I'll discuss more about how the rise in mp3 ownership concerns online business owners and affiliate marketers like yourself. For now, let me give you some proof and examples of the boom in online audio content.

Some of these figures might shock you.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project,

- close to 30 million American adults have downloaded music files over the Internet; and

- more than 22 million American adults own mp3 players

Besides these statistical data, you might even have heard of the word "audio books",or "podcasts". Do a search on these two keywords on Google or Yahoo and you'll come up with at least a few million sites on them.

Another proof of the high demand for audio, otherwise, why would there be such a high supply of websites catering to these audio hungry folks?

What are some of the reasons for the boom in online audio content, you might ask?

a) Firstly, the experience of downloading the audio content quickly, hassle-free and in many cases at very low cost or even free makes it attractive for any online user. Besides using the Internet to do research, the average Internet user basically looks for entertainment in the form of audio and video online.

Nowadays, dial-ups are a thing of the past. With more households connected via broadband, downloading huge audio files become a fast and easy task that takes just few seconds.

This makes audio a viable medium that can be stored online for downloading by users and customers alike, making it an enjoyable experience to be repeated again and again.

b) Secondly, with the increase in the number of mp3 owners, naturally people are looking for audio content to download.

After all, what better place to search for audio content than the Internet? Besides, people who own mp3 players are most often than not, IT savvy individuals. The boom in online audio content does not seem to abate, on the other hand, it is increasing each day.

How can you take advantage of this growing trend and even cash-in on it? The answer: Audio Blogs

Audio blogs, an innovative and creative marketing concept combining the syndication power of blogs

with the demand for audio. The result? A sure knock-out winner.

But first...what exactly are Audio Blogs and secondly, how exactly can Audio Blogs help you make more money?

Audio blogs, or audio niche blogs are just like any regular blog. It contains material or content specific to that particular niche market; for example, you can have an audio blog on dieting, parenting, gardening and so on.

However, what differentiates audio blogs from your normal blog is that audio blogs, as the name suggests, contain audio or mp3 files that readers can download. These audio files are hosted by the audio blog owner and posted as links, which will point to a particular audio recording that can be downloaded by readers and visitors.

Now let's answer the second question. How exactly can you make use of Audio Blogs to help grow and expand your online business?

One of the crtical success factor of any online business is to ensure there is enough website traffic going to a particular site. Website traffic remains the lifeblood of any online business. Without visitors to your site, there will be no subscribers, no customers and naturally no profits.

This is where Audio Blogs can help.

Since most blogs have in-built syndication power through the use of rss feeds, what this means is that the audio content can be syndicated as podcasts. Put it very simply, the audio content on the blog can be broadcast to new and alternative target markets, consisting of people who subscribe to feeds or podcasts.

These same people are your potential subscribers and customers, and people whom you might not be able to reach using traditional methods of online traffic generation such as pay-per-click, article writing, search engine optimization and so on.

In short, audio blogs allow you to generate additional traffic to your site without additional expense.

Did you know that even search engines like audio? Top search engine like Yahoo has an audio search facility called Yahoo Audio Search. With Audio Blogs, you can submit your audio blog feed to Yahoo Audio Search and list in Yahoo for free. And it's entirely legal.