The truth is that whether you ask for money for participation in your teleseminar, or you offer spaces at no charge, you can still harness money-making power. A paid teleseminar will deliver up-front revenue, but free teleseminars also hold possibilities for making money: from the subsequent selling of transcripts, recordings, packages, articles, e-books, newsletters and print books.
A common misconception is that people will jump on a free teleseminar just because it’s free; that sending out an email announcing it is enough to get participants – Not True. If people view their time as more valuable than what you’re offering, they won’t set aside an hour to participate, even if it doesn’t cost them a penny. For this reason, it’s important to realize that filling the phone line for a free teleseminar takes just as much effort as filling the line for a paid one.
When you use the word “free,” it’s important to put specifications on that freedom. If a teleseminar is free to everyone, people might assume that it has little or no value. But, if you make it free to members of a certain group (newsletter subscribers, new clients, current clients, members of your club, etc.), those people will see that they have earned the right to partake in its value.
It’s important to assign a value to every teleseminar, whether there’s a price tag or not. Maybe participants are getting it at a discount, or maybe it’s free only to select people. Either way, let them know what they would have paid. This increases the call’s perceived value.
The free teleseminar has its advantages and its disadvantages. It’s up to you to allow its advantages to work for you. Here a few pros and cons that might help you to find that balance:
Free Teleseminar Pros
• As long as the topic is exactly what they’ve been hoping for, people will be more likely to “invest” in a free call.
• If the free call is marketed to members of a certain group, they will feel more inclined to partake in something they’ve earned.
• The law of reciprocity boosts your chances of selling post-teleseminar transcripts, recording, e-books, etc.
Free Teleseminar Cons
• If you don’t market the free teleseminar effectively, it could be dismissed as having little or no value, because it’s free.
• If you offer too many free teleseminars, you could find yourself being taken advantage of, for your free advice.
• Participants might not be serious about the topic, reducing your chances of post-teleseminar sales. They might say, “It’s free. I’ll take advantage of it,” and that will be the end of their commitment.
It’s also important to avoid making every teleseminar a paid-participation one. It won’t be long before your audience is protesting (silently or audibly) that they never get anything for free.
To avoid finding yourself at either extreme of the free/paid teleseminar spectrum, it’s a good idea to offer a mixture of both free and paid. This will prevent you from being taken advantage of, and it will keep your audience happy with occasional “free gems.”
Free isn’t a bad word. In fact, it’s the root of freedom…which is at the heart of financial freedom.
Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at www.clientmagnets.com
