember that you need to sit as if you’re playing that instrument.

When you speak, it’s critical to use your whole body to do the speaking. When you just use your throat, the sound you get is much thinner and less pleasing than the sound you get by involving your entire body. If you meditate or do yoga or jog or do any sort of whole body exercise, you know that if your entire physical self isn’t in sync, you run the risk of hurting yourself, or at the very least, having a bad session. The same is true when you’re speaking for a recording. Your entire body is involved in getting the best sound out. Use the full instrument at your disposal.

Wow.  Awesome Linchpin advice!  Truly a gift.

If you’ve got a video or audio product in mind, or perhaps a few — but are too busy to get started or unsure what steps to take next, contact me for video or Christy for audio at http://onlinesoundadvice.com/ today.  We can discuss your vision, and come up with a workable plan and budget perfect for you.

Also if you’ve been thinking of making multi-media products a part of your business in 2010 but are unsure where to begin, perhaps consider joining our upcoming teleseminar, Be A Producer! Together, Christy and I will be discussing all about planning and creating effective multi-media products, how they can expand your reach and grow your business, getting past those technical hurdles and fears, plus lots more.

We are very excited and hope you’ll join us.

More details to come very, very soon…

Enjoy and have a great week!