In the world of business consulting and coaching, it’s important to be able to keep clients engaged. You’re there to teach them, to inform them, to turn them into better marketers, business owners, entrepreneurs – to use the experience and knowledge you have to hone better people.
But to do so, you need the right tools. As the rate in which technology grows seems to exponentially increase, the tools become better with every fiscal year. The Internet alone – probably the most significant invention in the history of mankind since the printing press – has recently hit 3.2 billion users, according to Internet Live Stats. Not too long ago, it was still shy of two billion. Change happens very quickly online, and the one thing no consultant can afford to let slip out of their fingers is live video. It’s faster, better, and more useful than face-to-face consulting, expensive seminars or pre-recorded video in many ways – and here’s why.
It’s Much Cheaper
Right off the bat, the most obvious reason for considering webcasting as an element in a business consultant’s arsenal is cost reduction. You no longer have to factor in the cost of travel, the cost of staying at a hotel, the cost of renting the venue for your seminar, and the cost of all the physical material you need to actually stage and host your seminar.
Then, there’s the factor of cost for your clients and potential clients. While your cost is important, it’s also important to think about how much a client is spending to come and attend your events, or travel to the venue you’ve chosen for your consulting. By lowering the cost of entry for clients, you’re eliminating a major roadblock for people who are interested in getting more of your content, but can’t afford it.
It’s Just as Effective
Aside from a little practice to get used to the camera, there is no difference between holding a lecture on a stage and doing it in the comfort of your own home, business, or studio. You can, in fact, boost the effectiveness of your lectures and seminars by holding them virtually. Aside from cutting the costs of a live seminar, you’re also creating the opportunity to hold more live lectures and consulting events.
While you may already have a book on the way, or a few pre-recorded videos to sell for a nominal fee on your website, adopting webcasting can change your business model entirely. More Americans are using video calling and live video than ever – from 2011 to 2013, the statistic tripled, as noted by Mashable.com.
Imagine setting up a subscription fee on your website for weekly content, and then holding a webcasting event once or twice a week, with a theme each time – helping startups and entrepreneurs on Wednesdays, while offering advice to long-time enterprise managers and executives on Fridays – to boost the amount of clients you get. The fact that you offer fresh content on a biweekly basis will make your value and the value of your content soar.
It Allows for a Much Larger Audience
Offering webcasting events on an incredibly affordable subscription basis will help you rake in the cash from hundreds of viewers and listeners every week, more so than if you only offered live consulting while on the road on physical events. You cut costs, you boost your business’ value, and you get more viewers in general per event – it’s a win situation in absolutely every shape and form.
Conversely, It Allows for Better Individual Engagement
If part of your offered services is about face-to-face consulting with a single client at a time, then webcasting is a great way for you to offer high quality video and audio all the time, at no extra expense to the client.
They can join your webcast through an invite email link, and you can engage with them on a personal level, more so than if you were to use the phone, or free VOIP which lacks the quality to create a comfortable, professional environment. Through premium services like Blue Jeans, you can utilize video webcasting to bring your one-on-one game to a whole new level.
It Makes Subsequent Follow Ups Easier
Follow ups are important in webcasting, and consulting in general. Because it’s all virtual, you can instantly send your client a relevant message with further resources for them to check out or use online for their business purposes, instead of having to wait for them to check their emails on a home or office computer, as would be the case in a physical venue.
You can also use social media to follow up, even recording a posting a snippet of your webcasting event to get more people interested to join the next time around. Social media is an incredibly powerful tool as Forbes notes, with more than 70 percent of Americans using it – up from under 50 percent five years ago.
There’s more potential for webcasting out there than you’d think, on several fronts of business. Administrators can use it to converse with employees, doctors use it to converse with patients. It’s connecting the world – and it can connect you with your clients.
