Webinars are a huge marketing opportunity and, in our opinion, underutilized. If you want to create a meaningful, multimedia interaction with prospects and clients, webinars should be on your list. In this blog, we’ll talk about the types of webinars, how to get started with a webinar, how to get the most from your webinar, and some resources to consider.

TYPES There are a few different ways to present your webinar but we believe that the two most effective ways are pre-recorded or live-and-interactive.

Pre-recorded. Okay, the purists among you will point out that a “pre-recorded webinar” is just an online video of you talking. Fine. Sure it’s no different than creating a video that you might post on YouTube, but sometimes that’s all you need. You don’t have to go high tech, especially if you’re not comfortable with a live performance. If you want to have the freedom to do a couple of takes and then edit the best together, or if your content is demanding and complex, and perhaps not easily “digestible” in a live setting, try pre-recording your seminar.

Live-and-interactive. Live webinars, for those who are comfortable with that kind of delivery, offer a meaningful way to communicate and interact with your audience. You can have camera on your for some of the time, you can show your desktop or some other presentation tool, and you can field calls and written questions.

HOW TO GET STARTED Creating your first webinar is easy. Don’t bite off more than you can chew to start. Consider doing a pre-recorded seminar where you talk at a camera, save the file, and then post that file on your website. That will get you started. Then, get a small group of peers together and lead an online meeting (which is basically the same thing as a webinar). This will give you the feel for the interactive nature and technical demands of a live webinar. Then, schedule a webinar and invite your customers and prospects to attend.

HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM YOUR WEBINAR Make sure your webinar is about a specific topic and prepare what you want to say ahead of time. It’s helpful to know more than what you want to cover so that you can fill time if necessary or answer questions effectively.

Prepare your presentation materials beforehand but don’t distribute them. Expect people to sign in and watch. Afterward, offer people the option to download the presentation materials.

At the beginning of your webinar, after you greet everyone, tell people what the webinar is going to cover, how long you expect to be, and when you will answer questions. In other words, set the scope so people know what to expect.

Stick to the time you committed to. Don’t go over, especially if you have clients or prospects on the phone, and especially if those clients and prospects are business people.

If you are delivering a webinar for customers, create a limited-time bonus link and tell your audience that you will give out the bonus link at the end of the webinar, in order to encourage people to stay through entire thing.

Record your live webinar and add it to your website for people to view later.

RESOURCES

The three leaders in online meetings and webinars are: Webex.com, GoToMeeting.com, and Adobe Connect. These three offer rich interactivity and are very userfriendly.

photo credit: sridgway