Hosting Webinars for Promotion or Profit – Where do you start?

Web Women Entrepreneurs ask SistaSense: “How do I host webinars online?” Usually people want to know one of two things:

How to use webinars to promote their businesses online
How to make extra money teaching via webinar training sessions

The Simple Answer
Webinars are virtual conferences that allow you to connect with one or more people online. You can use them to host slide presentations, training videos where people can watch you work and navigate your screen or you can view their computer screens over the web.

You can create and host your own webinar in three simple steps.

Use a presentation program like Microsoft Office PowerPoint to create your presentation.
Use an online conferencing service like GoToWebinar to host your webinar.
Use your email provider or an online service like Eventbrite.com to share your webinar with other people.

The Extended ‘Best’ Answer

I’ve hosted quite a few webinars over the last five years. In my experience there are several things to consider before you host a webinar for profit or to promote your business. First I will give you a quick rundown of al the topics to consider and then I’ll go into each one in more detail.

Free, Low Cost and High Quality Webinar Tools
Promoting Your Webinar
Hosting Free Webinars vs. Paid Webinars
Working with others: Virtual Meetings, Guest Interviews, Speakers
What do you do after with the webinar recording after your event is over?

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Free, Low Cost and High Quality Webinar Tools
For the most part I use Microsoft Office PowerPoint to create my slide presentations. GoToMeeting works very well for events with less than 25 guests and GoToWebinar is ideal for events with 45 to 100+ guests. While these programs are the best quality around, they aren’t the cheapest solutions available.

If you are on a small budget, there are several other free and low cost services you can try:

If you don’t have Power Powerpoint use Google Drive; a free Google service that allows you to store, create and share documents. Using Google Drive you can create presentations and save them in several file formats including PowerPoint and PDF.
If you use Google Drive also download the Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer. This is a free program that will allow you to easily present your slideshow.On the day of your webinar you would do the following: open your slide show into the Power Point Viewer, so you can navigate between the slides and display the presentation on your screen. Then set the webinar program you choose to use to display the PowerPoint viewer screen. As soon as you are ready to start your presentation, remember to hit the record button and ask if all your guests can hear you / see your screen.
Here are three web service alternatives to Citrix GoToMeeting / GoToWebinar:
Any Meeting | Ready Talk | Start Meeting – Free Audio Conferencing

Promoting Your Webinar
Outside of sending out emails, how else do you plan on promoting your webinar to others? Review my favorite webinar marketing strategies below:

When it comes to promoting virtual events, video marketing can go a long way. Use a free video tool like Animoto in combination with your YouTube channelto create/share video teasers for your event.You can also create individual teaser videos to introduce speakers or session topics if you are hosting a webinar series. View example here. This is a great way to share tips on specific topics that would be of interest to your audience and get them interested in your webinar. This allows you to creatively promote the event without simply sharing the sign up link and this also gives your audience a chance to get to know your speakers.
When promoting your virtual event, give yourself several weeks to strategically share information online. For example – for my Power Circle TeleSummit I devoted two weeks to posting a video and/or article about each speaker via my blog (example here).
For additional exposure be sure to include your event details and/or promotional videos on all places that feature events online. For example you can post events on Facebook, EventBrite, niche social networks like BBWO and Plancast.
Consider using a service like Tweetchat to host a pre-event Twitter Party on your own or with someone else online with a larger audience that would be interested in your event.
Do you have friends in high places? Create a list of people that you directly know who have radio shows, strong blog followings, or social networks. Send them an email or schedule a call to discuss your virtual event. Find out if they offer advertising packages, guest blog spots or interview opportunities.

Hosting Free Webinars vs. Paid Webinars
When it comes to free webinars you really need to think about your reason for the webinar before you starting planning.

Are you hosting this for free because you are afraid to charge?
I personally only host free webinars for promotional purposes. They are a great way to attract new people and/or reconnect with existing customers. Most free webinars follow the following format: begin with an introduction of who you are, discuss a particular issue concerning your audience, share a few ‘getting started’ action tips and then conclude with a great offer your viewers can purchase.If you don’t plan on doing any of the above and are actually interested in hosting a training webinar here is my advice: “don’t give your most valuable information away for free.” Review the paid webinar section below for more details on hosting low-cost training sessions that allow you to sell at a comfortable price point, attract new viewers, add value and generate a profit.
Are you hosting this for free because you think more people will sign up?
Free doesn’t always sell, especially online where there is a ton of free information. Outside of free promotions, you will need to find other ways to market your event and/or business. I’ve shared a few recommendations in this guide.
Are you hosting this for free to promote your business?
If your answer is yes, follow the format above. Generally speaking webinar hosts will offer live guests a reduced rate incentive to sign up immediately after the webinar while there interest is still high. The live session is also a great time to ask questions for customer feedback, get real testimonies from people who value your work and answer common questions that highlight your credentials / experience.
Are you hosting this for free and sharing the login details publicly?
I rarely share call in details for my virtual sessions via my blog or on social sites. I actually prefer to get people to sign up to a special email list first and then send them the details via a ‘welcome email’. Read this article and/or this one to get a list of email/other web services I use. Webinar sign up forms allow you to track interest in your event and stay connected with your listeners in the future. It does not benefit you to host a great event and then have no way of contacting the people who participated in your session. Creating a follow up sequence is an important part of hosting a great event, building relationships and having additional opportunities to market your business.
Are you hosting this for free and then plan on selling the replays?
If your answer is yes, be sure to read the Paid Webinar details below; specifically my recommendations on pricing, packages and creative ways to repurpose your webinar after your live session is over.

For paid webinars you’ll also want to think about pricing, handling payments and creating payment packages and registration incentives.

When it comes to pricing, always crunch the numbers. First think about how much you would like to make vs. how many people you expect to have on your call:$1000 and 20 people = $50 per personThe smaller the price point, the more people you need on the call to reach your desired profit goal. That’s my rule of thumb.Also keep in mind that if you want to do a free event, setting a low price point might work for you. Depending on your profit goals, even low price points and small guests lists can generate a reasonable amount of profit for a one hour webinar.
$10 x 20 people = $200 or $27 x 10 people = $270
Also consider how you plan to handle payments. As a web designer I am comfortable creating landing pages for my webinars and directly setting up Paypal buttons onto my site. If you need more help with that you can either hire a web designer like myself or use something like eJunkie or eventbrite.comto handle payments for your event.I often use eJunkie to set up payment for my events and attach a pdf with event call in or login details to purchase, which guests receive via email once they have paid.Both eJunkie and eventbrite.com will allow you to send out custom emails, create discount codes and also set up affiliate programs.
Payment Packages and Registration Incentives
Always have an Early Bird Offer to spark initial sales.
Always integrate promotional codes that you can highlight during your marketing campaign.
Consider creating an affiliate program for additional exposure. On average affiliates like to get at least 20% – 50% commissions to feel motivated to share your event with their list.
Consider if you will offer a price difference to live webinar attendees vs. those who simply purchase the replays.

Plus you will need to define your product appeal; in other words why should people pay for your webinar when thousands of other people host similar events for free?

Highlight the difference between your webinar vs. free material
Highlight your area of expertise and/or that of your speakers
Highlight the issues and concerns of your audience that you will cover in your session(s)
Highlight the takeaways – what attendees will get out of your even
Highlight the value: amount of material, value of speakers, price difference of virtual event vs. live event

Working with others: Virtual Meetings and Speaker Invitations
Would you like to host group webinars with multiple presenters? How do you find people who will speak for free or best compensate speakers for their time outside of direct payment?

If you plan on hosting group webinars with multiple presenters or speakers make sure you do the following for your team set a clear policy/ agreement on participation, required material and compensation.
If you are not paying speakers, but plan on charger for the webinar/and or replays. Consider giving speakers access to their session replay for further use, allowing them to share an offer at the end of their session, or including their website links in your marketing material. All speakers who will not be compensated need to be clear on their role and your plans to monetize the product, because you don’t want any future issues with product rights.
I generally like to select speakers who I know directly and admire their work. You can also reach out to people you don’t know, but it’s harder to get them to participate for free unless you can prove you have a sizable guest list they can get access to.
When sending out invitations I also include my agreement and webinar agenda. In addition to finding out if they are interested, I ask for session topic ideas and request they pick one of the time slots I have created (just in case they have a personal preference). Setting up your event date and times is a good idea before you approach speakers; this really only applies if you are doing a webinar series.
I also like to host a pre-event MeetUp so speakers can ask questions, get clear on my goals and talk amongst themselves. I recommend using a Skype group call, but you might want to do FreeConferenceCall instead to record your MeetUp for those speakers who missed the call.

What do you do after with the webinar recording after your is over?
What happens after your webinar is over? More importantly, what are some creative things you can do with the webinar replays?

When it comes to replays you have quite a few options. I’ve hosted paid webinars where purchase only included the live session and replays were sold separately.
Alternatively you can offer replays to live guests as a sign up incentive, so just in case they miss the live session they’ll still get access to the replays.
Several of my speakers (myself included) have provided one or several replays as a bonus attached to a separated offer.
You can certainly turn clips of your event into teasers to promote replay purchases, future events, or other products that you offer.
If you own a membership website or a paid email newsletter, you can include your replays as a part of your package.
You can also turn your replays into a CD that you can sell to your audience, at live events or in stores (specifically consignment stores).

And this concludes my extended, best answer on how to host webinars for profit or promotion. This is quite a bit of information, so if you need help schedule a consultation with me and we can work on planning your virtual event together.