20 Benefits of Teleseminars Why should you use teleseminars? Here are 20 reasons, and they all apply for infopreneurs. Low time overheads You and your audience "attend" a teleseminar right from their desks. You're doing your normal work until the appointed time, call in for the teleseminar, hang up at the end, and go on with your life. There's no travel time, waiting time, time stuck in traffic, or any other wasted time. This is a huge benefit for many people in today's time-poor world. No geographical boundaries Theoretically, you can reach the world, not just your own town, city or country. In practice, you'll be limited by the reach of your marketing. So don't become overly optimistic about reaching the world just because you can! However, there are no technical restrictions. There is one logistical restriction, and it's to do with time zones. If you are dealing with a global audience, you do have to take this into account, and choose a time zone that suits most of your audience. Build loyalty with existing clients Offer teleseminars to keep in touch with your clients. It's an easy, low-cost leveraged way to add value and maintain your relationship. You can do this either by offering a special "clients only" teleseminar; or by inviting them as guests to another teleseminar you're doing. Invite prospects to attend In a similar way, invite prospects to attend a teleseminar as a guest. It's a low-cost way to give them an experience of you before they "buy" you. Some infopreneurs already do this successfully with their live presentations, as a way of getting new business. Every time a client makes a booking, they get permission to invite one or two people of their own choice - and of course, they invite some prospects along. It's exactly the same idea with teleseminars. Run it with small numbers Even if you only have a small group, you can still conduct an effective teleseminar. You don't have to worry about getting minimum numbers to manage venues, handouts, catering and the like. Of course, you might still have a minimum number in mind to make your time worthwhile. Run it with big numbers At the other end of the scale, you can run effective teleseminars with large numbers as well. Again, you don't have to worry about finding and booking a suitable venue, managing catering, allowing for parking, arranging the room, printing (or carrying!) enough handouts, and the like. Some teleseminar services do have a restriction on numbers; and some others charge a higher fee for higher numbers. However, these costs are relatively low. So if this is a paid teleseminar, you'll certainly cover the costs easily. Record it to create instant products The teleseminar services we discuss here have a recording feature built in, so recording your teleseminar is a breeze. You can then turn that recording into a product - typically a CD, MP3 file or podcast. You can do the same with live presentations, of course, with a simple digital recorder in your pocket. However, live presentations tend to have more than just your voice - for example, they might have PowerPoint, flip charts, audience questions and group activities. These all add to the live experience, but aren't necessarily captured in the recording. So you require more editing to create a usable audio product. The teleseminar format, on the other hand, is ideal for audio products, because you have to convey everything with your voice. Give people more access to you As you get busier, your clients, prospects and colleagues will find it harder - and more expensive - to get access to you. A teleseminar is a low-cost way to interact with many people at the same time, while still offering great value. Low-cost event Apart from the cost of your own time, a teleseminar is an extremely low-cost event. It's literally the cost of a telephone call. Even if you're using an international teleseminar service, a one-hour teleseminar will only cost you a few dollars. Point of difference Although teleseminars have been common for a few years, few infopreneurs are using them; and even fewer are using them well. You can stand out by adding them to your service mix. Make a difference If you're passionate about your area of expertise, a teleseminar is an excellent way of reaching out to those who need to hear about it. Because of the global possibilities, you can reach people beyond your borders. And because of the low cost, you can reach people who wouldn't be able to afford your other services. Do market research Before each teleseminar, survey the attendees to discover their biggest questions, concerns, challenges and aspirations about your topic. This becomes invaluable market research for you, not just for the teleseminar itself but for your business in general. Of course, you can do the same thing without the teleseminar. But the teleseminar provides a greater incentive for people to respond to your survey, because they know you'll answer their questions in the teleseminar. Test out new material A teleseminar is an excellent vehicle for testing new material before using it in other modes. Because it's less visual and less interactive than other modes, you don't have to spend as much time on stage presence, gestures, visual aids, audience exercises and some other factors you'd put into a live presentation. Instead, you can focus on the content, structure and flow. You can test new material and ask for feedback. You can even use copious notes, mind maps and other speaker aids, because you're presenting from the privacy of your office. Live access for members-only site If you run a membership site, you'll be providing electronic resources for your members. However, it's easy to lose the person connection, which might have been the reason they signed up in the first place. One way to get back that personal connection, and still do it in a leveraged way, is through teleseminars. That's why, in the First Step Member Community www.FirstStepCommunity.info, I currently provide a live teleseminar every month. Provide product support If you sell products, conduct teleseminars from time to time for customers. Use them to answer their questions, explain how they can use the product more effectively, and get feedback for future enhancements. Supplement live events Some teleseminars will replace live events, while others supplement them. For example, if you run a training program, it's easy to offer a follow-up teleseminar for participants, say, 90 days later. Expose your database to guest experts You don't have to be the star of all your teleseminars. It's the ideal format for you to interview somebody else - somebody who serves the same market, but with a different area of expertise - and have everybody else on the call "eavesdrop" on your conversation. Expose joint venture partners to your database If you have a strong database and you know somebody else with a product ideally suited for that database, interview them as a guest on a teleseminar. Because of the personal interaction, this is more effective than, say, just promoting their product in your newsletter or on your Web site. Easy to offer as a bonus / incentive Teleseminars have the two characteristics of ideal bonus products: Low marginal cost (in other words, it costs almost nothing to have an extra person on the call) and high value. So it's easy to offer a teleseminar "seat" to anybody for any reason - for example, as a bonus for somebody who buys a product by a certain date; or an incentive for clients to make a booking before the end of the financial year. Short lead time Because the logistics of teleseminars are so simple, you don't have to plan them months in advance. You do still have to allow time for marketing them - and that does take advance planning - but you don't have to book things like venues, flights and accommodation. Key words: teleseminars, audio, Creating Products Permission to Reprint: Yes, you may reprint this article in any of your publications - paid or free, electronic or physical, commercial or non-commercial - provided you do not edit it in any way (except for formatting changes to suit your publication style), and include this resource box with the article: Gihan Perera is the author of "Get Active: Web Sites for Speakers, Trainers, Coaches and Consultants" and "Fast, Flat and Free: What You Need to Know to Stay Ahead in a Connected World". Visit http://GihanPerera.com and get your complimentary copies now. I would also appreciate receiving a copy of the issue in which it appears, if that is convenient.