Talking Bluntly — with Virtual Causeway

People mostly use our services to develop a relationship between themselves and their customers and prospects. Typically, that means they host a conversation on a topic of mutual interest. To further engage the audience, they typically ask credible, and reputable, co-presenters to join them. What then follows is a lively, fast-paced, relaxed discussion about the issues related to the topic at hand.

People who attend the event will often connect with the issues discussed, self-identify their own challenges as it relates to these issues, and then engage our clients off-line to see if they can help them with their problem.

Typical examples would include:

• B2B companies discussing issues related to their industry. For example, a company specializing in search engine optimization (SEO) may host webinars that discuss the different approaches required for Google vs Bing vs Yahoo, or they may discuss the benefits of SEO vs the benefits of paid ads.
• Service organizations (i.e. Lawyers, Accountants, Doctors, etc.) will often host monthly workshops which may be of interest to their clients. For example, a Dentist can have a series of discussions around Teeth Whitening - Pros and Cons, Dental Care for Children, Are Braces for You, Are Veneers a Viable Option, Do I really need Dentures, etc.
• A common use of webinars or webcasts is for a Product Launch. Whereas issue-driven discussions are high-level, product launches tend to be detailed. Often they will include some actual live product demos. These sessions are typically more focused on a defined target audience.
• Many companies utilize webinars for staff training. The wisdom in this approach is that each session is archived, thereby allowing future hires to access a complete library of subject matter content relevant to their role.
• We often host webcasts for organizations interested in media, analyst, social or investor relations. This allows key representatives of an organization to speak directly to a very specific segment of people about a very focused subject.
• 
  

Overall, there are many ways to utilize webinars and webcasts. If you have an idea but aren’t sure if it’s applicable, please give us a call to discuss it.

We mean we act as the on-air host. As the host, we moderate the discussion, manage the time, and engage the audience, in real-time. Think of this role as the talk show host you listen to on the radio. While the radio host may speak to many people, they still manage to make it sound effortless, stop for commercial breaks, handle any technical emergencies, and generally produce an entertaining and informative show. If they didn’t do this, you wouldn’t tune in again. We do the same thing.

Our package is pretty complete. Our service includes, but is not limited to:

• 1 webinar not to exceed 60 minutes in length, including any audience Q&A
• 1 rehearsal not to exceed 30 minutes in length
• Webinar hosting services (our preferred host is GoToWebinar) for up to 100 people
• VoIP, or toll-based, telephone conference call services
• Jointly developed webinar topic and content framework
• Jointly identified, and recruited, subject matter experts to act as co-panelists
• Jointly drafted presentation content using our template or your template
• Social media promotion of your event in advance of the live show
• Real-time social media monitoring of your event during the live show
• Post-event social media promotion of your archived content
• 1 Panelist briefing document prepared and provided, in advance, to all event participants
• 2 pre-event promotional emails jointly developed including royalty-free graphics and copy writing.
• Pre-event promotional emails sent to your provided email lists.
• Provided lists shall not exceed 5,000 people and shall comply with the CAN-SPAM or CASL act or any local country equivalent.
• 1 website banner to promote the event.
• 1 registration page
• 2 post-event thank-you emails, jointly developed, including royalty-free graphics and copy writing. One email will go to those who registered and attended. The second email will go to those who registered but did not attend. Both emails will include links to the archived version of the webinar.
• Post-event editing and rendering of the webinar ensuring, where possible, any on-air mistakes are removed or corrected.

Best of all, you never leave your desk during this process. You do not need to come to our studios. The same goes for any co-presenters.

Like most service providers, any of the above services can be upgraded for a small incremental fee. Any example of that might be to use a toll-free calling service rather than a toll-based calling service.

If additional assistance is required, such as graphic design, list procurement, list cleansing, etc, we can definitely assist you. We suggest you check out our Add-Ons page for more information.

You can absolutely self-produce your own event. That, in part, is how we got started. Unfortunately, it actually is much more involved then most people expect. Think of it this way – could you step into the shoes of the local radio talk show host tomorrow and successfully produce a good show? The reality is that producing a webinar or webcast is no different. There are a number of steps to follow to create a robust, credible, entertaining, and effective event that achieves your desired goals. The most significant thing to remember is that people will remember you if you produce a bad show, if you look unprepared, or if you’re not engaging. This will then reflect on your organization, your people and your products and services in a negative way. However, if you produce a good show, then people immediately credit you as a thought leader and expert and actively seek out you out. That’s the part that most sales and marketing professionals appreciate.

When you consider the time involved, the equipment involved, and the potential to negatively impact your reputation, you start to appreciate the value of hiring broadcast professionals.

You should factor in the time, and expense, of using your own people, acquiring the required equipment, and learning how to use it effectively, show after show. Then you need the talented staff required to create engaging content to drive attendance, retain the listeners when on air, and then follow up with registrants post-event. Our customers have done the math, and they quickly realize that our base package of $995 is substantially more affordable then anything they can do.

We use a variety of technologies, relevant to the size and scope of the production. For most of our clients, we use GoToWebinar for webinars, or Livestream for webcasts. Leading up to the event, and post-event, we use industry leading software solutions for email, video editing, audio capture, and social media promotion and monitoring. We’d love to discuss our latest and greatest tools with you. As this changes as often as the pace of technology progresses, give us a call and we’ll share our latest secrets free of charge.

For webinars, the audio quality is phone-based unless all participants can join us in our studios. For webcasts, the audio quality is broadcast quality. The archived event video is also broadcast quality as a result of our post-event editing and production studio. The archived version of your event will be optimized for streaming, and can be outputted to support mobile devices, or high definition playback, depending on your specific requirements.

We have no problem using your services instead of our own. We simply need to ensure our familiarity with the technology prior to the rehearsal and may need your assistance to accommodate this requirement.

The archived video file will be provided to you, or we can upload the final files directly to your preferred hosting provider (i.e. YouTube, Vimeo, BrightCove, etc.). It’s your choice.

As long as the hosting service supports this feature, then you absolutely can have this at no additional charge. Our hosting provider does support this feature.

From a technology point-of-view, there is no issue doing this. The only limiting factor is how many webcams you can support for the live show, or capture on the archived video. We can discuss this when we plan your event strategy and determine what makes the most sense. From a practical perspective, most clients choose not to go this route; they feel more comfortable, and confident, not having to worry about how they appear, live on air, and can focus on engaging in the discussion instead.

We can capture a variety of metrics including emails sent, emails bounced (both hard and soft), emails opened, event registrations, event attendees, on-air attendee engagement levels, etc. All of this is provided to you as part of our service.

Many clients would like the registration process to be linked real-time with their CRM system (i.e. Salesforce.com) or Marketing Automation system (i.e. Marketo). While this is possible, this is not part of the $995 package. We can, however, typically accommodate these requests if it is critical. Most clients instead choose to save their budget and simply import registrants into their system for post-event follow-up. We do provide you an electronic file of the registrants, regardless if they attended the event or not.

That is entirely up to you. From a logistics point of view, there is no additional impact, or cost, to have us support your event sponsorship. We do not secure sponsorship for you but we can help connect you with people than can assist you in this endeavor.

Co-presenters help the audience engage more. There is a stronger sense that the message being conveyed during the event is less biased, due to multiple points of view. By trusting the content being presented, they indirectly learn to trust you, the organizer and host, more at the same time; a critical aspect when actively trying to develop new business.

From the perspective of driving event registration, co-presenters tend to help attract a wider audience. Their target lists differ from your target lists. Combined, you reach a much larger potential audience.

From a credibility angle, co-presenters often have a better brand than you do. Accordingly, your brand benefits from being associated with their brand. That dramatically impacts sales objections when attempting to procure new or repeat business.

While we have a variety of tools, often our biggest resources include both Google and Social Media. We look for advocates who are actively engaged in the subject matter being discussed, and whom have a large following. We then work with you to reach out to these individuals and invite them to participate in your event. We can be very convincing!

A fast way to develop a webinar or webcast calendar is to reflect upon your typical sales funnel. Each stage of a sales funnel will have corresponding frequently asked questions and sales objections. Each stage will often speak to a different target audience or demographic. When we review your situation, we quickly identify a series of topics that are meaningful to your target audience, and can be used to support your sales and marketing efforts to overcome the objections and to answer the questions usually raised. Best of all, the content is professional, the speakers are experts, and you appear as a thought leader.

We can absolutely help you with your list development and procurement. That is not part of the basic $995 package but it is part of our expertise. Call us to discuss your specific requirements.

Professional content publishers suggest a minimum publishing schedule of once per week. If you host a webinar or webcast once per month, that production can be repurposed into additional content such as a blog posting, a white-paper, a case study, or a variety of social media posts. Accordingly, a monthly webinar or webcast schedule will go a long way to helping you meet your overall content development requirements.

Our clients are across the globe. We can accommodate any day or time, depending on your requirements. There are no additional fees for this service.

People are now conditioned to utilize their favorite search engine to find solutions to their pain points. Whether they need more information on a general service, such as teeth whitening, or they need information on a specific issue, such as the real costs behind a VoIP phone system over traditional POTS (plain old telephone system), they seek answers at the search engine first. The search engine queries return a variety of discussions and content pieces that are relevant to their issue. If they find a piece of content they like, and get value out of, they will often contact the publisher of the content piece for assistance. This is how the typical sales process starts. The act of them finding content, and then finding you – as the publisher of that content – and then calling you is defined as an Inbound Lead. Traditional lead generation is Outbound in nature; where you cold call prospects.

Webinars and webcasts, and any follow-on content generated as a result of the event, become the source of information these prospects find in their search engine queries. They find you because you are publishing compelling content.

Search engines reward sites that constantly publish new and fresh content. They also reward sites that consistently use specific keywords, relevant to your target audience. This results in your content, and your web site, appearing much higher in the results presented to the individual doing the web search. If you’re publishing webinars or webcasts, and if you decide to extend those events into additional pieces of content, then you are publishing a lot of new and fresh content that has many of the keywords your target audience would search against. You can expect to see a positive impact in your search engine rankings if you engage in an active content and webinar publishing effort. We can help you with that.

The general rule of thumb, although admittedly an imperfect science, is that you will have two people view your archived content for every one person that registered for your live event. Experience has taught us that these individuals are often the most qualified prospects your sales teams will experience.

A webinar is typically considered a two-way discussion. Often a panelist, or panelists, will present their opinions and will react to what is being discussed. The audience will often have an opportunity to submit questions and the panelists will respond to them. Hence, a webinar is effectively interactive.

A Webcast is usually a one-way presentation. An example of this would be a company-wide announcement, or a financial earnings announcement or a live event. A webcast is not interactive. Webcasts are also often referred to as live-streams.

There are very few technical limitations preventing us from handling large, or very large, audiences. Our basic package of $995 only allows for a maximum of 100 event attendees.

This is the classic question we get asked. Unfortunately, the answer is neither easy, nor accurate. In the end – it depends. It depends on your email list volume, list quality, subject matter, panelists, promotion, and outbound invitations extended. While we can greatly assist you with all of this, are biggest success stories are when our clients are as aggressive, or more aggressive, then we are in their pursuit of putting people in virtual seats.