Be sure to also read:

Part One: Thinking to Win

Part Two: The Visual Components of Your Brand 

Part Three: China-Proof Your Business in 10 Minutes 

Part Four: Networking for Referrals, Get in the Door the Right Way

In this age of globalization, decentralization, and increasingly expensive travel, teleclasses and teleseminars are becoming a very popular means of connecting,communicating, and educating. They are also a new-found solution to people looking for a new and different marketing medium.

First, just a little bit of background… By simply dialing in to a predetermined telephone bridge line, a participant is able to join people interested in his or her topic from virtually all over the world, while eliminating considerable travel time and expense.

Teleseminars can range from a very few people to very, very many. They can be free or for a fee. Some teleseminars are interactive; some are not. The formats can vary from a lecture, to two-person interviews, to roundtable discussions, to interviews with celebrity guests.

The only limit to how these can be used is your own creativity. Teleseminars are simply an inexpensive and efficient method of delivery that can touch your clients and prospects all over the world for just pennies.

So how can you use teleseminars to market your business?

Here is an example: You hold a free one-hour teleseminar on a subject of interest to your target market. The subject relates in some way to your business. You give them great information that they can use. You even provide them a handout that they download by going to your website.

After you’ve spent a content-rich hour, you’ve developed a relationship with each person on the line. As they become comfortable with you, it builds the trust that is needed to develop loyal customers. Because you provide them information that they truly need, they appreciate you and your business more. They are exposed to helpful solutions that your product or service can provide, and therefore you have a higher percentage opportunity of making a follow-up sale. They have just entered your product funnel.

It is important to note that running teleseminars is not rocket science. For anyone who has conducted a seminar or facilitated a meeting, the actual practice of putting on a teleseminar is similar. For anyone who has marketed an event, the marketing is similar.

The difference is the medium. It is a relatively new, time-saving, value-rich, and inexpensive marketing tool.

Teleseminars that market your business can take many forms:

· Informing clients about new procedures or practices

· Conducting “Ask the CEO” sessions

· Updating prospects and suspects on industry trends

· Interviewing experts who can help your market stay current

· Training clients’ employees in a skill they need

Finding participants for your teleseminars depends on your defined target market, and the purpose and subject of your teleseminar. Depending on the specificity or niche of the teleseminar, you may have a small or very large prospect base.

You can find potential attendees in your database, through personal contacts, by advertising, emailing, mailing, calling etc. The key point is that you should match the people you are inviting to theteleseminar with a subject that will be very interesting or helpful to them.

It is critical that the teleseminars that you sponsor are run well. Failure to provide great value for the time that people invest will almost guarantee that they will not return.

So, here are a few points to help you run a teleseminar that successfully markets your business:

In advance:

· Publish your start and end times, noting the time zone

On the call:

· Call from a land line, and have a backup telephone nearby

· Have a strong and capable moderator/facilitator

· Start on time, and end on time

· Prepare yourself thoroughly, and follow an agenda

· Prepare any interviewees in advance

· Make the call extremely content-rich

· Manage the quality of the call; i.e. address background noises by asking participants to mute

After the teleseminar:

· Follow up, thanking your participants for their involvement

· Provide information on your products or services, and how to contact you

· Stay in touch with your attendees periodically using all of your other marketing know-how

Today’s technologies, and people’s increasing familiarity with using conference calling to communicate, make teleseminars a natural progression in the marketing arena.

As we said previously, it’s not rocket science, it’s just a new medium of doing previously successful things. They are easy, inexpensive, convenient, effective, and here to stay.

So, what’s keeping you? When will you offer your next teleseminar?

Learn more on how to Network for Referrals and other marketing secrets in the great book 49 Marketing Secrets That Work to Grow Sales.

Read Part Six - Enthusiasm, Great Products Equals Buzz

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