Posted by Kaitlin Erickson on Wed, Sep 01, 2010 @ 02:53 PM
Can it be done? Absolutely!
Above is a shot of BeaconLive Web, the program our customers use to plan, create and perform their webinars or web conferences. Along with being fully brand-able (see "Upload your custom image and message here) BeaconLive web allows speakers and participants to respond to each other, download provided handouts and even the slides presented in the webinar.
When debuting a new product or service, a webinar could be successfully used whether you are directing your statements toward prospective or loyal customers. Torry Burdick, senior vice president, Marketing, Mortgage Success Source, said "We have used free webinars in the past to provide content to our audience, but recently we began using them in our marketing. They are proving to be an excellent way for us to showcase our expertise to our prospect audience as well as cross sell our existing subscribers new products." Additionally intertwining interesting content with an advertising campaign will expand value of the webinar to your organization. (Also check out the "Branding your Webinar" post below)
Constructing a webinar with marketing purposes allows the speaker (you!) to express your passion revolving around the product through a live video. Instead of simply using a press release or a brochure, your customers are hearing the information from a credible and authentic source. Additionally when using screen sharing features, you could even demonstrate the product right in front of each attendee's eyes!
Have you marketed your product via a webinar before? Did you see any good results? We want to hear!
Levine, Ronn. "SIPA’s 10 for ’10." Web log post. Sipaonline.com. 24 Aug. 2010. Web. 1 Sept. 2010.
Posted by Kaitlin Erickson on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 @ 10:38 AM
Whilst browsing Twitter posts this morning I stumbled upon a detailed list of Steve Job's presentation secrets....
1. Begin by storyboarding your presentation. Steve Jobs will initially spend his preparation time brainstorming, sketching and whiteboarding before he every opens PowerPoint. All of the elements of the story that he wants to tell are thought through, elements are planned and collected before the slides are created.
2. Create a single sentence description for every service/idea.Concise enough to fit in a 140-character Twitter post. An example, for the introduction of the MacBook Air in January, 2008, Jobs said that is it simply, “The world’s thinnest notebook.”
3. Create a villain that allows the audience to rally around the hero—you and your product/service. A “villain” doesn’t necessarily have to be a direct competitor. It can be a problem in need of a solution.
4. Focus on benefits. Your audience only care about how your service will improve their lives. Make the connection for your prospective clients. Don’t make them make that mental leap leaving them to figure it out for themselves.
5. Stick to the rule of three for presentations. Almost every Jobs presentation is divided into three parts. You might have twenty points to make about your service, but your audience is only capable of retaining three or four points in short term memory. Give them too many points and they’ll forget everything you’ve said.
**BeaconLive Tip- Use the elevator pitch technique. (explained here) to initially hook your audience's attention.
6. Sell dreams, not your services. Steve Jobs doesn’t sell computers. He sells the promise of a better world. When Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001, he said, “In our own small way we’re going to make the world a better place.” Where most people see the iPod as a music player, Jobs sees it as tool to enrich people’s lives.
7. Create visual slides. There are no bullet points in Steve Jobs presentations. Instead he relies on photographs and images. When Steve Jobs unveiled the Macbook Air, Apple’s ultra-thin notebook computer, he showed a slide of the computer fitting inside a manila inter-office envelope. Keep the presentation that simple.
8. Make numbers meaningful. Jobs always puts large numbers into a context that’s relevant to his audience. The bigger the number, the more important it is to find analogies or comparisons that make the data relevant to your audience.
9. Use plain English. Jobs’s language is remarkably simple. He rarely, if ever, will use the jargon that clouds most presentations—terms like “best of breed” or “synergy.” His language is simple, clear and direct.
**BeaconLive Tip- Define your audience before you decide what type of language to use! If you are presenting a webinar to a group of engineers, it would be absolutely acceptable to be using mathematical terms. Use jargon that will be best understood, but also be careful not to dumb- down what you want to say.
10. Practice, practice, practice. Steve Jobs spends hours rehearsing every facet of his presentation. Every slide is written like a piece of poetry, every presentation staged like a theatrical experience. Yes, Steve Jobs makes a presentation look effortless but that polish comes after hours and hours of grueling practice.
**BeaconLive Tip- Use the Stickies program (as mentioned in the 'How to: Get Involved with a Webinar' post) to keep little reminders or notes on your screen when you're presenting.
("Steve Jobs: 10 Presentation Tactics for Ad Agency New Business." Web log post. Fuel Lines. 13 Aug. 2010. Web. 18 Aug. 2010.)
With reading these tips, Steve Jobs was transformed from the omnipotent Apple CEO into a distinguished conductor. Orchestrating his presentations in a simple and straightforward way without the attempt to make a direct sale, causes his presentations to be enjoyable and even entertaining to attend. Applying these words of advise to your presentations, adding your own creative flair and expertise, will ensure that you put on an educational and useful event.
What do you do to optimize the enjoyment/interest factor of your web events?
Posted by Kaitlin Erickson on Thu, Aug 05, 2010 @ 08:08 AM
So you have all your materials set up, PowerPoints are polished and pretty, speakers are prepared and the content is dynamic and interesting. Great! You have the potential and components for a terrific webinar. In fact, that may essentially be your only goal. On the other hand, wouldn't you want to transform the webinar attendees to into a loyal customer base? Of course! A respected attendee is a happy attendee, and is also more likely to feel faithful to your company in the future.
First of all let's set up a scenario here. Let's say that the popular software and computer technologies company, Bapple, wants to put on a webinar about running a successful corporate community service project. They are not trying to sell any products or services, they just want their webinar attendees to learn from the experiences they have had with charitable fundraisers. By the way, this is a free webinar.
But Bapple is the brain behind this webinar, and they want their listeners to know that! As a company, they want to publicize that 1. They are a charitable corporation, 2. They are willing to pass their knowledge on to others, thus showing how generous they are, 3. They are more than a computer company and 4. They are thought leaders in other sectors of society as well. Using sentences beginning with “Here at Bapple…”, “At Bapple we believe that…” and so on, companies make it clear whose ideas are being represented in the webinar without pushing their brand upon the listeners.
To peak attendee interest in their company, Bapple will also make sure that their logos, brand name and motto will not only visible on the PowerPoint slides, but will be mentioned verbally by their speakers. Doing this discreetly and sparingly is ideal, because through a webinar you do not want to force your brand in any way, shape or form. Additionally take an aside from your topic and invite your audience to participate in the conversation on your company’s social media sites. Utilizing these free advertising outlets gets the discussion going on outside your business, directly to and between your potential customers.
How do you advertise your brand through webinars? Let us know!
Posted by Kaitlin Erickson on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 @ 11:21 AM
When is the last time you were more than an arms length away from your cell phone? What about in a room without a computer within your sight? It's scary to say but I'm going to declare that the average human being in this world today is addicted to social technology.
Last week, on my traffic laden commute home from work, I heard on the radio that one-third of women aged 18-34 check their Facebook account within minutes of waking up. And that a larger 39% are self-confessed "Facebook addicts". One listener even called in to fess up that she meticulously checks her Facebook around 150 times per day! After this shocking broadcast, I really got to contemplating and recalled this hilarious and insightful YouTube video....
Though funny, this video represents a frightening shift in our social lives. The way these social media sites are changing social actions is unbelievable. Being someone's "friend" is completely defamed, and now you can (and often are) "friends" with strangers and businesses. It's sad, but the majority of our society that is hooked into the social online universe leaves those who resist in their digital dust.
Now this can't all be negative right?! Brands and corporations have developed relationships through Facebook, Twitter and the like and the effect is absolutely phenomenal (and often profitable)! In the article here, the Boston Globe reports how Boston's Logan Airport is using social media. Travelers often tweet back and forth with Logan Airport and initiate conversations revolving around plane delays, issues inside the airport and their own specific travel plans. This sort of interaction humanizes the brand, giving it a personality, thoughts and opinions. In this way, people feel more connected and loyal, as if they were actually friends with Logan Airport, Whole Foods, or BeaconLive!
Now with stating what I believe to be the positive and negative sides of this marketing and social revolution, I have to make a strong, persuasive closing argument. The most important quality to have, in your personal and business life, is the aspect of balance and supplementation. In order to avoid morphing into an agoraphobic hermit, be sure to actually see, meet up, talk to (with voices!) and be in the company of your peers. Additionally in your business life, I recommend to communicate outside of e-mail or memos and use live-feed webinars, real time screen sharing and conference calling. Culminating to my standpoint, giving yourself and your ideas a face increases your potential for success, happiness and connection to the actual world!
Posted by Kaitlin Erickson on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 @ 10:18 AM
Happy Thursday everyone!
Now I have been eavesdropping, maybe even spying, on some of our competitors and I'm seeing one topic that has gone untouched- how to get the most out of a webinar, as the listener. Of course the role of the speaker is infinitely important and takes devotion, time and effort, yet time is money people and if you are going to hunker down in your cube (or from the comforts of your own home, poolside chaise lounge or inner tube) you might as reap as much knowledge as possible.
See! Look how ecstatic he is...while underwater, and with no scuba gear! Webinars, folks, they make you happy.
Anyway sorry from straying from the main topic here...So the question is, how can you, as the listener get the most of the information being presented to you? My suggestions and tips are as follows...
1. Be prepared. Obviously something about this webinar caught your eye, so identify what it is and do some research on it. (Using the Google: News search engine is great. You get the most recent articles and opinions of your topic.) This will be most beneficial during the Q&A session when the speaker offers an allotted amount of time to field questions from his audience.
2. Get comfortable. About twenty minutes before the webinar is schedule to start, take a break! Grab a latte and a scone and take a brisk walk around the office. Too much time behind a computer can cause you to zone out and that's exactly what you don't want to happen when you are trying to soak up all those facts and insights.
3. Plug in some headphones. Distractions are everywhere from ringing phones to chatty office-mates to screaming babies and barking pups.
4. Take notes! Nowadays I like to stay as far away as I can from the evil college ruled notebooks, and as close as I can to my beloved keyboard. I find that using Stickies are the most helpful. For my Mac users out there, just search for 'stickies" in the upper right hand corner of your screen and the app will pop up. For the PC people, click here to go the site where you can download this amazing program. With these you can type up for notes expeditiously, and keep the virtual post-it right next to the webinar window. So convenient!
5. Be engaged! The polls are there so the speaker can adapt his content to what his audience wants to hear, so utilize this tool and pick the best answer you can! Also, at the end take the extra fifteen minutes or so and take the questions or comments you dreamed up (and recorded on your Stickies!) and let the speaker hear what you have to say.
I want to know what you do to prep for a webinar or any meeting really. Quirky and even strange rituals will be appreciated and most likely even talked about!
Enjoy the beautiful day!
Posted by Kaitlin Erickson on Mon, Jul 19, 2010 @ 11:49 AM
...Roughly translated, "I blog, therefore I am." Poor Descartes, merely thinking will not position you among any thought leaders in our web-savvy, net-obsessed society.
To get us started, we want to hear your thoughts on this article here. Sure we know that everyone loves (or should love!) to recycle, but making businesses, including ours, sustainable has proved to be a tricky feat. The link above will give you some easy tips to reshape your business atmosphere and ultimately save the universe and all of mankind. We're sure society will find some way to thank you.
Simply, we are basically here to share. Sharing articles, thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams, passions, et cetera, et cetera. Yes, we are a web conferencing and webinar service, but we are finding our place out here in the blogosphere to communicate, learn, engage and be engaged.
Well we want to keep this introductory post short and sweet so we're going to wrap it up now. Through this blog we want to communicate with professionals and entrepreneurs around the globe, see what they are talking about and learn from each other. We want you to get to know us, just as much as we want to know you!
Talk to you soon!
-The BeaconLive Team