How to Get Droves of Ideal Prospects to Sign Up for Your Teleseminars and Webinars

The last time I reviewed my numbers, I found that almost 30% of my business has come from FREE teleseminars and webinars that I’ve hosted (or participated in as a guest). That’s a pretty powerful statistic, don’t you think?

The reason why this has been such a successful marketing strategy for us, is because we teach on topics that are relevant to what our audience wants to learn and we promote the heck out of any event we do.

Here are some things you need to set up a great teleseminar or webinar (the who, what, where, why and how) that gets clients in the door:     

• A results focused description and problem solving title for the presentation (make it clear why it is worth your audience’s time to be there).
• 3-5 bullet points on what they will learn if they come to the call (be specific but not too wordy).
• Decide on a date and time (Choose a slot convenient to your audience).
• Be sure to mention the event on your website and send out an email to all of your contacts (invite them to invite others).
• A conference line or webinar service to host and record the call. I like FreeConferenceCalling. (They allow up to 1K participants for a teleseminar!) Instant Teleseminar has a lot of great features and I also like Meeting Burner.
  
• .A system to handle the registrations (try EventBrite, ,aWeber, NetOfficeToolbox, or InfusionSoft).
• Great marketing materials and a plan (map out your promotion strategy so you don’t forget anything).

You’ll want to give yourself plenty of time to promote the call. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• Post your event on PlanetTeleclass
• Buy a listing ($20) at Full Calendar. This site tends to work really well for in-person events, but not as great for virtual events. (You’ll have to test and see how it works for you.)
• Post your event on Craigslist. (NOTE: some metro areas charge for the listings).
• Facebook – Create and event and post it on your personal page and your fan page. Post regular updates too!
• Twitter – Use your updates to drive traffic to the event opt-in page. (Tip: Use Hootsuite to schedule your posts in advance!)
• LinkedIn – Create an event and invite your connections to attend. Also, start a discussion in any groups you belong to and invite your fellow group members (But make sure this is allowed…some groups don’t allow such postings and you don’t want to break the rules.)
• Post in the discussion forums of groups you belong to (Google or Yahoo groups, etc.)
• Post your event on SeminarAnnouncer

Some other ideas to promote teleseminars and webinars would be:

• Write a press release (my friend Lisa Manyon can teach you step by step) and send it out to the world using a free press release service or a paid one (PRWeb) is one of many.
• Setup an affiliate program and invite colleagues and friends who offer complementary services to share the teleseminar or webinar with their list. If someone buys through their affiliate link, your friend will  earn a commission from you. (You can set this up with NetOfficeToolbox).
• Add a “Tell a Friend” box on your opt-in thank you page to encourage registrants to tell others.
• Add a short blurb (1-2 sentences) to your signature block in your email. Everyone that receives an email from you will see it and might register for the call or tell their friends. You never know who might see that invitation!
• Write an article about the topic you are discussing on the call and put the call details in your bio. Then distribute the article via an article distribution services.
• Buy an ad in an email newsletter that has strong circulation and readership.
• Create a video about the event and post on YouTube, then put it on your blog.

You don’t have to try all of these tips at once. Select three strategies that are easy for you to implement and execute them thoroughly. The next time you host a virtual event you can add on one or two more. You want this to be a fun learning experience, not overwhelming and confusing.

Also be sure to keep track of every promotion strategy you use and how it performs for you. If you don’t track, you won’t know what worked and what didn’t so you can tweak your plan the next time.

I want to hear ALL about your next event and how it turned out for you. So please stop back by here and let me know! And if you have an event coming up that you want to share, please feel free to post a comment below! Other members of the Smart Simple Marketing community are likely interested in what you have to share!