Blogs

I am super excited and relieved after completing my first webinar!  I was invited to do a webinar with a friend and colleague of mine who has a business that compliments my services.  I wanted to share with you a few tidbits of what I learned in the process.

1. PRACTICE!  I practiced my presentation several times before actually doing the webinar.  This made all the difference because I became much more comfortable with talking about the topic.  So much so that after a while, I stopped looking at my notes.
2. Do your webinar on a topic you can do in your sleep.  Again, this helps with your comfort level while on the webinar.  You won't have to do any extra research -- just tailor your information to fit the topic and time frame of your webinar.
3. Promote your webinar often.  I used Facebook, Twitter, and my blog email list to promote my webinar.  I also had other people who have businesses who compliment my work promote it as well.  That way they were not advertising a competitor's services -- it was just colleagues cross-promoting for one another.  Ensure that the messages are sent out often as early as 3 or 4 weeks before the webinar up until minutes before it starts.  My webinar had many women opting in to participate minutes before it actually started.  In addition, those who opted in early will forget they signed up a day or two after.  You want to make sure you are constantly reminding them of the event to increase excitement.
4. Record your session so that you can share the webinar with people who were not able to attend.  Place the recording on a designated space on your blog or website so that people who are new to you and your business can listen to it and get a feel for who you are and what you offer.
5. Write a "tip sheet" to go along with your webinar and email it to people who listened.  The "tip sheet" is a great way to follow up with those who have an interest in your services.  You can further detail your products, your programs, invite them to join your social networks, etc.
6. Explain techie issues at the beginning.  If there is an online chat, special ways to mute and unmute callers, or other things that need to be said, do so at the very beginning of the call. 
7. Don't go longer than one hour.  People's attention spans are not that long.  Furthermore you must remember that people have other things they need to do outside of listen to your webinar.  You want to make sure your message is succinct.  Be sure to leave 10 to 15 minutes of space for questions at the end.
8. Keep track of questions people ask.  These questions may make great topics for blog posts and articles in the near future.  The questions can also give you some ideas on what additional products you may want to offer in the future.
9. Keep water nearby.  Talking for extended periods of time can dry your mouth and throat and lead to coughing -- not attractive on a webinar.  Keeping a glass of water nearby will eliminate this problem.
10. Have a plug for your phone and/or computer available.  Towards the end of my webinar, my phone started to die on me.  Although you can't hear it, I had to fumble around to find my phone cord and connect it in before it cut off.  Thankfully it worked out.

With some planning and self-confidence, it is possible to offer a successful webinar. 

Have you ever done a webinar?  What tips would you include on this list?

Halona Black is a Women's Health Coach, Personal Chef, and Writer.  You can read her blog about food, fibroids, and wellness at http://garlicandlemonsllc.com.