Posts Tagged ‘People’

Empty Webinar Room? Three Traffic Cures Before, During, After Webinar

Rangoo Srinivas asked:




Organizing a webinar is made easy with the web conferencing software that are available today. But the major problem of any webinar is to get targeted audience who are willing to watch and listen to the presentation and take appropriate action.

So what are the best ways to get traffic to webinars?

Here are some of the things you can do before, during and after the webinar.

1. Announce the webinar in advance

Before starting the webinar people have to mentally get prepared to sign up for it. They have to free up their precious time to attend the webinar that may go on for an hour or so. They will willingly do this if the topic being discussed is what they want to learn. they will do this if they know the person who is going to teach them is an expert on the subject. They will benefit more if they come mentally prepared to learn from the webinar.

All these points emphasize the fact that we should announce the webinar quite in advance. We should send one or two emails with a gap of two three days. In each email we should emphasize one aspect of the webinar.

It would be better to announce the webinar on a blog or news site. This will get people posting comments saying we are looking forward to the webinar. When are you going to announce the dates? If you get the participants to this level you can be sure they will not miss the webinar.

2. Announce a Webinar Gift

When it is nearer webinar date and when you send the email with the registration details of the webinar add the information that webinar participants will receive a special gift. There is no need to spell out what the gift is. It is good to keep them guessing rather than say too much and kill their enthusiasm. Some of the potential participants who were not sure whether to sign up or not will want to sign up for the sake of the gift. The gift could be a report, a free software, information about services that will help them speedup whatever is suggested during the webinar. Whatever is given during the webinar should have some relevance to the webinar topic. The topic discussed should be closely linked to the product being given away. This will add value to the webinar, get more traffic to the webinar and the participants will be ready to attend the next webinar without any hesitation.

3. Announce a Contest

The idea of free webinars may be to promote the sale of a product or service, to educate the company staff, to train participants of a membership site, and so on. Whether the webinars are conducted for religious purposes or internet marketing purposes, some of the basic responses of participants are common. Participants enthusiastically sign up for the webinar, at least 50% of them actively participate by asking questions and interacting with others. If the webinar had gone on well, they leave the webinar room with a lot of enthusiasm to get things done. Then they get back to their routines and 90% of the effort they have put in and the webinar organizer has put in is lost. To gain maximally from any webinar, the organizer should announce a contest at the end of the webinar. All the participants are automatically entered into the contest and a prize is announced for the winner.

This gives a valuable opportunity for the webinar expert to contact this group after the webinar is over. Again the contest and the pprize should be announced in blogs and webinar news sites. Announcing this in webinar forums is a great way to spread the message. The competition will go on for some time, then the prize will be announced and there can be a post from the prize winner about the webinar experience. This is a wonderful testimonial to the webinar that will get more people sign up for a similar webinar in future.

There are many more ways to get traffic to webinars and this article has dicussed three important traffic tactics that can be implemented before, during and after the webinar.

Lillian

How to Do Conduct Webinars Effectively

Vikas S asked:




Webinars are seminars and conferences that are conducted using web as the communicating medium. Webinars are avidly used in conducting certain business processes, mainly when offshore business processes are involved. By using webinars, corporate houses are saving a lot of time and money. While it is easy to install and use the service, there are certain practices that make webinars effective. Here are some tips that help you conduct webinars effectively-

In finding a webinar program,you can inspect the web conference database online to check for reviews on different web conferencing programs. The ones that are available at lower prices do not allow more than 15-25 users at a time. So choose a webinar service that is apt for your requirement. Have an agenda for the webinar. Taking on the webinar blindly will make the discussion obscure. This will lead to waste of time spent on the meeting and the money that goes into the webinar. Determine the number of people who are involved in the webinar. A webinar is effective when a large group is made a part of the discussion. When there are few members involved it is wiser to use audio conference call services. This reduces the time since conference calls generally involve short talks or meetings. Reserve the meeting time and date at least a week in advance and send out invites to people who are supposed to be present for the webinar meeting. After the final confirmations, send out a reminder notification about two days before the webinar meeting of conference is scheduled.

Wayne

How to Host a Webinar

Tom Cruz asked:




Hosting a successful webinar takes a few steps and a bit of research but once you have the basics you can easily host any number of webinars and have them be a success for both you and your business. Each year the use of webinars grows by close to 30% as technology makes this form of information presentation more appealing and easier to use. When looking into webinars consider the following things, not all hosts are the same, a consultant may be a wise investment, consider your webinar’s schedule, create superior quality content, and etiquette -often forgotten but often essential.

The host you choose is vital to the success of your webinar. No matter how great your content if you do not have the features you need or your content cannot be viewed it is not going to provide you with benefits and the results that you need. This is why it is important to research your host carefully. Things to look for are scalability, reliability, and the ability to work with a wide variety of technologies. Having the latest and greatest is great but if you cannot get your video to the people who need to see because the technology is too different your webinar may not be as successful as you may like.

Consider the benefits of a consultant. Consultants can help you to put together your webinar in a way that helps to maximize the potential of success and viability. They can help you tailor your content and presentation to make it easier to present on the web and make it more web and user friendly. They help to make the transition into using webinars easy from start to finish.

The dates and times you offer your webinar are just as important as the content provided. If you are offering your webinar to UK viewers and you set your schedule to Eastern Standard Time and set it for 4pm you may find a decided lack of viewers since this is around 9pm in the UK. The same goes for setting up a schedule with Pacific Time at 3pm this makes it 6pm in Eastern Standard Time. This is why the times and dates of your webinar are essential if you are looking to market it to individuals who would be taking it during normal business hours. If you were looking to make it available for home use you would need to consider hours outside the normal business schedule.

Content is everything in a webinar so it is important that you present information that is well researched, well organized and above all relevant to the topic being presented. You want to supply information at a speed that is going to allow retention but still allow you to get everything you want to present into the presentation.

Etiquette is something many people forget on the web. This is because the web is the world of short hand and abbreviations. However, such abbreviations should be avoided. Arrive on time to your webinar, make sure to maintain politeness such as welcome, please and thank you and as a courtesy consider supplying materials that show how to use each of the function to make it easier for people to benefit from your presentation.

Debra

The Conference Call Is Widely Used By Many Businesses

MIKE SELVON asked:




During the last thirty years, the conference calling services have transformed from being a tool used primarily by large businesses to being something that is widely used by businesses of any size, as well as by private groups and even families. Conference calling has become so common these days that almost all of the new models of cell phones have a built in function that supports small conference calls.

Gone are the days when you had to have some massive, specialized and expensive equipment in order to host conference calls. These days, there is a good selection of low cost teleconferencing equipment that is affordable for virtually any company. Not only that, but there are even small groups and organizations, and even families, who can easily justify the small cost of teleconferencing equipment in order to make it easier for everyone in the group to stay in touch.

There are a number of different conference call equipment systems available on the market today. The conference call equipment that can handle hundreds of people calling into the system can cost thousands of dollars.

Yet, there are also smaller models designed to sit on a conference table, allowing a number of people in the room to hear and talk at the same time. This small teleconferencing equipment can be purchased for less than $100.

No matter what the cost, it does not take long to justify the expense because most of the time conference calls are replacing off-site meetings, which might be across the country or even across the ocean. These days, a teleconference is a very viable alternative to travel and it can save a company thousands of dollars just in a single month, if they are accustomed to sending many employees traveling around the globe on a regular basis.

In addition to buying equipment to host your own teleconference, there are also many teleconferencing services provided by companies that invest tens of thousands of dollars in the equipment. These teleconference services then allow companies to essentially rent their equipment and typically charge a fee based on how long the teleconference will last and how many people will be calling in.

Some of these services provide an 800 number so that the participants can call in without incurring long distance charges. In this instance, the company booking the service pays a “per minute” fee for each person who calls in on the 800 line.

This arrangement is a very good way to conduct conference calls that are held in order to do a sales presentation to prospective clients. Many times, clients will simply not call in to listen to a presentation if they have to pay for the long distance call. Having them call a toll-free 800 number makes a better impression and sends a message to the client about how they will be treated in the long run when dealing with the company.

Many small companies and organizations like to use the conference calling services that are completely free. This allows those in a group to call into a free teleconferencing number at a time that has been reserved by the person organizing the call. There are no fees or charges for using these free services, but in most cases people need to call into a phone number that would incur long distance charges.



Glen

Things to Know Before Going for Video Conferencing

KAMS asked:




The video conferencing advantage

Most businesses require both employers and employees to do frequent corporate traveling to attend meeting and seminars. Imagine the difficulty in traveling to attend conferences around the world. You have to put up with all the tension and spend valuable time and money traveling to the place and coming back. Think about the money you need to spend on travel expenses like flight tickets, hotel and dining expense. You can avoid these by setting up a multipoint video conference facility which can allow communication from different parts of the world without any hustle or bustle. In this way you can spare more time and money for your employees. Setting up a conference system may be an expensive affair, it depends on the how complex it is. But there is a lot of long term advantages in terms of time, money and stress saved.

Things to check before buying and installing the system

Before getting into the process of installing the system, you need to do a lot of research on the Internet about video conferencing. Based on this you should decide the right system for your business. Then comes the job of selecting a suitable software according to your requirements. You need to consider whether it is a multipoint video conference or point to point conference while deciding the software. Take care to get the the software from a recognized dealer. Most companies will send technicians for installing and giving you the tips on how to use the system. Make sure you clear all your doubts about how to operate and troubleshoot. After installing software and running the system you should check whether your cameras can scan all regions of your conference hall. Also see that there are enough microphones and whether you can hear the audio from all microphones equally well. Pay attention to lighting, all parts of the room should be well lit. You don’t want to see people hidden in darkness during the video conference.

Your video conference hardware

Your video conference kit can range from simple systems where a codec is placed on top of a monitor to more complex systems meant for huge boardrooms and seminar halls. Such complex systems require installation and setup by specialist technicians. The other hardware for your video conferencing kit is the carrier. A carrier does the job of communicating data between any two systems on the conferencing network. You can use ISDN telephone networks or IP networks.

ISDN can be used as carrier if the co



Jacob

Video Conferencing – How to Conduct a Successful Webinar

Cheow Yu Yuan asked:




Video conferencing is taking the market by storm and more businesses are using it to conduct webinars and meetings. The reason why video conferencing is so popular is because it saves travelling cost. With this, business owners do not need to travel to overseas for a face-to-face meeting anymore – they can sit in front of their computer screens and conduct meetings with their associates.

In this article, let me share with you some tips to conduct a successful webinar:

1. Set up your conferencing equipments properly. To hold a successful webinar, you must get the equipments in place. The quality of the equipments is very important as it will directly affect your video. For example, if you use a low pixel camera, the video output will be grainy.

2. Avoid slow Internet connection. The most common reason why webinars fail is because of slow internet connectivity. Your connection speed should be at least 3mbps.

3. Prepare yourself for the webinar. Before you conduct a webinar, you need to prepare. Plan out the agenda and things that you want to share with your participants. Also, familiarize yourself with the video conferencing platform so that you can guide your participants. If you have one bad experience, you should not give up on video conferencing. Practice makes perfect. By holding more webinars, you will improve and become proficient at it.

4. Send out your invitation early. You need to send out invitations to your guests at least 2 weeks before the actual date. If you are holding a commercial webinar, you should consider advertising it. By building buzz around it, you can attract more people to attend it.

5. Try your best to engage your audience. If your webinar is boring, people will leave. Even if you are using it to pitch your product or service to a potential customer, you must make your presentation as engaging as possible. Again, this takes practice. Do not give up just because of a few bad experiences.

6. Set a convenient time for your audience. One main reason why people don’t turn up for your webinar is because it is set at your local timing. You must set a time that is convenient to your target audience, not for yourself.

7. Build rapport with your audience. When you are conducting a webinar, it is not the time to be shy. You must be comfortable with people and bring across your point to them. Be it a sales webinar or shareholders meeting, you need to make a great impression in their minds.

Video conferencing is definitely the way to conduct presentations and meetings. So get yourself comfortable in front of a video camera and start holding webinars now.

Rodney

The Cost of Webinars

Tom Cruz asked:




The cost of hosting a webinar can vary widely. It can vary widely not only from company to company, it can vary widely just from one company program to another. Good webinar hosting vendors offer a range of programs so that different businesses can choose those that best match their needs, niche, size, and marketing bank account.

Due to the fact that they are considered one of the cream of the crop of webinar hosting vendors, let’s look at the different costs for different programs offered by Webex.

Webex were one of the first companies to get into the webinar game. As a result they have considerable experience with webinars and therefore they can be expected to have competitive pricing on relevant webinar packages.

One of their packages is the Special Meetings Plus package. They advertise that this begins as low as $59 per month. If you take this package, you can get: unlimited numbers of hosted monthly webinars from your computer to which you can invite up to 25 people each; the ability to webcam, share presentations and docs, and demo applications with your attending audience; and have VoIP or telecoms included in the price. Different other features can be added for additional cost. Webex advertises that this program is $59 per month is you pay for a year up front.

To this plan can be added a service that might be extremely important to many business owners: WebEx Support Center. With this, you can get a Technical Support Representative (TSR) who can remotely view, diagnose, and solve problems for you online. These TSRs can also transfer customer files for off-line analysis, or, with permission, control the customer’s desktop to download patches and updates. You can order anywhere from one to four TSR “seats” to service you. Depending on how many TSRs you ask for and whether or not you pay for one quarter or a full year in advance, this WebEx Support Center service will cost you anywhere from $149 per month to $689 per month.

With WebEx MeetMeNow, you can pay just $49 per month or, for a one-year contract, just $39 per month to get unlimited monthly meetings that may include up to 15 people at once in a WebEx Meeting Center webinar.

For those who are afraid of commitment, there’s the WebEx Pay-Per-Use program, which permits you to use WebEx Meeting Center on an as-needed basis with no minimum cost. For this, you’ll pay $0.33 per minute per participant and an additional $0.20 per minute flat rate for live integration of audio, video, and data sharing.

WebEx also offers a PCNow service that permits you to access your computer and everything on it remotely. This can be highly useful for a one-on-one web meeting. This costs $12.95 per month.

Sales and promotional services, help with marketing and putting together webinars, and the Webex Training Center are all available to be had as add-on services for additional cost.

So, as you can see, the cost of webinars varies widely and your particular needs and objectives have to be taken into consideration.

Vernon

Video Conferencing: A Productivity Tool To Boost Business Profits

Jim Brown asked:




For both small and large businesses, video conferencing is becoming one of the leading tools for communication. Video conferencing is a form of telecommunication that utilizes both audio and video for a virtual meeting. This basically involves either two people having a simple conversation referred to as P2P or point to point or it could be multi-point involving several different locations with many people linked together for the virtual meeting.

As technological advances continue to improve in the field of video conferencing, more and more businesses are trying to integrate this communication tool into their communication systems. But some may be hesitant to upgrade their system especially if they are not too familiar with how this type of system works and on whether or not it brings numerous benefits to their specific type of business. Your business’ particular situation though may benefit from the advantages that video conferencing has to offer.

Businesses that have multiple offices at various locations both locally or worldwide can benefit from video conferencing. In such a scenario, it is not uncommon to have regular regional meetings where office or department managers may have to travel to a particular location to take part in such. Apart from the travel expenses, pre-meeting preparations such as the paperwork to be distributed, emailed or post mailed can cost money as well and have to be considered too. Both time and money are saved if meetings are held via video conferencing with all the pertinent information needed to be taken up being displayed on the screen and all parties involved being able to interact even without being physically present in one room.

Video Conferencing can assist as well in your dealings with business partners, investors and those who you potentially think will be interested in doing business with you, most especially if they are located abroad. Important business matters can be easily discussed without having to schedule a meeting that requires some partners or associates to travel. You not only get full access to all of your business materials, you save money on travel and lodging expenses.

Many businesses are beginning to incorporate this technology and so you should consider installing a video conferencing system as well. Video conferencing equipment prices are starting to decrease and as more businesses are using such a technology to conduct regular virtual meetings, sooner or later you may have to upgrade your communication system as well.



Ernest

How Does a Webinar Work?

Tom Cruz asked:




A webinar is a fairly simple application. In fact, not only does it make a great deal of sense but also is a convenient way to present a great deal of information to a large number of people. There are a number of different ways that a webinar can work.

Normally, a webinar consists of an on demand or life feed. Webinars that are on demand are usually pre recorded. Individuals register then log on to video the video. As the business, you pay so much to host the webinar and as a viewer, they pay so much to view it.

If a phone conference is involved this also usually requires a separate log on though voice over IP options are available. Many people prefer phone conferences because of the option of speakerphone and projection technology. This means they can have several people view and participate under the same account.

Live feeds work slightly differently than on demand. While the presentation may be the same, the difference is in timing. With on demand everyone can be prepared and even ready to go prior to logging on to view the video. With live feed options, it works a little differently. There is usually a request made at the beginning to ensure everyone has logged on and is ready. Live feed usually allows for a small delay to get everything started. This delay is usually not necessary for on demand since it can be requested and viewed whenever the viewers are ready.

There are some other differences to consider between live feed and on demand. With on demand if necessary the video, which has been pre-recorded, can be paused if necessary to accommodate discussion. Live feed may or may not be willing to make such a pause. There may be a request that discussion wait until the end of the presentation for questions.

Webinars have a number of different ways that they can work. The method depends on what exactly is being presented and what is necessary in order to make a successful presentation. If you have a number of people from a number of different locations that need to view the presentation at the same time, on demand may be a better way to handle your webinars.

If however, you are making presentations to select groups that are going to be gathering at a single location then you may want to consider using a live feed. Webinars are designed to provide a way to present information in an interactive manner to a group of individuals. It allows people from any location provided they have access to the video and the necessary conferencing software or equipment, such as a phone. Webinars provide a great way to bridge the gap of distance, still allow interactions and provide you with a way to present information in a methods that is more likely to be retained by those viewing the presentations. This makes webinars an important new learning and business tool.

Andre

How Much Does a Webinar Cost – Basic Considerations

Tom Cruz asked:




Many people who may be looking into webinars are also going to be looking into what it costs to make a webinar part of the offerings of the company or part of the resources for the company. Many companies have considered webinars as a way of presenting materials for training purposes. It also works well for individuals who are working through telecommuting methods and who may not be able to reach a training location. They can still have the information presented to them in an interactive and engaging manner.

It goes without saying that interactive methods such as webinars are going to be more expensive than simply putting a video on a video sharing site or posting it to a locked site to only allow people to view it with a password. There are a number of considerations that are taken into consideration with webinars, which are not necessary with standard video presentations.

The first consideration is live feed or on demand. Depending on the hosting site and the features you want you may find that live feed or on demand have considerable price differences. You may find in some instances that on demand is actually cheaper than live feed. Features may be presented as packages or may be presented as individual additions, which need to be added to the base fee for hosting. Live feed videos also require the staff to produce those live videos each time the video is viewed.

On demand videos can simply be recorded once and stored. In many cases on demand videos are going to be more cost effective since they only require a single recording session. The cost of a webinar is also going to include interactive features.

Normally a video on a video sharing site for example, will only have a comment section. They are not designed to be interactive but merely to be viewed. Even on demand videos are going to have some form of interactive aspect. They will have a chat room, a phone conference, voice over IP capabilities and in the cases of webinars there is usually someone available to answer questions during the presentation even if there is not a live presenter.

Pricing plans are also different from webinars from traditional hosting. In many cases webinars are priced based on seating and bandwidth. This means there is either a monthly flat rate for so much bandwidth and so many seats or the cost is split between the number of seats, which is usually limited to a certain number per viewing. Viewings may also be limited to a certain number a month.

There is also a pricing plan that deals with per person per minute. This means it charges a certain rate per minute per person of viewing. In these instances the number of available slots can be high per viewing and features may or may not be included. The price per minute varies.

When looking at the overall price it may seem like an expensive prospect from development to implementation. However, if you consider the benefits over the long term you may be surprised how quickly you cannot only make back your investment but how it can actually save you a considerable amount of money over the long run.

Alicia
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