Your First Webinar

How to Create a Webinar for Free (No Expensive Tools Required)

by Mary Jaksch

on

Step-by-step guide for creating a free webinar. Updated.

It’s just too scary, isn’t it?

You see all those fancy-schmancy bloggers and digital marketing pros offering webinars.

And everyone and their cat is queuing up to watch them.

They have the authority; they get the attention.

Yes, I bet it’s crossed your mind to do it too.

After all, webinars are supposed to be the hottest thing on the Net.

But to run a webinar yourself? It’s just too damn scary.

There’s the huge cost. And how do even start creating a webinar, let alone broadcast it?

It’s beyond the reach of a blogger like you, right?

I’m here to tell you something: the world of webinars has changed.

It’s now affordable. It’s easy. You can do it.

In fact, you should do it.

Here’s why…

Why Serious Bloggers Love Webinars (Even if They Don’t Have Anything to Sell)

If you start blogging about any topic that more than a handful of people care about, you’ll be up against fierce competition.

Many bloggers will be fighting for the attention of your target audience, and from the outside looking in, little will distinguish you from them.

Rise above the mass of wannabe bloggers.

So if you want to rise above the mass of wannabe bloggers, running a webinar event is a savvy option. Here are the benefits:

  • You transform your ideas into events. As the experienced blogger Chris Garrett says: You get the opportunity to create a sense of event around your ideas, value, and information.
  • You forge a unique bond with your readers. Watching you on a live webinar is the next best thing to seeing you in person. Not only can they see you, but they can also interact with you. And in the future when they read your content, they’ll hear your voice.
  • You become an authority. When you appear as a presenter and give value to your readers, you create fans who respect you as an authority.
  • You increase your blog traffic. Online events, like webinars, are like magnets. They attract traffic and generate new subscriptions.
  • You can make money blogging. If you review, promote, or talk about a product as an affiliate in a live event, you can make sales and earn income.

But if hosting webinars are so damn sexy, why don’t more bloggers use them?

The honest truth?

Because they’re scared.

Why Most Bloggers Are Scared Witless by Webinars

Let’s face it.

Running a virtual event sounds daunting.

The technology seems like a scary challenge.

And then there are those embarrassing glitches you hear about…

Like the guy who talked for thirty minutes before noticing that people could hear zilch.

Or the trolls who stalk webinars and disrupt presentations.

Sh*t happens, but most problems are avoidable.

Bottom line: you have to practice before you go live.

Sh*t happens, but... most problems are avoidable.

Unfortunately, I headed into my first webinar session ever with the attitude, “I haven’t got time to practice, but, hey, it can’t be so difficult!”

The webinar ended in chaos. Here’s what went down…

It was in 2009. Leo Babauta and I had just created a blogger training course, called A-List Blogging, and we decided to run a virtual event as part of our launch.

The webinar software we used at the time allowed us to appear live on camera. It looked easy, so I didn’t bother to practice.

The plan was that I would start the webinar session and Leo would appear after my introduction.

We agreed to meet up as presenters in the software’s “green room” a few minutes before kickoff.

But Leo was nowhere to be seen.

I waited a few minutes and then started the webinar without him.

I was rattled.

After a little while, I said to the participants:

“Er… sorry, folks, I seem to have mislaid Leo.”

“WHAT!?” The chat-box erupted with questions.

It wasn’t a good moment.

Suddenly, a few lines appeared in the chat box, written by Leo. He couldn’t get into the system as a presenter so he entered as a participant to let everyone know he was locked out.

I soldiered on.

Now and then, Leo popped up in the chat to say he was still trying to get in.

Then, every webinar attendee got involved:

“Leo, REBOOT!”

“Mary, has Leo got the right password?”

“BUY A NEW LAPTOP, MAN!”

Leo never managed to show — and the webinar presentation slowly slid into chaos.

And when I think about it today, I still feel a little sick.

Since that time, I’ve learned how to create a webinar that is goof-proof.

And I’ll tell you exactly what you need to know to run successful online events.

But first, let’s consider what content to choose for a webinar.

How to Choose a Webinar Topic Your Readers Can’t Resist

Most people are busy, and leisure time is in short supply. So if your webinar topic is boring as bat’s piss, they’ll chill out with funny cat videos on YouTube instead.

To get your readers to watch, you must wow them with a topic that’s as satisfying as placing the final piece in a puzzle.

But how to pick the right topic?

Hidden in your blog are two sources of fail-safe perfect webinar topics: your list of popular posts, and the list of keywords that lead readers to your site.

Find your hidden sources of fail-safe webinar topics.

Take a look at your ten most popular posts and think about repurposing them as an awesome webinar.

For example, on my blog WritetoDone.com, three of the ten most popular posts are hot contenders for webinars:

I’m sure you can imagine how these topics would lend themselves as content for an amazing webinar. In fact, 201 Ways to Arouse your Creativity could be transformed into a whole series of webinars!

A webinar is an opportunity to drill down into the topic of a popular post. It’s your chance to expand what you wrote, give detailed suggestions, offer examples, and discuss questions.

The second source of content for success-prone webinars are the keywords people use to find your blog. If you have Jetpack installed, you can find them in the Site Stats section, or you can look in Google Analytics (under Acquisition > Keywords > Organic).

For example, the following keywords brought readers to Write to Done on a recent day:

  • Things to write about
  • Sexs (yes, written like that!)
  • Writing dialogue
  • How to write better
  • How to be a writer

…and the list goes on and on.

Apart from the second keyword [YIKES], all the others would be great starting points for creating successful webinar content.

But what about your blog?

What keywords do people type in to find you?

Once you’ve picked your topic, you’ll be itching to create content right away.

However, I suggest holding off until you get a tight grip on the technical aspects of running an effective webinar. Content creation is much easier once you understand your webinar basics.

How to Host a Webinar Like a Pro (Without Spending a Dime)

Editor’s Note: Back in April 2020, Google Hangouts and Hangouts Chat were rebranded as Google Meet and Google Chat. The following sections have been updated to reflect these changes.

Thanks to Google Meet, it’s possible to run webinars for free. And you can accommodate up to 100 participants!

(Zoom is another free amazing webinar platform. With a personal account, you can host a Zoomer webinar with up to 100 participants for up to 40 minutes.)

If you reach the point where you need to scale up your webinars, you can simply upgrade your Google Meet account. With Google Workspace (affiliate link), you’d have access to additional features for $10 per month. Alternatively, paid Zoom plans start at $14.95 per month.

Run your webinars with the confidence of a pro!

So how do you get started with Google Meet? Simple. Just log into your Google account.

(Don’t have one? You can create one here.)

If you already have a Google account, log into your Gmail.

Simple, right?

Now it’s time to get cozy with running a webinar. And there’s only one way to get confident: practice!

1. Get to Grips with Google Meet

If you used Google Hangouts, the learning curve for Google Meet won’t be very steep.

Here’s all you have to do to start a video meeting:

  1. Go to your Gmail;
  2. In the sidebar, click Start a meeting;
  3. In the Meet window, choose Join now.

That’s all there is to it. Here’s a helpful video to make it even easier:

YouTube video

If you watched until the end of the video, you saw how easy it was to invite guests to your meeting.

This segues nicely into our next step:

2. Practice With a Friend

You can only test so much in a video meeting when you’re the only attendee. So, let’s invite a friend or two.

Go back into Gmail, click Start a meeting in the sidebar, and choose Join now.

In the new window, a pop-up will appear that gives you the option to invite guests:

Invite guest to Google Meet

Click Add people and you’ll be able to invite friends to your Google Meet. Enter their email addresses (one friend to help you test is good, but two is better) and click Send email.

Once your friends have joined, test everything.

Can they hear you?

When you share your screen, can they see it?

This is the time for you to test and troubleshoot everything. If something’s wrong, you want to find out now — not when you have a hundred impatient guests.

3. Learn How to Schedule a Video Meeting

Next, we need to practice scheduling a webinar in advance. After all, you’re not going to set everything up minutes before you go live (right?). So, let’s go over how to schedule one.

First, go to calendar.google.com. (You could also click the calendar icon inside Gmail.)

Next, you can click the “Create” icon or the date on the calendar you’d like to hold your webinar.

Google Calendar Event

In the window that appears, you can enter the title of your event, the time and date, invite guests, and more.

But most importantly for our purposes, there’s an “Add Google Meeting video conferencing” button. Be sure to click it before clicking Save.

Once you click Send, your guests will be notified.

Here’s a video that goes into a bit more detail:

YouTube video

Now it’s time to put everything together.

4. Create a Test Webinar

Practice before going public.

Let’s integrate what you’ve practiced so far:

  • Create an event in Google Calendar;
  • Name the event and schedule it sometime in the near future (30 minutes is fine);
  • Add 2 or more guests to the event and click Save.

Once the time of your event arrives, join the meeting and thoroughly test everything again.

Did your guests arrive? Can they hear you? Can they see your screen?

And so on.

Now that you’ve come to grips with the technical side of webinars, let’s get creative and give shape to your content.

How to Design a Webinar to Engage Your Audience from Beginning to End

For killer webinars, the classic three-act structure works best.

The first act is the introduction which includes your story of why you’re passionate about the topic. The second act is the main presentation, and the third act is the question and answer session.

Here is my blueprint for forty-minute webinars:

  • 5 minutes for the introduction and personal story
  • 25 minutes for the main presentation
  • 10 minutes for the Q&A

A key part of your main presentation is the last five-minute stretch. Always end with a call to action. If your webinar is educational or inspirational, suggest one simple action your viewers can do today.

And make sure you know what’s in it for you too. Ask them to sign up for your email list or like your Facebook page.

If you’re using your webinar to sell a product, use the last five minutes before the Q&A to explain how the product solves a problem you’ve been talking about, and encourage people to buy it now.

Blueprint for a killer webinar.

Here’s the process of creating a webinar.

First, create a rough outline of the introduction and the main presentation with headings, subheadings, and bullet points.

Next, decide on an approximate length of each section so that you can work out how many slides you need — five slides per minute is about right.

In order to create a webinar slide deck, you need some presentation software. Depending on whether you have a PC or a Mac, you can use PowerPoint or Keynote to create slides.

Another option is to use the Google Slides app, which you can access on Google Drive for free.

When you create slides, use text only with big bold headlines.

Once you’ve created your slides, you can go back and add images for extra emphasis.

Of course, you’ll be speaking to your audience as you show each slide. You might be tempted to wing it, but write a webinar script to follow. Believe me, you’ll feel more confident if you have the power words you want to say in front of you.

How to Make Sure the Camera Loves You (and Your Fans Will Too)

People love seeing their favorite bloggers live on camera because they feel connected in a way that’s difficult with writing alone.

But most of us don’t like how we look on camera. However, the truth is that talking, smiling, laughing — even making mistakes — on camera endears us to our readers.

You don’t need a “TV-face” to be successful, but you do need to know something about the psychology of relating to your viewers on video.

The key factor is camera placement. The camera needs to line up exactly with your eye-height.

Here’s why.

If the camera is below your eye height, attendees will get the feeling that you are “talking down” to them.

On the other hand, if the camera is above your eye height, attendees sense that you’re looking up to them and lack authority.

So line up the camera exactly with your eyes.

Connect on camera - your readers will love it.

If you’re using a web-camera on your computer or laptop, you may have to balance it on a stack of books or adjust the height of your seat to achieve the right height.

One of the advantages of systems that use Google Meet is that you can choose between appearing live on camera and showing slide presentations. This also means you don’t have to be on camera every second of the webinar.

For example, you can start live on camera, then follow on with your slide presentation and appear live on camera again for the question and answer session.

So now that you’ve created your webinar, it’s time to let people know about it. After all, you want your fans to show up for your online event.

How to Create Irresistible Buzz for Your Webinar that Gets People Queuing Round the Block

You can create a great webinar. But what if nobody watches it?

The best way to create buzz around your event is to treat the lead-up like a mini-launch:

  • Get webinar participants to register for your event. It’s a good idea to set up a special email list with a corresponding signup form to use for registrations. You can do this easily if you’re using an autoresponder service like ConvertKit (affiliate link) or Mailchimp. You can create an automatic response that gives them the URL of the page where you’ll embed your webinar.
    Learn More: To learn more about ConvertKit, check out Smart Blogger’s in-depth ConvertKit review.
  • Write a blog post that gets readers fired up about your webinar topic. You can heighten anticipation by opening up questions in your post and promising to answer them in the upcoming webinar. Place the webinar registration form at the bottom of your post and make a point of asking people to register.
  • Email your subscriber list. Once you’ve announced the webinar on your blog, send out a series of emails reminding the people on your main list to register. In his ebook, The Ultimate Webinar Marketing Guide (affiliate link), Lewis Howes suggests sending out a sequence of three emails as a mini-launch. The first webinar invitation email could go out a week before the webinar, the second one four days prior, and the last one on the day before the webinar.
  • Use social media to keep the buzz going. Don’t forget to use social media to let people know about the webinar. And reach out to other bloggers to let them know about the event too.

Build some buzz so people line up to watch.

Another fantastic way to build buzz is to write a guest post on a popular blog covering a related topic and announce your webinar in the author byline. This takes some effort and planning but could have a huge impact on the number of attendees.

In general, you can expect about 25 percent of those who have registered to actually attend. To boost that number, send out reminder emails just before you start the webinar to people who’ve registered.

It’s Time to Join the Ranks of the Webinar Pros

If you’re serious about becoming a blogging or content marketing authority — and want more traffic and subscribers — webinars are an opportunity you can no longer ignore.

You might think webinars are scary and costly, but thanks to free webinar tools like Google Meet and Zoom (plus a little practice) you can run slick, successful webinars at zero cost.

But the big question is: will you take action?

Because let’s face it, most people don’t; taking action requires grit.

So they stay hidden in the background, just another wannabe blogger who’s too meek to truly connect with their audience.

But that’s not you, right?

Because you’ll take the steps laid out in this post and put them into action.

You know this is your chance to finally rise above the mass of wannabe bloggers.

So grab it.

Use it.

Enjoy the attention and become a true authority!

Editor’s Note: This post has received significant updates since it was first published in 2014. As a result, some of the blog comments reference points that have been modified or removed.

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Mary Jaksch

Mary Jaksch is best known for her exceptional training for writers at WritetoDone.com — where you can grab a copy of her free report, How to Create an Irresistible Lead Magnet in Less Than 5 Hours. In her "spare" time, Mary's also the brains behind AlistBlogging.net. and GoodlifeZEN.com, a Zen Master, a mother, and a 4th Degree Black Belt.

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Written by Mary Jaksch

Mary Jaksch is best known for her exceptional training for writers at WritetoDone.com — where you can grab a copy of her free report, How to Create an Irresistible Lead Magnet in Less Than 5 Hours. In her "spare" time, Mary's also the brains behind AlistBlogging.net. and GoodlifeZEN.com, a Zen Master, a mother, and a 4th Degree Black Belt.

114 thoughts on “How to Create a Webinar for Free (No Expensive Tools Required)”

  1. Mary, Thanks for sharing a Superb Article About How run first webinar. I really appreciate your efforts and I will be waiting for your further write ups thanks once again.

    Reply
      • Hi Mary
        Thank you so much for posting this article :))) just what I needed to know. What do you recommend for storing the webinar recording on? so that participants can go back and view it later and they cannot download the video. I found Vimeo or YouTube are there any others you’ve come across?

  2. Really great post, Jon and Mary.

    Webinars could be scary at times but are worth trying when looking at the benefits.

    I look forward to hosting my first webinar soon.

    Thank you for the information.

    Reply
    • Hi Zoe, I’m excited that you’re planning to run your first webinar soon! When you do, you’ll learn something beyond all the benefits: just being you is enough! You don’t have to be like anyone else to be successful online.

      Reply
  3. This is great and useful information here Mary. I think one of the most important piece of your webinar should be « picking a good topic ». The best way to do that is to find what the top 3 problems and goals of your target market are. After that find the most timely and relevant events going on in their life, their businesses, etc. at this time. Then you can tie these elements into your webinar.

    For example, if you are in the fitness business, you know your audience is interested in weight loss. So you decide to present a webinar with this topic : « How To Lose 10 Pounds In 20 Days ». In the beginning of January, you are pretty sure that your webinar will succeed. Why ? First, you will provide a solution to a problem (benefits after binging during the holidays) and second, the timing is perfect. You will generate a powerful emotional response.

    No wonder, there is always a special discount in January in every gym on the planet !

    Reply
    • That’s a very interesting suggestion, Fabienne. It made me think about creating a webinas on how to tap into the pre-Christmas buying frenzy to make money with your blog.

      Thanks for enriching this discussion!

      Reply
      • It was my pleasure Mary! In fact, we can definitely use an event or a Holiday to reinforce people’s interest, so they pay extra attention into our webinar. How to tap into the pre-Christmas buying fenzy to make money with your blog is a pretty good idea! Glad I could help!

  4. Hey Mary!!!! How have you been? What an awesome breakdown. Hangouts are brilliant! And you get automatic recordings and they rank EXTREMELY well. So maybe even consider using a Keyword Rich Title for the webinar! I LOVE them. Been doing them for over a year now! And I still learned something new =-) Love your outline on putting together a great webinar people will love! Keeping people engaged is the most crucial part. THANK YOU for the friendly reminder

    Reply
    • Great to see you here! And thanks for the tip about using a keyword-rich title for webinars.

      I know you do a lot of podcasts too. What’s your experience of how webinars and podcasts compare in terms of getting traffic and connecting with your audience?

      Reply
  5. Hi Mary,
    Wow! This post is just packed with tons of useful information. I haven’t done a webinar yet, but I feel more confident about doing one since you’ve laid out the process so nicely for me! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Hey Bobbi, thanks for stopping by! I’d love to be invited to your first webinar. I’ve seen you on video and you have a lovely, warm presence on camera. Just perfect for a webinar 🙂

      Reply
  6. Mary, thanks so much for this great article. It is packed full of great information. I have been recently doing webinars to promote my Evernote course and have found them to be a lot of fun. It can be a technical challenge at times, but once you get a system down and you become comfortable with everything, it’s no sweat.

    I have used Google HOA’s and also set up a registration page via LeadPages. You don’t need to register to view a hangout, but I’ve found that it’s nice to add people to my mailing list, and also makes it look like a professional deal if they register. Plus, it lets me give them a handout or freebie ahead of time.

    Reply
    • Good suggestions, Kent! I too am a fan of Leadpages and use their registration pages in conjunction with WebinarJam or Easy Webinar Plugin.

      I think that’s the next step. I mean, once you’ve got comfortable with using Hangouts on Air, it’s good to step up to creating a more professional webinar – which you’re obviously doing.

      Reply
  7. What a fab resource Mary – thank you! I’ve been a presenter on a few webinars but I’ve never run my own. I’m planning some live workshops this year and I’ve just bought WebinarJam as the tool. It looks incredible but the real glory lies with Google + Hangouts.

    One tip I would add (from experience) is getting someone to moderate while you present so you don’t have to get distracted with all the questions coming in – or the tech issues.

    I’m bookmarking this as a checklist – thanks again!

    Reply
    • Ah yes, Belinda – it’s a great idea to have a moderator to help you.

      I’ve found the option of turning the chat on and off in WebinarJam very useful. I now only turn the chat on during the actual Q&A, or if I ask a question in the middle of the webinar.

      As to tech issues, I tend to make the webinar go live about 10 minutes before the actual start of the webinar. (I just show a slide, saying that the webinar is going to start in just a few minutes. ) I open the chat and ask people where they are dialling in from, and whether they can hear me clearly. In this way I can be sure all the tech stuff is OK.

      Reply
  8. Great post! I conducted my first ever webinar when I was working with a company that sold shopping carts. My boss just pushed me in the deep end and I was a nervous wreck. But it turned out to be rather fun and went smooth. With webinars, it’s all about crossing that first bridge.

    Reply
  9. Great article! I’m wondering if Mary or anyone else here in the comments has input on my particular situation. I’m a sex therapist, and I do online coaching and educational programs. I use Hangouts all the time and would love to do a webinar, but I’m concerned that the private nature of my work would dissuade people from signing up for a webinar. In the past, I’ve done teleseminars, which seem to work fine, but I would love to move into the webinar format. Any tips or techniques for ensuring privacy via webinars? I would want participants to feel confident that their names, profile pictures, etc wouldn’t show up. Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • Hi Vanessa, confidentiality is obviously a great concern in your line of work. The point of danger is the chat. To safeguard your participants, I would use professional software, like WebinarJam for two reasons:
      1. It has a chat function people don’t have to sign up to.
      2. Only the presenter or the moderator can appear live on screen.

      I would also add another layer of protection and suggest to people that they sign up to your webinar with a pseudonym, and not their real name.

      In this way you can guarantee anonymity (and you would have to spell that out for your peeps)

      Reply
  10. Love the step-by-step instructions. People often ask me to do webinars to enhance the in-person teaching I do, but I’ve hesitated because it seems like a monumental task. Your article breaks it down into doable steps.

    Reply
  11. Amazing tutorial on how to organize a webinar. It is not only useful for selling products but also for raising public awareness and advocacy building. So it is equally great for all types of niche where one sells products, ideas or services whatever.
    One must be clear before organizing a webinar on its objectives. If he just deliver like he does by publishing another post then it won’t bring desired results.
    Secondly people expect more from webinar than the normal post or video. They want to take full benefit of its interactive part. That is why its organizers must be fully equipped with all necessary tools required to conduct it and must have thorough homework on its topic as well.
    Thanks a lot for sharing such a wonderful post-cum-tutorial that will really help many many bloggers who have assumed it very techie and didn’t try it so far.

    Reply
    • Thanks for the reminder that webinars can be usefuls tools for raising public awareness, Mi. And yes, homework is important. I think utilising a successful blog post topic is a great start. Just think of everything we leave out of a thorough post in order to trim it down to a manageable length…

      Reply
  12. Very nice, Mary! I’ll be returning to this for sure.
    I would add that even with this guide, always expect the unexpected. There are all kinds of little surprises and glitches that come up during HOA. It took me about 4 tries to finally feel even remotely competent, although my previous attempts were successful to a point.
    Great advice about the camera placement. I’d also check the lighting. During my first webinar, I put on only my usual amount of makeup, but I looked like a circus clown because of the lighting! And at that time I couldn’t get a slide to show up to hide my face!
    Fun, fun, fun… 😉
    But still, the best and easiest way by far to get started.

    Reply
    • Ha, ha – I loved your remark about the “clown look”, Leanne.
      Thanks for bringing up the topic of lighting. It’s important to use LOTS of light. Professional lighting gear is great, but you can also make do with using anything you and lay hands on at home. For example, you can use desk lamps, uplighter, and so on.

      And of course natural light as well!

      A good way to think of light is that the face looks best if you have two light source, each at a 45 degree angle.

      What’s your tip about lighting, Leanne?

      Reply
      • Well, I’m not that sophisticated yet… but I’m fortunate to have good natural light in my office during the day. I just use a corner that’s opposite the windows and lit nicely. The window was beside and behind me during the first webinar and that’s what made the horrible contrasts. 😉
        Nighttime is more difficult. I need to work on lamp placement – I’ll try the 45 degree angle on either side that you suggest, and some brighter bulbs.
        Downloaded your trouble shooting guide – thanks for this!

      • FYI, I interviewed a YouTuber for my free email giveaways, and he suggested going to Ikea and buying their cheap Chinese lanterns. Apparently they give off the perfect amount of ambient lighting!

  13. Thank you so much for this post Mary, I’m just getting started with my first blog venture and despite yourself and Jon making it look easy I’ve always been convinced that a webinar would be out of my technological and financial reach. You’ve solved both those problems in a single post and in a way that even I understand! My new favourite post for 2014!

    Reply
  14. Mary, you really delivered value. So nice of you sharing this info for free.
    Will certainly come back to this post when I want to host a webinar.

    The article has really made a bit more easier

    Reply
    • Yes, everything looks daunting when you first start out, doesn’t it? Once you can see that it’s a sequence of steps – and that you only need to get to the next one – a pathway opens up that you can follow.

      Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Peter.

      Reply
  15. Wow, Mary. Exceptional.

    At the beginning, I was thinking I’d ask a few questions in the comments, but after that thorough rundown I no longer have any. Great stuff. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Good to see you here, Gary!

      When I write a how-to post, my most pressing concern is, ‘Have I left crucial information out?”

      I’ve so often read instructions that suddenly jump from step 2 to step 5 and I think, ‘WHOA! How the heck did we get here?’

      I’m glad you liked the post 🙂

      Reply
  16. This is a truly remarkable article.

    Extremely helpful, very thorough, and that’s a fantastic headline. This is exactly what I was looking for!

    Bookmarked, shared, evernoted, sent to kindle. Thank you so much for putting this together, Mary.

    Reply
  17. Hi Mary,

    Thanks for patiently rolling out the details for hosting a successful Google Hangout. I remember the A-List Blogging training course, and am so happy you persevered through the glitches to continue to offer quality content and training.

    Although I’ve felt confident giving the PowerPoint-style webinars before, I am shy about adding and managing the on-the-camera component. I’ve watched many Hangouts since they arrived on the scene and almost all of the presenters struggled with glitches. With your clear explanation I’m encouraged to give Hangouts a try, with lots of practice to start of course.

    Thanks again.

    Reply
    • Hey Flora, great to see you here!
      Using live camera on webinars is actually pretty straight forward. Make sure you download my trouble-shooting guide (the link is in the post above). That’ll save you a lot of stress.

      You can also use it for a checklist to see that you’ve got all the settings right. It’s a good idea to start the hangout early (maybe even a whole hour early). It won’t go live before you press the big green button, and you can check all your settings and make sure your presentation is ready to go, etc.

      I do suggest, however, that you consider using WebinarJam or Easy Video Plugin if you can spare the cash. It’s so, so much easier to run webinars with these two software options!

      Reply
      • Thanks again for the reminders and the tip to use Easy Video Plugin which I already own, but just haven’t used yet.

        I’m back up to be sure I got the troubleshooting guide.

  18. What a well-done and generous article! As soon as many of us hear “run a webinar,” we feel overwhelmed. This article gives me hope not only for myself but for all my clients who routinely tell me they want to gain competence with webinars. Thank you, Mary! I’m off to share this on all my social media platforms.

    Reply
  19. Mary,

    Thank you for the detailed post. I must admit, I’ve screwed up on a webinar before because of the exact same reason — lack of practice! I actually used HOA, but had no clue what I was doing.

    You’re right, it can seem daunting but if you do a trial beforehand, you should be fine.

    Pooja

    Reply
  20. This was a very timely article for me – its like you read my mind! Thank you for writing this in such an easy to understand way. I was wondering – is there any way to interact with webinar participants using Google hangouts (without buying one of the plugins)?

    Reply
    • Yes, Kate, there is a Hangouts chat app you can use. If you start a HOA, move your mouse to the left to see the options. You’ll see a Q&A app. Click to activate it.

      This app will ensure that a chatbox opens on the right hand side. The only concern is that you can only turn it on or off before you broadcast live. You can’t open or close it on the fly.

      Reply
  21. Thanks Mary for such an informative and detailed post. I’m in the process of creating my first webinar to promote my blog’s message of achieving financial freedom. Your post has given me some great ideas and tools to use. I really like the tip about positioning the camera at eye-level and your thorough explanation of Hangouts. Great article!

    Reply
    • Thanks, Monty. It amazes me how many people get the camera placement wrong! Once you know the secret, it’s so easy to adjust.

      I’m excited that you’re in the process of creating your first webinar … WOOHOO!

      Reply
  22. Like Kate at Daily Tarot Girl said, did you read my mind? I’ve been thinking a lot about webinars, too. 🙂

    I’ve been debating doing one to get subscribers to my blog, but BEFORE it launches. Do you think this is a good way to use a webinar, or is it best to save them for when your blog’s already launched?

    Reply
    • That a very interesting question, Bree.

      I think creating a webinar is a great way to collect subscribers – even before you launch your blog. Just make sure that people enter their email addresses when they register.

      You’ll need to create a Youtube account for your webinar. Make sure it has the same name as your proposed blog. In this way you are already creating an ‘outpost’ of your blog.

      Reply
      • I already have a YouTube account attached to my Google account, which I’m going to stick with and just create a playlist for all my blog’s videos and related hangouts. I realize keeping these under a YouTube account with my blog name may help brand it better; however, I want to start making web series and videos myself some day, using my name. That’d mean I’d have to manage two different YouTube accounts.

        Philip DeFranco (a YouTuber I greatly admire) once discussed how dangerous it is to try to manage several YouTube accounts when you’re trying to build your platform, and he suggests staying on one account until you’ve hit 100,000 subscribers. Then you can justify “fragmenting” your audience.

  23. I enjoyed reading your perspective. I started using the Google Hangout feature a few months ago. This is a different animal in the process. There is no camera or person ,but a “ding” to tell you you’re live and one has to get used to a different style of presenting.

    Reply
    • Think of webinars as a good way to get more subscribers. You can start as soon as you hit 100 subscribers. You may not get many people to your webinar, but you can ask them to invite their friends and also spread the word in social media.

      Reply
  24. Great article. I feel quite motivated now. I was and still am a bit scared but part of the issue for me was what content should I be using for a webinar. Your tip about converting a popular post into a Webinar is awesome. Why did I not think of that!
    Thanks again!

    Reply
  25. @Mary: Bookmarked! Thank you.

    And I especially like how you mentioned the rough start you had with these. I can better relate to someone who had to work through speed bumps on the road to mastery.

    Reply
    • Thanks for your comment, Shane. It’s come just at the right time as I’m planning to write an article for Writetodone about how to write about yourself by telling your ‘failure’ stories.

      Reply
  26. About 6 months ago I wrote up a webinar template for clients to follow, but after going through this – I realize I left a number of important points out. This is fantastic – you’ve really thought of everything! I’ll be sure to mention you when revising it. Thanks so much Jon!

    Reply
  27. Thanks for a very thorough post Mary. I’m just about to use Google Hangouts to do a webinar to launch my first product and also to run regular Q&A Office Hours, so it was very timely for me.

    I love what you can do with HOA. I am really impressed with how Copyblogger is using it and how professional and fun their HOA broadcasts are.

    Reply
    • Yes, I love HOA too! I had some terrible experiences with GotoWebinar – they taught me what absolutely NOT to do if you want to have a good relationship with your clients…

      Thanks for the heads-up about Copyblogger

      Reply
  28. Perfect timing. I am about to start my first webinar very soon.
    My favorite part was “How to Design a Webinar to Engage Your Audience from Beginning to End”. Of course everything else in the article was amazingly useful but that part was what I really needed to learn.

    Thank you very much.

    Reply
  29. Hi Mary – thank you for this jam packed info blog post! I’m printing this out because your directions are super clear. I’m not afraid of doing a webinar I just didn’t know “how” to run one! Now, I may have a few articles that are worthy of a deeper dive in the form of a webinar and with your instructions, this should be pretty much idiot proof 🙂 THANK YOU!

    Reply
    • Oh, good! I look forward to getting an invitation to one of your webinars. Don’t forget to download the trouble-shooting guide, Peggy! I always take a quick look at it before I start a webinar.

      One of the most important tips is to use an Ethernet cable to connect your laptop or computer to your modem. Don’t use Wifi! It can fluctuate (and you can be dropped from your webinar … OUCH).

      Reply
    • Ah yes, that’s very true. But it’s much easier than public speaking because you don’t feel the eyes upon you.

      I’ve actually joined Toastmasters to hone my public speaking. I’m enjoying it very much!

      Reply
  30. Thank you so much, Mary! An EPIC post. It is too early for me to host a webinar but at least I know how to. Incredible amount of info! Thanks again!

    Reply
  31. Hi Mary,

    What great advice! You have not only given a step-by-step way to do a webinar on a Google Hangout, but you have also explained the importance of it. I have been doing it myself. Yes, it scared the heck out of me! But then I thought of those expensive webinars I had paid for and how many times there were technical difficulties. How many times the speaker (a guru of shorts) didn’t have a knack of speaking well….like a long drawn out monotone voice.

    Then I dawned on me…I can do that too. Just the other day on a Q & A, I had technical difficulties. We were standing in front of the computer and had a slide share all ready. But we forgot to press that button, so our guests seen hubby and I run around the office. No worries….We all had a good laugh!

    If one is blogging, one needs to be getting out there face to face with their audience even if things do go wrong.

    Thanks for this lovely message, I will pass it along to my blogging buddies!

    -Donna

    Reply
  32. This is a very nice article which are seeing by me.
    I am enjoying to reading your article very much.
    Very helpful for No Tension giving bloggers.

    Reply
  33. Thank you Mary for this Uber informative blog. I am not a blogger, but I coach on image. branding and connection and have previously done a series of vlogs. I have often advised my clients about preparing for webinars, but have yet to do one myself. I am planning a conference in LA in October and have been considering a webinar as a good lead-in for my event. The tips that you gave have made it easier and not so overwhelming to plan an event and a webinar simultaneously. It also is a great reminder that being “out front” is always going to prove more effective to our intended audience.
    Thank you

    Reply
  34. Hi, mary. I’m a new baby in online business. So that my knowledge regarding it is limited. The information above added to my knowledge and also boost up my confidence to host a webinar. Thank you for sharing this huge article.

    Reply
  35. Thanks sooooo much for this post! I’ve been thinking about doing webinars, but the thought of actually doing it scares the crap out of me, but now with you easy step by step tips, I’m all up for it!

    thanks so much again!

    Reply
    • One of the simplest ways to improve the quality is to use plenty of light. If you don’t have professional lighting, use any lights in your home and point them at your face.

      If you are running your webinar in daylight, sit directly by the window AND use lights.

      Reply
  36. Awesome post! Before that I never decided to manage a webinar but now I must start one. I continuously see Neil Patel talking about webinars but I didn’t know what’s that, now I got it. so very thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Forgot to say, I would hate my product to be in a lineup of so-called ‘quality web conferencing tools’ like Webex, and GotoWebinar- two outdated systems that people are fleeing from in droves…

      Reply
  37. Hey Mary,

    It’s a matter of great happiness to me because, you have informed very well to run a first webinar. It became easy for me to run it after reading your encouraging post.

    You are absolutely right that Webinar could be scary for everyone first time but reading your post it will be easy to run it. You have instructed very well and hope it will be easy for everyone to run first time.

    Often, I see Neil Patel talking about webinar in online marketing. Now it comes to my mind that it is really useful in online marketing. You writing style on webinar is motivating me and I am looking forward to use this as soon as possible. I have learned about beautiful thing today.
    Thanks for sharing.
    – Ravi.

    Reply
  38. Hi Mary,
    Wow! This post is just packed with tons of useful information. I haven’t done a webinar yet, but I feel more confident about doing one since you’ve laid out the process so nicely for me! Thanks!

    Reply
  39. I have one question though. How do you ensure that your webinar participants are engaged? I’ve run a few webinars and each time I badly missed feedback from the audience. It was as if I was talking to the “wall”. I had no idea if I was nailing it or screwing up.

    Reply
  40. Wow Mary! What a thorough and thoughtful post! This is a keeper. Your point about practice is so important. For those who have taken webinars but not yet given them, they may look easy. Just like a world class athlete makes it looks easy — so that we think we can do it just like that too, until we try to run the 100 meters at home. Think of all of the practice that goes into Olympic performance!

    It’s wonderful that you cover things right down to the camera angle. I would add two things for beginners: background noise and visual. If the camera has a wider angle then people will see what is behind or to the sides of your face. That needs to be something that is not distracting — doesn’t detract from your face.

    Same thing for your voice — background noises (fans running, water running, dogs barking) will also distract the viewers and they may get more interested in what kind of dog or cat it is than what you are saying.

    Also keep pets from jumping into the picture. That can be charming on the one hand, but also distracting.

    Thanks again for sharing these great tips.

    Reply
  41. I’d been of the opinion that webinars are for the “WEB- Intelligent NARrators” and not for start-up hustling blogger like me, so I nurture nor doodle about it.

    But…

    Your piece is an eye openner, my first webinar should be live in few days through the provision of this post. Thanks!

    Reply
  42. Hello, Mary.
    Thanks for your nice piece of information i was not use to webinar and not comfortable using it. But know i am excited to explore it all over again thanks for your help.
    Your truly: Feeha Batool

    Reply
  43. Incredibly useful information, Mary. This was exactly what I was looking for today. Webinars are unique in that not only are they capable of reaching an audience as wide as the Internet, they offer an opportunity like no other to build credibility.

    Reply
  44. Excellent Article. I am planning my first webinar for a local group to teach SEO in a few weeks. It looks like google is moving everything from hangouts to Youtube Live next week.

    Reply
  45. Hi Mary!
    thank you for this article full of practical explanations and encouragements!
    I have a question: I would like to keep my webinar “private” (to reserve it to some people), but you explained that it is automatically shared on youtube, how can I do?
    thank you!

    Reply
  46. Wanna get started on this by Sept, after putting it off for years. GREAT info here. Thank you. Question: What kind of camera/set-up do you advise using? I’m assuming using the one on a laptop is not the best.

    I’d like to know some affordable (within a few hundred dollars) options I can start checking out (eg, camera, tripod, mic, headset, etc.).

    Anyone out there with a “Webinar Tech Setup for Newbies” packet could make a fortune IMHO. 🙂

    Again, awesome info. I’ve bookmarked this page for when I get ready to go.

    Reply
  47. Mary, thanks so much for this informative post on starting up Webinars. I have an online biz working with students, teachers, counselors, etc. on writing the dreaded college application essays. I’m currently revamping my business after a decade to try to make my services more feasible and accessible to more people, as opposed to lots of private tutoring. I’m going to give your advice a try and use Google and my Youtube channel to host instructional Webinars. I was wondering what you would recommend to not only sign up attendees, but charge them a fee at the same time. Ideally, I would like them to enroll/confirm their registration by paying, via Paypal. In past, I have used EJunkie (though not sure how to incorporate that into the Google Hangout on Air). Also, am I right in assuming attendees do not need to download any special software to participate, and only need a gmail account? Again, thanks for being to generous in your time and energy!

    Reply
    • Hi again, Just tried setting up Google+ account to get started, and it says Google shut it down in April. I can still access Google Hangouts. Not sure how to use Events without the Google+. Good chance I missed something here. Suggestions?

      Reply
  48. For anyone else confused like me, I believe I answered my own question. Google+ is no more. But you can still do the type of free webinars Mary described using YouTube Live and Google Hangouts. I just Googled “How use YouTube Live for Webinars” and found lots of instructions. Very similar to what Mary generously shared here, but some differences. Still free! Good luck!

    Reply
  49. Hi Mary thanks for the great detailed article.
    Ive done 2 different webinar with 2 different bloggers and they seemed to be live but its actually a recording. Do you have a different article how to set this one?

    Reply

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