5 Steps to Creating Your Own Successful Teleseminars

June 29th, 2010 · 15 Comments15 Comments

3d human talk with his headhpones

Hosting your own teleseminars, aka teleclasses, is a simple and powerful way to build credibility, trust and expertise within your marketplace.  Teleseminars are also a kick-butt way to build your community, or “list”,  while sharing valuable information that you love to share!  But while hosting a teleseminar is fairly simple, it’s not as simple as talking into a teleconference line and hoping people will show up.  I’ve done literally hundreds of telephone interviews and teleclasses and I want to share 5 simple steps that I hope will help you hold your own successful teleseminars.

1. Pick an interesting topic
The topic you choose is very important.  It should be a topic that not only you are interested in sharing, but one that your ideal clients will be interested in learning more about.  A great way to decide on teleseminar topics is to survey your list.  You can create a simple, free online survey by going to SurveyMonkey.com.  If you don’t have a list to survey just yet, don’t worry; get involved in discussion groups on Facebook, Yahoo Groups, LinkedIn, Google Groups, etc and find out what people are interested in learning more about.

2. Outline your call
The way that I like to structure my calls is by starting with a simple outline.  Write down a list of questions you think your guests might want to learn more about.  You want to have enough of an outline that will keep you on track and able to talk for 45-60 minutes.  Don’t worry about getting this perfect; it never will be.  Just be sure to deliver great content and the timing will be secondary.  That being said, don’t promise a 60 minute teleseminar and then ramble on for 2 hours.  Be sure to respect your listeners’ schedule.

3. Set up your conference line
You can set up a free conference line at FreeConference.com, but my favorite resource for setting up my teleseminars is InstantTeleseminar.com.  Instant Teleseminar provides a higher quality recording, along with a back-up recording that has saved my butt on more than one occasion.  It also allows your listeners to access the calls via webcast (computer) so that they can pop in from anywhere in the world without having to incur long distance fees.  I have found that about 90% of the people who listen to my teleseminars seem to prefer the webcast feature.

4. Invite guests to attend your teleseminar
If you’re just beginning to build your community then send an invite out to friends, family and social media buddies.  This is a great way for you to get the experience of holding teleclasses, get valuable feedback and build a list of people who are interested in learning more from you.  Be sure to create an attention getting subject line when you send out the invitation.  Your email can’t be read if it doesn’t get opened!

5. Build your Community…aka “list”
Have guests enter their name and email address on a simple sign-up page to receive the call-in details. Instant Teleseminar, and other teleconference companies, will provide you with a link to send to your guests.  All they have to do is either follow the web link or call the number provided to attend the call.  The best way to begin building your list is to have guests enter their name and email address in a simple sign-up form in order to receive the call-in details.  This way you will also know who to follow up with for the playback link, transcription (if necessary), and any other offers you create.  You can use Aweber.com to begin building your email list.  Aweber will provide you with the code necessary to create your sign-up form.  Then you just add that code along with a headline and details about the call to a free blog page and you have a sign-up (or “opt-in”) page ready to go.

Tips:
Be sure to test your conference line before going live.
Offer a “next step” coaching program or training product for guests who are on the call.  This could be as simple as offering the MP3 of the call, your outline notes and a live Q&A call with you for $47-$97…or more.
Create a series of calls and package them into an online coaching program or home study system.
Lather, rinse and repeat.  Keep practicing.  Make mistakes and improve as you go.

Peace,

Tom

P.S. I’m considering having a live teleclass next week to go into this information in more detail.  Leave a comment below and let me know if that would be valuable.
Thanks!

15 Responses to “5 Steps to Creating Your Own Successful Teleseminars”  

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  1. 1 Mary Claybon on Jun 29th, 2010 said:

    As always Tom, you make it clear and simple. These are great tips. I would also add that last minute invitations are very successful on social media. Create an invite on Facebook and also use Twitter, but be sure to continue the invite even hours before your class.
    Thanks again Tom,
    Mary

  2. 2 Sharon Sayler on Jun 29th, 2010 said:

    Thanks for the great tips! May I add a 2A… when giving the teleseminar, be sure and smile as you speak. A smile “travels” through the phone lines. Consider using a headset and stand while presenting, your voice tone will be much richer as breathing is unrestricted when standing. It is all to easy to hunch or lean on a desk while giving a teleseminar, restricting your breathing, which makes the voice sound less friendly.
    Sharon
    Author of What Your Body Says (and how to master the message)

  3. 3 Tom Buford on Jun 29th, 2010 said:

    Hey there, Mary. Great to hear from you! That is a fantastic reminder; it’s never too late to spread the word. Have a great day! Tom

  4. 4 Tom Buford on Jun 29th, 2010 said:

    Hi Sharon

    You are right on the money with your feedback. Breathe and SMILE! Two very important reminders while giving teleseminars. Thanks for the tips!
    Cheers
    Tom

  5. 5 Terri on Jun 29th, 2010 said:

    These are terrific, Tom! You’ve really become the master for so many of us. I appreciate your being there!

  6. 6 Anna on Jun 29th, 2010 said:

    Thanks – great tips!

    How do you recommend you create a “simple sign up form”?

    Thanks, Anna

  7. 7 Anna on Jun 29th, 2010 said:

    Thanks for your tips.

    How do you recommend setting up a “simple sign-up form”?

    Thanks, Anna

  8. 8 Justus on Jun 29th, 2010 said:

    Thanks, Tom, I’ll look forward to the call.
    And thanks to those above who have also provided useful tips.

  9. 9 carrie on Jun 29th, 2010 said:

    This is a helpful post, thanks Tom. I wonder if someone could comment on the difference between webinars vs. teleseminars vs. telecall and if there’s any advantage of one over the other. Also, I did a telecall recently and you could hear people hanging up before the call was over! Not good!
    Thanks.

  10. 10 Alicia Isaacs on Jun 30th, 2010 said:

    Thanks for this information Tom. Very doable strategies.

    Alicia

  11. 11 Tom Buford on Jun 30th, 2010 said:

    Thanks Terri, Alicia and Justus for reading! Have a great week.

  12. 12 Tom Buford on Jun 30th, 2010 said:

    Hi Anna

    For setting up a simple sign-up form you need 3 main elements:
    #1: Attention getting headline.
    What is it that the reader wants most and speak to that using a short, but “to the point” headline. An example might be: “Discover 3 Powerful Secrets to Losing Belly Fat Even If You Think You’ve Tried It All Before!”
    Now, I’m not a master copywriter, but you get the idea.

    #2: 4-5 quick bullet points that highlight what the reader will learn by attending your teleclass
    #3: An opt-in form
    You can use Aweber.com to start managing your email list and they will walk you through creating an opt-in form that you can add to a blog page or standard web page.

    A great place to create simple, free web pages is BlinkWeb.com.

    I hope this helps.

    Cheers
    Tom

  13. 13 Tom Buford on Jun 30th, 2010 said:

    Hi Carrie

    Webinar = a web-based training event which will typically include a slide presentation that you can create using Power Point, etc
    Teleseminars and telecalls can be used synonymously. Some people might have a different definition of each, but in essence they are both just describing a training or informational call.
    Webcast is simply the ability to listen to the audio telecall via the internet.

    So, if you can share your information more powerfully by using visuals then a webinar is a great option. There is a bit of a learning curve, but it can certainly payoff by allowing people to actually see what you are talking about.

    I hope this helps!

    Peace
    Tom

  14. 14 Chere Bianca on Jun 19th, 2011 said:

    I have recently started a blog, the info you offer on this website has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.

  15. 15 Beatris Virelli on Nov 28th, 2011 said:

    I just love this blog :) here’s a little payback (offtopic maybe but funny!)
    I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done. :)

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