Webinars are a great way to establish expertise, expand your sphere of influence, and begin building valuable relationships.

Today on Above the Noise, Luke Acree offers three tips for hosting a webinar that will accomplish each of these goals.

Video Transcription

Webinars are a great way to establish yourself as an expert on a topic, make new connections, and build trust in your brand. But that’s only going to happen if you put in a lot of work up front.

Tip #1: Pick a unique topic.

This means having a real awareness of what your target audience has been talking about, as well as what you can add to that conversation. You need to identify their pain points, find ways to solve those pain points, and then determine ways to inject your personality into the mix. For example, it’s not enough to say you’re going to help people get leads. You need to prove that. Have a plan for getting there, and give your prospects a little taste of what to expect in your marketing materials. That way, they’ll be sure to tune in.

Tip #2: Know your topic inside and out.

Now, this might sound like a given, but trust me when I tell you that you really need to prepare. When you’re hosting a webinar, it’s not enough to have a nicely designed, informative slide—you need to be able to supplement those slides with your own expertise and your own experiences. In other words, you have to provide examples of what these strategies will look like in the real world, or else you’re going to risk the chance of not resonating with your audience. You should also be prepared to do a Q&A at the end of your presentation.  When you demonstrate this level of expertise, it’s going to go a long way in gaining trust, which ultimately means building relationships and increasing sales.

Tip #3: Plan for your follow up.

Between researching your topic, putting slides together, and marketing your event, you’re expending a lot of time and energy—not to mention money—so you’ll want to get the most out of your investment. One thing you’ll definitely want to do is require registration, whether that’s through a signup form on your website or simply asking people to email you ahead of time to RSVP. Then, closer to the actual presentation, you can send them the link they’ll need to view it. This part is really important, because you’re going to want to send an email later to follow up with your viewers. After your presentation, send them a recording of what they just watched, along with something else of value. It could be a discount on one of your products, or you could even include a digital copy of your magazine. The next time you host a webinar, those same people will be among the first to sign up, along with their friends and colleagues—who they’ll be sure to tell about the tremendous value you provided.

The takeaway

And that’s it! Now you have three actionable pieces of advice for hosting a webinar that will help you build lasting, profitable relationships. If you liked this video, comment below and let us know. Subscribe to this YouTube channel, and hit the bell icon to be notified when new videos are released. But, most importantly, take action on this today!