List building…we all know we have to do it but how much time do we really spend on it?

This year I decided to make it priority numero uno.

As much as I love social media it moves fast and not every update gets seen. When you email your subscribers, you are in their inbox, where the chances of being seen are much, much higher.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not dropping social media (not at all!), I’m just focusing my efforts more on my list.

Which brings me to webinars. I love speaking and presenting…I  just don’t love the costs associated with doing webinars (because I was never really doing them enough to justify the costs).

However, when I look at the activities in 2013 that brought the biggest boost to my list..it was hands-down webinars. While guest posting is important to develop credibility, in terms of building your list, nothing really compares to webinars when you consider you have a very targeted list of people who have signed up to receive information and possibly buy from you if you have something to sell.

Webinars allow you to share your expertise and further build the know/like/trust factor with your community.

Running Your Next Webinar as a Hangout On Air

There are several reasons that led me to try out and change to this new technology.

  • Save BIG on webinar fees: Google Hangouts on Air are free! No need to pay high monthly fees, especially if you are not doing webinars very often.

  • Unlimited Viewers. You don’t have a limit on how many people can view your Hangout On Air unlike webinar plans which generally have limits and require more $ for more viewers.

  • Share your screen or share your smiling face. You can make it as casual or as formal as you like.

  • Automatic Recording: Your event is automatically recorded to YouTube so no more dealing with forgetting to record! Your recording is ready for replay right after the event.

And by no means is this a “cheap” alternative, industry-leaders are using this very same method to engage with their community and prospects to make sales!

With Google’s Hangouts On Air, you can take advantage of webinar list-building perks without the associated costs.

How to run your next webinar using Google Hangouts On Air (and save $$)  #smallbiz

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Here is screenshot from my recent: “3 Reasons Why You Can’t Ignore Google+ in 2014” webinar that I ran using Google Hangouts On Air.

using google hangouts on air to record webinars

and the chat below:

webinar using Google Hangouts

using google hangouts for webinars

Results

My goal was to bring new subscribers to my list so I marketed the webinar outside of my existing list and over the series of 3 webinars that I did between late February and mid-March, I was able to grow my list by 35%.  I was not creating new content each time, in fact, it was the same webinar that I would improve upon each time. In terms of time investment, these webinars were around 30 minutes. I plan on experimenting with the time during the next series but the point is..with Google Hangouts On Air you can do them as often as you choose! No need to worry about the recording, either. It gets streamed to YouTube and you can share the recording with your attendees after.

Is there a catch?

Google Hangouts on Air is not webinar software so there are a few steps that you have to do manually. For instance, I needed to setup a landing page, which I did easily using LeadPages:

Screen Shot 2014-03-19 at 3.00.39 PM

I also needed to setup a mailing list in MailChimp to capture the leads and send the subsequent reminder emails to. I subscribed to Chat Roll and used this to engage with attendees during the webinar.

The first time I set it up took me the longest as I had to figure out all the moving parts, however, I made sure to document it because once I did the first one..I was hooked! I am definitely going to be continuing using this webinar-strategy in 2014.

Are you as excited about this as I am? If you want to add webinars to your marketing strategy (without the associated costs), get a copy of my WebOnAir guide which walks you through the exact steps.

Do you plan on adding webinars to your marketing strategy this year? Let me know in the comments!

using hangouts on air to run webinars

17 comments

  1. Audra Wilke

    Hi Sandy! This is a great post for folks starting out and trying to wade through the huge number of decisions around selecting tools. It’s also a great reminder to start planning a webinar. Thanks for sharing!

    On this note, do you have any thoughts about Webinar Jam? It claims to add marketing functionality to Google Hangouts to make it more robust. On second thought, maybe I should just buy your guide! It’s all about the MVP, right? 🙂

    • Sandy Sidhu

      Hi Audra! Thanks, it can be tough to choose when there are so many choices!
      I personally have not yet looked at WebinarJam as I have a solution that works for me. I’m sure there are bells and whistles they have that add to the product but at the end of the day…MVP, like you said 🙂

    • Angelique Duffield

      I think there is an annual subscription for Webinar Jam, though I have heard of a few pros using it.

      A new option is Webinar Ignition and I know someone who uses this system – works as a WordPress plugin, has a one-time fee, sets up a pre-webinar autoresponder like GoToWebinar, links with LeadPages, has great stats (who watched, how long, if they clicked the “buy now” button), etc

  2. Melissa Penton

    Sandy you’re the bomb! I always learn so much from you. Google and all it’s specialties still scare me a bit but I’m coming around and learning so much. This is such a great resource for coaches. Bookmarked! Thank you 🙂

  3. Michael Knouse

    Sandy – Thank you for the actionable advice on webinars! I did a few webinars in 2013 and it was hands down the single best list building strategy that I implemented all year. My only complaint was the high cost of using a leading webinar service ($200 – $400 per month). Now it seems there is another viable option that makes the cost issue a mute point. I’m definitely going to look into implementing Google Hangouts On Air. Thank you so much for always delivering such valuable content. I’m a big fan! 🙂

    • Sandy Sidhu

      Thanks, Michael! In fact, I’ve been trying to spread this message far and wide because now that $$ is no long a factor, I really hope more people take advantage.

  4. Kate Lindsay (Get To The Good)

    I LOVE it! I am a huge fan of your advice and recommendations. Learning about things that are doable for me at this beginning stage is what can keep me going without so much overwhelm creeping in. This was great. I have been on a Google Hangout as a interviewee before but I basically just had to show up. The rest was already done and it looked so professional I had no idea it was free and pretty simple to set up. I am for sure going to keep this in mind going forward.

  5. Connie Benedict

    Great information! I was hoping to have my webinar up and running this month but I have been delayed by two months. So hopefully in June! This was very timed to where I am at in my business and I so appreciate your expertise in this area. I am bookmarking this page for later retrieval when I am at the final stages of marketing and launching my webinar. Thank you.

    Side Note: Your font is really hard to read. I would suggest switching it up to a more readable google font if possible, such as Open Sans, Buda, Muli or something. Just a suggestion.

      • Connie Benedict

        My webinar is called Your Clarity Now. It discusses the 7 core governing clarity principles that when practiced and implemented will allow more clarity into your life. I am hoping to have things ready by maybe end of May to start advertising.

  6. BkkBanker

    Great post. I’ve been thinking about using HOA and LeadPages and in yours as well as other examples I’ve stumbled upon ChatRoll is used. You mention that there are free alternatives? Could you recommend one or a few that works with LeadPages?