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| | The Un-Marketing Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts | | I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | Views: 2689 | | Jun 27, 2006 2:20 pm | | I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | |
Do you offer Tele-Seminars? What's your experience?
When's the best time to schedule the teleseminars? What length should they be? Do you allow time for Q & A?
How much do you charge? What's the best conference system to use? How much does it cost to record them?
Do you have tips for me?
We are getting overloaded with requests to offer tele-seminars. We are exploring this option, but require a crash course on what pitfalls to avoid, what to do, and how to do this successfully!
Your professional advice is greatly appreciated!
Nancy Houle
www.trainingbusinesspros.comPrivate Reply to Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | | Jun 27, 2006 2:47 pm | | re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Scott Stratten | | Hi Nancy!
Always happy to help a fellow Torontonian!
Do you offer Tele-Seminars?
Yes, have for years. Nothing beats doing a seminar in your housecoat! (You could also do this at a live venue, but people look at you really funny)
What's your experience?
Great way to reach people and create a recorded product!
When's the best time to schedule the teleseminars?
Really depends on the audience. General public has usually leaned towards the evening ones, where a business audience goes for the during the day side. Also keeping time zone in mind I usually hit 2pm EST, so everyone is around, coast-to-coast (in North America).
What length should they be?
I aim for an hour max.... people just don't want to be on the phone for an extended marathon.
Do you allow time for Q & A?
I usually get the conference line for 90 minutes, schedule the conference for 60 minutes, and leave an open end for any questions.
How much do you charge?
Anywhere from free to $30. There are two schools of thought. Most of the time, teleseminars are used to educate our market, but also to generate new customers. If the session is a lead-in, then free can work. But if THE product is the seminar (no back end) then charging up to $30 can work. But you have to watch, if you make it free, don't make it an infomercial. The best seminar I've done ( http://www.un-marketing.com/viral.html ) I've never charged for, has people raving cause of the great content, and has made us six figures in new client revenue. Always give great content before trying to "get".
What's the best conference system to use?
I've used most of the systems out there, the best has been http://www.freeconference.com and it's free! :-)
How much does it cost to record them?
You can use your own computer to do it, but have to buy an adapter through your computer. Or use a service like http://www.recordedmoments.com/teleseminar.html I haven't used these guys before, but colleagues of mine have.
Do you have tips for me?
If you do a free one, be prepared for a lot of no-shows. The best set-up to do for paid ones is to offer access and a downloadable recorded version after the session, so if they miss the call, you don't get a refund request. Always mute the line when you're doing the main session, and open it up to others during the Q&A.
Hope this helps.
Scott
Private Reply to Scott Stratten | | Jun 27, 2006 3:29 pm | | re: re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Becki Maxson | | Great tips, Scott. I'd like to add one thing that is too easily forgotten, and that's written transcripts of the call.
One of my businesses is TranscriptsPlus, offering professional transcription for internet marketers, coaches, and speakers. We take your audio file and turn it into a value-packed transcript that you can provide to your teleseminar participants, or especially to those who couldn't make it. It's faster to read a transcript than to listen to an hour+ call.
Be creative with your transcripts...with a little re-working they turn into e-books, e-courses, articles, class outlines, and freebies to increase your opt-ins. You can really leverage that hour you spent on the phone into a variety of products to increase service to your customers and your bottom line.
Best regards,
Becki Maxson
http://www.TranscriptsPlus.com
...where the Plus is more Profit for You!
Private Reply to Becki Maxson | | Jun 27, 2006 4:02 pm | | re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Grace Judson | | Teleseminars are a great way to reach people and give them a "taste" of who you are and how you work.
Most teleclasses are 55 minutes long (which theoretically at least gives people five minutes between meetings!), though they can be any length you want.
You definitely want to encourage interaction with your audience; one of the worst teleclass-leading sins, in my book anyway, is the tendency to be a "talking head." In fact, in order to get as much interaction as possible, you will usually find that teleclasses typically cover slightly LESS content than an in-person live class of the same length.
Definitely leave time for questions and answers!
Many teleclasses are offered free; many aren't. The answer to "how much do you charge" really depends on a whole host of variables, all of which you want to consider as you plan your teleclass.
1. How long is the class?
2. Is it one session, or a series of sessions over several days, weeks, or months?
3. What is your primary goal in offering the class? Is it a marketing effort for something else, is it one of your primary offerings, or ...?
4. What do you want people to do after attending your class? Go away and use the material you offered? Sign up for another product or service? Answer a survey about the class's value? There are many other possibilities!
That's just a few of the things you'll want to consider when deciding class length, your class leadership style, and the amount to charge.
I totally agree with FreeConference.com being the best service. Meanwhile, recording the call can be astonishingly simple. I use Audacity as the recording and sound mixing software; it's more than sophisticated enough for my purposes, and it's FREE! (Google "Audacity" and you can find the download site.) Then I use a little earbud microphone from Olympus, their TP7 microphone; this plugs into the computer (or into my little digital recorder if I'm not by my computer) and then fits into my ear; when I put my headset on, presto, I can record. The TP7 microphone retails for $17.99, I believe (I found mine on closeout sale for about half that!).
One caveat: be careful what recording fidelity you pick on Audacity. The first conference I recorded at the highest fidelity, and had a MONSTER MP3 on my hands!
That's just one option for recording; there are many others.
Coachville.com offers teleclass leading training by Alicia Smith (http://www.aliciasmith.com), who is THE best teleclass leader I have ever experienced (speaking as a teleclass junkie here!). Whether you go with her or someone else, it is well worth getting some kind of training because there are some definite differences between doing traditional training and leading a teleclass.
I think that covers most of my thoughts. If you have any question, feel free to send me a private message!
Grace
Check out my free interview series, "Secrets of the Woman Next Door: stories of ordinary women living extraordinary lives" at http://www.svahaconcepts.com/secrets. It's done via teleconference! Private Reply to Grace Judson | | Jun 27, 2006 5:12 pm | | re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Julie Jordan Scott | | Dear Nancy,
I have been teaching teleseminars for the past six years - and my participants enjoyed my method of leading so much, they convinced me to teach a course which I call, in short hand, my "Teleseminar How To."
Knowing all that I know, I will put my response in as succinct a form as possible:
Do you offer Tele-Seminars? What's your experience?
I adore leading Teleseminars. They are the primary method I use to conduct business. I also know there are times when I have fallen asleep in teleseminars.. they have been that bad (just like I have fallen asleep during some "motivational" speeches!)
When's the best time to schedule the teleseminars?
I always tell people to schedule your teleseminars when YOU are at your best. YOU - as in the leader. Many people have the opinion night time is the only time. Only I know as an entrepreneurial mom, night time is NOT the right time... so I lead my programs primarily during the day... and it works!
What length should they be?
I have taught classes in all different formats. Some of my classes have 15 minutes of "content time" which includes applications and sharing. The most common is an hour long phone call with 5 minutes of gathering time and five minutes at the end to complete the call.
Again, I don't like being on the phone for more than an hour - for me, that is when the law of diminishing returns kicks in... so I don't like to keep people longer than an hour.
Do you allow time for Q & A?
I have Q and A throughout the call, and then offer it up at other times as well. I also offer notes of the call, and if there is a question I don't have the answer to, I will do a little bit of research (google is my friend!) and send some answers to those questions I didn't get to as well. There are other times when the questions are tangential or I don't know if they will be of service, so I tell the questioner I will include a response in the follow up notes. That way everyone is honored.
By the way, if there was no intereaction, why not just record an MP3 for folks to download? One of the great things about teleclasses is that the content isn't stagnant - it changes according to the needs and desires of the participant. In my estimation, this is part of what makes an awesome teleseminar leader.
How much do you charge?
I have freebies and then I have classes anywhere from $19 to $249. Just depends on the subject matter and what my goal is with that program.
What's the best conference system to use?
I use Eagle Teleconferencing Services. I notice folks recommend Free Conference, I have heard good things about them. I appreciate Eagle's Services and consider them business partners, so I gladly pay their fee.
How much does it cost to record them?
I use audio acrobat, I can record as much as I want for a flat monthly fee. Love the service.
Do you have tips for me?
I have oooodles of tips. I'll find one article to post here for you, and if you want more, let me know.
Here is one that has the basics.. reasons to get started.
Top 7 Reasons to Host Teleseminars and Teleclasses
© 2004
Julie Jordan Scott
Entrepreneurs, Authors, Coaches, Trainers and all
sorts of experts the world-over are quickly learning the value of incorporating Teleseminars and Teleclasses as a method to reach – and have a positive impact upon - current and prospective clients. You can increase your effectiveness – and your bottom line – immediately by utilizing this format for the delivery of information.
1. Reach a worldwide audience with your message instantly. Stretch beyond where you can fly, drive, or take the train on a moment’s notice.
2. Perfect your public speaking skills from your home office (or current workspace). No need to invest in new clothes, no need to go anywhere.
3. Be seen as an expert and increase your name recognition. Participants in teleseminars and teleclasses have a tendency to be action oriented, interested and change-making people – excellent word-of-mouth-spreaders.
4. Test the market-place to see if a particular subject matter would be of interest with minimal time, financial and energetic investment.
5. Create another income stream without creating any new content: instead, simply recycle previously written material delivered here in a new format.
6. Discover a new way to engage audiences – in live formats you may use props and different visual aids. In Teleseminars and Teleclasses, you will find ways to use your voice (and listening skills with the participants) in ways you never imagined were possible.
7. Finally – simply have a blast doing what you love the most: teaching and speaking about an area of expertise – and helping others along the way. What could be better than that?
I am working on a "Top Teleseminar Leader Mistakes" article, you have inspired me to do exactly that.... the ones that I hear most often include:
1. Being a talking head. Like I said earlier, if you
are going to get on the line and just talk talk talk
delivering information, why not record a downloadable MP3
rather than keep people on the telephone line?
2. Being disorganized and allowing one overbearing participant to "hi-jack" the class. Be prepared to kindly steer the class in the direction that will serve your audience. One of my favorite techniques is to thank the "overbearing participant" and ask for them to email me more information that I will share with the rest.
3. Not having any time for any interaction at all. The training I received teach this rule of thumb: 20 minutes of solid, content delivery with the other 30 minutes being facilitated discussion, exercises, group experience (coaching, etc.) The Talking head thing gets really old, believe me.
4. Too much noise on the line. Request people mute themselves and then have a way to mute the line for teaching time. Which reminds me...
5. Plan B... and C... and D... have these ready to pull out of your back pocket OR... be prepared to improv. Some of my best content actually came from choosing plan B in the moment, without preparation. There is reason you are leading classes - because you are an expert. Otherwise people wouldn't be clamoring to you asking for teleseminars.
I have a bunch of articles you can read on my Teleseminar Blog... and you can listen to some classes plus there are tips articles, too... lotsa goodies.... http://juliejordanscott.typepad.com/about_lifechanging_telese/
I'd be glad to "talk" further, just let me know.
With Gratitude,
Julie Jordan Scott
+ = + = + = + = + = +
Learn the Method Behind the Teleseminar Magic...
http://www.5passions.com/teleseminarhowto.html
Private Reply to Julie Jordan Scott | | Jun 27, 2006 6:59 pm | | re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Dennis Miller, Attraction Marketing | | Hi Nancy,
It looks like you are getting a lot of great advice here!
I think it is always good to offer a free "introduction" conference as a lead-in for any paid conferences you want to offer.
However, I would re-emphasize that you want to be sure that you give some valuable content on the introductory call or it will be viewed simply as an advertisemement - and that will not generate any paid customers.
When you can offer a free conference with real value you will naturally create curiosity and listeners will be anxious to sign up for your paid conference.
I use a free service that also includes recording. No reservations are required. You can get your own line here:
http://www.FreeTeleconferenceToday.com
There are two ways to look at question and answer sessions, in my opinion.
People like to feel like they are live with you and other callers, so question and answer sessions create that atmosphere - preferably at the end of the call, and for a limited time. (Your time is valuable.)
On the other hand, if you give a straight presentation with no question and answer session, you may create more curiosity for your paid courses.
Hope this is helpful to you! :)
In joy,
Linda Miller
269-685-7024
Free e-course: Market From Spirit
http://www.MarketFromSpirit.com
Join the Million Dollar Manifesting Circle
http://www.MillionDollarManifestingCircle.com
Living in Divine inspiration.
Private Reply to Dennis Miller, Attraction Marketing | | Jun 28, 2006 12:07 am | | re: I Need Tips on How to Drive Traffic to my Teleseminars! | # |
Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | |
Thanks for the crash course! All of you are amazing!
Have any of you used TV or Radio to help drive traffic to your teleseminars? We will be testing the market with 56 radio ads to help launch our teleseminars. We have no idea if the campaign will be sticky. Once we test the market, we will expand our campaign nationally.
Television may be an option as well.
I'd be curious if any of you had any experience with using traditional media sources to populate your tele-seminars?
Have a great day!
Nancy
Private Reply to Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | | Jun 28, 2006 12:23 am | | More info on teleseminars | # | 
Paulette Ensign | | Hi Nancy,
Beyond the excellent info you've already gotten, I'll add a few more pieces.
I've been presenting teleclasses for probably 8-10 years. One of the biggest things I've learned is mirrored in face-to-face presentations and it is this: Always leave 'em wanting more. It can be a temptation to actually be too generous and give more information in a single hour than people who are new to your topic or to the level on which you're presenting can comfortably absorb. It ends up being counterproductive. Yes, it's crucial to make even the introductory class content-rich. However it will best serve you and your attendees to strike a balance.
Another conference resource I've been pleased with is http://www.FreeConferenceCall.com Not only can you sign up for an indefinitely-assign reservation-free line, at no cost, they also provide you a record of the phone numbers of the people who were on the call, and what time they joined and what time they left. This service also has free recording services that can be used to call in as well as to download. I've been pleased with my experiences of them. They otherwise have all the features the others have.
As important as it is not to make your teleclass any kind of a pitch-fest, it can be helpful to your attendees and to your business to make some very brief well-focused special offer in the last few minutes of the call. There are always those people who are chomping at the bit to take advantage of what you've got, with an incentive to do it now. I usually do 'place your order within an hour of the class ending and get...'
It doesn't sound like you are lacking for interested attendees. At such time as you want to go beyond your current reach, there's lots of folks who are happy to host to their own list a good presenter with information that's useful and relevant to the list owner's audience. That kind of joint venture is viral marketing at its finest.
'Hope that helps.
Regards,
Paulette
http://www.tipsbooklets.com
Private Reply to Paulette Ensign | | Jun 28, 2006 1:28 am | | re: re: I Need Tips on How to Drive Traffic to my Teleseminars! | # |
Becki Maxson | | Nancy,
I have not done radio or TV for lead generation, but one of my colleagues has. After some testing, he found that using the streaming radio via internet brought better results because people are listening at work, generally near a computer, and in a better situation to jot down a phone number or go to a website. It makes sense that reaching people in the car, the traditional radio audience, loses those advantages.
Becki
http://www.TranscriptsPlus.com
...where the Plus is more Profit for You!
Private Reply to Becki Maxson | | Jun 28, 2006 10:14 am | | re: re: re: I Need Tips on How to Drive Traffic to my Teleseminars! | # | 
Susan Meyer | | I've been leading teleclasses for over 2 years, including weekly teleclasses as a community coach at Coachville. In addition to all the excellent advice given, I'd like to add:
Overprepare. You'll generally have 40-45 real minutes in a 55 minute class, what with a minute or so grace period, intros, reminding people that you're taping, probably a request to mute unless you're muting the line, and a few minutes for follow-up, feedback and questions at the end. Have enough back-up material for 90 minutes, if possible, including alternate discussion questions if this is an interactive call.
Don't skimp on content in your free classes. People need to walk away impressed with your generosity and expertise. Don't sell your audience; wow them. My general rule is one new piece of information or thought-provoking twist on something they may already know for every 10 minutes of class time.
Always do what you promise. There's nothing worse than someone who promises 7 steps and delivers 2. Overview your content, then circle back to add depth.
Use pre- and post-class emails to provide additional material and help participants know you as an outstanding resource. For example, I send a workshop design worksheet before class and 10 tips afterwards when I teach my one-hour workshop design class.
Include a specific action that will lead to sales. Beth Lyons does this well - you need to go to her site for the pre- and post-class notes, so she captures your email AND has at least two opportunities to upsell.
If you want more information on delivery, I second the recommendation of Alicia Smith. If you need to learn design, check out www.life-workcoach.com/cdebooks.php. Private Reply to Susan Meyer | | Jun 29, 2006 5:20 pm | | re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # |
Robert Schultz | | Hi Nancy:
Seems like most folks here have covered free teleseminars pretty well.
I’d like to offer a few tips on making money from them.
Over the last two years I’ve developed two teleseminars – Record Your Own Blockbuster Visualization CDs and 5-Figure Telseminars – into a 5-Figure Revenue Stream.
I’ve given the Visualization Course 5 times and the Teleseminar Course 3 times. And for each of the 8 teleseminars I have grossed 4-Figures.
And for each telseminar my mailing list was less than 1,000 people. (My first 4-figure payday was with a mailing list of 360.)
So I’ve learned a lot about doing well with a small database. Here’s my 2 cents:
1.
Everything leads from your content. The length of your teleseminar, the Q&A, how much you charge. I began charging $29 for a 90 minute call. Now I charge $67 for two 75-minute sessions. And as I’ve raised the prices, I’ve added more and better content, and my grosses have remained steady or gone up.
Alex Mandossian charges $1800 for one of his Mega-Teleseminar Series and sells out. Its really about the content. How valuable is your content to your customers? What are the five unanswered questions they are desperate to know the answers to? Build a comprehensive course around that, provide a step by step system for them to duplicate your results, and you should make a bundle.
2.
Design your content around those nuggets that people absolutely have to know. With 5-Figure Teleseminars, my customers were desperate for:
1. A step by step process for setting one up
2. The most common technical glitches and how to avoid them
3. How to record calls (ALL the options)
4. How to compress recordings to MP3s
5. How to make money from the darn things
6. How to edit recordings to remove barking dogs, etc.
You get the idea.
I then created a separate downloadable PDF covering each of these subjects. So the perceived value was incredible. Make it so anyone reading your web page and who is even half interested in what you’re offering would have to be brain dead not to buy it. That’s an exaggeration, but not by much. Be ruthless in designing your content so they realize its going to cost them more NOT to buy your material than to buy it.
3.
Provide your content in multiple formats. Alex provides CD recordings of all his calls. I don’t do that yet, but I do have an edited downloadable MP3 of the entire class for them to download and play on their computers or iPods. I also supply a fill-in text outline of each live call so they can follow along and take notes right in the outline.
In addition, I set-up a password protected online links section, so that all the resources they need to get started are only a click away. And if products and companies change (as they often do) I can keep them updated so they will never be wanting for places to turn for help.
I provide PDFs as I’ve described above, each directed towards a specific solution rather than packing everything in one anonymous eBook.
In the future, I will also supply screen capture videos of any computer-related skills they need to learn to duplicate my success.
Yep all this is a lot of work. But remember, you can sell the recorded teleseminar as a downloadable product. You can put your teleseminars into rotation – which means you can offer it live every 6-8 months to pick up on the folks who passed last time and also the folks who are added to your mailing list.
A lot of folks who will be on the fence about ordering a recorded product will jump at the chance to buy it if it has a live segment. This is why I put my live classes into rotation, even though I offer recorded versions as a product.
4.
Provide an upsell. I offer a $147 Blockbuster Audio Products SuperCourse for $97 to enrollees of my live teleseminar if they order within a 3-day window. I throw in a 30-minute mentor session as part of the deal. Very, very few people will ever follow up on the mentor session, so its not like you’re over extending yourself. I do limit the mentor window to 6 months after the course.
I don’t want folks showing up at Leisure World 30 years from now demanding their mentor session.
I find that I make $300-$600 additional per teleseminar through my upsells and also what I call Spill Sales. These are the folks who are attracted to your website by your teleseminar promo, who don’t sign up for your teleseminar, but do purchase your other products.
Teleseminars are simply a vehicle for delivering benefits to your audience. When people are paying you, craft your teleseminars around the benefits your customers consider crucial to their success.
The more that success means to them – in personal and monetary terms – the more you can charge.
Hope that’s helpful.
In a nutshell – content, content, content. Create the content so that their eventual success is such a slam dunk the only choice they have is to click your Buy Now button.
To your success,
Rob Schultz
http://www.AudaciousAudio.com
http://www.5FigureTeleseminars.comPrivate Reply to Robert Schultz | | Jun 29, 2006 11:43 pm | | re: re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
>> Barry Caplan - Start Your Future Today | | This is all really interesting.
Can the presenters here speak to the porduction values you provide in your video efforts?
What kind of set are you using?
How about lighting, sound, make-up, and so forth?
Does it matter differently for different audiences?
My target market would be software engineers, and software development managers and marketing managers.
With downloadable product, are you worried about it being passed around virally? If not, are you relying on the fact that the audience (maybe home based businesses for may here?) is not really savvy enough to do that?
In my case, it is a real risk as the audience is going to ultra-savvy in that regard. In fact, I could reasonably expect that someone would capture the stream itself ans share it somehow without my knowledge.
Thanks for the tips!
Best,
BarryPrivate Reply to >> Barry Caplan - Start Your Future Today | | Jul 12, 2006 2:10 pm | | re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # |
Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | |
A huge Thank YOU! to all the business pros that have generously afforded me some very valuable information on how to get started on our internet marketing tele-seminars!
And here I am a couple of weeks later to say we have adopted all this advice and have launched! Check us out www.trainingbusinesspros.com
We took the valuable content from our live all day intensive "Internet Marketing" seminars, and designed 1 hour tele-seminars and have decided to price it a low risk offer of only $25.00. Response has been amazing.
Our email campaign generated a surprisingly high volume of sign ups (we were only expecting 9% and got 20%). However, our 56 radio ads generated lower volume than we had hoped. At first we thought it was something wrong with our ad copy, but the same copy worked via email. So we are still trying to identify where we went wrong with the radio ads. It may be as simple as people not knowing what a tele-seminar is! I'll let you know once we've looked at the issue more closely.
Alas,this has been a potent thread, and it reads better than an e-book on tele-seminars! Please continue to contribute if you have more questions, tips and or valuable information.
Wishing you all continued abundance,
Nancy Houle
For your next professional training, concider
www.trainingbusinesspros.com
nhoule@trainingbusinesspros.com Private Reply to Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | | Jul 16, 2006 11:16 pm | | re: re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Nancy,
I think it would be beneficial if you could actually participate in a teleconference wherein you were afforded the opportunity to ask all the questions you wanted about the teleconferencing process to an audience made up of people who in many cases are qualified to answer your questions. After all, one question usually leads to another. In order to get a real good grasp on teleconferencing, you usually need to ask follow-up questions. Some teleconferences are better suited to do that than others.
Consequently, I invite you to attend the teleconference this coming Friday at the Skypecast Preview from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Skype for the "Profit-Nonprofit Connection and Power Networking." Just be sure to have Skype downloaded and installed on your computer. It's a free program. Then, visit the Skype home page and look for Skype Preview. Then, search for the Profit-Nonprofit Connection and Power Networking conference room. That is all there is to it. Once you are in the room you should be able to ask questions to those in the group either verbally or via Skype's Instant Messaging.
I invite you and anyone on this network to attend this Skypecast this and every Friday. Skypecasts are open to the general public, not closed. We have had folks from as far away as China in attendance. It really is amazing to me the reach that Skype has achieved in such a short period of time. But, I guess that just demonstrates how powerful and persuasive the Internet has become.
If you have any questions about this process, feel free to send me a private message.
Lamar Morgan
CDMM
Power Networking
Attract more customers! Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Jul 18, 2006 2:46 pm | | re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # |
Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | |
Alright! Because of your help, we launch our first tele-seminar today at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
Here are the challenges we ran into:
1) We explored several tele-conference services, and decided to go with one recommended by one of these folks on Ryze. It's a free service. We decided for our first call, we would go with it.
- it had the ability to mute everybody
- it had the ability to record the call
What we didn't like
- it tells you as you sign in what # you are on the call
- it announces it is a free service when you log on the call
- people have to pay their own long distance
Surprises included:
5 people calling this morning saying they didn't get their confirmation email (now we have open rate tracking on our autoresponse system and see that 4 people have not viewed their email yet - but we get 5 calls anyway)
1 person called this morning all rattled she had to pay her own long distance, that it wasn't toll free (we understand). We never thought of explaining it wasn't toll free in our web copy.
So, now we are looking for a service that will provide a toll free # and we'll pay the long distance. On the other hand I told my parnter I attend tele-seminars that and I expect to pay my long distance. If people are complaining about a $5.00 call to improve their business, do we really want them as a client? I mean I see it as a business expense, but hey, maybe I'm not getting it. Regardless, I think toll-free would be a better way to go.
Anyway, rattled client got her money back asap. I rather refund her and let go of that negative energy. I'm wondering what your thoughts are about clients paying the long distance on a tele-seminar (now Lamar, before you email me on the advantages of Skype, I'm a huge Skype fan - I don't think I could train all my users to turn to Skype...I have enough trouble educating them on what a Tele-Seminar is).
Okay, so as a thank-you to all of you who helped us prepare for this, if you would like to attend our teleseminar today, just give me a quick email and I'll give you a password you can register for FREE and save that $25.00. I wouldn't mind some feedback.
nhoule(AT)trainingbusinesspros.com
The seminar is on "Internet Marketing". For those of you that would like to know more about it
Here’s what you’ll learn:
*How to bring highly targeted traffic to your website
*How to convey your marketing message effectively using the 7 key steps to good copy writing
*Proven techniques on how to convert your visitors into sales
Again, thanks to the mentors on this thread. All great and valuable information. Please let me know about toll-free services.
Nancy Houle
www.trainingbusinesspros.com
Private Reply to Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | | Jul 23, 2006 2:54 pm | | re: re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Shri Henkel | | I'm currently writing a book about effective meetings of all kinds and I think there would be some wonderful info in here :) Would anyone like to share the nuts and bolts of how they set up and implement tele seminars? Also, if I have a few paragraphs that are a direct quote on any time of meetings, I can include your name, info and website link in the book :)
If you would like to talk about the possibility, feel free to contact me at sandc_consulting@hotmail.com
Shri Henkel
Private Reply to Shri Henkel | | Jul 25, 2006 3:22 pm | | re: re: re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Karri Flatla | | Hi Nancy,
Not sure if this one has been mentioned but do include some kind of specific call to action at the end of the hour. It would be a waste to not leverage that opportunity, and no one will mind a bit if the content was great. They will be more than happy to find out where they can "get more" of whatever the free seminar contained.
Karri Flatla, B.Mgt.
snap! virtual assistance inc.
Don't just outsource. Outsmart.
Sign up for Outsmart, the free newsletter
for small business with big purpose. Private Reply to Karri Flatla | | Aug 09, 2006 1:59 pm | | : re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # |
Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | |
Is anyone here offering seminars via Podcasts?
We've had a few requests for MP3's and podcasts and wondering how that is working for you?
Nancy Houle
www.trainingbusinesspros.com
Next Teleseminar August 22nd
Winning the Online Marketing Game
Private Reply to Nancy Houle TrainingBusinessPros.com | | Aug 22, 2006 12:37 pm | | re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Tina Boursiquot | |
Hello;
I to teleseminars every week. My free ones are 30 minutes (like the one I have tonight). My paid classes all depend on the content on the price.
Charging? It depends on the value of the content I am creating. Q and A is Great but should be limited to questions that are not too complicated. Have some screen the questions first if possible.
Also I interested in your classes. How do I offered them to my people? Lets Joint Venture.
Tina
Private Reply to Tina Boursiquot | | Aug 31, 2006 6:26 pm | | re: : re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # |
Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Nancy,
You will find a lot of folks using podcasts. Just go and take a look at Odeo.com. There are a lot of folks using videocasts, too. Just go take a look at YouTube.com. The neat thing about both of these places is that they provide services you can benefit from to spread your message for free.
Of course, they are not the only folks online who do this sort of thing. However, I believe they are among the best.
How did you teleseminar turn out? Did you ever visit a Skypecast?
Lamar Morgan
CDMM
Power Networking
Attract more customers! Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Sep 03, 2006 12:31 am | | re: I Need Tips on Tele-Seminars URGENT! | # | 
Marilyn Jenett | |
Hi Nancy,
I'm sure you have been given some great advice here, but I will share my experience and perhaps you will get additional insights...
1. Do you offer Tele-Seminars? What's your experience?
I have been conducting telephone mentoring programs/teleclasses for three years. They have been very successful and are always sold out (I have a maximum number of participants - I will explain later)...
These mentoring calls are interactive and the sessions are based on lessons the participants have received. The first lesson of my program is sent upon registration, as I want the attendees to have at least a week to apply it before our teleclass. There are, however, always last minute registrations and I accept them.
Because my classes are interactive, I never mute the room. I always want the lines open for two-way conversation. It works very well, and participants can mute themselves if there is background noise. I have always found the attendees to be respectful and only occasionally do I need to remind someone about background noise. And because these are open lines, I try to keep the maximum number of attendees at around 50. That way I don't have to be concerned with technical glitches that may occur with a larger number. It also creates a more intimate atmosphere if there are 50 or less. There is another important component here which I will address below and which allows me to actually register a larger number of attendees than are on the call.
2. When's the best time to schedule the teleseminars?
At the beginning, I was scheduling at 6pm to accommodate those who work regular business hours on the West Coast. But then I changed and have for the most part conducted my teleclasses at 4pm Pacific Time. This time frame accommodates my own personal rhythm - I do better later in the day and I believe it's important to be at our best - and also ensures that the classes don't run too late on the East Coast. I think many teleseminars are held early in the day, but the time I have chosen has worked well for me and my participants. I have international students who also stay up late to join us, although they don't have to attend the live call (more on this soon). I did most of my teleclasses on Wednesdays for a long time. I don't do that many teleclasses now, but I do have my Private Community calls twice a month and I chose Mondays at 4pm.
3. What length should they be?
The target time has always been 90 minutes, but I found early on that I couldn't get students off the phone - a good sign :-) - so my classes almost always go for two hours. I'm not saying everyone should do this, but for my particular program, it just flows. One businessman student who attended every one of my teleclasses for a year - the same program over and over - became my "timekeeper". At 90 minutes, he would announce that the class was officially over and they were welcome to leave, but I would continue for awhile with those who wanted to stay longer. So a lot will depend on your subject matter and format.
4. Do you allow time for Q & A?
Since I keep the room open, I like for participants to speak up and ask questions while it's fresh on their minds. This interaction really benefits everyone attending. At the end of the class, I always ask if there are any further comments or questions.
5. How much do you charge?
For a long time, I charged $250 for my one-month program (4 weekly teleclasses) including Lessons One and Two. I stopped doing this program for the very good reason which I will explain below, and I now do occasion classes based on my program. I had a two-week teleclass last year and charged an early bird $97 up to a certain date and $117 thereafter.
This past January, I did a single New Years Teleclass based on Lesson One. If they registered before Christmas Day, it cost $50. After that it was $75. Discounts for early registration are a good incentive and it gives you a good idea of how the public will respond. However, many people signed up late even at the higher price. So you won't really know until the last minute what your final response will be.
I have my Private Community which began in March and students pay $100 per month, but they also get lots of perks.
6. What's the best conference system to use?
I have always used http://www.freeconference.com with very few glitches, but on the last couple of calls, there have been echos that forced us to call back and then finally to call in on a different number. I always used their reserved lines (free up to 100 guests) but we had to call back on the non-reserved line.
Well, I will only have the best for my teleclasses and technical issues like that just will not do. So I have just made arrangements to have this month's calls with http://www.freeaudioconferencing.com. Their marketing director contacted me personally and assured me that their equipment was at the highest standard in the industry and he threw in a lot of bonuses. I was very impressed with the service and look forward to seeing how the calls go this month. So you now have two choices to research and try.
7. How much does it cost to record them?
Okay, here is that important issue I kept referring to above. I learned at the beginning to always record everything I do and I am so thankful for that advice. It has paid off handsomely. But there are specifics about recording that are important if you want to be successful with your teleclasses and have them pay off even more. I am sure Scott is an expert at this.
When I first began, I knew that many conference companies will record your calls and give your callers access for a certain period of time. But I also realized that you don't just want recordings so the attendees can listen again or listen if they missed the call. Yes, that's important.
But success came from the fact that I researched the way to have the highest quality system to record and turn those teleclasses into saleable products.
I tried several methods, even bought an expensive digital recorder that was supposed to be the best on the market and had one of my techies record. The quality was not good enough. I finally discovered that hiring a professional company to record on the bridge lines provides the highest quality. I have been using Gary in Tennessee for the past couple of years. He has professional equipment and he records in high resolution then makes a smaller resolution file to send to my webmaster, who then posts it as Instant Audio AND an mp3 file on the Web page for that class. The higher resolution file is stored to be used for making CDs.
Gary charges $30 an hour and does some basic editing for glitches, etc.
I have turned my most popular teleclasses into audio programs that sell for as much or more than the live classes. My New Year Teleclass was $75 for the live class and I sold the audio program for the same price up until recently when I doubled the price and it's now selling for $147. My one-month program is still $247. I have new programs that are $97 and $47 - these are special one-time calls I did that are not my primary program but based on the principles I teach.
So the bottom line is that all of these audio programs are recordings of the teleclasses and are a great source of income. And I recommend sparing no expense to get the finest quality. People are always telling me how much better my sound is than so many products on the market, and that makes them want to listen.
One other aspect of recording all your calls, even if you do it the least expensive way at first... Remember I said that I can register more students than the 50 or so I want on the calls? That's because there are always people who register who cannot make the live call and many who are in different time zones and other countries. They will sign up for the class but won't attend - they listen to the recording afterwards.
So, the reasons to record, especially in high quality...
(a) Turns your teleclasses into products to sell. I no longer had to repeat my live programs, since I had those great audio versions, so it freed up my time to focus in other areas of business.
(b) Allow people to listen who can't attend live. The recordings are just like being on the live calls.
(c) You can make clips to use as promotional "teasers".
(d) You will have an archive of your brilliant moments :-)
8. Do you have tips for me?
If you have lasted this long on my post, you've gotten my best tips :-)
My final one is: Relax. Relax. Relax. I had no experience doing teleclasses and had never attended one when I first started. But I found it to be easy and fun if you relax. Stay focused on others and what you are offering your attendees and not on yourself. Even if you are nervous, that's okay. Just think about the benefits they are receiving from you, and you'll be forgiven if you are not completely polished. It will get easier as you go. Don't forget to have fun.
~ Marilyn
Feel Free to Prosper
http://www.FeelFreetoProsper.com
http://prosper-network.ryze.com
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