Host Your Own Webinar

Webinars…in our constantly evolving world, we have seen different innovations that our grandparents never anticipated in their greatest and most creative imagination; the internet and all the magic that came with it.

 I would have not predicted hosting live meetings from the top of my bed or attending one on a lazy Saturday morning while drinking a cup of tea in my pyjamas. For those of you who slept through 2012 and haven’t heard of it, a webinar is a method of conducting a meeting, presentation or training session over the Internet so instead of traveling to an office or business for a formal meeting, your computer becomes the conference room thereby removing the cost of travel, and allowing you to reach a larger global audience without even meeting them one on one. 

With a webinar meeting, you can share your desktop files and your computer's applications with any and all participants, and you can even allow them to move objects around on your computer desktop--and you can do the same with them.

Though the dependence on the speed of your brandwidth, taking into consideration our environment, becomes major setback of webinars, I’m still of the opinion that the webinar technology is a powerful sales and marketing tool.

Hosting a webinar is easier than you think, so I will work you through the steps.

Choose a topic and develop quality substance for your presentation. The first step to hosting a webinar is developing the content or substance for your webinar. Choose a topic with a wide appeal to a variety of individuals. You may want a guest speaker who is an expert in the particular field or perhaps hire a consultant to help develop your ideas.

Choose a webinar hosting company. Several webinar hosting companies exist. These companies offer different services for different prices. Do careful research to find the company that best fits your needs. I have found some easy to use webinar software you can try out, free, “freemium” and premium platforms. See which suits you.

Anymeeting http://www.anymeeting.com/

Meetingburner http://www.meetingburner.com/

Instant Presenter http://www.instantpresenter.com/

Go To Meeting http://www.gotomeeting.com.au/

Market your webinar to people interested in your topic. Social networking websites, like Facebook and Linkedin, are a great way to promote your webinar and invite people interested in your topic. These websites allow you to invite individuals who are already in your personal network free of cost. Suggest that those in your network forward the invitation on to people in their networks. This strategy is great for "viral" marketing.

Becoming a Writer Online

Let’s face it, we have all wanted to write books or start magazines at some point in our lives or in my case, short stories. This dream however is lost in a fit to survive our harsh environment.

 We find the day starting and ending without us even picking up a pen, or even feeling the motivation to write. Social media, the promising solution to this problem along with easily mobile gadgets makes our environment more “write” friendly, now, we can write while even taking a shower.

 The next hurdle to cross is how to start. Is it a blog, a newsletter, an article, or magazine? You have to know how or is it where to start?

The first step is to understand your message, what exactly are you selling? Information, products or you are just using the internet are your diary; you still need a catchy name that defines your topic. And please pick a topic you know a lot about or have passion for, if not you will find yourself staring at a blank sheet hoping it writes itself.

Your name would work better if you include search engine words. For instance, if your brand name is krazen ltd and you produce “beans” and u pick your title as “krazen Nigeria Ltd” really? How do you expect people looking for “beans” to find you? Try including beans or food in your title. “9jafoodie” for a beans company is a green light

Have a defined audience and clear purpose. Now you understand what your message is, you also have to decide who you want to attract, where they are, their age blanket and so on. You have to understand your target before you can reach them

Next you have to create a house for your babies. You have decided if its an article, a story or a magazine. Understanding the platforms that conforms to it helps to maximize you reach. Most of the online platforms can work for the different forms of writing, some better than others. For instance, stories look better on blogs.

You have to ensure that the information you give your fans is valuable, useful and pertinent to what you stand for. This will enable you build trust and subsequently loyalty.

 Consistence is key