As we have written about (along with many others who have likely giving you small business advice), one of the best new ways of talking to customers and potential clients is by doing seminars and webinars. But what are the advantages of having live seminars over virtual/online seminars and training sessions? Having the choice available for attendees is key.
First, having your attendees in the same room as you are gives you the chance to truly interact with them. But it also provides more networking opportunities for your attendees with others. People are more likely to network more closely with others in person rather than online. We are, after all, social creatures. When you have people coming to your seminar or training session, you have a greater opportunity to gather more information about them and potentially turn them into long-term customers for your business – simply because of the information and the personal connection you have made during the networking portion of your seminar.
We all know the cost benefits of delivering training to a remote audience through virtual real-time sessions. But why not have some attendees physically at your seminar and some watching a live feed. Questions from online attendees can be handled through various methods and apps, thus making them feel they are truly part of your seminar or training session. It is imperative that, when delivering a seminar to a live audience and to virtual attendees, you need to maintain interest by engaging with them.
One incentive to attendees that are either physically at the seminar room or participating online, is to offer a post-seminar recording of the event. Offer to post the recording online via a download link that will be emailed to them once it has been uploaded. This also ensures that you have the proper email address of attendees. The recording should include graphics and images used to demonstrate your key points. But it should also include logs of any chat portions of the seminar and live questions that were asked.
Besides the recording of the live event, you may also want have a downloadable transcript of the seminar and the questions and answers. Holding back the download for a few days after your live event gives you a chance to have the transcript available and properly proofread.
Another great use for the recording of the seminar and having the transcript, is to help market future seminars and training room sessions. Create a few snippets of the key points of the recording for free download on your website (as long as they provide you with an email address) and allow paid subscribers who have signed up for your next seminar to download the entire recording.
Other ways of promoting your content is to set expiry deadlines for downloads or offer the full download to the first 20 or 50 people who sign up for the next seminar. This creates a sense of urgency to sign up and get additional content. You can also use promotional ‘freebees’ or ‘giveaways’ for the people who are the first so many to sign up. If you take this approach, be sure to let your potential audience know that each seminar is unique and that the content will vary. That way, they do not think the download will be the same as the seminar they are signing up for.
You may also want to find incentives for getting your live audience to attend in-person rather than online (and not just for some free refreshments or snacks). You want to give them a “Thank You” gift for showing up and participating. Having that live in-person audience will really help to create the enthusiasm for your seminar. And perhaps someone who attends virtually will want to be at your next live event.
When planning a seminar with a live group of attendees, be sure to select a location that specializes in seminars and training sessions – one that has both in-person and online attendees. Telsec Business Centres has the most up-to-date technology in its seminar training rooms with the best equipment and the speediest internet connections that you need to satisfy all of the needs of your attendees, whether live or online.