Can You Boost Revenue by Offering Webinars?

Looking for ways to position your staff members as industry experts while also bringing in extra revenue? Consider offering webinars in your area of expertise.

Here’s what these are:

Derived from the words “web seminar,” a webinar, in simple terms, is a virtual event hosted by an organization and broadcast to a select group of individuals through their computers over the internet. It allows the presenter(s) from the hosting company to share content in the form of videos, web pages, PowerPoint presentations or other multimedia platforms with audiences that can be located anywhere in the world. A webinar usually has audio and visual components. Its visual portion is shared through an internet browser or a web conferencing tool, while its audio component is typically broadcast through the audience’s computers, or in some cases, through a telephone. Webinars typically consist of a presentation followed by a Q&A session. Since webinars are a visual medium, they also help the speaker(s) connect with attendees. Although webinars can also be used by companies to get participants interested in buying their products and/or services, it must be noted that webinars should not be used as sales pitches — their primary objective is to provide value for the participants, in the form of valuable insights, facts and other information. According to several studies, people usually grasp information faster if it’s written down and is visually appealing. Therefore, hosting such virtual events as webinars can be great ways to create visibility, generate leads and boost revenue for any business.

How to Make Money Offering Webinars

One of the most obvious methods of making money with a webinar is to charge an admission fee to the live online event. Most people are willing to pay in order to learn about the topics they are interested in, especially if it comes from verifiable experts. Therefore, it’s best if you stick to topics you know best. Here are three ways you can have success with this strategy:

• Select the right webinar software

  : With the correct webinar software, you can make the ticket-selling process much smoother. This will let technology handle the finances for you, allowing you to focus on teaching and presenting. One way to do this is by choosing the ticket price and integrating the event with a payment gateway such as PayPal.

• Promote the event effectively

  : In order to sell tickets to your webinar, you need to make sure people know about it. You can employ social media marketing, email marketing or paid advertising on Google AdWords or Facebook Ads to promote your broadcasts.

• Always deliver quality content

  : You must be an authority on the content you share with the attendees — they should feel like they got more value out of the webinar than they paid for. This will also encourage them to spread the word about your future events among their networks — happy customers are much more likely to attend your events in the future as well as tell their friends about your company.

Another way to earn money offering webinars is to demo your company’s products and/or services. Such demo webinars are a great way to earn money if your company already has products and/or services to sell. Participants don’t usually pay for demo webinars; you earn money toward the end when the product/service being exhibited is put up for sale. The following tips can help you make money with product demo webinars:

• Always add value

  : In order to make your webinars worthwhile and valuable for the attendees, it’s important to make them informational as well as interesting.

• Get the timing right

  : The flow, timing and length of your webinar all play an important part when it comes to demo webinars. The majority of webinars last about one hour. Sixty minutes is enough time to make introductions (five to seven minutes), give the actual presentation, which includes the pitch (about 45 minutes) and the Q&A session at the end (10 to 15 minutes).

• Focus on benefits instead of features

  : It is crucial not to over-focus on promoting features — most people are more interested in knowing the benefits of a product or service than in its features. Features tell them what the product does, whereas benefits explain why the features matter.

• Highlight your call-to-action (CTA)

  : Ensure that your CTA is clear, as that’s where you actually ask the audience to buy your product/service. In the CTA, your offer should be clearly defined, preferably use active voice, tap into participants’ emotions and lead them to a well-written landing page. You should also test your CTAs to determine which ones connect best with your target audience.

• Follow up via email

  : Though this may seem obvious, following up with attendees can also help increase sales — approach them professionally by offering them future opportunities. You can also to invite them to future webinars or ask for referrals.