“Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn’t have to do it himself.”
-- A. H. Weiler
When you have an impossible requirement associated with your business webinar, the easiest way to make it happen is to assign it to somebody else. With that cheery thought in mind, here is a list of service options associated with webinars. These range from the glaringly obvious to things you may not have even realized were available.
For just about any service task, there is someone out there who is experienced and capable and willing to trade their time and expertise for your money. Indeed, I offer several of these services through my company, Webinar Success. But this isn’t an advertisement or solicitation for business. It’s a general resource list. Feel free to submit comments with services I overlooked or with links to your website if you are a service provider in this space.
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Presenter Training – There are many presentation training courses and consultants available for learning how to deliver information more effectively in a general sense. But there are very few customized specifically to the webinar/webcast environment. You can start with general presentation tips and overcoming fear of public speaking with organizations such as Toastmasters, or you can go straight for specialists in this area such as Roger Courville or (ahem) myself.
Marketing/Promotion – Assistance with web event promotion can include a seemingly infinite number of options:
- List creation & management
- List rental
- Email design and copywriting
- Landing page/registration page creation
- Press release writing and distribution
- Search ad creation and management
- Direct mail creation and distribution
- Banner ad creation and placement
- Social media management
Event Production – This is another area with plenty of subcategories. You can find turnkey producers who manage everything end-to-end, or you can find people to help out with specific pieces that suit your event and your coverage gaps:
- Building event plans and timelines
- Coordinating contracts with vendors
- Booking studio time and staff for professional video shoots
- Writing presentation scripts
- Coordinating content from speakers
- Running rehearsals
- Managing event recording
- Managing registrant communications
- Creating/hosting attendee surveys or feedback forms
Moderating – Acting as a moderator during the live event may be a matter of running the web conferencing technology, supporting the presenters, and dealing with audience technical questions/problems. Or it can be more actively associated with the informational content – hosting a panel discussion or providing linking content in a scripted presentation.
PowerPoint Creation – You can find design experts who will create new slides for your presentation or refine existing slides to make them more effective and engaging.
Demo Creation – There are consultants who specialize in helping you create a concise, smooth, and effective live demo to show off software or communicate product features.
Script Writing – Use an outside writer to create or refine the presentation script for your webinar. Make sure to use someone who has experience writing for the spoken word. It’s much different than writing for print.
Video Production – If your web conferencing technology allows you to show prerecorded video content, you can use production services to ensure that your video looks and sounds its best.
Voice Talent – Most voice work is done in advance for recorded productions to be watched on demand. However you can also find presenters who will deliver your scripted presentation in a live webinar as your spokesperson.
Guest Speakers – If you want to hire a noted personality to speak on your webinar or webcast, you may wish to use a Speakers Bureau to help find and book an appropriate person.
Recording Production – Most web conferencing technologies allow you to create a recording of the live webinar. Additional services may include the following options:
- Converting the recording to different audio/video formats
- Editing the recording to make it look and sound more polished
- Splitting the recording into smaller pieces for shorter viewing times
- Removing unwanted sections from the live event
- Hosting the recording online
- Burning the recording to CD-ROM or DVD
- Copying and mailing CDs/DVDs to your list
- Adding introductory and closing narration and/or music
- Setting up the recording for registration, password protection, reporting
- Uploading audio or video segments to online services such as YouTube or iTunes
Transcription – Transcription services create an electronic text document of the audio from your webinar. You can host or distribute the transcription file.
Content Translation – Translation services can create a new version of your slide deck in another language or they can translate your transcription for reference in other countries.
Simultaneous Interpretation – Some web conferencing technologies allow you to webcast multiple audio streams for different languages. Or you can offer a secondary teleconference number to let attendees listen in a secondary language. Interpreters instantly translate and recite the presenter’s monologue in another language.
Closed Captioning – A very few webinar technologies allow a closed caption text display that updates in synchronization with the audiovisual presentation. You will need a closed captioning service to provide the content for this text stream.
Review and Consulting – You can hire a webinar expert to review your webinars and offer specific suggestions for improvement. This may include attendee communications, registration, and/or presentation.