How long do your web conferences run? If you set them up using the default settings in most web conferencing technologies, they are one hour long.
TimeBridge just announced a ridiculously small update to their meeting product to change that philosophy. From now on, the default meeting length is 45 minutes when you create a new session. Of course you can change the scheduled length longer or shorter as you desire. But I'm liking this change to the default.
A 45-minute meeting gives attendees a sense of comfort that they can participate and still grab a cup of coffee, go to the bathroom, or check emails before their next meeting on the hour. If you find yourself in a particularly lively Q&A session at the end of your session, it gives you the ability to extend for another 15 minutes and still not spill over into the next hour.
I don't know of any statistically valid studies showing whether registrations are higher for similarly themed and promoted events when the only difference is the duration, but it might be worth trying a 45-minute webinar to see what happens.
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You know the old philosophical question:
"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"
Well I would say so long as a running tape recorder was nearby then the answer is a resounding YES!
The same thing goes for your webinars. If you give a webinar and you don't get the audience size you had hoped for, all is not lost. Always record your webinars! You get two benefits from recording.
First, there is always a subset of folks who intended to attend your webinar but got otherwise entangled. So by offering a recording of the webinar to all your registrants, you cover those people who still want to hear your message but missed the live event.
The second benefit is known as re-purposing. You have devoted hours of time preparing for the webinar and probably one solid hour of your time giving it. Why let it end there? Get as much mileage from that effort as possible. You can offer a link to the recorded webinar on your web site or you can give access to the recording from an opt-in sign-up.
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Visit StopSpeakingforFree.com. And save 20% on my new book "Stop Speaking for Free! The Ultimate Guide to Making Money with Webinars" with this code: 497f0391
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Posted by Lee Salz
May 2 2010 3:28 PM EDT
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In this episode of The Webinar Minute, learn how your book can both hurt and help your webinar campaign. To learn more, visit www.StopSpeakingforFree.com.
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There can now be no doubt that our friends at InteSolv have "a thing" for Adobe Connect Pro. Here is another in a series of comparison videos put together by "Connect Guru" Dave Walker.
What I find interesting in this video is that Connect Pro seems to stand alone in its philosophy of how a meeting room should be administered. Adobe believes in "persistent" rooms wherein a virtual meeting room does not disappear when you leave it. All of your materials (white boards, uploaded presentations, etc.) stay in the room until you delete them. Webex does not share that view.
In my recent renovation of my web site, I wrote in my FAQ section that most webinar software vendors have more similarities than differences. Functionally this is basically true. Most offer polling, annotation, chat rooms, etc. What has always set Adobe's product apart has been elegant cosmetics and a different philosophy about what a webinar space should be. That is even reflected in the administration interface.
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Posted by Lee Salz
April 22 2010 12:23 PM EDT
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This morning, an organization reached out to me and asked me to speak on sales compensation at their upcoming conference which draws about 100 people. After a brief discussion with the coordinator, I asked about their budget for speakers. Not only was there no budget, but I was expected to fly from Minneapolis to San Francisco and stay in a hotel on my nickel! Was I being punked?
I wish I were. This was a real deal and not the first time that I’ve been asked to do something similar to this. After just writing the book Stop Speaking for Free! The Ultimate Guide to Making Money with Webinars, it would have been a complete contradiction of my message to take on this gig. Living in Minnesota, I’m constantly reminded that people die of exposure. And, speaking only for exposure could kill your business.
Are there times when you should speak for free? Absolutely! However, it needs to be on your terms. You need to look at the opportunity and evaluate what the speaking gig can yield in future earnings.
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Posted by Ken Molay
April 15 2010 11:33 AM EDT
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Lee Salz of Business Expert Webinars has authored a book for professionals who present their expertise online. "Stop Speaking For Free" is billed as "The ultimate guide to making money with webinars."
If you preorder this month on his website, you can get a price reduction, an autographed edition, and access to additional online resources.
I see a lot of small business owners and consultants/trainers moving their business to the web and trying to figure out how to set up and manage revenue-based webinars. This is going to be a much-needed aid for such people.
The simple URL for details and ordering is www.StopSpeakingForFree.com
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Two years ago I wrote a piece on Webinar Wire that I titled "Will ISPs Kill Web Conferencing?" I referenced an article by Rich Baker of Glance Networks about the dangers of allowing broadband carriers to secretly and unilaterally set their own policies on how data gets transmitted over their networks. That practice has been challenged under the label of "net neutrality" - a concept that in its simplest form calls for all broadband data to be treated the same.
Things move slowly in this area, and we have waited two years for a federal court to hand down a decision on whether the Federal Communications Commission can regulate and oversee the carriers' data policies. The FCC was a proponent of net neutrality and wanted to make sure that the ISPs simply acted as a pipeline, letting all data flow equally.
The court's decision was announced today.
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Webinar Game Day Checklist
You’ve worked hard to develop an outstanding webinar…and now its game day. Here are some tips for webinar success.
1. Rehearse ONCE. Assuming that you’ve been preparing all along for the webinar, you only need one run-through today. This will keep your nerves in check, but not make your presentation sound canned. Relax! You will be great!
2. Print the show. You never know when your Internet connection can go awry. Having your presentation printed allows you to continue your delivery even if the Internet isn’t cooperating. Keep it by your side during the webinar. Boy scout motto…Be Prepared!
3. Prepare for the silent audience. Many people don’t like to ask questions – even in a webinar environment. Prepare mock questions that enhance the teachings of your webinar. Pose them as if an audience member asked the questions. Of course, these questions should be easy for you to compose a strong response. (Note. It’s a best practice to develop these long before the day of the webinar, but many don’t…so it’s on the game day checklist.)
4. Leave me alone. Many speakers work out of their homes which means at any given moment, the doorbell may ring…making you look unprofessional during your webinar. Put a sign on your front door during your webinar asking people not to disturb you…and a time when they should return.</!-->
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Posted by Ken Molay
March 26 2010 1:28 AM EDT
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Somebody at Brainshark must have been feeling the pain. Watch this short clip and see if it doesn't feel sadly familiar:
http://my.brainshark.com/Is-the-presentation-ready-yet-103716244
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