The new phase is to call them master classes or workshops…anything but webinars.
But that’s what they are. If you attend a webinar you assume you’re going to be sold. And I’ve never attended anything free that didn’t include sales.
After all, why should it? We’re not presenting these things because we can’t think of any other way to use our time. We’re marketing, which means we’re paving the way for easier selling.
So let’s stop pretending. Anything free is going to come with a Call to Action for something, even if it’s just a signup for somebody’s ezine. If we create warm-and-fuzzies, we hope to transfer that feeling towards us — the marketer. And at a webinar, our listeners hope to get at least a sliver of knowledge we can use, preferably tomorrow.
But here are the 3 things I hate most about most webinars.
1 – They take too long to start. I usually cut out after 15 to 20 minutes of fluff. Introducing yourself. Talking about your background. Introducing people on the call. (There’s always 3 people from Texas. You know who you are.) Explaining that this isn’t a quick fix for your problems. Reiterating how this is SO valuable that your life (or at least your business) will be changed forever. And so on.
Once I typed into the chat, “It is now 20 minutes in and we still haven’t gotten anything.” They sent me a snarky reply. That’s when I decided my webinars would last just 20 minutes. If I had a more complex concept I’d either create a course or hold another webinar.
I think this frustration comes from being a college professor for 20 years. When we were teaching, we were on the clock. We had to be. Students would rustle papers (loudly) if we weren’t.
2 – They read to us.
I just cut off one webinar after the presenter seemed to be reading the entire talk. She didn’t even try to make it fun. She seemed to be scolding us. (“I bet you’re doing this all wrong!”)
Sometimes they don’t read the whole thing. But they interrupt themselves to read little testimonials like “James says, ‘Here’s what I got from the course…'”
I vowed that I wouldn’t read my webinars or podcast episodes. An occasional fluffball mistake? It goes with the territory.
Write this on a sticky note next time you present: No reading. And if you do read, make it sound as if you’re not.
3 – They tell the wrong stories.
One presenter told about the time she forgot to pick her daughter up from school because she had a business meeting Her daughter cried. After using the method she’s about to sell to us, her business changed. That won’t happen again, ever, she says.
We childfree cat ladies don’t relate to this; our cats are sitting next to us when we work from home. Anyway, that story was about her. Why didn’t she tell a more generic story about business owners?
We sometimes get stories about buyers who were wildly successful. I’m always a little suspicious. What if he sold 200 copies (or 2000) of a course and these were the only 2 successes?
At least once I’ve caught presenters telling fake stories. One told about being broke and desperate three years ago.
The problem was, I knew her three years ago. She told me her course was selling like hotcakes at the time. She was making serious money.
Webinar stories aren’t like email marketing stories. With email, you’re not chewing your pencil to splinters hoping this thing will get moving.
Email marketers can create a world we enjoy following. A good example is Lorrie Morgan on RedHotCopy.com. Her ezines are all about her life on the farm. She even had us naming her chickens for awhile. But I’m not going to spend time on a webinar learning about chickens.
By the time you’re listening, you’ve got an established relationship with the person delivering the webinar. They don’t have time to provide a lot of background. This is a time to show off your expertise, not build up empathy. It’s the “know” part of “know, like and trust.”
I don’t know if these feelings are universal. Once I typed into the chat, “It is now 20 minutes in and we still haven’t gotten anything.” They sent me a snarky reply. That’s when I decided my webinars would last just 20 minutes. If I had a more complex concept I’d either create a course or hold another webinar.
I suspect most people react differently, so feel free to write back and tell me. I just try to make my webinars fun, free and easy.
I’m giving a webinar soon (watch for it) and I hope I won’t make these mistakes. Meanwhile, please reply to this message and share your reaction. Or you can click on the survey below and tell me what you want to see. Use the comments freely and add your email if you’d like a reply.
BTW, if you want to claim credibility to position yourself as an expert, there’s a course you might like. It’s a self-study video (not talking head). You create credibility through your context, your word choices, and a lot more. Click here to learn more or purchase.
You can also check out my podcast episode on using stories for email marketing. My most recent podcast episode will show you how to use numbers effectively when you create content.