8 Steps to Plan a Webinar for Your Business

What if we told you there was a way you could easily establish your credibility, share your expertise, promote your brand to the masses, get more traffic to your website and grow your audience?

Great right? But what if we told you we’re talking about hosting a webinar?

Now, before you running away, hear us out. Planning and hosting a webinar isn’t nearly as difficult as it seems. In fact, the hardest part is getting started. Once you do it once, repeating the process is pretty easy. Here are 8 steps to planning and organizing a webinar that will boost your business.

Step #1: Pick your date

If you can, give yourself quite a bit of time to plan and organize your webinar. Aim for a date 8 weeks out. It can be done sooner, but you don’t want to rush the process, especially if it’s your first webinar.

Step #2: Pick a topic

Your topic should be something you are interested in, but more importantly, it should be something your target audience is interested in. It should be something that will deliver lots of value for your webinar attendees. For example, you could elaborate on one of your most popular blog posts, create an in-depth how-to guide with examples and actionable steps or bring on other experts to discuss a popular subject in your industry.

Step #3: Pick your tools

There are many options for webinar software. One that has been around the longest is GoToWebinar. It can handle up to 1,000 attendees and is known for its reliability. Down side: it can be pretty pricy. Another good option is AnyMeeting, which also hold ups to 1,000 attendees. If you are expecting a much smaller group, you can look into free options such as Google Hangouts, Facebook Live or Blab.

But hosting a webinar doesn’t have to mean getting in front of the camera. You could create a slideshow using PowerPoint or HaikuDeck, and use the webinar software to broadcast your screen as you talk through the slides.

Step #4: Create your script

Your webinar will be live, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared. You don’t have to write out a word-for-word script, which you should have an outline of your main points and any key information you want to share.

Step #5: Plan any visuals

If you plan on creating a slideshow, make sure have the slides planned out. Even if you will be speaking on screen, consider any screenshots, images or graphics that will help enhance your information.

Step #6: Promote your webinar

By now, your webinar is planned out. It doesn’t have to be completely ready to go; you still have some time to finalize. But, you should start promoting it to get people to sign up. Create a landing page for your webinar where people can go to register.

Then, share that landing page! Share it on all your social media pages, let your email list know about it and write a blog post about it. Get the word out as much as possible.

Step #7: Do a dry run

A week or two before your webinar date, to a dry run. Review any slides or images and practice your script. If you do plan to have guest speakers or other experts, make sure you test your software for multiple speakers.

Step #8: Go live!

The date of your webinar is finally here! With all your planning and organizing, it should go smoothly. Be sure to leave some time at the end for some a Q&A session as your attendees will most likely want to pick your brain. You are the expert after all!

Hosting a webinar can bring lots of exposure to your business and really position yourself as an industry expert. And it doesn’t have to be as complicated or confusing as it sounds. Planning a webinar really isn’t that hard if you know what you’re doing and take it one step at a time.