How to Promote Your Teleclass: 15 Powerful Ways
By Donna Gunter,
the Online Biz Resource Queen™,
and owner of OnlineBizU.com
dgunter at sohobizsolutions com
www.getmoreclientsonline.com
Advertisements:
Teleclasses,
also referred to as teleseminars, teleconferences, and webinars
(with the added component of seeing a presentation) provide a platform
for online service business owners to connect virtually with prospects
around the world via a teleconference bridge line and share information
with them. Many service professionals use paid or free teleseminars
to grow their lists, establish their expertise, and deliver training
and coaching programs. It's an ideal platform for information delivery,
as both the presenter nor attendee can listen from the comfort of
their home, office or car, without any of the headaches of having
to be present for a live, in-person event.
Once you have created a compelling description and list of learning
points for your teleseminar, how do you promote your teleclass and
find participants? Here are 15 ways for you to promote your upcoming
teleclass:
1. On your web site. Regardless of your reason
for offering a teleclass, you need to create a search-engine optimized
page on your own web site that contains an opt-in box where interested
participants can opt into your list and get the call-in info for
your teleclass. This is the landing page to which all of your promotional
efforts should link. You may want to use a hover ad promoting your
teleclass that pops up when visitors land on your site, or use a
graphic popup.
2. Your ezine and blog. Be sure to post an invitation
to your teleclass within your email newsletter as well as on your
blog. When I'm offering a teleclass, I make the post about the teleclass
my featured post on my blog so that it shows up above all other
posts while I'm taking registrations for the teleclass.
3. Events on social networking sites. Both Linkedin
and Facebook permit you to create an event (your teleseminar) and
invite your contacts and friends to the event. On Facebook, you'll
want to remind those friends who have RSVp'd "yes, I'll attend"
to go to your teleseminar opt-in page to register. You may also
belong to some niche-specific, target-market-specific, or business-to-business
social networking sites which will allow you to create an event
and invite your followers to your event.
4. Press releases. You can submit this online via
a fee-based service like PRWeb.com. Don't bother with the free online
press release services, as your release doesn't go anyplace other
than on the site to which it has been submitted, with the exception
of PRLog.com, which has been shown to give releases high search
engine ranking. Send your release out to your local media list,
as well.
5. Affiliate Marketing. Create a special email,
blog posting, or Twitter campaign that your affiliates can send
out to their lists to promote your event. Remind them to use their
affiliate link for your program so that they get proper credit for
any registrations. Even if you're holding a free teleclass, your
affiliate program should let you to create a special affiliate link
to your teleclass registration page for your affiliates and track
those registrations and credit the affiliate for any purchases made
from your upsell promotion on the teleclass.
6. Article Marketing. If you're planning a free
preview teleclass where you will offer an upsell to a paid program,
begin writing articles and submitting articles on your teleseminar
at least 30 days prior to your event. In your resource box, you
can offer your free teleclass as your client attraction device,
and send readers to your opt-in page as your call to action.
7. Email signature. If you correspond frequently
via email or participate in online discussion forums or lists, create
an email signature either in your email program or as part of your
discussion forum profile that specifically promotes this teleclass
and sends recipients to your opt-in page.
8. Viral report. Write a special PDF report or
white paper about the topic of your teleseminar and give it away
free of charge to your list and social networking friends with an
opt-in box. Offer your list members and followers the opportunity
to give it away by using a viral report brander. Then your list
members can personalize it with their name, web site, and affiliate
link. Be sure that the report links back to your teleseminar opt-in
page.
9. Discussion lists and forums. Some lists and
forums permit members to overtly promote their products and services
on the forums, while others have separate forums and lists specifically
for those purposes. Be sure you know the rules of the list before
sending a promotional post. And, if no overt promotion is permitted,
post other comments to the list/forum and use your email signature
to help you promote your teleclass as described in #7 above.
10. Strategic alliance partners. Ask colleagues
with whom you have a relationship and who publish ezines and blogs
to pass along your teleclass information to their readers. Or, you
can use DirectoryofEzines.com to help you identify ezines that reach
your target market and request that they let their readers know
about your upcoming teleclass. If you offer a free event and promise
to deliver valuable content, you may have an easier time getting
ezine and blog editors to help you promote. Or, offer them the opportunity
to become an affiliate and outline your commission structure to
help motivate them to help you promote your program.
11. Speaking. If you regularly speak to groups
and organizations, mention your teleclass to them at your next speaking
gig. Or, ask colleagues if they will sponsor you as a special guest
to their list to offer your teleseminar. Research radio talk shows
on BlogTalkRadio.com or podcasts on iTunes.com and contact the host
to interview you about the topic of your teleclass.
12. Purchased advertising. You can do this by buying
classified ads in ezines that cater to your target market, as discovered
in #10 above. Or, you can create a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign
on Google, Yahoo, or MSN. Most of these programs let you set a daily/weekly/monthly
budget that you can begin and end as you choose. If you time your
teleclass during the time when people are actively searching for
information on your topic (like "home owner tax tips"
in April before the IRS tax deadline), the greater the likelihood
that your PPC ad will yield results for you.
13. Audio and video marketing. Create videos about
the topic of your teleclass using your webcam, video camera or screencast
software and post to the major video sites via TubeMogul or TrafficGeyser.
You can also create a Powerpoint presentation about your teleclass
and upload it to Slideshare.com. Lastly, you can create a viral
video or movie about your teleclass topic and ask your colleagues
and strategic alliance partners to pass that to their lists, as
well.
14. Teleclass promotion sites. There are a number
of places where you can post your teleclass either free or for a
fee. Paid listing sites include:
Teleclass.com
24/7 Coaching: (must be a paid member)
PlanetTeleclass.com
FullCalendar.com: (post in the San Francisco area because they seem
to have the media most open to posting teleclass info)
Solo-E.com: (you have to pay to be an expert here to post your teleclass)
Free listing sites include:
SeminarAnnouncer.com
CraigsList.org: (can only post in one city without being penalized
and removed from the listings)
Conference Call University: (You do have to place a link to their
site on your event page)
FindFreeSeminars.com
AllConferences.com
Also search Yahoo Groups and Google Groups for any teleclass announcement
lists.
15. Track your results. You need to know what promotional
efforts are bringing you the best results. Create a specific URL
where you can track the click-throughs on any promotion. Or, use
a tracking service like Hypertracker.com to track your results.
Add teleclasses to your marketing mix. Watch your business gain
credibility and see how quickly your list grows!
Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter
helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses
that make more profit in less time. Would you like to learn the specific
Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase
your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge
Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com
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Published - March 2010
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