Should you send a reminder announcement a day or two before the webinar?

Lee Salz, who has written an excellent book about webinars, Stop Speaking For Free, says the highest rate of sign-ups happens within 48 hours of the webinar itself. So yes, it's worth sending another reminder during that time, to pick up new registrations.

The reason we have such a late sign-up rate is because people treat webinars very differently from face-to-face events.

If you have to travel to attend a training course, you plan ahead, set aside travel time before and after the event, perhaps organise other meetings close to the venue or on the way back, etc. It's all blocked out carefully in your calendar well in advance.

You don't need to be so rigid when planning to attend a webinar. First, it's only an hour out of your life, so you don't have to commit as much time in your diary. You can also attend while sitting at your desk, so you don't have to plan what you're going to do before and after it. All this means it's easy to make a decision a day or two beforehand, or even just on the spur of the moment.

Some people will register as soon as they see the first notice, even if they haven't committed to attending, knowing they can make their final decision closer to the date - that's why webinars tend to have a high no-show rate. But some others won't register until they are absolutely sure they will be attending, and that's why it's useful to send a reminder a day or two before.

Presentation Zen 2nd Edition (including a contribution from Yours Truly)

If you're like many presenters, Garr Reynolds' book "Presentation Zen" might have been your bible for presentation slide design. It's a great book, and Garr has just released a second edition.

The new edition is about 70 pages longer, and among the additions is a section about designing slides for webinars. I was honoured that Garr invited me to write this section, and I was happy to do so.

In it, I included seven tips for being more effective and engaging in a webinar:

1. Be relevant.
2. Use more slides.
3. Be elegant with your design.
4. “Build” your slides.
5. Get them active.
6. Shift energy.
7. Start before you're ready!

If you'd like more detail, get the book! Seriously, it's a great book for all presenters.

Here's a video Garr created to give you an idea of what's in the book:

What webinar software are you using?

The trouble is, there's a lot to choose from, and it seems like every day somebody else is releasing a new system for running webinars. That's good news, I guess - because it shows just how popular webinars are becoming! But it's easy to get confused by all the options, and delay your decision because you're not sure what to get!

My advice is: Choose something good, and then stick with it!

Even if something better comes along, unless it's massively better, you might as well stick with what you know. After all, it will take some time to become familiar with any new software; and do the benefits really outweigh the costs of learning it?

The main reason, though, is that this will help you get started. You won't keep procrastinating, telling yourself something better will come along.

So what's a "good" option?

I like GoToWebinar from Citrix. It's not the cheapest option around, but it has some really nice features for people who present a lot of webinars (and that's you, right?) - such as:

• You can create a promotional page for the webinar
• The registration process is really easy for users
• It sends e-mail reminders automatically to those who've registered
• You can send follow-up e-mails after the webinar

In the "Webinar Technology" chapter of my book Webinar Smarts, I list a number of different options for webinars. And the following chapter is all about GoToWebinar itself.

Watch this video tutorial

I also ran a webinar about GoToWebinar for members of my eGurus Community. We talked about how to schedule a webinar, how to set it up in GoToWebinar, and how to conduct the webinar itself.

If you're a member of the eGurus Community, you can watch the recording here.

If you're not a member, you could buy the recording here for $47. But I reckon you should seriously consider joining the eGurus Community instead. For $55 a month, you get access to this and all of my other webinar recordings, as well as a heap of other useful resources for your business. Find out more at eGurus.info.

How long should a webinar be?

Today I want to address one of the most common questions I get asked:

"What is the best length of time for a webinar?"

Most of my in-depth webinars are 1 hour long, though I do run some for 90 minutes. I also run regular free webinars that are 30 minutes long.

Most of the webinars you attend will probably be 45 minutes to an hour long - that seems to be the "standard".

Be flexible!

But I think there's scope for being flexible and creative with time. For example, I run a two-day workshop, and 2-3 weeks before the workshop I run a 90-minute webinar for participants, to help them prepare for the workshop.

Because 90 minutes is a long time, I structure the webinar in 3 parts:

• First 20 minutes overview
• Next 40 minutes detail
• Final 30 minutes more detail.

I tell people I've deliberately structured it this way so they can choose to leave ("take an exit ramp") early if they wish. They might be happy with the 20-minute overview, and can then hang up and watch the recording later in your own time. Or if they want more detail, they can stay for an hour, but then hang up. Or if they really, really want it all, they stay for the whole 90 minutes.

Of course, there's nothing to stop them leaving any webinar at any time. But this way, they know I've designed it to make that more convenient for them.

Your Very First Webinar: Webinar Recording

Do you want to run webinars, but aren't confident you know how to do them well? In this webinar, I'll show you how to get started with your very first webinar, with tips, hints and backup plans to make sure it runs smoothly.

Watch the recording here:



Register for future webinars in the series here.

It's not all about YOU!

I remember attending a presentation that my friend and colleague Alicia Curtis made to a group of professional speakers at a National Speakers Association of Australia meeting. She was speaking about younger people in your audience - particularly Generation Y - and how to engage them in your message.

One point that particularly stuck with me was her comment that young people don't come to a training session for you to tell them stuff; they want to tell you stuff. Alicia wasn't saying they are arrogant know-it-alls. No, she was making the point that you have to involve them in their own learning, so they discover things for themselves rather than having it spoon-fed to them by the person at the front of the room. If you don't involve them, you don't engage them.

Alicia wasn't talking about webinars specifically, but I think her point applies equally to them. In fact, in webinars you have to do even more to involve people, because it's so easy for them to get distracted otherwise.

So what can you do?

First, when you're designing your webinar, ask yourself whether your audience could get exactly the same value by simply watching the recording. If the answer is "Yes", beware! The whole point of doing webinars is to create an interactive experience.

Here are some things you could do:

• Poll the audience at various points
• Stop for questions at various times (not just at the end)
• Stop for discussion at various times
• Ask the audience to write something, and stop speaking to give them time to do it
• Ask a question, and invite the audienc to type their response to you
• Show a chat room (if your webinar technology allows it) or a Twitter back-channel (if it doesn't)
• Ask a couple of audience members in advance to prepare a short segment, and hand over the webinar to them to present it
• Ask another audience member to answer somebody's question (pick somebody who knows the answer, of course!)

The main point is to be creative about engaging the audience. At first, you might think this is more difficult than in a face-to-face presentation, because you have fewer opportunities to interact. Of course, the good news is that if you do any interaction at all, you'll immediately be creating a better experience than most webinar presenters offer!

Designing a persuasive webinar

In their second book "Switch", Dan and Chip Heath, the authors of "Making It Stick", present nine principles for creating lasting change.

Their book was written for creating change in all different kinds of situations, including families, organisations, countries and the like. But I think we can put all of the ideas into practice into presentations.

I've put together a slide show to show you how to apply these principles in your presentations. This isn't only about webinar presentations, but I'm sure you will see how to apply the ideas there as well.

Watch the slide show here:

How to write a sales letter to promote your webinar

Many people struggle with writing an effective promotional blurb for a webinar, because they're not used to writing marketing material. But if you're going to run webinars regularly, this is an important skill to learn.

Luckily for you, I'm going to make it easy!

I'm going to give you a simple formula, which has six components:

1. Title - a catchy and informative headline
2. Overview - a one-paragraph summary
3. Audience - who this is for
4. Benefits - what they will learn
5. Process - what they get
6. Action - what they should do next

Title

Use these guidelines to craft your title:

• Be clear, not clever. "The Three Key Questions You Need to Ask Your Financial Planner" is better than "Goldilocks and the Three Financial Services Bears".
• Be specific. "The Seven Biggest Mistakes..." is better than "The Biggest Mistakes..."
• Be intriguing without being obscure. If appropriate, use words like "Secrets", "Mistakes" and "Unknown" to hook your readers.
• Promise take-away value. "How to Save Money when Buying Car Insurance" is better than "Why You're Probably Paying Too Much for Your Car Insurance".
• News sells. If your material is genuinely new, use words like "New", "Innovative", "Brand-New" and "Breaking (News)".

Overview

Write a one-paragraph summary of the topic, for time-poor readers who just want the 20-second overview. They probably won't make their buying decision on this alone, but its purpose is to convince them to keep reading.

Audience ("Who is this for?")

This is more than just listing a set of demographics ("This webinar is for accountants, lawyers, financial planners and others in professional service firms"). Be more specific and list the specific situations people are in when they most require this webinar - for example:

• "Accountants who need to understand the new tax laws as they apply to family businesses"
• "Lawyers who are moving into business development roles"
• "Managers of Generation Y staff, who are concerned about high turnover"

Benefits ("What will you learn?")

List the benefit-oriented results they will achieve from attending your webinar - for example:

• "All your sales team will perform at the level of your 'Stars'"
• "You'll have a happier and more productive team"
• "You'll save an hour each day"

This is also a good place for inserting relevant benefit-oriented testimonials, if you have them.

Process ("How does it work?")

First, they are getting the webinar, so provide the details of how it works: The date and time (including time zone), the duration, the equipment required to participate, the level of interaction you will offer and (if relevant) the size of the group.

If they get anything else as well, make sure you describe that: A recording, a handout, a special report, a research white paper, a follow-up phone consulting session, and so on.

Action ("So what happens now?")

End with a clear call to action. Tell them exactly what you would like them to do next - pick up the phone, register directly, register and pay using your shopping cart, e-mail you to ask for an invoice, or whatever you require.

Can you use this formula?

If you're never been good at writing promotional material, please give this a go - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

This is covered in more detail in the "Marketing and Promotion" chapter of my book Webinar Smarts.

Of course, this is just one part of what it takes to persuade people to buy something (anything!) from you. I'm not claiming this is the world's best sales letter, but it's a good start!

If you're planning to get into webinars in a big way (and I hope you are :-)), you really should learn more about how to improve sales conversion on your Web site.

If you're a member of the eGurus Community, you can check out the Sales Conversion section of the eGurus Vault.

If you're not a member, you could buy my e-book/MP3 program "Make More Sales" for $67. But I reckon you should seriously consider joining the eGurus Community instead. For $55 a month, you get access to this and all of my other webinar recordings, as well as a heap of other useful resources for your business. Find out more at eGurus.info.

The art of connection, contribution, & change

I've already mentioned Garr Reynolds' excellent book "Presentation Zen" in an earlier post. He also runs the excellent Presentation Zen blog.

In one of his blog posts, he talks about "The art of connection, contribution, & change", which are his three objectives of a great presentation:

• Connection: To make an impact, we have to make a solid connection with others in the room.
• Contribution: Think of presentation as a welcomed opportunity to make a difference.
• Change: Through contribution we make a difference because we change things.

He's writing about presentations in general, but I think it's particularly true of webinars, because some people think you can't connect, contribute or make real change in a webinar. That's not true!

Read the full blog post here.

How many people who sign up for a webinar turn up?

Whenever you run a no-cost webinar, you'll find that some people won't turn up on the day. That's not surprising - they haven't made a commitment to it, so what have they got to lose? But you might be surprised at how many people don't turn up! Some webinar presenters reckon they get as low as 25% attendance of the people who registered.

Somebody recently asked this question on a LinkedIn group I belong to:

"I heard that 50% of the people who register for a live webinar attend, and then an additional 30% watch the recorded webinar. Does anyone know where those numbers come from?"

This is a very broad question, and a single figure isn't useful. But here's my experience ...

I run 10-12 webinars a month, of which 2 (maybe 3) on average are free. The attendance percentage at the free webinars varies greatly, depending on the topic and the format (e.g. workshop vs facilitated discussion). I rarely get below 50%, even for the free webinars.

But I also know (because they tell me) that some people are registering KNOWING they won't be attending but will watch the recording - that makes the figures look worse.

On the other hand, I also know some people DON'T register, knowing they can access the recording on my blog - that makes the figures look better.

Interestingly, I think the numbers I get for paid webinars are about the same. Sometimes they ARE as low as 50%, but that doesn't mean attendees are throwing their money away. They might watch the recording (which of course is private, because it's a paid webinar), they might just want the e-book that's bundled with the webinar, they might just want the recorded PowerPoint presentation that gives them an overview, etc.

All of this just goes to show that the attendance % isn't a useful indicator of anything (for me, at least).

So, what does this mean?

First, expect the numbers to be lower than you'd like.

Second, consider how you can serve the people who don't turn up. For example, if it's a promotional webinar, the people who don't turn up miss out on your sales pitch. But you can still send them a follow-up e-mail later, repeating your offer and perhaps offering them a link to the recording.