Online events (namely, teleseminars and webinars) can be useful for marketing purposes, but they can also be useful sources of profit. I have used the teleseminar format in numerous ways over the years. I’ve held a number of free events as a way to attract new prospects and gather contact information. I’ve also used this format for hosting classes.
For example, I held an eight-week marketing course for authors via a weekly one-hour teleseminar. I delivered it in lecture format, allowed participants to ask questions at the end, and I even assigned homework. Not only did this attract new prospects, it was a profitable venture thanks to the students who attended live and those who purchased the recordings after the course was over.
Since 2010, I have also held a nonfiction writers’ conference, conducted entirely via teleseminar. It includes 18 speakers over three days, and each speaker gives an hour-long lecture on a specific topic.
The conference involves a tremendous amount of work to put it all together, invite speakers, coordinate details with them, write the sales copy, promote the event, handle registrations, conduct the actual calls for three straight days, have everything transcribed, and set up a shopping cart. I couldn’t do it without the help of a savvy assistant who is much better at detail-oriented work than I am! Every year, it has been a profitable venture that attracts new clients, allows me to connect with some top authorities when I invite them to speak, garners some media coverage, and results in a set of recordings that I continue to sell online.
I have always wondered why more people don’t conduct classes or conferences online. It allows you to reach an audience around the globe and can be quite lucrative. Yes, there can be some work involved, especially if you hold a large event, but there’s work involved in just about anything that is worthwhile!
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Hi Stephanie,
I found your article very interesting.
I’ve thought about this for years but have been intimidated by the technology as well as how to market whatever program I come up with.
I am an author of a women’s history book, Female Adventurers: the women who helped colonize Massachusetts and Connecticut. I do Power Point presentations about my books, about the challenges of researching the 17th century and a couple of others subjects. I also teach autobiographical writing.
I just haven’t come up with the right plan that would be personal enough. I feel the personal contact of being right there in front of an audience (in costume) sells the book. The other subjects certainly could lend themselves to online products.
Alice