Webinars | Solo Mompreneur

I Don’t Want To Be A “Lead” When I Grow Up

Imagine holding a baby and telling that precious child this bedtime story …

Life is colorful and full of adventure. When you grow up, you’re going to become a “lead”.

You’ll feel very special to be part of a “highly targeted” audience and an “autoresponder list”.

Oh, what fun you’ll have traveling through a “sales funnel”!

Not as thrilling as riding a roller coaster, but a fun ride nonetheless.

Online marketers and small business owners from around the globe will be competing for your attention. So you’ll need to become an instant pro at dodging “sales pitches” and recognizing “hype and fluff”.

Be careful! Those “bright shiny objects” can mesmerize and allure you.

Once you become someone’s “prospect”, your inbox will be overflowing with mail. Won’t it be wonderful to awaken every day to loads of correspondence from “internet marketers” who love to stay in touch with you?!

Some days they’ll send you off to a “squeeze page”. Don’t worry. The squeezing doesn’t hurt. I promise.

Other days they’ll ask you to enter an “opt in box”. It’s easy to get in and relatively painless.

You’ll have lots of opportunities to exercise your visual and auditory senses with all the invitations you’ll receive to attend “webinars” and “teleseminars”.

Your reading skills are sure to be sharpened, too! Everyone will ask you to visit their “blog”, read their “posts”, leave “comments”, and share their pearls of wisdom on “social media”.

It’s inevitable, at some point, you’ll be encouraged to pull out your credit card, make a purchase, and download an “info product”. But let’s not think about that right now. You’re looking pretty sleepy.

One more thing before you nod off and head into slumberland.

If you don’t want to be a “lead” when you grow up …

That’s okay and no one will blame you for feeling that way.

Traveling through that sales funnel sounds kinda scary, doesn’t it?!

People shouldn’t be referred to as leads, anyway. The term isn’t very endearing and it doesn’t have much of a friendly ring to it.

Now go off to sleep, little one, and “Dream Big!”

Filed Under: Blogging, Storytelling Tagged With: Autoresponders, generating leads, Internet marketing, opt in box, sales funnel, Social Media, squeeze pages, Target audience, Teleseminars, Webinars

Overcoming The Challenge Of Getting An Audience In Your Virtual Seats

By Melanie Kissell 13 Comments

Nothing spells disappointment like spending weeks or months creating, planning, organizing, and marketing a virtual event …

And then having no one show up or just a sparse handful of attendees.

Ouch!

3 Biggest Virtual Event Promo Challenges

1.) You may not have a large network of contacts.
2.) You may not have the resources to reach the people you want to connect with.
3.) You may be an expert in your niche, but you may not be great at marketing.

Even if you’re not currently using virtual events to grow your business, read on anyway.

You may be surprised to receive an unexpected invitation to co-host a teleseminar or webinar or be interviewed on Blog Talk Radio.

So take the boy scout/girl scout approach and be prepared!

Enjoy Over The Top Attendance At Your Next Virtual Event

My colleague and friend, Chris Makell, and I pulled our resources and skills together at the end of 2011 and created a special presentation to help you succesfully promote your virtual events.

If you want to learn how to get an audience in your virtual seats, register at no cost to watch the replay of “Virtually Fantastic Event Promotions!”

You’ll be provided with a handout of event promotional tools.

Then be on the lookout for an opportunity to join me and Chris for a Facebook fan page Q & A session. We want to get you inspired and motivated to rock your next virtual event!

Watch the replay today.

You’re up to bat …

How do you get the word out about your telesminars or webinars?
Are you getting awesome attendance at your virtual events?
What’s your #1 virtual event promotional strategy?

Filed Under: Promoting virtual events Tagged With: Chris Makell, Marketing, Online Promotions, promoting virtual events, Teleseminars, Webinars

Say Bye-Bye to the Challenge of Getting People to Attend Your Virtual Events

By Melanie Kissell 21 Comments

Finding ways to compel people to sign up and show up for your events can be a gargantuan challenge — especially if you have a small list of email subscribers or no list at all.

You know the drill when you’re gearing up to host or co-host an event.

Let’s talk “virtual” events today.

And let’s pretend you’ve worked hard to put together a fabulous webinar on a topic you’ve researched to the hilt, you’re passionate about, and you have expertise in.

You know there’s a hungry target audience who would embrace, enjoy, and benefit greatly from your training session.

You’ve done your homework and you’re convinced people need this stuff.

Amen!

Your webinar will surely help attendees boost their business and their bottom line.

You spend weeks or months preparing in advance to create a stellar presentation and, as a big perk, you’re offering this exceptional training at No Cost.

Terrific!

Who doesn’t like “free”, right?

You’re off to a good start.

The fact you didn’t just pull an event topic out of your hat or simply assume there’s an audience for the information you want to share puts you eons ahead of the pack.

All the creating, planning, and organizing is now done, all your marketing materials are in place, and you start getting the word out about your webinar.

Your excitement level begins to build, your presentation has been well rehearsed, and you’re motivated beyond belief to deliver up an excellent and worthwhile training session.

Now let’s fast forward to the day of your event. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Promoting virtual events Tagged With: Business, Event Planning and Production, free virtual events, Marketing, promoting virtual events, Teleseminars, Web conferencing, Webinars

Got a Mission and a Big Goal – Need Your Help

By Melanie Kissell 26 Comments

The mission and goal I’m about to share with you cannot be accomplished without your support … Period.

There’s No Way I can do this alone.

After several years of working online …

I’m finally going to bite the webinar bullet.

You might be thinking, “Big deal. So what?”

Most likely, you’ve attended lots of webinars and I bet a certain chunk of them haven’t exactly been worth your time.

Been there. Done that.

I’ve worn the big webinar “disappointment frown” way too many times. And that’s one gigantic reason I’ve held off for so long from either sponsoring webinars or hosting my own.

People have become “jaded” and “cautious” and plain old “turned off” by them. There’s just too much garbage on the internet.

Emphatically, vociferously, and vehemently — NOT this time. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Webinars Tagged With: Business, Free membership site training, free virtual events, making money with membership sites, online education, revenue stream, Web conferencing, Webinars

This Is Not What I Signed Up For

By Melanie Kissell 68 Comments

Here’s the usual drill …

1) I receive an invitation to a teleseminar.

2) The title of the event sounds like just the right kind of information or training I’m looking for.

3) The bullet points of what the event will cover map out a list of compelling topics.

4) The cost to attend is $0.

5) I’m pleased with all the details so I click the link to register (and now I’ve placed myself on someone’s mailing list).

The day of the event arrives …

1) I dial in or click over to the webcast (pen and paper handy).

2) The first ten to fifteen minutes consist of a long, drawn-out introduction of the host — fondly referred to as the “horn tooting segment” (complete with every achievment, accolade, and award in his or her portfolio and lots of other boring facts and figures).

3) Next comes an overview of what will be covered (along with a mention of plenty of time for a Q&A session at the end of the event).

4) The part I’ve been anxiously waiting for has finally arrived (the information promised in the invitation).

5) Big disappoinment (just another pitchfest and ploy to sell a pricey product, program, or service).

I should have seen it coming.

Have you ever had a similar experience where you were left saying, “This is not what I signed up for”?

Share your tale of woe in the comment box.

Would love to know I’m not the only stooge.

I must tell you, though, about thirty percent of the teleseminars and webinars I attend are absolutely sensational and worth every precious minute of my time.

Filed Under: Teleseminars Tagged With: Mailing list, online virutal events, Teleseminars, Webinars

Two Ears and One Mouth – Do the Math

By Melanie Kissell 41 Comments

Have you noticed how much talking everyone is doing on the internet?

Some people refer to it as noise.

People are Tweeting up a storm on Twitter.
Blog posts and articles are being published by the thousands.
Facebook status updates are rolling in like there’s no tomorrow.
Teleseminars and webinars abound.
Group discussions on LinkedIn are too numerous to count.
Internet tv and radio channels are sprouting up faster than weeds.
New freebie offers keep appearing as if magic.
Podcasts and videos are being produced at lightning speed.

To coin a phrase from my friend, Martha Giffen, “It’s all good!”

It’s not only good, but all the talking people are doing is essential to success as an online marketer.

BUT …

With all the “talking” going on …

Who’s doing the “listening”?

Do the math — Maybe there’s a reason we have TWO ears and ONE mouth.

Listening is a critical communication skill. If you want people to listen to what you have to say and your intention is to build a lasting relationship with your target audience, you’ve got to stop some of the talking and learn to be a better listener.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who won’t let you get a word in edgewise? You can’t shoehorn in a word if you tried?

That person was doing zero listening.

So don’t just jump from one online activity to the next, to the next, to the next in an effort to gain the attention of your target market.

Instead, become a better listener by tuning in to the needs of your prospects, customers, and clients.

Listen to the questions they’re asking.
Listen to the problems they’re facing.
Listen for emotional triggers and clues to their frustrations.
Listen to the comments they post on your blog.
Listen to discussions they’re having on forums and in groups.

How well you listen has a major impact on your effectiveness as a small business owner, your ability to influence and persuade, and on the quality of your relationships with others.

So listen up!

Have you mastered the skill of listening?
How do you listen to your target audience?

Filed Under: Blogging, Building relationships online, Customer Care, Entrepreneurs, Online Marketing, Small business owners Tagged With: Facebook, Internet Radio, LinkedIn, Listening skills, Online marketing, Small business, Target market, Teleseminars, Twitter, Webinars

The Best Parts of Marketing

By Melanie Kissell 12 Comments

Want to be an expert, effective, and dynamic marketer?

Start by tossing out everything you know about selling.

When people sense you’re pushing something on them, they run away and they run fast. They’ll avoid you like the plague!

Marketing is a softer, gentler, more palatable strategy for getting you, your business, and your products and services in front of the eyes and in the minds of your potential clients and customers.

Communication and relationship-building, in person or online, is what marketing is all about.

You need to “talk” to your prospects.

Begin from a place of generosity and a belief that what you have to offer will change peoples’ lives for the better.

Keep the lines of communication with your target audience open with the distribution of valuable FREE content through:

Articles
Blog Posts
Videos
Podcasts
Ezines/Newsletters
Teleseminars
Webinars
Emails
Surveys
Contests
Social Media
Postcards/Greeting Cards

Strive to brand yourself as an authority by implementing marketing strategies that engage, enrich, educate, and entertain your target audience.

The best parts of marketing will keep your prospects’ (selling) defenses down!

Filed Under: Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: Article Marketing, Blogging, Marketing your services online, Podcasting, Social Media, Teleseminars, Webinars

Am I Nuts Or Is “Oops!” A New Marketing Strategy?

By Melanie Kissell 2 Comments

Either there’s a whole lot of really brilliant online marketers who are exhausted, overworked, careless, or suffering miserably from absentmindedness …

OR …

“Oops!” is a new marketing strategy and no one invited me to a webinar to learn about it! Didn’t get an invitation to an Oops teleseminar, haven’t seen anyone Tweeting about it, and I haven’t seen one mention in any of the ezines I read.

Do you think some exclusive and secretive Oops group is purposely leaving me out of the loop? I’ve got my suspicions and I’m beginning to wonder because …

Rarely does a day go by that I don’t find one of the following in an email subject line: