How-To: Use Webinars for Training and Revenue

By Lee Salz

You are accustomed to using Webinar technology for virtual meetings, product demos, and infomercials. But there is a growing trend of using Webinar technology for employee training. The last few years have caused many companies to slash their training budgets as a strategy to restore profitability. But study after study reveals that the key to a healthy bottom line is investing in employee skill development. This has forced business executives to search for cost-effective ways to enhance employee proficiency. What they have discovered is virtual training.

While companies have felt the pinch, so have consultants, speakers, and trainers who have watched their speaking and training businesses go into free-fall. The number of conferences and trade shows is down…and so is attendance. This means there are fewer in-person speaking opportunities—and when you are lucky enough to land one, it is at a fraction of the fee you are accustomed to receiving. Many of you have been searching for ways to develop new revenue streams and expand the reach of your firms. What many are discovering is virtual training.

Ready to take the plunge into the world of attendee- funded Webinars? Here are six success keys to get you started:

1. Select saleable content. Since your virtual training course is elective, meaning it is not required education, select a topic that is both urgent and important. If your topic is only important, registrants will not be motivated to take the course. Consider designing your course for a targeted audience rather than for the masses.
2. Depth versus breadth. For people to invest in your virtual training course, they have to feel they will be empowered with new skills. If your Webinar appears to be an information buffet (a little of this, a little of that), prospects won’t become registrants. Select a narrow topic and take your audience on a deep dive into the subject matter.
3. Write it right. With free Webinars, it’s easy to get registrants. Yet only about 1 in 4 registrants attend. With attendee-funded Webinars, your challenge is motivating prospects to buy virtual seats. Invest the time to construct an effective Webinar description that clearly presents the problem you address and the impact on registrants of not solving it right now. Be sure to position your expertise in the description—as a question in the mind of your prospects is: Why should they learn from you?
4. Leverage the buying hot zone. With free Webinars, people register at any time. But with attendee-funded Webinars, the lion-share of registrations occurs within 48 hours of the event. Be sure to get your Webinar description seen during those last 48 hours to maximize attendance.
5. No marketing in the Webinar. Since people are paying to attend, they own every minute of the program, not you. During the registration process, you capture their contact information, so you can always follow up afterward.
6. Choose the right provider. When selecting a Webinar provider for your campaign, be sure the firm is designed to support attendee-funded Webinars. Many Webinar platforms are designed for Web meetings, not for Web training. Some Webinar providers cannot process payment or limit access to the event by PIN code. Conduct a thorough due diligence to make sure you select the right Webinar provider.

To learn more about attendee-funded Webinars, visit StopSpeakingforFree.com.

Lee B. Salz is the founder and CEO of Business Expert Webinars and author of “Stop Speaking for Free! The Ultimate Guide to Making Money with Webinars.” Salz has successfully guided hundreds of consultants, speakers, and trainers into the world of pay-to-attend Webinars. He can be reached at lsalz@businessexpertwebinars.com or 763.416.4321.