Tag Archives: Linkedin groups

LinkedIn, Sharisax Is Out There

Should You Be Doing Webinars? Should I?

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Webinars have become a part of my New Life as a social media evangelist because there is so much great information Out There and so many experts offering 60-minute web presentations on a host of topics that I want to learn about.

But do I want to be on the other side of the phone/VOIP line? Do you?

A few of my friends and prospective business partners have suggested giving webinars, so I’ve begun research by asking questions on LinkedIn and Twitter AND attending a webinar on webinars.

— LinkedIn question

Friends/partners want me to do Webinars. Do you think they work? Why or why not?

I just listened to a webinar on webinars and they sound remarkable for lead generation and building reputation. What has been your experience. Other friends think that Teleclasses are better. What do you think?

— LinkedIn answers

Definitely Webinars are the way to go. For the participant, if done right, having the live graphics and especially using the Q&A/Conversation feature really gets things engaged!

Tele-seminars miss some interaction. With webinars, the presenter can make an impression with the knowledge/skills that can affect perception of a product. Plus, the participant can even move around, stand up, etc., but still see and be enthralled. Go that way! — Ned O’Doherty

I have seen MANY webinars! and I think they are great! Gives all the information needed, establishes you as an expert and you start a relationship with audience. I agree with your friends/partners. Go for it. Have fun! — Vanessa Cabrera

I believe that FREE Webinars are excellent ways to promote products and services.
They should never be more than an hour long and be 90% about the “subject” and 10% on the company selling services to the subject . — Trevor Lobel

Like any medium, they will attract some people, put off others. The real question is, is it a learning curve you want to master and spend time using, or is there something else that suits you and your business better?

For me, blogging suits not only my personality, but also my business. Webinars might be good, but time-value ratio is flat enough that it’s not beating me on the head to do it. Same with podcasts.

There’s no one golden ticket to business success, so pick the media you’re most comfortable with and go for it! — Erica Friedman

I think webinars are smart ways to communicate and educate prospects about products and services. I have found that producing a really informative and successful webinar, however, consumes a lot of resources when you consider:

– the time it takes to promote the event
– the resources used to produce presentation decks
– purchasing/understanding the webinar platform technology
– high attendance attrition rates of about 50%

My advice is examine the above factors to estimate the hard/soft costs of the webinar and then determine how many people need to take next steps to meet your goal cost-per-lead. Once you have a clear picture of what you need to accomplish in terms of attendance and lead gen in order to make the webinar successful from a monetary perspective, you can decide if it truly makes sense. — Elizabeth Sklaroff

There may be many reasons why you or your organization may benefit from doing webinars.

  • Case studies: a great way to help your customers or potential customers understand your specific value proposition.
  • Announce a new feature and demonstrate it’s new benefit.
  • Highlight your areas of expertise: either directly or indirectly.

HPCareer.net began doing webinars each week in early 2009, in the midst of our massive economic downturn, budget cuts and the resulting job losses.  Our webinar series solved a number of issues faced by our organization, our customers and professionals.  Because there were fewer jobs available, we were less busy and thereby  able to redirect a portion of our human resources to focus on this new venture.

Our customers are able to save money on continuing professional education for their health promotion staff by encouraging them to participate in live and/or archived webinar content.  Individual professionals benefit regardless of their employment status by expanding their knowledge directly from the nationally and internationally recognized experts we select to present each week. —Michaela Conley

5 Reasons Every Marketer Must Do Webinars & How to Get Started

This was the title of a webinar sponsored by Focus and featuring Craig Rosenberg — a webinar on webinars! Here are some of my “take-aways” regarding the WHY’s and the HOW’s.

Eight Attributes of Remarkable Webinars

  1. Helpful: Always be Helping is the new Always be Closing.
  2. Timely: Make certain your target audience can relate to your topic.
  3. Interruptive: Your presentation must stand out above the noise, i.e., the diversity of online information clamoring for attention.
  4. Entertaining: Participants want to enjoy the experience and feel they are not wasting their time.
  5. Shareable: Would an influencer want to forward this? Any chance of going viral?
  6. Versatile: Content can be used for white papers, newsletters, etc.
  7. Crowd-sourced: Customers and partners share in the spirit of cooperation.
  8. Efficient: Information should be concise; list formats are effective.

A webinar can position you as a trusted adviser.

Four Key Steps to Planning the Presentation

  1. Choose a broad topic to start with, so that you can attract a wide audience.
  2. Keep things simple: Experts make great speakers.
  3. Create a lean registration page.
  4. Leverage phone and email lists, and focus on a few potential customers/prospects.

Content lives forever. You may not hit a big number on your event, but you will get people over time.

Promotional Communication Tips

Promotional email: Subject line is critical; must be arresting and eye-catching. Solve business problems, don’t sell. Be clear about your content. Include Calls-to-Action.

Landing Page inclusions: Explicit details of date and time; broadcast what benefits participants will receive. Sell the experts because people want to know their instructors. Keep registration form as simple as possible.

Reminder emails: Send confirmation immediately after registration; reminders 4 days and then one day  before event.

End of Chapter One in my research: Have you been convinced one way or another?
Please add your experiences and advice AND/OR read on for Chapter Two.



Guest Post, LinkedIn

So you’ve joined a LinkedIn Group . . . what’s next?

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Photos by Howard Blum
Photos by Howard Blum

No matter what level of social media understanding you are at, you will ALWAYS find exciting new information and ways to get the most out of your online experience.

Sometimes it’s a matter of being READY to appreciate the information.

And I, personally, am ready to dive into Group conversations.

How about you?

  • Joined any groups yet?
  • Did you know what you were doing?
  • Are you in the right groups?
  • How are you participating?

All of the above are great questions, and I’ve now joined several groups on LinkedIn BUT I’m not so sure that I (a) knew what I was doing; (b) joined the right groups; or (c) knew what was expected of participants.

So when my SOCIAL MEDIA MAVEN group included a discussion on groups, I was really intrigued.

And then when I read Delores Wilson’s article, I thought “WOW, I have to share this.”

Delores was kind enough to allow me to re-post her article on my blog, so you can read her insights on HOW GROUPS WORK – AND HOW YOU CAN MAKE THEM WORK FOR YOU:

which oneI’ve Joined a Group….Now What?

by Delores R. Williams:

http://www.socialmediadiet.blogspot.com
You’ve finally set up all of your profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and all of the other seemingly endless social media platforms. After wading through the plethora of applications, plug-ins, connections and friending, you suddenly find yourself in the world of Groups. You scratch your head, deepen your breath while you ponder this new social media frontier.
What the heck is this? Nobody told me about this “group” thing! Do I join a group? Host a group? Does this require more time? …I don’t remember signing up for this! Now what?

Understanding how communities REALLY behave is important to know BEFORE you either join or/and host a group.

People that join groups may have agendas/goals that may/may not align with those of the host or other group members. Making the mistake of assuming that community members are all on the same page – that once someone joins a community, they are going to abide by the rules & guidelines- could be further from the truth.

How do you get around the daggers that may put holes in the successful functioning of your group?

Best solution – a discussion of objectives, goal and rules for, both, the group and its community. In essence, what I refer to as – THE ROLL CALL. Short and sweet, this is it:

The Moderator:
aka, Host, Admin, Organizer. The Moderator is the ‘mayor’ of the community. It is the job of the Moderator to ensure that the goals, objectives and rules are abided by all of the community members. Monitoring and enforcing group guidelines ensures that the group runs smoothly and that community members feel ‘safe’ and have their basic needs met at all times.

The Influencers:
These are members who, naturally, take on roles like policing ‘bad’ behavior, welcoming new members, inviting other new members and attributing to group discussions. Influencers are self-motivated, enthusiastic community members who are invested in the success of the group.

Second Tier Influencers:
These are members who, through listening to the discussions and conversations from others in the community (usually The Influencers), are learning to appropriately utilize the group for its said purpose. Second Tier Influencers often times are converted into becoming Influencers themselves.

The Individual:
The individual, despite being aware of the guidelines, objectives and rules, has his/her own agenda for joining the group. Behavior is often times contrary to the rules set by The Moderator and results in creating discomfort within the community. These members push the envelope by constantly testing the rules (i.e., blatant product advertising instead of discussing brand/industry standards). The ‘Individual’ keeps The Influencers busy and definitely requires prompt intervention from The Moderator.

That’s it! Social Media Communities…in more than 140 characters.

Tell me your thoughts? Did I hit the mark? or am I way off?
I’d like to hear from the community….

Click on photos to link to other Howard Blum photos or go to his website