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webinars are conducted every day with a PowerPoint deck, some great content, and even a script. Yep, you can write your webinar content out — word for word — and deliver it from the script. Just be sure to rehearse it once or twice beforehand. As you become more confdent, you might want to try some where your customers and prospects can see your face — perhaps during the opening and closing — which will reinforce your expertise, thought leadership and winning personality in their minds. Doing so can greatly enhance your lead conversion rates. Initial Attraction The frst step, attraction, is a num- bers game. You want to get the word out to as many people as you can — with the topic, the date, the time, format, how to sign up, and any other details you believe are impor- tant. If you have a CRM tool like Infusionsoft, you can send out invi- tation emails to your database and then "auto-responder" emails when someone signs up, then reminders — and possibly a second round of reminders closer to the date. But you can also post about it on LinkedIn, place an ad on Facebook or Twitter, and send messages to all of your connections and friends on all of your social media platforms. Decide before you begin promot- ing the webinar if you want it to be a "Leads & Appointments" webinar or a "Sales" webinar. If you're going to be actively selling products and services during the webinar, make sure you have educated the attend- ees on the topic before you jump into your sales pitch. And, make sure you have an e-commerce solu- tion in place that enables attendees to make a deposit or pay your "spe- cial pricing for attendees," etc. The simplest e-commerce solution, if you don't have one, is PayPal, but there are many others to choose from. Indoctrination This is the period between your initial attraction announcement and the day the webinar takes place. It's important because it "warms up" your targets to the topic and the host, it enables you to begin a new relationship or reinforce an existing relationship with the attendee(s), agitate the pain point (namely what is the problem or issue you'll be addressing and the solutions you can offer), and pre-educate, if need be, on information your attendees may not possess but it would improve their experience if they did. And, you can begin to hint at the offer you will make during the webinar, so they think they're going to get more than just a "good lecture" if they attend. As you're indoctrinating, make sure that your title identifes the right attendee, explains a primary beneft of attending, how that beneft will be achieved and addresses an objection they may have to your content or subject matter. For instance, a webinar title using that formula could be: "How Human Resource Managers (attendees) Can Increase Employee Produc- tivity (beneft) through a Coffee House Experience in the Break Room (how it's achieved) without Costing a Small Fortune (a pos- sible objection)." And certainly, be sure to build out the content of the webinar to deliver on the title you will have so carefully crafted. There's nothing worse than a webinar that promotes one topic, but rambles or wanders into many others that aren't relevant. Execution & Content As you begin to use webinars as a lead gen tool or just a great market- ing/positioning tool, your atten- dance expectations should be low. Don't be disappointed if only 25 percent of those who signed up actu- ally attend. If you are consistent in using webinars as a way to market your business online, your numbers will improve. But don't ever expect more than 80 percent of those who registered to ever show up. To improve your numbers, make sure you have reminded them of the day and time more than once during Indoctrination; remind them why it's so important they attend; and reinforce that those who attend will receive a special offer at the end (this also helps ensure that attendees stay through the entire webinar). Make sure the webinar content is truly educating attendees about topics that matter to them. You can promote your products and services, but be sure to do so in the context of education, even if your goal is sales and not just lead gen or appointments! As a beginner, keep the webi- nar short and advertise it that Compelling visuals and branding are a must when presenting a webinar. June/July 2016 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 19 O N L I N E O P P O R T U N I T I E S