How Many Webinars Are Still Worth Watching?

Are you being spammed each day to watch the next best webinar presentation?

I’ve signed up time and time again to watch some of these presentations to later realize it’s the same information repurposed or repackaged by another company. Or, it doesn’t truly engage my interests at the right time.

I’m not so sure anymore that this generates quality leads as it was once considered a good tactic to cut costs and do business with others.

Initially, I found this new format attractive to sharing best practices, new learning’s from others that one may never have the opportunity to come into contact professionally. Could the novelty of this new technology be wearing off as more and more companies adopt this technology in hopes to generate new business?

Do busy professionals really have the time to watch them? Perhaps a better format could be in the works. We may engage audiences further if we can make each educational experience more personal. It’s a shame there are numerous webinar formats that do a poor job to make it hard for others to stand out on.

It’s ironic that it took me a long time to influence others in the professional community to start creating webinars to reach customers. Today, people tend to hit delete in their email inbox with announcements without reading the content, forget to attend a webinar, or do not have the time to watch it at the scheduled time.

Webinars are becoming saturated as more and more markers use it as a tactic to attract leads for future sales pursuits. Numerous marketing executives can attest to generating many new leads for providing educational resources to their audiences. However, it’s becoming the web’s version of the infomerical. As with any technology that has a sales spin, it may create a backlash from audiences that seek to spend their valuable time elsewhere.

Audiences are more savvy with the web and recognize their personal information is being used for future business prospects. In retrospect, a good marketer should use data provided by the audience to influence how products are being developed, pitched, or conduct better research. It’s important to listen to what is being said by your customers through social mediums to identify new market opportunities.

As Ken Molay explains in his blog WebinarWire, “….those of you using webinars as a marketing and lead generation tool, think carefully about what you are promising in your invitation and what expectations you are building. Collecting names on registration forms doesn’t do you much good in building lead lists if the names represent a group of people who mistrust and loathe your company!”

You Go Girl! Harvard Celebrates Dynamic Women In Business

Women from across the country attended Harvard’s 19th annual Dynamic Women in Business conference which featured some of the brightest and talented women that have made strides in their professional careers. Sitting side-by-side with others attending the event were people about to graduate, new to a career, women seeking work, or individuals that wanted to hear from some powerful people in business. Both young and old came to learn and network with one another in hopes to secure that next job opportunity, make a new friend, or find a mentor to inspire one to reach for her goals. Top women executives from companies such as Staples, lululemon athletica, Keds (Stride Rite / Collective Brands), Coca- Cola, NBC Universal, Showtime, Time Warner Cable, Estee Lauder, Google, Highland Capital Partners, FedEx, Mavens & Mogels, Communispace, and many more came together in one place to share their experiences in different aspects of business.

Make Your Movement Possible

The event kicked off with Ann Simonds, President of General Mills Baking Products Division, where her comment, “there are learning points in your life and leading points in your life,” rang true to many women throughout different stages of their career development. We all have had transitions in our lives where we take a step back to improve upon our weaknesses, or took the necessary time to research for ourselves what would help us to move forward. Ann shared in her presentation a copy of a check from a few years back for $38.00 her mother contributed to help a women’s professional organization.  Today, Ann stood on the spotlight of the stage before hundreds of impressionable women, as her mother sat in the audience to cheer her daughter as a true leader in business. Not only was that a great story, but the conference was inspirational to many in the audience. It was nice to see women bonding together with a sense of empowerment as they listened to the personal stories of the executives on the panels who offered their solutions for facing the day-to-day business challenges to find success.

Turning Buzz to Biz

Whether you are pitching a product, trying to sell yourself to a prospective buyer/recruiter, or meet someone new, it’s all about creating that buzz, developing your network, and influencing others in hopes for one to see the value you offer. Check out the book Now Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton. Many women recommended it as a good resource to help define your core strengths and how you can gain results in the workplace.

The various panels of women discussed areas in sales, marketing, entrepreneurship, retail, consulting, finance and more, offered examples to improve your business, your role, but also where all of us can look inside ourselves to put our best foot forward in many situations.

• Make sure to ask for what you want
• Listen
• Focus on the outcome
• Surround yourself with the best talent
• Don’t allow yourself to be put down
• Seek opportunities to prove your strategic direction
• Share the results: Show Don’t Tell
• Build an organization around a strategy
• What brand asset do you have?
• Identify the touch points and keep them engaging to influence the audience or your peers
• Improve the overall experience for the customer making it memorable
• Find a mentor to cheer you on when you are doing something well, and offer advice when you are doing something wrong

So get out there…..YOU GO GIRL!

What are some things that you live by to get ahead? Share your story below and let others know.