How to Create and Sell Ringtones for Cell Phones

Selling ringtones is big business, generating billions of dollars worldwide each year. Even small, niche ringtone vendors can achieve a lucrative amount of business creating and selling their own ringtones. However, that does not mean this is an easy market into which to tap.

Making a profit selling ringtones will take some hard work and basic knowledge. In order to get started you will need several basic tools for creating and selling the ringtones. It would also help to have an idea of the customers you plan to target and an ear for the types of music or sounds they are likely to buy.

Audio Editing Software

How to Create and Sell Ringtones for Cell Phones The first thing you will need is a software program that allows you to edit MP3 and sound files in other formats into the ringtones you will sell. There are many professional audio editing suites with a wide range of features but for starting, it might make more financial sense to target a freeware or low-cost option.

Fortunately, there are programs available that fit that profile. One of them is Audacity, by far the most popular and extensive free option for recording and editing sound. It is open source, with a large community supporting it, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux operating systems. In addition, it has all the tools needed to edit music files and create professional quality ringtones that are indistinguishable from those created by the large companies.

There is also freeware software available focused on and tailored to ringtone creation, such as Easy Ringtone Editor. Some people will find it easier to use a program like this if they feel overwhelmed by comprehensive audio editing software. However, this article will concentrate on Audacity because it has all of the basic tools one could need for creating ringtones.

Simple Instructions to Create a Ringtone in Audacity

1. Download Audacity from SourceForge.Net and install it. Now double-click the Audacity icon on your desktop to start the application.

2. On the Audacity main menu, click “File” and then “Open” in the sub-menu. Now find and select the supported music file from which you are going to create the ringtone. Clicking on it will load the music file into Audacity.

3. In Audacity, select 10-15 seconds worth of music by indicating the starting point and then drag the slider to the end-point.

Note: Supported ringtone lengths vary between devices. Generally, phones support ringtones of 10-15 seconds but as technology is increasing, many newer phones are supporting much longer durations.

4. Right click and select “Copy” on the context menu. This will copy the section of the song you have selected onto the clipboard.

5. On the Audacity main menu, click “File” and then “New” in the sub-menu. This will create a new, blank audio file.

6. Right click and select “Paste” on the context menu. This will take the section of song you have copied onto the clipboard and paste it into the new file you have created.

7. On the Audacity menu click the “File” item and then the “Save” sub-menu item. Save the song as “Song Name.mp3”, replacing “Song Name” with the actual name of the song or a file name of your choosing.

Note: It can be difficult to tell the difference between MP3 files that are ringtones and those that are full songs. Saving your ringtones into a separate folder with an easily identified label, such as Ringtones, will save time later.

Selling Your Ringtones

Now that you have created ringtones, it is time to sell them. The easiest way to do this is to use a service such as Lulu, a self-publishing service, or you can create a storefront through a service, such as a Xingtone mStore. Once you have created an account with such a service you will need to upload to the service all of the ringtones you intend to sell.

The next step after uploading your ringtones will be to create a web site or blog of your own to advertise your ringtones. The most inexpensive means of accomplishing this is a free blog, such as Google’s Blogger.com aka BlogSpot. Use SEO optimization and target your posted articles at the ringtone-buying audience. PayPal offers tools to their customers that will assist you in creating a shopping cart and payment buttons for your blog or web site.

Once you begin to generate profit, you can purchase inexpensive advertising, such as Google text ads, to drive even more traffic to your blog and storefront. After you have begun to advertise, a great way to generate traffic is to offer one or more intriguing ringtones, or even mobile wallpapers, free to visitors. The free items will draw them in long enough to interest them in the selection of ringtones you have for sale.

Stand Out

Peruse a sampling of the most popular ringtone vendors and what you will find is a great deal of redundancy. The single most important thing you can do in order to turn a profit is to differentiate yourself. You are more likely to profit by finding a niche than you are competing with the large vendors.

One such niche is non-music ringtones, such as sound effects and other interesting and bizarre sounds. Many web sites online offer royalty-free sound effects, such as SoundEffects.com, that you can use to create ringtones of which you have 100% ownership. Use multiple sound effects and the free Audacity software to create truly unique ringtones.

Additional Notes

Ringtone creators generally create the best selling ones from either the intro or the chorus of a song.

It is illegal to sell ringtones created from music you do not own without permission.

People who create their own music are best suited to profit from selling ringtones and can publicize their work by doing so.