The Online Option: Tips on Conducting an Internet-based Seminar

Imagine prospecting with a small budget and little effort while growing your book of business.

Oh, yeah. And you don't need to leave your house, either.

While online seminars may be more convenient, a live seminar can be more informative and engaging, allowing an advisor to build rapport and trust with their prospects. Internet-based seminars, however, work well for those prospects who, for various reasons, would never attend a live seminar. Financial professionals who feel uncomfortable conducting a live seminar on their own may also find online seminars to be a good fit.

Are online seminars right for you?
If you dread speaking in public, you could be perfect candidate for hosting an online seminar. However, this should not be the main reason you turn to online seminars since you can easily overcome your fears by turning to your marketing organization, insurance company, broker-dealer, lead generation company, or mentor to help improve your skills and boost your confidence.

Other advisors who may want to explore online seminars include:
1) Professionals who cannot afford to hold a live seminar.

2) Professionals who want to grow their prospecting territory be-yond their hometown. (You should, however, consult with your broker-dealer and insurance company on which states require agents to have a license to solicit insurance online. You must also run your seminar through compliance before taking it live.)

3) Professionals who are not well versed on their seminar topic.

Which prospects will your seminar attract?
As with insurance professionals, online seminars may not suit all prospects, but some in particular may be more interested in an Internet-based format:

o Prospects who feel that an online seminar is more convenient and relaxed than a live seminar, with less pressure to buy or schedule an appointment.

o Retirees who don't like to drive.

o Retirees who would like their adult child to also listen to the presentation.

o Business owners who are too busy to attend a live seminar.

Pre-recorded or live?
While seminars can be conducted using either live or prerecorded Web conference providers, prerecorded online seminars can be conducted without requiring the prospect to download software. In addition, prospects "attending" this sort of seminar don't need a phone, reducing the cost of a potential long-distance call.

Pre-recorded online seminars can also solve many compliance issues, as your department will know in advance what type of information is being distributed and, in case of legal issues that may arise after the presentation, you have proof of what was presented.

Prospects can also watch your pre-recorded seminar at any time, and your programmer or webmaster can create an online "prospecting tracking database" where you can see which prospects visited your seminar, what they watched, and how often they attended. This makes it much easier for you to discern which prospects to follow up with over the telephone.

Furthermore, a programmer can create an interactive questionnaire for your online seminar where prospects can tell you which topics interest them most and send it to your email.

Preparing for an online seminar
In the initial stages, plan on taking the following steps before conducting your online seminar:

o Call your insurance companies, marketing organizations, and broker-dealers and tell them your plans.

o Ask them if they can provide you with a hard copy of a presentation or help you write the copy.

o Ask them for ideas for driving prospects to your online seminar and perhaps show you other online presentations conducted by fellow agents.

Structuring your seminar
As with a live seminar, online seminars require a special flow, and you should plan on covering all your bases during the actual presentation.

o A professional narrator welcomes prospects when they arrive to log in.

o The narrator reads your bio and then asks you to summarize the topics you will be covering during the presentation.

o Every online seminar should include a special guest speaker, such as an industry leader or product expert, to bring more credibility to your message. At the beginning of the seminar, introduce your guest speaker.

o The special guest begins speaking as compelling visuals educate and motivate the attendees.

o Once the speaker is done with their part, they invite you to tell the audience how you can help them.

o Read your copy for about four to five minutes.

o After your presentation, the professional narrator returns to thank the audience and remind them of the advantages of contacting you.

o Be sure to include a questionnaire during your presentation that will allow prospects to ask you to contact them or to specify topics that interest them the most, giving you an idea of what direction your eventual one-on-one presentation should take.

With some simple preparation and presentation skills, your online seminars can be highly effective in educating and motivating prospects while driving them to contact you for additional help. While both live and online seminars have the same goals -- to reach prospects that can eventually become clients -- each suits different types of producers and prospects. Make sure you know what you're getting into and, above all, have fun.

Bill Harris is president of W.V.H. Inc. He can be reached at wvharris@andc.com or 800-800-SALE (800-800-7253).

What Topics Should My Seminars Cover? Everything is in place for your seminar. The restaurant is ready to serve dinner as soon as the guests arrive, the projector has been tested, the pens for the flip chart are brand new, and the people staffing the sign-in desk are well briefed. Now all that's missing are the seminar attendees. Not four miles away, however, another group of agents is doing the same thing. Unfortunately, each of these agents may be speaking to an audience that's smaller than they expected. This is not because they did something wrong. It is not because the restaurants hosting the seminars are not among the best restaurants in the community, and it is not because the invitations were sent too late. Rather, it is likely because these seminars are no different than the four or six or 10 other seminars already being presented to the same audience around the same time. So, if seminars have proven to be an effective marketing tool for you, how can you discourage tire kickers from attending and instead attract those guests who may ultimately become clients? Some very simple things you can do include: 1. Be sure there is a reason and a need for holding your seminar. 2. Spend time researching the number of local seminars being held as well as the days and times of the week during which they are conducted. Pay particular attention to practitioners who give regular seminars, usually once a month or every six weeks. Try giving your presentation when those practitioners are not doing the same thing as you. 3. Differentiate your seminar's subject matter -- do not be afraid to be a standout in your community. How can you find a subject that has not been overdone in your community of choice? Some of the best seminars are those that educate rather than those that push the sale. Some relatively untapped seminar topics are: o Critical illness insurance. This is the hottest new product since long term care insurance. o Risk management. You may want to team up with a local property and casualty agent who does not compete with you so you can show clients how to properly assess their risk coverage. There is usually a life sale in there after the proper review, as well. o Managing health care costs. This is the new hot button for soon-to-be-retired boomers. Try getting a local health care representative to demonstrate how health care costs can be made manageable. o Executive benefits in a closely held corporation. Sarbanes-Oxley did not put an end to these benefits. Coupled with the changes in split dollar in 2003, this is a brand-new arena for seminars. Source: Hal Schwartz, president of Del Mar Group Inc.