Welcome to webinars without the worry!
You don’t have to suffer through the technical terrors or embarrassing webinar disasters that plague marketers everywhere!
I’m going to save you the agony in today’s post by sharing what I’ve learned so far about hosting successful webinars. I’m also going to share with you clever marketing tips for using webinars to grow your MLM business, and finally I have a free gift for you at the end of your post to make your webinars worry free!
But first, am I a webinar expert? Nope, not by a long shot, but as with most things we try in our business, when we stretch our comfort zone and skin our knees a few times, we learn quickly and webinars are no exception to that rule for me.
I’ve been using webinars for my network marketing business for a while, but the webinar service I was comfortable with, closed their doors last year and I was left “homeless” so to speak. I resorted to the old standby of conference calls, but I missed the ability to show and tell as I trained my team or presented my opportunity.
The webinar alternatives that I knew about were expensive and seemed complicated for my guests because they had to download software in order to make it work. It felt to me, like inviting someone over for a dinner party and asking them to set the table. Some close friends/prospects wouldn’t mind, but others would be reluctant or even offended.
So I’ve been on a mission to find a solution and testing and trying out several different companies and in my search, I’ve compiled a resource with the features they each offer, the monthly costs, free trials, etc.
But first…
Here are 5 ways should you be using webinars in your business!
- To train your network marketing team
- To grow your opt in email list
- To introduce your products and/or company to potential clients and business builders
- To teach others in your niche (positioning yourself as a leader)
- To sell your marketing funnel, information products or affiliate products
The benefits of webinars:
- Meet with anyone, anywhere, anytime
- No travel costs or travel time
- No child care costs
- Attend in your pajamas if you’d like
- Present one on one or one to many
What to look for when choosing a service for your webinars:
Cost:
Webinar services vary from free to thousands of dollars to use depending on how many people you’re inviting and what options they provide. Average for our use as network marketers should fall somewhere around $50 a month.
Features:
- Do you want your webinar service to record your webinars for you?
- Do you want an unlimited number of people to be able to join in?
- Do you want people to be able to call in or listen via their computers?
- Do you want your participants to be able to communicate with you, or with each other?
- Do you want to be able to share your screen, or just a powerpoint presentation?
- Do you need to be able to draw on your screen like a white board?
- Do you want your participants to be able to see you or just your screen?
As I promised, earlier, here is your free clever marketer webinar secrets cheat sheet for you to download in exchange for a tweet! 
It includes the various webinar services I’ve tried, their features and costs, plus a checklist for you to make sure your webinars go smoothly! Enjoy!
Check out Heather’s Clever Marketer Blog!
Check out Heather’s That MLM Beat Store!
Excellent Heather!
Thank you for this and comes at the right time for me. Webinars are extremely powerful and probably the most reliable way to connect with multiple people online.
I’m heading over to download your checklist now thank YOU!
Thank you George!
I hope you enjoy the checklist! I appreciate you letting me write for That MLM Beat…what an honor!
Heather
Heather, this is beautifully crafted. I like the layout, the picture and the ease with which it can be read. I have done many webinars so I am interested to read your ‘cheatsheet’ ~ Thank you so very much. Joanie
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
@Joanie McMahon,
Thank you so much, Joanie. I’m glad you liked the post and I hope that you love the checklist!
Heather
Hi Heather, I, again cannot get over how you are stepping out! I would be honored to do a webinar with you after the crazy has died down a little. I will shoot you a FB message back too after I have finished my commenting and a coaching call.
I think webinars open a whole new door.
Thanks Heather. Great Post. I will download the cheet sheet too.
Thanks for everything you do.
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
@Jayne Kopp,
I think that would be a blast, Jayne!
Definitely something we should plan! Thanks for your comment, hope you loved the cheat sheet!
Heather
I’ve attended a couple webinars myself and they are such an effective to personally reach out to and connect with your audience. I feel that it almost reaches the same reputability as seminars and talks at live conferences. In this case, it makes complete sense that hosting webinars establishes you as an expert in the field.
Thanks for taking the time to compile this thorough assessment of different webinar services, Heather. I didn’t realize that there were so many possible options to best take advantage of this type of presentation! =)
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
@Samantha Bangayan,
I agree with you that hosting webinars can be as effective as teaching someone face to face if done properly!
There are so many more options out there…these are just the ones I’ve played with myself!
Thanks for your comment!
Heather
Hi Heather,
Thanks for bringing out the importance of webminars and how to make them really useful. I am downloading your cheatsheet. Sadly, I have not attended any webminars yet, that’s a shame. But as you say, webminars give you a flexible choice to attend at your clothing
Nice post Heather.
Cheers,
Jane.
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
@Jane | Find All Answers,
Hi Jane,
Thanks for the comment! Pajamas are a nice touch…I love it when I can put the kids to bed, put on my pj’s, grab a cup of my detox tea and sit back to learn something. It can make it hard to sleep though, if the webinars pack in great ideas that start my mind running! LOL
Hope you’ll attend one of my webinars soon for the CM Community!
Heather
Great Post Heather,
Those are all good points, and definitely must have’s for webinars.
I agree on your price point as well.
Martin
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
@martin dale,
Thanks Martin!
I appreciate your comment!
Heather
Hi Heather, I, again cannot get over how you are stepping out! I would be honored to do a webinar with you after the crazy has died down a little. I will shoot you a FB message back too after I have finished my commenting and a coaching call.
I think webinars open a whole new door.
Thanks Heather. Great Post. I will download the cheat sheet too.
Thanks for everything you do.
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
@Jayne Kopp,
Let’s chat soon!
Thanks Jayne!
Hi Heather,
This is powerful post and webinars are great way to connect with like minded people. I’m yet to utilize the power of webinars but i think they are very powerful way to connect.
Thanks for sharing.
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
@Devesh,
Thanks Devesh. I personally feel that webinars are addicting because it’s such an easy way to communicate with people around the world!
Heather
Delivering value wherever you go Heather! Do you ever sleep?
I have used Webinars for a long time and what I am most pleased about these days is the compettion. This is great for us as it leads to better technology and prices.
I’ll be downloading that cheat sheet right now to see if I have been missing anything!
~Marcus
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
@Marcus Baker,
Competition is always a good thing, isn’t it? There are SO many choices for webinar services that it can be overwhelming. I just compiled a list of things I’ve tried…but there are many more options out there.
Is there a chance that you know of a webinar service that will allow me to save my file as a mp4 file? I’ve tried using the conversion type software out there, but my mouth and voice get messed up. It’s not bad when I’m only recording the slides, but when the webinar includes a video of me presenting it looks a little silly.
Love to know if you know any secrets!
Heather
Wow, Heather! You have done it again! You don’t cease to amaze me girl.
Excellent post and wonderfully done checklist. I would advise anyone reading this to go ahead and download this – just one RT or FB share, it’s all yours
Thank you so much for sharing the webinar nuggets. Keep rocking!
All the best,
Mavis
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
@Mavis Nong @ Attraction Marketing,
Thank you Mavis!
Glad you enjoyed the post and the cheat sheet! Thanks for commenting!
Hugs, Heather
Hey Heather,
Webinars is another great tool to use to sell your products or services. I know of a free webinar, but I won’t mention it because I’m sure it’s in your eBook.
I would love to start doing webinars some day.
~Tisha
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
@Tisha,
You’re so cute. Have you tried freebinar yet? I had a struggle with it, but I’m not sure if it was because of my Internet connection or something else. I do know other marketers who use it effectively.
Is your free webinar service add free by any chance?
I totally think you should do some webinars very soon! Jump right into it. They can be addicting!
Heather
Tisha Reply:
April 13th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Hey Heather,
lol..It is freeconferencepro.com, I have not used it yet and I think you can make freebinars on it. Check it out and tell me what you think.
As for me jumping into webinars. ahh, maybe next year.
~Tisha
@Heather C Stephens,
Hi Heather,
I have never created a webinar so all of this information was very informative. I look forward to reading the download.
Thank you,
Stacy
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
@Stacy,
Thanks Stacy, You’ll have to give them a try sometime soon. You have such great information to share on your blog…it’s the same idea, just a bit more personal!
Hugs, Heather
Hi Heather,
Thank you for providing yet another very helpful cheat sheet. I can definitely see the power of conducting webinars. I have watched one of your recorded webinars, and I totally enjoyed it! I look forward to seeing you do more.
Heather, you amaze us with your many talents that you willingly share with the world
- Rowena
And you even put a cheat sheet together for us! How awesome of you Heather! I’ve bookmarked your post and am looking forward to learning more secrets from you.
Smiles from Guam,
Jaclyn Castro
Heather C Stephens Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
@Jaclyn Castro,
Hi Jaclyn,
I hope you enjoyed the cheat sheet. I enjoyed your comment!
Thanks and smiles from rainy (but getting warmer) Illinois!
Heather
Heather-
You had me at “attend in my pajamas.” Heck, I blog in my PJ’s, might as well webinar in my PJ’s. LOL.
I have attended a couple of webinars for free. When I see one is coming on jump on it ASAP. They are so helpful!
I just finished Rowena’s vlog post and now you are talking about webinars, heck, I just got my newsletter going. I hope to vlog and webinar (and podcast) sometime and now I have my go-to gal!
You have been so helpful and I look forward to more!
~Allie