Could a webinar help you promote your small business?
Have you thought about using a webinar to promote your business? If not, it could be worth investigating…
Webinars have been popular for many years, but they increased in use in 2020 when the pandemic hit and everything had to move online. Those businesses that were already using webinars continued to do so, and many other businesses discovered the benefits for the first time….
Cost Effective Marketing for Small Businesses
In fact, advances in technology and affordable access to webinar software like Zoom have helped to make webinars a cost-effective marketing option for small business owners to utilise.
There are many advantages to running webinars, such as raising a business or businessperson’s profile and showcasing knowledge. They are also very flexible in how they can be used - for training, information sharing, lead generation and/or selling.
Webinars are great for distributing business messages both locally and globally – you just have to consider your target audience’s time-zone in their part of the world when you plan your webinar!
Webinars can cover both simple and complex subjects, and be as interactive as the host wants to make them.
Another advantage of a webinar is that it can be used to promote messages and share knowledge over and over again. With the right tech systems in place, a webinar can be run on-demand (the marketing term for this is an ‘evergreen webinar’).
Business leads on autopilot
Your webinar can be set up so it can be replayed automatically any time a viewer shows interest. This means a business can run a live webinar once, and yet benefit from people viewing it at a later stage, potentially creating business leads on autopilot!
On-demand webinars and replays are also beneficial to viewers who may not have been available on the day and time the original event was scheduled. Being able to watch when it’s convenient for them means they don’t have to miss out on valuable information.
My first webinar...
Whilst I’ve watched a lot of webinars over the years, I only did my first live webinar a few months ago, to launch my new Marketing Momentum membership.
I have to confess to being very nervous! I wasn’t nervous about talking (let’s face it, I could talk about marketing in my sleep!) but I was nervous about the tech – even though it really wasn’t complicated to use! I guess it was just fear of the unknown! Whilst you can do as many practice runs as you like - when you’re live, you’re live!
I’m pleased to say that, once I got started, I actually enjoyed it! Everything went well, most of those who signed up attended and I attracted some founder members into my membership! Result! ✔
The weirdest thing I experienced when doing my first webinar was not being able to see an audience. I did my webinar on Zoom, which was great because the software is very familiar to me as all my business networking moved onto Zoom once COVID-19 hit. However, it felt very different!
When I’m networking, I can see 40+ other faces looking back at me. On the webinar it was just me, sat alone in my office, talking into my microphone and scrolling through my PowerPoint slides, completely unaware whether anyone had joined or was listening!
In fact, it was only when I got to the Question & Answer session that I had confirmation of an audience, as that’s when the comments and questions started pinging in!
In hindsight...
In hindsight, I probably could have checked attendees whilst presenting – I just didn’t dare divert my focus! And I could also probably have got the audience to engage with me earlier by asking them questions in the chat from the start – but I was far too nervous and concentrating much too hard to incorporate any of that in my first go! I’ll definitely incorporate more of those aspects next time!
Like most things in life, I figure the only way to get better at doing webinars is to actually do them! Oh, and to keep watching more experienced people for useful hints and tips about how they deliver their webinars!
I’ve planned my next webinar for Thursday 25th February 2021. It’s scheduled for 3pm GMT, which means it should be good for most UK and USA time-zones - and I’m just starting to promote it now. If you’re free, it’d be great to have you join me.
Get off the small business rollercoaster!
I'll be talking about the small business rollercoaster effect. You know the one, where sales are great one month and quieter the next, then great another month and then quieter again. That huge inconsistency in income can be so frustrating and debilitating when you're trying to move a business forward.
And if you'd like to see how I did on my very first webinar attempt, then you can still watch my 7 Secrets to Marketing Your Small Business Successfully webinar on-demand here.
What's your webinar story?
I'd love to hear your experiences of your first webinar attempts if you've done one. Feel free to share your story in my free marketing Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/freemarketinghacks.
And I'll be sure to let you know how my second attempt goes...
Wish me luck!
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