Hosting your own teleseminars, aka teleclasses, is a simple and powerful way to build credibility, trust and expertise within your marketplace. Teleseminars are also a kick-butt way to build your community, or “list”, while sharing valuable information that you love to share! But while hosting a teleseminar is fairly simple, it’s not as simple as talking into a teleconference line and hoping people will show up. I’ve done literally hundreds of telephone interviews and teleclasses and I want to share 5 simple steps that I hope will help you hold your own successful teleseminars.
1. Pick an interesting topic
The topic you choose is very important. It should be a topic that not only you are interested in sharing, but one that your ideal clients will be interested in learning more about. A great way to decide on teleseminar topics is to survey your list. You can create a simple, free online survey by going to SurveyMonkey.com. If you don’t have a list to survey just yet, don’t worry; get involved in discussion groups on Facebook, Yahoo Groups, LinkedIn, Google Groups, etc and find out what people are interested in learning more about.
2. Outline your call
The way that I like to structure my calls is by starting with a simple outline. Write down a list of questions you think your guests might want to learn more about. You want to have enough of an outline that will keep you on track and able to talk for 45-60 minutes. Don’t worry about getting this perfect; it never will be. Just be sure to deliver great content and the timing will be secondary. That being said, don’t promise a 60 minute teleseminar and then ramble on for 2 hours. Be sure to respect your listeners’ schedules.
3. Set up your conference line
You can set up a free conference line at FreeConference.com, but my favorite resource for setting up my teleseminars is InstantTeleseminar.com. Instant Teleseminar provides a higher quality recording, along with a back-up recording that has saved my butt on more than one occasion. It also allows your listeners to access the calls via webcast (computer) so that they can pop in from anywhere in the world without having to incur long distance fees. I have found that about 90% of the people who listen to my teleseminars seem to prefer the webcast feature.
4. Invite guests to attend your teleseminar
If you’re just beginning to build your community then send an invite out to friends, family and social media buddies. This is a great way for you to get the experience of holding teleclasses, get valuable feedback and build a list of people who are interested in learning more from you. Be sure to create an attention getting subject line when you send out the invitation. Your email can’t be read if it doesn’t get opened!
5. Build your Community…aka “list”
Have guests enter their name and email address on a simple sign-up page to receive the call-in details. Instant Teleseminar, and other teleconference companies, will provide you with a link to send to your guests. All they have to do is either follow the web link or call the number provided to attend the call. The best way to begin building your list is to have guests enter their name and email address in a simple sign-up form in order to receive the call-in details. This way you will also know who to follow up with for the playback link, transcription (if necessary), and any other offers you create. You can use Aweber.com to begin building your email list. Aweber will provide you with the code necessary to create your sign-up form. Then you just add that code along with a headline and details about the call to a free blog page and you have a sign-up (or “opt-in”) page ready to go.
Tips:
- Be sure to test your conference line before going live.
- Offer a “next step” coaching program or training product for guests who are on the call. This could be as simple as offering the MP3 of the call, your outline notes and a live Q&A call with you for $47-$97…or more.
- Create a series of calls and package them into an online coaching program or home study system.
- Lather, rinse and repeat. Keep practicing. Make mistakes and improve as you go.
Peace,
Tom
P.S. If you’re ready to take hosting teleseminars to the next level, you might want to create your own list-building interview series. Here’s a great resource that walks you through every single step: Interview Series Profits.
P.P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please be sure to leave a comment below and share this with a friend or colleague who might also enjoy it.
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