By Sharon Broughton
One of the things I do for my clients is set up and promote their teleseminars. Teleseminars are a great way to promote a product launch, a new coaching program, etc. Usually they are free preview calls, but sometimes there is a fee to attend these.
Here are some things you need to set up a great teleseminar (the who, what, where, why and how):
- A great description and title for the call (make them want to know what you have to say on the call).
- Bullet points on what they will learn if they come to the call (be specific but not too wordy).
- Date and time decided (don’t switch it around–people will lose interest).
- A place to post it on your website and be sure to include it in your ezine too.
- A bridge or webinar service to host and record the call (i like black&white www.bwccom.com and www.freeconference.com). B&w can record and replay the call (you don’t have to do it live) for a moderate price. Freeconference can record unlimited calls for $9 a month. For webinar service you can’t go wrong with gotowebinar or gotomeeting.
- A system to handle the registrations (http://www.aweber.com, www.1shoppingcart.com, etc.).
- Great marketing materials and a plan (map out your promotion strategy so you don’t forget anything).
The biggest challenge I have is the promotion part of the equation. There aren’t that many reputable places to post the calls and get lots of exposure (thus more signups). I recently came across a few new ones and wanted to check them out–let me know if you have had success with them:
Some oldies but goodies are gone now (goodbye www.teleclass.com) but Planet Teleclass has stepped up and taken over for them. Planet Teleclass is a great service but it isn’t free (they have been around for several years so their system is working great). They are getting great traffic because Teleclass.com went away and now they are the only game in town. The cost to post is really, really reasonable so check them out (tell Shadow I sent you).
Previous ones I have used are:
- www.fullcalendar.com great for in-person events, just so-so for virtual events
- www.craigslist.org you can post in any area you want–some metro areas charge for the listings
- www.facebook.com post it on your personal page and your fan page, then share with your friends–don’t forget to post updates about it too
- www.twitter.com post in your updates (use www.hootsuite.com to pre-post)
- www.linkedin.com post it as an event then start a discussion about the event in your groups
- discussion forums of groups I am a member of (like www.virtualassistantnetworking.com, www.ivaa.org, www.virtualassistanthub.com, google or yahoo groups, etc.)
- www.seminarannouncer.com (they were having tech problems but it looks like things are working again)
Some other ideas to promote teleseminars would be:
- Do a press release and send it out to the world using a free press release service or a paid one (www.prweb.com is one of many).
- Let your affiliates know you are having a call and get them to promote it. Even if the call is free, their affiliate link is cookied and if the person they referred buys the paid product they get a commission.
- Add a short blurb (and I mean short, 1-2 sentences) to your signature on your email. Everyone that gets an email from you will see it and might register for the call or tell their friends.
- Write an article about the topic you are discussing on the call and put the call details in your byline. Then distribute the article to the many free article distribution services.
- Buy an ad in an ezine that has good circulation (like Ali Brown, and others).
- Do a video about the teleseminar and post on youtube, then put it on your blog.
Please feel free to use this formula in it’s entirety. And be sure to stop back by and let us know how it’s working for you and what type of results you’ve enjoyed. We want to support you and celebrate your success!
Bio:
Sharon Broughton handles all of the implementation services here at Smart Simple Marketing. She is a graduate of AssistU and is a seasoned Virtual Assistant. She specializes in online marketing and loves learning new technology.
Sharon has been a virtual assistant/ professional since 2002. She is an expert at Infusionsoft, 1SC, aWeber, iContact, Constant Contact, product launches, affiliate programs/management, online marketing, strategy and implementation and more
If you’d like to learn about our implementation services and how we can help you “Work Your Plan” contact us at Info@SmartSimpleMarketing.com.
Great article! I have done both webinars and teleseminars and am leaning toward the teleseminars. People can still listen in from their cars and such. That’s the reality- we’ve got to make it simple. Smart & Simple – you’re on target.
Thanks for the note Beverly! I love offering teleseminars too! It’s so convenient for the participant and minimal setup for me. Any tips you have that worked particularly well for your teleseminar presentations?
Hi Syndi,
I am doing a teleconference in August and I announced it using FB and http://www.eventbrite.com. I love Eventbrite for getting registrations and getting the word out. I am using something new this time for the teleconference. I am going to do a live broadcast instead with video using a platform called ComF5. It allows me to also do video and audio emails and newsletters. And it has an unlimited number of people who can view the broadcast. I’ll let you know how I like it after its done.
Thanks for the note Renee! How exciting for you! I too love EventBrite, it so clean and easy to use for the host and the participants. I can’t wait to hear how your teleconference turns out. Be sure to stop back by to let me know!
Warm regards,
Sydni
What fantastic information Sydni. Very comprehensive. Have you tried RegOnline for bigger paid events? It would be interesting to get some feed back on what people think of it. I would just add to ensure that you have a professional sounding seminar to have your teleseminar edited of all your “umms”, “likes” and other background distractions before publishing. You will be surprised how many times some people actually put theses into their teleseminars. Make sure it’s a nice clean recording before publishing. There are great tools for doing this also such as Camtasia.
Thanks the the note Shannon! I’m so glad you enjoyed the article.
I have not personally used RegOnline, so unfortunately can’t offer any feedback on that system.
I absolutely agree with you on having your recordings professionally edited. Doing so makes for a more polished, professional presentation of your materials.
Cheers!
Sydni
Both webinars and teleseminars can be effective tools… but its important to take the opportunity to add branding to the experience for participants. For example, customize your greeting, play some nice nostalgic hold music, and at least make the “wait” more enjoyable. http://brandedbridgeline.com does this– others that you might consider are uberconference and speek.
Thanks Jack! I appreciate your insight and sharing those resources.