5 Steps to Conducting a Wildly Successful Webinar
Posted on 04. Jun, 2010 by Adam in Business, Entrepreneurship, Internet
If you have information you want to deliver to any group of people – customers, prospects, colleagues, etc. – conducting webinars is a great way to do it. In fact, webinars offer tremendous advantages over many other delivery methods. Webinars can be offered for free to get people interested in what you have to offer; they can be a paid product in themselves – both live and recorded; you can use them to bring together several experts on a given topic; webinars allow you to share video, audio, text or any program or application you want with your audience; they let you interact with your audience; people can attend your “live event” from anywhere in the world; and when you conduct a webinar it serves to add to your credibility. So, yeah, they’re pretty cool. But what do you need to do to put on a successful webinar? Glad you asked!
1. Plan – It seems like this is always a step in these lists, doesn’t it? In this case (and in most cases really), it’s with very good reason. Preparing properly for your webinar will be the make or break difference for the event. Here are the factors to consider in this step:
- Target Audience. Obviously you need to know who your target audience is, but you’ll also want to make an estimation of how many people will attend. This is important because depending on which provider you use to conduct your webinar, you might need to pay more for more “seats.”
- Schedule. Knowing your target market will help you determine the date and time of your webinar. For instance, if your audience will be coast to coast in the US, you probably won’t want to hold it at 8:00 a.m. EST, which is 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. Or if you’re targeting people who work 9-5, you might want to think about a Saturday webinar.
- Content. This is the most important piece of preparing for your webinar. Know and practice what you’re going to say and how you will present the information. If you haven’t done a webinar before and you’re nervous, just keep it simple and reduce the amount of things that can go wrong by holding off on video or app sharing, etc. You can always make your webinars more feature rich as you progress. This is also the step where you’ll decide on guest speakers. Adding one or more experienced presenters to the roster is a great idea for your first few webinars. Also figure out how long your presentation will be in this step. Generally, it’s a good idea to keep it under an hour.
- Fees. Decide if you’ll charge a fee for the webinar or if it will be a free presentation. It’s probably a good idea to present for free when you’re starting out, but if you feel confident, and you’re delivering valuable content, don’t be afraid to charge. Some people make a very good living just through webinars.
- Marketing. Devise a marketing plan that will reach your target audience to get them to the webinar. Social media and your existing marketing list are no-brainers for this one. In addition to that, this is another area where guest speakers can help. If they have a large list, you get that exposure as well!
- Service provider. You’ll need to decide on a service provider for your webinar. Your provider will not only provide the service on the day of the webinar, most will also provide you with custom landing pages and sign-up forms, and auto-responders for those who register with, in most cases, reminder emails. Here is a list of several possible providers:
2. Invite – Ok, so you’ve planned your webinar. Now it’s time to invite your target audience and put that marketing plan from the previous step into action. Many providers offer email templates, but make sure you’re able to customize enough to make it look like it’s from you and your company. In your email invitations, be sure to include a summary of what will be presented, and always remember: SELL THE SIZZLE, NOT THE STEAK. You’re asking people to take time out of their busy day, and in some cases pay a fee, so you need to entice them. This is yet another time when having great guest speakers can help build the event. One important tip: Be sure you prominently present a way for recipients to forward the invitation to friends and colleagues. Remember that the sphere of influence of your target audience is almost always largely made up of more of your target audience.
3. Register – You’ve written and sent a killer invitation, so get ready for people to begin registering. But first, get ready for questions. Even though you can reduce the number of questions people will have by thoroughly explaining the webinar in your invitation and landing pages, you’ll still get a lot of questions. Think of these – every contact with a customer – as opportunities to connect. As people register, be sure they’re getting the auto-responders, and it’s also a good idea to send a more personal thank you a day or two later, even if it’s an auto-responder too.
4. Present – The big day has arrived. It’s time to present your webinar. You’ve practiced what you’re going to say to and show your participants, and you’ve practiced with the software you’ve chosen, so you can put on the webinar without a hitch. Now, expect a hitch. That’s not said to be negative in any way. It’s just that things happen that you didn’t plan for, and if you know that, you’ll be more likely to handle it well. The key is to relax and go with the flow. If it’s not perfect, it’s ok. You’ll get better the more you do. On the day of the webinar, you’ll log into the system, along with your guest speaker(s) about 20-30 minutes before the event starts. This gives you a chance to make sure everything is working and go over any last minute questions before the start. Some providers will supply an “event specialist” to be available during the webinar if any issues arise. This is obviously very good to have.
5. Follow up – People who don’t follow up with their attendees after presenting a webinar are missing out on a great opportunity. These are people who now know what you’re all about and what you have to offer. Follow up while your presentation is fresh in their minds. It’s also a good idea to send a link to the recording of the webinar, so they can refer back to it. Especially when you’re first starting out, but even after you’re a webinar pro, it’s also a great idea to send a feedback form or survey link so you know what people liked and where you can improve for next time.
For a low-cost, high-tech, high-touch way to present content, webinars are hard to beat. If you’ve had success with this great medium, we’d love to hear about it. Tell us your experiences in the comments below!
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22 Responses to “5 Steps to Conducting a Wildly Successful Webinar”
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Escort Service London
04. Jun, 2010
Another tip would be:
Pay attention even when you’re not presenting
If you are a participant, give the presenter 100% of your attention. If your web camera is off and the presenter can’t see you, it may be tempting to multi-task by checking your email. (If the camera is on, make sure you’ve brushed your hair and changed out of your pajamas!) Not only is it rude to presenters (who can probably hear your keyboard clicking), but you may also miss vital information while you’re tuning out! Minimize any other distractions in advance. So, in addition to closing your email client, turn off your cell phone. If you are a home based employee, tell your family or roommates that you need to be uninterrupted for the length of the call. If you follow these steps, you’ll find web conferences can be as productive as live meetings.
season episode
04. Jun, 2010
If only people listened to you before running their webinars. I attended 3, 2 of which were complete failure and I had to get my money back.
teknoloji
04. Jun, 2010
webinars are a great way to build lists guys, ive benefited greatly from it. there are some good advises in this post.
Eugenia
04. Jun, 2010
I think content is the most important part, if you just deliver a webinar to pitch your product and to build lists, you won’t get too far.
Darren L Carter
04. Jun, 2010
Hey Adam,
Really awesome piece on webinars. I really liked the detail on step 1.
I haven’t done my own webinar yet but it all makes sense and I can see good and bad points from webinars I’ve attended in the past. Thanks for posting this!
Peace,
Darren L Carter
Keith
05. Jun, 2010
Webinars are next on my list to tackle for a great way o connect with an audience!
Kelvin Forex Indicator
05. Jun, 2010
Creating a webinar is in fact a great way to communicate with anyone on earth. Although it is free, it has to be done in a proper way so that we will not waste our listener time and money.
You have provided me with a great outline of the things to note for a webinar. Thks
Samantha Milner
06. Jun, 2010
Hi guys,
I have been invited to a lot of Webinars. But I just can’t find the time to sit and watch one and it never really cross my mind to conduct a Webinar. But thanks for sharing this information, because it will help me once I decide to conduct one.
Kind regards,
Sam
X
Growing Sales Revenue
06. Jun, 2010
Superb post buddy. I think webinar is the best way to communicate with people and
share your ides each other. One of my friends company gonna organise it and i’m a Cheaf guest there. I hope it will be great webinar.
Consolidation School Loan
07. Jun, 2010
Indeed, good advise! I see more and more webminars on the internet but unfortunately less and less quality webinars… everyone should read your post!
Wedding Planning Checklist
07. Jun, 2010
I love webinars. I think they are great for the internet. Like mentioned above there is a lack of quality webinars around though.
aggelies
07. Jun, 2010
Another method and “medium” to deliver content. We are planning a webinar in the next couple of months, so this post could be really useful as a checklist
Andrew@BloggingGuide
08. Jun, 2010
I agree with Eugenia, webinars should not only be about yourself or your product or your service. It should be something where a lot of people can benefit from because people are nostly after what they can learn, or what they can benefit from it so be sure that that is what you’re giving to the people.
Tawny
08. Jun, 2010
Great article Adam! Awesome advice for those wishing to host effective and stress free webinars!
Payday Loan Lenders
09. Jun, 2010
I have really heard about it a lot but havenot heard any webinar and its great to hear that it actually works will try sometime.
Paley Commercial Real estate
10. Jun, 2010
Planning is first and most important part for any task, than follow up that planning effectively become more important, such accurate work can make successful webinar.
Mark Nasri
28. Jun, 2010
Also consider doing video marketing. Is better than a Webinar. You can edit it, add interactive graphics and be more precise.
Robert Jordan
31. Aug, 2010
Great insight on running webinars! Thanks!
Luciana@Modern Lighting
12. Feb, 2011
Hi Adam,
Thanks for this great advice about Webinars. I have a question. You suggest taping the Webinars for future use which is a great idea. Does a Webinar have to be a specific day and time? If it is available at the viewer’s convenience, is it still a Webinar? The reason I ask this (besides not knowing the answer) is because I know, for me, I have the best intentions to attend many Webinars and then something gets in the way and I miss them.
M.Akif
19. Feb, 2011
Hi Adam,
Thanks for this great advice about Webinars…
John Rhodes
21. Oct, 2011
Hey Adam,
Very simple, easy steps, yet effective steps to follow.
Thank you for your effort to provide quality content.
John