What Are Webinars And Why You Must Use Them

Running webinars can not only be fun, interesting and exciting, but extremely profitable. If you know how to run a great webinar, there’s literally no reason why you can’t grow a 6+ figure yearly business. Back when I got started with online marketing, the idea of a webinar was pretty alien to me. Sitting in front of my computer watching some person go through a bunch of slides, how dull is that?

…Not really, I soon learned that webinars were extremely powerful and went on to attend several of them every week. At the time I was only attending them because they were fun, exhilarating, interesting, and exciting. Little did I know I would go on to use webinars to explode my business and make ridiculous amounts of money. So what the heck is a webinar?

A webinar is an online seminar/presentation. Most webinars consist of 50-80% cool content, basically education. The rest consists of a pitch for a product the webinar conductor is selling. When I heard about how much people were making with webinars, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and host my own. My plan was to sell a $50 product that a friend of mine created. It was about Facebook marketing…

All I did was create a few slides in PowerPoint that taught some “Facebook marketing secrets.” Towards the end of the presentation, I had a quick call to action that promoted my friend’s product at 25% off for $50. I used GoToWebinar and managed to get 60 people to sign up, of which 20 attended. Out of those 20, I made 1 sale. In typical online marketing, a 1 in 20 conversion is amazing!

With webinars, conversion rates can be as high as 70%! It’s been about 2 years since my first webinar. Now I’m able to get hundreds or even thousands of people to show up, with up to 90% staying until the end and 15-50% making a purchase. That’s the power of webinars and why you should use them. Webinars can help you sell products, services, or other people’s products. They can also be used for training or teaching attendees almost anything. Now that I’ve shared my webinar story, here are the fundamentals:

Webinar Definition: A webinar is an online audio-visual presentation, used to sell a product or service, or provide training to a group of attendees.

How Many People Can Attend a Webinar? Anywhere from 1 to 1,000+ people can attend a live webinar.

Why Do Webinars Convert So Well? The key reason is that they are live! Webinars give attendees the feeling of being part of a large, exclusive event, making the product or service much more appealing.

When Did Webinars Start? Around 10 years ago.

Why Use Webinars?

• Webinars allow you to present or teach anything to a large group of people, live, from anywhere.
• Webinars help build rapport with attendees.
• When done correctly, webinars have higher conversion rates than most other marketing methods.

Seminars vs. Webinars

Many people compare webinars to seminars. While in-person seminars with powerful speakers are great, webinars have many advantages: no travel costs, no venue expenses, and the ability to present from anywhere. In fact, I’ve done webinars from my bed!

How Do You Create a Webinar?

Most webinars are created using PowerPoint or similar software like Keynote. The presentation is usually a series of slides with bullet points and images, with the presenter expanding on each point during the live session. If you want to demonstrate something live, you can use screen capture software to show attendees a step-by-step process. For the audio, you can speak, play music, or even use videos. You can also have multiple presenters.

How Do You Host a Webinar?

Most people use GoToWebinar, but there are plenty of alternatives. GoToWebinar is like the “AWeber” of the webinar world. You can get a free account to host webinars for up to 15 people, or go with a paid account for up to 1,000 attendees for $99/month. If you have no money but want to get started, use MeetingBurner.

Your webinars should be fun and engaging, like a mix between a TV show and an educational seminar. To be successful, you need to position your webinar as a one-time event that can’t be missed. Don’t jump straight into a sales pitch—people join webinars to learn something or get a special offer. The general rule is to provide value for 80% of the webinar, then pitch for 20%.

In Prosperity,
David Wood

Comments

Emily Wallace

This post was incredibly helpful! I’ve been considering using webinars for my business, and your detailed breakdown gave me the confidence to get started. Thank you!

Liam Reynolds

I can’t believe these numbers! Are there any case studies or proof of the 70% conversion rates? I’d love to see some more evidence before jumping into webinars.

Sophia Brown

I’m really interested in using webinars for my online courses. Can you recommend specific tools for hosting webinars with a large audience? Thanks in advance!

Jordan Parker

While I appreciate the insights, I found that some parts of the post felt a bit too promotional. Could you expand more on the technical challenges of running webinars?

Amy Collins

I was just thinking about how to expand my marketing strategy, and then I found this post. It’s been so long, David! Let’s catch up soon. Keep up the great work!

Ethan Garcia

I faced similar struggles when I first started using webinars. But after refining my presentations, I also saw a significant boost in conversions. Great to see others having the same success!

Rachel Thompson

If anyone is looking for other great webinar tools, I highly recommend Zoom or WebinarJam. They’re both excellent for different use cases!

Daniel White

I learned so much from this post! The way you explained the benefits of webinars and how to use them was super helpful. I’ll definitely be incorporating webinars into my marketing strategy.