You Know Webinars Are Good, So What's Holding You Back?
I'm sure you have considered webinars in your business.
But, for one reason or another, you haven't gotten started or you are not having the success you would like to see with your webinars.
What I've learned is that there are a few big reasons people get stuck with webinars. Many of these are valid reasons but also common misconceptions.
Reason #1: You are worried your presenting and/or technology skills are not up to par
If you are a technophobe or are far from being Toastmasters champion, I feel your pain.
I used to avoid both like the plague.
I'll address the live presenting aspect by telling you about one of my long time students...
Gregory (name changed for privacy), would be a nervous wreck anytime he was near a stage. His first webinar he was incredibly nervous, but as soon as he settled in he realized there was nothing to fear.
It's not like he was staring hundreds of people in the face.
He just talked into the computer about what he knew best and followed my presentation flow.
And get this -- he felt so comfortable doing webinars that he kept doing them consistently and generated over one million dollars in sales in 2.5 years.
If your nerves are anything like Gregory's, remember that you cannot see the audience!
Stop thinking about you and start thinking about solving their problem. When you make this shift, everything changes.
If you are a total technophobe like I was, do not worry.
The technology takes minutes to learn and you can launch a webinar in just a few clicks.
Reason #2: You don't know what to teach or sell on your webinar
Let me start this by saying you DO know what to teach.
You have some sort of expertise; what you need to examine is what the biggest problems are that your market is facing.
Once you identify one of these problems, you can structure a webinar around it.
Remember: it's okay to test your idea. You could try one topic and it could totally bomb.
This happened to one of my students, Shannan Monson, who is a nutritionist from Augusta, Georgia.
Her biggest challenge with webinars was crafting the right offer for her audience. She went through multiple webinars of barely selling her nutrition coaching programs, only to realize that most of her audience were actually other nutritionists and health professionals -- not people looking to buy nutrition classes.
This was a huge breakthrough because she was able to listen to her audience and learn that what they really wanted from her was to learn about visual branding and how to create beautiful content.
After making this pivot, she hosted a webinar and for the first time sold 8 spots of her $199 Instagram for Photography Bootcamp, making her $1,592.
Then she launched again and raised her price to $699 and generated another $2,796 in sales.
Listening is a powerful thing, isn't it? ;-)
Reason #3: You don't know where to draw the line between free webinar content and paid content
Some believe that by giving their best ideas away for free, people won't buy from them.
I believe it is a way for you to show the world your expertise.
But you don't want to give away the farm -- the farm is too much for people to handle.
Think about that problem people are challenged with. Give them a few pieces of the puzzle that moves them closer to closing the gap they are struggling with.
You don't have to hide the fact that you are going to make an offer (sometimes I say it right up front).
The idea is to wow them with so much value that they WANT to hear about your offer that will speed up the process in getting their desired result.
Here's an example...
Let's say you are a fitness coach who sells a subscription for daily video workouts for stay-at-home moms in the United Stated in warm climates (for year round outdoor workouts). You can do that with webinars.
Your webinar could be titled:
"LIVE WEBINAR: How to Get in the Best Shape of Your Life -- Even While Watching Your Kids and Without Paying for a Gym Membership"
Can you see how this could speak directly to that audience?
In the webinar, you can give your top 10 outdoor workout ideas and share why most people fail in staying consistent in a workout routine and the cost that it directly has on their health and family.
When you are making your offer, you show them how this can be a solution to their bigger problem.
They could do it on their own with the free information you gave them (risking losing motivation and hitting roadblocks),
OR
they can follow your plan and workouts each day to ensure accountability, simplicity, and something that works for their specific situation.
Reason #4: You don't know how to get people to attend your webinars
I'll be frank with you right up front...
If traffic is an issue for you, that is the EXACT reason why you need to be doing webinars.
Clearly your value in the marketplace is not being recognized.
The good news is that you can change this.
And it doesn't require a ton of traffic to have success with webinars.
(You'll see some students in a minute who have created success with tiny networks.)
Some come in and have hundreds attending right away. Others will have slow growth (like it was for me where my audience size grew slowly as I got more comfortable.)
When you make it a consistent part of your business practice, your conversion numbers will significantly improve and your audience size will grow.
But getting people to attend your webinars is easier than you think.
Take a look at this traffic report from one of my previous webinars...
(Ignore the typos -- it's for internal use)
Without comparing yourself to me, what I want you to notice is the diversity of traffic sources.
Look at the resources you have at your disposal.
The top ways I get webinar attendees is through email marketing, joint venture partnerships, Facebook ads, Facebook groups, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook live, Periscope, Twitter, Facebook organic posts, YouTube ads, live speaking engagements, and more.
You might even have ways to get people on that I haven't thought of.
What is important is that you don't put all your eggs in one basket. Try to get as much free traffic as possible while you prove your webinar concept.
Of course you could skip all this and go directly into paid traffic (which I'll show you how to do in a moment).
Facebook ads are my number one traffic source for new webinar leads.
When you put together your webinar the way I teach you, you can invest in advertising intelligently to consistently bring in targeted attendees.
Meaning for every $1 that you spend on ads, you can sometimes get $2, $3, or $5+ in return from the sales you generate.
Whether you have a network or not, a webinar offer that converts allows you to buy traffic like rocket fuel for your business.
It's what all the top marketers are doing but not telling you about.
Reason #5: You really just don't know where to begin
You begin by taking action on one of two paths...
Path #1: You try to figure out webinars on your own
When I began with webinars, there was no one around really teaching it. It took years of trial and error. Years of testing. Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent it design, development, education, support, and advertising.
That's a path many struggling marketers take.
The "I want to do it on my own" approach.
They feel that the struggle is necessary in order to succeed.
And that is cool if you are that type of person. You can attend webinar after webinar and study from afar what people are doing.
But a word of caution with this approach.
Don't blindly copy the marketing efforts of others.
I see people all the time swiping my emails, my slide decks, etc., and then they launch and wonder why it is a huge failure.
Because that person is not taking the time to understand the logic behind the marketing.
Path #2: You find mentors to learn from
This is what smart marketers do.
They know that time is of the essence and they don't waste time getting ready to get ready.
They realize that they cannot avoid failure, but they do have the ability to choose to educate themselves to speed up the journey.
They understand that money loves speed...
...And they know that not being in the game comes at a huge cost to them with the opportunity they would be letting pass them by being on the sidelines.
If you are heading down path #1...
I hope this has been valuable for you and opened your mind to new ideas of what is possible for you in your business.
If you are heading down path #2...
I want to show you how you can get in the fast lane for success with your webinars.
I've taught many how to get started with webinars from every experience level. From every level in business. From a variety of markets.
I've taught everyone from brand new entrepreneurs to big organizations like the holistic health school Institute of Integrative Nutrition how to create their high converting webinars.
I invite you to join me and take the next step -- put webinars to work in your business.