Many people have written to me in recent days asking why I had chosen to distribute Marketing RollUp 2014 in A live streaming event, in a webinar, rather than recording a video and then selling it as if it were a course.
There are many reasons why I made this choice. The first, perhaps the one that immediately prompted me to make this decision, was to want to put myself at the service of my clients in real time, seeing live what their reactions might be to the content I was going to show, and then being able to answer any questions they wanted to ask me.
Interaction with my audience is everything, and giving answers during a webinar increases my authority and satisfies my need to share my know-how. If you've seen some of my interviews (on Marco Scabia's Internet Business Academy or on BusinessTribe, for example), I never miss a chance to remind you how important it is for me to respond to those who contact me, because I know that many are in the same situation as I was years ago, when I had not yet found my way or when the road was getting harder.
It can be really resolving to have someone to give you even a word of help, a clue or a direction that can help you overcome the difficulty you are experiencing.
The webinar is a great tool for online contact and training.
"Interaction with my audience is everything, and giving answers during a webinar increases my authority and satisfies my need to share my know-how."
The second reason concerns the main theme on which I have based much of my business: authority. Being authoritative today makes you stand out from the group, from the competition, makes your voice heard above the choir.
Organizing a live streaming webinar positions you right above your competition, at that moment you are in a square packed with people, who have come there to listen to you.
I started giving webinars in 2013, a short time ago then, but I haven't stopped since.
My first webinar was a great success for me, as many as 71 attendees 🙂 🙂
Looking back today, it's not a lot, but you have to start somewhere. I've also had worse times, I won't hide it, when I didn't get the day, the time, or even worse, the topic right. I happened to find myself speaking to only eight people.
Webinar: when
Being able to guess the right time, date and time, to hold a webinar is not easy. You have to take a lot of things into account, the most important perhaps being figuring out what kind of audience you have, and then trying to deduce what habits will allow you to have more attendance at your event.
Weekends or weekdays? Pre-holidays yes or no? Afternoons or evenings?
Unfortunately, there is no rule other than common sense; thinking that people can, for example, attend your webinar in the morning is almost certainly a mistake. I get the best results during the afternoon, never on Mondays or weekends.
Webinar: what
Another key aspect is content, but before you think about content, which has to be top-notch, you have to come up with a title that convinces. The title is everything in a webinar, kind of like in a book, if you get that wrong, you're out. I have a very precise technique for creating a webinar title, I start with the most striking thing that I want to show or demonstrate, or ... if it's something new, from a statement, a phrase or a term that arouses mystery and curiosity.
Some examples of sensational titles:
- Emergency Webinar: LinkedIn and Pinterest for Business
- How to find 4876 potential customers in 17 minti
- WooCommerce vs.
On the other hand, if we want to see titles that go into the mysterious, e.g. the last webinar I gave for SemRush., and which brought a few hundred people, was Circular Viralocity.
If you did not participate, you could not know what I might be talking about, since it is a very advanced marketing technique, unknown to most.
Webinar: how to
Basically you need a few things:
- Apple Keynote (or if you have a PC: Powerpoint) for slides.
- A platform To organize webinars.
- Advertising, a list or anything to Getting people to register.
Leaving aside points 1 and 3, I can tell you that I have seen and tried all kinds of platforms. I for one time really liked ZOOM because participants are not required to download any software, and just connect with their browser to a link sent via email when they register. The problem is the cost, for the numbers I do now (633 people registered for the webinar a few days ago) I would have to spend $100 per month. Way too much.
I have been using for more than a year a fantastic platform, available in a few days in its second version: Webinar Jam Studio.
Main feature of Webinar Jam Studio
The platform relies on Google Hangout, Google's video conferencing system that enables free of charge, to hold webinars, live video chats and share information with many people. Do you know how many? Unlimited!
Yep that's right, you have the full power of Google's servers at your service, and for free. In addition, each session is automatically recorded on your YouTube channel (if you want it completely private), so you can then offer replays to your contacts.
Not bad, right? But.
There's a but... Google Hangout is free, however, it's not very intuitive and most importantly, it doesn't have an attendance recording system that you need like crazy. One of your goals is to know who is registering for your event and how many will be attending your live event.
Right? You have specific marketing tools that only Webinar Jam Studio has.
The main features of Webinar Jam Studio
- Studio Control Center is a true command center for your webinar, which can be run on another monitor or from another location, perhaps by having a staff member help you. With a modular interface, it allows you to be in control of everything from questions from attendees to polls you want to give to your audience, from timed offers to videos you want to stream.
- Attendee Spotlight is the system that allows you to give the floor (and video) to one of your participants. It's great if you use this platform for coaching or group calls or meetings.Just 1 click of a mouse can make anyone you want a presenter.
- Hybrid Webinars. This feature is unique to Webinar Jam Studio. Let me ask you a question, have you ever listened back to one of your live speeches? You know all those "Humm...", "ah...", pauses, speech errors, imperfections? If only I could have recorded how you
has to your talk before you go online, and maybe fix it up and then share it... Well now you can. With this built-in video engine in Webinar Jam Studio you can create a webinar where you give a live welcome, play the video you prepared and preloaded in the platform, and then take the floor again at the end. No one will be the wiser, and you will have created the perfect webinar. 
I do not then go into the other features such as chat, questions, polls, reminder emails, the alert sms when the webinar is about to start, the replay page, etc...I almost forgot, Webinar Jam Studio also includes a system called Feedback Flow that allows you to post live, live streaming feedback from participants who have just bought your product. Think of the power of persuasion this brings--those who are watching your presentation and are still uncertain about whether or not to take your offer, get to see the exclamations of joy from your newly acquired customer flash across the screen. Not bad at all...
My conclusions on Webinar Jam
Organizing webinars is a winning move and if you follow these tips, making use of the right platform, you will get great results. The investment is minimal (if I'm not mistaken Webinar Jam Studio costs $297 per year, with no usage limit) and this strategy allows you to convert your followers into customers within 60 minutes.
Obviously a lot will depend on you, your display skills and how much appeal your presentations have on the audience, but I can guarantee one thing--you get better by trying!