Thursday, October 30, 2008

Hold a Q&A Seminar for Your Customers

By Theo McLanahan

Question and answer seminars for your customers can help you accomplish many things. Some examples are: you can create buzz about your website, increase your mailing list size, launch a new service or product, or even increase your profits.

Q&A seminars are a great way to quickly increase your mailing list. Simply place a message on your site that explains that you are holding the session, including the day and time. Don't announce how one is to access the seminar. Have your prospect fill out a form which is a part of your autoresponder; the autoresponder will then send them an email with the information with the teleseminar/ web conference.

If you are preparing for a product launch, having a question and answer seminar can work similarly to holding a press conference. It gives you the opportunity to explain the benefits and features of your product, and create publicity, and hopefully to increase your sales. The more information you can get out about the new product, and the more likely they are to want it and buy it.

Holding a q&a seminar also adds a personal touch and helps you communicate and interact with your customers. You could opt to have a special session for past customers only. This is also a great way to get feedback on how to improve your current product as well as add new products.

A smart thing to do when offering such seminars, is to record them, and sell them alone or packaged together at a later date. You can also add them as free bonuses to your other products when you sell them.

You may also wish to open up a seminar to others as a way for them to advertise. Other businesses with similar, complimentary businesses may be very willing to pay a fee for the opportunity to speak to your audience. For an effective question and answer session, make sure it doesn't come across as a sales pitch. Presenters should be giving helpful information to the listeners, as well as find good ways to promote their own products or services.

You have several options on how to hold your q&a seminar. You can reserve a teleconference line, and there are many companies who will allow you to use one for free. Alternatively, for a small fee, you could reserve a web conference room. This would allow you to show pictures, graphs, and PowerPoint presentations to your audience. You can also choose to broadcast over both a conference room and a teleconference line at the same time.

After you've established the method, date and time of your event, it is time to start promoting it. If you have an existing mailing list, make sure to let your followers know about your seminar. You might even display some information on your site, as well as mention it in any email or forum signatures you use. If you have a team of affiliates, get them involved as well. If you don't have existing affiliates, as anyone you network with online to help you get the word out. You may even want to consider purchasing some targeted advertising for your event.

The more you hold q&a sessions, the more comfortable you will become with the planning and promotion process. Remember, these are fun ways to promote your business and connect with your customers, so take some time to enjoy the process. - 15336

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