Ah, lead generators: Those seemingly magical devices that you can supposedly use to capture qualified customers. They hold such promise.
You may have delved into lead generators before and seen great…failure. That’s because lead generators (or “lead gens”) aren’t guaranteed to gen any leads.
Some lead gens work better than others.
For instance, while I have a lead gen PDF, I find that free webinars work better for getting leads.
A lead gen PDF may work well for you. But there’s something about doing a live presentation that can really help you stand out amongst your competition. It can also help you get your foot in the door to new places.
If you think you may want to use a webinar as a lead gen, here are a few things I suggest:
- Go through your presentation with current clients and friends before presenting it to potential customers. This will help you feel more relaxed and any issues that become apparent aren’t likely to be a big deal.
- Practice, practice, practice. I probably practiced my webinar 10 times before I ever presented it to a group.
- Leave time for discussion at the end. When I did my first webinar for a group, I just thanked them for coming and ended it. It didn’t take long before I realized that seemed a little abrupt.
- Take plenty of notes. Your notes make up your script, so write down all the stuff you think is relevant. And don’t be afraid to add prompts like “Go quickly” on certain slides.
- Understand your faults and have a plan for addressing them. For example, I know I tend to ramble and go off-track when I give speeches. That’s why I try to stick to the script when presenting.
- When you share your screen, ask attendees if they can see your notes. The first webinar I gave for clients/friends had my notes visible the entire time. But because they already knew I was a competent person, this didn’t make me look like a complete buffoon.
- Contact local shared workspaces and business associations (like your Chamber of Commerce) to see if they’ll let you host a free webinar for their members. You don’t always have to be a member to host one. And you absolutely never have to be a member to ask to host one.
- Don’t forget to make clear requests. Do you want people to set up a meeting with you? Clearly state that. Before each webinar, I put a link in the Chat to my contact landing page and I send them my email address. At the end of the presentation, I ask them to meet with me if this material is something they’d like to discuss further.
Tips for presenting webinars on licensed materials
As a StoryBrand-certified guide, I conduct a webinar on material that isn’t my own. If you find yourself in the same boat, consider the following:
- Be sure to note at the beginning of your webinar that you can’t record the presentation or send attendees the slides.
- You can still make the material your own. In most cases, you don’t have to read the presentation exactly as intended–you just need to present each slide as is. But the words you speak surrounding those slides can be unique to you.
- There are likely others who are presenting the same material as you. Try to attend one or two of these webinars. Then, get ideas from them and take notes as they give it.
Wrapping Up
Here’s what it looks like when you end something abruptly. It’s kind of awkward. Don’t end your presentations like I’m ending this blog post.
